Bitonal Images in AutoCAD 2013

Many of our customers, especially those using Civil 3D, use bitonal images in their AutoCAD drawing. In a recent support case submitted to Ideate, Inc. these images were not appearing correctly in 2013. The foreground and background are reversed, effectively displaying the image in reverse. This has been identified as a bug by Autodesk, and is, as of the writing of this post, not resolved. It can cause a large headache for our customers so we wanted to alert those that we could to the issue before you decide to upgrade your files to 2013.

It affects only images in the bitmap format (.bmp). It will affect both existing images and any newly inserted images.

The current workarounds are to:

• Use an image format of ‘tagged image file format’ (.tif) or ‘portable network graphics’ (.png).
• Use the Raster Design software to inverse the image (command IINVERT).
• Use an image editor to invert the bitmap image.

The third option may cause additional work if the bug is resolved as they will then reverse again.

---

Jesika DiGregorio
Ideate Technical Support Specialist
Jesika received her Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon where she worked on construction of a student-designed structure. Her work experience includes Junior Designer at an award-winning firm specializing in architecture and land planning, and Intern Architect at a firm that provides services in planning, design, construction documents and construction administration for projects of all sizes. Jesika provides online and phone technical support to Ideate clients from the Ideate Authorized Training Center in Portland, Oregon.

Get it. Know it. Use it.

AutoCAD Civil 3D 2013 – Under Pressure: More on Pressure Pipe Networks

AutoCAD Civil 3D 2013 has some great additions that save you time by making mundane tasks simpler and faster. Gaurav Bagga, Application Specialist at Ideate, Inc. reviews some of those productivity improvements.

Perhaps one of the most sought after features in Civil 3D has been pressure pipes. People had to jump hoops; make the best use of existing features of Civil 3D to create a water line.

With Civil 3D 2013 it is now very easy to create a pressure pipe network in plan and display it in profile.

The workflow is similar to the gravity flow as before – specify the parts list, surface and alignment to get started and then layout the network in plan.

Create the pressure pipe layout including the:

• Pipes
• Bends, tees, and other fittings
• And valves, fire hydrants and other appurtenances

Display the pipes, fittings and appurtenances in profile with a relative ease.

The figure below shows the pressure pipe and a gate valve in plan, profile and model view.

Check out the YouTube Video that describes this advancement.

Don’t forget to look through other great features our Ideate Technical Team has found in the new 2013 releases for Revit Architecture, Revit MEP, Revit Structure, AutoCAD, Navisworks and more: ideateinc.com/2013

---

Gaurav Bagga
Infrastructure Solutions Application Specialist


Gaurav is a well rounded Application Engineer and Project Manager for Infrastructure Solutions at Ideate based out of San Francisco. He has over 15 years experience in construction industry and has been helping numerous small, medium and ENR 500 firms maximize their CAD investment for the last ten years. Gaurav is an Autodesk Certified Instructor and Autodesk Civil 3D Implementation Certified Expert. He has taught at several conferences, CAD Camps and Autodesk University. He has taught AutoCAD, Civil 3D, Land Desktop and Map 3D to thousands of students and helps Ideate develop the Infrastructure Services curriculum and courses. With his extensive CAD technology background he helps Bay Area engineering and surveying firms analyze and improve their design and drawing production process thereby improving productivity and the bottom line. Follow Gaurav on Twitter: @BeGeez

Get it. Know it. Use it.

Autodesk Revit Server 2013 – WAN Collaboration Made Easier

I have to say I’m pretty happy with the updates Autodesk has made to Revit Server 2013. Although certainly not in the forefront of all of the hot new features of Revit 2013, model management and collaboration are certainly just as important in the BIM workflow. How do I know? I see it everyday in Ideate, Inc.’s technical support department; customers needing to know how their project teams spread about several offices can collaborate on a single Revit model.

The biggest change in Revit Server 2013 is now central models can be saved to different servers! Remember in Revit Server 2011 and 2012 there was a single central server and then multiple local servers setup in a hub and spoke-like environment. 

In Revit Server 2013 they’ve switched to a matrix like environment allowing models to be stored on multiple servers depending on the roles assigned to that server.

 

There are three roles of which any combination can be assigned to a server.

Host The Host role supports storing of central models for server based worksharing

Accelerator The Accelerator role allows users to specify that server and access server based data through it

Admin If the Admin role is enabled, then the Revit Server Administrator web-based management utility can be invoked on this server.

Take a look at the quick video I made outlining the setup and some tips I learned when configuring our Revit Server 2013 Network.

