orug

3rd Annual BIM FORUM Mar27-28

2012-02-09T17:17:00.006-05:00

ORUG members receive 10% discount.
website and registration here
download pdf brochure here

ORUG at AU2012

2011-12-08T10:37:00.001-05:00

Canada was very well represented at AU2011. It was nice to see people from across the country and to meet with many of them. Some members of the Ontario Revit Users Group who were lucky enough to be there met to discuss our experience. Here were some highlights:

Repeating Themes

Push automation and integration between BIM players.
International and national BIM Standards are now forming
Use Keynotes in Revit
Use View Filters in Revit

Recommended Viewing

If you have an Autodesk Subscription you are entitled to watch almost every presentation when it becomes available.

http://au.autodesk.com/
You will need a login and password.

Interesting Presentations from AU2012:

Autodesk® Revit® for Presentations: Graphics That “Pop”

Have It Your Way: Collaboration and Management with Autodesk® Revit® Server

Way Beyond Project Templates: Applying Standards for Efficient Document Production in Autodesk® Revit®

BIM for Contractors: Takin' It to the Field

Many Offices and One Project in Autodesk® Revit®: BIM Collaboration Lessons L...

Twice Baked: Creating Your Own Adaptive Components and Panels with Autodesk® Revit®

Autodesk® Vault Collaboration AEC Processes with Revit® and Navisworks®

Exhibition Space

Awesome virtual reality architectural experience. Scary good, especially when they take you to the top of the Venetian Tower and then drop you.

http://architecture-interactive.org/

Lots of Revit Addon vendors

AU2012

All I can say is, go. It really is a good investment to make connections with industry leaders and to learn how and why they are using certain technologies.

RTC2012

For the same reasons you would go to AU, go to RTC (Revit Technology Conference). This conference has gotten fantastic reviews in the past.

http://www.revitconference.com.au/rtc2012us/index.htm

revit in plain english: BIM rocks Insurance Industry

2011-11-25T09:49:00.000-05:00

revit in plain english: BIM rocks Insurance Industry: Please check out this website by Rick Management Consultant Michael Loeters. The BIM revolution is sending ripples throughout the legal ...

revit in plain english: James Vandezande Presentation at SU

2011-11-22T15:40:00.000-05:00

revit in plain english: James Vandezande Presentation at SU: Only a month late...Just wanted to say a big thank you to James for coming up to our SolidCAD University event. We're still getting positive...

revit in plain english: Only 11 Days till SolidCAD University with James V...

2011-10-06T17:07:00.000-05:00

revit in plain english: Only 11 Days till SolidCAD University with James V...: If you're a BIM manager or are trying to implement BIM in your firm you can't miss this presentation by James Vandezande of HOK, New York. T...

Sept.27 ORUG Meeting Notes

2011-10-04T08:29:00.001-05:00

Thanks to all who attended our 5th anniversary meeting at the Spoke Club. Here are some highlights from the evening:

New venue, lot's of people...fire alarm.

Jay Polding starts off with ORUG 5 Year retrospective in 5 minutes...

Aaron Maller...Superstar! We we're 'wowed' by his presentation. If you would like to relive it, here's the video presentation on his blog. And more...
http://malleristicrevitation.blogspot.com/2011/09/revit-for-site-utilities-coordination.html
http://malleristicrevitation.blogspot.com/2011/09/orug-presentation-revit-for-site-and.html

After an intermission Cynthia Piazza let us in on some 3DsMax and V-Ray techniques. She wowed us with some of the stunning work she has done using Revit models and V-Ray in Max.

Then on to the really geeky stuff. Phil Marjeram of KPMB gave us some tips and tricks using Revit server as well as the hardware involved.

You can't have 5 year Anniversary celebration without a giant stack of cupcakes!

We're very sorry that we had to close registration early and we will work hard to accommodate everyone next time. Thanks to all the speakers, Chris Aceto and the Spoke Club. Please keep an eye on this site for upcoming changes to the group.We'll see you in the next year.

ORUG Online Meeting

2011-09-27T14:19:00.003-05:00

Internetconnectivity permitting, we will be showing our presentation at the OntarioRevit Users Group presentation on GotoMeeting. The presentation starts at7pm EST (6pm CST), and runs for approximately 1 hour. We will launch a fewminutes early for technical check. Be advised: Goto Meeting may need todownload a client for it to run on your machine. We will be showing somework from a local Beck project, where Revit has been used for extensive SiteModeling, Utility Coordination, Field Layout, and Fabrication.

Feel freeto pop in to the goto meeting to see what we’ve been up to! Forward on asyou like! =)

1. Please join my meeting.

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/join/353689034

2. Use your microphone and speakers (VoIP) - a headset is recommended. Or,call in using your telephone.

Dial +1(773) 897-3001

AccessCode: 353-689-034

Audio PIN:Shown after joining the meeting

Meeting ID:353-689-034

orug: Sept.27th Registration Closed

2011-09-19T15:33:00.000-05:00

orug: Sept.27th Registration Closed: Due to the overwhelming response and the capacity of our venue (140 standing), we have to close registration to our September 27th. meeting....

Sept.27th Registration Closed

2011-09-19T15:32:00.000-05:00

Due to the overwhelming response and the capacity of our venue (140 standing), we have to close registration to our September 27th. meeting. We are planning on webcasting Aaron Maller's presentation with more details to follow. We apologize to those who are not able to attend. Please contact Jay Polding at jpolding@solidcad.ca for more information.

ORUG Meeting Sept. 27th

2011-09-05T14:51:00.001-05:00

Ontario Revit Users Group (ORUG) Meeting

When: Tuesday September 27, 2011 from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM EDT

Where:

The Spoke Club

600 King Street West, 4th Floor, ON M5V 1M3

MAP

Agenda:
5th Anniversary Retrospective and Future Plans

ORUG Committee Members

Introducing: Bill Wright, Revit MEP Specialist

Revit to Manufacturing and Back (and lot's of other really good stuff)

Special Guest Speaker

Aaron Maller, BIM Manager

Aaron is currently the BIM Manager at The Beck Group, based out of Dallas, TX, specializing in Revit Implementation. His current role includes streamlining use of the program, exploiting its efficiencies amongst the Architectural Design, Architectural Production, Preconstruction and Construction groups at Beck, as well as Revit Infrastructure Management and Training for all users. He currently supports 500 people in more than 5 cities.

Revit and Vray

Cynthia Piazza, Professional Architectural Renderer

What started out as a co-op placement during her studies, Cynthia quickly found her niche in architectural renderings and have never looked back. A graduate of Digital Media Arts, Cynthia has over 10 years of experience working at Aareas Interactive (www.aareas.com) with 3D Studio Max, Vray, and Photoshop. Her work can be found on billboards and magazines all over the city with some of Toronto's most elite Builders(Tridel, Aspen Homes, Great Gulf).

Revit Hardware, Revit Server Panel Discussion

ORUG committee members and group

Samantha Tran
SolidCAD Inc.

stran@solidcad.ca

1-877-438-2231, Ext.243

Open Revit Standards

2011-07-28T11:03:00.000-05:00

This is an initiative by a few top Revit people and soon to grow to a lot of top Revit people. Sharing standards and best practices. You can even edit the Wiki, check it out. http://openrevitstandards.com

Arch | Tech: Generative Design and Parametric Structures

2011-07-11T13:55:00.000-05:00

Arch | Tech: Generative Design and Parametric Structures: "The July 2011 meeting of the New York City Revit Users Group featured a presentation by Robert Otani, PE, LEED AP and Jonatan Schumacher fr..."

Get Paid by Autodesk to Test Software!

2011-06-14T15:17:00.000-05:00

Autodesk Usability Testing
Autodesk is once again looking for people who are familiar with digital creation tools to help us with a new study we will be doing next week (June 21, 22 and 23) in Toronto. To participate in this study, you must be familiar with a 3D CAD or modeling application (such as AutoCAD, Revit, Inventor, Rhino, Modo, Cinema 4D, Blender etc.). If you are regular user of 3ds Max or Maya, you are not eligible for this study. (note: If you have tried 3ds Max or Maya, but then gave up for another solution you can still participate).

For this study, you will get to try out a prototype of some new interfaces in 3ds Max while we watch and ask you questions. The sessions will take no more than 1 hour, and you will be paid for your participation. (Payment is $50 in the form of a gift card from a choice of major retailers.) We will ask you to come into our office (at King and Sherbourne) sometime between 9am – 5pm.

If you are interested in participating, please reply to this email with answers to the following questions. We will contact you to book a mutually convenient time for you to come in.

Your name:

Your job title:

Your company name:

Your company’s address:

Your phone number:

What is the primary 3D application you use?

Have you ever done any rendering? If so, what application did you use?

Have you ever tried 3ds Max?

Thanks,

Ian

IAN HOOPER
Sr. INTERACTION DESIGNER
Ian.Hooper@autodesk.com

210 King St. East, Toronto ON, Canada M5A 1J7

............................................................................................

Ph: 416.874.8523
Fax: 416.369.6150

iRevit: Revit on Android Part II

2011-06-10T13:23:00.000-05:00

iRevit: Revit on Android Part II

and IPad...

ORUG on Facebook and Twitter

2011-06-10T12:20:00.000-05:00

Facebook

Twitter

May 19th Meeting Notes

2011-06-02T12:53:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the 62 people (and 1 robot) who attended and participated in our meeting. Our two main topics were 'what's new in Revit 2012' and point clouds.

Here's how it played out...

7:00 News

Solidcad now sponsoring. Committed to advancing BIM.
Meeting with GORUG, Greater Ottawa Revit Users Group:
GORUG meets at Hard Rock Café every 3-4 months with avg.40 attendance.
Share speakers, presentations, trial Revit server, trial Revit Citrix, record and post presentations

7:05 What’s New in 2012

Revit Architecture: Jay Polding of Solidcad ran through the new features.

Revit Structure: Rita Wong from Entuitive and Bushra Aboelezz from Halcrow Yolles did a great job to showcase some of what's new (and useful).

This time, we didn't have a speaker to get in depth with Revit MEP. This will change by the next meeting as we have had lots of interest from RevitMEPers who would like to help.

7:40 A Real Live Scanner! Les Orford, Applied Precision Inc. and Tom Schoenhofer of Triatic Imaging scanned the room in a few minutes. Then we brought it into Revit. Simple as that.
This video shows the scanner in action...

This video shows the results in Revit..

8: 30 Scan to BIM with "Scan to BIM": Andre Carvalho, b i m s o l u t i o n s inc.

Andre showed us how he has used point clouds to model buildings in Revit in the past. He also showed us some of the tools that can be used from the 'Scan to BIM' software.

ORUG Special Guest May 19th

2011-05-06T13:01:00.000-05:00

We are happy to announce that Les Orford, the Director of Long Range Scanning at Applied Precision Inc. will be at our ORUG Meeting May 19th: Revit 2012 Update and Pointclouds. He will be bringing a scanning unit and will be explaining how they work as well as showing examples.

Register Here

ORUG Meeting May 19th: Revit 2012 Update and Pointclouds

2011-04-14T10:54:00.005-05:00

Revit 2012 Update and Pointclouds

Thursday, May 19th

7:00pm

Alice Fazooli's 294 Adelaide Street West, Toronto

Agenda:
In this meeting our goal is to move beyond just 'what is new' in the Revit product line but how we will use the new features. In particular we will see the point clouds topic in action.

News

What's New and Useful in 2012:
Revit Structure
Revit MEP
Revit Architecture

Scan to BIM with "Scan to BIM":
Working with point clouds data and Revit is not cloudy anymore!
Presented by:
Andre Carvalho
b i m s o l u t i o n s inc.

