CAD Enhancement, Inc.

Revit Type Catalogs

2009-12-23T04:49:00.000-08:00

As we continue to test more Revit Families with our FAR Designer we have come across some very interesting items related to creating Revit Type Catalogs.

Here are some examples of items we found that I would like to present as discussion points and encourage your feedback:

A Revit Type Catalog included Parameter Values using simple equations for a manufacturer and/or other text items where no equation was required. The parameters are not part of the text file, but part of family. It is my understanding that Revit will add those Parameter Values when importing into the Revit Project File which eliminates the need to have Revit evaluate an equation that is not required in a Revit Type Catalog. However, if you do not use Revit Type Catalogs, then it is appropriate to take the approach of including Parameter Values using simple equations.
Another Revit Family we tested included Parameters with Values that were determined by an equation and they were trying to place those Parameters into Revit Type Catalog text file. I question why anyone would consider doing this as any Parameter that has an equation should let Revit determine the Value.
Another Family we tested had an Instance Parameter in the Type Catalog and Instance Parameters should not be in Revit Type Catalogs.
We also tested a Revit Type Catalog that had 170 Types and 45 Parameters within the Type Catalog. I question the size and feel it should have been broken down for ease of use, as going through 170 Types is a lot to search when looking for what you need.

I can fully understand why architects do not trust what they are downloading when there are such inconsistencies, even with something as trivial as creating Revit Type Catalogs.

It is my opinion that a 'best practice' approach should be taken into account when creating Revit Type Catalogs.

Far Manager FAQ

2009-12-22T06:06:00.000-08:00

Far Manager frequently asked questions (FAQ). Hopefully these questions and answers will help in the use of the tool.

What is the Far Manager? The FAR Manager is a content manager but that is not all, it has the logic behind to create Revit families automatically from manufacturing data. This ability allows us to use the FAR Creator with manufacturing to transform manufacturing data to a BIM Model.
Read more on the overall FAR Process on our blog.

I Have downloaded and want to add more users? When you install the FAR Manager a tool is added to your program listing called the FAR Administrator. This tool will allow you to add all your users that you want using the FAR Manager and FAR Designer. See below for a PDF to download.

FARAdministrator.pdf

FAR Designer Type Catalog Issue2

2009-12-17T04:36:00.000-08:00

Someone using the FAR Designer tried to put Parameters that have equations into the Revit Type Catalog. I do NOT recommend putting a Parameter in a Revit Type Catalog that has an equation and suggest you let Revit handle that inside the Family. When looking at the differences between Types in a Family, I consider the Type Catalog to be a place to hold the Parameters with different values that are not controlled by an equation.

FAR Tool Tip: If you are creating a Revit Type Catalog when using the FAR Designer, do not select a Parameter that has an equation.

FAR Designer Release

2009-12-15T04:34:00.000-08:00

CAD Enhancement Inc. is announcing the release of the FAR Designer - a valuable tool allowing the following functionalities within a Revit Family to:

Create Type Catalogs
Manage the Type Catalogs more efficiently
Add Types, add or remove Parameters, rename your Parameters, change the values of the Parameters etc.- all within the Revit Family Editor
Define which Parameters are within the Type Catalog
Show the Parameters within their groupings along with their values and any equations
Allow you to print or save a ‘read out’ of the Parameters within a Revit Family to a rich text file that can be opened as a Word document
Show what will be in the Type Catalog after it has been saved
Download a Free Trial of the FAR Designer

Note: To access the FAR Designer you must have Revit 2010 and the FAR Manager installed on your computer:

Read about the FAR Designer

Feel free to call 651-815-0220 or email Lrobinson@cadenhancement.com with your questions, comments and feedback regarding the FAR Designer.

FAR Designer Use 1

2009-12-12T09:36:00.001-08:00

Right after announcing the release of the FAR Designer we received this inquiry, "We have a large number of Revit Families that have Types within the Family and would like to create the Revit Type Catalogs for these Revit Families. Can your tool help?" We were happy to respond by saying, "Yes, it can, as that is one of the reasons the FAR Designer was developed."

