2020 is the year when we’ve changed the user interfaces of many of our tools. And Smart Browser is no exception. Not only does it have a new look in the ribbon and a remade library manage window, but it also has gotten some additional features, which can help you create a better library for everyday work.
First things first, let’s see the “new” look in the Revit ribbon. Instead of having to choose all the functions from a single drop-down menu, we decided to move the most-used commands to the front face of the tool.
So, what can you do now from the main control panel?
Open Family Library Manager window
Browse Families present in the current project
Choose to continue working on previously started family modification tasks
Run one of the created family modification tasks
Further changes to the UI have been made inside the Family Library Manager window. And we’ve added some extra features in addition to modifying the overall look.
This free 30-minute webinar on August 25th will be an advanced tutorial about efficiently creating and controlling your Revit family library using our Smart Browser BIM Solution. We’ll show how to keep track of and manipulate families. Also how to check, verify, create, and batch-modify parameters of multiple families and their types, all typical tasks for BIM managers. It’s relevant to BIM team leads and members as well since tailored software modules of Smart Browser give each Revit user the functionality and library access needed to get the job done according to his or her role on the BIM team.
This Florida-based full service BIM consultant says they have been able to take on more projects, deliver higher quality models and profit from “unbelievable” time savings since they began using AGACAD’s MEP Hangers solution for Revit®.
Client Profile
BIM Consulting Services, active mainly in the USA, is a BIM services consultant and source of Revit expertise for manufacturers as well as architecture, engineering and construction firms, which rely on it for 3D modelling and high-quality BIM coordination.
During the past 2 months we’ve hosted several live webinars covering specialty framing in Revit. On the timber side, those included structural insulated panels, cross laminated timber, and post-frame (a.k.a. heavy timber, mass timber, or oak) constructions. And for metal framing, we delved into ventilated facades, glazing, and curtain walls & panels. In this post we’ve gathered those webinars into one place.
In each webinar, our BIM application engineer shows the workflow for using our wood and metal framing tools in tandem with custom Revit families and configurations to model walls, floors, and roofs; distribute connection details and hardware; generate shop drawings and cut lists; and export to CNC machines, where applicable.
Without further ado, here’s our 2020 collection of 5 webinars about specialty framing in Autodesk Revit.
Our MEP Hangers tool assists Revit users with distributing hangers and supports for MEP systems throughout Revit models. It lets you create very precise rules that describe on which exact elements hangers should go and how they should connect to structural elements in different cases. With a lot of filtering available, it’s even possible to create one configuration to facilitate putting hangers on a large system all at once with just a few clicks.
An updated user interface has been long in the works for MEP Hangers. Over the course of this past year several of our tools have gotten new UI’s, and now MEP Hangers joins their ranks. The functionality of the tool has not been changed with this latest update. The changes just affect the way the tool looks in your toolbar and some small additions that were made in the Configurations window, which we’ll look at more closely below.
Here’s how the interface has changed visually.
The new UI of MEP Hangers takes up less space on the screen and has a new look (which should be familiar to users of our wood and metal framing tools). Hovering the mouse cursor over one of the newly-created icons will provide an extensive tooltip about the command that that button activates:Read more »
The advent of 3D design and BIM put a new spin on MEP coordination: resolving clashes between elements in a model instead of lines in a drawing. MEP engineers working 2D have to imagine piping or ductwork in their heads while making drawings that then need to be checked for viability by the structural designer or perhaps even on-site by the builder. BIM integrates MEP and structural design so that architects, structural & MEP engineers know in advance exactly where MEP elements will be placed during the construction phase, enabling them to create precise models and schedules. Nonetheless, MEP runs still need to be checked to ensure structural integrity and constructability, and that’s a very time-consuming procedure requiring a lot of attention to produce the desired result, error-free.
Fortunately, there is a way to dramatically increase productivity in this area. AGACAD’s Cut Opening BIM software not only inserts openings in your projects where MEP elements intersect structural elements but also facilitates coordination between different disciplines and engineers working on the same project. When openings are created, each has its own parameters to mark whether it is acceptable or not, and, with the Opening control window, you can check the parameters of every single opening in your project that was inserted with our Cut Opening tool. What’s more, the control window allows you to create a dynamic section box that will move the section box in your 3D view directly to the opening selected in the table, making it easier to locate and check openings requiring review.
