Inside the System

Making Your Way in the World Today

Takes everything you've got....or at least the Steering Wheel and a Revit Camera View.

The Steering Wheel
The Steering Wheel is a new navigation tool that's been implemented in the 2009 Revit Family of products.  Those familiar with the most recent version on Autodesk Design Review will recognize this tool.  The tool has been implemented across all Revit Products, as well as all AutoCAD-based products.  We think it will create a common interaction method across these major platforms, and allow for nice walthroughs to boot...

Enough talking though, you all don't come here religiously to hear my random musings, you're here for some nice video!

Note: I just got the newest version of Camtasia and I can't seem to figure out why this video is so large.  Sorry for the big file, but I had to move on after spending an hour trying to get it to shrink down.

The Steering Wheel - Navigation

You'll notice that I used a Revit model of my apartment for this video, which is a project I've been modeling on the side.  As my lovely wife likes to say, I'm a "huge dork", so I just couldn't resist the opportunity to build a model of our apartment.  I'm sure that I'll blog a bit more about that process, as it's been quite interesting (modeling the couch took FOREVER for me, as I'm a relative newbie in Family Editor).

In the interim though, I thought I'd throw up a couple of renderings that I created using the shiny new MentalRay rendering engine....cause I just wouldn't be living up to my "huge dork" title otherwise.

Dusting Off the Backup Drive

Update: Due to popular demand, I have also added a Zip file that contains all of the videos I link below.

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And now for something completely different.

I had fully planned to make some more videos over the weekend, but a trip to Vermont to see my family this axed that plan.  Alas, all is not lost.  I'll be diving back into new features and workflows for Revit MEP 2009 soon enough.

Today, in response to a thread on our discussion forums, I decided to dust off the 'ole backup drive and spead some AutoCAD MEP goodness.  As most of you know, before becoming the Product Manager of Revit MEP, I was a Product Support Technician specializing in our MEP products.  It was during that time that I became acquainted with Camtasia (the software I use for video capture), and began making videos to explain solutions to support cases.

I started out just solving the specific issues that were raised in the support case, but that was not a very scalable effort.  The videos contain the datasets sent by the customers, so I couldn't send that video to other customers with the same issue because of privacy concerns.  So, when the opportunity arose I made more generic videos on concepts that could be sent out to anybody.  I ended up making a lot of these videos and sent them out whenever a pertinent support case came into my queue.  It was then that I really began to understand the full value of using video content to deliver concepts and training.

Of course I'm no longer handling support cases, so those videos have sat on my backup drive not really helping anybody.  Not all is lost though, as the folks on the support team do have them at their disposal.  Nonetheless, I thought it would be a good idea to post them up on my blog for all to download if desired.

You all can feel free to download and do what you want with them, I only ask that you please credit me when using them on other outlets.

The vast majority of these are for Autodesk Building Systems 2006 and 2007, and many are not as refined as my more recent work, but they get the job done.

AutoCAD MEP Videos

All Videos in a Zip File

AutoCAD MEP Display System (Three Part Video)

Part 1 - Display Representations

Part 2 - Display Sets

Part 3 - Display Configurations

AME Objects, ACAD Solids, and Hidden Lines

Adding Eccentric Round to Rectangular Transition

Automatically Generating Wires

Automatically Populate MvPart Information to a PSD

Block-Based Parts with Service Clearances

Changing Routing Preferences on a Large Scale

Controlling RiseDrop Symbol Layer

Controlling the Size of Label Curves

Creating a Custom Device Tag

Creating a New Size of a Block-Based Part

Defining the Image of a Block-Based Part

Display Through Xrefs Explained

Exporting to gbXML from AME

Grouping in Schedules

Labels with Property Set Information

Migrating Tool Palettes Between Releases

Migrating an MvPart from 2006 to 2007

Modify View Block of an MvPart

Modifying 2006 Version Pipe Layouts in 2007 and Later - Conversion

Modifying 2006 Version Pipe Layouts in 2007 and Later - Revert

Modifying the View Block of an MvPart Existing in a Drawing

Modifying the View Block of a Diffuser Existing in a Drawing

Pipe by Size Display - Explained

Transition Justification

Using Block Images for Electrical Devices in Schedule Tables

Using the Search and Replace Tool in Catalog Editor

I'll try and field whatever you questions you might have on these, but much of this knowledge is a bit rusty on my side these days.

