Only a week to go - see you in Vegas!
And have a happy Thanksgiving this week!
Sunday, November 21, 2010
AU Virtual - Get ready for a whole new experience!
For the first time, I'm participating in AU Virtual, an online version of Autodesk University. Spent a little time cruising the site tonight - all I can say is, wow...the slick interface, dashboard, and ease of use blew me away...now if I can just get my classes to live up to the professional level of the site (ugh...none of my usual jokes will fly on this...)
The lobby is slick on the level of detail - here's an early preview (umm, yes, I'm asking for permission - but I'm also promoting the site - ok?) - when you're ready to hit a class, join a chat or register, just pick a tool on the dashboard at the bottom of the screen. You can also navigate the lobby to visit keynotes, lounges, etc.
Only a week to go - see you in Vegas!
And have a happy Thanksgiving this week!
Only a week to go - see you in Vegas!
And have a happy Thanksgiving this week!
Friday, November 19, 2010
Plumbing fixture connections...who hates this?
Okay, I've heard enough - plumbers, and plumbing designers, ya'll are the crankiest people I've ever met. We know - you can draw a line faster, it's all figured out in the field, the program doesn't work, yada-yada...
So what does the plumber really need (besides a belt)? Rough in connections! He doesn't need connections on the bottom of a sink, or on the side of a urinal - all of that really does get worked out in the field...so how do you help these guys get into BIM?
There are two big things:
1 - Change the location of the connections to inside the wall (thank you Melania Sibley at Enfinity Engineering in Nashville, TN). She had a sink that was giving her fits - so we made a new family. All of the connectors sit 2" inside the wall. They are controlled by vertical and horizontal work planes - the water connections can be 4" or 8" apart, you pick - and the waste connection, centered, can be moved up and down vertically in the wall to the stub-out location. this maintains the system - and eliminates the need to draw out the p-trap, trap primer (call these out in a shared parameter for scheduling).
2 - Check the fitting families - for annotation scale sizes, most fittings that show a tick have a "Tick Size" parameter - check the default, it's a formula - change the scale factor to something smaller if needed (i.e. 0.4 to 0.2) and see if it makes you symbols look better. Do the same thing with the ride drop symbol scale - and the drawings will look better! (BTW - I posted this tip earlier, but we still had people asking, so here's an image)
So what does the plumber really need (besides a belt)? Rough in connections! He doesn't need connections on the bottom of a sink, or on the side of a urinal - all of that really does get worked out in the field...so how do you help these guys get into BIM?
There are two big things:
1 - Change the location of the connections to inside the wall (thank you Melania Sibley at Enfinity Engineering in Nashville, TN). She had a sink that was giving her fits - so we made a new family. All of the connectors sit 2" inside the wall. They are controlled by vertical and horizontal work planes - the water connections can be 4" or 8" apart, you pick - and the waste connection, centered, can be moved up and down vertically in the wall to the stub-out location. this maintains the system - and eliminates the need to draw out the p-trap, trap primer (call these out in a shared parameter for scheduling).
You now have my permission to whip your plumbers into shape...and get them BIM'ing...
See you at AU!
David B.
Content, Content, who's got the content?
Okay, so I've been here a month, and one of the first tasks I've taken on is getting as much relevant Revit content as possible as it pertains to MEP and what we do...and man, it's been interesting. In my Revit MEP Tips class, I talk (briefly) about leveraging the Internet to go out and find what you need. I found a few things:
1 - Manufacturers for the most part are still lagging behind, especially in the industrial and process equipment sectors. Most of what I found was either a) overmodeled or b) non-existent. There are some manufacturers that are really ahead of the game - I've talked about them in the past (i.e. Victaulic, nicely done - Bell and Gossett - awesome, but got to consolidate a little).
There are two aggregators I want to give a shout out to - CADWorks, where my buddy Bernie Duncan (formerly with Autodesk) landed. He's got the piping library I need - so we're moving forward towards purchasing his product. He's also got a really nice library control front-end, so it'll be interesting to see how and if we implement this across the board. Check it out - http://www.cadworks.com/ - they'll have a booth at AU this year.
