Splitting Up Revit Models

What criteria would you use to decide if you are going to split or not your Revit Models? And if you decide you are going to do it, how are you going to do it?

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I just have started working on the biggest Revit project I have worked to date, and as the BIM Manager of the project I had to make certain decisions concerning the protocol to follow in terms of model splitting up. So far, all the projects I worked on where relatively small, so this decision was not so relevant (we basically decided to split models by discipline: Arch - Str - MEP) and it worked good enough. This new project is way too big to work only with this discipline based division, so I wondered what "the experts" would think is the best to go for such a project (and what criteria to follow on future projects).
The project I am working on is a residential complex with a total of around 158.000 m2, and it has 7 residential towers and a common basement, plus some other minor buildings. After looking deep into blogs, forums and linkedin groups, I found this advice by BIM Manager Brendan Smith that I found was exactly what I needed.

In his post, Brendan describes several Revit model divisions according to the project type and size. In my case, I will work with something similar to his last option: "4. On a Large to extremely large job with two or three buildings". I will not follow literally these divisions (to me the divisions between Architecture and Interiors makes no sense and following something more similar to the Uniformat division might be more logic too) but it is a good start point conceptually for the divisions. My actual chosen division system will follow this criteria (see that the abbreviations are based on Spanish, so you could use something similar with English abbreviations):

Architecture
PROJECTCODE-T01-ARQ-ENV-R01.rvt (Contains all Architectural elements of the façade of residential tower 01)
PROJECTCODE-T02-ARQ-ENV-R01.rvt (Contains all Architectural elements of the façade of residential tower 02)
...
PROJECTCODE-T01-ARQ-INT-R01.rvt (Contains all Architectural elements of the interior of residential tower 01)
PROJECTCODE-T02-ARQ-INT-R01.rvt (Contains all Architectural elements of the interior of residential tower 02)
...
Structure
PROJECTCODE-T01-EST-CIM-R01.rvt (Contains all Structural Foundations for residential tower 01)
PROJECTCODE-T02-EST-CIM-R01.rvt (Contains all Structural Foundations for residential tower 02)
...
PROJECTCODE-T01-EST-ESP-R01.rvt (Contains the Floor Structure for residential tower 01)
PROJECTCODE-T02-EST-ESP-R01.rvt (Contains the Floor Structure for residential tower 02)
...
MEP
PROJECTCODE-T01-INS-SAN-R01.rvt (Contains waste/grey and rain water piping for tower 01)
PROJECTCODE-T02-INS-SAN-R01.rvt (Contains waste/grey and rain water piping for tower 02)
...
PROJECTCODE-T01-INS-CLI-R01.rvt (Contains AC for tower 01)
PROJECTCODE-T02-INS-CLI-R01.rvt (Contains AC for tower 02)
...
PROJECTCODE-T01-INS-CPR-R01.rvt (Contains Ventilation / fire escape pressurization for tower 01)
PROJECTCODE-T02-INS-CPR-R01.rvt (Contains Ventilation / fire escape pressurization for tower 02)
...
PROJECTCODE-T01-INS-CPR-R01.rvt (Contains Ventilation / fire escape pressurization for tower 01)
PROJECTCODE-T02-INS-CPR-R01.rvt (Contains Ventilation / fire escape pressurization for tower 02)
...
PROJECTCODE-T01-INS-GAS-R01.rvt (Contains Gas Piping for tower 01)
PROJECTCODE-T02-INS-GAS-R01.rvt (Contains Gas Piping for tower 02)
...
PROJECTCODE-T01-INS-ELE-R01.rvt (Contains Electrical Systems for tower 01)
PROJECTCODE-T02-INS-ELE-R01.rvt (Contains Electrical Systems for tower 02)
...
PROJECTCODE-T01-INS-HID-R01.rvt (Contains Water Supply and Distribution for tower 01)
PROJECTCODE-T02-INS-HID-R01.rvt (Contains Water Supply and Distribution for tower 02)

For now, this is our starting point. Thanks to Brendan Smith for the inspiration. After the project is over, i'll share the changes i make to this apporach if there are any.





