Keith Rice's Blog

Testing

2011-02-04T19:30:00.001-05:00

Testing the new Blogger app for Android.

2010-07-24T09:32:00.001-04:00

Autodesk Homestyler Contest http://ping.fm/aZ0u0

2010-07-24T09:27:00.001-04:00

AutoCAD DWG Rendering Farm in the Cloud with Project Neon http://ping.fm/NavcU

2010-07-24T09:00:00.001-04:00

Autodesk Labs Project Photofly ~ Create 3D Model Scenes from Photos http://ping.fm/WR6R9

Creating AutoCAD Structural Detailing 2011 Network Deployment

2010-06-09T10:53:00.002-04:00

Finally getting around to preparing the network deployment for AutoCAD Structural Detailing 2011 today. Yesterday I needed to scramble to create the Revit Structure 2011 network deployment for a fast tracked bridge modeling project located in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. We're attempting to take advantage of the Bridge Modeler Extension from Autodesk Labs to produce our initial model of the existing bridge structure for visualization purposes.

AutoCAD Structural Detailing 2011 64-bit network deployment creation.

What Object Enablers Are Available for the 2011 Autodesk Products?

2010-06-01T12:14:00.002-04:00

The following is a complete list of Object Enablers available to date for the 2011 Autodesk products, arranged by published date:

AutoCAD Architecture & AutoCAD MEP 2011 LT Object Enabler
Published date: March 25, 2010

Open Light 2011 Object Enabler (32-bit and 64-bit)
Published date: March 25, 2010

AutoCAD Architecture & AutoCAD MEP 2011 Object Enabler (32-bit and 64-bit)
Published date: May 5, 2010

AutoCAD Civil 2011 Object Enabler
Published date: May 25, 2010

AutoCAD Architecture 2011 D-A-CH Extension Object Enabler
Published date: May 26, 2010

AutoCAD Structural Detailing 2011 Object Enabler (32-bit and 64-bit)
Published date: May 27, 2010

Raster Design 2011 Object Enabler
Published date: May 28, 2010

Creating AutoCAD Civil 3D 2011 Network Deployment

2010-05-03T12:12:00.000-04:00

Decided to keep going today and create the AutoCAD Civil 3D 2011 network deployment being that we have a new BIM project starting in the next week or so that I'd prefer we move to the new native 64-bit version to avoid RAM issues.

AutoCAD Civil 3D 2011 64-bit Network Deployment Creation

Creating AutoCAD MEP 2011 Network Deployment

2010-05-03T11:13:00.000-04:00

I'm taking some time this morning to create our AutoCAD MEP 2011 network deployment so we can begin preparing for migration in the near future. We've been standardized on the 2009 product since shortly after it's release, but recently received requirements from one of our larger clients requesting all submissions to be in the 2010 DWG format. Prior to the 2011 products being released we were forced to deploy the 2010 product to support this requirement, but we're now planning to transition to the 2011 release over the next couple months.

AutoCAD MEP 2011 64-bit Network Deployment Creation

AutoCAD Civil 3D 2011 Subscription Downloads Available

2010-04-19T15:51:00.000-04:00

Some time between last Friday and today the AutoCAD Civil 3D 2011 Subscription download was made available. I managed to find a few minutes today to kick off the downloads to possibly create the network deployment packages later this week. I'm looking forward to working with the 64bit final product after being involved in the beta testing group.

It's been a while, and the 2011 Autodesk products are rolling in the door

2010-04-16T09:46:00.001-04:00

It's been quite some time since my last post but I'm hoping to post a little more often.

Yesterday Autodesk subscription customers started to see a few more of the 2011 Autodesk products available for download from their Subscription sites. I've begun downloading the first of four products we currently have on Subscription.

Downloading from a slower connection today in a remote office.

President Obama on Health Reform

2009-07-23T09:49:00.003-04:00

Watch President Obama answer every question the press had for him on health insurance reform at a press conference at the White House recently:

He's the man!

PAUG Meeting on July 15, 2009

2009-06-28T15:29:00.008-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

The Philadelphia AutoCAD User's Group, Inc. (PAUG) is scheduled to meet for the third time this year on July 15, 2009. Board Members met two weeks ago and ironed out a detailed agenda for our next meeting which will include a continuation of PAUG Vice President Jesse Moore's presentation on AutoCAD Dynamic Blocks. PAUG Webmaster, Rob Smith will be giving us a look into AutoCAD Menu Macro creation as part of a potential series of presentation on the subject. I'm going to push for handouts to be produced for these next presentations so people have details on these topics to use as a reference back in the office. I'll possibly suggest using information in Autodesk University (AU) handouts as a basis to simplify matters a bit.

John Hodgman roasts President Obama

2009-06-24T22:45:00.011-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

John Hodgman, known best as the PC in the "I'm a Mac" commercials and ads, spoke to Radio and Television Correspondents Association Dinner about nerds, Trekkies, and President Obama's favorite "name-brand smartphone [he] shall not name, for contractual reasons."

Personally I feel relieved that President Obama pushed to use technology. The obvious name-brand smartphone John Hodgman was not able to elaborate on due to contractual reasons is the Blackberry that Obama pushed to continue using after becoming President. It's true that this type of request has not been traditional in the past, it can only force better security technologies to be implemented. I think this type of push drives improvements in security technology that will eventually make its way into public use.