Another one that we used to sell (or tried to) is the SmartBIM library (http://www.smartbim.com/). Lots of good content, some of the more random pieces - I really like the space portion, where you can download whole rooms. I have hard time justifying paying an annual subscription for this unless they're actually helping us produce content that can't be found anywhere else - but they at least have the foundational pieces I'd be interested in using.
As always, you can find tons on Seek (seek.autodesk.com) but it needs to have its categories expanded. The quick look is a bit too generic, and the front end is starting to get dated. Better search capabilities and results would really be helpful.
2 - I went ahead and made a few families for our water treatment team as a way to prove concept (added a mud valve from scratch, used some ACAD MEP parts to temporarily get me a representative part for Revit, and made a UV Unit with just connection points and engineering parameters). Each one of these types required a different approach, so keeping it simple is the best practice.
We also created an industrial equipment family template. We use this to define owner provided equipment, where we need to see a model of their content, but the connection points may be a receptacle, a nozzle, or a drain that we engineer and provide. In this case, make sure the template includes what the load data, fluid requirements and air requirements are - and then create an equipment schedule to replace your spreadsheet. It's always good to have this in one place.
3 - Organization - if I can offer one good piece of advice - separate what you download and create from the out-of-the-box content. If you edit a OOTB part, then don't put it back in the default folder - put it in a custom folder. There's some debate whether you start a new folder completely separate from the default content, or create custom folders under the default content structure. What you don't want - if you're a full service firm - is duplicated content. Take the MEP items out of the architectural folder - have the architects use your content, so you can take advantage of the copy/monitor functionality for these fixtures. And I stay away from anything MEP that is wall, ceiling, floor, roof based - and even sometimes face-based. Any non-hosted object can still be constrained to another - for example, a non-hosted light to a ceiling grid - so I'm moving away from using any hosted that has to be shared or edited by others. The KISS axiom applies...
Next up - tackling process projects - and getting old dawgs to learn a few new tricks....see you at AU!
thanks - David B.
1 - Manufacturers for the most part are still lagging behind, especially in the industrial and process equipment sectors. Most of what I found was either a) overmodeled or b) non-existent. There are some manufacturers that are really ahead of the game - I've talked about them in the past (i.e. Victaulic, nicely done - Bell and Gossett - awesome, but got to consolidate a little).
There are two aggregators I want to give a shout out to - CADWorks, where my buddy Bernie Duncan (formerly with Autodesk) landed. He's got the piping library I need - so we're moving forward towards purchasing his product. He's also got a really nice library control front-end, so it'll be interesting to see how and if we implement this across the board. Check it out - http://www.cadworks.com/ - they'll have a booth at AU this year.
Another one that we used to sell (or tried to) is the SmartBIM library (http://www.smartbim.com/). Lots of good content, some of the more random pieces - I really like the space portion, where you can download whole rooms. I have hard time justifying paying an annual subscription for this unless they're actually helping us produce content that can't be found anywhere else - but they at least have the foundational pieces I'd be interested in using.
As always, you can find tons on Seek (seek.autodesk.com) but it needs to have its categories expanded. The quick look is a bit too generic, and the front end is starting to get dated. Better search capabilities and results would really be helpful.
2 - I went ahead and made a few families for our water treatment team as a way to prove concept (added a mud valve from scratch, used some ACAD MEP parts to temporarily get me a representative part for Revit, and made a UV Unit with just connection points and engineering parameters). Each one of these types required a different approach, so keeping it simple is the best practice.
We also created an industrial equipment family template. We use this to define owner provided equipment, where we need to see a model of their content, but the connection points may be a receptacle, a nozzle, or a drain that we engineer and provide. In this case, make sure the template includes what the load data, fluid requirements and air requirements are - and then create an equipment schedule to replace your spreadsheet. It's always good to have this in one place.
