Design Automation For Revit - Part 2
After the first part where we explore how to build an Revit addin for the Design Automation API, we can now upload and run this addin on the Forge server....
Design Automation For Revit - Part 1
I recently published a new version of my RVT To IFC online converter. Among other modifications, this new version now uses the Autodesk Design Automation API instead of the Model...
Revit To IFC Reloaded
A while ago, I created an online conversion tool to transform Revit files to IFC. At the time, I wanted to experiment with the Model Derivate API of Autodesk Forge....
Group Clashes 2020 Update
I have finally found the time to update Group Clashes, my Navisworks plugin for grouping clash results. The app now supports Navisworks version from 2016 to 2021. Along with the...
A new "Products" page
Over the year, I have built a collection of applications around BIM. These tools range from Revit plugins to fully-fledged web applications through small desktop utilities. I present these tools...
Generative Design with the Wave Function Collapse Algorithm
Like many other in the AEC space, I have been following the development of Townscaper, the town-building game made by Oskar Stålberg. Behind this game, there is a lot to...
Revit to Cricut
One of my relative recently buy a Cricut Maker and I had the opportunity to play a little bit with it. The Cricut Maker is a computer numerical control cutting...
DynamoMEP samples
I released last week a new version of my dynamo package DynamoMEP. To help you around the new features, I build a few samples making use of these nodes. Get...
DynamoMEP update
A few years ago, I released a Dynamo package that was intended to be the groundwork for a comprehensive solution for designing MEP systems in Revit. But as I move...
DynaWeb - Part 2
After a first article where I introduced you to both Airtable and DynaWeb, we go on using web API with DynaWeb. In this post, we see how to create more...
DynaWeb - Part 1
About DynaWeb From the own words of Radu Gidei, the creator of this package: “DynaWeb was designed as a package to make other packages, so it provides building blocks enabling...
Five Dynamo list nodes
The following nodes were quite mysterious to me and I had never used them, preferring to fall back on C# code when list manipulations were becoming too complex. While I...
The Bimsync Revit plugin
A new Bimsync Revit plugin has been published on the Autodesk App Store. I have always been a big fan of Bimsync and use it daily to review models and...
Revit plugins updated for 2021
This is a long overdue post, but I finally updated my Revit plugins for Revit 2020 and 2021. Align This update brings small fixes and updates. Among them, you will...
Create folders in your bimsync project
Thank to the update of Documents in bimsync, I was able to update bimsyncManager. It now has the ability to create folders in an existing project, based on a text...
DIY temperature sensor
I recently had to work with the BMS system of my office building and study how to retrofit it with new web-based technologies. I am by no mean even slightly...
Quantity Take-Off for bimsync
To spread usage of building models, it is important to provide easy to use interfaces to extract data from these models. Being able to see a model and interact with...
Sharing bimsync models
Letting non-technical users see a model used to be a pain. Web-based viewers have started to make it way easier. They now allow you to review any models without having...
New videos for Group Clashes
A few updates have been made to Group Clashes, my Navisworks plugin to automatically group clashes. This new version is mostly about fixing bugs that were causing Navisworks to crash,...
2018 Updates
Three of my applications have been updated for Revit 2019. Room Finishes, Time Stamper and bimsync4Revit now support Revit versions from 2016 to 2019. The most important change this year...
Align Update
I have finally find the time to update Align, my plugin for aligning elements, tags and text in Revit. The app now supports Revit version from 2016 to 2019 and...
TestFit and Automated Modelling
BuildingForge, a Dallas-based start-up, recently offered a 14 days trial to their solution, TestFit. I was quite impressed by their tool and use the opportunity to present it here. TestFit...
Online Revit To IFC Converter
You always need to export your Revit files to IFC. A lot of great solutions run with IFC and having an efficient workflow to transfer your models to them is...
IFC from Revit - Part 2
In this second part of my post about exporting IFC from Revit, we will see how to export classifications, how to override the default export class and how to use...
IFC from Revit - Part 1
This is the first part of a two parts post summarizing all the features I wish I knew about before I started exporting IFC from Revit. I am working a...
BIM 42's got a brand new style
BIM 42 will be 6 years old in a few months and started to look its age. I was using WordPress to publish BIM 42 posts, but the otherwise excellent...
Data visualization for bimsync
Since bimsync has become my main tool for visualizing and analysing building models, I am working on expanding this tool to leverage its power. Among the long list of features...
Using the Revit IFC Export in your own add-on
In September 2011, Autodesk make accessible the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) exporter for Revit as open source code, licensed through a LGPL v. 2.1 licensing agreement. In 2014, this project...
Revit and bimsync Just Got a Room Together!
This is no mystery that I am a big fan of bimsync. But the lack of integration with Revit make things a bit too time consuming than it should be....
Sloth, the online BCF viewer
I am a vocal proponent of the BIM Collaboration Format. I think issue tracking is what is missing in the building industry, and the BCF provide a standard to do...