Watch John Hodgman roast Obama and more funny videos on CollegeHumor

Freeware Options to Replace Those Pricey Apps

2009-06-03T03:43:00.011-04:00

Here are some freeware options to possibly replace those pricey apps such as AutoCAD LT, AutoCAD, Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, QuarkXpress, Dreamweaver, and many others during these hard economic times:

CAD (AutoCAD LT, AutoCAD, MicroStation)

DoubleCAD XT (http://www.doublecad.com/)
Google Sketchup (http://sketchup.google.com/)
SmartDraw (http://www.smartdraw.com/)

Office Suite (Microsoft Office, Corel WordPerfect)

OpenOffice.org (http://www.openoffice.org/)
IBM Lotus Symphony (http://symphony.lotus.com/)
Yahoo Zimbra Desktop (http://www.zimbra.com/)
Thinkfree (http://member.thinkfree.com/)
Zoho (http://www.zoho.com/)
Google Docs (http://docs.google.com/)
Adobe Buzzword (https://buzzword.acrobat.com/)

Graphics (Adobe Illustrator, CorelDRAW)

Inkscape (http://www.inkscape.org/)
Xara Xtreme (http://www.xaraxtreme.org/)

Photo Editing (Adobe Photoshop)

GIMP (http://www.gimp.org/)
Paint.net (http://www.getpaint.net/)

Photos & Video

Google Picasa
VLC

Productivity

Foxit Reader
Notepad++
Texter

Page Layout (QuarkXpress, Adobe PageMaker)

Scribus (http://www.scribus.net/)

PDF Creation (Adobe Acrobat)

PDFCreator (http://www.pdfforge.org/products/pdfcreator)

HTML Editor (Adobe Dreamweaver, Microsoft Frontpage)

Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007 (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepointdesigner)
Amaya (http://www.w3.org/Amaya)
KompoZer (http://sourceforge.net/projects/kompozer)

Utilities

7-Zip
Everything
µTorrent

File Backup/Syncing

Dropbox
Mozy

Music

WinAmp
Songbird

Security

KeePass
AVG Free
Spybot Search & Destroy
Ad-Aware

I'll continue to add, update, and remove items from this post over time.

AU 2008 - day 2

2008-12-03T16:51:00.008-05:00

I began today having breakfast with a representative from my employers Autodesk VAR (Microdesk). Following that I attended the "AU Keynote: Autodesk AEC - Out of the Box!" which was lead by Jay Bhatt, Autodesk Sr. Vice President, AEC, and a team of AEC experts that covered how BIM and Integrated Project Design (IPD) process, and how BIM and Integrated Project Delivery have revolutionized the new Autodesk LEED-certified AEC Division Headquarters. This Keynote also contained a few live demonstrations by Autodesk application experts showing a proposed project design and delivery workflow from concept to construction which I found to be impressive.

My next scheduled session was "Preventative CAD Management" which I chose to replace with attending one of the AU Unplugged sessions titled "Create and Deliver Custom Video Training for Your Users" which was an open discussion focused on methods of creating video content using various software applications and choosing appropriate publish formats for sharing that content over corporate Intranets/Extranets, the Internet, as well as offline. I was able to gather some new methods of sharing video content from those who attended this session and were gracious to share the methods they currently use within their companies. My hope is to develop a robust video training library in the coming months to aide my company in some current and future training initiatives.

During lunch I was invited to a "Civil Direction Briefing" where we reviewed the future direction of AutoCAD Civil 3D, AutoCAD Civil, and the Autodesk Civil Solutions in general. I was required to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) so I'm not able to talk about any details discussed during this enlightening meeting, sorry. Following that special lunch I attended two sessions titled "Learn to Hack AutoCAD Installations for Custom Deployments" and "Get Your Head Out of the Point Cloud: Using AutoCAD Civil 3D for Large Surface Data Sets" which I found both to be filled with excellent information.

Later is the AUGI Annual Meeting followed by the AUGI Beer Bust which I plan to check out for a short time but expect to head back to the hotel room early to get a good night rest for tomorrow. During the AUGI Beer Bust which will be in the Exibit Hall the AU Design Slam Preliminary rounds will be held which looks to be an exciting competition for some of the elite design professionals in attendance and those watching. Quite a day!

I plan to post additional details about everything AU 2008 following this week so be sure to check back.

Till then...happy CADing!

AU 2008 - day 1

2008-12-03T14:05:00.005-05:00

I finished up AU 2008 day 1 attending the AU Keynote focused towards Design Innovation, Lunch, a brief look at Enterprise Data Interoperability with US National CAD Standards, Tips & Tricks for printing from Autodesk applications, AU Blogger Social (Mixer), International User Community Meeting / Technology Main Stage, and finally a first look at the Exhibit Hall. Obviously my first day was quite busy with much information to share but that will need to wait till later.

Till then...continue CADing!

AU 2008 - day .15

2008-12-02T12:35:00.006-05:00

Okay, I'm already getting excited about the information presented and how we may use it back in the office. The use of an Enterprise CUI file seems to be getting easier to implement and I feel we may need to incorporate it following the major overhaul of our corporate CAD standard is implemented. The presenter offered some excellent information about things to avoid due to trial and error at his company which I'll take advantage of during our implementation for sure.

I'll be off to the "AU Keynote - General Session (Design Innovation)" soon which I'm sure will be exciting and insightful.

Happy CADing!

AU 2008 - day .1

2008-12-02T11:36:00.005-05:00

The time has come, up at 5:30 am and out at 6:00 am to head over the the Venetian with my boss to get him registered for AU 2008. Luckily we got there early, we flew through the registration line and made our way to breakfast which was sponsored by nvidia. I felt it was a little skimpy from previous years but it worked to get me fueled for the morning.

My first class was covering a disliked subject for most, the CUI. More specifically how to empower the user but still have a managed enterprise environment. I'm actually attending this session as I write this so I'll plan to follow-up shortly.

Till then...happy CADing!

Autodesk University 2008 is here!

