October 29, 2015

Download and Install Revit 2016 Release 2


Autodesk has rolled out the Revit 2016 Release 2 to all Subscription Customers. Last year we saw a great deal of confusion around the naming convention for Update Releases and Releases of Revit causing installation issues.

As anticipated the midyear Revit 2016 Release 2 brings many New Enhancements and Tools to the software... but where do we go to get the Installation?    

There are Two (2) primary places to get your Revit 2016 R2:

1. Sign in to your Autodesk Account Manage


2. Launch the Autodesk Application Manager


Please see the following Screencast of these two processes:

After the installation the changed build should be reflected in the About drop down of Revit. For my Revit install from the Building Design Suite my build now shows 16.0.1063.0 20151007_0715(x64) R2.



Hope this helps get the new Revit Release 2 installed. Look for a further list of what’s new at the following link:

For information on training and consulting for the various products Ideate services, visit our website at www.ideateinc.com



Bradley Cooley

AEC Application Specialist


 Bradley earned his Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Oregon, the Portland, Oregon campus, where his special research and design emphasis was on commercial production facilities including wineries, breweries and distilleries. Bradley’s professional experience has a design focus on build services for residential construction and environmental graphics. Within his community, he volunteers as a youth athletics coach. As Ideate’s Services Manager and a Revit Instructor, Bradley provides Revit MEP training and support for AEC firms. He is based in the Ideate Portland, Oregon office.

Get it. Know it. Use it.

October 28, 2015

The One Survey Command in Civil 3D That Makes the Difference


Entering property boundary from a deed or just typing a traverse using bearing and distance command is very common in the survey world. While Civil 3D has had tools that enable coordinate geometry entry there was room for improvement.

The new coordinate geometry tool displays rich temporary graphics for bearing and distances and gives you a feedback as you enter the information. It has a very intuitive and easy interface that hopes to simplify manual entry of coordinates with minimal learning curve. 
 
As you can see from the figure below labels on the traverse are temporary and will go away when the COGO editor is closed. The temporary graphics are not affected by the AutoCAD regen command. You can read the traverse from an existing polyline or enter the whole traverse manually by typing in the bearing and distances. There are two different tabs for data entry and traverse balancing.

In addition, you can do mathematical calculations/equations within the cells for bearing and distance calculations, grid to ground conversions, etc. To learn more click here.
 
 
 
  
 
This powerful tool is part of the Civil 3D 2016 Productivity pack. You can get this and other tools by downloading and installing the productivity pack from your Autodesk account. Once installed it can be accessed from the Toolbox tab or Toolspace.
 
Thank you for reading. For more information on AutoCAD and other Autodesk products, and information on training and consulting for the various products Ideate services, visit our website at www.ideateinc.com.



 

Senior Application Specialist Infrastructure 

Gaurav is a Senior Application Specialist for Infrastructure Solutions at Ideate based out of San Francisco. He has over 18 years of experience in construction and related software industry. With this extensive design technology background he helps engineering and surveying companies, federal and state government agencies, and ENR 500 firms critically analyze and improve their construction drawing production process. He implements Civil infrastructure design technology led by InfraWorks and Civil 3D and has helped Ideate grow Civil Infrastructure Services. Being an industry recognized speaker he has presented cutting edge design technology at several industry conferences such as Autodesk University. @BeGeez

 

October 26, 2015

e-Learning - Upcoming Revit and Ideate Software Classes

Join the Ideate Tech Experts for eLearning – live online classes that provide your entire organization with easy access to premium education.
10.28::Revit 201:
Stairs and Railings in Revit Architecture
10.29::Revit 201:
Roofs in Revit Architecture
11.4::Revit 201:
Working with Parts in Revit
11.5::Ideate Software:
Revit Model Management with Ideate BIMLink
11.10::Revit 201: 
Revit Import into 3ds Max
11.11::Ideate Software:
Auditing Your Revit Project with Ideate Explorer
11.12::Revit 201:
Getting Started with Presentations in Revit Architecture
11.19::Ideate Software:
Ideate BIMLink for Revit MEP Projects
Each class is designed to give you specific, improved results in a particular topic. You can interact with the instructor right from your own office, while eliminating travel time. Because the class schedule rotates, you can easily select your topics of interest and choose the day which best meets your schedule.