 

I'll be back soon with 2009 New Features and Workflows, it looks like I'll have some time tonight to cut some more videos, get those RSS Readers ready so you don't miss out.

Spaces and Rooms...Good Friends

As I alluded in yesterday's video, Spaces have knowledge that they occupy the same location as a Room.  This allows for some nice workflow choices when doing things like tagging and scheduling.  Let's check out how to accomplish this with this video.

Referencing Room Parameters in Spaces

I hope that info will be helpful as you all embark on the odyssey of Revit MEP 2009 usage in a bit.  We'll pick up our discussion on Space creation and workflow changes regarding volumes next week, so be sure to stop back at the 'ole blog, or you can just add my RSS Feed to your reader.

Please leave a comment if you have any questions on the topics we're covering.  I'll see what I can do to answer them, I'd like to set a precedent of a dialog, not a lecture with these new features.

Space Creation - Part 1

Picking up where we left off yesterday, I will continue our discussion on the new Space Element.  I talked yesterday about rationale behind the creation of the Space Element in Revit MEP 2009.

Now let's talk about the creation of Spaces.  This is really a multi-part discussion, or should I say...multi-video discussion, as there's really a lot to digest here.  Because of that, I will continue to provide short videos covering certain concepts, rather than just brain dumping a 15 minute video on the subject. Today I'll focus on some of the changes in workflow for Space creation.

Note: On the embedded video below, be sure to Right-Click->Zoom->Full Screen to see it in all its 1024x768 beauty.  Or just click on the title below.

Space Creation

Hopefully that explanation makes sense to you.  I'm quite excited about the ability to create Spaces through Linked building geometry, as it allows engineers a lot more freedom to define volumes as needed for Building Performance Analysis.

Make sure to keep those RSS Readers all ready to go, as we'll be continuing these discussions over the following days.  I wouldn't want you all to miss out!

A Volume for Engineers

One of the real promises of a model-based approach to building design is the reduction in the use of "back of the envelope" or "rule of thumb" calculations when making design decisions.  With an accurate model and modern computing power, there's little need for assumptions; the information required for the analysis is right there in the model.

That is, of course, assuming that the volumes in the Revit BIM are properly defined.  As we discussed in our Building Performance Analysis in Revit White Paper (Which consequently is being updated for the 2009 release), the Volumes that are defined in the Revit BIM are the cornerstone of proper Building Performance Analysis (BPA).

In many cases the Room Element is used to define volumes for different reasons than BPA, generally representing occupiable space.  Up until now the only element used to defined volumes in a Revit BIM was the Room Element, that is no longer the case...you know what?  There's no reason to write about this, let's just use....you guessed it, a video!  Enjoy yet again.

The Space Element

Note: Like my last post, I've embedded the video into this post.  Be sure to Right-Click->Zoom->Full Screen to see it in all its 1024x768 beauty.  Or just click on this link.

This is just the beginning of the videotastic thing's we've got in store for all of you loyal Inside the System readers...get those RSS Readers all ready to go!

A New Way to View

As I spoke about last week, I'm going to be discussing over the coming weeks the improvements that have been made to Revit MEP with our upcoming release of Revit MEP 2009.

I might stray from my stated focus from time to time, but you know it's only for all of your own good....that and the fact that I have a full work/life schedule outside of authoring Inside the System posts and videos for all of you.

I thought I'd get things started with a nice little addition to the Revit Family of products called the View Cube.  It's a nice addition to 3D Views in Revit.  I find it super useful to quickly rotate my 3D views to a desired orientation.  You can go quickly from a SW Iso, to a NE Iso, to an East Elevation in a snap.  My Shift+Center Mouse Orbiting skillz are still strong, but this is just another arrow in my 3D View quiver.

As always, I won't just describe this with words, I'll go ahead and use a nifty video.  Enjoy.