2008-12-02T11:14:00.004-05:00

I arrived in Vegas early yesterday (Monday, December 1, 2008) to attend the AUGI International Community Leadership Meeting prior to the Autodesk University 2008 (AU 2008) kick-off today (Tuesday, December 2, 2008). To attend the AUGI International Community Leadership Meeting yesterday I needed to fly out of Philadelphia quite early (6:30 am) which forced me to wake up around 3:00 am. I arrived in Vegas 40 minutes early, around 9:00 am Vegas time. The registration for AUGI Community Leadership Meeting began at 12:30 pm and started at 1:00 pm and ran until 6:00 pm. Following this meeting they had a big International Community Reception which I attended the first part of but needed to hit the pillow a little early to make up for the 3 hour time difference. Waking up at 3:00 am EST and going to bed around 11:30 pm EST made for quite a long day but look forward to the huge array of classes and presentations during AU 2008.

I expect to post detailed information about the AUGI Community Leadership Meeting soon.

Till then...happy CADing!

New Batch Print Utility for Revit 2009 extension now available!

2008-10-01T14:32:00.004-04:00

Monday was the unofficial release (Press Release) date of all the new 64-bit Revit products which also included new versions of some of the extensions previously available such as the Batch Print Utility for Revit 2009 extension. Below is a link to the download page on the Autodesk Subscription site.

http://subscription.autodesk.com/sp/servlet/download/item?siteID=11564774&id=11586302

Batch Print Utility for Revit 2009
Release Date: 2008-09-29
Batch Print provides an easy way to print a large number of drawings (views and sheets) from a Revit® Architecture 2009, Revit® Structure 2009, or Revit® MEP 2009 software project.

After preparing the default printer and the Revit software project, use Batch Print to send any number of drawings to the printer and to control the order in which they print. When you start the print job, Batch Print manages the printing of the drawings, requiring no further interaction from you. If desired, you can monitor the progress of the print job using a status dialog.

Batch Print is now compatible with the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Revit Architecture 2009, Revit Structure 2009, and Revit MEP 2009 software.

New Globe Link for Revit 2009 extension now available!

2008-09-29T15:47:00.004-04:00

A new extension for Revit was just released today called Globe Link. Below are some details about it along with the link to the download page on the Autodesk Subscription site.

Globe Link for Revit 2009
Release Date: 2008-09-29
Globe Link for Revit 2009 platform products helps users streamline preliminary project planning processes by allowing them to present to clients conceptual designs in context with information about the project site.

With Globe Link, users can publish 3D building information models directly from Revit® Architecture 2009, Revit® Structure 2009, and Revit® MEP 2009 software into Google EarthTM mapping service. Users can also acquire site information from Google Earth mapping service and import it into Revit 2009 software applications for building and site layout purposes. Globe Link is optimized for Google Earth version 4 mapping service.

Globe Link is now compatible with the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Revit Architecture 2009, Revit Structure 2009, and Revit MEP 2009 software.

Content is currently available in English only.

http://subscription.autodesk.com/sp/servlet/download/item?siteID=11564774&id=11585671
(you must be logged into the Autodesk Subscription site to access)

Revit Structure 2009 64-bit now available!

2008-09-29T14:09:00.006-04:00

The 64-bit version of Revit Structure 2009 is now available from the Autodesk Subscription site. Below is a link to the download location (you'll need to be logged in to access):

http://subscription.autodesk.com/sp/servlet/download/item?siteID=11564774&id=11919667

Looking for more details, read on...

Release Date: 2008-09-29
This version of Revit® Structure 2009 is a native 64-bit application to be used with 64-bit Operating Systems, such as Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional 64-bit or Microsoft® Windows Vista® 64-bit (Business, Home Premium, Ultimate editions). The 64-bit version of Revit Structure 2009 removes the 4 gig memory limitation found in 32-bit applications which enhances the software’s capability to handle large projects. It contains the functionality found in the 32-bit release of Revit Structure 2009, with the noted limitations found in the Known Issues document.

Known Issues
Revit Structure 2009 (64-bit only)

Compatibility

Revit® 64-bit products can access additional RAM in computers containing more than 4GB of memory. Due to the inherent application memory access limits of Revit 32-bit products, it will be possible for 64-bit Revit products to create models that 32-bit Revit products will be unable to open. If this situation is encountered, the problematic model must be divided into two or more models small enough to be opened in the more limited memory available to Revit 32-bit applications.
ODBC export is limited to those formats for which Microsoft has provided 64-bit drivers. At the time of this release, drivers to export to Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Access are
unavailable for Microsoft Windows 64-bit operating systems.
The Autodesk DWF Printer is unavailable for the Revit platform products in 64-bit. DWF
files may still be created with Revit’s DWF Publish option.

Revit Structure 2009 (32-bit and 64-bit)

Wall Foundation end adjustment

The Wall Foundation property “Do Not Break at Inserts” will not have any effect on holes
created by Opening elements, it only works with instances (like Doors) that can be inserted.

Concrete End Joins

New behavior is limited to Concrete Beams with the following properties:
- Rectangular Sections with Cross Sectional Rotation that equal 0, 90, 180, and 270 degrees.
- Trapezoidal, T-shaped, and L-Shaped Sections with Cross Sectional Rotation that equal 0 degrees.
- Beams must have constant profiles (non-tapered, non-twisted)
- No member in the join may be sloped.
- Only beams lying in horizontal work-planes.
Beams that don’t meet the criteria listed above will exhibit old behavior.
Upgraded files will exhibit old behavior until a new beam is added to the join.
Shape Handles are not available for elements participating with new behavior.
Type parameter changes will not automatically update Concrete join geometry.

Automatic Join Geometry

Hierarchal joining rules between element categories cannot be changed, e.g. Slabs always cut Columns when using Join Geometry.
Automatic Join Geometry does not occur between Wall and Slab categories.
It is not possible to disable automatic Join Geometry, but joins can be manually unjoined.
Joined geometry may impact performance.

