AutoCAD WS for iPhone, iPad, iPod

Autodesk launched today on the app store AutoCAD WS for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. This mobile app enables you to view and work with AutoCAD drawings on your iOS devices. Here is a link AutoCAD WS. Youtube Video here

Features include:

• Open DWG drawings uploaded to your free* AutoCAD WS online workspace
• See all aspects of your DWG file, including external references, layers, and image underlays
• Use Multi-Touch zoom and pan to more easily navigate very large drawings
• Tap objects to select, then move, rotate, and scale
• Draw or edit shapes with accuracy using Snap and Ortho modes
• Add and edit text annotations directly on your device; no need for paper mark-ups
• Validate distance measurements in the drawing while you are onsite at the actual location
• Save your edits to your AutoCAD WS online workspace, so your drawings stay up to date
• Share designs with others directly from your device
• Work with other people on the same DWG file simultaneously
• View edits to drawings in real time: AutoCAD WS immediately captures changes made by you and others in your online workspace.

Subscription Advantage Packs 2011 Released

Autodesk has just released this year’s Subscription Advantage Pack for all Autodesk’s 2011  Products.

Clients with subscriptions that are still active can log into Subscription Center to download the subscription packs and other Autodesk product enhancements and get early access to the latest software technology. I have also provided a link to Videos you can download that show off the Subscription Advantage Packs. Advantage Pack 2011 Videos

Product Releases with Subscription Packs are below with links to the pack itself. please note you need log in to access the links: Don’t forget if your not on Subscription speak with your local reseller.

Revit Architecture 2011
Revit MEP 2011
Revit Structure 2011
AutoCAD 2011
Navisworks 2011
AutoCAD Architecture 2011
AutoCAD MEP 2011
Inventor 2011
AutoCAD Mechanical 2011
AutoCAD Electrical 2011
3ds Max 2011
Maya 2011
MotionBuilder 2011
Mudbox 2011

If you are unsure how to access Subscription Center you can view several PDF guides that are an invaluable self-help support resource for using and managing your Autodesk Subscription Service. Guides Here

Revit 2011 Product Update #2

Autodesk has released web update #2 for Revit MEP, Revit Structure, and Revit Architecture. You can find more information on the download pages below.

Revit MEP 2011

Revit Architecture 2011

Revit Structure 2011

Enjoy!

Purge Unused - Revit

I have created a short video on how to use the Purge function in Revit. I demonstrate using Revit MEP software, the same method can be used with any of the Revit products. I also talk about file size and how you can reduce it not just by purging elements in your project but also by saving your project using the compact file option when saving.

You can approach purging unused elements in many different ways, my recommendation is not to purge all the time. Purging can be a time consuming depending on what elements you are looking to purge. Revit by default looks at your project and any objects not in use get a checkbox next to them to be purged. This can be beneficial and not beneficial, I explain in the video, reason it’s great would be I can purge all items at one time. I would only recommend if sending to a consultant or archiving that project.

If you still plan on working with this project you are better off making sure all boxes are unchecked and picking particular items manually that you wish to purge. This gives you control so that you are not accidentally purging text styles, dim styles, section markers, pipe types, duct types etc that you have not used in your project. Think about it the same way as AutoCAD, if you purge specific items and you need them back you will have to either re-import them or create those styles. Costing you time and money.

Also you have to take your template file size into account, remember if you put every family in your template and the template is let’s say 15mb. Your project when started will be 15mb. Try not to put to much into your template, if you want specific families you use on every project in then please add them but you might want to purge certain Types of that family so not all are in the model. My recommendation for template size would be 7 to 15mb, our here are around 8mb.

Lastly the compact file option when saving I show at the end of the video, will and could drastically reduce the file size. On this small project you will see the file size reduce in my opinion a great amount. In a past project I had it was 150mb I then purged the project went down to 115mb I then used the compact option and reduced file further to 90mb. about a 40% size change.

Here is the link to my YouTube video. Purge Unused Elements using Revit

Enjoy!!

Creating Custom Diffuser Tag

We all know that not all out of the box Revit MEP content meets our company standards, and often that is the result when we are talking about the diffuser tag in RMEP.

I have created a short video on how you can modify the OOTB diffuser tag to pull the neck size and type mark parameters from the diffuser itself.

The finished tag will look like this:

Here is the link to my youtube video. Creating Custom Diffuser Tag

enjoy!!

FlexNet / LMTools 2011 updated version

A colleague I work with has confirmed that the 2011 release of Autodesk software contains an updated version of FlexNET / LMTools. Your Network license servers will need to be upgraded to the latest version (11.7) in order to ensure support for the latest 2011 and previous Autodesk product releases.

