Category Archives: Announcements

Christmas in October: Revit 2016 R2

22 Thursday Oct 2015

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Where has the summer gone? For that matter, what happened to fall? I’d swear it was Labor Day only yesterday, and here it is Christmas already!

Okay, not really…but it feels like Christmas, because a new update of Revit is here, and it’s more than just bug fixes. As happened last year with Revit 2015, Revit 2016 R2 introduces actual new features — some that you can actively put to use, and some that will quietly improve things behind the scenes.

I don’t have time to cover all 20+ additions & improvements today, but here are a few favorites. (Click each title for a short preview.)

Draw Visible Elements Only

Revit 2016 now focuses its graphic energies only on elements that are visible in a view, instead of ones that are hidden or off-screen. This speeds up panning, zooming, and orbiting — I think you’ll notice the difference.

Family Visibility Preview

Ever work with a family that uses lots of visibility states, and have trouble keeping track of which elements go with each option? Not anymore! Objects that are turned off in the current type can now actually be turned off.

Unload Link Per User

Ever go to turn on a model, only to sigh with annoyance because someone else unloaded it? (only all the time…) Not anymore! You can now unload a link just for you, improving your model’s performance while letting your colleagues load and unload the links they need.

Name Reference Planes

You’ve always been able to name a reference plane in Properties, but now you can do so in-canvas too. Sometimes it’s the little things, y’know?

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a deployment to plan…

I’m baaaack….

18 Thursday Jun 2015

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Have you ever intended to take a short break from something, but then find that the length of the break keeps stretching…and stretching…and then you realize it’s been over a year since your last blog post?

Well, apparently that’s what happened to me. I didn’t mean to take all that time off, but so much has been going on this past year that the blog got pushed to the back burner.

At any rate, it’s summer again in DC and the heat is back on! (Please excuse my mixed metaphors.) I have a whole pile of content just waiting to be written up, from some tips & tricks I presented at local Revit meetings to tidbits from my upcoming RTCNA class to gripes about phases (still!) in Revit 2016.

I hope you’ve all had a good year, and I’ll see you again here soon. Promise!

Autodesk Revit 2014

26 Tuesday Mar 2013

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Autodesk will be holding a webcast in about an hour (http://autode.sk/webcast) to announce the launch of their 2014 family of products, including Autodesk Revit. But some of the details are already out, and the product pages have been updated, so…let’s talk new software!

I wasn’t in the beta program this year, so I found out about the new features the regular way…through Twitter.

My lack of advance knowledge means I didn’t have a post loaded and ready to go for today.  But I’ve read enough to identify three quick favorite new features, all in the small-but-significant category.

  1. Non-rectangular view crops & callouts. This one will solve a problem that literally came up yesterday.
  2. Temporary view settings. I love view templates, and loved that they were made “sticky” in Revit 2013. But they can be annoying too, if you just need to see something briefly and turn it off again. Sounds like that annoyance is gone now.
  3. Multiple Bring-to-front/Send-to-back. Another annoyance removed. Now you can select multiple detail elements and change their view order, instead of working with one at a time.

I’m sure I’ll have more to say once I actually get the new version loaded on my machine. But if you’d like to read more today, David Light has excellent in-depth coverage, or you can visit the official Revit home page. Here’s a link straight to the structural new features.

Welcome!

29 Tuesday Jan 2013

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Welcome to BIMmuse.com!

As the header says, this site will be a collection of thoughts on applying BIM for Structural Engineers…and that doesn’t just mean Revit! I plan to include topics on every aspect of what my firm has called “digital design” — everything software-related that a designer, engineer, or drafter uses to complete a building design. So there will be a lot of Revit, but there will also be RAM, RISA, and ETABS, links between them and Revit, and IT stuff like silent installs and automated deployments. There might even be a bit of AutoCAD, because that’s still a significant part of our workflow. (Think big, right?)

Before I dive into the technical posts, I wanted to take a minute to explain the site name. “BIM” is pretty obvious. I chose “muse” because I want to share my musings with you (muse: ponder, contemplate, think), and also because I eventually hope this site will serve as a muse itself (muses: in Greek mythology, the sources of inspiration for literature, science, and the arts).

Hey, I said I was thinking big, didn’t I?

If you put the two halves together, you also get a nice little pun. (I love puns!) “BIMmuse”, said out loud, sounds an awful lot like “bemuse” (bemuse: to confuse or bewilder). And be honest now — haven’t we all been bewildered or confused by the BIM process at some point?

At any rate, as the site grows I hope to move from bewildered to inspired…and I hope some of you come along for the ride.