Don’t forget to look through other great features our Ideate Technical Team has found in the new 2013 releases for Revit Architecture, Revit MEP, Revit Structure, Civil 3D, AutoCAD, Navisworks, 3ds Max design and more: ideateinc.com/2013

---

Derek Wielkopolski
Technical Support Manager/Application Specialist
Derek holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Roger Williams University, Rhode Island. He is experienced working within the AEC industry from concept design through construction administration for both small and large scale projects. As Ideate’s Support Manager he ensures a timely and quality response to support requests and questions. Follow Derek on Twitter: @dwielk

Get it. Know it. Use it.

What’s New in AutoCAD for Mac 2013

Autodesk just announced their new 2013 products; of which AutoCAD for Mac was released side by side with AutoCAD for the first time ever since the product was released for 2011.  As the Support Manager and AutoCAD for Mac Application Specialist here at Ideate, Inc. I’ve been seeing more and more interest in AutoCAD for Mac as more people are using Macs in the workplace.

AutoCAD for Mac 2013 was released with a whole host of new features and enhanced functionality like, array enhancements, improvements to the hatch editor, more intuitive 3D modeling, PDF underlay support, strike through text, and Model Documentation support. But one of my favorite new features is the Project Manager. 

One of the most requested features I saw from our customers was the ability to have sheet set manager like functionality in AutoCAD for Mac. The Project Manager is their answer, and even goes a step further to incorporate some Mac OS-centric features.

Think of the Project Manager as a file cabinet for your DWGs. It organizes your drawing’s layouts and sheets; all of which can be accessed, modified, and plotted right from within the Project Manager without having to use Finder or Spotlight to hunt through numerous project folders on your network.

The Project Manager uses .dst files to store project information. For those familiar with AutoCAD for the Windows platform you’ll notice this is the same file the Sheet Set Manager uses. You can work with these files between both platforms seamlessly adding to, modifying or creating new projects as needed. Each Project Manager project contains its own standard properties like, project name, number, client, etc. and any custom properties you define as well.

Projects can be organized by discipline in an easy to navigate drill down format, and can be divided into groups, for example; Architectural, Structural, and MEP. Those groups can then be divided into sub-groups; Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing, and Fire Protection. After adding your DWGs or specific layouts to their respective groups, the Project Manager will populate each drawing’s layouts as part of the sheet list. Sheets also contain both standard and custom properties that can be modified, including whether or not the sheet is included in the Publish list for batch plotting. Once a DWG has been added to a project you can easily open that file by first clicking on one of its layouts then by clicking on the reference, launching a new window with that drawing ready for editing. Need to find that dwg on your network? Not a problem, you can easily use the “Open in Finder” button to quickly find it (one of those Mac OS-centric features I can’t live without).

And when you’re ready to print your sheet set you can use Publish. Publishing a sheet set is a quick couple of clicks and eliminates having to open individual DWGs and manually plotting each layout. You have the option to plot to a physical plotter or the built in Mac OS PDF generator. Each sheet can use its own page setup or all sheets can use a specified uniform page setup.

Want to see the Project Manager in action? Take a look at this video.

Don’t forget to look through other great features our Ideate Technical Team has found in the new 2013 releases for Revit Architecture, Revit MEP, Revit Structure, Civil 3D, AutoCAD, Navisworks and more: ideateinc.com/2013

---

Derek Wielkopolski
Technical Support Manager/Application Specialist
Derek holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Roger Williams University, Rhode Island. He is experienced working within the AEC industry from concept design through construction administration for both small and large scale projects. As Ideate’s Support Manager he ensures a timely and quality response to support requests and questions. Follow Derek on Twitter: @dwielk

Get it. Know it. Use it.

Classroom Training – Open 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.

Here are a few of the training opportunities Ideate has to offer in the coming weeks:

4.23-25::Seattle
AutoCAD Fundamentals
4.24-26::Seattle
Revit Architecture Fundamentals
4.30-5.2::Sacramento
Civil 3D Fundamentals

Know your software. Sign up now!

Classroom Training - Open Classes + $200 Off Training with Ideate

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.

Here are a few of the training opportunities Ideate has to offer in the coming days:

7.13-15::San Francisco
Revit Structure Fundamentals
7.18-20::Seattle
Civil 3D Fundamentals
7.20-22::Sacramento
AutoCAD Fundamentals

Know your software. Sign up now!

Know It. Savings.

Ideate subscription clients who have or renew their Autodesk software subscriptions are eligible to save $200 on training on one Fundamentals or Advanced class. Training must be purchased by 7.31.2011. Course must be completed by 12.16.2011. Read all the details here.

Navisworks Clash Detective Replacement? Insight on BIMsight.