Rebar

While placing Rebar, temporary dimensions and snapping is unavailable.
Rebar cannot be placed unless the element is cut and the workplane is within View Range, except for Slabs and Walls.
Standard Rebar will not join to fillets of stirrup/tie rebar.
Angular constraints are not allowed in Rebar Shape definitions.
View regeneration may be slow in Views using Fine level of detail with a large number of Rebar elements within View Range.
Rebar can only be placed or sketched when a Rebar Family is loaded in the project.
Family parameters cannot be added to Rebar Shape Families.
New Rebar functionality only pertains to newly created elements. Rebar elements created in prior versions will exhibit old behavior.
Area and Path Reinforcement type parameters no longer exist for newly created elements, therefore no identity data parameters exist for these elements.

Hidden Lines

On-screen display of hidden lines may not match vector output (e.g. Print, Export) in some cases.
Some edges of Wall ends will not show as hidden.

Metal Deck

Metal Deck profile at the projected face of Openings may not align with the Metal Deck profile of the Slab.
Metal Deck may not be shown correctly for some curved projected faces.

Slab Shape Edit

After clicking Pick Supports for a sloped slab, changing the Curved Edge Condition to “Project to Side” causes the shape edit to fail for some curved edges. Temporary workaround: delete the offending curve.

Beam Extension and Mitering at end Join

Mitering non-Concrete Beams is limited to 2 Beams of the same type within the same plane.
Lines within the Beam family (e.g. hidden lines) will not Trim/Extend to the miter plane.
Beam shape handles do not participate in extensions.
Edit Beam Join editor is not available when a concrete beam is participating in the end join.
Beams that have been mitered at any time during their life will be cut by the Cut Plane in Plan Views using Medium/Fine Detail Level.

Beam Annotation

Only one Spot Elevation Type can be used by the tool at one time.
Spot Elevation Types and Structural Framing Tags must have the Type parameter “Rotate Component” enabled to be available in the drop down.

Dimension Text Overrides

For a multi-segment dimension string in which one of the dimensions has had a dimension text override, adding a new segment to the string will cause the override to disappear.

Dimension Type Text Sizes

Dimension Types lose their previous Text Size changes when a Duplicate Type is created.

Fill Patterns

Fill Patterns can now be applied to most surfaces (including warped planes), however:
- Only patterns on planar surfaces can currently be moved or rotated.
- Some complex surfaces may exhibit undesirable anomalies (such as areas of missing pattern).
Currently, detail components do not support aligning fill patterns to the element Far Clip

Parameter and Linked Files

While Linked files can now be displayed By Linked View in Sections, Elevation and 3D
views, the Far Clipping Parameter in Section and Elevation views will always display per
the Host view’s settings and NOT by the Linked View’s settings – even when the Link is
set to display By Linked View.

Large DWG Imports

DWG™ imports with entities further than two miles apart (after scaling) may cause accuracy issues. Very large DWG imports should be subdivided into smaller files.
DWG imports with coordinates (before scaling) longer than ten digits may be truncated to zero and become corrupted.

Upgrading very large files from previous versions of Revit Structure

Upgrade of some very large Revit Structure files (~200 MB and greater) may cause Revit
Structure to crash by exceeding the maximum memory usage allowed by the operating
system. Please contact Autodesk® Product Support.

Rendering

Revit® Structure 2009 software contains a new rendering engine that makes major changes in the previous workflow. See the Revit Structure Feature Summary and Help documentation for information and instructions.
When rendering an uncropped 3D view, geometry may appear shifted. Workaround: turn on crop region for the view.
Non-English builds of Revit currently display RPC ID’s instead of names for downloaded
RPC Content.

The Front orientation in ViewCube in a published DWF

Currently, if the Front orientation in ViewCube™ software is changed from its default setting in Revit Structure, the change will not be reflected on the ViewCube in a published DWF™.

Worksharing Monitor (for Autodesk Subscription customers only)

The Worksharing Monitor tool may behave incorrectly if the Local (or Central) File names
contain dots other than the dot before the .rvt extension.

DWF Markups

Markups made in Design Review with the Freehand Markup tool do not import into Revit with properties.

Spellchecking

Microsoft Office 2007 dictionaries for English, German and Spanish are currently incompatible with Revit. You can still use the provided Autodesk dictionaries or install an earlier version of Microsoft Office to use the older Microsoft dictionaries.

Previous releases Known Issues

Download or get more information about the previous releases Known Issues, please click here.

Release Notes
Welcome to the 64‐bit edition of Revit® 2009 platform products. This release takes advantage of the additional memory available to applications in a 64‐bit operating system environment. 32‐bit Microsoft® Windows® operating systems, when properly configured, are limited to providing between 3GB and 4GB of memory to applications. From a software standpoint, there is no practical technical limit to the amount of memory available to compatible applications under 64‐bit Microsoft Windows operating systems, although the hardware platform may impose some technical restrictions on the amount of RAM that may be installed in a given workstation.

Hardware Requirements and Recommendations for the Revit Platform

System Requirements

Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional x64 Edition or Microsoft Windows Vista® 64 bit (Business, Home Premium, Ultimate)

Browser: Microsoft® Internet Explorer® 6.0 SP1 (or later)

CPU type: Intel® Pentium® 4 1.4 GHz or equivalent AMD processor

Memory: 3 GB RAM

Video Display: 1280 x 1024 monitor and display adapter capable of 24-bit color

Hard Disk: 3 GB free disk space

Pointing Device: Microsoft-mouse compliant

Media: Download

Connectivity: Internet connection for license registration

System Recommendations

Operating system: Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition

Browser: Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1 (or later)

CPU type: Intel Core® 2 Duo 2.40GHz or equivalent AMD processor

Memory: 8 GB RAM (or more)

Video Display: Dedicated video card with hardware support for OpenGL specification 1.3 or later, and support for Microsoft® DirectX® 9 or later.