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MT - Using BIM as a PM Tool: 1.1- Background

The author of this Master Thesis has always been interested in the implementation of ICT in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction [AEC] Industry. During the last decade, the major shift in ICT for the AEC industry has been the proliferation of Building Information Modelling [BIM] in industrial and academic circles as the “new CAD paradigm” (Succar, 2009).

BIM is currently the most common denomination for a new way of approaching the design, construction and maintenance of Buildings. Different authors and commercial firms have chosen to name this new approach in different ways (Table 1.1) but they all refer to the same concept that will be referred always on this dissertation as BIM.

There is not a single definition of what BIM is. Some scholars define it as “a set of interacting policies, processes and technologies generating a methodology to manage the essential building design and project data in digital format throughout the building's life-cycle” (Succar, 2009: p. 357). Other scholars prefer to define it using papers by commercial BIM vendors. Aouad et al. (2006) used the following definition: “building information model (BIM) is a computer model database of building design information, which may also contain information about the building’s construction, management, operations and maintenance” (Graphisoft 2003, cited in Aouad et al., 2006: p. 5). Other software vendors have also stated their own definitions of BIM such as “create and operate on digital databases for collaboration, manage change [...] and capture and preserve information for reuse by additional industry-specific applications” (Autodesk, 2002 : p. 2). For the purpose of this dissertation the author would like to use his own definition of BIM that encompasses the most common accepted views on the topic.

Building Information Modelling [BIM] is the most commonly used term to describe a set of parametric CAD tools and processes for the creation and maintenance of an integrated collaborative database of multi-dimensional information regarding the design, construction and/or operations of a building, with the purpose of improving collaboration between stakeholders, reducing the time needed for documentation of the project and producing more predictable project outcomes.

Table 1.1 Widely used terms related to BIM

(after Succar, 2009 : p. 359)

Although it is sometimes understood that BIM is only the software platform and that all the inter-organizational integrated processes should receive other names (like Integrated Design, Integrated Project Delivery, etc), when referring to BIM in this dissertation, the reader should always understand that BIM refers to the previous definition of tools and processes and never to just the software tools that allow the geometrical modelling and the input of information. It is the understanding of the author, that this holistic definition embraces all the potential of BIM and offers a better understanding of all its scope.

Defining the term though, is not the purpose of this dissertation. As we will see in the following section, despite the potential benefits that we can infer from the previous definition, the implementation of BIM and the perception of its benefits is not equal everywhere (AIA, 2009; McGraw-Hill, 2008 and McGraw-Hill, 2010). This disparity between potential benefits and acceptance is the starting point for our problem definition.

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BIM Thoughts and Conclusions from UK's National Construction Contracts and Law Survey 2013

The recently published NBS report has some insights on the real BIM use in UK's projects
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UK's National Building Specification [NBS], (also available on twitter as @TheNBS)has published recently a report called "National Construction Contracts and Law Survey 2013". Among other itneresting data, some insights on the Contractual Use of BIM in UK is given, and it is interesting, specially in contrast to other more optimistic views about the BIM penetration in the market.

First interesting point related to BIM is that up to 49% of respondents said they didn't use any type of "collaborative technique" in projects started in 2012. THis is a very important point for it means that at least 49% of the industry is not collaborating, thus COllaborative BIM is right now still far from Standard.

image source

The second interesting piece of BIM related information we find is that 78% of the respondents have not started adopting BIM in their contracts and 77% don't even reference to it in their COntracts. This seems to me like BIM is still very irrelevant contractually to most of stakeholders, so the Collaborative BIM Process has still a lot of hurdles to jump to start running at a good pace.

image source

Finally, the last, and maybe the most relevant info related to BIM is the one taken from the question "What information do you normally provide / receive about the project?". Here, only 9% of respondents mention BIM as info being provided by them to the project or received from other consultants.

