The Revit Clinic

New Bloggers

I want to say a quick welcome to a few new AEC bloggers from Autodesk.

Check out dODDs and Ends and The Sustainable Design Toolbox for information about the Autodesk's role in the construction industry and for a european on sustainable design and Autodesk's sustainable design tools. 

These two blogs look like they are going to be pretty interesting. 

A New Old classic

I'd like to welcome back a blog, well, they never really left, but its been retooled a bit (after taking a npa for a while).

Inside the System has been rebooted and retooled for the MEP products (both Revit MEP and AutoCAD MEP). 

"You can expect regular posts on this blog going forward. However, unlike the past, this blog will now be used to provide information on all Autodesk's MEP solutions including AutoCAD MEP and Revit MEP."

David Pothier will be leading the blogging effort on Inside the System, but the Entire MEP team at Autodesk will be involved as well. 

Check out the first "New" post Welcome to the new MEP blog for the first introduction to the retooled blog. 

I am sure they will have plenty of good information for our MEP users out there that will be helpful. Check it out. 

Sneak a Peak

Do you want to get a sneak peak at the 2010 AEC products? 

Later today is a webcast on the Autodesk Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Geospatial 2010 products.   This includes the 2010 line of Revit products.  I encourage you to check it out.

When:  12 Noon Today,  Eastern Time

Where: Click here

The AutoCAD Revit Architecture Visualization Suite

Last week we annouced a new Product Suite called the AutoCAD Revit Architecture Visualization Suite.

I highly recommend that you click on the hyperlink and read about this new Suite.  This new suite of products includes Revit Architecture, AutoCAD Architecture, Autodesk 3DS Max Design and Autodesk Navisworks Review.

This a great group of products that gives you unmatched flexibility for understanding and communicating your designs from concept to the final presentation.  Check it out.

Ask the Experts at AU!

Have you wanted to talk to Autodesk Product Support face to face?  Not to yell at them of course, but to really pick their brain about something Revit Architecture related that you are wondering about?

I'm here to tell you today that you have a chance to do just that.  Are you attending AU? 

This year at AU there will be a Ask the Experts booth on the exhibit floor where you can ask myself, Don Falkowski, and Cedric Vassaotti Revit Architecture questions.  We will be taking your questions live and even showing the answers in Revit.   

This is your chance to ask those questions you have been wondering about face to face.  We will be ready and waiting on the exhibit floor in the booth on Wednesday, December 3rd, from 8 am to 10 am so get their early. 

There will be one more chance on Thursday, December 4th from 11:30 am to 2 pm to  talk to Product Support. This time, will have a product expert from AutoCAD, Revit Architecture, Inventor, and Civil 3D on hand.

AU is always exciting and this year you have a chance to Ask the Experts yourself face to face. So join us at Subscription Exhibit Booth #150.  Enjoy!

Recently published Technical Solutions….

One of the jobs of Product Support is to author technical solutions regarding our software.  Once a Month or so, I will post the solutions most recently published on Autodesk.com.  Hopefully, this can give you an idea of the wealth of knowledge that is available and keep you up to date on new things out there…

Solution Name
Worksharing Monitor not functioning correctly
Diameter symbol displayed instead of radius symbol in French version of Revit®
Difficulty moving surface patterns
Downloading Rendering Material library
Elements displayed as wireframe in 3D view even though the view is set to hidden or shaded
Material on two coplanar walls rendered differently
Total in schedule not equal to sum of rounded values in table
Adding new wall component to existing wall while maintaining phase settings
Creating stepped footings
Difference in measurement between length and cut length of a beam
Linked DWG files not updated in project after reloading
Far Clipping parameter of linked views was not displayed in section or elevation views
Keyboard becomes unresponsive in Revit® 2009
Linear lights rendered as spot lights
Locking the orientation of duplicate 3D views
Unrecoverable error occurs when importing DWG files
Using Microsoft® Office 2007 dictionaries in Revit®
Adding reaction parameters to structural members
Changing direction of metal decks
Modifying line weight, pattern, and color of bracing in plan view
Viewing beam extensions in Coarse detail
Scheduling weight parameter of steel columns
Unable to find Family Guide referenced in the Revit® Structure 2009 User Guide
Wall foundation splits at openings