Below is just one example in a step-by-step process showing how you can use the FAR Designer to create Revit Type Catalogs for Revit Families that already have Types within:

Select the Revit Family
Open the Revit Family within the FAR Designer
Select the Parameters you want in the Revit Type Catalog then save as a Type Catalog. It will create the txt file and remove all the Types from the Revit Family

Another FAR Designer feature to try as you are creating your Revit Family and adding all the Types, would be to group all the Parameter names in the Family Editor within the FAR Designer, thus allowing you to see the differences, which in turn, allows you to make a good decision of what Parameters should be in a Type Catalog.

Click here to download a 15 day Free Trial of the FAR Manager and FAR Designer. (Revit 2010 and the FAR Manager must be installed on your computer before accessing the FAR Designer.)

Revit Type Catalogs - FAR Designer

2009-12-10T10:16:00.000-08:00

Are you tired of opening Notepad or Excel to create your Revit Type Catalog? We have created a tool called the FAR Designer to help with this task. It is built on our FAR Manager technology (within Revit 2010) so it does require that you work in a project file. This can be an actual project file or just click on a new project file in Revit.

Once you have created your geometry, you can either create all your Type(s) as you would with a typical Family or go to the project file and open it using the FAR Designer. If you choose to open the project file using the FAR Designer you will have the capabilities to add Types, Parameters, rename your Parameters, etc... within the FamilyEditor. You can also select the Parameters you want to be in the Type Catalog.

Another functionality of the FAR Designer is the ability to easily add and remove Parameter Sets to the the Type Catalog prior to saving it. This can be done by clicking on the selected Parameter(s) within the Type Catalog column. You will also find a Type Parameter Unit column that allows you to set the Parameter Header correctly with the ## symbols.

The FAR Designer tool also allows you to take a Type Catalog and re-insert all of the Types back within the Family as well as remove the Type Catalog.

One of the most significant features of the FAR Designer is the ability to create a 'read out' of the Parameters within a Revit Family and save it into a rich text file that can be opened in Word or printed out for your product managers and others responsible to verify the product information in the BIM format is complete and accurate.

Contact us with any questions or comments

FAR Designer and Type Catalog

2009-12-10T04:05:00.000-08:00

The FAR Designer was developed with the intention to help design Parameters including their values and equations within your Revit Families. We have also added the ability to create Type Catalogs and manage the Type Catalogs more efficiently including the ability to take the Type Catalog and rebuild all of the Types in the Family. The ability to print out your Parameters should help with the ‘checking and approval’ process.

We developed the FAR Designer around the FAR technology which is built to run within a project file. You must have the FAR Manager installed on your computer to use the FAR Designer.

To download the Far Designer
http://www.revitcatalog.com/FarSignup/default.aspx

There are three sections to the FAR designer:

Family Reviewer
Family Editor
Type Catalog Viewer

The Family Reviewer

The Family Reviewer will:

Show you the Parameters within their groupings along with their values and any equations.
Allow you to print or save to a rich text file which can be opened as a Word document.

The Family Editor

The Family Editor allows you to:

Define which Parameters are within the Type Catalog.
Change the values of the Parameters.
Add or Remove the Parameters.
Rename the name of the Parameters.

Type Catalog Viewer

The Type Catalog Viewer:

A viewer that shows what will be in the Type Catalog after it has been saved.

Other services provided by CAD Enhancement, Inc:

CAD Programming
Design/Drafting Services "OnDemand"
Automatic Creation of Revit Families
Creation of Revit Families

We have put together a FAQ on the FAR Designer, feel free to look at and comment with any other questions

Release of Far Manager and Bim Manager

2009-12-03T13:16:00.000-08:00

CAD Enhancement Inc. is announcing the release of the FAR Manager and BIM Manager tool sets for use with Revit Architecture 2010.

The FAR Manager is a Content Manager that allows the users to:

Import the whole family
Import just the type
Add parameters and types
Access to RevitCatalog
Search for families within the users network by Category, Sub-category, Types, Parameters and their values

The BIM Manager is a tool set that allows the BIM Managers to:

Add/edit parameters by batch
Control the folders that the users can use with the Far Manager
Catalog the family for quick search

The best part is that CAD Enhancement Inc. is providing these tool sets for Architects to download and use for FREE.

