Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. And a Little Present

Everyone is wishing each other Merry Christmas, or Happy Holidays or whatever, here comes mine with a little present in case you wanna have some Revit fun this holidays
Català - Castellano - Deutsch
So what is the present? Well I was wondering what could I model to make a Christmas card and thought, let's do it by learning some stuff modeling a cool and not "normal building". And I ended up with the Collserola Tower in Barcelona by Foster and Partners. The model is not finished, some parts are still in "Conceptual Mass Mode" but in case you feel like playing with it, here it is. Happy holidays everyone, enjoy friends, families, big meals and parties. Let's continue the conversation in 2014!

If you want to check the in-process model, here it is!

Cheers!
Show me more...

Revit: Creating a Basic Wall with Stacked Materials Using the Split Region Tool

Basic walls can behave like stacked walls in certain way if you know how to use the Split Region and Merge Tools.
Català - Castellano - Deutsch
Some walls we create might have on one side or the other a change in materials due to several reasons (some waterproofing on the lower part, a wainscoat, etc). If this happens in many walls, we mmight want to model the wall with this change of materials, and we all hate Stacked Walls. So no problem, we cana ctually do it with Basic walls and here is a step by step on how to do it in Revit.

For this example I will use a wall I am using in a project nowadays, it is made of brick as a core layer and it is finished on one side with a sort of Stucco-like material, and the other with waterproofing material. The thing is, the wall is used for a raised floor over a parkign garage, and below the level where the earth fill goes, instead of the stucco-like material, we need to have the same waterproofing we have on the other side. Since the height of this situation is fairly the same everywehere, I wanted to have the two layers (waterproofing until 1m of height and Stucco from there on). Let me show you a couple snapshots of the wall and you will see the final result.

How do we achieve this? Let's see it, the help on using the Split Region Tool found on the Revit Help gives us some hints, but not a good enought explanation as I see it. The Split Region process is a bit un-intuitive. There are two ways to achieve the same:
Option 01: Use Split Region + Assign Layers
Option 02: Create the Two Layers + Use Split Region + Merge Regions

I was going to write each step with snapshots, but I think a quick video will be moe helpful, so here it is. Sorry for the low resolution.

Hope this helps.

Show me more...

MT - Using BIM as a PM Tool: 2.- Literature Review

Due to the scope of this dissertation, three main topics were identified, and relevant literature for each of them has been analyzed. The topics are:

• Project complexity and inter-organizational collaboration
• The role of BIM in improving the delivery of construction projects
• The current status of BIM and other ICT in the AEC Industry

Literature for each of these topics will be critically reviewed in the following sections. On the final summary of this chapter, links between the literatures will be drawn and conclusions from these links will be used to design the research methodology and to suggest further topics for research out of the scope of this dissertation.

Let’s start with the first topic for it has a wider scope and will help us understand the overall framework in which BIM has a role to play and the gaps in current practice that could be bridged by the correct implementation of BIM.

<-- Previous....................................................................................................................Next -->

Show me more...

BIM Management Postgraduate Course in Barcelona in 2014

BIM Education in Barcelona, and I'll be one of the teachers!
Català - Castellano - Deutsch
When I came back to Barcelona from Germany three and a half years ago and started talking to people about BIM, I mostly saw puzzled faces and "what is he talking about?" looks. Spain AEC industry lags behind in innovation compared to other countries, and BIM has not been an exception. Despite this delay, 2013 has been the first year when I can say (considering my profesional Network) that BIM is becoming a topic everyone has heard about and many people want to learn. Let me tell you some of the things that happened in the last months related to BIM:

• In June 2012 the Spanish Chapter of Building Smart was created.
• In May 2013, the First Spanish BIM Convention took place in Valencia
• The Summer of 2013 the Catalan Public Infrastructure Agency (GISA) has already mentioned BIM as a plus point to be considered in the competition for the design and construction of a Public School near Barcelona.
• In November 2013, Building Smart Spanish Chapter has started the creation of the "Guía de Usuarios BIM", or BIM users guide, based on the Finnish BuildingSmart COBIM Requirements. (I am actually helping on that)

Companies small and big, specially those working abroad, are starting to get from their clients or potential clients the "I want you to work in BIM". So people are looking around and asking where can I learn BIM? Well, people tend to jump into learning BIM by joining a Revit / ArchiCAD / Allplan / Bentley Course. And of course they learn to use those tools (they actually learn to navigate the interface and play with some tools) but they actually don't learn much about BIM as a process. Me and those who've been longer working in BIM environments have been repeating non-stop the karma BIM = Process / Revit;ArchCAD;Allplan = Tool and finally it seems this is already widely understood around here. So people want to learn more about the process itself, and me and some colleagues are going to make it happen:

Starting in 2014, UPC Barcelona will be hosting a Postgraduate Course about BIM Management called: BIM Management. Multi-platform Management of Building Information Modeling. The course will be in Spanish for now as it aims to the local professionals. Hopefully we will make it good enough to turn it into a full Postgraduate Degree. You can read more about the course [in Spanish or in Catalan] here. Please feel free to forward the link to anyone who you think will be interested.

Show me more...