A Real Live Scanner!
Les Orford, the Director of Long Range Scanning at Applied Precision Inc. will be at our ORUG Meeting May 19th: Revit 2012 Update and Pointclouds. He will be bringing a scanning unit and will be explaining how they work as well as showing examples.

Register Here

Attend New York City Revit Users Group Tonight

2011-04-07T14:43:00.000-05:00

BIM in Facility Management

Richard Peakock from FM systems will talk about how their FM software is taking advantage of the data generated in the Revit model and how it creates a bi-directional link between Revit models and a Web service. He will show how to connect BIM data from design, construction and renovation to facility management and operations, how to do manage Space inventory, allocations and occupancy in Revit Architecture.

Rich has over 23 years of experience in the Facility Management and Architectural industries. He has been involved with CAFM and IWMS implementations including consulting, configuration and technical capacities, as well as business development and strategy. Rich

Attend the webcast

currently serves as the Business Partner Manager for FM:Systems.

ORUG Network: Welcome ENTUITIVE to ORUG!

2011-04-07T14:24:00.000-05:00

ORUG Network: Welcome ENTUITIVE to ORUG!: "Welcome ENTUITIVE Engineering to the Ontario Revit Users Group! Entuitive is a structural engineering firm with a vision of bringi..."

revit in plain english: New Design Challenge - Winner gets a plotter!

2011-04-07T14:01:00.000-05:00

revit in plain english: New Design Challenge - Winner gets a plotter!: "I recently saw this on the the Revit Kid blog. Context ◦Lower Ninth Ward, New Orleans, LA ◦Typical lot in the Lower Ninth Ward. Pleas..."

Welcome Newest Committee Members

2011-03-30T10:55:00.001-05:00

We are pleased to welcome two new committee members who have extensive experience with Revit Structure; Rita Wong and Bushra Aboelezz from Halcrow Yolles. We will be able to rely on them for another perspective. Please keep on the lookout for a good MEP candidate for the committee.

Rita is a Senior Engineer at Entuitive Corporation, with 10 years of structural engineering experience in Ontario. She is involved in the implementation of Revit Structure and other BIM-related software, with a focus on the interaction between Revit Structure and engineering analysis & design packages. Rita had assisted in testing/adopting Revit Structure at her previous workplace for the past 5 years. She is an attendee of Autodesk University and ORUG meetings, and is the author of “BIM – Promises and Realities” in the Canadian Consulting Engineer magazine (Jan/Feb 2010).

Bushra Aboelezz is the BIM Manager at Halcrow Yolles. She has over 25 years of experience in Ontario, and internationally, in the design & drafting of numerous buildings utilizing Autodesk software such as AutoCAD & Revit Structure.
She has been the BIM implementation leader since 2006, setting up Revit Structure templates & libraries, creating BIM standards, developing modeling techniques, staff training, & evaluation of BIM related software.
Bushra is a Professional Engineer with hands on experience leading the BIM team in major projects, to ensure high quality deliverables. She is also an attendee of Autodesk University & is a member of ORUG, AUGI & Revit Structure + BIM group.
Additional selected relevant project experience includes Toronto Pearson International Airport, Air Canada Centre, U of T Rotman School of management, & The BOW (Encana) in Calgary.
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/bushraaboelezz

CaGBC Chapter Meeting: Building Information Modeling

2011-02-23T15:47:00.000-05:00

LAST DAY LEFT TO REGISTER!
Not using BIM in the design and management of your green buildings? Join Chapter members and industry professionals as we learn about the many benefits of BIM and how it can have a real impact on the design, development and ongoing operations of green buildings.

REGISTER HERE

(Space is limited)
When: February 24th, 2011 from 5:30pm to 9:00pm

Where: Centennial College Morningside Campus - 755 Morningside Avenue, Toronto, ON M1C 5J9 Room: HP420

Price: Advanced purchase (until February 23rd) $ 20 Chapter members (paid and in good standing) / $30 non-members - Tickets purchased at the door: $40 dollars
Building Information Modelling (BIM) is the process of generating and managing building data during its life cycle. BIM can be used to demonstrate the entire building life cycle, including the processes of construction and facility operation.
Join our esteemed panel of experts as they explore the benefits of BIM and provide you with the primer you need to improve the efficiency and quality of your green buildings. Our panel includes:

Caesar Ruest - BIM Solutions Executive at Autodesk

Michael Schlosser - Technical Specialist at Autodesk

Alberto Palomino - Director, Business Development at PLANiT

Subhi Alsayed - Innovation Manager at Tower Labs

Cesar Ramirez - Operations Supervisor at Arcturus Realty Corporation

For more information about this event and for speakers' bios, please click here.

The B.I.M presentation includes:

1. Introduction to B.I.M: Fundamental principles of Building Information Modeling.

2. B.I.M for New Buildings: Planning, Design and Construction.

3. B.I.M and Sustainability: Modeling for energy efficiency and renewable energy systems

4. Project Delivery: the B.I.M way vs. the old way

5. B.I.M for Existing Buildings: Lifecycle Analysis, O&M and Facility Management

6. Building Owners and the B.I.M experience

Register now to secure your spot!

Agenda:

5:30 - Event starts - Drinks and Food

6:00 – Presentations

7:00 - Drinks and Networking opportunity

9:00 - Event Closes

Venue information:

Centennial College Morningside Campus - 755 Morningside Avenue, Toronto, ON M1C 5J9 Room: HP420
For instructions on how to get there by public transit, please visit: http://www3.ttc.ca/ or http://www.gotransit.ca/publicroot/en/default.aspx

ORUG Feb10 2011 Notes

2011-02-15T10:27:00.000-05:00

On a cold night in February a group of 60 enthusiastic 'Reviteers' kicked off ORUG2011 with a bang.

Caesar from Autodesk started us off with North American BIM news. There is lots happening across Canada in terms of large multi-million dollar projects requiring BIM; Hospitals, airports, prisons.

In keeping with the BIM for Fabrication theme Caesar showed us a Hospital project of which the interiors are largely prefabricated in a factory of 18 people. One dumpster of waste generated, total.

John Peterson of KPMB, our 2011 Content Coordinator spoke to us about how BIM can serve us. In 2011 we will examine cost analysis, more on BIM fabrication as well as hardware, server and software optimization.
John introduced Anna, Katie, Marcus, Laura and Allison of the Ryerson School of Interior Design. We were impressed by the technical level of expertise shown by these students. They presented a complete design and analysis of a local winery using Revit and other technologies.

Julian and Patrick from Feature Walters showed us some current and past projects. One of these projects was the 'Tommy Hilfiger' floating staircase in New York City. Julian mentioned that the entire staircase was digitally prototyped. This means that no two pieces of the staircase physically touched each other before the assembly of the staircase at the store. The treads were manufactured in Brazil from the digital model and shipped directly to the site. Julian mentioned that even after years of doing this kind of work he couldn't believe this could be done until he saw it...more here. Now, more and more of FW projects are being done this way.

ORUG Network: ORUG Profile: Fusion Homes

2011-02-01T08:56:00.000-05:00

ORUG Network: ORUG Profile: Fusion Homes: "• Fusion Homes is an industry leader and award winning residential homebuilder/land developer located in Guelph, Ontario. • Exceeding indus..."

ORUG Meeting Feb.10th: BIM and Fabrication...Special Guests

2011-02-01T08:34:00.000-05:00

Here are some teasers from our upcoming meeting...

The latest BIM projects across Canada and the US, Caesar Ruest of Autodesk.

Ryerson University, School of Interior Design Presentation

Feature Walters Fabrication

Arch | Tech: Friday Reprieve #30

2011-01-28T10:34:00.000-05:00

Phil, Eddy and James always find something cool and interesting...

Arch | Tech: Friday Reprieve #30

Revit: January 2011– London Revit User Group

2011-01-28T10:27:00.000-05:00

Nice to see other Revit User Groups thriving around the globe...

Revit: January 2011– London Revit User Group

ORUG Network: ORUG Member Profile: PLANiT Measuring

2011-01-28T09:51:00.000-05:00

ORUG Network: ORUG Member Profile: PLANiT Measuring: "PLANiT Measuring® is a growing engineering firm that uses proprietary technology to measure and produce high quality 2D and 3D digital f..."

ORUG Meeting Feb.10th: BIM and Fabrication

2011-01-07T11:47:00.081-05:00

BIM and Fabrication

Thursday, February 10 2011 7:00pm

Alice Fazooli's 294 Adelaide Street West, Toronto

Once the realm of concept and Frank Gehry, BIM to fabrication is now a commericial reality. Come and share in the discussion and see how local firms are making this an every day practice.

Agenda:

Julian Bowron, President of Feature Walters will speak about techniques in parametric-based ultra-custom architectural and structural fabrication.

www.featurewalters.com

Second presentation to be announced.

News:

ORUG members save 15% off the regular conference price when registering for BIM Forum with promo code 11670ORUG. Please call Insight Information at 1-888-777-1707 to receive your discount!

Arch | Tech: Calling All Covers

2011-01-04T11:16:00.000-05:00

This might be an interesting opportunity for all of you Ontario Revit Users out there...

Arch Tech: Calling All Covers: "Hi Everyone! Can you believe that it's already that time of year again?! Eddy, James and I have already started (honest, Willem) to dig de..."

ORUG Meeting Update

2010-12-14T15:28:00.000-05:00

Hello ORUG Members out there! We are planning our next meeting for February 10th of 2011. It sounds far off but will be here in no time. Revit to Fabrication will be the main topic. This encompases Family creation, manufacturer content, steel fabrication, curtain walls and more. If you have an idea for a presentation or would like to present please contact us here.

ORUG Member Profile - Arch-Tech

2010-11-26T14:04:00.000-05:00

ORUG Member, Mark Primiani's growing design and drafting firm, Arch-Tech, was recently written up in Canadian Builder's Quarterly. Mark and team have been innovative in their use of Revit on a wide range of projects, from full construction documents to facilities management. If you would like more information Arch-Tech please contact Mark at mark@arch-tech.ca or 905-677-2221.

Don't forget to check out our permanent listings of Revit firms on the ORUG Network page. Please contact Jay Polding 416021309533 x212 if you would like to be featured on ORUG.

Conditional Statements for Yes/No Visibility

2010-11-10T15:57:00.004-05:00

Problem:
You have a light family which has two options, suspended or ceiling mount. So you make a Visibility Parameter for each objects, the suspension wires and the mounting bracket. Problem is you don't want to see both at the same time.

Solutions:
In the Formula field of one of the Yes/No (Visibility) parameters type the following:
not(suspension wires)

So to translate this; turn off the mounting bracket if the suspension wires are on.

Thanks to AUGI users...
http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?t=79394

BIM Executive Breakfast

2010-11-04T09:33:00.004-05:00

This is an expansion on Michael Loeters presentation about the insurance industry and BIM. If you would like more info just click on the image...

Sept. 29th Meeting Notes

2010-10-05T17:18:00.008-05:00

Thanks to all who attended last week's meeting. Here are some highlights and pictures...

Over 80 in attendance.

John Peterson, Orug Chair and Content Coordinator for 2010, kept us on-track for our journey of BIM collaboration. Our next meeting will be tying in more consultants and collaborators into the BIM model as the project moves forward.