My class at AU 2008

This year will be a little different for me that last year because I will be teaching at AU for the first time.  Last year was my first year at AU and I must say I found the event… exhausting.  I was part of the technical team last year responsible for setting up and making sure that all the labs and classes had functioning computers and software.  It was a marathon (literally, the Venetian is huge ).

This year should be a little easier, but not stress free.  This year I am lucky enough to be teaching (so no running around I hope).  I’ll be teaching a 90 minute class on Wednesday the 3rd of December and also on Thursday the 4th titled “Solving Common Revit® Architecture Problems” 

The focus will be the same focus of this blog, trying to help you work with Revit, but in a quick 90 minute session. I’ll be talking about:

• Troubleshooting a view in Revit by examining Views, Phases, and Phase filters
• Troubleshooting family creation and family display problems.
• Understanding corrupt file error messages
• Understanding memory usage within Revit and how to diagnose and solve memory related problems. 
• And finally troubleshooting printing/plotting issues by learning how to diagnose plotting results

I’ll also be talking a little about some extra tools out there that can make your lives easier (extensions).  I hope it’s a packed house. 

Performance pick me up

A new white paper is being made available to all Revit users.  I was part of the team that put this one together so I hope you find it helpful.  It is a comprehensive paper that discusses best practices for optimal performance and productivity within the Revit 2009 family of products.   The idea is to give you better guidelines around what you can do to make Revit run faster and get your Revit models more efficient.  

Some major topics that are discussed:

• Project Structuring
• Worksharing
• Linked Files
• Hardware Optimization
• Large Model Performance

Hopefully, you will find that this whitepaper becomes required reading for you and your staff and you keep these guidelines (especially the model recommendations) in mind while you are using Revit. 

Download Revit_Platform_2009_Model_Performance_Technical_Note.pdf

Welcome to your neighborhood Revit Clinic

Welcome to the Revit Clinic.  My Name is Harlan Brumm and I am the Global Technical Lead – Revit for Autodesk Product Support and I will be the primary contributor to this blog.

A little bit about me:

I am 26 years old, married, and live, work, and play in New Hampshire and New England.  I’m originally from Wisconsin and am a big Green Bay Packer Fan (Don’t ask about the New York Jets and Brett Favre). I worked in the AEC industry (both Civil and Architectural) prior to joining Autodesk, but technology and CAD and BIM has always been my passion.

My daily focus is making sure that our Product Support staff has the highest level of technical knowledge so that they can resolve any problem.

In my spare time I teach AutoCAD and Revit at the Boston Architectural College and enjoy technology and sports (and really anything related to those two things)

About this blog, its name and purpose:

Where do you go when you have a physical problem?, A Doctor.  Where do you go when you have a BIM problem?  Well, I’m not a doctor, but I hope that you will start to come here.   I will be focusing this blog on the Autodesk Revit platform of Products, Revit Architecture, Structure, and MEP and trying to prevent BIM problems and provide you rehab if they happen.   

I have to admit, I won’t always know the answer to your problem.  I am more of a generalist, like your family physician, but like a good generalist, I know who to send you to, so I may refer you to a specialists or I may even recommend another hospital (blog or web site).

There will be others who contribute to this blog along the way.  Think of them as the other doctors, radiologists, or therapists that can help provide you the care you need.   

The goal of this blog is provide what a good clinic provides.  I want to prevent problems from occurring, and provide rehab if they do.  In case of emergency you can always break the glass and contact your Autodesk reseller or Autodesk Product Support, but the goal of this blog is to prevent those emergencies from occurring.

Think of us as your neighborhood clinic, walk in, ask a question, and let us make you well.