Read about the whole process that includes these two tool sets at http://www.cadenhancement.com/labels/FAR.html

To download the FAR Manager and the BIM Manager http://www.cadenhancement.com/2001/01/far-manager-bim-manager.html

Take a look at some of our video clips of the FAR process:
1.) BIM Manager Utility Tool capabilities http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwp6XqQQm9s
2.) FAR Manager Search capabilities http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAW3HdOTodY
3.) FAR Manager - Importing Types capabilities http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1qwWZnz0_o
4.) From an Inventor file to Revit Family http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBwXiRpw6hM

Contact us with your comments, feedback and suggestions as you begin working with the FAR Manager and BIM Manager tool sets.

FAR Designer FAQ

2009-12-01T10:09:00.001-08:00

Far Designer Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Can we take Revit families that were built with all the types within the family and create a Revit Type Catalog thus removing all of the types within the family after creating the Type Catalog? Answer: That is one of the abilities that we looked at when creating this tool, take a look at one of our examples of creating a Revit Type Catalog - which includes a video
Do not put parameters that contain equations into a Revit Type Catalog

Manfacturers data / BIM data

2009-11-18T04:53:00.000-08:00

My last blog on CAD drawings and BIM returned some interesting comments from within my blog as well as from Linkedin Groups. It appears some were missing the point or not understanding it while some responses were building upon it. As a means to clarify my point I would like to take this discussion to the next level.

For the purpose of this blog, let’s consider the BIM data as representations of the manufacturer’s product data. In order for building manufacturers to be competitive they will most definitely have to be concerned with the BIM representation of their product data. But that is not all they are concerned with as they have the manufacturer’s representation of that data, not to mention marketing data such as cut sheets, shop drawings, etc.

Manufacturers Representations – There are a number of categories relating to data from the perspective within manufacturers’ walls but let’s just look at a few items:
Engineering data comes in all sorts of different methodology such as solid modeling, database driven and plain old 2D. This data is the life blood of the manufacturer, not only displaying current product line but being used to create new product (R&D). Actually, when I talk to manufacturers I like to draw a big circle and label it as the engine model from which everything is a derivative of this data.
Marketing data - Even though there are and can be more derivatives than just marketing data from an engine model, for this blog let’s look at the marketing data as data including BIM data and cut sheets or shop drawings.
BIM data is from a geometry point of view and should, for the most part, focus on providing the ‘foot print’ and ‘volume in space’ for the product. There are other concerns involving more detail that I will leave for another blog. The BIM data from the meta data perspective is also a key factor as it is really where manufacturers have to be cognizant in order to provide all the data necessary for their product, which includes pointers to cut sheets or shop drawings and specifications to name a few.

What I was trying to convey in my l last blog was that manufacturers will need to continue providing drawings of their products in a 2D fashion. This data will most likely take the form of a PDF file which will continue to provide the necessary detail and information that an architect or engineer needs. Again, this is something the BIM models do not provide other than by including a URL link to this data.
There are quite a few other derivatives we could talk about but the main point I want to emphasize is that all of the product data could be taken from the engine model, which is exactly what we are doing with the FAR Process - becoming a derivative of the engine model.

Patrick Johnson

The Future of CAD with the World of BIM

2009-11-02T16:15:00.000-08:00

As one of the fastest moving initiatives in the commercial industry, Building Information Modeling (BIM) is an innovative approach to integrating the design, construction and management of a product.

Recent studies revealed:
Over 50% of architects, engineers, contractors and owners are utilizing BIM at moderate levels or higher.
Architects are the heaviest users of BIM with 43% using it on more than 60% of their projects (that number is expected to grow throughout 2009).
77% of BIM users are involved in at least a moderate number of green projects.
Half of the industry is using BIM or BIM-related tools today — a 75% increase in usage over the past two years.
42% of non-users believe that BIM will be highly or very highly important to the industry in five years.
One in five users who formally measure ROI see returns above 50%, while 9% of users who
formally measure ROI see returns above 100%.

BIM (Building Information Modeling) is changing the world and has also created a burden for manufacturers to supply data to the architects in a different format. This does not mean manufacturers need to forget about the simpler CAD drawings they have been supplying in the past. There will always be a need for these drawings. Actually, in the BIM format, a manufacturer should be supplying a link to their CAD file (shop drawing) as a way of providing the information part of the ‘I’ in BIM

As a manufacturer you may be asking, ‘Why do we need to provide BIM data?’ The answer is simple, the world of architecture and design is changing and it is changing fast. Right now we have two states, Wisconsin and Texas, mandating that all their government projects must be a BIM format. Many architects are stating that your product(s) will not get specified unless you provide BIM data. I will also add that a properly developed BIM model will put a manufacturer’s product specifications in front of the architect, which in turn, greatly increases the chance of getting that product specified.