Jay Polding, ORUG Vice Chair, let us in on the latest Revit 2011 news...
Subscription Advantage Pack for Revit 2011
Revit Server
Conceptual Energy Analysis
Videos Here

Michael Loeters, Account Executive, IQ-I Insurance: Insurance Industry and BIM - Liability Issues
Every interference is a potential claim.
Some insurance companies willing to offer a significant discount to those who use BIM.
Executive Breakfast in November
Contact mloeters@iqiinsurance.com for more info

James Vandezande, Senior Associate, HOK: My Journey with BIM

An approachable, yet very knowledgeable speaker, James let us in on his exciting journey with BIM. Learning more about the behind-the-scenes workings into the making of the book he co-authored, Mastering Autodesk Revit Architecture, was fascinating. He pulled back the curtain on some of the inner workings of the earliest Revit and BIM teams at SOM. A duel between Revit and Bentley, a visit from the Mayor of New York and the Freedom Tower were just a few of the interesting stories that were told. Many BIM managers found themselves nodding their heads in unison when James talked about the challenges faced by a BIM leader. "Just say 'Yes, Revit can do that'" was some good advice when dealing with early roadblocks. As we saw from the varied and interesting projects that James is involved in at his current firm HOK, this has been more than just a motto for James.

Visit his blog at:
http://allthingsbim.blogspot.com/

Visit the New York City users group at:
http://www.meetup.com/NYC-RUG/

Buy his book here.

ORUG Meeting Sept.29 Meet the Author!

2010-09-07T09:47:00.006-05:00

Bring your copy to be signed...
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
7pm
Alice Fazooli's, Downtown Toronto

Please join us at the next Ontario Revit User's Group meeting September 29th. Come and meet James Vandezande, a co-author of the top selling 'Mastering Autodesk Revit Architecture 2011'. James will be talking about his varied experiences with Revit and other BIM software in 'My Journey with BIM'.

James Vandezande,
James is a registered architect and a senior associate at HOK in New York City, where he is a member of the firm-wide BIM leadership and is managing their buildingSMART initiatives. He previously spent ten years as a digital design manager at SOM. In this capacity, he pioneered the implementation of BIM on such projects as One World Trade Center, a.k.a. Freedom Tower. James has been using Revit® since version 3.1 and has lectured at many industry events, including Autodesk University, VisMasters Conference, CMAA BIM Conference, McGraw_Hill Construction, and the AIANYS Convention. He is the co-founder and president of the NYC Revit Users Group and is an adjunct lecturing professor at NYU. James is also a co-author of Mastering Autodesk Revit Architecture 2011.

For full information and registration please click here.

June 16th Meeting Notes

2010-07-06T11:03:00.017-05:00

Thank you to all of the 41 people who attended and volunteered on the June 16th meeting. This meeting was packed with useful and interesting information. Although very close to summer we still could call this the spring event of our series; Design and Collaboration-Four Seasons. John Peterson of KPMB and Luka Matutinovic of Halsall did a joint presentation on the collaboration between energy consultant and architect.

In the Tips and Tricks segment we had Andre Carvalho of BIM Solutions present
Importing data from Excel into Revit to help you populate schedules:

Importing data from Excel into Revit to help you populate schedules:

So far, there's not a built in way of importing raw data from an Excel spreadsheet into Revit. Although we have the new Revit DBLink extension, because of a Microsoft limitation, ODBC databases needed to run Revit DBLink won't work with a 64bit Windows. To overcome this, a fellow member of AUGI (Autodesk Users Group International) called Nicholas Iyadurai has come with a small application, which is very simple but yet a great time saver. What it does is to copy the data from a number of rows and columns from an open Excel spreadsheet and paste into a matching number of rows and columns in an open Revit schedule. There's no need of installation, since the application itself is only one EXE file. It's pretty much self explanatory and very easy to use. And the best of it all: It is FREE! You can download it from here:

http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?t=97224

At this moment the application only runs in Revit 2009 and 2010. I'm trying to make a version which will work in Revit 2011 and as soon as I can make it work, I'll make it available here.

Government projects, hospitals, schools, all have these huge program areas spreadsheets, containing a lot of data related to room departments and sub departments, room numbers, room target areas, finishes, equipments, etc. Being able to import all this data from Excel is very handy since you won't have to type all that information again. Before Revit 2011, I also used this tool to create drawing list from consultants using CAD. Once they sent me their Excel spreadsheet, I could bring all information about drawing discipline, number and name and add it to a schedule key to create a live Revit drawing list for consultants without the need of creating dummy sheets in my project.

There are two type of schedules in Revit: Element schedule and schedule key. Schedule key will allow you to manually create the rows in your schedule as it is just an information schedule. Element schedules will only add rows to your schedule if you actually have an element in your drawing to be scheduled. However, rooms are elements that act a little bit different: They can exist in the project but not actually be placed in the drawing. It is like having a list of rooms that are already created but not yet placed. That said, people sometimes oversee the possibility of creating rows of new rooms directly from the room schedule, instead of actually adding them to the drawing. To do that, create a room schedule and select the fields you want. In the schedule view you'll notice at the top that there will be an option to add new rows. Add as much as necessary to match the number of rooms you want.

June 16th Meeting Next Week!

2010-06-09T07:31:00.006-05:00

DESIGN PROCESS SERIES - Spring

Wednesday, June 16, 2010
6:30pm - 9:30pm
Alice Fazooli's Downtown
294 Adelaide St W Toronto, ON M5V 1P6

Click here for map. For those taking the TTC, it is conveniently located near both Osgoode and St. Andrew stations on the Yonge-University-Spadina line.

CONTENT
Introductions, Welcome and News

PRESENTATION-Early Collaboration

John Peterson from KPMB along with a speaker from Halsall will continue us on our adventure. The processes used between architectural, energy and cost analysis will be featured and discussed.

PRESENTATION - Revit Tricks of the Trade

Andre Carvalho, of BIM Solutions, will present time saving tips and tricks. The steps Andre presents will be posted on ORUG.ca following the meeting.

RSVP to dgray@cadmicro.com

If you would like to become an ORUG member or attend this meeting as a guest, please contact Jay Polding at jpolding@cadmicro.com.

June 16th Meeting and News

2010-05-06T08:53:00.006-05:00

Hello All,

June 16th Meeting

Just wanted to let the group know that we are planning the next ORUG meeting for Wednesday, June 16th at Alice Fazooli's. We will be continuing our syllabus centred on the life cycle of a project using Revit. Collaboration between architectural, energy analysis and cost consultants will be featured. Invitations will be sent out early June.

Revit Wishlist

Revit 2011 has been available for a few weeks now. Even though the response has been good so far we should not let up on Autodesk. We need to voice our opinions in order to improve this product. One of the best ways to do this is by voting on the Revit Wishlist Site. It will only be open until May 15th. Here's the site:

http://www.augi.com/revit/ballot.asp

Accessing Project Parameters in Multiple Schedules

2010-03-11T10:29:00.005-05:00

Thank you Domenic Serravite from IBI Group for discovering this undocumented feature!
You can access Project Information parameters in any schedule. For instance if you want to have a factor(coefficient) that is used in many different schedules and formulas this is the way. We will use unit planning as an example. You will want a Mass object with floor faces to start.

Manage-Project Settings-Project Parameters-Add
Name: Average Unit Size
Group Under: Identity Data
Type of Parameter: Number
Category: Project Information

Manage-Project Settings-Project Information
Fill out the new parameter Average Unit Size to a factor like 1000. This represents 1000 square feet.

Make a Mass Schedule
Include Gross Floor Area
Check the Include Elements in Linked Files box

Drop the list down to display Project Information

Average Unit Size will now be available
Make a calculated value called Number of Units
Put this formula in: Gross Floor Area / 1 SF / Average Unit Size

Now you can control centrally important information from one place. This can be done in Room and Area schedules as well.

Autodesk is aware that this is confusing and will sumbit it to the development team.

BIM Integration Webcast

2010-02-23T12:15:00.001-05:00

FYI

On Feb. 25, 2010, at 2p.m. (EST), Reed Construction Data will present “Lessons in BIM Adoption: How Integrated Project Delivery Can Work”; a free webcast exploring the benefits and challenges of a collaborative approach to design and construction....

http://www.reedconstructiondata.com/press-releases/press-release/2010/02/upcoming-bim-webcast-to-explore-integrated-project-delivery

Feb 3rd Meeting Notes

2010-02-04T15:51:00.015-05:00

Thanks to the 73 people who attended and volunteered at our meeting on Feb.3rd. We had a sizable contingent from Barrie, some from Kitchener Waterloo and across the GTA.

With a splash of trademark surrealism, John Peterson walked us though the syllabus which will span all four seasons of 2010. Expect meaty subjects, celebrity speakers and a torrent of refreshing Revit knowledge...

Caesar Ruest gave us a cross country BIM checkup. Some highlights:

-Construction Associations across the country are getting trained on BIM.

-'the Alberta government has made it compulsory all government projects, $10 million or more, starting in 2011, will have to be done using BIM technology.”

Web Resources:
bim.construction.com
wbdg.org

For more information on COBie and the associated Revit templates please contact Caesar at: caesar.ruest@autodesk.com

Domenic Serravite from IBI Group shared his vast experience on conceptual design using Revit. Here are some highlights:

-Don't sweat the small details early on. Like painting with watercolours, work from less detail to more and more as you add 'washes'.
-Make templates for the various design phases like: urban planning, conceptual massing and design development.
-Make project parameters for site stats, parking standards, standard unit sized etc.
-Make standard schedules which compare the Mass floor areas with the project parameters to give you instant design feedback.
-Start with a Mass Object.
-Use the Split Face and Paint tools for quick 'Sketchup like' designing.
-Make custom wall types which include: stacked walls of masonry, mullion, glass, mullion, and masonry. Glass walls.
-Use glass walls with hatches to create a basic curtain wall look without the mullion heft.
-Make custom curtain wall panels which include balconies, doors etc.

Andre Carvalho of BIM Solutions gave us a detailed lesson on the 2010 conceptual modeling tools.

- Pick reference planes, levels, reference points or faces of elements before creating a new one will make the selected plane to host the new element;
- Using reference lines instead of regular lines when creating forms will allow the user to go back and edit the sketch, since reference lines aren't deleted when the form is;
- When selecting a face, edge or reference point of an element, pay attention to the coordinates system: Red, Green and Blue, means these axes are aligned to the project X, Y and Z and if pulled or pushed, will follow project coordinates. Any orange colour means it will be extruded perpendicular to the face. Hovering the coordinates and using the space bar will switch between project and face coordinates;
- You can add dimensions between any reference plane or level to any edge, reference point or face and add parameters to control your mass by just using numbers or formulas;
- Any edge, reference line or reference point will host other reference points, which can be used to allow new lines to be snapped to them and will be driven by the new shape of the element as it flexes;
- Use the tool to divide your surface with a pattern. This will allow Revit to find the intersection of each grid which will control how a curtain panel pattern will flex when hosted to them.

Thanks to Pierre Hoppener of Autodesk for supporting our meeting.

Thanks to Alice Fazooli's for great service and venue.

ORUG Meeting Feb, 3 2010 New Syllabus

2010-01-18T13:35:00.002-05:00

The Ontario Revit User Group (ORUG.ca) welcomes you to 2010 . We have several announcements for the new year.

2010 - DESIGN PROCESS SERIES:

John Peterson, a project architect with KPMB, has designed an exciting ORUG syllabus based on the design process and leveraging the information inherent to a Revit model. This series will consist of four meetings that will take us on a journey through the ups and downs of idealized proposals and real Revit projects

We will travel from the initial sketches to a robust, coordinated BIM model. Along the way we will cover important side ventures into Green Model analysis, cost estimating, Revit Structure and MEP coordination, Family creation, hardware optimization and Worksets.

DESIGN PROCESS SERIES ONE

Date: Wednesday February 3

Time: 7:00 PM - 9:30 PM

Location: Alice Fazooli's, 294 Adelaide St W, Toronto, ON, M5V 1P6. Click here for map. For those taking the TTC, it is conveniently located near both Osgoode and St. Andrew stations on the Yonge-University-Spadina line.

