Resetting Shared Coordinates

If you have ever been through a Revit Coordinate system exercise, you have probably discovered it can be quite confusing at times. As I have discovered, it takes a lot of practice and patience to understand. Sometimes the Revit Soordinate system seems it is not as cut and dry as the AutoCAD Coordinate system, so during our discovery and playing around, we often find we end up getting a little disoriented or having trouble reverting our models back to the way things were prior to tinkering.

One of the areas that can get you into hot water is Shared Coordinates. Revit has two coordinate systems that we can use as references. The first coordinate system is the Project Internal Coordinate System, which is the equivalent of AutoCAD World Coordinate System (WCS). The other coordinate system is the Shared Coordinate System, which is the equivalent of AutoCAD User Coordinate System (UCS).

One of the advantages of Shared Coordinates is users can easily use an agreed upon coordinate system for linking and sharing models. This method works really well for projects that cannot link models using the Origin to Origin option (usually due to a lack of model coordination at the beginning of a project) or for projects that have multiple buildings on a site (campuses and housing developments).

There may be times in which Shared Coordinates among a team need to be reset. Now you may be asking why would anyone want to reset a Shared Coordinate System? Well, Perhaps...

1. You were using a temporary coordinate system at the time you started your project and now that you have a more definitive coordinate system basis, it is time to reset your Shared Coordinates. 
2. You established a Shared Coordinate System that is no longer valid. For example, you might have Acquired Coordinates from a Civil drawing and there was a mistake in the file and a newly updated Coordinate System has been established. 
3. You acquired Coordinates incorrectly to start with and now you need a way to start fresh again. 
4. Other reasons. As we all know, there are plenty of other reasons why we may need to reset our Shared Coordinates. 

If you are interested in learning how to reset your Shared Coordinates, be sure to visit our YouTube channel to watch Resetting Shared Coordinates, and learn the tips and tricks. 

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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. Find him on twitter. 

AutoCAD 2017 Hotfix 1

Here at Ideate, we pride ourselves on being proactive in keeping our customers informed of Autodesk product service packs and hotfixes. Yesterday, the Autodesk AutoCAD Product Team released Hotfix 1 for AutoCAD 2017. Per the Readme file, Hotfix 1 addresses the following issues:

• Layers of Xrefs that are frozen in viewports are plotting ellipses.
• In some languages the model documentation commands are not working.
• The number of hits for GetLineContainment is incorrectly counted.
• Xrefs show as needing reloading when opened from a network path to a  shared folder.

The easiest way for you to download and install Hotfix 1 is via the new Autodesk Desktop App. If the new Autodesk Desktop App didn’t display a notification in your system tray, go to the Windows start button→All Programs→Autodesk→Autodesk Desktop App.

The Autodesk Desktop App replaces the older Autodesk Application Manager upon installing AutoCAD 2017. It is subscription aware and notifies you of service packs, updates, hotfixes, extensions, and learning content for your installed 2015-2017 products. You can categorize your updates for each product by selecting the product icon on the left Navigation Bar. Unfortunately, unlike the old Application Manager, you’re currently unable to tell the App to ignore undesired extensions.

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

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Daniel Armstrong

ENI Application Specialist 

Daniel is an Application Specialist for Infrastructure Solutions at the Ideate Sacramento office. He is a California licensed Civil Engineer and LSIT with over 9 years land development design experience and 7 years Civil–GIS software consulting. Additionally, he provided 6 years of engineering support at a municipal public works department. At Ideate, Daniel assists Civil Engineering and Surveying firms in maximizing their utilization of AutoCAD Civil 3D through consulting, training, mentoring, and technical support. He conducts standard classroom and custom training on AutoCAD, Map 3D, and Civil 3D.

Interoperability: Manage Linked Content

This blog post is the result of a question asked by a contractor who wanted to maintain links to many different types of content, such as equipment specifications and documents. Their goal was to deliver a complete package, including this linked content, to a client so the virtual building could be managed after construction.

The example I am providing here is a modified scenario, explaining a historic building using multiple content links created within Revit families. Schedules in Revit or Ideate BIMLink with external spreadsheets can be used to manage the links. It is not difficult to come up with your own scenario where linked content lends itself to both a better understanding of a building proposal and management of the building.

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The URL links can be made within existing families, say furniture with links to content, or can be custom-made for presentation purposes.

You can author the URL link in Revit, link the Revit file into 3D Studio Max, Showcase or Navisworks, to create deliverables such as rendered images or animations, and link the Revit file with its URL links to Navisworks for easy sharing, using a secure and free viewer. Note that the content is not embedded in Navisworks so the content folder also has to be available.

To get started with creating your own linked content in Revit, watch this video.