image source

This, to me, means that real BIM, the one that involves the "creation of a collaborative database with information (...)" is used at the most by 9% of the industry in UK. A bit far (maybe more realistic?) than some of the implementation numbers that one can suppose from data from other reports, like for instance McGraw-Hills "The Business Value of BIM in Europe" from which I adapted the chart below. According to McGraw-Hills report, the "adoption rate for BIM in the United Kingdom among construction professionals surveyed is 35%".

image source

My analysis is, that either those surveyed in the McGraw-Hill report lied, or by "adopting BIM" they meant or understood something similar to "using a BIM tool". Matching the 35% adoption in 2010 with the 9% of respondents who in the recent report (with data from 2012)say they deliver or recieve BIM as information we see that there si a big gap between the two percentages. My guess is that probably the data obtained about BIM in a non BIM centric survey is probably more valuable, for it might be less biased than those reports aiming to show how well the BIM progress is going.

Well, I don't know, maybe I am wrong, what are your thoughts? Please share!

As it is happening recently more and more often the heads up come via Twitter:

Download the free 2013 National Contracts and Law (for construction) survey/report now at our website - http://t.co/6eRKige4eo

— Stephen Hamil (@StephenHamilNBS) October 7, 2013

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World Habitat Day is Today

Happy World Habitat Day.
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I didn't even know till today this existed, got the heads up in twitter by @CarlosCamara:

El primer Lunes de octubre se celebra el día Mundial de la Arquitectura en coincidencia con el Día Mundial del Hábitat Humano: ¡feliz día!

— Carlos Cámara (@carlescamara) October 7, 2013

After that, and before writing this post, I went to the UN Habitat website to see what it is about. According the UN Habitat Website "The United Nations has designated the first Monday of October every year as World Habitat Day. This year, it will be celebrated on 7 October 2013. The purpose of World Habitat Day is to reflect on the state of our towns and cities and the basic right of all to adequate shelter. It is also intended to remind the world that we all have responsibility to shape the future of our cities and towns." Sound nice.

Digging a bit more, I was specially surprised when I found out that former Barcelona's Mayor Joan Clos was involved in this in some way. (Executive Director of UN-Habitat on the occasion of World Habitat Day, 1 October 2012). So after that, I wonder if this World Habitat Day is anything useful at all considering its Executive Director credentials. Yes, his official credential look very good, Mayor, Industry Minister and Ambassador in Turkey. The thing is, this guy swore his position as a Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, saying "I swore as Minister of JUSTICE, Trade and Tourism...". Yes, he didn't even know what position he was getting I guess.

So, despite the good intentions that one can feel from the motto of the UN-Habitat website, one wonders if this type of organizations are just elephant cemeteries where our no longer useful politicians (where they ever useful?) can retire with a big paycheck and paid expenses to attend events in different countries.

I am sure there are extremely valid people doing hard work in them, I just can't stop wondering how did we allow all these parasites to be our appointed representatives.

Happy World Habitat Day anyway, at least let's remember that all we do, all we try to improve, all the BIM, and Lean and IPD, efforts that try to increase profitability, improve the industry, reduce waste and all these dogmas we repeat ourselves should or may in a way or another make the built habitat better. Maybe, just maybe, all this transformation of the AEC industry we say we aim to achieve, can one day be put to help those without adequate shelter. Maybe a small percentage of what owners save by implementing BIM or Lean in their Projects, can be put to help those in need. Maybe, or maybe we are all too busy building ourselves a career.

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BCF: BIM Collaboration Format

BCF is the format that might become standard to share issues found in BIM models from one platform to another
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BCF is an open standard to enable workflow communication between different BIM (Building Information Modeling) software tools. I came across this format by the first time while whatching a Solibri Model Checker Demo. It is currently in the process of being accepted as an Open Standard by BuildingSmart. It works together with IFC models, the idea with BCF is to separate the “communication” from the actual model. You can watch a short video about the Collaboration Workflow it would allow:

More info also available here.

