The Revit Clinic

Running on the Edge

I like to run along the edge and when it comes to technology, I don't mind being on my own.  Sometimes, though that leads me into trouble.  A little bit of background...

I am currently using a Macbook Pro 17inch, and running Bootcamp and Parallels Desktop. 

I am running Windows 7.  You may have heard that running Windows 7 and Revit is not a supported environment. 

As a Mac user, I upgraded along with many others to the new Snow Leopard OS, mainly for the Exchange Support since email seems to be my life. 

I am also a Parallels Desktopuser.  I like running in Parallels mainly because my new Magic Mouse works (no Windows drivers yet for the Mouse so I cannot use the scroll functions when running in Bootcamp), and I can do a few more things on the Mac side.

Before I talk about the problem I ran into, I do not recommend running in a unsupported environment.  I do not need to produce construction documents, if I did, I would be running in a Supported Environment.

Everything in my setup was running great up, until last night.  I decided to add one more thing to the list.  We support running Parallels Desktop Version 4 with a VM of XP or Vista and Revit on a Mac using Leopard (not Snow Leopard), but last night I downloaded and installed the newest version of Parallels, Version 5.  I was hopefully that because Parallels supports Windows 7 with Version 5 that things might run a little bit faster now. Hey, it was working with Windows 7 before, why not.   

After upgrading, which wasn't difficult, and updating my copy of Parallels Tools that is running on my Bootcamp partition, I started checking email and going about my business as I normally do.  Everything was fine, and I was liking the new version of Parallels, until I started Revit.  

   

Well, that did not look good.  No access to the Ribbon and no access to the application menu.  I was sure that there was some variable of all these different unsupported Environments that was causing the problem, especially because it was working fine before with Parallels 4.  

I started digging around inside of Windows 7 trying to see if that was the problem.  I disabled the Aero theme and a few other things, but had no luck resolving the problem.  

I started playing around with Parallels settings and then I remembered an old troubleshooting tip.

For problems with graphics, often Hardware Acceleration is key to the problem. 

I can only imagine what hardware acceleration the new version of Parallels was doing differently, but I figured that was a good place to start.  I shutdown the VM, and opened up the Configuration options for Parallels and turned off hardware acceleration.  

 
 
Restarted the VM and Bingo, problem solved.

So, long story short, even if you are running on a bleeding edge, don't forget your basic troubleshooting tips.  It just may get you running again.

UI Mapping Tool

Update:  Looks like the problem is fixed (I think).  Now you can download a ZIP file and extract it to get the CHM file with the tool  - Thanks, Harlan

In order to help users transition from the 2009 user interface to the 2010 user interface, I am pleased to annouce a new UI Mapping tool to help make the transition a little easier.  There are some other tools like this that have been created already by others, this tool was created by Autodesk. 

Download Revit_Architecture_UI_Mapping_Tool

Extract the zip file and open the CHM file included.  The tool also includes a instructional video.  The tool maps 2009 commands to their new location in the 2010 release.

Hope you like it. 

I'm a PC... and a Mac!

Now, Revit products will officially be supported by Autodesk for both Apple Bootcamp and the Parallels virtualized machine software.

I have been running Parallels for a while, and it is great to get all the power out of the Mac OS while still being able to work in Revit. 

Read the Offical Press Release

Here is a bit of it:

“SAN RAFAEL, Calif., Sept. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Autodesk, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADSK), a leader in 2D and 3D design, engineering and entertainment software, and Parallels, a worldwide leader in virtualization and automation software, announced that they have signed an agreement to make Parallels Desktop for Mac Autodesk's preferred Mac virtualization software.

Autodesk will now support use of AutoCAD software, AutoCAD LT software, Autodesk Inventor Professional software, Autodesk 3ds Max software, Autodesk 3ds Max Design software and the Autodesk Revit software platform for building information modeling (BIM) on Mac OS X via Parallels Desktop. Autodesk added official support for these products on the Mac via Boot Camp earlier this year.”

Hope you enjoy the option of being a PC and a Mac!

A few updates

Hi Everyone,

No, I haven't disappeared of the face fo the earth.  Its been a busy few months here at the Factory along with some weeks of vacation, a wedding (not mine), moving into my first home, and just generally trying to stay above water.  Then of course, there is our 8 month old puppy, Moose.

But enough of the excuses.  Now to catch up.