Read the review by Ideate Inc.’s own Teresa Martin on BIMSight beta 1.1 from Tekla Corporation.

While you’re there, be sure to subscribe to Teresa’s blog: http://bimnewworld.blogspot.com/

About Teresa:
Teresa is a graduate of Cornell University and has over 20 years experience in the architectural and construction industry. She has spent her career pursuing her interest in 3D modeling and computer-aided-design having worked alternately as a designer, project manager, CAD manager, 3D modeler and educator. Teresa currently develops curriculum and customized content as an Revit Implementation Expert. As a trainer in Revit, Navisworks, and Ecotect, Teresa brings her real-world experience to the classroom.

About the Ideate Tech Team:
The experienced Ideate Team includes civil engineers, architects, designers, mechanical engineers and others with experience in facilities management, process piping, structural, and HVAC design. Learn more about them here.

Get it. Know it. Use it.

Revit Leads SERA Architects to LEED Gold

Check out this feature on greenbuildingpro.com that summarizes the Ideate, Inc. Study in Success: Revit Leads SERA Architects to LEED Gold.

“The Courtyard by Marriott Portland City Center opened for guests May, 2009 in the Portland, Oregon downtown urban core. Designed by BIM-focused Portland-based SERA Architects and developed by Sage Hospitality, the hotel stands where a vacant and deteriorating once bank/office building stood. As SERA’s market partner and source of software solutions, Ideate, Inc. assisted SERA in this achievement.”

Or download the entire Study in Success PDF here.

Get it. Know it. Use it.

Ideate BIMLink - It Slices, It Dices, It Spellchecks

Kudos to our friend Ishtmeet Singh at GBJ Architecture who suggested we try Ideate BIMLink to spell-check our projects. Sometimes it's the simplest things that are the most useful. I'm embarrassed to say that I did not realize Autodesk Revit Spell Check only works on a per sheet basis. Thanks to Ishtmeet for the great idea. I'm happy to report that Ideate BIMLink handles text like a charm. Being able to utilize my Microsoft Office dictionary on all my Autodesk Revit text is VERY useful. What about handing the full list of text off to your spec writer?? This video shows using Microsoft Excel to catch spelling errors and other great Microsoft Excel text editing tools like changing the case from Sentence Case to Upper Case.



- Glynnis Patterson, Ideate Director of Services
www.ideatebimlink.com

Push. Pull. Power.

Why Autodesk?

Ideate, Inc. is proud to be a successful Autodesk partner.

We believe in the software products we sell and the company we work with. Here are just a few reasons:

• broadest and deepest product portfolio in the design world
  
• 100% of Fortune 100 companies use Autodesk
  
• over 9 million users
  
• 3300 development partners (including the Ideate Explorer for Revit!)
  more than 2 million students train on Autodesk products every year (including at Ideate!)
  
• explore your design ideas, from initial concept through development and documentation
  
• visualize your project with photorealistic renderings and walkthroughs, so clients experience your design as if it were already built
  
• analyze your project, test how it will perform in the real world
  
• you can make more sustainable design decisions earlier in the design process

What does Autodesk software do for you?

Three things... greater efficiency, productivity, and innovation. When you optimize your designs before they’re built, you avoid expensive and time-consuming delays. When you improve collaboration among teams, you accelerate project cycles. And when you combine those things, you have the freedom to innovate during the design process. An innovative design process helps you solve your business challenges, and that’s where you get your competitive advantage.

For more on the Autodesk story, and great interactive view of product capability, click here.

Gain a competitive advantage with Ideate and Autodesk today.

Autodesk Revit Architecture 2010 - Curtain Wall Type

Trying to create a Louver system, but struggling with arrays and formulas and parameters in a Revit family?

Try using the Curtain Wall tool instead!

• Create a custom mullion type (Select a mullion>Element Properties>Type Properties>


• Specify the Louver angle under ‘Angle’ and the size of the louver under Thickness and Width.
  

• Now create a new Curtain Wall Type and check ‘Automatically Embed’, the Panels to ‘Empty Panel’, Set the spacing as desired, Border Mullions to None and Interior Horizontal mullion to this custom mullion type.


• And there it is!

Submitted by:
Shruti Harve, MS, LEED AP – AEC Solutions Application Specialist
Shruti holds a Master of Science degree in Architectural Computing from University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom and is a LEED accredited professional. Her experience includes working in architecture and construction firms in India and the United Kingdom as well as structural engineering firms in the Bay Area providing design, 3D modeling and drafting services. Shruti is an Autodesk Architectural Desktop Certified Expert and provides training and support for Revit Architecture and AutoCAD Architecture.