VR for Revit
I recently get my hand on an HTC Vive headset, and I spend some time exploring various solutions to display a model in this headset. The HTC Vive headset There...
A new version of Group Clashes
I just updated my Clash Grouper plugin for Navisworks. The main purpose of this update was to solve some issue encountered by early adopters. The plugin should now be more...
Revit plugins updates and new features
As usual during this time of the year, I published the new version of my plugins for Revit. Align The big improvement this year is the ability to align any...
Building a Forge Web Viewer
Web-based “BIM” solutions are the last big trend, and Autodesk is among the most advanced player in this area with their API offering called Forge. Autodesk Forge is a product...
Modeling a neighborhood with Flux Site Extractor, GIS data and Revit
Since my last post, I kept on working on urban development. I particularly think about importing GIS data into our usual authoring tools. My experience with Infraworks was interesting, but...
Modeling Paris with InfraWorks
It has been a while since I wanted to play with InfraWorks, but I never had the chance, nor any purpose until recently, when I start to ponder on retrieving...
Linking documents to a model
These days, there is a lot of ideas around using a building information model for facilities management. Among these ideas, a recurring theme is to integrate documents, mostly technical sheets,...
Why I am now a bimsync fanboy
Those of you who know me know that I recently changed my employer and I am know working for a real estate developer, with a different scope of work than...
Group Clashes
If you have already run some clash detection, you have probably ended up with thousand of clashes, and wondering how you could find something interesting in this mess. Furthermore, finding...
Flux Dashboard
Since my last article, Flux has made a lot of progress. Along with their plugins for Excel, Grasshopper and Dynamo, the Flux team has recently released their connectors for Revit...
Room Finishes Update
I keep on working on my Revit add-ins. After Align, it is now Room Finishes who have been updated to support Revit 2017. Along with this update, I also have...
Align Tag Update
It is this time of the year again, and I have finally take the time to update Align on the App Store for the new version of Revit. However, there...
Bridge design
One of my colleague is currently working on bridge design with Revit. I have to admit, my first reaction was more like “Revit is not fit for bridge modeling, period”....
Measuring ceiling heights
I recently have to measure the actual headroom of every room in an architectural model, and copy this value in a room parameter. Instead of checking manually every room, I...
Wall Openings (again)
I am kind of obsessed with wall openings. The entire process of asking a structural engineer for holes in its beloved wall to let ducts and pipes goes through has...
Using Dynamo for MEP Design – Part 2
This is the second part of my article, originally published in the official magazine of Autodesk User Group International, AUGIWorld. Link between terminals and the main duct. To fully exploit Duct...
Using Dynamo for MEP Design - Part 1
This two parts post was originally published in the official magazine of Autodesk User Group International, AUGIWorld. Most examples of Dynamo focus on computational design and complex geometries. Many see Dynamo as...
MEP design and Dynamo
Most of the work we see with Dynamo involves designing complex parametric geometry. But Dynamo can also help you automate your design and make more informed decisions, even on the...
Details Items, subcategories and filled regions
I am currently working with multiple detail items to create a set of views for architectural detailing. These Detail Items must comply with a precise standard for color and line...
A360 Team
A year after my first post about Autodesk A360, I kept on testing its features as they came out. When one of my colleagues brought me an A360 Team subscription...
Flux
After showcasing Metro, a web-based interface for interpreting and visualizing building codes, Flux has released its new product, simply called Flux. I just had the chance to get an invitation...
Linked MEP systems
I am currently working on a large building complex, where multiple buildings share the same plumbing and HVAC systems. Every building is linked to a common mechanical room, pipes and ducts...
Time Stamper, the Add-In
There is no easy way to override the color of an entire Revit link. Since most of my work involves linking Revit model from various subcontractors, this is something I...
Some Thoughts About Rooms and Spaces
A lot of MEP calculations available in Revit needs analytical spaces at some point, and it is crucial to have them properly modeled. Properly placing these spaces can be a...
Align Tags Update
This is a long overdue update, but I finally take the time to prepare my Align Tag plug-in for Revit 2016. Along with the annual clean up and bug fixes, I...
Model Timestamp
As we receive models from subcontractors or partners, we need to integrate them in a coordination model. The coordination model files structure look like this. In the coordination model, we...
Wall openings
I came back from the first meeting of the Paris Revit User Group. Julien Benoit give us great insights on how to use Dynamo for data management and Revit automation....
Revit categories and classification systems
Standards for classifying building elements have been around for some times, but building information modeling gives us new perspectives for using them. There is a handful of these classifications currently...
DynaWorks
During my researches for improving clash detection, I stumble upon DynaWorks, a great Dynamo package built by Adam Sheather (@Gytaco). For those who haven’t heard about Dynamo (Is there is any...
Log spatial coordination
Finding and solving issues is at the heart of the spatial coordination process. But since we don’t know in advance how many issues we will have to find and solve,...