Hard Disk: 5 GB free disk space

Pointing Device: Two-button mouse with scroll wheel

Performance
Revit 2009 platform 64‐bit product performance is expected to be similar to an identical Revit model edited with Revit 2009 platform 32‐bit products. However, due to the potential for the Revit platform to access greater quantities of memory made available by the Windows operating system running with more installed RAM, the Revit platform may exhibit increased stability.

Model Size
With hardware configured in the manner listed in the System Recommendations section, it may be possible to edit Revit models of greater size than is practical within the 32‐bit version of the Revit 2009 platform. It should be noted that Revit models whose memory requirements exceed the RAM available in a 32‐bit operating environment may not open in the 32‐bit version of Revit 2009 platform.

AddIns
Non‐Autodesk external commands and applications designed to access the Revit platform may not be compatible with Revit 2009 64‐bit platform.

Limitations
As of this Revit release, Microsoft has not made available ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) drivers for its 64‐bit operating systems. Consequently, the Revit 64‐bit platform cannot export a Microsoft® Excel®‐ or Microsoft Access®‐compatible ODBC file.

New version of Worksharing Monitor for Revit 2009 now available!

2008-09-29T13:46:00.008-04:00

New version of the Worksharing Monitor for Revit 2009 compatiable with the 64-bit releases is now available from the Autodesk Subscription site. Below is a direct link to the download location (you'll need to be logged in to access).

http://subscription.autodesk.com/sp/servlet/download/item?siteID=11564774&id=11586373

Looking for some more details, read on...

Release Date: 2008-09-29
Worksharing Monitor facilitates the use of Revit® Architecture 2009, Revit® Structure 2009, or Revit® MEP 2009 software in a worksharing environment, in which multiple people work on one project. For workshared projects, Worksharing Monitor answers questions such as:

Who is currently working on this project?
Is my local copy of the project up-to-date?
When will my Save to Central operation finish?
Has my request to borrow elements been granted?
Are any issues interfering with my work on a Revit software project?

Note: Worksharing Monitor is not useful for standalone Revit software projects, which do not use worksharing to divide the work for a project among several people.

Worksharing Monitor is now compatible with the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Revit Architecture 2009, Revit Structure 2009, and Revit MEP 2009 software.

Revit MEP 2009 64-bit Now Available!

2008-09-29T12:56:00.005-04:00

YYYYEEEEESSSSS!!!! Looks like the native 64-bit versions of Revit are now rolling out the door at Autodesk. I just logged on my Autodesk Subscription site and and there it was listed under the new Product Downloads section on the homepage of the redesigned site (which I love by the way). Below is a direct link to the Subscription download page (you'll need to be logged in) for Revit MEP 2009 64-bit which looks to be the only one available at the moment but I'm sure the other flavors will follow shortly.

http://subscription.autodesk.com/sp/servlet/download/item?siteID=11564774&id=11919034

Looking for more details, read on...

Release Date: 2008-09-29
This version of Revit® MEP 2009 is a native 64-bit application to be used with 64-bit Operating Systems, such as Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional 64-bit or Microsoft® Windows Vista® 64-bit (Business, Home Premium, Ultimate editions). The 64-bit version of Revit MEP 2009 removes the 4 gig memory limitation found in 32-bit applications which enhances the software’s capability to handle large projects. It contains the functionality found in the 32-bit release of Revit MEP 2009, with the noted limitations found in the Known Issues document.

Known Issues
Revit MEP 2009 (64-bit only)

Compatibility

Revit® 64-bit products can access additional RAM in computers containing more than 4GB of memory. Due to the inherent application memory access limits of Revit 32-bit products, it will be possible for 64-bit Revit products to create models that 32-bit Revit products will be unable to open. If this situation is encountered, the problematic model must be divided into two or more models small enough to be opened in the more limited memory available to Revit 32-bit applications.
ODBC export is limited to those formats for which Microsoft has provided 64-bit drivers. At the time of this release, drivers to export to Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Access are unavailable for Microsoft Windows 64-bit operating systems.
The Autodesk DWF Printer is unavailable for the Revit platform products in 64-bit. DWF files may still be created with Revit’s DWF Publish option.

Revit MEP 2009 (32-bit and 64-bit)

Default Pipe Size Information

The first time you open a project that was created in a previous release, Revit MEP attempts to import pipe size information from the PipeSize.xml file used with the prior release. The imported information overwrites the integrated default pipe size information. If you want to preserve custom size information from a prior release, you must restore the PipeSize.xml file used with the project to its original path. There is no warning message if the PipeSize.xml cannot be found. If you save the project in this release of Revit MEP, without having imported the size information used with the prior release, the project will use the default size settings. For more information please refer to Revit MEP Help.

Control-Point Location on Homerun Arrows

The location of the control point that is used to grip and drag the arrow location of a homerun wire has moved from the tip of the arrow to the base of the arrow. This point location is also used to determine graphics for "automatic cleanup" that occurs when the homerun for one circuit is connected to, for example, a receptacle on a separate circuit. The end result is that the base of the arrow will be automatically located at the graphical boundary of the receptacle symbol, with the tip of the arrow extending into the receptacle (or whatever other device/equipment the homerun points to). To fix this problem, you can grip-edit and drag the control point on the arrow to the desired location.

Export to ODBC

When exporting to ODBC, family instances within the project that have more than one connector will only export information associated with one of the connectors. The other connectors will be ignored.