Improvements: ORUG will continue to hold meetings at the Alice Fazooli’s downtown location, but with audiovisual upgrades. Amongst them: new audio equipment and an additional projector screen to improve the overall member experience.

CONTENT

Introductions, Welcome and News

PRESENTATION - Conceptual Design Against Deadlines

Domenic Serravite of IBI Group will start us on our journey with the 45 minute presentation. Balancing best modeling practices with tight, short term deadlines is not for the faint of heart. Domenic will share his experiences on how to balance speed while maintaining a quality BIM model.

PRESENTATION - Revit Tricks of the Trade

Andre Carvalho, of BIM Solutions, will present the first of an ongoing series. The steps Andre presents will be posted on ORUG.ca following the meeting.

If you would like to become an ORUG member or attend this meeting as a guest, please contact Jay Polding at jpolding@cadmicro.com.

There is no charge to attend.

Have questions about ORUG? Please consult our Media Kit.

	2010 COMMITTEE:

	John Peterson - KPMB Architects Chair: Content Coordinator Jay Polding, LEED AP - CAD MicroSolutions Inc. Vice Chair Richard Ziegler, B. Arch., MOAA, MRAIC - BIM Solutions Advisor: Senior Partner Issues Andre Carvalho - BIM Solutions Advisor: Tips and Tricks, Families Phil Marjeram - KPMB Architects Advisor: Advanced Hardware and Peripherals Viorel Iosef - Turner Fleischer Architects Inc. Advisor: API, Rendering Domenic Serravite, OAA, OAAAS, LEED AP - IBI Group Advisor: Implementation

SPECIAL DISCOUNT FOR ORUG MEMBERS - BUILDING INFORMATION MODELING (BIM) FORUM:

inSIGHT is holding a BIM Forum. The Forum will be centered around Best Practice for Leveraging New Technologies to Increase Efficiency and Profitabilityi in Construction.

Date: Thursday March 25 - Friday March 26

Times: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Location: St. Andrew's Club and Conference Centre, 150 King St W, Toronto, ON, M5H 1J9. Click here for map. For those taking the TTC, it is conveniently located near St. Andrew station on the Yonge-University-Spadina line.

Content: Please click here for an agenda

ORUG Founder Jay Polding will be part of a Roundtable Presentation entitled Connecting BIM with LEED and LEAN: Obtaining Recognition and Credits with Susan Spencer Lewin and Shawn Vanderheyden.

Special Offer: A Special 15% discount is being offered to all registered ORUG members. Contact us for details.

David Long, Northstar Engineering

2009-12-22T13:55:00.003-05:00

David Long from Northstar Engineering and Technologies Ltd. has joined the Ontario Revit Users Group. He has been using Revit MEP for the last two years and has used it in some very unique ways. To see more, check out his website at http://www.nset.ca/ or call him at 705-737-7333. We have also added him to the orug network website. If you would like to be added to the revit networking website please contact Jay at jpolding@cadmicro.com.

Halcrow Yolles BIM Works

2009-10-29T10:34:00.002-05:00

Someone has been busy and they are active members of ORUG!
See some samples of Halcrow Yolles projects at our networking site here...
http://orugnetwork.blogspot.com/2009/10/halcrow-yolles.html

New Revit Release Now...

2009-10-21T15:39:00.001-05:00

Subscription Advantage Pack for Autodesk Revit Architecture 2010 The Autodesk®

Subscription Advantage Pack for Autodesk® Revit® Architecture 2010 extends the capabilities of Autodesk® Revit® Architecture 2010 software. Productivity-enhancing functionality and features better support modeling, coordination, and documentation, while improved tools help you work more efficiently within the software.

Watch this to see what it's all about... http://www.subscriptionvideos.com/subscription_rac_video.html

ORUG Ecotect Meeting Notes

2009-10-19T08:48:00.007-05:00

Thanks to all who attended our Meeting on a rainy Oct. 7th.

We were amazed by the Ecotect presentation by Olivier Pennetier of Symphysis from San Fransisco. Olivier explained how to use the BIM model to study solar radiation, light penetration even solar collector orientation. Right to light and view was also discussed with much interest. How to properly export a Revit model was explained.

One attendee asked how Olivier was able to access his files and commands so quickly. Olivier then explained the use of scripts in Ecotect and showed a sample.

some exampled can be found here...

http://ecotect.com/downloads/scripts

and here...http://squ1.org/wiki/Scripting

We welcomed some some first time attendees and hope they enjoyed themselves.

Entire Imaging brought two detailed reproductions of a Roman Coliseum.

ORUG Meeting - Wednesday October 7: 6:30 - 9:00 PM Ecotect Presentation

2009-09-22T12:58:00.003-05:00

ORUG Meeting - Wednesday October 7: 6:30 - 9:00 PM

Please join us for our next ORUG meeting. Details are below.
Date: Wednesday October 7, 2009

Time: 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM

Location: Alice Fazooli's, 294 Adelaide St W, Toronto ON, M5V 1P6.

CONTENT

Introductions

Welcome and News
If you would like to become an ORUG member or attend this meeting as a guest,
please contact Jay Polding at jpolding@cadmicro.com.

Revit® Family Swap and Best Practices
A member presentation of some best practices and audience discussion. Members will bring at least one Revit family on a USB drive to share with the group.

Autodesk® Ecotect® Building Simulation Presentation
Autodesk Ecotect expert Olivier A. Pennetier will go through this exciting analysis tool with the group.

RSVP
There is no charge to attend.

In-Revit Solar Radiation

2009-07-13T15:51:00.001-05:00

Use the Solar Radiation Technology Preview to analyze the effects of solar radiation on various surfaces of your conceptual building model...

http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/ecotect/

Revit Arch 2010 Update 1

2009-07-07T09:40:00.002-05:00

The first Update for Revit Arch 2010 is now available...

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?siteID=123112&id=12828862

ORUG Members in Azure...

2009-06-26T10:31:00.003-05:00

Congatulations Solares!

We are pleased to announce that one of our members newest (Revit) projects, The County Trail House, has been featured in this month’s Azure magazine!

For more information on the County Trail House, please visit their website: http://www.solares.ca/

ORUG June 24th Meeting Notes

2009-06-26T10:19:00.009-05:00

Thanks to the 35 people who came and participated in our meeting. Here are the notes from the evening...

News and other misc topics:

ORUG member 'Solares' featured in Azure magazine.
http://ontariorevit.blogspot.com/2009/06/orug-members-in-azure.html

Yankee Stadium Completed using Revit and Navisworks
http://blog.jtbworld.com/2009/06/yankee-stadium-within-navisworks.html

New Revit content site:

http://revitcomponents.blogspot.com/

New Revit Specific Magazine, featuring Steve Stafford

AEC Edge http://www.augiaecedge.com/home/default.htm

2010 Interface, 'where's my tool' flash page...

http://www.nichitecture.com/downloads/Where%20is%20my%20command%20in%20Revit%20Architecture%202010.html

Jay started out with an Interface tour. One feature to remember is the ability to use dual screens, without workarounds.

Yogi wowed us with the blindingly new conceptual mass tools. He massed up the local Roy Thompson Hall including curtain panels.

Some topics were discussed for our next meeting:

Navisworks

Struct Soft-Panelizer and Robot Strucural Analysis

KPMB update

Revit 2010 - Meeting June 24

2009-06-08T08:11:00.003-05:00

Please join us for our next ORUG meeting. Details are below.

Date:

Wednesday June 24, 2009Time: 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM

Location:

Alice Fazooli's, 294 Adelaide St W, Toronto ON, M5V 1P6.

Click here for map. For those taking the TTC, it is conveniently located near both Osgoode and St. Andrew stations on the Yonge-University-Spadina line.

CONTENT
Introductions, Welcome and News
New features in Revit Architecture, Revit MEP, and Revit Structure 2010

Revit 2010 Interface Tour

Tour through the hotly debated new "ribbon" interface in Revit 2010
Revit 2010 Massing Tour

RSVP
If you would like to become an ORUG member or attend this meeting as a guest, please contact Jay Polding at jpolding@cadmicro.com. There is no charge to attend.

June 24th ORUG Meeting

2009-06-01T11:42:00.002-05:00

Greetings,

How does this sound for the next meeting?...

Wed. June 24
Alice Fazooli’s

Topics...
Revit 2010 What’s New
Revit 2010 Interface Tour
Revit 2010 Massing Tour

If we don't hear anything back we'll book the room and send out invitations by Friday, June 5th.

Revit API Meeting of the Minds

2009-04-15T13:11:00.000-05:00

Greetings ORUG members,

Hope all is well. We are currently planning our next meeting for June 2009. If you have any suggestions for topics please let me know.

In the meantime...

Are you a programmer at heart or in practice? Are you struggling to crack open and work with the Revit API? If so, you are invited to a lunch-meeting sponsored by CAD Microsolutions. We will be discussing how best to get started on the Revit Application Programming Interface and how we can best support each other while we learn.

Date: Friday, May 8th
Time: 12:00-2:00pm
Location: CAD Microsolutions, 65 International Boulevard Toronto ON M9W 6L9
Lunch will be provided

RSVP

Autodesk Software Assistance

2009-04-08T08:58:00.000-05:00

This is nice news. If you are out of a job in the design industry there is an opportunity for you to get free software and maybe even training within the next few months. Please read the full press release here...
http://pressreleases.autodesk.com/index.php?s=press_releases&item=553%3C%2Ftd%3E

A little extra,
If you are in Ontario, Canada and need a business loan or grant check out this site...

http://www.grants-loans.org/ontario-grants.php

Revit 2010 When and How

2009-04-07T08:27:00.001-05:00

The Revit Architecture 2010 release is fast approaching.

The when is the middle of April.

The how is a little more difficult...
Subscription customers must choose how they would like their software upgrades to be delivered this year (in Canada).

The delivery options are:
1. Do nothing. Your 2010 Autodesk software DVD / CD will automatically be shipped to you in 30 days. (add on top of this the delivery time which can take anywhere from a few days to weeks)
2. Download your 2010 Autodesk software using the Autodesk Subscription Center.
3. Login to the Autodesk Subscription Center to request a DVD / CD copy of your 2010 software and Autodesk will ship your DVD / CD after you submit your request.

If you need full instructions to get into subscription center call your reseller.

Get Paid to Play with Newport!

2009-03-19T10:58:00.004-05:00

Greetings all Ontario Revit users! Having a say in Autodesk product development is a unique opportunity that we enjoy in this city. Having done some testing myself I can assure you that Newport is going in the right direction. It's also nice to see how seriously the developers take our opinions...

If you are interested in participating contact Ian Hooper at ux.tester@autodesk.com .

March 4th Meeting Photos

2009-03-12T12:53:00.008-05:00

Thanks to the 40 people who attended and participated last week! Our three main topic tables were busy with conversations. The ideas were flowing like wine. Jay opened the

meeting with a little preview of Autodesk's 2010 offerings. Then Caesar Ruest from Autodesk let us in on a few RFPs and current Revit projects.

The AIA Document E202 - 2008 (shown above) provides a concise outline for a BIM based contract.

Project managers discussing contract, legal and other issues.

BIM managers talking API and more API...

More notes to follow...

Special guest...Darth Caesar (pictured below)

Revit Wishlist and Meeting Notes Update

2009-03-09T10:22:00.003-05:00

Hello All,

Thanks coming and participating last week. There were many good ideas which came out of it. We are working on compiling your notes, photos and presentations and will post them this week.

In the meantime, maybe you would like to vote on the Revit Architecture Wishlist...

Autodesk does pay attention to the results of this.

Game Engine for Architects

2009-02-26T13:00:00.002-05:00

This may be of interest....

