In the last post I described my viewpoint on plain Autodesk® Revit® possibilities creating assemblies. This time I’ll share my experience using Revit together with additional BIM software.
Let’s take an example project and run briefly through the drawings’ preparation using Smart Assemblies. Even if you have a small project like in the picture below with something like 50 columns, 80 beams, some wall panels and 500 hosted details, plus 300 openings, you will still have a lot of hours of work to complete your drawings.
Let’s say I have configured dimensioning of one beam, but I have to make 30 drawings of the same kind of beam just with different lengths, hosted details and openings. Drawing looks like this:
Configuration of dimensioning rules is easy to understand in Smart Assemblies, which also gives a credit to it. In my opinion, configuration of first beam, takes same time as creating drawings manually of first beam, so even in the configuration step, which usually sounds “heavy”, you are not losing time.
After my configuration is done I have to select elements for which I need new drawings to prepare. I took one beam as an example to use with Smart Assemblies and it took me less than one minute to have all views dimensioned, views added to sheet in the same places as the first beam. Sure, you’re an engineer, so you have to review it, but if you will make a drawing and revision manually, this will take something like 5 -15 minutes depending on your skills and complexity of beam.
And it’s only about the framework drawings, if you will add reinforcement with all the schedule tables – you will definitely save even more time. Even for such small project, you would save 2-4 days for frame work drawings and 3-6 for reinforcement drawings, which would lead you to at least one week time savings. I bet you would be happy to have that.
I strongly recommend using Smart Assemblies to all my colleagues, structural engineers and anyone I make a contact with. Do it from the beginning of your project, because it’s easy to understand and you’ll not lose much time to get the work done.
I wish you never have the experience of manual assembly creation, put dimensions and schedules on every one of your 300 hundreds or whatever number of assemblies you have in your project. I say – be smart and don’t waste your time on things you don’t need to.
You can find more about Smart Assemblies and download free trial from the link below:
https://agacad.com/products/bim-solutions/smart-assemblies/trial