However – not all projects will be in BIM. You will have some architects that will not move to the BIM format, projects that will not demand it and there are all of the existing buildings that may have expansion plans and already have documentation in CAD formats. With the understanding that BIM is a new format that is here to stay, it’s important to acknowledge the need to provide CAD drawings and shop drawings will not be going away any time soon.

The following are links to information supporting the use of BIM by architects:

BIM adoption rate exceeds 80% among nation’s largest AEC firms

http://www.bdcnetwork.com/article/ca6668193.html

SmartMarket Report on Building Information Modeling (BIM)

http://construction.ecnext.com/coms2/summary_0249-296182_ITM_analytics

First Wisconsin, now Texas mandates BIM for state projects

http://www.bdcnetwork.com/blog/1340000734/post/1350047735.html

Patrick Johnson

When to use the Far Creator

2009-10-12T04:54:00.000-07:00

When to use the FAR Process as the most efficient means to creating Revit Families.

When do you know that you want to be able to use the FAR Process to automate your data into BIM Models (Revit Families) for the architect to use? Just because you can automate the creation of BIM Models does not mean that it justifies doing it.

Attached is a flow chart that presents various scenarios for building manufacturers illustrating the points to consider when creating your product data into BIM Models and when it justifies automating this process with the Far Process.

I’ve highlighted some of the points to consider as you review the Flow Chart.

What are you using to create the designs for your product mix? (AutoCAD; Inventor; SolidWorks; Pro E)
Are your designs 2D or 3D?
What is the most efficient way to create BIM data/Revit Families for your product Type?
Static
If the product is stable (does not go through engineering changes) and unless there is a common design around multiple products, a manual creation of the Revit Families is most cost efficient
When a static product is changeable, the FAR Process is the most efficient method of creating Revit Families
Configurable
Customizable
Both Configurable and Customizable products should follow the same methodology when creating Revit Families
The FAR Process is most efficient to create the Revit Families when provided a basic core model and a list of options that differentiates the product models
When the parametric changes of a product impact the form, fit and function, the FAR Process is the most efficient method to create Revit Families
When the parametric changes impact the dimensional changes of a product, a manual creation of the Revit Families is most efficient
Made to order
When the product is ‘made to order’ and is static (the geometry is non parametric), then the FAR Process is most efficient when creating Revit Families. The AEC Exchange is another option but is only available to Autodesk users on the manufacturing side with some limitations.
Build Design (product design for a specific building project)
The FAR Process is most efficient when creating Revit Families. Again, the AEC Exchange is another option but is only available to Autodesk users on the manufacturing side with some limitations.

Contact us if you would like to discuss your product mix and how the efficiencies of the FAR Process can work for you.

Patrick K. Johnson

Building%20Manufacturers.pdf

Far Process Summary

2009-09-15T11:45:00.000-07:00

The intention of this blog is to provide you with an overview of the FAR Process and describe how your company can automate the creation of Revit Families as well as manage your library of Revit Families more efficiently and effectively utilizing the FAR Process.

The objectives of the FAR Process are:

To create a Revit Family automatically that is usable, maintainable and sustainable throughout the life of the building project.
To create a tool for Manufacturers to manage/control their product data for Architects using the BIM format without being dependent upon an outside provider to create and maintain their Revit families.
To create an automated Revit Family created that includes product data provided directly from the Manufacturer and is ready to be downloaded into BIM projects.

Overview of the FAR Process:

The FAR Process is built from 3 main components:

1. FAR Creator
2. FAR Data Set

3. FAR Manager

The FAR Creator is not just one application. It is a set of API's that will be built for each Manufacturer based on their software and their industry. The FAR Creator takes the product data provided by the Manufacturer to create the FAR Data Set required for the FAR Process.

Each Manufacturer will be able to use their own set of API's to create the FAR Data Set necessary for automating the creation of their own Revit families, from their own manufacturing data using the FAR Process for custom and future product developments.
The FAR Creator allows the Manufacturer to have the ability for updating architect data automatically when changes are made to the engineering data.

The FAR Data Set is a text file that contains the product data and instructions for the FAR Manager.