The View Cube

Note: I tried to get a little fancy today on the 'ole blog and embedded the video to my post.  I captured the video like always at 1024x768, so be sure to Right-Click -> Zoom -> Full Screen to see it in all it's glory.  Of course you can always just click on this link, but that's not much fun now is it?

A Huge Weight is Lifted

As I've spoke about before, I spend a lot of my time interacting with customers online and in-person.  While some of that time is spent discussing product strategy and other industry issues, a great deal of that time is spent addressing use of Revit MEP.

Usually those conversations deal with best practices, answers to technical questions, and functionality questions.  Since Revit MEP is a relatively young product, and you as customers expect the best from Autodesk's BIM platform, there undoubtedly ends up being requests for new features.  Or, there may be certain features that need a bit of tweaking to improve usability or performance.  Whatever the case, these discussions often funnel directly into our development pipeline as future projects.  In other cases, we may already be working on solutions to those problems.

Being a publicly traded company, I can never make forward-facing statements about future functionality, which means I often am forced to keep mum about cures to what's currently ailing customers.  That's never a fun thing to do, but a necessary requirement for me as a Product Manager.

This all leads up to pent up excitement on our end to provide our users with the next release, and a justifiable appetite on the customer-end to see what's in store.  Worlds must collide at some point...

Yesterday was Autodesk's World Press Day, which officially announces our upcoming releases to the press, and begins the process of communicating to you the fruits of our hard work.  What does that mean to you all?  Well it means that Inside the System is going to be "en fuego" over the coming weeks with all kinds of new information and videos regarding the upcoming Revit MEP 2009.

I had hoped to have an initial video ready for today, but I'm just not satisfied with what I've got so far.  Expect to see your first glimpse tomorrow.

Oh, and there's this little thing....but I can't talk all too much about that now...that's not stopping you all though.

Liftoff!

MMMMMMMM....Pancakes

On a totally non-MEP related note, but an equally, if not more mouth watering topic, I wanted to alert all of the Inside the System readers of a matter of utmost importance.

Today is IHOP National Pancake Day.  Yes, you just read that correctly, no need to re-read.  This testament to the sheer awesomeness that is a short stack of pancakes can be yours for free at IHOP today only.

That's all for now.  But there's some big news coming up....get your RSS Readers ready.

Do You RSS?

I know things have been a bit quiet lately on Inside the System, but I hope this post helps to keep you in the loop with the blog in a more useful way.  With the delay in posts, I hope many of you finding ways to deal with the life-altering trauma of not finding an update when you visit my site.  For those of you that do check in daily to look for an update, there is a better solution, RSS.

For those of you familiar with Podcasts, you probably already know about RSS feeds.  For those of you who don't, here's how they work.  An RSS feed is equivalent to an "update beacon" on the internet.  You can subscribe to the feed with an RSS Reader, which will then alert you when there is new post and then let you read it.  There are many applications that give you this ability; Outlook, Internet Explorer, Firefox, as well as numerous websites.  Simply googling "RSS Reader" will give you a plethora of options.

This is really the best way to keep up with your favorite Blogs and websites.  I definitely recommend that you look into it.

For those of you that are interested, I put together a video on how to subscribe to my feed using Outlook.

Adding an RSS Feed to Outlook

I hope this provides you all with a reliable way to get your Inside the System fix.

New Toys to Play With

I wanted to let everyone know that we've just recently released two new utilities on the Subscription Center, for use with the Revit 2008 family of products.

Worksharing Monitor
This nifty tool works outside of the Revit Environment and allows users to monitor the status of a Revit Central File.  Very useful information like:

• Who's currently saving to Central.
• Who's currently working in the model.
• How much longer until my Save to Central operation finishes?
• Is my Local File up to date?

I think it's a must-have for any firm that is using Revit in a worksharing environment.

Batch Print Utility
This Revit API-based tool allows you to automate many plotting processes, just like the name sounds.  Additionally, it has the ability to re-start Revit in the even that an "out of memory" crash occurs during plotting.  Definitely a time saver as well.

For information on how to get these tools, I'll refer you to BIM & Beam, the Revit Structure blog done by my counterparts on the Revit Structure Product Management Team.  They posted great instructions the other day.

Enjoy!