Autodesk® Project Newport - real-time 3D story building technology for architectural visualization and presentation. With game-engine technology and breakthrough ease-of-use, Project Newport enables architects to show their design in context, rapidly explore design options, and create vivid and immersive 3D presentations. Newport brings architectural designs to life by expressing design intent at every stage of a project.

If you want to join the beta testing...

http://labs.autodesk.com/technologies/newport/

ORUG Summit March 4,2009

2009-02-20T16:18:00.004-05:00

ORUG Summit - Wednesday March 4th 6:30 - 9:00 PM

Please join us for our first ORUG Summit. We will have three topic discussion tables: CAD Manager Issues, Project Manager Issues, and Miscellaneous Topics.

Date: Wednesday March 4, 2009Time: 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM.

Location: Alice Fazooli's, 294 Adelaide St W, Toronto ON, M5V 1P6. Click here for map.

For those taking the TTC, it is conveniently located near both Osgoode and St. Andrew stations on the Yonge-University-Spadina line.

Guest: Charles Simco is a Toronto Litigation lawyer at Shibley Righton LLP who will be available to offer his opinion at the Legal Contract issues discussion table.
CONTENT
RSVP

Introductions, Welcome and News

Jay Polding will update us about Revit 2010 and what's been going on for the past four months.
If you would like to become an ORUG member or attend this meeting as a guest, please contact Jay Polding at jpolding@cadmicro.com. There is no charge to attend.

Topic Discussion Tables

CAD Manager Issues

*API*

Office Standards and Templates

Project Manager Issues

*Integrated Project Delivery

*Legal Contract Issues
Miscellaneous Topics

*Revit 2010*Tips and Tricks

*There will be 1 moderator at each table and 2 note takers. Notes will be posted to the ORUG Blog at http://www.orug.ca/.

CAD MicroSolutions Inc.65 International Blvd Toronto ON M9W 6L9P: 416-213-0533 or 1-888-401-5885 F: 416-213-0538http://www.cadmicro.com/ solutions@cadmicro.com

Revit 2010 Build Checker

2009-02-20T16:17:00.001-05:00

Looks like this might be useful...

The Beside The Cursor Revit Build Checker has been updated to support Revit 2010 products when they are available. No need to launch Revit and search for the build number...just launch my script to get a report on installed versions of Revit from Release 9.1 through 2010.Also works with 64 bit Windows XP and Vista. Also works with Revit MEP and Revit Structures.

http://www.integr-8.com/besidethecursor/

Useful links on various forms of the IPD Contracts docs

2009-02-03T16:58:00.004-05:00

Pierre Hoppener from Autodesk sent me this very interesting email and wanted to share it with the group...

The following are websites where customers can find examples that illustrate the current American Institute of Architecture thinking and suggested implementation of an IPD leveraging BIM.

AIA California Council Docs

IPD Working Definition:
http://www.ipd-ca.net/images/Integrated%20Project%20Delivery%20Definition.pdf

IPD Guide:
http://www.ipd-ca.net/IPD%20Definition.htm

Level of Detail Matrix:
http://www.ipd-ca.net/LevelOfDetailMatrix06.xls

March 4th Meeting Topics

2009-02-03T16:10:00.003-05:00

Here is some great input from our members on topics for the next meeting. There is a poll on the sidebar of this blog in order to vote for topics which interest you. Please send Jay Polding an email if you have other topics or would like to present something yourself.

'Today I was working on the site plan and realized that it takes a long time to develop the skills to to a good site plan in revit, from importing contours from cad to taking cut/fill values, even how to draw curbs. You could do one meeting on site plan and another on stairs. Get some people to present samples of work and step-by step tips on development. You should followup with a blog summary for all to share the notes...'

'I think we should attract New comers to Revit meetings by spending half an hour or around that telling everybody new tips and tricks in Revit. Even sometimes the Basics of Revit so the novice would also think of coming to the meetings.'

'Revit & Integrated Project Delivery
Solid Modelling & best practices for custom family creation.
Revit - Material and Cost Estimating
Templates and Office Standards'

'Well, it could be anything that supplements the building design but I'm thinking specifically about structural and mechanical.
There is a promise there that I don't think is being lived up to, at least in my limited experience. It would be interesting to hear from people who have had some (hopefully better) experience trying to make it work.'

'I’d like to see some examples of how people are using the Revit API and .Net to automate processes.'

Try Ecotect for Free

2009-01-05T16:50:00.001-05:00

Autodesk has recently purchased Ecotect and is making the software available for free (trial basis) on this site...

http://ecotect.com/downloads

Ecotect is an environmental simulation software.

Revit 32 and 64 Hardware Benchmarking

2009-01-05T16:16:00.003-05:00

Towards our ongoing conversation regarding hardware I found this blog which is benchmarking with Revit(32 and 64).

http://archin3d.blogspot.com/2008/10/revit-64-bit-benchmark-results.html

ORUG at Autodesk University 2008

2008-12-31T10:51:00.003-05:00

This year we were happy to send one of our own members to Autodesk University, Andrew Murphy of Robert Murphy Architects. We hope to make this a yearly tradition! Andrew's photos were lost on his memory stick so if any of you who attended have some photos, please send them our way. (jpolding at cadmicro.com) Also, if you would like to share your experiences on this blog please send me the text and photos which I will post for you.

Andrew wrote down a few thoughts from his first experience at AU...

I have often heard it said that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. This need not be the case with Autodesk University 2008, which I recently had the good fortune to attend. Imagine five solid days immersed in the puzzling minutiae of your favorite AEC software…did I mention the AUGI Beer Bust?

I suppose I had always imagined that my first visit to Vegas would take the form of a bachelor party, riverboat gambling trip, title bout etc., however, an opportunity to attend Autodesk University seemed to be at once both exciting AND practical (in a way that a riverboat gambling trip did not).

Weeks before my departure date it was clear to me that I was not merely to attend AU, but rather to experience it. Emails filled my mailbox alerting me to an incredible range of events, keynotes, mixers, unplugged sessions, networking opportunities, and so on. Autodesk’s organization and attention to detail from start to finish were impressive.

As I learned that I would be making the trip rather close to the date, it was tricky to find space in the classes and labs that most interested me. The demand for REVIT and LEED-oriented classes seemed to far outweigh the proposed supply. Two sessions in particular, “Revit® Architecture: LEEDing the Way” and “Sustainability Tools for Revit® Architecture: The IES Sustainability Toolkit Plug-in”, appeared to have equal numbers registered and waitlisted. Despite being ‘waitlisted’ for many classes, I never had any trouble finding space on a first-come first-served basis, the above sessions included.

On the whole, the classes and labs were very well designed and equally well run, while the venue(The Venetian)was as ambitious as the itinerary of AU itself. To suggest that the classes were necessarily the highlight however would be untrue. The Opening Keynotes, General Session, and Design Slam, in my opinion, captured the heart of AU 2008.

On one hand, AU is definitely about improving one’s chops. For me, that meant classes in model management, Green Building, parametric families, custom stairs and railings among others. Simply put, attending classes, labs, and unplugged sessions to improve my technical skills was the goal of the trip. On the other hand there is something greater than the acquisition of a set of skills to be taken from AU. I think that the success of AU lay in the excitement and buzz which defined the event from start to finish. Leaving Las Vegas on Friday morning I was excited to get back to work, not because of anything the city had done, but because I was leaving with a new appreciation for what can be done with my software and also an appreciation for the ability of the Autodesk community to come together for collective gains.

For anyone interested in AU 2009 I would encourage you to make it out to the keynotes and evening events. The class materials and podcasts will be made available once you return, but the real excitement, the heart of the event, is to be found in the event halls beyond the classrooms.

Get paid by Autodesk again...

2008-12-19T11:34:00.002-05:00

The only catch is that you have to use AutoCAD for 20hours a week :-)

"Autodesk Research is continuously investigating revolutionary ways to further enhance Autodesk products. We are currently performing a study and seeking AutoCAD 2009 users to assist us in our efforts. Volunteers must use AutoCAD 2009 (or one of the domain specific verticals) at least 20 hrs/week.

Volunteers will be paid $100 in Amazon Gift Cards.

The study consists of the following components:

1) Run a short configuration script on your computer
This will take less than one minute and will have no visible effect on AutoCAD or your system. This script will allow us to collect information about which commands you use and when you use them. User names, company information, and underlying data are never transmitted.

2) Continue to use AutoCAD 2009
We will be collecting the command information over a period of approximately 2-3 months. This requires no action on your part; just continue to use AutoCAD 2009 as you normally do.

3) Complete a post-study questionnaire
The questionnaire will be sent to you by email, and will take approximately one hour to complete. The survey will ask you questions about your like and dislike of various AutoCAD 2009 commands.

Volunteers will be paid $50 upon signing up, and $50 upon the completion of the study.

If you would like to participate, or would like further details, please contact:

AutodeskStudy@Autodesk.com"

2-Year Anniversary Expo Notes

2008-11-04T09:35:00.010-05:00

Thanks to the 41 people who attended, presented and volunteered at our 2-year anniversary party. We had a great time, the presentations were concise and packed with quality. Plus we gave away some great prizes and swag (thank you autodesk!).

Congratulations to A Robert Murphy Architect Inc on winning the all-inclusive ticket to Autodesk University! And a copy of 3dsMAX! We will be getting some updates on their experience which we will post right here.

In his presentation, Robert showed us how two people were able to complete a large seniors residence. The building is now built and there is talk of a second.

David Constable from KPMB showed us how one can use Revit from small items like furniture to large urban plans. They wowed us with their design, videos and renderings.

Kathy from Stephenson Engineering presented two beautiful Revit Structure models complete with renderings. The first (pictured) which had some very large custom trusses. The second was a project which is built on granite. Using the Revit model Stephenson was able to predict the amount of blasted material to within a metre.

Peter Kurkjian from Sweeny Sterling Finlayson and Co. Architects showed us a local building project. &Co has been making great use of the light and shadow capabilities in Revit. Peter presented some rendering studies that described visually how the natural light would penetrate the building.

Thanks also to Sheena Sharpe from Coolearth architecture who showed her latest school project done in Revit.

Entire Imaging Solutions had an Exhibit table filled with their many interesting creations. They also gave away two scale models of Frank Lloyd Wright's 'Falling Water' (which was 3Dprinted from a Revit model) and $300 towards imaging services. Thank you Entire!

Other News:

Caesar Ruest started the following group:

BIM Executive Group - an informal group of Architectural Partners who’ve adopted Revit in their office, comprised of Executive/Partners from across Canada. The call took place mid September for 1 hour where Partner strategies and concerns were shared. All participants considered this a valuable session and would like to schedule more calls. Another action item from the call was to compile a list of MEP and Structural Engineers who are using Revit and to share the list across Canada. I am compiling this list now.

Reno C Negrin Architects, Vancouver
Richard Zeigler Architect Inc., Toronto
HIP Architects, Edmonton
zeidler partnership architects, Toronto
Kuch Stephenson Gibson Malo, Thunder Bay, ON
Clive McKenzie, HMA Architects, Kelowna, BC
Kasian, Vancouver
IBI, Ottawa
WHW Architects, Halifax

Last week:
November 2008:
BIM Executive Event Toronto – November 13th – Partners only, David Jefferies of Zeidler Partnership will be in the spotlight presenting BIM on The Bow. (attachment) Registration is up to 52 people at this point.
Who Should Attend? Executives, Directors, or Senior Level Managers responsible for setting the direction of their organizations

New as of last week:
Visit Seek.autodesk.com for lots of content.
Request for Proposals issued for The MUHC’s Glen Campus (McGill University Health Centre), Redevelopment cost of almost $1.6B
The proposal includes a requirement essentially mentioning that:
“The project is required to be completed in BIM, with a software compatible with Revit.”
Halsall BIM Event (attached)
80 people in attendance
Sep 2008:
PWGSC presents BIM at IIDEX - http://www.iidexneocon.com/2008/index.php/conference/seminars/t22/
Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) is developing a formal BIM strategy.