Heating and Cooling Loads Report

Results that are displayed in Heating and Cooling Loads reports may appear to be non-precise. For example, a cubic room that is 20ft x 20ft x20ft may display a volume of 8,000.01CF instead of 8000.00CF. This is due to rounding differences that are introduced during the conversion to metric units so that the calculations can be performed, and then back to imperial units for display in the report.
Space areas that are calculated and displayed in the Heating and Cooling Loads reports could be based on either the internal faces or external faces of the wall. There is no way for the user to control this. By default, the first attempt is to use the inner faces of the walls. However, due to current technical limitations, there are cases where it may not be possible to use the inner surfaces of the walls, in which case the area calculations will be based on the location of the outer wall surfaces.
On Vista 64-bit operating system, IES version VE585 cannot be launched from within Revit MEP 64-bit.

Design Phases in the MEP Workflow

Using design phases in the Revit MEP workflow may result in unexpected behavior. For example, if 3 air terminals with a flow of 500 CFM each are created in one duct run, then the flow reported on an upstream pipe would be 1500CFM (as expected). However, if one of those terminals is demolished in a different phase, then that same upstream duct will still report 1500CFM – regardless of which phase you are currently viewing. This is because it is not possible for a single duct run to be able to store multiple flow values simultaneously. Therefore, the systems values will always be representative of the all equipment/devices attached to the system. This similar type problem applies to all mechanical and electrical systems. Any system that is created has no way to keep track of information for multiple phases. This problem with phasing may also be manifested in ways other than what is specifically described above.
When running Heating and Cooling Loads calculations, only the spaces that are on the current energy analysis phase will be included in the calculations. All spaces must be on the same phase in order to be included in the calculations.

Rendering

Revit MEP 2009 software contains a new rendering engine that makes major changes to the previous workflow. See the Revit MEP 2009 Feature Summary, What’s New in This Release, and Help documentation for information and instructions.
Currently, Decal bump image maps fail to import at the correct scale for cut-outs.
The Plant Height parameter may not scale the nested component correctly (RPC Content).
When rendering an uncropped 3D view, geometry may appear shifted. Workaround: turn on crop region for the view.
For lights, the "Emit from Line Length" parameter may not work properly unless the user has Soft Shadows enabled.
Non-English builds of Revit currently display RPC ID’s instead of names for downloaded RPC content.
Currently, using more that 5 or so decals in a view can seriously increase render time. Also, using 18 or more in a view can crash Revit.

The Front orientation in ViewCube in a published DWF

Currently, if the Front orientation in ViewCube™software is changed from its default setting in Revit MEP, the change will not be reflected on the ViewCube in a published DWF™.

Fill Patterns

Fill Patterns can now be applied to most surfaces (including warped planes), however:
- Only patterns on planar surfaces can currently be moved or rotated.
- Some complex surfaces may exhibit undesirable anomalies (such as areas of missing pattern).
Currently, detail components do not support aligning fill patterns to the element.

Dimension Text Overrides

For a multi-segment dimension string in which one of the dimensions had a dimension text override, adding a new segment to the string causes the override to disappear.

Dimension Type Text Sizes

Dimension Types lose their previous Text Size changes when a Duplicate Type is created.

Mass Floors in Groups

Currently, when binding a link containing Mass Floors, they will disappear because they cannot be placed into groups.

Far Clip Parameter and Linked Files

While Linked files can now be displayed By Linked View in Sections, Elevations, and 3D views, the Far Clipping Parameter in Section and Elevation views will always display per the Host view’s settings and NOT by the Linked View’s settings – even when the Link is set to display By Linked View.

Slab Shape Edit

After clicking Pick Supports for a sloped slab, changing the Curved Edge Condition to "Project to Side" causes the shape edit to fail for some curved edges. A temporary workaround is to delete the offending curve.

Room Bounding Instance Parameters

Currently, not all room bounding elements (e.g. in-place ceilings and in-place floors) have an on/off Room Bounding parameter.

Foundation Extensions

Openings do not participate in the Foundation Extensions feature, only Inserts.

Large DWG Imports

DWG™imports with entities further than two miles apart (after scaling) may cause accuracy issues. Very large DWG imports should be subdivided into smaller files.
DWG imports with coordinates (before scaling) longer than ten digits may be truncated to zero and become corrupted.

Concrete End Joins

New behavior is limited to Concrete Beams with the following properties:
- Rectangular Sections with Cross Sectional Rotation that equal 0, 90, 180, and 270 degrees.
- Trapezoidal, T-shaped, and L-Shaped Sections with Cross Sectional Rotation that equal 0 degrees.
Sections that do not qualify within these properties will exhibit old behavior.
Shape Handles are not available for elements participating with new behavior.
Type parameter changes will not automatically update concrete join geometry.

Automatic Join Geometry

Hierarchal joining rules between element categories cannot be changed, e.g. Slabs always cut Columns when using Join Geometry.
Automatic Join Geometry does not occur between Wall and Slab categories.
It is not possible to disable automatic Join Geometry, but joins can be manually un-joined.
Joined geometry may impact performance.

Hidden Lines

On-screen display of hidden lines may not match vector output (e.g. Print, Export) in some cases.
Some edges of Wall ends will not show as hidden.
All Edges of slab edge will show as hidden in a Plan view if obstructed by the Slab.

Beam Extension and Mitering at end Join

Mitering non-Concrete Beams is limited to 2 Beams of the same type within the same plane.
Lines within the Beam family (e.g. hidden lines) will not Trim/Extend to the miter plane.
Beam shape handles do not participate in extensions.
Edit Beam Join editor is not available when a concrete beam is participating in the end join.
Beams that have been mitered at any time during their life will be cut by the Cut Plane in Plan Views using Medium/Fine Detail Level.