Click here for class descriptions, times and registration link. Questions? Contact education@ideateinc.com

Get It. Know It. Use It.

Classroom Training - Open AutoCAD, Revit MEP, Revit Architecture, Revit Structure and AutoCAD Classes

Know It. Ideate Training.

Position yourself to land dream projects. Tap the full potential of your software solutions. Increase your facility, fluidity and capability to maximize the value of your precision software tools.
11.2-11.4::San Francisco
AutoCAD Fundamentals
11.5-11.6::San Francisco
Revit MEP - Electrical Fundamentals
11.10-11.12::Seattle
Revit Architecture Fundamentals
11.11-11.13::San Francisco
Revit Architecture Fundamentals
11.12-11.13::San Jose
AutoCAD Beyond the Basics
11.17-11.19::San Francisco
Revit Structure Beyond the Basics
Know your software. Sign up now! 

Contact the Ideate Training Department at 888.662.7238 x1012 or education@ideateinc.com

October 22, 2015

AutoCAD 2016 PDF Enhancements Part One – Hyperlinks and Bookmarks


AutoCAD 2016 has many enhancements which we at Ideate, Inc. are detailing for you.  PDF creation has several improvements worth noting.

Maintaining document hyperlinks and creating bookmarks when printing to a PDF

In previous versions of AutoCAD, if a drawing had a hyperlinks, the links were not maintained in a PDF created from the drawing. With AutoCAD 2016, a drawing’s hyperlinks are maintained or converted to PDF bookmark links when printing to PDF. A link to a website or a specific document will retain its link in the PDF. A link to another drawing within a drawing set will be converted to a bookmark link in the PDF. This is useful, for example, when you have a title page drawing with links to each document in a set. When the title page and set are printed to PDF, the drawing links are converted to PDF bookmark links.  Within the PDF, when a link is selected, it jumps to the specific PDF within the set. 
 
These new options can be found in the Export to PDF options dialog box, shown below. 

 
These In short, PDFs created from AutoCAD drawings can maintain the drawing’s hyperlinks and have PDF bookmarks.
 
Thank you for reading.  For more information on AutoCAD and other Autodesk products, check out our blog.  Additionally, for information on training and consulting for the various products Ideate services, visit our website at www.ideateinc.com.
 
 

 

Kate Ming

Ideate AEC Application Specialist

Kate is a California licensed civil engineer with a BS in Civil and Environmental Engineering from UC Berkeley. Prior to Ideate, she worked at a multinational company for four years doing general civil design on large infrastructure projects. She is versed in roadway, rail, utility design and site development. She also has experience with utility demand analysis and Low Impact Development plans. As a Civil 3D Autodesk Certified Professional Kate provides training and support for Civil 3D, AutoCAD, and InfraWorks.

 

October 21, 2015

Autodesk Webcast Series: The Evolution of AutoCAD Civil 3D - Part 1


Are you still using Land Desktop every day or are you working in a previous release of AutoCAD Civil 3D thinking "there is no need to move to the current release"? Maybe you are contemplating making the move to AutoCAD Civil 3D? In this webcast series, we will trael through time and show you the ease of bringing that Land Desktop data forward and how to use it once in AutoCAD Civil 3D. We'll have a conversation about styles - what and how many you actually need to get that company template rolling. We will progress through the release from 2010 to 2016 and show you all the great reasons to move forward to AutoCAD Civil 3D 2016 and not look back.

Date: Wednesday October 28, 2015
Time: From 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM (Pacific Standard Time)


For more information on training and consulting for the various products Ideate services, visit our website at www.ideateinc.com

October 19, 2015

eLearning - Upcoming Revit, and Ideate Software Classes

Join the Ideate Tech Experts for eLearning – live online classes that provide your entire organization with easy access to premium education.
10.21::Ideate Software: 
Introduction to Ideate Sticky
10.22::Revit 201:
Getting Started with Roof Framing in Revit Structure
10.23::Revit 201:
Site Tools
10.28::Revit 201:
Stairs and Railings in Revit
10.29::Revit 201:
Roofs in Revit Architecture
11.4::Revit 201:
Working with Parts in Revit
11.5::Ideate Software:
Revit Model Management with Ideate BIMLink
Each class is designed to give you specific, improved results in a particular topic. You can interact with the instructor right from your own office, while eliminating travel time. Because the class schedule rotates, you can easily select your topics of interest and choose the day which best meets your schedule.

