Saturday, December 29, 2007

Season's Greetings


Wishing you all a very

Merry Christmas

and a

Happy New Year

Friday, November 23, 2007

Avatech Revit Utilities

Another little gem found in the AUGI forums - Revit Extensions

Avatech’s Revit Utilities for Autodesk Revit 2008 have developed a variety of applications, namely...
  • Room Renumber
    This utility allows a Revit Architecture user to easily renumber existing rooms into an order defined by selection. In addition, rooms can be inserted into an existing series of rooms with the subsequent room numbers “shifted” to make space for the inserted room number.
  • Change Case
    Does your company (or your client) have standards or preferences on whether rooms or views are named with UPPER CASE, Title Case or lower case? If so, this tool will save you lots of time! The tool can scan your model, and automatically fix “case issues” to whatever standard you would like.
  • Door Mark Update
    Should your Door Marks refer to the room that the door swings into? This utility interrogates all doors and rooms to determine what the proper mark should be for each door, allows the Revit Architecture user to inspect and override the suggested marks, and updates the marks.

So far, whilst I've installed all 3 extensions, I've only used the "change case" utility with no dramas... A little bit limiting with only Rooms Names or View Names able to be changed but its a step in the right direction. I may just have to take a look at the API as well - time to learn a new language!

In case you missed these notices... New Builds... & Revit Estimating

(1) As mentioned in many Revit blogs and in the AUGI Forums, there are new builds for Revit Architecture, Revit Structure and Revit MEP.

They can be downloaded from here.

(2) In Daryl Gregoire's blog, "REVIT Rocks", he has posted information about an Autodesk White paper on BIM Modelling & Estmating and details of a new product, entitled "eBusiness Software - A Revit Esitmating Demo Site"

Looks promising... nice find!


AUGI BoD ~ End of Term

Wow doesn't time fly when you're having fun... As I'm gearing up to attend Autodesk University 2007 in Los Vegas, USA, next week, my term of office is nearing its end with the AUGI Board of Directors. Directors are elected for two-year terms, and mine finishes on December 31, 2007.

People often ask, why I do it? I believe it's an honour and privilege to serve on the AUGI Board and I volunteered to be involved, to learn new things, to meet new people. I am grateful to have had this experience, to have met so many interesting people from all over the world, with different experiences, different outlooks. It never ceases to amaze me how vast our experiences are, yet how similar.

Monday, October 08, 2007

AUGI Chapter Awards to be Presented at Autodesk University

AUGI will present three awards to recognize outstanding dedication and efforts in the AUGI chapter user group community. The winners will be announced and given an award at Autodesk University 2007. Make sure you put your nominations in now! Please forward this email to your members and to your group'ssponsor.

The three award categories include:

Chapter of the Year Award
This award recognizes the outstanding contributions by the dedicated people in an AUGI Chapter organization who provide essential services to their members. This award will be presented at the AUGI Annual Meeting, Tuesday, November 27.

Sponsor Individual of the Year Award
This award recognizes outstanding accomplishments of a sponsor individual in the mentoring and support of their sponsorship of one or more AUGI Chapters. This award will be presented at the AUGI Local Chapter Leadership Conference, Monday, November

Chapter Member of the Year Award
This award recognizes outstanding accomplishments of AUGI Chapter members in support of the operation and management of an AUGI Chapter. This award will be presented at the AUGI Local Chapter Leadership Conference, Monday, November 26.

Requirements:
Complete the nomination form for the category of your choice. Nomination forms, for each category, are available at:
http://www.augi.com/documents/chaptermemberform.pdf
http://www.augi.com/documents/chapterform.pdf
http://www.augi.com/documents/sponsorindividualform.pdf

Every line must be completed for the nomination to be considered. Send the nomination form to AUGI Community Coordinator Jill Keefer, jill.keefer@augi.com, by October 17, 2007. A panel will review the nominations and select a winner based on the criteria outlined on the nomination form.

Revit Architecture Wish List Ballot is now open!

As previously mentioned in the AUGI Community Forums and on Blaugi...

It's time to vote for your Revit Architecture top ten wishes. AUGI members have been submitting their ideas for product improvements via the new Revit Architecture Wish List.

