Monday, July 27, 2009

Inventor Tales (in Revit-dom)

Thanks to Jonathan Landeros of Inventor Tales for not only the blog mention but in working with us Architects and Engineers to forward the data exchange between Inventor and Revit. Keep up the good work... and since Jonathan and I (and many others) are into aircraft I must mention that the kids and I stopped by the Apollo 11 field near Lake Balboa this past weekend and caught the Valley Flyers sending their 1/8 scale Jets out for some amazing flying; Images Here, Videos Here. Nothing like seeing a $50,000 "model" doing barrel rolls, etc. Hit Utube and search for 'Jet RC' or the like... Good times!!!

Friday, July 24, 2009

Wolfram Alpha (not) in Sheeps Clothing

If you are a long time reader you may know that one of my favorite sites is for math. Little did I know (until I found it :-) with the help of Reg Prentice producer of an "Awesome" Vimeo video himself...if he does say so ;-)) yet I digress: Wolfram now has a Computational Knowledge Engine; Wolfram Alpha... And it's fucking brilliant!!! Clean, fast and filled with the most quality information Webside.

Design Process Innovation: C.E.B Reas from Reg Prentice on Vimeo.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

NUI Group's Multi Touch Displays


Yet another example of a multi touch display, this from the NUI Group that I know we all (???) want... well at least I do!!! Nice way to present anything, anywhere...

And if you like that one check THIS
out as well!!! Open source has such a great appeal and is gaining even more strength...now if we could only get a certain BIM application to be so open; then we'd see development progress at the speed we require.


Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Sunday, July 19, 2009

How much is BIM worth?

Contract This!!!


Funny picture but interesting concept Charlie Brown.

We had a similar discussion on this at the recent LARUG meeting. Many in AEC are wondering if there is more $$$ to be had by using BIM. I know there are some new services available to be provided but I think it may be similar to the Hard-Drive principle. Several years ago a 20MB hard drive was from $100 to $500, depending on brand, etc... Now 1TB is in that same price range... the price point is fairly consistent, only the quality/quantity of service goes up... that is until someone throws the "game changing invention" wrench into the mix that is... (pronounced Flash drives (3D Sections) and Solid State Drives (real coordination), etc.)

BIM may be (or may have been) that type of wrench but now it is the standard, or seemingly close enough to the AEC standard as to illicit more $$$ for BIM projects.

Now, this next idea may be an over simplification of a concept but I hope you get the point: we may find that we can no longer charge 1 week's worth of billing for cutting a section that takes seconds to generate... I know, I know; a good section needs more work than just being a cut of the model so don't get all hung up on that, I am merely illustrating a point.

Once our clients know what coincident information comes with BIM processes then the services we deliver may grow but the price point will most likely stay fixed.

...Unless you generate really good contracts and place in some of those new services that is!!!

Is there more money to be made by using a BIM process? I am not so sure we can make more simply by pushing that we employ a BIM process. I feel the possibility of making more will be based on a few factors: a more streamlined work flow, better Architecture, better Design ideas and/or our adding new or additional Services... and when one thinks about it this has always been the case, no? -Did he say Value Added???!!!

Friday, July 17, 2009

The (Spaghetti) Constant, Physics, Crawfish and Heat

The (Spaghetti) Constant ...If the math is right (well, even if the math is bullshit) then everything is possible!!!
Have a great weekend!!! I'm gonna cook some Cows and Craws -my (not really) world famous Chili served aside Crawfish (or Lobster or Shrimp, I'm not sure yet).

As always I'll be using my kids' favorite hot-sauce "The Hottest Fucking Sauce" (they obviously love the name)

I think it is (the hottest...) but if there is a hotter one that tastes as good I'd like to try it
!!!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Autodesk Labs has done it again!!!

This time it's sustainable: Getting Green is getting Greener!!!

The Solar Radiation Technology Preview for Revit Architecture and Revit MEP looks as if the dream will be televised after all. You will a lot more from This Link to the Labs' Blog post on it... BUT FIRST; here's what the Lab says about this tool:

"Use the Solar Radiation Technology Preview to analyze the effects of solar radiation on various surfaces of your conceptual building model. Using the Solar Radiation Technology Preview during the conceptual design stage of your project can help you make fundamental design decisions about building shape, orientation, and surfaces early on, when changes are least expensive. The technology preview uses the geometry of conceptual massing elements from Revit and calculates the amount of solar radiation hitting the surfaces of the massing shapes, based on location and weather data. It is possible to display the distribution and availability of solar radiation over an entire building or even a city block. This can be particularly useful when considering shading requirements or assessing the best areas to place photovoltaics for maximum collection.

The output of the technology preview can be saved as images in the Revit project that contains the massing elements. After these images are added to the project, you can place them on sheets and print them. You can also export the images from Revit for use in presentations or for editing in external software applications.