Click here for class descriptions, times and registration link. Questions? Contact education@ideateinc.com

Get It. Know It. Use It.

Classroom Training - Open Revit Architecture, Revit MEP, and AutoCAD Classes

Know It. Ideate Training.

Position yourself to land dream projects. Tap the full potential of your software solutions. Increase your facility, fluidity and capability to maximize the value of your precision software tools.
10.27-10.28::Portland
Revit Architecture Beyond the Basics
10.27-10.29::Seattle
Civil 3D Fundamentals
11.2-11.4::San Francisco
AutoCAD Fundamentals
11.5-11.6::San Francisco
Revit MEP - Electrical Fundamentals
11.10-11.12::Seattle
Revit Architecture Fundamentals
11.12-11.13::San Jose
AutoCAD Beyond the Basics
Know your software. Sign up now! 

Contact the Ideate Training Department at 888.662.7238 x1012 or education@ideateinc.com

October 15, 2015

Color Elements by Parameter Quickly Using Ideate BIMLink

I was recently presented with an Ideate BIMLink tech support case in which a customer was interested in overriding the surface pattern and color of Revit model elements that he needed to edit in the near-future. After running through their Structural Analysis program, he identified elements that needed to be edited or swapped out, and then wanted to change the color through Excel and have that color change the surface patterns of those elements when imported back into Revit.

One of the solutions that we provided him was to create a custom Yes/No parameter and add that parameter to the Structural categories (or most categories for that matter) in Revit. This parameter was called EDIT Element Reminder and since it was a Yes/No parameter, it produced a checkbox. A check in the box would then remind the user that he or she needed to edit the element at some point.

In addition to creating the checkbox, we also recommended that he create a Multi-Category schedule for most of the Revit categories and then add all of the Parameters that they want to see and export. Included in these schedules was the custom EDIT Element Reminder Yes/No Parameter, which also has a conditional format parameter to fill the cell color in Red when set to Yes. From there, he could then export the schedule using Ideate BIMLink, run his analysis tools, identify the elements that required editing and then change the status in Excel. From there, that Excel file can be imported, which will then change the status of those elements. In turn, those elements will be flagged in the schedule, alerting the user to Edit the element.

In addition to creating the parameters and schedules, we also recommend that they create custom 3D Coordination Views that only displayed the categories of elements that they were interested in editing. To that view, we added a Filter that would color the elements that required editing, which uses the EDIT Element Reminder parameter as the driving force behind the color change. Elements that did not require editing would then half tone, allowing the elements that needed editing to stand out.

Using custom parameters, filters, and Ideate BIMLink, you can quickly add a status to Revit elements as a reminder to add or edit information for each of the elements that you choose to edit. In the example shown, all elements in red need to be edited, while the half-toned elements do not.



 
 
In order to add the reminder, we are first going to start off by adding some Yes/No Project Parameters and then apply them to categories that you want to remind yourself to Edit. For this example, we are going to create a custom Yes/No parameter for all Instance based Revit categories. You may want to consider unchecking views since they are not elements.
 



Here is the example of the Edit Element Reminder Project Parameter that we created for the selected Revit categories (from the previous image).

 
 
Once the parameters have been created, we went ahead and created Coordination Views that isolated the element categories that we wanted to have a better look at. We also created separate schedules for categories we wanted to add reminders to. In this example, we created a
Multi-Category Schedule, which schedules most Revit categories (system families, masses, etc. are NOT included in Multi-Category Schedules) and then created schedules for other categories that are not included in a Multi-Category Schedule.

 
 
 
Here is an example of a Multi-Category Schedule with the EDIT Element Reminder parameter added. Once we determine which elements we need to edit (say we did a Structural Analysis and determined that we need to edit the properties of certain structural elements), we can use Excel and BIMLink to quickly change the statuses of elements and remind ourselves to review the elements at a later time. Keep in mind that we can add as many Parameters that we wish to, which will help us to make informed decisions.