Creating Flat Roof Slopes in Revit

Step by step on how to create the slopes of a flat roof in Revit
Català - Castellano - Deutsch
How do we create the slopes of a flat roof in Revit? Ok let's see what a flat roof is made of mostly:

• A layaer of Light-weight / celular concrete to give the slope to the roof.
• Several layers of waterproofing, insulation, finish, etc.

Yes I kept it simple, for this I don't care if the roof is finished with gravel, tiles or just the waterproofing. The important part is the Lightweight concrete layer. So first step, let's create the roof with this two layers, something like this (naming is in Spanish):

If we now want to create the roof slopes we have to do two things:

1. Manually set the heights of the points we want to set higher or lower than the default roof thickness. To do this, we select the roof object and click on Modify Subelements:
   

   After clicking this, we can on a floor plan for instance, select the existing points and manually change their height. we can also do it by dragging the point up or down on a view)

   

   Once we've set the heights we want to create the slope, we can check on a section view how does it look like. If you followed these steps it will look something like this:

   

   As you can, see, the solpes are fine, but the problem is that the underside of the roof is also sloped, which we don't want, since the underside should be flat. Here comes step two:

2. The simple step we need to do to fix this is to Edit the roof Type and tell revit we want the Lightweight Concrete Layer to have a variable height. So edit the roof family type and click on this:
   

   These should be the results (or something similar)

   

Don't remember where I saw this, I think it was at RevitForum

Show me more...

BIM Related Free Live Feeds from Autodesk University 2013

Free Live BIM related lectures from Autodesk University 2013.
Català - Castellano - Deutsch
If you, like me, couldn't make it to #AU2013 (no time, no money, no holidays, no sponsor, non of it?) you can still check some of the lectures online for free. Here a compilation for you to easily schedule. Since I am lcoated in Barcelona, and this list is as much for you as it is for me, all times are both in PST (The time in Vegas) andCET – Central European Time. Here comes the list of BIM related Lectures:

Tuesday, December 3rd, 2013:

• 08:00 to 09:30 PST / 17:00 to 18:30 CET - Better, Faster, Stronger: Rebuilding Project Collaboration with Autodesk® BIM 360 ™ Glue®: best practices for designing a coordination process that takes advantage of the capabilities of BIM 360 Glue, as well as the business case for adopting a cloud-based collaboration platform.

Wednesday, December 4th, 2013:

• 16:00 to 17:00 PST / 01:00 to 02:00 CET (Dec 5th) - A Practical Strategy and Workflow for Large Projects: A Realistic Solution: This class presents a strategy for development of structural projects using Autodesk® Revit® Structure, Autodesk® Vault, Autodesk® Navisworks, Autodesk® Design Review, and Autodesk® Robot™ Structural Analysis software.

Thursday, December 5th, 2013

• 10:00 to 11:30 PST / 19:00 to 20:30 CET - New Civil BIM Workflows Using Autodesk® InfraWorks™, Autodesk® ReCap™, and the Autodesk® Infrastructure Design Suite: how to use Autodesk InfraWorks software to create highly realistic and accurate context models for civil infrastructure projects that support a more efficient, productive, and collaborative design workflow.
• 13:00 to 14:00 PST / 22:00 to 23:00 CET - CAD and BIM Manager's Handbook 2013: tips, tricks, technologies, tools, and strategies to better manage your company's CAD/BIM environment.
• 14:30 to 15:30 PST / 23:30 to 00:30 CET - Advanced Techniques for Managing Building Data in Autodesk® Revit®: This class covers basic database theory, the structure of objects and their relation to data management, and Revit techniques for implementing this general theory in actual projects.

And all this is also easily visible in this quick Google Calendar I just created:

Heads up via "The Revit Kid".
Show me more...

Revit Basics: Closing All Open Views Except the Active One

One click button to close all the open views and leave only the active one open.
Català - Castellano - Deutsch
Switching from view to view in Revit means almost always that you keep on opening new views without closing the other ones. This can make navigating from view to view using the ALT+TAB shortcut a bit cumbersome after a while (because we might end up with 20 views open). At the same time, I read somewhere that having many views open can make Revit slower. So closing all hidden views is useful, and easy. One of those basics we tend to forget.

I was reading some old training material and found this tip. Click on the "Close Hidden" button located on the Windows section of the View Tab on the Ribbon. This will close all the windows that are not visible. THat's it, one of the basics that makes your life easier. Cheers.

Show me more...

MT - Using BIM as a PM Tool: 1.3- Research Question and Objectives

On the previous sections we have seen that the implementation of BIM is not homogeneous in all countries. We have also noted that despite the increase in literature related to BIM in recent years (Table 1.2 and Figure 1.3) PM scholars have ignored BIM as a tool to be considered in PM research.

Considering the increased complexity of construction projects mentioned on the first section of this chapter, any tools that help optimize the design and construction process should be analyzed if they help practitioners cope with this increased project complexity. On the other hand, PM scholars have for too long ignored the study of BIM (Table 1.2), despite its potential benefits that we will alter see, despite the increased interest by other field’s scholars (Figure 1.3) and by construction professionals in general (Figure 1.4)

The intention of this research is to study BIM from the PM point of view, and to do this, this paper tries to answer the question: “Is BIM a Project Management Tool? How can BIM help Project Managers succeed in delivering complex construction projects”? The author’s intention is to proof based on existing literature and empirical evidence that the answer to the first question is affirmative and that the answer to the second one includes a wide range of ways in which BIM can be a helpful PM Tool.