Another example of BCF in use can be seen in this video about IFC (minute 41:20)

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MT - Using BIM as a PM Tool: 1.- Introduction

The development of a construction project goes through several stages and requires a wide range of services (Clough et al., 2008). During any project, there will be reciprocal interdependencies between different stakeholders, such as financing bodies, authorities, architects, engineers, lawyers, contractors, suppliers and tradesmen (Ibid.). Another driver in the project-management domain causing an increase in reciprocal interdependencies is the rise in concurrent engineering [CE] (Williams 1999).

To this inherent complexity of stakeholders we must add that construction projects are becoming much more complex and difficult (Chan et al., 2004; Williams, 2002; Alshawi and Ingirige, 2003). The big size of projects is traditionally seen as the cause of project complexity (Williams 2002) although it is argued that it is not the size itself but aspects derived from the size of the project - like number of stakeholders or number of project management tools and methods – that contribute to project complexity (Bosch-Rekveldt et al. 2010).

On the other hand, studies show that while productivity in other industries has increased considerably in the last 40 years, the productivity of the construction industry has actually been steadily decreasing.

Fig. 1.1 – Construction and Non-Farm Labour Productivity Index (Teicholz, 2004)

To cope with the increasing complexity of projects, information and communication technology [ICT] has been developing at a very fast pace (Taxén and Lilliesköld, 2008). This uptake in ICT did not bring yet all the expected benefits to the Architecture, Engineering and Construction [AEC] Industry (Majer et al. 2010), such as an important increase in Labour Productivity. This could be because the human ability to cope with these complexities has not developed at the same rate as ICT (Taxén and Lilliesköld, 2008), or because the implementation of ICT alone is not enough and the industry needs a shift into a new way of working.

In any case, understanding what ICT can do to help industry professionals cope with the increased complexity of projects is key to reach successful project outcomes and could be the key to increase the overall productivity of the industry. Any changes in tools and also in processes that may help the Construction Industry shift its tendency towards higher productivity should be considered and studied in detail.


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Software Currently Certified for IFC Import or Export

A list by BuildingSmart of the BIM tools currently certified to Export or Import IFC files
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If you are into BIM, you know what IFCs are. If you don't, read about it. A lot is written about IFCs as a standard format. And a lot is written too about "what is the best BIM tool?". Well, one criteria you could use to decide which BIM tool is best for you is how they handle IFCs.

According to the following Table from BuildingSmart, these are the BIM Tools that have been certified for Importing or Exporting IFC files properly:

Application	Organisation	Certification	Export/Import	Finished	Pdf
Scia Engineer	NEMETSCHEK Scia	CV2.0-Struct	import	2013091717-SEP-2013
ArchiCAD	Graphisoft	CV2.0-Arch	import	2013092020-SEP-2013
Revit MEP	Autodesk-R	CV2.0-MEP	export	2013071111-JUL-2013
RIB iTWO	RIB	CV2.0-Import only	import	2013090707-SEP-2013
ArchiCAD	Graphisoft	CV2.0-Arch	export	2013041616-APR-2013
Allplan 2013	NEMETSCHEK Allplan GmbH	CV2.0-Arch	export	2013041616-APR-2013
Revit Architecture	Autodesk-R	CV2.0-Arch	export	2013041616-APR-2013
Scia Engineer	NEMETSCHEK Scia	CV2.0-Struct	export	2013041616-APR-2013
Revit Structure	Autodesk-R	CV2.0-Struct	export	2013041616-APR-2013
Tekla Structures	Tekla	CV2.0-Struct	export	2013061212-JUN-2013
Vectorworks	NEMETSCHEK North America	CV2.0-Arch	export	2013053030-MAY-2013

In the list of tools that passed the Building Smart's certification for exportin IFC files are Tekla, Revit, ArchiCAD, Scia, VectorWorks, Allplan and RIB iTWO. This means that they can save their models in IFC complying with the format standards.