The ballot will remain open through the last day of October to give everyone a chance to drop by and choose their top ten wishes. Please contribute by taking a few minutes to visit the Revit Architecture Wish List Ballot and make your wishes known.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Temporary Dimensions...

For those of you you missed in it in the AUGI Forums or even Steve Stafford's Revit OpEd, part of the new improvements in the recent build included adjusting the size of temporary dimension text through Revit.ini.

Scott Latch, the new Technical Product Manager for Revit Architecture, posted these step-by-step instructions on how to modify the Revit.ini file to adjust the size of the temporary dimensions, in the AUGI Revit Community Forums.

1. Open Revit.ini file in Notepad.
The file is typically located in C:\Program Files\Revit Architecture 2008\Program.

2. Add the following line to Revit.ini in [Graphics] section:
TempDimFontSizeInPoints=N
Where N is a number larger than 8 (default hardcoded value). Good starting point is twice the default size (i.e. 16-17).

3. Save Revit.ini.

4. Restart Revit. If the size of temporary dimensions is still small, repeat from step 1 with larger number.

Please note, the [Graphics] section may not exist. If this is the case add a line that contains [Graphics].

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Revit Architecture - Web Update SP2 available

Hot off the presses, so to speak...

This download is the most recent build for the Revit® Architecture 2008 and AutoCAD® Revit® Architecture® Suite 2008 software products.
It is available to registered users of Revit Architecture 2008, and is subject to the terms and conditions of the end-user license agreement that appears during installation.
For a list of improvements, please download the Revit® Architecture 2008 Web Update Enhancement List:
Note: Build Number can be found in the Web Update Enhancement List (as noted below)


Web Update Enhancement List
Revit Architecture 2008
Improvements made in the current Web Update SP2 build (20070810_1700):
• Improves stability after receiving a corrupt element warning when opening a project.
• Publish to DWF™ functions when Rooms are present and are clipped by the viewport.
• Improves stability when saving a Project with a linked DWG™ file that contains an image.
• Improves stability when applying a view template to a sheet view.
• In Windows Vista™ operating system, allows the ability to write to revit.ini, licpath.lic,
KeyboardShortcuts.txt, and the Journals folder.
• Line based families contained in a group are no longer flipped when the group is mirrored.
• Improves stability when importing group into Titleblock family.
• Allows the ability to export renderings to TIFF format.
• When temporary dimension text too small to read, user can adjust the size of the font through Revit.ini.
• Linked DWG added by another user will now show up in Manage Links after reload latest.
• “Relative” spot elevation updates automatically with the change in Level elevation.
• When exporting to DWG, overlapping lines that share a point are no longer missing in the resulting DWG file.

Friday, August 17, 2007

AU2007 Registration Opens for AUGI & Subscription Members

Great News, its that time of year again. Registration for the Autodesk Event of the Year - Autodesk University has just been opened for AUGI and Autodesk Subscription members alike...

Similarly, like last year AUGI has negotiated with Autodesk to offer the "AU 2007 3-For-1 Promotion"

If you are you attending AU 2007 you'll want to take advantage of this exclusive offer from Autodesk and AUGI. Register three (3) or more members from your local user group community and your chapter will receive one free pass to AU. This is a limited offer available to the first 100 registered groups who take advantage of it (limit of one free pass per local user group chapter). Don't delay. Act now.

"How do I take advantage of this offer?" Once your chapter members are registered for AU 2007 send their contact information (name, email address, phone number & local chapter name) in an email to: michael.curry@augi.com. Please put "AU 3-For-1 Promo" in the subject line. The first 100 chapters to respond, and whose registrations are subsequently confirmed, will qualify for this offer.

Don't delay. Act now! Make sure you are one of the first 100 chapters to take advantage of this limited offer!

In addition to the 3-For-1 Promo, The Second Annual AUGI Leadership Conference will be held on Monday, November 26th in association with AU 2007 at the Venetian Hotel, Room Lido 3101.

Registration opens at 1:00 p.m. and the event will begin at 1:30 p.m. This powerful half-day conference is open to all registered AU attendees and will focus on the creation, building, and maintenance of local user group communities.

A general session and opening remarks will be followed by training sessions focused on topics that are vital to user groups, including: how to launch and grow a successful user group, strategic planning, and partnering with key organizations like Autodesk and the Autodesk Re-Seller community.

Following the training sessions, attendees will participate in breakout sessions focused on developing new ideas and approaches for user group marketing, hosting successful meetings, and creating win-win sponsor relationships. In these sessions, ideas and best practices will be shared and innovative techniques will emerge.

A reception and refreshments will follow. Close the event by networking with friends, old and new.

Group leaders and potential leaders - do not miss this; plan to attend the AUGI leadership Conference for a truly rewarding experience.

Seating is limited and registration will be on a first-come, first-served basis. There is no fee to register.

To secure your spot, send an email to: jill.keefer@augi.com. Please put "AUGI Leadership Conference Reservation" in the subject line and be certain to include the following information in the body of your email: name, user group name, city, state, and phone number.

See you at Autodesk University 2007!

Monday, July 30, 2007

AU2007 Preliminary Schedules released

Well the AU (Autodesk University) machine is about to ramp up...

Joeseph Wurcher has just posted in his blog the preliminary course schedules for AU2007 - but requests your assistance...

This year, we will offer sessions at the same time as the General Session. Those offered at the same time as the General Session will be repeated during AU— in a sense, it frees up one slot for attendees who are interested in those particular repeat sessions. The AU core team made the decision today to offer those additional 20. Those classes do not show up in the schedule yet. I would like your point of view on this plan. Does it make sense to you to offer classes at the same time as the General Session? Let me hear from you!

— Joseph

And for us Revit users there's some great cousres being offerred... it’s time to get your justification together, if you haven’t already, to attend the best Autodesk user event on the planet.

So when and where is AU2007 - 15th Annual Autodesk University

November 27 – 30, 2007

The Venetian Resort Hotel

Las Vegas, U.S.A.

See you there!!!









Monday, July 16, 2007

Revit Technology Conference 2007

This just received via an email from Wesley Benn, RTC & RUGS (Revit User Group Sydney) Chairman

The Revit Technology Conference is an annual event designed to cater to the needs of the Revit-based CAD community. Founded and run by users of the software, RTC is the pre-eminent educational and networking event for users throughout the SE Asian region. This year the team is coming to you! We are embarking on a series of one day seminars held in 6 cities designed to entice, enrich, and enliven your worklife (FDA approval pending...).

The Conference program will specifically look at User Interface, Modelling, Documentation and Collaboration. These sessions are designed to provide users at all levels ideas to take back to work with them to improve workflow, efficiency, and effectiveness.

The Roadshow will focus on tips and tricks, best practices, and undocumented features within each broad subject area. These sessions are not intended to be tool by tool training, but rather an opportunity to show existing users how to improve their user experience, and new users what they can achieve using Revit. The sessions will discuss and be relevant to all versions of Revit (Architecture, Structure, MEP), and cover information valuable to all experience levels.

You can pre-register your interest for the RTC Roadshow at this link...


I do hope that we will get to see many more of you in person than has previously been the case, and that this roadshow drives the conference series, and the community, on to bigger and better things in the future.


Remember to diarize the date for Adelaide leg:

Adelaide Wednesday
29 August

Hyatt Regency
North Terrace
Adelaide, South Australia

9am - 5.30pm

See you all there!

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

AUGI BoD meets at "the Factory" (aka Autodesk Waltham)




Well one of life's great pleasure was walking inside the hallowed offices of the "Revit Factory" or more commonly known as Autodesk Waltham, MA.

The AUGI board, decided to host their June face to face meeting at the Autodesk offices, this time in Waltham, MA rather than the usual San Rafael, CA. and it was certainly an uplifting experience...

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

New Drawing Extensions for Revit

WOW! After reading Nicholos & Wai's current blog post on BIM & BEAM they report on a great new drawing extension available from Robobat.

This extension is a very convenient tool that can be used in any of the Revit products: Revit Architecture, Revit Structure or Revit MEP.

"With this tool you can easily in a couple of clicks generate drafting views out of the model views so if the model changes then you can freeze your details and reuse them on the same project or even on a new project by transferring the drafting view..."

Monday, April 16, 2007

New Revit Blog

Reading Shaan Hurley's blog "Between The Lines" earlier today, he announced Another New Autodesk Blog: BIM and Beam - a Revit Structure blog.

So don't forget to bookmark (or add to your favourites /feeds) BIM and Beam

Friday, April 13, 2007

Woo Hoo Its Arrived!


Well Friday the 13th has always been good to me...


and this time is no exception as earlier today, Revit Architecture 2008 arrived by courier


oh joy! oh bliss! life is good...


No need to download now... although as reported on the AUGI Revit Community Forums...
There is if you use worksets. The web download contains an important bug fix. Install off CD and then install the updated version skipping the content installation is the easiest way to minimise downloads.

Revit Architecture 2008 Now Available

For those of us just waiting for Revit Architecture 2008 - it is now available for download on Autodesk's website

It certainly has increased in file size download, previously it hovered around 120Mb - now its a whopping 260Mb.

Revit Architecture 2008 (exe - 260 Mb)Build Number: 20070404_1700

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Autodesk Usability Team Needs Your Help

Project objective:

AutoCAD product design is gathering a collection of screenshots to broaden our view of our customers work environment.

We are looking for a screenshot that best captures your normal toolbar arrangement, palette setup, dashboard position, etc. We will use these screenshots to aid our design decisions concerning the user interface of AutoCAD and any other Autodesk products.

As a participant in this Project, we ask you to take a screenshot of your working environment; preferably while you have a project/drawing open and email it to screenshot@autodesk.com.

If the project contains sensitive material, please use a non-sensitive project or scale the model so vulnerable details can’t be seen. Autodesk respects the confidentiality of our customers and will only use your screenshot as a part of our internal design process.Here are a couple ways to make a screenshot (the instructions are the same if you are using a single monitor or dual monitors):
  • Using Outlook. With the Autodesk application active, hit the Print Screen (PrtSc) key on your keyboard. Paste the screenshot directly in the message pane of Outlook. Send to: screenshot@autodesk.com
  • Using word processing program or image editor. With the Autodesk application active, hit the Print Screen (PrtSc) key on your keyboard. Paste the screenshot in an image editing program such as Paint or Photoshop. You can also paste the screenshot directly into Word. Save the file as a BMP, PNG, or if using Word, DOC. Attach to an email and send to: screenshot@autodesk.com


Thanks for your support!

AutoCAD Product Design & Usability Team

Blads footnote: I would highly recommend the use of Snag It - the best ever Windows Screen Capture Utility, barr none!


Sunday, February 04, 2007

Upcoming Revit ATP courses



AUGI Training Program (ATP) classes offer supplemental training to all AUGI members in an easy-to-use, online environment. New classes are offered monthly and members can join a class in progress at any time during the month. No advance registration needed!

Upcoming Revit ATP courses include:
  • ATP180 How to access and use Accurender materials for rendering inside of Revit (staring March 5, 2007)
  • ATP176 Understanding Autodesk Revit Building (Beginning) (starting April 9, 2007)
  • ATP175 Understanding Autodesk Revit Building (Intermediate) (starting May 7, 2007)
  • ATP178 Understanding Autodesk Revit Building (Advanced) (starting June 4, 2007)

Thursday, January 25, 2007

REVIT Animated Shadow Study

Daryl, from the RevitRocks Blog fame has posted a great little CADClip on animated shadow studies, and he has even based the study on an aussie site...

Nicely done Daryl

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Dinner @ Chez Lynn's

What a great start to the new year... a great BoD meeting finishing off with a fantastic dinner and floor show from Tiffany & Blinky Bill the Koala (a present for Lynn Allen) but Lynn's dog had other ideas...



Invited guests included Richard Binning (AUGI President), Mike Perry (AUGI Director & Forum Manager) & Melanie Perry, Steve Stafford (new AUGI Director member & fellow Reviteer), Donnia Tabor-Hanson (AUGI Treasurer) , our lovely host's Craig & Lynn and yours truly ("Print Me!"). The sumptuous dinner was served by waiter Conner McCurdy.

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Happy New Year

Wow what a year 2006 has been... and it ended a high note for me at least, attending Autodesk University for the first time in November / December 2006... meeting a lot of the Revit gurus in AUGI - Jim Balding, Steve Stafford, Wesley Benn to name just a few...

and then the highlight of our US trip - the watching of the night launch of Space Shuttle Discovery STS-116

next week its back to the States for the beginning of the 2nd half of my first term as AUGI Director... so February is looking to be a good month for our first 2007 User Group meeting