Upgrade procedure from Autodesk can be found below

Upgrading Autodesk Network License Manager (FLEXlm®)

Revit MEP 2011 - Conduit

As stated the other day I plan to post some of the new features in Revit MEP 2011 throughout the course of this week. Again many people have blogged about the features and done a great job. I have some small videos I would like to share, here is one on the new Conduit feature in RMEP. Note that I have not added audio, the video is a little quick but still real time, I must have been on a lot of red bull that day. enjoy!!

Be sure to click the FULL SCREEN button, sometimes the blog cuts off the video.

Revit MEP 2011 - Cable Trays

I have noticed a lot of post going around regarding the Revit 2011 products and many other bloggers have been listing the latest features of those products and doing a great job I might add. So what I thought I would do as the non-disclosure agreement has based with Autodesk is post a video on cable trays in Revit MEP 2011. Yes that is correct if you do not know already that Cable Trays and Conduit have now been added to the Revit MEP 2011 product.

Don't get me wrong, many other features have been added as well, but these two have been requested for a very long time and very much needed in RMEP. Here is a link to the video or you can view the video below I have embedded into this post. No audio in the video, just a small 2 min clip on Cable Trays.

Troubleshooting Whats New in Revit 2011

Autodesk posted a video last week on their youtube channel troubleshooting whats new in Revit 2011. This video here is intended to teach the common questions customers may encounter with the 2011 release of Revit products.

Understand how the new features will impact user we support through graphic generation, rendering, and work sharing.

I noticed the video had been viewed 305 times, not many considering the number of users, so here is the link again take a watch very useful information for the upcoming release of Revit 2011 products.

without Comics where would we be?

I was surfing the web the other day and came across a great site for comical relief the site is Architexts the creators have an almost daily web-based comic created for the amusement of user in the cad world.

I am now hooked after catching up and reading all the comic strip and have even added the site to my RSS reader for what I hope daily comical relief. If you become hooked make sure you read the tab on the website "Cast of Characters" this page gives you in site into the employees that are part of the comic strips.

enjoy!!

Revit Manufacturer Content

Edit: Bell & Gossett have just released Revit Content have added the link in this post and on my sidebar.

It's been awhile since my last post, I have been extremely busy. I have populated a list of manufacturer Revit content on the right side of my blog. I have just went through all the links and updated any broken ones.

I hope this helps in your search for content.

please refer to my AUGI link on the right hand side of my blog for RMEP content http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?t=99663

Autodesk Support Answers on youtube

When a client calls me up with a support question and I can't seem to find the solution I contact Autodesk Support. Now Autodesk has two youtube channels dedicated to MEP support.

On the AutoCAD MEP and Revit MEP support side at Autodesk I often speak with two individuals to find the solutions to our clients problems. The two MEP support specialists at Autodesk have launched two channels on youtube called SupportAcadMEP and SupportRevitMEP

At those channels you will find answers to questions that had been asked through Autodesk Support. Check them out you will find the videos very informative and helpful.

Don't forget to signup for a youtube account and subscribe to those channels and the many more channels offered by Autodesk on youtube.

enjoy!

William Wright
Application Consultant

Schedule Parameters from a Nested Family

So you have a family let's say a "Toilet". This toilet is working great in your project you can schedule all the parameters that belong too it, but one thing is missing. The "Flush Handle" of the toilet just wont schedule any of the parameters why is that?

Well if this is you then we have the solution, certain families at times you might want to have nested into another. Example would be two separate families the "Toilet" and the "Flush Handle". The Flush Handle is nested into the Toilet family so they load together in my Revit project.

However in order to have a nested family schedule you need to open the nested family "Flush Handle" select Family Categories and Parameters and make sure Shared is checked in the dialog box under Family Parameters (see photo)

hope this helps Enjoy!

Revit Content Keeps Coming

I was searching the net today and came across some companies that have launched more Revit Content. This content is more on the Architectural side and these companies are well known in the industry and have had content out on the past. Here is the breakdown

KONE - Provides solutions for the installation and maintenance of elevators, escalators & automatic doors.

• With the EcoSpace Toolbox, you can obtain 3D models and Specifications for the EcoSpace Elevator Product you selected based on your specs.
• after selecting and working through the configurator on the webpage click Draw 3D Revit Model
• Now the KONE's configurator will take some time and generate a Revit RFA file that you can now place into your model

Sto Corp - Sto is the world leader in cladding, coating and restoration systems.

• Sto has an Architectural Toolbox this configurator will generate wall types for Revit
• After selecting your options Bldg Type, Wall Structure, System Type & Product Series you are then presented a screen to download the Revit RVT File, download the Spec or Brochure on that Wall Type
• I have tested this and it works nicely.

Jeld Wen - Windows & Doors

• Jeld Wens Architectural Toolbox works much the same as above
• Able to generate Revit Content and Specs from it.