Parallel and as a consequence to this search for answers, several research objectives are defined:
1. To identify in which aspects is BIM implementation showing more benefits for the delivery of construction projects
2. To compare the benefits of BIM with the role of the Project Manager
3. To define which role should the Project Manager assume within the BIM framework.

The intention of the author is in no way to produce a promotional pamphlet for a specific BIM platform, nor is it to ignore the challenges and shortcomings of BIM platforms. For this reason, another research objective is defined as:
4. To analyze the existing challenges for BIM implementation and estimate future developments that might mitigate these challenges.

Figure 1.4 Google Search Trends for CAD vs. BIM (Google Trends, 2010)

The research methods to answer the research question and objectives will be described in the Methodology chapter of this paper. A key aspect that lead to the definition of the research methodology is the in depth analysis of relevant literature. The following chapter will deal with this topic, since despite the lack of references from the International Journal of Project Management there are plenty of scholars from other related research fields that have analysed the role of BIM (Table 1.2).

<-- Previous..................................................................................................................Next -->

Show me more...

List of Free BIM Object Libraries

Where can you get BIM Content online? Here.
Català - Castellano - Deutsch
I do not use very often online BIM libraries, but they can be very useful to avoid having to model all parts of your families/objects. I think that if you really want to have families/objects that serve your specific BIM Process, you will have to either create these families/objects by yourself, or adapt those that you download from an online library, so there is not too much or too few information/detail in them. Either way, having a list of available Free BIM Object Libraries is useful, so here come the ones I have found that have (or seem to have) at least around 1000 Free BIM Objects:

NAME	ORGANIZED BY	# OBJECTS*	Last Checked	REGISTRATION
BIM OBJECT	Manufacturer	2229	2013111414 Nov 2013	Not needed
ARCAT	Masterformat 95 / 12	8852	2013111414 Nov 2013	Not needed
NATIONAL BIM LIBRARY	Object Type / Manufacturer	5000+	2013111414 Nov 2013	Needed
SMART BIM LIBRARY	Object Type / Manufacturer	10000+	2013111414 Nov 2013	Not Needed
REVIT CITY	Masterformat 04 / Manufacturer	14549	2013111414 Nov 2013	Needed
AUTODESK SEEK	Object Type / Manufacturer	65000	2013111414 Nov 2013	Not Needed
BIM STOP	Object Type / Manufacturer	Unknown	2013111414 Nov 2013	Needed
BIMETICA	Manufacturer	1161	2013111414 Nov 2013	Needed
FAMILIT	Object Type	8181	2013111414 Nov 2013	Not Needed
SWEETS NETWORK	Manufacturer	Unknown	2013111414 Nov 2013	Needed
ARCHICAD TALK OBJECT DEPO	Object Type	Unknown	2013111414 Nov 2013	Needed
BIM COMPONENTS	Object Type	Unknown	2013111414 Nov 2013	Needed

*Aproximate number of Free BIM Objects on the date stated in the column "REVISED"

Show me more...

Transfer Revit Schedules from Project to Project

Easy guide to copy Revit Schedule Views from one Project to another
Català - Castellano - Deutsch
If you need to copy a Schedule (or a Sheet) form one project to another you can do it. You simply need to click on the "Insert" Tab, then select "Insert from File", and there select "Insert VIews From File".

You will then be prompted to Browse for the File you want to copy from, and once you select it, you will be able to see all the views on that file that can be copied to your open Project. That's it.

Just consider that this can not be done if you are on a Schedule View, you have to do it from a Plan, Elevation, 3D view, etc.

Solution found here.

Show me more...

Revit IFC Exporter Update

New version of the IFC Exporter Available.
Català - Castellano - Deutsch
Just got the email from autodesk mentioning the new update for the Revit IFC exporters. Here it comes:

Revit 2013:

IFC Exporter 2013 (v2.15.1)

IFC Export Alternate UI for Revit 2013 (v1.13)

2014:

IFC Exporter 2014 (v3.7.1):

IFC Export Alternate UI for Revit 2014 (v2.5):

Show me more...

Revit Add-In: Creating Topography the Standard way or from Lines in Revit

Awesome Plugin from Harry Mattison (Boost your BIM) to create Topography from Lines in Revit.
Català - Castellano - Deutsch
In Revit with out of the box functionality you can create topo surfaces by picking points and specifying their elevations or by importing 3D data (the topo lines in a cad file) or a points file.

This means you can actually not create a topo surface from lines that you have drawn in Revit.

This is no longer so, thanks to Boost your BIM's Add-in. With it, you can simply click on the Add-ins Tab, select Topo-From Lines, Select the lines and click Finish.

Bingo, topo created from lines in Revit.

The Add-in is available here for Free

You can say thanks to Harry on his blog post about it.

Great Job!

Show me more...