3 - Organization - if I can offer one good piece of advice - separate what you download and create from the out-of-the-box content. If you edit a OOTB part, then don't put it back in the default folder - put it in a custom folder. There's some debate whether you start a new folder completely separate from the default content, or create custom folders under the default content structure. What you don't want - if you're a full service firm - is duplicated content. Take the MEP items out of the architectural folder - have the architects use your content, so you can take advantage of the copy/monitor functionality for these fixtures. And I stay away from anything MEP that is wall, ceiling, floor, roof based - and even sometimes face-based. Any non-hosted object can still be constrained to another - for example, a non-hosted light to a ceiling grid - so I'm moving away from using any hosted that has to be shared or edited by others. The KISS axiom applies...
Next up - tackling process projects - and getting old dawgs to learn a few new tricks....see you at AU!
thanks - David B.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
First things first...Starting up the implementation...
Now that things have settled down a bit, it's time to start posting...the first things I've been working on since moving to Gannett Fleming is to get an understanding of where we are, compared to the industry. First thing - we're fortunate to have an executive team that believes in getting the most from technology, and making it work for the people in the firm. As we start looking at how to bring the team up to speed in BIM, I can't say enough about how valuable that support is. If the owners and executive believe, then it makes it easier for the team to believe.
One comment - I've heard from companies all over the company how about important moving to BIM is, but most firms only give it lip service. Building Information Modeling isn't just about drawing in 3D or adding data to parts - it's mainly about a process, an approach to how we design buildings, structures and systems. In order to be successful at BIM, you have to be willing to change your design process. The training we're working on emphasizes that concept. If you have an engineer that's fixed in the way they've been doing things for 25 years, we have to demonstrate how the BIM process benefits them - in earlier design decisions, in better visualization, and fewer field conflicts. It's all about doing a better job in design - not just making CAD better or faster.
Which is why it's so critical to train management and engineers at the same time - just training CAD and BIM users won't cut it if the pilot, the captain and the coach don't understand how the plane flies, the ship sails and the game is played.
Which brings me to the first thing I've found that will help. Autodesk seek has a document set called the
Autodesk Revit Model Content Style Guide (http://seek.autodesk.com/revit.htm). This document can help manufacturers and in-office content creators find common ground on items such as templates and parameter files. It's my first big tip of the game - read the docs first, and then work on creating your content. If the manufacturers are following this standard, then it makes it easier wen we develop our own content.
By getting to a common baseline, and making adjustments to how we read and produce data (such as what's added to schedules) we can make the incorporation of this data much easier to do.
Next up...new Revit Family tips and a sneak preview of AU...
later - David B.
One comment - I've heard from companies all over the company how about important moving to BIM is, but most firms only give it lip service. Building Information Modeling isn't just about drawing in 3D or adding data to parts - it's mainly about a process, an approach to how we design buildings, structures and systems. In order to be successful at BIM, you have to be willing to change your design process. The training we're working on emphasizes that concept. If you have an engineer that's fixed in the way they've been doing things for 25 years, we have to demonstrate how the BIM process benefits them - in earlier design decisions, in better visualization, and fewer field conflicts. It's all about doing a better job in design - not just making CAD better or faster.
Which is why it's so critical to train management and engineers at the same time - just training CAD and BIM users won't cut it if the pilot, the captain and the coach don't understand how the plane flies, the ship sails and the game is played.
Which brings me to the first thing I've found that will help. Autodesk seek has a document set called the
Autodesk Revit Model Content Style Guide (http://seek.autodesk.com/revit.htm). This document can help manufacturers and in-office content creators find common ground on items such as templates and parameter files. It's my first big tip of the game - read the docs first, and then work on creating your content. If the manufacturers are following this standard, then it makes it easier wen we develop our own content.
By getting to a common baseline, and making adjustments to how we read and produce data (such as what's added to schedules) we can make the incorporation of this data much easier to do.
Next up...new Revit Family tips and a sneak preview of AU...
later - David B.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Changes Happen...My Last Day at ASI!
After 13 years of selling, teaching, consulting, cajoling, convincing, listening and helping, I'm hanging up my shingle and leaving the reseller channel...but I'm not going away. I've taken a position as a BIM analyst with a large engineering firm based on the east coast, and will be helping them expand their presence in the southeast.