Worksharing Monitor

The Worksharing Monitor tool may behave incorrectly if the Local (or Central) File names contain dots other than the dot before the .rvt extension.

DWF Markups

Markups made in Design Review with the Freehand Markup tool do not import into Revit with properties.

Spellchecking

Microsoft Office 2007 dictionaries for English, German and Spanish are currently incompatible with Revit. You can still use the provided Autodesk dictionaries or install an earlier version of Microsoft Office to use the older Microsoft dictionaries.

Hardware Requirements and Recommendations for the Revit Platform

System Requirements

Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional x64 Edition or Microsoft Windows Vista® 64 bit (Business, Home Premium, Ultimate)

Browser: Microsoft® Internet Explorer® 6.0 SP1 (or later)

CPU type: Intel® Pentium® 4 1.4 GHz or equivalent AMD processor

Memory: 3 GB RAM

Video Display: 1280 x 1024 monitor and display adapter capable of 24-bit color

Hard Disk: 3 GB free disk space

Pointing Device: Microsoft-mouse compliant

Media: Download

Connectivity: Internet connection for license registration

System Recommendations

Operating system: Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition

Browser: Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1 (or later)

CPU type: Intel Core® 2 Duo 2.40GHz or equivalent AMD processor

Memory: 8 GB RAM (or more)

Video Display: Dedicated video card with hardware support for OpenGL specification 1.3 or later, and support for Microsoft® DirectX® 9 or later.

Hard Disk: 5 GB free disk space

Pointing Device: Two-button mouse with scroll wheel

AddIns
Non‐Autodesk external commands and applications designed to access the Revit platform may not be compatible with Revit 2009 64‐bit platform.

Some recent photos of Dylan

2008-06-07T14:00:00.004-04:00

Here are some recent photos of Dylan, he's getting so big! The photos were taken when he was around 6 months old which was about a month ago so that would make him just over 7 months now. He's so fun and is starting to try to get around on his own and I'm sure it won't be long before he'll be getting into everything around the house.

No CAD related posts lately but I'll get back on track soon. AutoCAD and Revit 2009 based products are out, who like that new Ribbon interface? I for one like it but after reading some of the blogs out there it seems that most don't. We'll have to see if the use of it catches on before Autodesk Unerversity 2008!

The baby has arrived!

2007-11-10T21:44:00.003-05:00

Almost exactly one week ago today (Sun. 11/4/2007 @ 7:43pm) our new baby boy came into the world, Dylan Andrew Rice (7lb. 4oz.). It's been a somewhat sleepless first week having to feed him every 3 - 5 hour which you wouldn't think to be enjoyable but it was for me. My work was kind enough to offer the remainder of the week off after returning from the hospital Tuesday which has allowed my wife some time to catch up on sleep. Here are a few photos that I took today and yes he's only 1 week old.

After a hard night on the town...

Catching up on some sleep...

Profiling...

Catching Up

2007-08-31T16:21:00.001-04:00

It's been about 5 months since my last post and much has gone down. Work has been keeping me very busy with preparing and rolling out new CAD standards throughout the company. The Philadelphia AutoCAD Users Group (PAUG) has been continuing to grow which I'm currently serving as Vice President for 2007. Lastly I have a little one on the way, and it's my first, so planning and preparing is the task at hand!

Hopefully all of you have been keeping up with the latest engineering application offerings from Autodesk, Bentley and others and if your lucky enough to be on a Subscription, SELECT, or Maintenance program it makes it a little easier. So much to take advantage of and so little time to get up to speed with everything. I've always been the type of person to learn things on my own through trial and error which seems to have served me well over the years. This type of learning process has allowed me to have a much deeper knowledge of how things work and how to get around issues as they arise. That type of learning method is getting much more difficult to keep up with due to the reduced amount of time between new releases of software and major service packs.

I've recently decided to change gears and rely more on training resources before I dive into using new software products or versions. This allows for more time to figure out best practices, tips & tricks, and to find out known issues which I would have otherwise had to find out on my own. Even though this learning method for me takes away the potential of obtaining a deeper knowledge of how an application may function due to less need to troubleshoot issues as they arise but it may allow for a little more time for other things, face it, we're all looking for a little more time.

With that said, I'm sure those that still try to learn things on their own or are forced into that situation will have a little more underlying knowledge of an application but I'll have the extra time to find out about and avoided the problems in the first place. My new resources are the many free knowledge articles posted all over the Internet from professionals, software developers, and resellers. Blogs are becoming a much more dependable resource for up-to-date information about the bleeding edge of new software products and how their used. Vlogs (Video Blogs) are becoming free video-based training resources on specific tasks as well as providing solutions to questions or problems that would normally be time consuming to figure out on your own.

A person recently said to me, "it's better to admit that you don't to something to everyone than thinking you have a way to find the answers for yourself." That statement may be the underlying reason many people become members of User Groups, Discussion Groups, or Forums because if you share the things you don't know with others your bound to find many willing to provide you their potential solutions. Without thinking much about it, this may have been one of the reasons I got involved with the PAUG. Another reason I joined PAUG was to share my knowledge with others which has been gathered over my 15 year career using various design and engineering applications. My previous trial and error learning habits allowed me to obtain a very deep and extensive knowledge of how the various software applications and versions I've used over the years work.

Well, with all that said, I now tend to recommend formal training when budget and time permits. Many times training is obtained through your value added reseller (VAR), but I've also found many software company's offering training and implementation services via their own professional services teams. Always be sure to weigh all your options before implementing new versions of software or entirely new software products on your own.

That's my 3 cents for today.

Information Overload!!!