The FAR Manager uses the FAR Data Set to create a Revit Family within Revit. The FAR Manager also includes a Content Manager interface which allows the user to manage their families within their own file system

We have 4 short video segments on YouTube demonstrating the capabilities of the FAR Manager; BIM Manager Utility Tool and the ability to create a Revit Family from an Inventor file.

Click on the following links to see the YouTube video clips:

1.) FAR Manager Search capabilities
2.) FAR Manager - Importing Types capabilities
3.) BIM Manager Utility Tool capabilities
4.) creating a Revit Family from an Inventor file

Contact us to discuss how you can begin automating Revit Families for your company with the FAR Process.

What is the proper way to market on the web

2009-08-29T05:58:00.000-07:00

What is the proper way to market on the web?

The web is a powerful tool for getting the word out but also can be detrimental if one is not careful.

As we have been marketing the FAR Process on the web I have received comments that we are not explaining it in enough detail to potential customers.

Our approach from the beginning was to intentionally provide a ‘high level’ description of the FAR Process in order to intrigue people about how we developed a process to automate the creation of Revit Families. We did this so they would ask what it was and if they could see a demo. Frankly, this approach has worked beyond our wildest dreams. We have been providing demos for some of the largest architect firms in the US and across the globe.

However, we feel we are walking a fine line between providing enough detail for potential customers interested in the product while guarding the proprietary information from competitors. We do not want to ‘show all of our cards’ before we are ready to do so. If you have been following me via Twitter or my blogs you will notice we are providing more detailed information about the FAR Process with each blog. We plan to continue providing more details through these blogs until it is released, which will be occurring in the near future.

My question to you is, “What do you think about marketing on the web and the most effective approach that should be taken?

Do you think we have taken the right approach?

What would you recommend?

Any and all comments would be appreciated.

Here is an example of the new approach we are taking.

We have a video on Searching for a Revit Family
New blog on the BIM Manager Utility

Thank you.

Patrick Johnson

President - CAD Enhancement, Inc

Partial drawing

2009-08-29T05:14:00.000-07:00

In AutoCAD 2009 you may run across what I term is a ‘bug’ when it comes to partial drawings. I have had an issue when starting a new drawing that it will actually start as a partial drawing. This can become annoying, especially if you have any customizations that may be dealing with layers. What is even more amazing to me is that this ‘bug’ has not been caught in any of the service packs.

In a nut shell, AutoCAD has a new variable - openpartial which is defaulted to 1 which allows you the ability to open a drawing in partial open. It is my feeling that when you are starting a new drawing, you should not have to be concerned that it has a ‘bug’, especially an inconsistent one that does not ‘show up’ all of the time. Therefore, in order to alleviate the worry of a ‘bug’, the very first thing that should be done is to change the variable to 0.

Partial open is suppose to work when the drawing is saved in paper space and the variable INDEXCTL is set to non 0.

The following are the definitions for these two variables:openpartial - Two conditions must be met for this system variable to have an effect. The drawing must have been saved with paper space displayed (TILEMODE is set to 0), and the INDEXCTL system variable must be set to a non-zero value.

Indexctl - To receive the maximum benefit of demand loading, it is recommended that you save any drawings that are used as xrefs with layer and spatial indexes.

The point I wanted to emphasize in this blog is if you do use partial open drawings, you need to be aware that your new drawings may start off with the ‘bug’ described earlier and you need to deal with it. If you do not use partial open, set both variables to 0.

Patrick Johnson

BIM Manager Utility

2009-08-28T04:54:00.000-07:00

Within the FAR Manager there is a utility exclusive for BIM Managers allowing specific capabilities that general FAR Manager users can not utilize. The login will allow only the BIM Manager to gain access into this utility.

Some of the exclusive capabilities within this utility allow the BIM Manager the ability to:

· Set the path(s) of where the users will be able to read and/or save families from within the FAR Manager.

· Add parameters and values in a batch mode. The general user will have the ability to add parameters one at a time; following a similar process as is found inside Revit. (We felt this ability was better suited for BIM Managers to handle than giving that kind of control to the general user.)

· Set up the search functions for all users allowing the ability to search not only items such as family name but also reaching inside the families and searching data inside the family quickly.

Attached is the BIM Manager Utility video file which demostrates these capabilities in greater detail.