In addition to creating the custom schedules with our newly created parameter(s), we also added a Conditional Format to the Edit Element Reminder Parameter. In this example, if we place a checkbox in the Edit Element Reminder field, it will color the schedule cell Red to remind us that we need to make changes to that element(s).



 
Once the parameters, views, and schedules have been created, we are ready to export our Schedules using Ideate BIMLink. In this example, we are exporting our data using the BIMLink Multi-Category option. Unlink the Revit Multi-Category option, Ideate BIMLink’s Multi-Category is more robust and includes many more Revit categories, allowing you to edit one Excel spreadsheet instead of many. After the export, we can use Excel to change the EDIT Element Reminder statuses, which will remind us which elements to edit in the future.
 

Before exporting the BIMLink Multi-Category link, it is advised that you visit the Filters tab and filter the list by the Edit Element Reminder Parameter whose condition “is editable”. This will ensure that your Excel file only shows categories that have the Edit Element Reminder parameter applied to it. By utilizing this method, you will omit categories such as views, annotations, etc., which do not have the Edit Element Reminder parameter applied to them.



Once the Export is complete, you are ready to edit your parameters. In this example, we are interested in changing the status of the Edit Element Reminder Yes/No parameter. Perhaps we ran a structural analysis or had a client meeting and determined that we need to make changes to particular elements in the Revit model. If this is a case, we will add a reminder to edit those elements. In addition, we can add some comments and explain why we need to edit those elements. For Yes/No parameters, you choices are TRUE (Yes) or FALSE (No). When imported back into Revit using Ideate BIMLink, TRUE values will result in a checkmark and FALSE values will not.




Once the Excel file has been edited, we can then import the Excel document back into Revit using Ideate BIMLink, which will then update the Revit model and corresponding schedules. In the example show here, we have several structural columns that we added reminders to, which are flagged with checkboxes and a red color fill. We also added some comments, which reminds us why we need to make the change.

 
 
If you are interested in applying color to the elements that you need to edit, you could create some filters that represent the Yes and/or No statuses and then apply those filters to the view that you want to see the color in. For this example, we created filters for the YES and NO values. We will add these filters to the 3D color view and color each of the elements that have a YES status and Halftone each of the elements that have a NO status. By utilizing the YES and the NO filters, the color will pop out, and the elements that we are not interested in editing will fade out in the background.


Once the filters have been created, you can then go to the view that you want to override with color and add those filters to the Filters tab of the Visibility/Graphics dialogue box. In this example, we added the YES filter and applied a red color and solid fill pattern to the Surface Patterns of the elements that we want to edit, and then for all of the NO’s we utilized the halftone option. 
 
 
 
With all of the pieces in place, we have created a view that clearly distinguishes the elements that need editing (colored elements) and the ones that do not (halftoned). After you edit each element (swap out, change properties, etc), you can then select the element and remove the checkbox from the EDIT Element Reminder parameter in the Properties Dialogue Box (better yet, you can re-export the schedule using Ideate BIMLink and set all the values to FALSE, which will indicate that you edited each element). After doing so, those elements will then turn to halftone, indicating that they no longer require editing.
 
 
 

For more information on training and consulting for the various products Ideate services, visit our website at
www.ideateinc.com
 


 

Sash Kazeminejad

AEC Senior Application Specialist

Sash brings proficiency in Autodesk solutions including AutoCAD and Revit Architecture to Ideate customers. His industry experience includes project management, BIM Management, and design for Architectural firms in California, Montana and Oregon. He is LEED accredited professional and is on track to achieve California licensure with Oregon to follow. In his academic life, Sash was awarded a variety of college scholarships, earned a BA in Environmental Design, a MA in Architecture from Montana State University (MSU) and taught Building Information Modeling courses at MSU Gallatin College. As a Revit Architecture Autodesk Certified Instructor, Sash provides Revit Architecture training and support for AEC firms.@sashpdx 

October 14, 2015

Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D 2016: IFC Export & Create 3D Solids from Pipe Networks


As the ENI Manager at Ideate, I am always interested in new features and tools that help our customers move toward a model-based design workflow.  As a civil engineer, I have used Civil 3D for many years to develop 3D models for transportation and infrastructure projects, and have also encountered the difficulties in providing that model data to other consultants on the project.