The list of programs that are certified to import models from IFC format is smaller and comprises only two programs: Scia Engineer and ArchiCAD.

via BIMequity Blog.

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New version of IFC Exporter for Revit (v2.14/v3.6) available

Update available for the Revit IFC exporters
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Just got this email from Autodesk, thought I'd share in case you downloaded the IFC exporters for Revit I posted about last June.

"You are getting this message because you downloaded a version of IFC Exporter for Revit or IFC Export Alternate UI for Revit prior to September 27, 2013. We have posted an update to the exporter only, which you can get using the links below.

NOTE: There have been reported issues with the earlier Revit 2014 exporter and UI installers. In particular, these could cause a crash on startup for users other than the user that installed the add-int. The latest versions fix this issue, and the IFC Export Alternate UI for Revit 2014 v2.5 installer has had a hotfix. If you or your company have had this issue, please make sure to update the 2014 UI also.

2013:

IFC Exporter for Revit 2013 (v2.13): *NEW*

IFC Export Alternate UI for Revit 2013 (v1.12):

2014:

IFC Exporter for Revit 2014 (v3.6): *NEW*

IFC Export Alternate UI for Revit 2014 (v2.5): *Hotfix for installer crash*

Updates from the previous versions are listed below. Please upgrade to the newest version!

(...)

What’s new for IFC Exporter for Revit v2.14/v3.6:

General

- Minor cleanup to remove extraneous arguments from some functions.

- Remove some obsolete code for old IFCDoorStyleOperation and IFCWIndowStyleOperation.

New Functionality

- Add support for Force properties (Newtons).

Bug Fixes

- Correct flow direction calculation for some connector domains, that would abort export of connector information.

- Export Authorization field in header as a null string ('$') instead of an empty string if it is not set.

- Export correct values for IfcDoor operation.

- Export internal ElementId Revit properties as IfcLabel, not IfcText.

- Export respects visibility settings of curtain panels if exporting elements in the current view.

- Fix export of some schedules with non-exportable fields that would prevent export with exporting of schedules as property sets on.

- Fix some caching issues with some parameter values.

- Protect against abort of export when trying to export some invalid systems in the Revit file.

- Set 2D representations of families to "FootPrint" representation, not "Annotation".

- Use IfcMaterial, not IfcMaterialList, if there is only 1 material in the list.

- Use IfcMaterialList, not IfcMaterialLayerUsage, for more BRep-based host objects.

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Revit 2014 Update Release 1

Available since last August an update for Revit 2014 to fix some issues
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Autodesk Released an Update for Revit 2014 that improves several features of Autodesk's main BIM Authoring Tool:

• Allows Stairs, Railings and Wall Sweeps to be individual entities when exporting to FBX format.
• Improves data integrity of projects which contain RPC elements when exporting to FBX format.
• Improves categorization of parts when exported to FBX format.
• Improves performance when utilizing Render in Cloud functionality.
• Improves appearance of material textures when Rendering in Cloud.
• Improves graphics integrity of linked models when Rendering in Cloud.
• Allows Point Clouds to be visible when unchecking “Show Imported Categories in this View” display option.
• Maintains display order of filled regions which overlap solid hatches in projects that are upgraded to the Revit 2014 format.
• Corrects visual fidelity of objects in printed output which show as “Thin Lines” in drawing canvas.
• Improves consistency of displaying revisions within schedules.
• Improves data consistency of keynote legend when un-checking ‘Filter by Sheet’.
• Allows schedule footer text to follow column alignment.
• Improves stability when pasting elements between two Generic Model adaptive families.
• Improves stability when exporting project to Navisworks 2014.
• Improves stability during the loading of a family when utilizing either “Delete Element” or “Delete Type” option.
• Improves stability when placing details.Improves stability when a crop region is moved while the disjoin option is enabled.
• Improves data integrity during “Save As”.
• Improves stability when creating form elements.
• Improves stability when exiting Revit.
• Improves stability when printing Elevation and Detail views.
• Improves stability while editing groups.
• Improves stability when adjusting the elevation value of Levels.
• Improves stability when navigating in a project which contains linked point clouds.
• Improves stability when using the type selector within the properties palette.
• Improves stability when editing the layout of a schedule.
• Improves stability when adding a schedule to a sheet which has an active view.
• Improves stability when upgrading previous release projects.
• Improves stability when place a view on sheet.