I'll still be teaching at AU, but more importantly, I'll finally have to chance to post observations and what I've learned from the other side of the fence. My intention is to become more active in regards to the training and consulting environment from the client's perspective, and hopefully continue to help Autodesk make their products the best on the market.
Thanks to Donnie and Paul for giving me my start, the folks at ASI for helping me to expand my world, and the best damn tech and sales team on the planet!
So stay tuned...there's a lot coming down the pipe real soon - see you at AU!
I'll still be teaching at AU, but more importantly, I'll finally have to chance to post observations and what I've learned from the other side of the fence. My intention is to become more active in regards to the training and consulting environment from the client's perspective, and hopefully continue to help Autodesk make their products the best on the market.
Thanks to Donnie and Paul for giving me my start, the folks at ASI for helping me to expand my world, and the best damn tech and sales team on the planet!
So stay tuned...there's a lot coming down the pipe real soon - see you at AU!
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Updates and Advantage Packs
So there's been quite a few posts about the subscription advantage packs that Autodesk released:
- Use the AutoCAD Advantage Pack for AutoCAD, AutoCAD MEP, and AutoCAD Architecture
- Revit MEP, Revit Structure and Revit Architecture have their own packs
- don't forget about Navisworks, too...
Get all of these by logging into your subscription center - but be aware, thar's some biggums up thar..200-300mb...
Also posted are updates for Navisworks, Revit MEP, AutoCAD MEP, Revit Architecture and AutoCAD Architecture:
AutoCAD MEP 2011 Update 1
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=15757045&linkID=9240938
AutoCAD Architecture 2011 Update 1
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=15756945&linkID=9240658
The AutoCAD 2011 Update 1.1 is also included with both of the above updates.
For Navisworks Manage 2011 Update 1
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=15689177&linkID=10382102
Revit MEP 2011 Update 2 is on the product download page:
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?siteID=123112&id=14973660
Revit Architecture 2011 Update 2
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?siteID=123112&id=14973244
Make sure you get these downloaded and loaded - and check the version to make sure you pick either 32 or 64 bit.
Start your downloads...
later - David B.
- Use the AutoCAD Advantage Pack for AutoCAD, AutoCAD MEP, and AutoCAD Architecture
- Revit MEP, Revit Structure and Revit Architecture have their own packs
- don't forget about Navisworks, too...
Get all of these by logging into your subscription center - but be aware, thar's some biggums up thar..200-300mb...
Also posted are updates for Navisworks, Revit MEP, AutoCAD MEP, Revit Architecture and AutoCAD Architecture:
AutoCAD MEP 2011 Update 1
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=15757045&linkID=9240938
AutoCAD Architecture 2011 Update 1
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=15756945&linkID=9240658
The AutoCAD 2011 Update 1.1 is also included with both of the above updates.
For Navisworks Manage 2011 Update 1
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=15689177&linkID=10382102
Revit MEP 2011 Update 2 is on the product download page:
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?siteID=123112&id=14973660
Revit Architecture 2011 Update 2
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?siteID=123112&id=14973244
Make sure you get these downloaded and loaded - and check the version to make sure you pick either 32 or 64 bit.
Start your downloads...
later - David B.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
3 Helpful Posts on Inside the System for Revit MEP - Check them out!
An update to the Duct Fitting K-Factor Database:
http://inside-the-system.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/09/update-revit-mep-error-invalid-duct-fitting-k-factor-database.html
Helpful tips for Connecting Circuits to a Panel:
http://inside-the-system.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/09/connecting-to-a-panel.html
Controlling Workset Visibility in Revit 2011:
http://inside-the-system.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/09/workset-visibility-in-revit-2011.html
All good stuff - check it out!
thanks - David B.
http://inside-the-system.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/09/update-revit-mep-error-invalid-duct-fitting-k-factor-database.html
Helpful tips for Connecting Circuits to a Panel:
http://inside-the-system.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/09/connecting-to-a-panel.html
Controlling Workset Visibility in Revit 2011:
http://inside-the-system.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/09/workset-visibility-in-revit-2011.html
All good stuff - check it out!
thanks - David B.
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