Pella - Windows and Doors

• Pella has a simple Architectural Toolbox you maybe asked to input an email address to view the Revit Content.
• Able to generate Revit content for the product line.

Oh and don't forget to check out CADdetails BIM 3D Design Content for even more manufacturers content.

The companies stated above do not just have Revit content, other content may include sketchup files, dwg files and vectorworks etc. My post is related to Revit.

I completely understand that some of this might not be new, but what I have discovered when speaking with clients is they have issues finding the content when going to the manufacturers website and that could be because a 3rd party company is providing the service / configurator.

I have tried to combine some of the latest I have found and will continue to add as the weeks go by. I hope I helped some people.

Enjoy!

Revit 2010 Switching to classic UI

I was browsing the Autodesk knowledge base and came across the link for switching your Revit 2010 software (Arch, Structure, MEP) user interface from the Ribbon to the 2009 and previous classic user interface.

Click on the following link Switching to pre-2010, Classic user interface

enjoy!

Solar Radiation Technology add on

Latest from Autodesk Labs is an add-on for Revit MEP and Revit Architecture called Solar Radiation Technology Preview. Use the Solar Radiation Technology Preview to analyze the effects of solar radiation on various surfaces of your conceptual building model.

You can find links to a video and read me files on using the add on in the link above. Be sure to have Revit Update #1 for 2010 installed before using this add on.

Revit MEP 2010 Update #1

Old news but good news, I just wanted to make the post link for the latest build for Revit MEP 2010 called Update #1. You can download the build from here Revit MEP 2010 Update #1. Remember that when an update comes out for one version of Revit, example Revit MEP, that same day a the same build will come out for Revit Architecture and Revit Structure.

When collaborating on a project coordinate and discuss with the other disciplines to stay on the same year and build number.

AUGI AEC Edge

AUGI has developed a downloadable mahazine called AUGI AEC Edge. This is an exciting new print and digital publication designed to enable architects, engineers, designers, and builders using Autodesk AEC products to be more productive, better informed and help keep them at the top of their game.

Link can be found here AUGI AEC Edge definately worth the read. I believe the magazine is out quarterly right now starting with this issue.

Control Linked Model Halftone

In my line of work I have clients asking me the question. “How can I control the line weights of an architects model that has been linked into my Revit MEP as a background.

So what has happened is when using Revit MEP, the workflow is to link in the Architects Revit model into your project. When you create views under any other MEP discipline the Architects model (background) is automatically grayed out and the line weights are control by the software. This is a hard coded feature inside of Revit MEP 2009 and previous releases.

Some clients felt that the view was way to light and had troubles viewing the background when the view was printed. In Revit MEP 2009 and previous releases you had to change your MEP views to a different discipline either to Coordination or Architectural and then control the linked model components individually using object styles. This can be a pain especially when you are trying to use the software to its fullest and utilize MEP disciplines to clean up the project browser.

In Revit MEP 2010 the display of the background is still the same hardcoded however Autodesk has created a new setting under Manage > Settings called Halftone / Underlay that will allow you to modify the linked background line weights within a few clicks of the mouse. See screenshots below.

Image 1: As you can see the image to the right shows that I have my 1 – Mech view under Mechanical discipline and HVAC Sub-Discipline.

Image 2: Shows the Architectural background as Revit MEPs default hard coded line weights.

Image 3: In Revit MEP 2010 with your view open that you wish to make the underlay change to click on Manage then click on Settings and activate the Halftone / Underlay tool.

Image 4: With the Halftone / Underlay box open you are able to control the underlay line weight by clicking on the No Override fly out and changing the Weight to a different line weight. Make sure you uncheck Apply Halftone box for this override to work.

Image 5: Or you can click on the reset button and control the halftone of the underlay as indicated in this photos.

This has been a long post, but I hope that the post has helped many of you with your underlay line weight issues. Again assuming you have upgraded to Revit MEP 2010.

Revit MEP Manufactured Content

Revit MEP users have been waiting for a long time ever since the inception of Revit Building Systems now called Revit MEP for Manufactured Specific Content.

Well wait no longer as more and more manufacturers on the mechanical side are creating content for Revit MEP. I have compiled a list of the ones I know of. If you know of more please let me know and I will add them as well. Be careful when using manufacturer content, as some content may be bloated and slow down your model. It is difficult to know who actually build the families for these manufacturers.

Below click on the manufacturer and you will be taken to the Revit content page. Some of the sites require you to create a login.

McQuay International

Trane

Loren Cook

GreenHeck

Price

Titus

York

Ruskin

A.O. Smith

I hope I have been able to help some Revit MEP users with these links. My posts have been far and few between lately, however I will post topics as I find them interesting enough to share.