I have a few updates that I wanted to make sure that I shared with you in case you haven't seen them yet.   They occurred over the last few months, but I wanted to call them out here.   Make sure that you check out the following solutions:

Support for Revit 2010 products and Windows 7

Revit Network License Troubleshooting

As well, make sure you check out the first Hotfix we have released for Revit 2010 products:

Hotfix - Crash when deleting or modifying walls

Hopefully, the solutions and the hotfix can help answer some questions you may have and solve some problems. 

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, Go Pack Go!

New Video Solution

Check out the latest Revit video solution, by yours truely.  This video covers frequently encountered problems or questions with the Revit 2010 products. 

Revit Help now Online!

Today must be the day of good news!  After this mornings post about Mac Support, I am happy to announce that Revit 2010 Help documentation is now available online to anyone with a web browser!

Revit Architecture 2010 Help

Revit Structure 2010 Help

Revit MEP 2010 Help

I've tested the pages in Google Chrome, Safari, and Internet Explorer (sorry, I didn't check Firefox) and it looks great.

Let me know what you think. 

Take a bite of that Apple

Today, Autodesk is pleased to announce official support for running Revit 2010 on a Mac through Boot Camp.  In the past, many users used this option to run Revit on their Mac, but without official support from us.  Now, you can come out from under that rock you were hiding under and bask in the warmth :).  

Autodesk on a Mac

Revit Architecture, Structure, and MEP 2010 now are supported if you are running Windows XP or Vista using Boot Camp.  

I have been running Revit 2010 on a Mac book Pro (unsupported till now) for a while now and can say that things have been running pretty smoothly.

The system requirements for running Revit 2010 products on a Mac are the same as running on any other computer, but you do need to take in to account the requirements for running Boot Camp.  

Running in Boot Camp is different than running Revit in Virtualization (like in VMware Fusion or  Parallels).

Boot Camp allows the selected operating system to run in native mode. Unlike using virtualization in which you can switch between the two operating systems without restart. At this time, the virtual machine environment is not supported.  

If your interested in more information including a FAQ doc, check out the updated system requirement product pages (link to the FAQ is at the bottom):

Revit Architecture

Revit Structure

Revit MEP

I find it pretty exciting that we are now offering support for running on this hardware.  It might open up a whole new group of users (maybe some more college students?).  I am interesting to see just how many people are going to be using our products on the platform. Let me know if you think this announcement is going to impact you or your next hardware purchase.  

Besides just the Revit products, we are adding official support for AutoCAD (just AutoCAD, no vertical products like AutoCAD MEP or AutoCAD Civil 3D) , Autodesk Inventor , Autodesk 3ds Max , and Autodesk 3ds Max Design via Boot Camp. 

Remember that this announcement is only for the 2010 products, 2009 or earlier products are not supported.

Happy Mac-ing...

   

Blogging from Munich

This week I am in Munich for the Autodesk Industry Academy.  Product Support is delivering 8 hours of training for AEC Building products.  The training is geared at our Channel partners in Europe to help them help customers.  We are focusing on providing the latest troubleshooting techniques with our products (like what we share here).  While I am typically just a Revit person, this week I get to put on a few different hats.  I'll be teaching courses on all three Revit products, AutoCAD Architecture, AutoCAD MEP, and Navisworks.  

The week has been going well.  Its been a good opportunity to talk to partners and our own support staff (we have over 20 people from Product Support here presenting different courses over the week) about the new version of our products.  I don't actually teach until Thursday. 

I will share more about the event and our classes when I return next week.  I am sure there will be some interesting questions to share from the event.  

Getting help

The other day Jason Hickey from Being Civil posted a great post on getting help from Autodesk by creating a subscription support request.  I highly recommend the post as many of the items are good for any product you need help on, not just Civil 3D. 

Tips On How To Get a More Speedy Resolution To Your Service Request

It is important to know that the more information you can provide about a problem, the easier and faster it is for us to help. 

Oh - and check out the post below on a software called Jing.  It's a video capture tool you can use to actual show what is happening instead of trying to describe it.  I use it all the time and it helps greatly to explain any complex workflow or describe a partical way you need to select something to do a task (like I could have used it for showing how to alter an array).

Here is Justin's post: Jing Video Capture – Good for me. Good for you.

Thanks to Justin and Jason for letting me reference their work!