In addition to the features above, the opening families we provide with Cut Opening are available for any user modifications. It’s possible to add things such as sleeves or collars to their geometry, add parameters, and change their representation according to company needs or country codes. We encourage users to take full advantage of the flexibility that Cut Opening brings.
This free 30-minute webinar on July 23rd will be an expert-level introduction to modeling homes with SIP panels in Revit. Using our Wood Framing SIPS software, the main task is customizing the settings to fit company standards. After that, the framing and documentation process is all automated.
The result you’ll see in this webinar is a SIP panel project framed automatically in Revit. This framing technology automatically distributes all structural framing elements for walls, floors, and roofs and splits insulated foam core and structural sheetboard (such as OSB) automatically according to predefined settings. Shop drawings and cut lists will be auto-generated, including all required views wherein elements are dimensioned, sorted, tagged, and scheduled and mass calculated.
Architects, engineers, BIM managers, drafters, builders, manufacturers – we invite you to sign up for this webinar to see how to bring your SIP-building design process to the next level of automation. The webinar will be held twice, so please register for the session that’s more convenient for you.
Last week I posted about how to insert shoes for precast concrete columns from ProdLib libraries efficiently in Revit. Again, shout-outs to ProdLib for their great BIM content libraries and to Peikko for making their structural connections for precast concrete available for us designers to use in Revit.
This week I show how you can manually place Peikko lifting anchors and make modifications VERSUS how you can place them and change parameters automatically using our Precast Concrete BIM design software. Hope you will find this useful!
Load lifting family from ProdLib.
If the Revit family doesn’t snap to the wall face, just modify it using the Family Editor.
Change category.
Let’s place manually and change some parameters.
Let’s automate the detail insertion process! Use the Smart Connections tool that’s part of our Precast Concrete BIM software.
Create a new configuration to place lifting families relative to the center of gravity.
Repeat on the side of the wall.
Apply the configuration to all walls.
Modify the configuration so that details on the wall edge will be oriented correctly…
Update All…
⚡️Presto! All details are inserted based on wall shape and size. For future walls, just run the configuration to insert all those lifting anchors with JUST ONE CLICK!
In this free 30-minute webinar on July 16th, you’ll get an expert-level tutorial on how to efficiently distribute hangers and supports for duct, pipe, conduit, and cable tray systems in Revit and how to copy scheduling information from interconnected elements to hangers. We’ll do all that and more using our MEP Hangers BIM Solution for Revit.
Made for HVAC engineers, fire protection engineers, plumbers, electricians, and BIM managers working in Revit, MEP Hangers uses flexible rules to add (or modify) hangers or supports to a selected MEP system, distributing them according to the inter-bearing distance or as a fixed number per segment. It can also split MEP line-based elements into predefined lengths, mark components for fabrication, and export bearing points to drilling robots.
The result you’ll see is an MEP model with hangers placed on all line-based MEP elements, connecting them to walls, floors, roof, or columns in the linked project according to user pre-defined rules. Hangers will have the parameters needed for scheduling and additional information added such as their coordinates in the project for drilling automation.
The webinar will be held twice, so please register for the session that’s more convenient for you. We invite all MEP & structural engineers as well as BIM coordinators to take a look and evaluate this tool. We hope you’ll join in!
Anstar and Peikko both manufacture structural connections for precast concrete. And they’ve gone the extra step of making their respective products available for designers to use by uploading them to BIM content libraries. You can find their products in the libraries put together by ProdLib. Now that’s some great BIM content right there! As we’ve been saying for years, “Manufacturers, we need you in BIM!”
Whichever manufacturer you may choose, here is a workflow for inserting column shoes efficiently from ProdLib using our Precast Concrete BIM design software for Revit.
Insert precast column shoes using Prodlib libraries.
If the Revit Family doesn’t snap to the Host, just modify it by changing a few options in the Family Editor.
Create a configuration to insert 4 column shoes all at once using the Smart Connections tool that’s part of our Precast Concrete BIM software.
Use the configuration on all columns.
Flip details using the ‘Modify Elements’ command.
Update the other columns.
Modify the Family to automatically track the size of the column.
Rotate the column shoes in one column, and just update the others so that they all automatically follow the size of the precast column.
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2020 is the year when we’ve changed the user interfaces of many of our tools. And Smart Browser is no exception. Not only does it have a new look in the ribbon and a remade library manage window, but it also has gotten some additional features, which can help you create a better library for everyday work.