To download the Update go to the following links:

• Revit 2014
• Revit Architecture 2014
• Revit Structure 2014
• Revit MEP 2014

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Revit: Changing Family Type

How to change a family type? Easy and simple.
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Last week I needed to change a family from window type to door type. Why? Well, I had a door to model that actually looks like a window, but I needed to report it as a door on schedules. So I basically wanted to reuse a window family, and was wondering how to change the family type. I got the answer through revit forum on this thread.

The steps are very simple. You just need to open the family file, either by browsing to where you have it stored or by using the Edit Family function from a project when you have that family selected.

Once you are have the family file open, simply click on Family Category and Parameters on the Ribbon.

Here you will be able to see the family type and change it.

Once you've done that, you can reload the family in the project. Now, you will be able to insert it as the new family type you have set.

Easy and simple.
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Revit: Calculating and Scheduling Gross Wall Area

Revit wall area is incorrect if you want it including the openings area. This add in allows you to get the gross area (including openings) correct.
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The way Revit calculates wall areas that have openings (doors, windows, etc) in them is by giving you the wall area minus the opening area. While this might be of some use, if actually you need to get accurate quantities I doubt this will do. The way the areas of the walls should be quantified according to, at least, our local standards is by including the opening areas that are below certain sq meters. Revit can't give you that by default (as far as I know) it just gives you the wall area minus the openings, see the example:

We need to be able to schedule the area of those openings (hello Autodesk??). Recently found an Addin, that allows to do that. It is called AutodeskWallOpeningArea (updated link)and gives you the chance to get this done right. After downloading it and installing it (simply run the .msi file) you will have a new button on your Add-ins tab in the Revit Ribon:

Once installed, simply go to a 3D view and click on the button. It will add 2 shared parameters on your wall families that will account for the openings Area.

The results you get are divided according to an area value you can set. All the openings below that Maximum value are stored as Opening Area Smaller Max, and the total openings area are added to the Opening Area Parameter. Now, you can schedule this parameters and get the Gross area of the wall by playing with calculated parameters. In this case I simply Added wall Ara + Opening Area to get the Gross Total that would be used on a project estimate.

Problems and limitations:

1. The parameters are not dynamically updated, which means that the command must be executed in order to updated the parameter value. Is is a major problem, actually and goes completelya gains the BIM approach of an integrated database, let's be serious, this sucks badly.
2. The Addin must be executed from a 3D view with all relevant elements (walls, doors, windows, openings, etc) visible. Second Major HUGE flaw.

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AutoCAD: Modify the Size of the Breakline Symbol

Control de size of the Breakline Symbol before you draw it.
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For a long time, AutoCAD has an Express Tools Command called BREAKLINE that allows you to quickly draw break lines to show stairs or other elements that should be represented with this symbol. Got a question recently on how to control the size of this BREAKLINE, and the truth is that it is very simple.
To Draw the breaklin you type BREAKLINE an ENTER, then, if you look at the command you will see this text:

At this point and before clickon to start drawing, you can type "S" and press enter and you will be able to modify teh Size of the BREAKLINE symbol. It is as simple as that.

If instead of pressing "S" and ENTER you press "E" and ENTER you will be able to control de Extension of the BREAKLINE, which is the distance that the breakline symbol will extend to each side of the Point you choose to start drawing it and the point you choose to end. See the image:

Need help with this tip? Please Comment!
If you need more info about the BREAKLINE command, you can also check this old post from 2009.

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