Patrick

Inventor ilogic and Far

2009-08-20T05:27:00.000-07:00

As we continue moving forward with our development of the FAR Process we have been digging deeper into automating the creation of Revit families from Inventor. Inventor iLogic (a free product add-in for Autodesk subscription users) will play a huge role in the ability to make this happen. I look at iLogic as a ‘rules based’ logic that is attached to the models within Inventor. To me, this is one of the best moves Autodesk has made in a while. I look at iLogic as a tool that is very simple to use but very powerful - oh yeh, there is even a help document with it.

The ability to return and pass data to outside applications and databases is one of the true powers of iLogic. The way we intend to use iLogic for the FAR Process is only one method for using this ‘rules based’ tool. Once you understand how this tool works, its use will be limited only by your imagination.

I know we are only scratching the surface when it comes to utilizing the capabilities of iLogic for our use with the FAR Process. iLogic is worth looking at for the capability to put rules on any or all parts and assemblies, as it will only make your model that much smarter.

View the video showing an Inventor model to a Revit Family automatically.

Patrick K. Johnson

Far Creator

2009-08-13T04:43:00.000-07:00

The FAR Process is built from 3 main components; the FAR Manager, the FAR Data and the FAR Creator. The FAR Creator is the piece of the puzzle for the Manufacturers that will take their product data whether it originates in Inventor, AutoCAD, SolidWorks, Pro E, etc. in order to create the FAR Data set required to automate the creation of a Revit Family.

The FAR Creator really is not one application but a set of API's that will be built for each Manufacturers, based on their software and their industry. The ultimate goal is to get the FAR Creator set up for the Manufacturer so they will not be dependent upon an outside provider for creating and maintaining their Revit families. Each Manufacturer will be able to use their own set of API's to create the FAR Data necessary for automating the creation of their own Revit families using the FAR Process for custom and future product developments.

Another cost advantage with the FAR Process is that the FAR Creator allows the Manufacturer to have the ability for updating architect data automatically when changes are made to the engineering data - thus eliminating the need to manage multiple sets of data.

In addition, we feel one of the greatest advantages of the FAR Process for Manufacturers and Architects is found when working with customized product data. The FAR Creator allows the ability to create the FAR Data set for customized products for Architects automatically, thus eliminating the cost and reducing the amount of time for both the Manufacturer and the Architect to create this data.

The FAR Creator creates the data and automates the creation of the Revit Family to appear as if it were done manually. The FAR Process has the ability to automatically create an efficient, effective and high quality Revit family consistently, each and every time.

Feel free to watch the video of going from Inventor to a Revit family Automatically.

Please feel free to contact us if you are interested in seeing a demonstration of the FAR Process.

Patrick Johnson

Far Process and Manufacturing

2009-08-10T04:59:00.000-07:00

As we started putting together the plan for the FAR project one objective we were trying to accomplish was to automate a process where Manufacturers could create Revit families without the investment of purchasing Revit software, training, and the staff to manage Revit. Our original plan was to create a way for the product data from the Manufacturer to be passed to the Architect who has the FAR Manager and Revit software so Architects could create the Revit family on their side automatically, since Manufacturers were focused on producing products instead of creating data.

For the past 6 weeks we have been presenting demos of the FAR process. Those initial demos were designed to get feedback from both Architects and Manufacturers. One item that we were hearing from the Manufacturers is the desire to create the Revit families themselves. The reason behind this was coming from the marketing side as they want the ability to decide where the Revit families reside in order to get the most exposure for their families and ultimately, their products. As a result of that feedback we are now offering the option for Manufacturers to implement the entire FAR process which includes both the FAR Manager and the FAR Creator to enable the capability for automating the creation of their own Revit families.

I think this was the beauty of these demos, not only did we obtain feedback regarding the concept of the FAR process but we also learned how companies plan on managing their architect data moving forward.

Again, I would like to thank everyone who participated in our initial demos of the FAR process and welcome other Architects and Manufacturers to contact us if interested in scheduling a FAR demo.

Patrick Johnson

Updating Sheet numbers

2009-08-02T07:25:00.000-07:00

Updating sheet numbers in your Paper Space tabs automatically can be a challenge and time consuming when doing it manually -especially if you do not use the simple approach of 1 thru 10. Updating of your sheet numbers happens any time automatically when a template is added, deleted or changed. If you are using the scheme to give each sheet the same name as the Sheet Number (e.g. M1, M2, M3 for Mechanical drawings and E1, E2, E3, E4, E5 for Electrical drawings) and you want to label your drawings as (M1 of M3) or (E1 of E5) a new challenge arises when you remove a sheet or add a sheet and need to be able to update all the remaining sheets correctly (e.g. M1 of M4 when adding one additional Mechanical sheet).

