All Things BIM / DC

Interesting YouTube video from Autodesk Technical Evangelist Rob Cohee on taking a Revit Architecture model to Inventor and back again to Revit.

From au.autodesk.com The Autodesk University 2009 YouTube Contest Contest Overview The Autodesk University 2009 YouTube Contest is your chance to win one of (3) Three AU 2009 Las Vegas 3-Day, All-Inclusive Passes (Includes conference, classes and hands-on labs, hotel, meals, and social events). HOW TO ENTER: Create and upload a Video Response to the YouTube Video Reasons to Attend Autodesk University . In your video, tell us why you want to attend AU 2009 Las Vegas. WINNER SELECTION: On October 12th, 2009 the (5) Five top viewed Video Responses will be posted to AU's Facebook Fan Page . AU Facebook Fans will then vote for their favorite videos by utilizing the "Like" action. On October 16th, 2009 the individuals with the (3) Three highest number of "Likes" will be declared the winners. Each winning contestant will receive an AU 2009 Las Vegas 3-Day, All-Inclusive Pass. The more creative and entertaining your entry, the more likely you are to win!

For the next meeting (September 8th) of the Kansas City Revit User Group, Brian Myers from Seiler Instruments will be presenting: Yes, you can do that in Revit Topics include: • Interesting families created in Revit and how they were created. • Various modeling techniques to create designs you didn’t know were possible. • Less talked about features in 2010. • Optimizing the Revit project for best performance! • Tips and Tricks Here are some pics from the last meeting.

Some of you might know Daniel Hurtubise. In addition to being a very talented BIM Manager / Consultant, he is also an awesome photographer. He recently traveled to Alaska to spend some time with the bears. Why, well he is Canadian. The link below will take you to some of the photos. http://mcpactions.com/blog/2009/08/22/brownbears/

KCRUG_Seiler Sept09 Invitation

Autodesk has released a new Connection Extension for Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2010 for subscription customers. “Features and Benefits" (from the product information) Enhanced interoperability with CAD packages – Bring solid models from many of your favorite CAD packages into 3ds Max Design 2010 for visual enhancement or conceptual design and export them back as solids when you’re done. A new high-fidelity SAT data translator helps make it easier to move solids-based data between 3ds Max Design and Autodesk® Revit® Architecture, Autodesk® Inventor® Professional, or certain third-party CAD products without translating to polygons. Extensive connectivity with Google™ SketchUp™ modeling software – A powerful new SKP file translator enables you to bring SketchUp scenes into 3ds Max Design with minimal effort and get straight to work rendering or enhancing the visuals. Also, 3ds Max Design can now read numerous free models from the 3D Warehouse section of the Google website. Streamlined

Congratulations to 360. KC firm to design 'sport city' in Iraq - Kansas City Star Shared via AddThis

Mid-West CAD hosts a technology expo at Unity Villiage in Kansas City, MO. This year's event takes place on September 22. www.mwcad.com/cadmidwest.pdf or, you can sign up via Autodesk here .

Contact: Mike Blackwell, TFC Marketing and Communications Specialist (512) 463-4237/(512) 791-9189 Michael.blackwell@tfc.state.tx.us Austin - The Texas Facilities Commission (TFC), the agency within the State of Texas that oversees the state’s real estate development as owners and operators of state facilities, today announces its adoption of Building Information Modeling (BIM) for state design and construction projects. For over a year, the Facilities Design and Construction (FDC) division within TFC has diligently worked to standardize the use of BIM for its future projects. FDC is responsible for overseeing the design and construction of state facilities throughout Texas. Currently, FDC manages 125 projects valued over $500 million, in addition to maintaining the Facilities Master Plan. In an effort to promote workflow efficiency, streamline productivity and increase the return on investment for the State of Texas, FDC has adopted and encourages the use of BIM’s digital design t

Autodesk offers something called " Skill Builders " that are available to all users, regardless of your subscription status. One of the local Kansas City Autodesk resellers sent me an email about a new skill builder series on " Transferring Site Data Between Revit Architecture and AutoCAD Civil 3D " Below is from the Autodesk web site. This skill builder is a series of videos that show how to share and manipulate site data in Revit Architecture and AutoCAD Civil 3D. Creating a Toposurface in Revit Architecture Learn how to import a DWG file into a Revit Architecture project, establish a survey point for coordination with AutoCAD Civil3D, and create a toposurface for site layout. Exporting a Revit Architecture Project for Use in AutoCAD Civil 3D Learn how to prepare a 3D view of a Revit building site and export it to an ADSK file for import to Civil 3D. Importing Revit Architecture Data into AutoCAD Civil 3D Learn how to import an ADSK file from Revit Architecture in