Thanks as usual to Alice Fazooli's downtown Toronto who always do a great job!

Hot Rod Results So Far...

2008-10-17T14:54:00.003-05:00

And the trophy goes to...

Q9450 Quad Core 2.66Ghz processor 1066 FSB
Nvidia GeForce 6600LE 256 Mb
Vista 32
2 X 2 Gb dual channel 667

Non-Scientific Observations:
high gigahertz quad core chips seem to win consistently and provide the biggest returns
Vista 32 is marginally faster than XP
4GB RAM is marginally faster than 2GB
Most had NVidia cards so we couldn't see a difference.

Points for the future:
Try a variety of video cards if possible
Try tasks other than rendering, like zoom extents, who can open the biggest model etc.
Let's revisit this using Revit 64 bit on a high RAM screamer...

it's not too late to post a time...

Please follow these easy 7 steps (it should only take 10-20 minutes)
1. Open ftp://206.210.97.180/ user: ORUG password: ORUG
2. Open Ed Speed Test.rvt in Revit 2009
3. Open Revit render test blank report .xls
4. Set screen resolution to 1280 X 1024
5. Go to the Test Rendering View
6. Click Rendering, Set to Medium and Render
7. Fill out Revit render test blank report.xls, rename and post back to ftp site.

2 Year Anniversary Meeting Oct. 29, 2008

2008-10-07T12:06:00.003-05:00

Date: Wednesday October 29, 2008
Time: 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM.

Location: Alice Fazooli's, 294 Adelaide St W, Toronto ON, M5V 1P6. Click here for map.

For those taking the TTC, it is conveniently located near both Osgoode and St. Andrew stations on the Yonge-University-Spadina line.

ORUG is proud to announce its 2-year anniversary. To celebrate, we're holding our first annual EXPO! Members are encouraged to bring and showcase their projects to the group. Participants will be entered to win prizes.

Any ORUG member can bring and show their projects but we would like to request that expositions to the Expo have the following minimum criteria to be eligible for the draw:

Revit Model
One exterior rendering that will be submitted to Jay Polding prior to Wednesday October 29. This rendering will act as registration for the prize draw
One interior rendering
One floorplan
One elevation
One section
Brief explanation to the group about the project and the Revit Model
Laptop with the files mentioned above

We are looking for 3 eligible entrants to do "pecha kucha" presentations about their projects. Pecha Kucha presentations require each presenter to use a slideshow of 20 images, each shown for 20 seconds. This results in a total presentation time of 6 minutes 40 seconds.
If you are interested in entering and participating, please email jpolding@cadmicro.com.

Format

Exhibition - ORUG EXPO 2008

Jay will provide a brief introduction of the exhibitions in slideshow format.

Our 3 “Pecha Kucha” entrants will then present.

Exhibitors will then set up at individual tables and be able to discuss projects with other members.

Finally, we will be conducting a draw from registered participants. The draw will include two seats of 3dsMAX Design 2009 (Not For Resale version).

Autodesk University 2008
Are you attending Autodesk University this year? Please let us know if you have registered by emailing alau@cadmicro.com

If you would like to become an ORUG member or attend this meeting as a guest, please contact Jay Polding at jpolding@cadmicro.com. There is no charge to attend.

Revit 64 is Out!

2008-09-30T14:10:00.002-05:00

Just to let every one know, if you don't already. Revit 64bit is now available for download for Architecture, Structure and MEP. You need to log in to the Autodesk Subscription site to get this. Here's a press release from Autodesk...

SAN RAFAEL, Calif., Sept. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Autodesk, Inc.,(NASDAQ: ADSK) today announced that versions of its Revit software applications for Building Information Modeling (BIM) specifically designed for personal computers using Windows 64-bit operating systems are now available. This marks the company's first venture into 64-bit BIM applications and applies to Revit Architecture 2009, Revit Structure 2009 and Revit MEP 2009. The 64-bit versions are now available to existing Revit platform software subscribers. Customer beta testers reported that the newsoftware applications offer significantly improved performance and stabilityfor memory intensive tasks such as rendering, printing, model upgrading andfile importing and exporting. Some examples of their experience include:

"In every single test I threw at the Revit Structure for the 64-bit system it beat the 32-bit system," said Ken Murphy, BIM manager, Thornton Tomasetti. "On average, we observed approximately a 20 percent performance gain on operations such as saving files and exporting models to other formats for outside consultants. And when it comes to rendering images of large project models, such as an American football stadium with thousands of members, we saw up to a 50 percent performance improvement over the 32-bit platform."

"With 64-bit Revit Architecture we can completely load a very large project into a session and work on it at one time; and that is something that represents a significant efficiency improvement over the 32-bit environment,"said Lonnie Cumpton, Revit task force manager for the Friedmutter Group. "For example, we have a large project that consists of 2.9 gigabytes of Revit data contained in 22 individual files. With 64-bit Revit Architecture we can link all the pieces together into one big model and cut an entire building section to gain an understanding from a section elevation standpoint of the entireproject at one time. Using 32-bit Revit Architecture we'd have to cut individual pieces of sections in each model and then piece them back together. It took us a day to do that. Now we can do it in less than an hour."

"We've been beta testing the 64-bit Revit Structure software and the increases in efficiency and productivity are impressive," said Jamie Richardson, Associate & CAD manager, Ericksen Roed & Associates. "Cutting sections and switching between views is much faster. Moving within the viewsand rotating the model in a 3D view is also noticeably faster and smoother.With what we have seen in our beta testing, and what we're hearing from userstesting the beta on their current projects, we see no reason not to go to the64-bit version of Revit Structure."

The English language versions of new 64-bit Revit software applications areavailable now to existing Revit Architecture 2009, Revit Structure 2009 andRevit MEP 2009 subscribers via the online Subscription Center. The 64-bit software will release in other languages at a later date.

"We're very excited to hear our beta testers report stunning performance gains with the native 64-bit versions of the Revit software applications,"said Jay Bhatt, senior vice president, Autodesk AEC Solutions. "Breaking the four gigabytes RAM barrier is an important milestone, which helps ourcustomers experience the power of BIM in even their largest projects."

Autodesk Project

2008-08-08T14:25:00.002-05:00

Please take a look at the following request...

Autodesk is looking for sample Revit files to use for testing purposes. We are looking for high quality project files of any type of architectural, or architectural-concept designs. We are specifically looking for projects that also include landscapes, surrounding context, urban planning or details such as streets, street furniture, parking lots, vegetation etc. in Revit format. The larger the project the better. We want to use it for rendering purposes as well as real-time performance testing. All files will be kept in a secure location and not shared with any architecture company.
The files must be in RVT format, with ones created in Revit 2009 with applied render appearance materials preferred. The files will be used for internal testing only.
We are also looking for similar scenes to use for usability tests with external people who will only be shown the project under a non-disclosure agreement. If you have a project we can use in this way we will contact you to arrange an agreement for the rights.
If you think you might have a file that fits these requirements please contact Ian Hooper at ian.hooper@autodek.com or 416-874-8523.
Thank you,
Ian

Revit Goes to University...

2008-08-08T09:05:00.000-05:00

University of Southern California School of Architecture Earns Autodesk Revit BIM Experience Award

School Honored for Integrating Revit Architecture Software for Building Information Modeling into Curriculum and Encouraging Sustainable Design Skills

SAN RAFAEL, Calif., August 4, 2008—Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK), announced that it has presented the University of Southern California’s School of Architecture with a Revit BIM Experience Award. The award honors the school for teaching building information modeling (BIM) to graduate and undergraduate students to give them the skills highly sought after by leading architectural firms. The award also recognizes the school’s ongoing efforts to promote BIM, including the recent BIM BOP 2008 symposium, which brought together practicing architects, students and faculty to discuss BIM, sustainable design and other key trends in the building industry.

“BIM, and its ability to facilitate integrated project delivery and sustainable design, are transforming the architecture and construction professions,” said Karen Kensek, associate professor of the practice of architecture for USC's School of Architecture. “Offering our students experience with BIM helps them think in 3D so they can fully understand the entire building and start to come to terms with issues of constructability. We also know from our annual architecture career fair that experience using Revit Architecture for BIM makes our students very attractive job candidates.”

BIM is an integrated process built on coordinated, reliable information about a project from design through construction and into operations. By adopting BIM, architects, engineers, contractors and owners can easily create coordinated, digital design information and documentation; use that information to more accurately visualize, simulate and analyze performance, appearance and cost; and reliably deliver the project faster, more economically and with reduced environmental impact.

BIM Courses at USC School of Architecture
USC’s School of Architecture teaches Revit Architecture software to introduce students to the principles of BIM and 3D design. The school also uses the Autodesk Sustainable Design Curriculum to instruct students in the use of BIM for sustainable design. Students can export their Revit models to a wide variety of energy-performance analysis software tools, such as Autodesk Ecotect, Autodesk Green Building Studio and IES Virtual Environment, to conduct daylight and shading studies. The architecture students also learn how to create stunning, photo-real animations and renderings of their projects using Autodesk 3ds Max Design software.

“We applaud USC’s efforts to provide students with highly marketable, real-world skills based on a curriculum that includes Revit Architecture for BIM and sustainable design tools,” said Jay Bhatt, senior vice president, Autodesk AEC Solutions. “We hope that as they enter the workforce they will evangelize BIM and sustainable design practices.”

About the Revit BIM Experience Award
The Revit BIM Experience Award celebrates building industry professionals and educators around the world who are helping to transform the building industry through building information modeling. Autodesk honors organizations with this award for innovation and excellence in implementing the Revit platform (including Revit Architecture, Revit Structure and Revit MEP software applications) for building information modeling on one or more projects.

Revit Architecture 2009 Extensions

2008-07-28T09:57:00.005-05:00

You can now download Revit Architecture 2009 Extensions from the Autodesk Subscription Center. Some impressions:

Freeze Drawings: create a 2D drafting view of a plan, elevation or section view.
Text Generator: A few more bells and whistles for text. A temporary solution I hope.
Grids Generator: This is a step in the right direction for creating and editing levels and grids. One thing of note, you can choose to display your grids in 3D. This will draw unconstrained model lines on top of the grids.

ORUG Member Interview

2008-07-24T14:55:00.003-05:00

I noticed this interview on the Bim and Beam blog....

What made my trip to Toronto even more exciting was the opportunity to visit Halsall and to have lunch with Ian Trudeau, Michael Parker and David Brand. After having a great conversation and a few laughs while eating spinach and ricotta Angolotti, Ian and I sat down for a great interview about Halsall and his use of Revit® Structure. Below is my interview with Ian as well as some really impressive images that Ian shared with me. I look forward to my next trip to Toronto!

read the full interview here...

http://bimandbeam.typepad.com/bim_beam/2008/07/interview-with.html

IES and phases

2008-07-22T09:55:00.002-05:00

You can now set the phase to export to the IES plugin analysis. Here's how:

Settings-Project Information-Energy Data-Project Phase

Get Paid to PLAY!

2008-07-17T13:25:00.002-05:00

Autodesk is once again looking for Architects or architectural
technologists who are current users of Revit to help us with a new study
we will be doing July 24 and 25 in Toronto for Project Newport.