CAD Enhancement Inc. has developed an application that automates the process of updating sheet numbers as described in the previous examples. This is one of those tools we have found helpful to eliminate the need to go into Paper Space objects and is extremely cost effective with a quick ROI.
If you are interested in implementing this tool at your facility all we would need is to review your sheet number standards.

Feel free to contact us if you have comments, questions or interest in this application.

Patrick K Johnson

Paper Space

2009-08-02T07:06:00.000-07:00

When I look at Paper Space and when I talk to customers - I always say, “Think of Paper Space as a piece of paper.” As you start thinking of Paper Space in that way while setting up your standards and procedures correctly, Paper Space can become a way to print and/or publish your drawings without the need of opening up those tabs. We’ve actually been able to set up a customer so they never have the need to go into their drawings what so ever. Of course, not everyone will have that ability but I want to show you there are ways you can minimize the need.

To begin with you need to look at what is available to help you minimize or eliminate the need to open up the Paper Space tabs such as:

Fields - These are items that you point to in order to see data that you want to read. For example, you can point to the tab name for the sheet number. I actually like to point to properties in the custom properties within the file for filling in the Title Block. Using this data from the fields you start building consistency in your Title Block which also allows for quick changes, no matter how many sheets you have to work with. examble.

Layers – Generally speaking, you can control specifically what layers are frozen, thawed or on and off. An example of this is found in the view ports within each Paper Space object.There is more available to help minimize the need to open Paper Space tabs such as Annotative Text which can be applied to more complex drawings.

The point I want to emphasize is ‘Whatever you do is dependent upon your standards and setting up your templates correctly.’ Also, we have found that sometimes having an application in place helps with these matters. One small application we have developed and like to use is discussed in the blog Updating Sheet Numbers within Paper Space. We feel it becomes non-productive if you are doing work in Model Space which also creates a need to do work in the Paper Space object. With the proper setup you can minimize or eliminate the need to go into the Paper Space items to do any work.

Feel free to contact us with your questions and/or comments regarding Paper Space.

Patrick Johnson

FAR Demo Summary

2009-07-30T04:56:00.000-07:00

Throughout the past 5 weeks CAD Enhancement Inc. has been presenting demos of the FAR (Family Automation Revit) Process which is a tool that automates the creation of Revit families. One of our intentions with the initial FAR demos was to obtain feedback from manufacturers and architects to improve this application to best meet your needs.

The concept of the FAR Process was well received resulting in outstanding feedback that is definitely having a positive influence in the outcome of the FAR Manager and the FAR Creator.

We wanted to share the following feedback and updates with you as a way to keep you informed of the progress we are making with FAR.

Feedback / Suggestions to create:

Searching capabilities for existing Families (to be included in the 2nd Release of the FAR Manager)
Shared Parameters (to be included in the 3rd Release of the FAR Manager)
Ability to add Parameters (to be included in the 1st Release of the FAR Manager)
Alphabetize Groupings and Parameters (to be included in the 1st Release of the FAR Manager)
Ability to save Families or save Types (to be included in the 1st Release of the FAR Manager)
Ability to add Types (to be included in the 1st Release of the FAR Manager)
BIM Manager Tool Set (to be included in the 2nd Release of the FAR Manager).

Will Include ability to set the file directories
· Will include the ability to set-up the search tool
· Will include the ability to batch process the adding of Parameters

Turn-key ability for manufacturers to create Revit families to market their Revit families where they see fit (available with the development of the FAR Creator and set-up of the FAR Manager)
Available standard naming conventions (will be an ongoing process as we add content and receive additional feedback)
Ability to state comments on a family from within the FAR Manager instead of only going to RevitCatalog website (to be included in the 1st Release of the FAR Manager)

Updates:

The FAR Process has a Patent Pending status
1st Release of the FAR Manager is scheduled for the week of August 17th – 21st
2nd Release of the FAR Manager is scheduled for mid-September
3rd Release of the FAR Manager TBD (Fall 2009)

Thanks to all that have participated

Patrick K Johnson

Bridging the communication Gap between Architects and Manufacturers

2009-07-24T04:48:00.000-07:00

In my development of the FAR process which includes a tool that allows the ability to create a Revit family automatically I have been taking a long look at the manufacturing modeling technique and comparing it to the architect modeling technique. It has become apparent to me there is a great need for the manufacturer to understand the method being used in Revit when considering a more seamless process to automating the creation of Revit families.

