Friday, November 06, 2015

Beliefs Don't Map Reality | Question Your Knowledge

OK Let's see... Play in "Full Screen" for best results...


Not sure if the issues highlighted in this video are from a bug or a conscious DevOps choice but it was found in Revit while verifying 'funny' dimensions to a .dwg

Said .dwg was a 2D translation of a Civil3D file.Not blaming AutoCAD -that's another story, for another time ;)

Fact is, whoever has said that Revit Can't (or Doesn't) Dimension to non-parallel objects is simply wrong!

Now there is a delta where it won't allow such dimensions; but the fact remains. It can.

That the dimension changes as it's moved along the walls both freaks me out and amuses me.

I hope you enjoy, let me know if you'd like me to editorialize more to explain, but all the numbers are there for pausing and review. Here's to unending growth :D

Cheers,
-J

[Edit 08-15-2016. For reference: the finite break point is anything above .00181851661° -even adding the 12th "0" is a 'no-go'... put your geometry in the right place, these things add up!!!]

Wednesday, August 05, 2015

Don't Overkick the Coverage | Embedded Wall Sweeps (etc.)

http://www.revitforum.org/architecture-general-revit-questions/25879-how-create-blockhouse-revit.html#post145805
Don't overkick the coverage??? Yeah, Don't forget the simple solutions, even if you aren't aware of them!!! 

Until the impossible time where you remember and know everything available in software X (Revit in this case) you had better keep that ego in check... 

I mean, keep a sense that you can learn something new at any moment... keep in mind that there is always something new to learn... Even by the "experts"...me included; this is a fight every day; using my supposed knowledge but keeping, always keeping a view to the unknowns just out of sight ;) 

Socrates, Einstein, Hitchens and so many other amazing people, have kept a sense of unending growth and exploring ideas and unless you are greater than our greatest minds throughout all of history; just back off the ego of thinking you know anything, let alone everything!!! Philosophy 101, right! 

Anyhow... I was dropping in on RevitForum (yeah, that's a link, as most all images too ;) and saw a post asking how to build a log building...I have seen many methods out there and yet I have never seen perhaps the most simple one... does that mean it doesn't exist 'out there'? NO, I just never saw one is all...Anyhow (again) here's a solution that may be (See: IS) often overlooked so I thought I'd share the solution here as well and let fly ;)

Embedded Wall Sweeps 
  1.  Make a profile
    1.  Save the profile (duh ;)
    2.  Load the Profile (Really Jay? -Well, yeah... into a project as well... lol ;)
  2. Edit/Duplicate a Wall family
    1. Set the wall thickness (to the flat part of the joints?)
      1. This is where one's geometry may want to be planned (As in: YES PLAN THIS OUT!!!)
  3. Set the embedded wall sweeps to the proper heights and offsets
    1. Notice the quick example I created would (probably) like to have it's top and bottom sweeps to be different, depending on the design (Remember: PLAN THIS OUT!!!)
  4. Hit Apply to see the preview (Use Section if you haven't stumbled onto that yet ;)
  5. Hit "OK" (Until you are back in the project... YES an OK & COMPLETE button would STILL be useful... Hear Us Dev team???!!!)
  6. Use the walls :D
As my posting/reply said this works unless the walls want to miter... If that's the need then either apply Wall Sweeps (or similar) to a flat wall OR use a void to cut the ends off of these...

Enjoy and remember: REDUCE TO THE MOST SIMPLE POSSIBILITY is often the best policy when it comes to workflows!!! 



Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Are You an Educator or Enabler | AKA: When Technology Exceeds Our Evolutionary Standing

http://jbzallan.wix.com/portfolio#!paintings/ck0q
Do you teach Revit or Archicad or BIM or anything?

There is no magic wand to learning! 

Preface:
Questions in a class situation, lecture, conference, etc. is not what this post is dealing with; this is for dealing with "That" person ;)

My intention to give some help to those who have to give help to others.

With an understanding that our poorly evolved brains are being slammed into, with and by technologies that are far too rapidly and ever-changing for all 7+ billion of us to get at the same speed... 

This post is also keeping other psycho-social possibilities out of it (for now); therefore let me ask that fundamental question: Are you an educator or enabler?

Learning is ultimately accomplished by the student.

Don't agree? And I quote:

“I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think” 
-Socrates


This "Are you an educator or an enabler?" is a question I ask myself often and try to land on the former as much as I can, I hope you do (or will) too. With that said, here are a few methods to give folks, in order to nudge their innate abilities of learning and exploration...

HELP!!! How do I do that???
The best way to do it is the best way to do it. 
Period.

The magic wand treatment is what many people seem to be looking for with tips and tricks in my experience. In other words, many people want—if not expect—great solutions with no personal work or investment—like having a magic wand passed over them, imparting knowledge from the ether.