For more information on training and consulting for the various products Ideate services visit our website. Don't forget to keep an eye on our blog for continued solutions.

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Jim Cowan

AEC Senior Application Specialist

Jim Cowan’s extensive AEC design industry experience, Autodesk design solutions expertise and status as an Autodesk Certified Instructor have made him a sought after University Curriculum developer, instructor and presenter. Jim’s areas of expertise include eLearning, interoperability between solutions and overcoming barriers to the adoption of Building Information Modeling (BIM). Educated in Architecture at Edinburgh College of Art/Heriot–Watt University and in Landscape Architecture at the University of Manitoba, Jim has special focus on sustainability issues: daylight analysis, sun studies, lighting analysis, modeling buildings and conceptual energy modeling (models with shading devices). You can learn more from Jim on his YouTube Channel.

Revit Architecture: This File Cannot Be Opened - Too Many Missing Elements

We have seen several cases in which customers have had issues opening their Revit files due to missing elements. While attempting to open their file, they receive the following message:

“The file .rvt cannot be opened. There are too many elements missing in it. Please contact Autodesk Support.”

 Possible Causes:

1. There may be an issue with a file that is linked into the project you are attempting to open. For example, if the linked file has many missing elements and the link cannot be loaded, Revit may throw the missing elements warning.
2. It’s possible the file had a problem reading the code to each element in the project. This tends to happen when one or more of the computers in the team is missing an update for Revit, whether they are working on the First Customer Ship (FCS) version, or any of the Updated Versions for Revit. What could happen is if someone saved the Revit file using a newer build of the software, the older version could have issues reading some of the elements within the file, since there is a possibility the newer build changes the way Revit reads a project file. When we are on tech support, we frequently look at the customer’s system to see which build of Revit they are currently using and then ask them to compare that build with others in the office. More times than not, we discover users are all over the place with their builds.

Possible Solutions:

1. With an error like this, it is a good idea to try and audit the file to see if Revit can repair the file first. Chances are slim it will resolve the issue, but auditing is always a good starting point.
2. Check to see if there is a missing linked file. If many elements are attached to a link and the link cannot be resolved, there could be a large number of "missing" elements (Autodesk website).
3. If all the links are loaded without errors, check whether you can recover a backup of the project from before this error occurred. If successful, make sure to audit the recovered project (Autodesk website). It is important to ensure that you have a robust backup system for your Revit files. For example, ensure your office has a general file backup system. Also, make sure you have at least a few backups of your Central files, as well. Lastly, Local files can be used to create new Central files, especially in times of Central file corruption. Ensure users keep a few backups of their local files and remember, ALWAYS create new locals on a daily basis!
4. Verify everyone on the team, or better yet, the entire office, is using the same build of Revit. For example, if one person is using Revit 2015 UR11 (First Customer Shipping version with Update Release 11) and the other is using Revit 2015 R2 UR12 (Second customer shipping version with Update Release 12), you are not on the same build. It is highly recommended everyone update to the latest build to help rule out file instability. Keep in mind, if you already have the file error and then you update everyone on the latest build, Revit will probably not resolve the missing elements issue, but it may reduce the chance of happening again since everyone is now on the same build.
5. If at all possible, you can attempt to upgrade the project to the next release of Revit. For example, if the project was created in Revit 2015, try to see if you can Audit and Upgrade the file to Revit 2016 (remember, make sure everyone is on the same build of Revit). Keep in mind if this is successful and you wish to proceed using the new version of the software, the entire project team must also upgrade their Revit files, as well, since Revit files are NOT backwards compatible. 

Additional Resources to Review:

General Data Corruption

Revit Build Numbers

Recover a Workshared Central File

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

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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. Find him on twitter.

Autodesk Ideas Page

While on tech support at Ideate Inc., I often hear people articulating a new function or feature for an Autodesk product. These suggestions spawn from frustration and inspiration alike. They often come in the form of “I wish the software worked like this.” It turns out there is a place to voice these ideas. It is called the Ideas Page.

The Ideas Page is a part of the knowledge network and is a great place to communicate concerns as well as pitch ideas. If you have an idea, you can check out the site to see if it’s already been submitted. If it has, you can endorse the idea by liking it. The more endorsements an idea gets, the higher the likelihood it will be incorporated into a future release of the product. Occasionally, someone will comment on a post giving work-arounds for the current release.

Check out the Ideas Page. It is one of the ways Autodesk allows customers to give feedback. If you ever have an idea for a feature or function with in a program, I recommend posting it to the Autodesk Ideas Page.

For information on training and consulting for the various products Ideate services, visit our website. Also, check our blog for continued solutions as we encounter them.

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Kate Ming
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.