This year, Autodesk has added new and improved tools for streamlining the Building Information Modeling (BIM) workflow from a civil engineering perspective.  Once a surface or pipe network model has been created using Civil 3D 2016 software, options for extracting 3D solids from those objects are now available.  The Extract Solids from Surface command is built-in to Civil 3D 2016, and you can find out more about the command in Gaurav’s post here:
  

The release of Civil 3D 2016 Productivity Pack 1 in August (you can download and install it using the Application Manager) adds a new tool called Create 3D Solids from Pipe Networks.  This tool activates a command called CREATE3DSOLIDS and works on both standard Pipe Networks and Pressure Pipe Networks and can be found in the Toolbox tab of the Toolspace.
 
 
 
In order to use this tool, a Pipe Network or Pressure Pipe Network must exist in the drawing, and for best results, it is recommended that the View Direction be switched to one of the Isometric options (SW, SE, NW, NE).

 
Once these settings are in place, double-click the tool in the Toolbox tab and follow the instructions at the Command Line to select the parts for conversion, and delete the originals or keep them to create overlapping 3D solids.

So where does this fall in the BIM workflow? 




Civil 3D 2016 includes a new export option called Export to IFC or Industry Foundation Class.  Industry Foundation Class (.IFC) files were established by buildingSMART® as a way to promote collaborative design and BIM based on open standards and workflows regardless of software choice.  In order to support this movement, Autodesk has included the .IFC export option in 2016 AutoCAD and Revit products, however Civil 3D objects must be converted to 3D solids before they can be exported. 

The combination of the new Create 3D Solids from Pipe Network tool in Productivity Pack 1 along with the IFC Export option added in 2016 now further enhances the BIM capabilities of Civil 3D and streamlines the workflow for exporting Civil 3D objects to an industry compatible format.
 

For more information on training and consulting for the various products Ideate services, visit our website at
www.ideateinc.com
 


 

Matt Miyamoto

ENI Manager & Senior Application Specialist

Jim Matt is an ENI Manager and Senior Application Specialist in Ideate, Inc.’s Seattle office. He has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and is a licensed Civil Engineer. Prior to joining Ideate, Matt worked as a civil engineer, using Civil 3D on a variety of projects including site development, roadway improvements and infrastructure design. With over 10 years of experience in the civil engineering industry, Matt now provides training, consulting, technical support, and implementation strategies for organizations transitioning to Civil 3D. Matt is an Autodesk Certified Instructor (ACI), as well as an Autodesk Certified BIM Specialist: Roads and Highway Solutions. Additionally, Matt is and Autodesk Certified Professional for AutoCAD, and AutoCAD Civil 3D. He can be found on twitter as @MattM_PE

October 13, 2015

Time Out Of Your Busy Life For A Reflective Moment. A Thought From IX (#9)


Hi folks IX (#9) here.  One of the Senior Application Specialist here at Ideate, Inc.

In this busy world of ours it can be hard to find time to sit back and take a break. A breather if you will and reflex on our personal and professional lives.
 
So for you BLOG readers I give you this opportunity to do just that.  Take my thought of the day and apply it to your personal and professional lives.

I often wonder if I am the man that I would be.  If I were the boy dreaming of the man that I would be.

Happy reflecting…

Cheers

XI



For more information on training and consulting for the various products Ideate services, visit our website at
www.ideateinc.com
 

 

Eugene O'Day

AEC Senior Application Specialist

Eugene A. O’Day, IX, with more than 25 years of architectural and mechanical experience, offers a trained focus on all things Revit and BIM. Teaching is a passion of his. Eugene has been an instructor in undergraduate degree programs, has traveled worldwide teaching Autodesk solutions to major corporations, has taught at accredited ATCs throughout the Northwestern region, and is a frequent and popular instructor, speaker, and presenter for AUGI® CAD Camps, Revit – and related product user groups. He has also been a trusted public school district advisor on new drafting instructor hires. At Ideate, Eugene provides training and support for Revit Architecture, Revit Structure and AutoCAD. Eugene is also a Revit Architecture Autodesk Certified Professional.


October 12, 2015

eLearning - Upcoming Revit, Infrastructure, Navisworks and Ideate Software Classes

Join the Ideate Tech Experts for eLearning – live online classes that provide your entire organization with easy access to premium education.
10.13::Ideate Software:
Ideate BIMLink for Revit MEP Projects
10.14::Navisworks 201:
Clash Detection
10.16::Infrastructure 201:
Civil 3D - Data Shortcuts
10.21::Ideate Software: 
Introduction to Ideate Sticky
10.22::Revit 201:
Getting Started with Roof Framing in Revit Structure
10.23::Revit 201:
Site Tools
11.5::Ideate Software:
Revit Model Management with Ideate BIMLink
Each class is designed to give you specific, improved results in a particular topic. You can interact with the instructor right from your own office, while eliminating travel time. Because the class schedule rotates, you can easily select your topics of interest and choose the day which best meets your schedule.

Click here for class descriptions, times and registration link. Questions? Contact education@ideateinc.com

Get It. Know It. Use It.

Classroom Training - Open Revit Architecture, Revit MEP, AutoCAD and AutoCAD Civil 3D Classes

Know It. Ideate Training.

Position yourself to land dream projects. Tap the full potential of your software solutions. Increase your facility, fluidity and capability to maximize the value of your precision software tools.
10.14-10.15::Seattle
AutoCAD Beyond the Basics
10.20-10.22::San Jose
Revit Architecture Fundamentals
10.20-10.22::Sacramento 
Civil 3D Fundamentals
10.27-10.28::Portland
Revit Architecture Beyond the Basics
11.2-11.4::San Francisco
AutoCAD Fundamentals
11.5-11.6::San Francisco
Revit MEP - Electrical Fundamentals
Know your software. Sign up now! 

Contact the Ideate Training Department at 888.662.7238 x1012 or education@ideateinc.com

October 9, 2015

Revit MEP 2016 Circuit Sequence Options


In Revit 2016, one of the new Electrical Enhancements is Circuit Sequencing Options. This has been added to the Circuit Sequence drop down menu in the Electrical Settings dialog to provide users the ability to specify the sequence in which the power circuits are created.

In order to set the sequence:

Open the Electrical Settings window (via the Manage tab > Settings panel, MEP Settings drop list > Electrical Settings). On the left side, select General, then go to the Settings column on the right. In the Settings column, find the row for Circuit Sequence.


Under the pull down menu, users can now set the sequence to:

• Numerical (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12): The standard way Revit has circuited elements.


• Group by Phase (1,3,5 / 2,4,6 / 7,9,11/8,10,12)


• Odd then Even (1,3,5,7,9 ,11/ 2,4,6,8,10,12)


Once the selection is made on how the circuit needs to be created, the electrical device is then selected and the circuits will be added in the way the circuit sequence is specified to help improve productivity.


Revit MEP 2016 Circuit Sequence Options
 
...View video below...
 



For more information on training and consulting for the various products Ideate services, visit our website at
www.ideateinc.com
 


 

Vasudha Dixit

MEP Application Specialist

Vasudha is an MEP Application Specialist at Ideate, Inc. based on San Francisco office. She has a Master’s degree in Energy Engineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago where she specialized in HVAC design, green buildings and energy analysis. Prior to Ideate, she interned at a few multinational companies where she performed finite element analysis for design validation of components. Vasudha provides Revit MEP training and support for various AEC firms.

October 8, 2015

The One Pipe Labeling Command That You Always Wanted In Civil 3D Has Arrived


Ever wanted to label the station and/or elevation of pipes crossing an alignment and wondered how.

Wait no more – that functionality has arrived with Civil 3D 2016.

Yes, you can now label station & elevation (see figure below for more crossing pipe labeling options) for a storm, sanitary and pressure pipes in profile.


It’s really easy - invoke the usual labeling command from Annotate tab > Add Labels. (Click on the top half as highlighted below, not the bottom half of the split icon)

 
This will display the Add Labels dialog box as below.

 
In the dialog box, select Pipe Network under feature and Single Part Profile or Entire Part Profile for Label type and, as highlighted above, you will see a new option for Crossing pipe label style in Civil 3D 2016. Click Add and pick the pipe crossing the alignment in the profile view.

