Author "Jokūbas Vaišvila" posts

How to change a window/door U-value

The U-value and other analytical properties for windows and doors in Revit are set by default and come from the ASHRAE standard. Sometimes, though, you need different U-values for heating load calculations. So, how do you change these hardcoded values?

You can find these constructions on your computer: C:Program FilesAutodeskRevit 2018en-USConstructions.xml

Be aware that the “Construction.xml” file is different for different Revit Language Packages. So just make sure you modify the right one.

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How to Apply Room Finish Schedule

Q: I have a large commercial project containing hundreds of rooms on 10 floors. Given 5 possible finish scenarios, I want to apply each one of them as per specification to each room, preferably in one click. Is it possible with your products? If so, which one?

A: You can do this using Smart Browser and its feature BIM Tree Manager.

1. In BIM Tree Manager, go with Room Category:
   
   

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3 steps to make sure all views are on sheets for printing your Revit® project

Here’s a tip for new Revit users. In the design phase, tons of views have to be created inside a Revit project. So, how can we make sure that all the views are loaded onto sheets and ready for printing? We’ve got a workflow for this. Follow these steps and you can be sure that all views will be loaded onto sheets for printing!

1. Open Browser Organization (right-click “Views”)
   
   

2. Change Browser Organization scheme to “not on sheets”. Apply this change.

3. Final result:

By the way, here you can see the difference between simple and “not on sheet” Browser Organization:

Use this feature and workflow, and you can rest assured that views will be loaded onto sheets for printing!

New to AGACAD? Welcome and thanks for reading! We offer a lot of solutions that make your life in Revit® easier – from Wood & Metal Framing to model management to MEP to Precast.

You’re welcome to take a free trial of any of our BIM software solutions! Just download the TOOLS4BIM Dock for your version of Revit, open Revit, and select the tool you’d like to try out.

How to split pipes by manufacturer’s lengths in Revit

Q: I want to use the split pipes command to generate fabrication cut sheets for our sprinkler lines. I need to split all the lines into segments of equal lengths. How can I add a starter length of pipe? e.g. The first segment needs to be less than all the others and will be cut in field to adjust to where our sprinkler mains have been run.

A: See video 🙂

How to change category of Revit families in batches

Q: Is it possible to batch-change the category of families in a project?

A: Yes. You can change the category of your families in batches by using Smart Browser. Here’s how.

To exchange families inside your project, you have to add an extra parameter for those families and write some notes for Smart Browser. Smart Browser doesn’t see when you change categories, and it can’t upload a new family, but if you change category and add a parameter – it will see and change the families in your project. Let’s see how to do it.

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How to export hanger drilling points from Revit

Q: We use a Trimble Total Station robot to lay out our hanger points in the field. Do your hangers have the point information that could be exported to our Trimble Total Station?

A: We have a tool called Sort Mark for calculating element coordinates in Revit according to Shared or Project coordinates.

I’ve recorded the video below where you can see a structure for which Trimble Total Station needs unique ID, X, Y, and Z coordinates.

So just take a look at this video. I use Sort Mark to do everything: to give elements unique marks and to calculate elevation and coordinates. I hope this helps!

Manufacturers, we need you in BIM!

Let’s start off with a brief look at what BIM is. The purpose of BIM is to give each actor just the information they need at just the right time throughout a building’s lifecycle to support its effective design, creation, and use.

• The “B” in BIM stands for “Building” – since it’s about methods and technologies for the effective design, creation, and use of buildings.
• The “I” in BIM stands for “Information” – the 3D representations and non-graphical data in the digital model of a building. It’s the key to managing a building throughout its lifecycle.
  • Besides 3D information – for design, engineering, and production – there’s also
    • 4D information that incorporates time (scheduling, planning, and control),
    • 5D which adds costs and analysis,
    • 6D that includes sustainability, and
    • 7D which looks at facility management over the entire lifetime of an asset.
• The “M” in BIM has three meanings:
  • “Modelling” – the collaborative processes by which actors create, update, and store relevant information about a building throughout its life.
  • “Model” – the ‘data container’ or digital model of a building where information about the building is stored.
  • “Management” – actors’ use of a building information model for their needs.

Libraries in BIM

Currently there are plenty of software options available, any one of which can be selected as a BIM environment for design. Most of them use generic libraries that favor the development region or country’s standards (Revit and US standards, DDS-CAD and German standards, etc.). To design a real building, we need real-world elements with real behavior.

So, engineers’ needs and software content usually veer off in two different directions.

How to Export Shared Parameters from a Revit Family

Here’s something for your good-to-know file: How to export shared parameters from any revit family. We get this question quite a lot, so here’s a short video showing exactly how to do it. (And this is something you can do even without our add-ons 🙂

This is a good Revit feature if you want to tag elements that were created by someone else and shared parameters were used. You can export those shared parameters to your file and use that for tagging elements. Here’s how!

Happy Reviteering!

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Tips & Tricks: Write room data into any room element

AGACAD has a nifty free add-on for Revit® called Smart Select. We invite all Revit users to download this free tool and see how it speeds up your tasks! It’s basically a multi-element, auto-selection tool that lets you quickly select elements in a room or space by category, family, or type. This is invaluable in cases when you need to, for instance, write room data to a certain type of element in a room because it eliminates repetitive and inaccurate manual selection.

With Smart Select, you can filter elements by room name or number and add needed parameters to all elements that belong to that room. The workflow looks like this:

1. Download Smart Select
2. Install Smart Select
3. Filter Elements by Room Name or Number:Read more »

Cut Opening improvements based on leading Scandinavian companies

During the past few months, we’ve been working closely with Scandinavian structural engineers who deal with structural and architectural walls in Revit®. This collaboration has resulted in significant updates to Cut Opening in its latest release.

Companies like MOE, Ramboll, and COWI have already been using Cut Opening for a while to automate the process of inserting openings for doors and windows in structural models to exactly match those elements in the linked architectural model.

Please join our webinar on Thursday, October 26th to learn more about these NEW FEATURES!

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