With each release of Revit, more and more publishers are starting to print Revit Architecture books. Finding the correct book that meets your needs can be difficult, especially if you are ordering online and don't have an opportunity to skim through. And to be perfectly honest, one book may not meet all your needs. I teach Revit Architecture at the community college level and choosing either a textbook or supplemental text is pretty important. I don't want my students spending money on something they won't use when the class is over, so I have chosen not to use a textbook. Instead, I encourage my students to buy a supplemental text that will help them during the class and on the job. For that reason and several other, I recommend the "Mastering Revit Architecture" series and the Mastering Revit Architecture 2010 title is now available. Having read and used previous version of the Mastering Revit Architecture series in the classroom and at work, I have come to exp

Saw this new extension for Max on the subscription web site. Has anyone used this with Revit and seen a workflow improvement? Release Date: 2009-08-10 The Connection Extension for Autodesk® 3ds Max® Design 2010 software makes it easier and more cost-effective to turn design data into more accurate, realistic visualizations. New levels of interoperability, based on intelligent data workflows, between 3ds Max Design and CAD software from both Autodesk and certain third parties makes it easier for architects, designers and visualization specialists to leverage existing design data and minimize rework. Features and Benefits Enhanced interoperability with CAD packages – Bring solid models from many of your favorite CAD packages into 3ds Max Design 2010 for visual enhancement or conceptual design and export them back as solids when you’re done. A new high-fidelity SAT data translator helps make it easier to move solids-based data between 3ds Max Design and Autodesk® Revit® Architecture, A

Richard Binning in his "Beside the cursor..." blog details a problem with ADT and AutoCAD Architecture after installing Revit Architecture 2010 on workstations with existing ADT and AutoCAD Architecture installs. ...After installing Revit Architecture Suite 2010, I was suprised to find out that my install of Architectural Desktop 2007 would no longer allow me to drag and drop palettes from the content browser to the application...

In this economy, I am not sure if I am a BIM Manager or a Procurement Officer will all the cold sales calls I have been receiving from software and hardware vendors. But occassionally I get contacted from someone that has a product worth investigating. I don't think I am in an unusual situation where I am supporting multiple projects that are working over the WAN. The biggest drawback to working over the WAN is the file latency issues when Saving to Central. Riverbed's have been the primary tool to combat the latency issue but another company Globalscape.com claims to have a product that makes working over the WAN better. I have not used the product and we are just starting the process to look into this solution, so I thought I would share it with everyone. If you have used the product and have done your internal duedilagence and benchmarking and would like to share, please do so. Link to a marketing video

I recently completed work on a BIM Execution Plan with the assistance of some very talented people. While discussing this document with a colleague, they brought to my attention that the State of Wisconsin is now going to require that all projects with a total budget of $5 million or more and all new construction projects that exceed $2.5 million have to have their designs done in BIM (Building Information Modeling). Being familiar with the GSA and ACOE requirements, I thought I would look at what the State of Wisconsin was requiring. In short, the State has new standards or guidelines that require A/E that meet the above financial requirements and are Design-Bid-Build utilize BIM / 3D software from start to finish. The State has already completed several pilot projects Below I have linked in the State of Wisconsin's announcement and the standards for their BIM requirement. The State of Wisconsin has also setup a discussion forum to get feedback on the standards. BIM Implementatio

Here is a link in Building Design & Construction on the BIM adoption rate exceeds 80% amoung nation's largest AEC firms .

Caught this video on YouTube from Technical Sales International on their external tool for Revit MEP 2010 that allows you to export Revit MEP objects to fabrication using CAM-Duct, CAM-Duct, and CAD-Mech.

Registration for Autodesk University 2009 has opened.

My friends over at 4D Technologies ( CADLearning.c om) have released a Navisworks Manage Tutorial Series of videos. I have not had a chance to look at the video yet, but I have been very pleased with the other videos that CADLearning.com has produced. If you end up purchasing any videos, please mention KCRevit.com. Chapter 1: Getting Started User Interface Workspaces File Units Managing Files Object Enablers Opening and Appending Files Publishing Files Realism Controls Navigation Head-up Display Navigation Wheels Navisworks Performance Automatic Save and Recover Files Cameras Chapter 2: Review - Publisher Selection Tree and Selecting Objects Highlighting Options Object Properties Find Objects Hide Objects Selection Sets Overriding Materials Measuring Objects Moving Objects Viewpoints Editing Viewpoints Import/Export Viewpoints Animations Animation Slideshows Make Comments Smart Tags Sectioning Hyperlinks Hyperlinks Options Comparing Models Collaboration Toolbar Switchback Chapter 2: