© 2011 Autodesk

WARNING! This may void your Manufactures warranty: Dissecting Revit Content with the ProsSteve Germano – Director of Technical SalesBryan Novotny – Senior BIM DeveloperParley Burnett – BIM Development Manager

© 2011 Autodesk

Class Summary

The world is shifting head first into Building Information Modeling (BIM), and a wave of Revit MEP content is being produced by manufacturers. Knowing what to look for and what your models should contain can make or break your company's workflow. This class will serve as your MEP content crash course and you will learn how to separate the good Revit MEP content from the bad.

© 2011 Autodesk

Who is ?

Sister Company with JBA Consulting Engineers Headquartered in Las Vegas, NV MEP / Tel-Data / Life Safety / Security /

AV Design Firm

Company Vision – “Optimizing the Building Lifecycle” BIM Content BIM Applications

© 2011 Autodesk

Speaker Bio

Steve Germano – Director of Technical Sales 8 Years of HVAC Mechanical Engineering Design Implemented Revit into worldwide MEP firm Using Revit MEP since its inception

Bryan Novotny – Senior BIM Developer 8 Years of Manufacturing Mechanical Design Part design Inventor / Solidworks / Pro-E

Parley Burnett – BIM Development Manager 4 Years Architectural Design Background Designing with Revit Architecture since 2005

© 2011 Autodesk

Learning Objectives

At the end of this class, you will be able to:

Identify a high quality BIM Model

Identify key factors that make the transition from ‘Generic’ to Manufactured easier

Identify key factors that really hinder project performance, Myths vs. Facts

Apply additional little-known tricks to your content creation workflow

© 2011 Autodesk

BIM Standards

Revit MEP content has been around for over 5 years

© 2011 Autodesk

Who is Developing Standards and Where are they?

Government Sectors

Agencies and Organizations

© 2011 Autodesk

Can’t Find the Standard you Need?

At a minimum refer to the Autodesk Metadata Style Guide

Visit online hosting sites such as Autodesk Seek

© 2011 Autodesk

Why Aren’t You Using Manufacturer Based Content?

Imported, Non-Revit Geometry - No Visibility Options - No Linking of Materials - Effects Project Performance

• Lack of Meta-Data - No Data? - Improper data/data types

• Content Providers Lack of Industry Knowledge-Hosting Behaviors, Incorrect Data Types, Incorrect Family Categories etc..

© 2011 Autodesk

Why Aren’t You Using Manufacturer Based Content?

• Over Modeled Geometry-Revit Models are NOT Fabrication Drawings

• Too Many Parameters or Un-Organized Parameters

• Scheduling Conflicts - Lack of Standardized Parameters

© 2011 Autodesk

Advantages When Using Quality Manufacture Content

• Time Saving

• Swap nested annotation symbol to firm standard easily

• Accurate Data/Geometry

• Highly Customizable Content

• Visibility Settings/Graphics Configured to Work Within a Project

© 2011 Autodesk

The Good, the Bad, the Ugly!

© 2011 Autodesk

Example: The Bad and Ugly

© 2011 Autodesk

Example: The Good

© 2011 Autodesk

Revit Family Performance Testing

© 2011 Autodesk

Solid Geometry vs. Void Extrusions

MYTH - Voids use up more file size Voids use exactly the same file size Only add file size when voids CUT solid geometry

SCENARIO:One solid shape uses 20 KB.Copy the solid and make it a void. Together, they now equal 40 KB.Cut the solid with the void. Family now equals 60 KB.(We saw an average increase factor of 1.5)

© 2011 Autodesk

Imported CAD vs. Native Revit Geometry

Many say NO to imported CAD, but for the wrong reasons. Imported CAD uses LESS file size AND loads faster Materials CAN be assigned through imported CAD layers.

Blank Family 10,000 Instances0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Imported CADRevit Drawn

KB

Imported CAD modelNative Revit model

CAD GeometryProject File Size (10,000 1x1x1 boxes) = 5,420 KBRevit GeometryProject File Size (10,000 1x1x1 boxes) = 9,128 KB

© 2011 Autodesk

Imported CAD vs. Native Revit Geometry

Real reasons: Autocad files are often over modeled/detailed for Revit’s purpose. Materials not set through traditional method No flexing Visibility: all or nothing Stability

© 2011 Autodesk

Nested Families

MYTH - Any nesting beyond 2 levels will kill your family

Our test:

Structure:Parent Family (288 KB)

Level 1 (288 KB)Level 2 (288 KB)

Level 3 (288 KB)… Level 8 (288 KB)

Testing Variations: Only Geometry Geometry with linked parameters Geometry with types

What was Tested: Load times Project file size Project performance observed

© 2011 Autodesk

Nested Families – Project File Size

1 N

este

d Le

vel

2 N

este

d Le

vels

3 N

este

d Le

vels

4 N

este

d Le

vels

5 N

este

d Le

vels

6 N

este

d Le

vels

7 N

este

d Le

vels

8 N

este

d Le

vels

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

8,000

9,000

10,000

Only GeometryGeometry with Linked ParametersGeometry with Types

KB

© 2011 Autodesk

Nested Families – Load Times into Project

1 N

este

d Le

vel

2 N

este

d Le

vels

3 N

este

d Le

vels

4 N

este

d Le

vels

5 N

este

d Le

vels

6 N

este

d Le

vels

7 N

este

d Le

vels

8 N

este

d Le

vels

0.0

2.0

4.0

6.0

8.0

10.0

12.0

14.0

16.0

18.0

20.0

Only GeometryGeometry with Linked Pa-rametersGeometry with Types

Sec

onds

© 2011 Autodesk

Things to avoid - ARRAYS

ARRAYS

BAD! Affects load times, responsiveness

Family File Size (KB)600

650

700

750

800

With Arrays

No Arrays

Load Time (s) into Project0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

With Arrays No Arrays

KB

Sec

onds

© 2011 Autodesk

Things to Avoid - GROUPS

GROUPS

BAD! Affects file sizes

Time to Load Into a Project (s)0

40

80

120

160

200

Ungrouped Geometry

Grouped Geometry

Family File Size (Kb)0

500

1000

1500

2000

Ungrouped Geometry

Grouped Geome-try

KB

Sec

onds

© 2011 Autodesk

Things to Avoid – 3D TEXT

Family File Size (Kb)0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

With One Sentence of Model TextWith out Model Text

Time to Load Into a Project (s)0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

With One Sentence of Model TextWith out Model Text

KB

Sec

onds

© 2011 Autodesk

Formula Performance

WRONG WAY:if(AND(Condition1, Condition2, Condition3), True,if(AND(Condition1, Condition2, Condition4), True, if(AND(Condition1, Condition5, Condition6), True, if(AND(Condition1, Condition5, Condition7), True, etc….))))

RIGHT WAY:if(Condition1,

if(Condition2,if(Condition3, True,if(Condition4, True, False)),

if(Condition5,if(Condition6, True,if(Condition7, True, False)),

False)),False)

© 2011 Autodesk

Masking Regions

PLAN VIEW : BAD! PLAN VIEW : GOOD!

© 2011 Autodesk

Tips and Tricks

© 2011 Autodesk

Exploding Families

Live demo…

The problem: difficult to edit stacked geometry

The solution: exploding families

© 2011 Autodesk

Hidden Nested Family Geometry

The problem: difficult to hide nested families

The solution:

Before: Modules above patch panel are technically hidden, but visible in the family

After: Modules above are still there, just not visible

Set the visibility of nested family geometry to a new yes/no parameter. Then, inside the parent family, map this parameter to the same one you would the ‘Visible’ parameter.

© 2011 Autodesk

Visibility of Voids

Live demo…

The problem: Can’t hide void shapes

The solution: Move it so it doesn’t intersect!

© 2011 Autodesk

3D Error Messages

Live demo…

The problem: Can’t control user selections (other than types)

The solution: Output 3D Text Error Messages

© 2011 Autodesk

Look Up Table Switch

The problem: fittings don’t “flip” when pipe orientation is changed

Two Solutions:

1) Add rows to look up table for opposite configurations2) Change formulas to look for both configurations

EXAMPLE:Parameter = if(and(ND1/ND2 Configuration Not Found, ND2/ND1 Configuration Not Found), Default Value, if(ND1/ND2 Configuration Not Found, ND2/ND1 Value, ND1/ND2 Value))

© 2011 Autodesk

Clearance Areas

Tip: use solid geometry to identify areas that should remain clear of any other geometry in the project.This will enable powerful collision detection

Other considerations: Only visible in 3D Assign subcategory: Clearance Areas Symbolic lines to represent it in plan/section views YES/NO parameter to turn on/off Depth should default to industry standard

© 2011 Autodesk

Snap-in-place families

Live demo…

The problem: Difficulty in assembling products

The solution: Make it easy by improving references for Snap-in-place behavior

© 2011 Autodesk

Flipping Connectors

Live demo…

© 2011 Autodesk

Autodesk, AutoCAD* [*if/when mentioned in the pertinent material, followed by an alphabetical list of all other trademarks mentioned in the material] are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product and services offerings, and specifications and pricing at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document. © 2011 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.

Questions & Answers

© 2011 Autodesk

Booth 401/403

Come Check us out!

LaunchPoint Utility FREE!!!

SpecPoint BIM-On-Demand Configurators FREE!!!