// See demonstration video (YouTube)
// Read the Read Me (PDF)
// Read the Getting Started document (PDF)

To get started:

  1. Verify that you are using Revit Architecture 2010 Update 1 or Revit MEP 2010 Update 1.
  2. You download the installer ZIP file.
  3. You unzip it. In addition to the setup file, it contains the Getting Started Guide and a ReadMe file with a list of known issues.
  4. You run the setup.exe file. You must have administrative rights on your computer.
  5. The next time you launch Revit, the technology preview is available."

Thursday, July 09, 2009

Knowledge... He said base... Some Revit Best Practices

Looking for Best Practices? Shit, every helpful document on the Web-o-Blogosphere is part of that and I do have additions that you may have read in this Blog as well... Even ADSK has their own and here are a few:
Service & Support Top Issues with file maintenance in RAC 2010: A list of best practices from their Knowledge Base.

Modeling Best Practices Pretty clear what these all deal with, no?

Families Modeling Best Practices Wow, can this help with my family?

Template Creation Best Practices I could write a book on this as well!!!

Printing Best Practices Isn't that called CTRL+P?
I like using multi-page DWF's then print those with Adobe Acrobat Pro if anyone needs PDF's... I have found some PDF drivers suck and are in any case slower than DWF in my experience, even when figuring in the time to print DWF's into PDF's.

Improving Performance of Revit Projects Two extra thoughts on this...
1) Get a really really good $3,ooo to $10,000 computer and use it until it melts. It should be good (for Revit) for 2 to 6 years (+/- depending on your opinion of "good").
2) Get a $1,000 (+/-) computer every year.

I use something similar to the second method at home and the 1st method at work... the key to the first option: 2 to 3 year lease.

Benefits of using the 64 bit Version of Revit Duh, SPEED Man, SPEED!!!
A 32 bit processor can represent numbers from 0 to 4,294,967,295 (Billions of Numbers)
A 64 bit processor can represent numbers from 0 to 18,446,744,073,709,551,615 (Quintillions!!! FYI: An even better list and my favorite Math website Is Found Here!!!)

Moving RVT Central File to a New Location (Ughh) only let beginners fuck up your files please!!! Seriously, if you do it correctly it's ok and at some times necessary!!! I joke because I care.

Locating of Journal Files For those new to journal Files: Ever ask WTF a Journal file is? Try this fun trick (BUT NOT ON A WORK COMPUTER, NOR DURING WORKING HOURS!!!)...

BTW for newcomers to Revit, this is best done after a long days' working.
1) Close Revit
2) Find your newest Journal File
3) Copy that newest Journal File to the folder where Revit.exe is
4) Drag and drop that Journal file onto Revit.exe
5) Sit back and watch!!!
6) I suggest not saving the file created by this on top of the production file!!!

Another BTW for the 'newer-to-Revit' folks: Journal files can actually be used to push 'things' into Revit files for actual and useful purposes!!! Not just to fuck with your buddies minds.

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Beware... AutoCAD Malware!!!

So "they" have (finally?) done it.

"They" have made a Malware that uses AutoCAD to run itself and as most of these it looks pretty fucked up!!! If you have AutoCAD installed on your computer then you are at risk!!! The following link will explain the issue and some solutions.

http://blog.webroot.com/2009/07/01/autocad-adware-trojans-target-techies/


Stay (safe) my friends
-said like the Dos Equis XX Beer guy

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Update This

They're Heeeeeeere!!! (Not pregnant women) the New Revit Web Updates that is... and NO the UI hasn't changed, it is still the same so just get over it!!!

Architecture
RAC Update 1 if you need to choose your (poison) Language.
or The English RAC page Itself
or or just The RAC Update Enhancement PDF

Structure
RST Update 1 if you need to choose your (poison) Language.
or The English RST page Itself
or or just The RST Update Enhancement PDF

MEP
RME Update 1 if you need to choose your (poison) Language.
or The English RME page Itself
or or just The RME Update Enhancement PDF

Both the 32 bit and 64 bit Updates are there so do choose the correct version for your OS (obviously)... also on these pages there are the Feature Summaries and Known Issues documents, etc.

Related photo: Family Creation!!! -I hope there are no CAD imports in those families...

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

"Quick! Someone pull it back up before someone notices!"

The title of this post is taken from the replies/comments section of the original article FOUND HERE. I hope it's ok to use your comment seizurelitezrfun; let me know if not... There are so many possible things to say about this I'm at a loss... my brain is flooding (HA) at all the possible comebacks...

Dirty Old Architecture Made Beautiful

I don't recall where I found this (perhaps The Pregnant Goldfish) but I think this is a good way to market dirty old Architecture; enjoy.