I contend that one should not ‘necessarily’ give an answer immediately… If, for instance the answer is known to be in Help then ask the person “Have you tried “F1”?, or "Have you tried a quick internet search?"... If the answer is “no” and the solution (as I stated) is known to be in Help, etc. then my suggestion is to provide them the answer by doing just that...hit F1 and show them the answer was right there!

Giving an answer to an obvious question—one that exists in HELP, etc.—is an enabling behavior and I contend actually does not help the person in the long-term; rather it hinders their intellect.

Obviously there ARE times where an answer is immediate, no matter the situation, like 20 seconds before a print, etc. but those are fewer and more far between than one might imagine…

OK, now onto the process of goodness; Getting Help(ed) ;)


F1
Need I say more? Use that little button!

A large number of issues can actually be resolved by doing a few minutes of looking at HELP!

http://help.autodesk.com/view/RVT/2015/ENU/
http://help.autodesk.com/view/RVT/2014/ENU/
http://help.autodesk.com/view/RVT/2013/ENU/
http://help.autodesk.com/view/RVT/2012/ENU/

If your company blocks the installation of help then you’re going to have to ask them… IKR.

If an older version of help is what you need…well, you’re on your own (but the solution to finding them is “hidden” herein… OK, not really hidden… ;)

FWIW: HELP ‘should be’ installed locally, unless you are from a firm that precludes it…

The Internet
Yeah, search your issue (including the word ‘Revit’) and I will bet you’ll find someone has already had the issue and chances are there are solutions, if not also video accompaniments. Now I am going to assume you know how to search the web so I won’t include a link to https://www.google.com/ LOL, that said, if you are a teacher, educator or simply the office or team answer giver… and you have “That User” then perhaps use LMGTFY (http://lmgtfy.com/) –a fun and slightly evil and useful tool which I find helps teach the lessons herein :D

RevitForum
Go to http://www.revitforum.org/ create a username and password, and then use it! (remember to check the box “Remember Me?” everytime logging-in, or you will be logged out after a short while).

I like to keep that site onscreen so I can see the conversations, ask and answer... so join in, it helps.

Like, OMG Jay, I don’t have time!

You DO Have Time!
The “I don’t have time” excuse is oft cited, so let me give a tip on that:
If or when one says, “I don’t have time” stop and consider that it might just be similar to the following:

I don’t have time to do it right
I don’t have time to learn something I will need everyday, when I work
Etc...

Not always but more often than not when one says “I don’t have time” they actually do but for whatever reason they would rather it take threefold the amount of time to re-do over and over later…or ask the same thing over and over…

Again, there is a balance between answering others and becoming an enabler… I hope this helps you, as it does me; especially the next line(s) ;)

The best way to do it is the best way to do it.

No matter the time.


Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Free (Your Mind) | AEC-ST Virtual Expo 2015


AEC-ST Virtual | Opening [EDIT as of 07/10/2015:  The 24/7/365 beginning of July 14, 2015 has been rescheduled to be: September, 22nd 2015. END EDIT]

Immerse in a digital BIM event at this free peer-to-peer interaction which is a promising idea! Free to attend, simply sign up here and virtually see you 'there'. -The gauntlet is now set, next we'll see if this proves out to be of value transforming ideas from the virtual to the real-world(s) ;)

http://www.aecst.com/aec-st-virtual/



















I am looking forward to finding if there are only marketing encounters or if it also has content-rich opportunities...

"Until now, there has not been a virtual event that addresses the IT needs of the entire facilities and construction team…how information and electronic data are used and exchanged; how resources and assets are leveraged throughout the lifecycle of the facility; how information standards are defined and shared. Whether a building, a roadway, a bridge, or a power plant, designers, engineers, owners and operators are faced with the ever-growing challenges to work more efficiently together.
While other events target only a niche or two within the lifecycle, AEC—ST Virtual is the only event that brings the entire team together to focus on the important issues of interoperability for effective facility planning, accurate design, improved construction and efficient maintenance and operations.
A simple statement, but so many specialized areas of knowledge are needed to make it happen:

  • Building Information Modeling (BIM)
  • Energy-Efficiency
  • Facility Management & Performance
  • Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
  • GreenBuilding, Design & Construction
  • Sustainable Infrastructure
  • and more!"

http://www.aecst.com/aec-st-virtual/

http://www.aecst.com/aec-st-virtual/


Monday, June 29, 2015

Selected Photos From My First Day Out In(dia)

Several years ago I traveled to Bangalore for a month to teach Revit and BIM to a group of Architects... well, seems I never posted these images so I will now :) FWIW, the number of people that can fit on a scooter is truly impressive and clearly varied ;) Necessity, the mother of...

From Collages







Online Web Gallery... Enjoy -JbZ