And there you have it. Simple, isn’t it?

See the label I added below showing the station and elevation for outside top and bottom of storm pipe.
 


 
For more information on training and consulting for the various products Ideate services, visit our website at www.ideateinc.com
 


 

Guarav Bagga

Senior Application Specialist Infrastructure 

Gaurav is a Senior Application Specialist for Infrastructure Solutions at Ideate based out of San Francisco. He has over 18 years of experience in construction and related software industry. With this extensive design technology background he helps engineering and surveying companies, federal and state government agencies, and ENR 500 firms critically analyze and improve their construction drawing production process. He implements Civil infrastructure design technology led by InfraWorks and Civil 3D and has helped Ideate grow Civil Infrastructure Services. Being an industry recognized speaker he has presented cutting edge design technology at several industry conferences such as Autodesk University. @BeGeez

October 7, 2015

Revit 2016 Place Rooms and Open Sheet Views


After a long hiatus to Afghanistan, I have once again returned to the office to find a few changes… the Portland @Ideateinc office moved to a new a location, @IdeateSoftware released a new product called “Sticky”, and of course, @Autodesk released a new version of #Revit. So where does one begin??? Let’s start by looking at two new features within Revit 2016 that have caught my eye…

The first improvement that I liked is the ability of placing rooms within enclosed spaces of your model with a single click. In previous releases, the placement of rooms within a model was a long and arduous process of picking enclosed spaces in order to add a room element. Now with Revit 2016, selecting the Room tool reveals a new Tool called “Place Rooms Automatically”. Selecting this tool will automatically place rooms in any valid enclosed space greater than ¼ square foot, on the current level selected in the Options bar. This dramatically reduces the laborious process of picking enclosed spaces individually.   




Another feature that appealed to me is the ability to locate and open a Sheet view that a view has been placed on. This includes any 3D, Section, Callout, Plan, Elevation, Drafting or Detail view. In earlier releases, I would need to look through several Sheet views to find the sheet a particular view had been placed in. With Revit 2016, right-clicking over a view name in the Project Browser reveals a new option in the context sensitive menu called “Open Sheet”. Revit will immediately locate and open the sheet. Talk about efficiency! No more scrolling through several sheet views. 





If you would like to check these new features out or see what else is new in Revit 2016, take a look at my, and my colleagues blogs on the Ideate, Inc. YouTube page.  


For more information on training and consulting for the various products Ideate services, visit our website at
www.ideateinc.com
 

 

Ron Palma

AEC Application Specialist

Ron has over 24 years of experience in the architectural industry as a drafter, designer, lead project designer, trainer, and a CAD manager implementing Autodesk Architectural Solutions for a residential design firm. His instructional background includes being an Autodesk Certified Instructor (ACI), trainer, support technician, educator at Portland and Clackamas Community Colleges, as well as a U.S. Army certified instructor where he was a senior instructor at Ft Lewis Washington. Ron is a member of the Oregon Army National Guard, where he is a platoon sergeant specializing in training and mentoring soldiers in their careers. Ron is a published writer and continues to author professional technical training manuals and shorts for AutoCAD, AutoCAD Architecture, and Revit. As an Autodesk Certified Instructor and Revit Architecture Autodesk Certified Professional, Ron provides Revit Architecture and AutoCAD training and support for AEC firms. @RonPalmaAEC

October 6, 2015

Sand Cinema : Leap Sand Castle Contest


This is Leap's 32nd annual sandcastle contest, which will be based on the theme "Sand Cinema" this year. This contest is unique because it brings together professionals from the building industry with local elementary schools to create giant sand sculptures. The process includes everything from mini-classroom sessions to getting the kids in the sand.


Leap's program serves over 30 schools and 7,000 students across the Bay Area with hands-on learning experiences in the arts. Leap is an organization dedicated to arts education in public elementary schools, and includes a wide range of teaching experiences - architecture, painting, sculpture, creative writing, theater, music, and dance. Leap was able to raise over $262,000 during the 2014 sandcastle contest.
 
Date: Saturday October 10th, 2015
Time: From 10:30 am to 4:30 pm (Pacific Standard Time)


For more information on training and consulting for the various products Ideate services, visit our website at www.ideateinc.com