For this study, we will ask you to come into our office (at King and
Sherbourne) some time during the day or in the evening. You'll try out
prototypes of new software features while we watch and ask you
questions. The sessions will take no more than 1 hour, and you will be
paid for your participation. (Payment is $50 in the form of a gift
card from your choice of major retailers.)

To participate in this study, you must have at least six months
experience using Autodesk Revit. If you participated in the study we
did in June, you are not eligible for this study.

If you are interested in participating, please reply to this email with
contact information, or call Ian Hooper at 416-874-8523. We will
contact you to book a mutually convenient time for you to come in.

July 9 2008 Meeting Notes

2008-07-10T13:41:00.010-05:00

Thanks to all who attended and presented! Also to Alice Fazooli's for a great venue and service. Here's how the evening went...

After presenting a similar Canadian update at the inaugural ORUG meeting in 2006 Caesar Ruest of Autodesk Canda presented:

BIM and Revit Canadian Update-July 2008

Public Works and National Defense requesting BIM
Bank of Montreal BIM RFP project

Alberta Infrastructure meeting – outcome: choosing a BIM project, & transitioned software to Revit

Vancouver Convention Centre
– Looking Back:
– 2004 discussions with Partner

– Started on Revit 7, finished on Revit 8
– Construction Photos June 2008

Revit is widely used and available to schools across Canada...

Link: http://www.students.autodesk.com/

• Free downloads and Job postings
• Posted for 60 days, will be reminded and may renew.
• Edit and remove at any time

Hot Rod Event

Jim Clubine from CAD MicroSolutions Inc. in Barrie explained the metrics used for our testing to be done. He also related some technical findings that he had observed, namely processor speed is the key element to speed, RAM comes in a close second and video cards less so. Here were some of the specs of the machines set up...

Q9450 Quad Core 2.66Ghz processor 1066 FSB Nvidia GeForce 6600LE 256 Mb

E6600 Dual Core 2.4Ghz processor 1066 FSB

Q9450 Quad Core 2.66Ghz processor 1066 FSB Nvida GeForce 8800GT 512Mb

As we recieve and compile the results we will post them.

We have uploaded these files on the ftp site, please follow the steps below.

Ed Speed Test.rvt
Revit render test blank report .xls
Revit render test JULY 7-08.pdf

Please follow these easy 7 steps (it should only take 10-20 minutes)

1. Open ftp://206.210.97.180/ user: ORUG password: ORUG

2. Open Ed Speed Test.rvt in Revit 2009

3. Open Revit render test blank report .xls

4. Set screen resolution to 1280 X 1024

5. Go to the Test Rendering View

6. Click Rendering, Set to Medium and Render

7. Fill out Revit render test blank report.xls, rename and post back to ftp site.

One point of interest, the benchmarking journal file from Phil Read cannot be used at this time as it is not 2009 ready. When it is, we will post it.

July 9 Meeting

2008-06-19T08:08:00.002-05:00

Please find details about our next Ontario Revit Users Group (ORUG) meeting below:

Date: Wednesday July 9, 2008

Time: 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM.

Location: Alice Fazooli's, 294 Adelaide St W, Toronto ON, M5V 1P6. Click here for map. For those taking the TTC, it is conveniently located near both Osgoode and St. Andrew stations on the Yonge-University-Spadina line.

CONTENT

RSVP

Revit News Across Canada

An Industry Insider will give us the latest news on the who, what and where of Revit projects.

If you would like to become an ORUG member or attend this meeting as a guest, please contact Jay Polding at jpolding@cadmicro.com.

There is no charge to attend.

Hot Rod Meet

Bring your laptop or box to test out what settings and hardware work best. We will have files, monitors, keyboards and mice.

New Web Update 1 build of Revit Structure 2009

2008-06-11T10:31:00.000-05:00

This is an Autodesk blog kept by Revit Structure Team members...

http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/2231888/30029942

Render Hotfix

2008-06-04T13:57:00.003-05:00

Please see this article if you are having crashing issues when rendering...

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=11294295&linkID=9240618

ps, this applies to the AutoCAD renderer.

IES Plugin for 2009

2008-06-03T15:33:00.002-05:00

Some (including me) could not find the latest page for the IES plugin download for Revit Arch 2009.

http://www.iesve.com/content/default.asp?page=s97_2

Just download install and restart and you will see the IES toolbar right there.

Shipping Delays for Revit 2009

2008-04-24T10:07:00.002-05:00

Although Revit 2009 started shipping on April 15 it seems that here in Ontario there have been delays. Most should start recieving DVDs next week. In the meantime here are some links if you wish to download it:

Revit Architecture 2009:
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?siteID=123112&id=11017599

Revit Structure 2009:
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?siteID=123112&id=9281007

Revit MEP:
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=9262907

Revit 2009 Shipping Dates

2008-04-08T11:05:00.000-05:00

An update on shipping dates for the entire Revit 2009 line of products:

April 15, 2008

Area Program Technique

2008-04-01T07:30:00.001-05:00

Below is a very useful technique from one of our committee members, written by Sheena Sharp...

A new program can be really daunting, but while I was first exploring REVIT, I noticed the area calculations and became intrigued. So I imported several AutoCAD floor plans of an 85,000 sf hospital that we were renovating into residential suites. I originally had the intention of building walls until I discovered that walls were not necessary to perform area calculations, so I could do preliminary area calculations without building a model, and with area features that are far more powerful than AutoCAD's.

It works like this:
1. Load the AutoCAD drawing in, one floor per level.
2. Go to the "Room and areas" menu and select "area plans".
3. Select "rentable" and the level you want to create. Note that there is now list of "area plans" under views. (I would recommend not creating exterior walls)
4. Select an area plan, and draw a bounded are using the Area boundary tool.
5. Next select the "area" tool which allows you to place an area tag in the centre of the bounded box.

Voila, you have the area calculated. You will find that REVIT is far more forgiving about closing areas: close is good enough. Also, each room is not a loop, as in Autocad, but a boundary forms the boundary for two rooms. Move the boundary and notice how the calculations change.

But the real power is in the schedules. Go to the "view" menu and choose schedules, Areas, Rentable. As an example, when you are starting out, you may want to keep track of the percentages of area assigned to rentable suites and those assigned to circulation and mechanical spaces.

To create that schedule:
1. Right Click on the area element (move the cursor until you see and "x" in the area and right click)
2. Change the name to something that you want to track.
3. Create a schedule in the view menu, and choose the name, the area and the count.
4. Create a calculated value called Percent, click percent, and choose OF area BY grand total.
5. In the sort by tab, choose Name, grand totals and deselect "itemize every instance"
6. In the format tab, select area and then click on the "calculate total box. To the same for Count and Percent.
7. Click OK.

The different "names", are sorted and summed. No more transferring areas to a spreadsheet. No more recalculating when an area changes. In addition, there is a really nice feature to colour the drawings. Go back to the Room and Area Menu and select area colour scheme. Insert it on to the area plan. Select it and then "edit colour scheme" on the options bar. You are able to change the colours, and the variable that is used on the legend. (For the above example, choose "name"). Again, voila, a presentation-ready plan.

I have moved on to creating multiple area analyses, in the same project. You do this by going to the view menu and choosing "new", "schedules". Click on Areas: rentable and rename the set of schedule. You will now be able to create an entirely separate set of area plans with different boundaries.

I recently moved on to using area schedules to keep track of the variance between the program areas and the proposed areas. This is done using the "key schedule" feature. The key schedule has one field which is a "key". When you assign a key name to a room, the key schedule information like "existing area" and "proposed area" is transferred to the new room. Use a calculated value to calculate the difference between the plan area and the proposed area. Even if you decide to delete that room, or change it to another function, the original program information is not lost.

Although I am getting much more comfortable at creating models and presentations, the area calculations remain my favorite part of REVIT for fact that they remove the tedious nature of one of the important tasks of initial design.

March 26 Meeting Minutes

2008-03-27T08:57:00.023-05:00

Thanks to all 50 in attendance for participating in our meeting. We had some very interesting presentations and discussions. Here's a brief review of our evening...

Theme: The BIM Model: New Concerns and Opportunities

The BIM Model- Liability Conversation

The BIM Model- “Printing” a Tactile 3D Model

Charles Simco
Shibley Righton LLP
T: 416.214.5265 F: 416.214.5465

E: charles.simco@shibleyrighton.com

7:00-8:00 The BIM Model- Liability Conversation

Charles was interested in coming to our meeting to learn about this emerging technological change in our industry. As a Toronto Litigation lawyer, Charles defends architects against professional liability claims and also practices construction law, commercial litigation and employment law. Charles made the point that legal practice always has to catch up with technology. Adapting Client/Architect Agreements to BIM technology is another example of that. Only the 2D hardcopy documents are currently the ‘contract documents’ unless this is otherwise specified. Charles reviewed a sample disclaimer. It is basically saying that if the 3D model is to be used by anyone other than its originator, he or she cannot be liable for its content.

Some audience questions...

Q: What happens if the 3D model is the contract document?

A: This should be addressed in a specific contract.

Q: What happens when multiple architects and consultants have different responsibilities in the same model? Who owns the model, who takes responsibility?

A: Same principles apply now as did in the past; keep good records ie. save time stamped hard and electronic copies throughout the process.

Linking Revit files is a clear way of working between consultants without accidental changes.

Revit does provide a very coordinated set of drawings and model which may reduce errors.

Charles mentioned that we can't anticipate every issue that MAY come up. He hasn't heard of 'BIM' being a key issue so far in a lawsuit.

Questions for further discussion:

Q: You can always agree to provide a client with the model but can a client demand it after the fact and there be no coverage under the province licensing acts?

Q: Frank Gehry's 3D contract available?

8:15-9:00 The BIM Model- “Printing” a Tactile 3D Model

Allan M. Agard

Branch Sales Manager
Entire Imaging Solutions Inc.

317 Adelaide St.Toronto, ON. M5V 1P9

Ph: (416) 593-5701

Cell: (416) 710-6448

Fax: (416) 593-5665

aagard@entireimaging.com

Saima Elahi

3D Model Sales Representative

Entire Imaging Solutions Inc.

Office: 905-673-2007 Ex. 240

Cell: 647-296-8725

selahi@entireimaging.com

Entire's 3D modelling advantages are: speed and accuracy

A condo sales office can be opened months earlier using this service.

Entire is also a 2D print shop and committed to working with ORUG to iron out printing issues from Revit.

If you have problems printing contact jpolding@cadmicro.com and we will get the ball rolling.

Domenic from IBI (pictured below, left) shared his experiences working with Saima from Entire on various 3D models.

Models are either powder or polymer
Can be made any size but may need several pieces

Problems with the design (ie. structure) can be discovered early on in the 3Dprint process.

You can purchase Google Earth terrain for most of Canada, import into Revit, design your building(s) and then 3D print it.

The new FBX export from Revit to 3DStudio will really help cut down the time that Entire would have to spend on the model.

Nine lucky people won scale models of the beautiful building pictured below...

Ballpark pricing for the model picture above:
Small(6"x6"x3"): $800
Medium: $2000
Large(24"x36"x8"):$5000

Thanks again and if you have any comments or suggestions please contact Jay Polding at the email address above.

NOTE:

Ballenford books – a one-of-a-kind architecture bookstore in Toronto in Mirvish Village – is sadly closing its doors. If you ever venture to try to find architecture books at Chapters, only to discover a wee little section in the corner, then you’ll see the importance of an architecture/design-dedicated bookstore like Ballenford’s. Please forward this to any or all of your architecture friends and get them to buy some books! If we can’t save the store, then at least we might get great books at discounted prices out of it.

Welcome New ORUG Divisions

2008-03-26T10:06:00.002-05:00

Welcome to the ORUG MEP and Structural divisions. These both will contain relavent technical and industry articles. John Wong will be heading up the ORUG MEP. Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing components are key to the BIM model. This is a key component to fully test our buildings before we build them.