2007-03-02T21:50:00.000-05:00

Holy cow, there seems to be an endless amount of new and enhanced features coming in the 2008 Autodesk products. In addition to all the great enhancements comes major product name changes and entirely new products being introduced. Autodesk is really bring the heat so to speak come April, and I'm excited!

From minor command enhancements to entirely new applications such as Impression, I can only ponder as to what will come next. Products that once came at a cost that are now free to playing well with the competitions file types (DGN), Autodesk seems to be listening to all the feedback from it's customers and delivering the goods.

I hope to find a little extra time soon to comment on some of my favorites being introduced in the 2008 platform product AutoCAD as sell as some some of the Verticals. With information assistance from some of the Autodesk Bloggers out there I'll begin compiling some of the hottest new features in my opinion and posting some detailed information about each.

Check back soon...

2008 Autodesk Products Up Close and Personal

2007-02-17T21:09:00.001-05:00

More information about the 2008 Autodesk product line continues to rain out of the San Rafael, CA headquartered powerhouse of design software. In addition, many bloggers are beginning to review all the new features of each product which should be publicly available around April. I for one am looking forward to many of the new features in the AutoCAD platform product such as adjustable columns in Mtext, Tables with 2way link to Excel spreadsheets, and unique Layer Properties per Viewport just to name a few.

Click here for more info from the Autodesk Preview 2008 site.

Lets take a look at the product packaging:

Autodesk Platform Products:

AutoCAD-Based Solutions for Architects, Civil, and MEP Engineers:

Revit Platform for Building Information Modeling:

Autodesk Geospatial Solution Suite:

Manufacturing Software Products:

2008 Autodesk Products Heading Our Way Soon

2007-02-13T22:00:00.002-05:00

Once again a new year at Autodesk and their almost ready to introduce their new 2008 product lineup to the public. Recently there have been some other exciting announcements such as Design Review becoming a free product and Home Use Licensing available to Subscription customers as I mentioned in my previous 2 posts. Lynn Allen already is posting information about some of the new features of the new AutoCAD 2008 base product on her blog.

Of course AutoCAD will be their first unveiling with the other desktop verticals coming shortly after. Personally I'm excited to begin working with the much refined and well performing Civil 3D 2008 compared to its predecessor versions. I also look forward to the new features in store for us with Design Review 2008 which you can check out on Scott Sheppard's blog.

If you want to keep updated on the entire 2008 Autodesk product line as its introduced visit the Autodesk 2008 Preview mini-site and sign up to receive e-mail notifications or subscribe to the RSS Feed. Also available is Autodesk formal Press Release describing their global vision for the design software industry.

Home Use Licenses Now Available for Autodesk Subscription Customers

2007-02-11T13:34:00.000-05:00

Autodesk Subscription customers can now request home use of Autodesk products for their employees. Home use licenses are governed by an "Ancillary Service Agreement for Home Use" and can be obtained through your Autodesk Subscription Center. All eligible products are listed below:

Architectural Desktop
AutoCAD
AutoCAD Electrical
AutoCAD LT
AutoCAD Mechanical
Building Systems
Civil 3D
Inventor Professional
Inventor Series
Land Desktop
Map
3ds Max
Raster Design
Revit
Revit Series
Revit Series Structure
Revit Series Systems Plus
Revit Structure
Survey
Viz

Wow, that's a long list! Be sure to check out all the details on the Subscription Center site because the procedures differ for stand alone and network licenses. Now if people could only work from home without interruption and loosing focus on their work we could save commuting time and the expense that comes along with it. Wait, as I mentioned in my last post, Autodesk Design Review is now free so even the markup and review process can take place electronically without any additional cost, makes you think this working from home thing could be a reality after all.

Everyone have fun working from home!

Autodesk Design Review 2007 and Beyond!

2007-02-10T06:32:00.001-05:00

Autodesk has decided to trump Bentley which offers their electronic markup tool Redline to SELECT customers for free by giving away Autodesk Design Review 2007 and future versions to the world. I feel this is a huge value Autodesk is providing it's customers because it will allow anyone producing DWF files in their design environment the ability to eliminate paper prints for the purpose of review and markup and now perform those same tasks electronicly without the need to purchase another software package. This could also have a huge impact on what companies currently spend on large format plotting equipment due to reduced volume and media consumption. Granted the Engineers, Architects, and Designers will need to buy into the idea of marking up plans electronically but the fact that Autodesk has made this a free option, it should catch on much faster and at the same time save a few trees. It seems as though Autodesk may have plans to formally introduce Design Review as is free product with the 2008 version due out around April 2007.

I'm looking forward to implementing Autodesk Design Review throughout my company very soon and have been pondering this idea for quite a while. No need to justify the cost to upper management now that it's free. We can concentrate on getting buy-in from all the potential users within our many disciplines to start taking advantage of all its capabilities after a little introduction training. Potentially we could have close to 600 people using Autodesk Design Review in some capacity so the cost savings for us is huge now that it's free!

With a suite of free applications offered such as DWG TrueView, DWG TrueConvert, DWF Writer, DWF Viewer, Inventor View, DWF Toolkit, Project Freewheel, and now Design Review, I get the feeling Autodesk is really trying hard to provide increased value to its customers. My company has been using various flavors of Autodesk products sense the 1980's and I don't see that changing that any time soon. Autodesk has continued to provide innovative tools to efficiently complete designs for our clients. They've always strived to make them perform well and include desired new features by continuiously requesting feedback and allowing customers to be involved during beta testing phases of development.

Keep it coming Autodesk!

Shaan Hurley's Blog Post

Scott Sheppard's Blog Post

How to install Autodesk Design Review 2007 silently

About Autodesk Design Review 2008

Thanks Scott and Shaan for all the great information about the now free Autodesk Design Review!