Obviously, the manufacturers first and foremost interest is to create and sell their product(s). Architects have stated “When a manufacturer provides their product data in a quality BIM format they can trust, and is user friendly as well as easily accessible, that product will be spec’ed more and in turn the manufacturer will sell more. “

This is a simple concept; however, the communication between the two industries and the passing of data between the manufacturers and architects is breaking down at a time in our economy when efficiencies should be at the utmost of importance. We need to work together to bridge this communication gap so everyone can benefit.

Sometimes having an understanding of the other industry is all that is required. For instance, reading the data compared to creating more rules would be more efficient. To emphasize this point I will share a personal example of how I changed my ideas about work planes when looking at them from another perspective. I was never a big fan of using work planes all over the model as I always preferred using faces to work from instead of creating work planes. However, I have discovered with proper modeling standards in place and a true understanding of the product, using work planes creates a cleaner and more workable model. It has become apparent to me when considering from the architect’s perspective, that the use of work planes in the correct position with correct labeling is extremely helpful in the extraction of data without the need for too many rules.

Share your comments.

Patrick K. Johnson

Interesting

2009-07-11T05:43:00.000-07:00

One of my last FAR demos was quite interesting. The gentleman suggested I should just create the content and sell it to Autodesk Seek so he could download it for free. It goes without saying, he was missing the point of what we are trying to do with the development of the FAR Process.

However, his comment got me thinking and recalling Autodesk’s last try at providing data in the ‘90's. Does anyone remember PartSpec? I remember getting that CD and saying, ‘Right, like I am going to use this junk?’ and it was a complete utter failure. It is my opinion they began heading down the same path with the way they have started Autodesk Seek and how they are spending incredible amounts of money to clean it up. My hat is off to them for trying.

I’ve also been thinking, ‘Why is Autodesk spending so much money on this endeavor?’ I truly believe they are trying to monopolize the market in order to gain the market share, which in the end, they will be able to raise the price of their software - what do you think?

Patrick Johnson

FAR Data - what is it

2009-07-11T05:17:00.000-07:00

At this time we have a Patent Pending on the FAR (Family Automation Revit) Process including the FAR Data Set so I really cannot go into too much detail but will give you an overview of the intention for this data set.

To begin with, the FAR Data Set is at the core of our whole FAR Process.From the manufacturer’s perspective the FAR Data Set can be created whether the manufacturer is using Inventor, AutoCAD, SolidWorks, Pro E, etc..... A manufacturer using software other than an Autodesk product really doesn’t have to purchase an Inventor or Revit seat to get their data out to the architect industry. Actually, a manufacturer using Inventor should not even have to purchase Revit.

My belief is that manufacturers are in business to produce quality products and should not have to worry about purchasing software and training personnel in Revit. On the flip side, manufacturers do need to worry about getting their product data out to architects, designers and engineers in the BIM world and we believe we have an effective solution to accomplish this with the FAR Process.

The following example shows the true power of what we are trying to accomplish using the FAR Data Set with manufacturers while providing quality data using the FAR Process. During one of our recent FAR demos we had a manufacturer ask if they were to set up a database of their product data, could they have ‘real time’ updates of their BIM data when an architect requests their product. Our response was obviously ‘Yes’ since automating the process to create the highest quality Revit families is one of the main intentions of the FAR process.

Architects or others using Revit families for BIM projects need to own the Revit software and will be using the FAR Manager within the FAR Process to automate the creation of Revit families from the FAR Data Set. Another advantage when using the FAR Process is the option to choose (before creating the family) the amount of detail from the FAR Data Set to be included in the family. Future enhancements we intend to develop after getting the Revit version of the FAR Process up to speed will be to use the FAR Data Set for Google SketchUp, AutoCAD, MicroStation, etc....

Contact us if you are interested in scheduling a demo of the FAR Process or if you have questions / comments to share.

Patrick Johnson