John's Bio..
John Wong, BScE. is CAD MicroSolutions’ resident MEP (Mechanical,
Electrical, Plumbing) Engineering Applications Specialist.
After graduating with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from
Queen's University, John worked for a top mechanical/electrical
consulting engineering firm in the Greater Toronto Area. He
applies his industry-specific experience to AutoCAD MEP, Revit
MEP, and the Integrated Environmental Solutions

Great Revit Learning SIte

2008-03-24T14:51:00.002-05:00

This site is great for finding help on almost anything! Many common questions are answered.

FYI, some of the info is a little outdated. Still good though.

March 26 Meeting Details

2008-03-20T09:45:00.003-05:00

Date: Wednesday March 26, 2008

Time: 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM.

Location: Alice Fazooli's, 294 Adelaide St W, Toronto ON, M5V 1P6.

Click here for map. For those taking the TTC, it is conveniently located near both Osgoode and St. Andrew stations on the Yonge-University-Spadina line.

Content: The BIM Model: New Concerns and Opportunities

Liability Conversation
This portion will be an interactive, moderated discussion with Charles to discuss industry concerns about legal liabilities and the BIM model.

Charles Simco - Shibley Righton LLP Charles has been recognised as an expert in the practice of Construction law and professional liability. He has been invited to speak about a variety of topics relating to his expertise at various legal and construction organizations.

Printing a Tactile 3D Model
Allan and his Technical Expert will discuss big picture reasons for using 3D printing as well as technical procedures. He may also offer free services as a giveaway.

Allan M. Agard - Entire Imaging Solutions Inc.Using 3D CAD files, Entire has been providing professionals with the highest quality digital 3D colour replication models for the past 36 years. Customization is provided to meet the specific needs of every client. Models are produced in days.

If you would like to become an ORUG member or attend this meeting as a guest, please contact Jay Polding at jpolding@cadmicro.com.

Revit 2009 Features

2008-02-15T12:38:00.000-05:00

This is what we've been waiting for!

http://bimboom.blogspot.com/

March Meeting and News

2008-02-14T10:44:00.006-05:00

Our next meeting will be March 26, 2008
When: Wednesday, March 26 2008 from 6:30pm to 9:00pm.
Location: Alice Fazooli's, 294 Adelaide St W, Toronto ON.

Theme: The BIM Model: New Concerns and Opportunities

The BIM Model- Liability Conversation
The BIM Model- “3D Printing” a Tactile Model

Invitations will be emailed in early March. More details to follow…

Autodesk to Acquire Green Building Studio
After nearly 10 years of market changing innovation, Green Building Studio is delighted to announce we have signed an agreement for Autodesk, Inc. to acquire our assets. In other words, our Green Building Studio (GBS) web service will soon join the Autodesk product family. Please be assured that our talented team will continue to sell software and train and support architects as they use our web service to design carbon neutral buildings today and in the future.
Read more…http://www.greenbuildingstudio.com/

Extensions for Revit®
Revit® Extensions are a series of easy to use applications that extend the capabilities of Revit in various key areas, including structural analysis and reinforced concrete drafting.On January 15 2008, Autodesk completed the acquisition of Robobat who develops these Extensions. All Extensions for Revit Structure formerly developed by Robobat, both fee and free, are now available through the Autodesk Subscription Program.Visit the Autodesk’s Subscription page under Services and Support to find out more about this service and becoming a member. Revit Structure Subscription customers can login to the Subscription Center and download the Revit Extensions at no additional cost.
A great example… Revit 2008 Worksharing Monitor
The Worksharing Monitor facilitates the use of Revit software in a worksharing environment, in which multiple people work on one project. For workshared projects, the Worksharing Monitor answers questions like the following: Who is currently working on this project? Is my local copy of the project up to date? When will my Save to Central operation finish? Has my request to borrow elements been granted? Are any issues interfering with my work on a Revit project? More info…http://www.extensions4revit.com/n/e4r

Autodesk VIZ to become Autodesk® 3ds Max® Design 2009
With the increasing demands for trained staff and richer toolsets, we noticed a significant movement of Autodesk® VIZ software customers to Autodesk® 3ds Max® software. We also learned that approximately 90% of VIZ customers would prefer to use 3ds Max. In surveying our customers, we learned they want:

-New features and capabilities to ease the creation of stunning imagery and cinema-quality visualizations
-The ability of 3ds Max to handle even the most complex projects
-Access to a much larger community of peers and talent pool
-Easy transfer of knowledge and data from VIZ to 3ds Max

To satisfy these desires, we intend to introduce Autodesk® 3ds Max® Design 2009 software, a new and uncompromised version of 3ds Max tailored to the needs of architects, designers, engineers, and visualization specialists.
More info… http://pressreleases.autodesk.com/index.php?s=press_releases&item=383%3C%2Ftd%3E

Latest Revit News

2008-01-09T16:15:00.000-05:00

New Builds for all Revit Products:
These are fixing a leap year programming glitch among other small things…

Revit Architecture: http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?siteID=123112&id=9408083

Revit Structure: http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?siteID=123112&id=9281007

Revit MEP: http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=9262907

FREE IES (Lighting and Energy Simulation) Toolkit Plugin for Revit Architecture:

http://www.iesve.com/content/default.asp?page=s110

The Best Yet!

2007-11-16T12:30:00.001-05:00

Our best meeting yet! That has the been the input that we have received so far. This is thanks to our speakers, Erin Rae Hoffer, Jay Polding and Chien Harriman and of course to the over 50 people who attended and volunteered.

Erin Rae Hoffer - AIA, LEED AP, MBA set the tone for the evening. Integrating all team members earlier in the design process makes for a better end result. She also shared a glimpse into the future by narrating a video of Autodesk’s presentation at Greenbuild. This presented an easy to use interface that illustrates how closely BIM and sustainable design can function.

Jay Polding, LEED AP presented an integration of exisitng Revit tools with the LEED standard. Using the basic modeling tools, schedules and parameters one can uncover many key peices of information pertaining to occupancy, parking, water flow, material take-offs and much more.

Chien Si Harriman from Integrated Environmental Solutions had our attention. Using the link between Revit Architecture/MEP and IES Virtual Environment he was able to analyse energy consumption, daylighting and dassive solar among other things. He demonstrated how one can easily compare various design options quickly and early in the design process.

IES Virtual Environment Plugin for Revit Architecture
This Beta test will run until the 20th of December i.e. you will be issued keys for supporting software until the 20th.
To participate in the Beta Test you need to download the new version of the . This is downloadable from the following link:
http://upload.iesve.com/Downloads/ve5.8.5_beta1.zip
This download is about 370MB and can take up to 30 minutes to download.
Please note that we have just uploaded a new website. If you have any problems getting to the website or downloading then contact Beta@iesve.com.You must have the June 2007 (or later) update of Revit Architecture for our link to work.

Latest(as of blog post date) Revit Architecture 2008 Build http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?siteID=123112&id=9408083

An involved group. Please email Jay Polding any comments or ideas for our next meeting.

Notice:

From Sustainable Buildings Canada:
The City of Toronto is planning to redevelop the North St Lawrence Market.
Join a green team of architects, energy and environmental engineers and other design professionals at this sustainable building Design Charrette. Apply your experience and technical know-how to the proposed new north St Lawrence market complex in Toronto.
Date: Dec 4 (lunch) and Dec 5 (8:30-4:30), 2007.
A limited number of spaces are available. There is no cost but selection will be primarily based on the expertise needed by the charrette- ESPECIALLY electrical engineering, building envelope and structural.
The invite is available for download it in word format from: http://www.sbcanada.org/online-docs/NSL-charetteInvite.doc
If interested, * Do not reply to this email * return the completed invite to: ponessa@sympatico.ca
Tom Ponessa, M Arch
Director of Programs
Sustainable Buildings Canada
t: 416 530 4796 x 301

Meeting Nov.14, 2007

2007-11-01T12:58:00.000-05:00

When: Wednesday, November 14th from 6:30pm to 9:00pm.

Location: Alice Fazooli's, 294 Adelaide St W, Toronto ON.

AGENDA

Reception: Join us for hors d'oeuvres and drinks at 6:30.

Theme: Revit: LEED and Collaboration
Content: A Conversation with Erin Rae Hoffer - AIA, LEED AP, MBAAs
Industry Programs Manager with Autodesk, a leading provider of software for architecture and engineering, Erin Hoffer fosters the adoption of innovative approaches to design and practice. With twenty-five years of experience in technology and computer-aided design, Erin contributed programming for D.O.E solar energy analysis software in the early 80s, developed computer-aided design tools and techniques for architecture and engineering with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Prior to joining Autodesk, Erin served as Executive Vice-President with the Boston Architectural College and served on the board of directors of the Boston Society of Architects as Commissioner of Technology. She led technology and services organizations for Harvard, MIT, and Tufts University. She is a LEED Accredited Professional and member of the AIA. Erin received a Master in Architecture from UCLA, and a Master in Business Administration from MIT's Sloan School of Management. She is registered to practice architecture in California.

Revit and IES for LEED: Presentation - Special Guest: Chien Si Harriman from IES-Integrated Environmental Solutions Limited with Jay Polding LEED AP

Learn the secrets of extracting key LEED data from your Revit model. We will compare existing tools and techniques inside of Revit with the information required from the LEED Letter Template. Chien Si Harriman from IES will show us how daylighting, energy consumption and other important simulation data can be calculated using IES simulation software.

Revit Matchmaking Tables: Revit Architecture, Structure and MEP stations will be set up for those who are looking to collaborate on Revit projects.

Registration: Please email your interest in attending to Jay Polding at jpolding@cadmicro.com as soon as possible.

Get Paid to Test Revit...AGAIN

2007-10-25T13:58:00.000-05:00

Autodesk is once again looking for Architects or architectural
technologists who are current users of Revit to help us with a new study
we will be doing during the week of November 5 to 9 in Toronto.

For this study, we will ask you to come into our office (at King and
Sherbourne) some time during the day or in the evening. You'll try out
prototypes of new software features while we watch and ask you
questions. The sessions will take no more than 2 hours, and you will be
paid for your participation. (Payment is $100 in the form of a gift
card from your choice of major retailers.)

To participate in this study, you must have at least six months
experience using Autodesk Revit. If you participated in the study we
did in August, you may still participate in this study.

If you are interested in participating, please reply to this email with
contact information, or call Kelly Ellis at 416-874-8536. We will
contact you to book a mutually convenient time for you to come in.

Revit Wishlist

2007-10-09T09:21:00.001-05:00

Vote for you top ten wishlist items here...

http://www.augi.com/revit/ballot.asp

Member Marketing Opportunity

2007-10-02T08:39:00.000-05:00

The CaGBC-GTC chapter is asking interested ORUG members to submit images, renderings, schematic drawings (computer or hand drawn) of buildings, MEP systems or structural skeletons for consideration. These images could potentially, be used in the graphic artwork on the CaGBC-GTC website and tradeshow booth so interested parties should be in a position to authorize the CaGBC-GTC to use their images in the public domain, royalty free. The contributing authors will of course get recognition by way of their logo or company name identified on any of their images, that might ultimately be used in final graphic artwork production.

If anyone is interested in this opportunity to potentially receive some high-profile public recognition and free advertising via CaGBC-GTC marketing collateral, they can submit their images to:

Melissa Ferrato

-Toronto and Region Conservation Authority
-Canada Green Building Council -Greater Toronto Chapter
-World Green Building Council Secretariat

Phone: (416) 661-6600 ext. 5569
Fax: (416) 667-6278
Email: mferrato@trca.on.ca