Improve clash detection
Automatic clash detection produces way too much clashes. Even when running test per level or area, I always end up with thousands of useless clash points. Tired of painfully grouping...
Grouping clash results
In any given building model, there is a number of issues to be addressed. A large part of these issues are what we call “hard clashes”, when a building component...
Shared family
The Shared checkbox in the Revit family editor allows us to use nested families just like the root one. Checking the Shared checkbox is only useful when this family is nested into...
Automatic Modeling
Most questions I encounter these days turn around using building information modeling for producing construction drawings, schedules or clash detection reports. These features are important, of course, but they remain...
IfcPropertySet
A very interesting feature of the IFC model is the IfcPropertySet . According to the official IFC specification, the IfcPropertySet is “a container class that holds properties within a property...
BCF Reader Update
This post is long overdue, but I finally take the time to update my BCF Reader. First of all, I have tested it on a larger set of BCF files,...
Invitation
Today, it will not be a blog post but an invitation. Next week, the BIM World event will be held in Paris. This event will gather a large panel of...
Insulation Tag
I am not very fond of duct and pipe insulations in Revit. If the concept is very useful, I find difficult to add and edit them. Furthermore, seeing the insulation...
Rooms to BCF
I am a huge fan of Tekla BIMSight. It’s powerfull, it’s free and very user-friendly. But like with many other project review solutions, I have difficulties to locate myself in...
Revit model management in Excel
Model management can involve some tedious tasks. Cleaning up the mess created by an unruly user when he import all categories of an old Revit model is probably the most...
BIMcollab
My experiences with the BCF format lead me to discover a new solution, launch by Kubus in 2014, called BIMcollab, and imagine a new workflow for solving coordination issues within...
Parametric Bridge
Today, I introduce you Louis-Marie Borione, one of my colleague and friend, to talk about his work with Grasshopper for civil engineering. Hi everyone, I am a BIM Manager in...
BFC Reader
I was talking on my previous post about creating a report from a Open BIM Collaboration Format. This format can be exported from Tekla BIMSight. I am using the Open...
Creating a report from a BCF file
I was talking on a previous post about BIMsight and the possibility to export its notes in the BCF format. This BIM Collaboration Format (BCF) is a common development by...
LazJS for Revit
I recently receive a beta version of LazJS, a Javascript editor embedded within Revit. Even if I more fluent with .NET and C#, I find the initiative quite interesting, especially...
Getting started programming Revit - Part 2
Last week, we started creating macros in Revit, we saw how to get the current Revit document, and retrieved every visible walls in the current view. We will see today...
Getting started programming Revit
I recently had some questions on how to start programing in Revit, so I will present here a simple macro created with the embedded macro editor, SharpDevelop. As an example,...
AutoCAD Civil 3D to Revit
I recently worked with AutoCAD Civil 3D and explored the various possibilities for creating toposurfaces in Revit from Civil 3D objects. My first impulse was to import the surface as...
Project Review with BIM 360 Glue
We are actively searching for a cloud-based solution for reviewing our models, and products from Autodesk were among the candidates, so I give a try to the Glue platform. Autodesk...
Use Grasshopper to produce fabrication drawings
I recently have to produce fabrication drawings from a set of panels covering a single curved surface. These panel were modeled in Rhino 3D, so I decide to extract their...
Use Navisworks Batch Utility to convert Revit files
A few days ago, I had to convert a large set of Revit files to NWC in order to create a general Navisworks File Set. I used the Navisworks Batch...
Autodesk Formit and Revit
Autodesk Formit is an example of how far web-based solutions have progressed. Since 3D application need heavy calculation for display, they were generally limited to the heavy client format, until...
Revit Options
Revit options have been a mystery for me for quite a long time, so I decide to write a few lines about it in order to better understand their possibilities....
Revisions and Revision Clouds
To highlight modifications or issues on Revit drawings, Autodesk provide us with one of the oldest change tracking device, the revision cloud, and a set of high tech features to...
Align Tags Revit Plug-In
I just release a new add-in for Revit on the Autodesk App Exchange for aligning and sorting tags on a view. This tool is based on the Align command you...
Beam Annotations
An article from Line Shape Space drive me to the Beam Annotation tools, and the various possibilities to automatically tag a set of beams. The first idea when having to...
From Rhino to Revit
My previous post was describing how I use Grasshopper to modify a complex ceiling surface in Rhino. Once this surface is correctly modeled by taking into account constrains set by...
Coordination with Grasshopper
I recently coordinate a complex ceiling with the concrete structure and mechanical equipment. This ceiling is composed of flat panels, with no particular pattern or general repetitive shape. These panels are...
Room Finishes Update
A new version of my Revit plug-in Room Finishes is available on the Autodesk App Exchange. This major update integrate a new feature for creating floor finishes. The main idea...
Drawings in Navisworks
One of the main complain I heard from Navisworks is to only be able to see a 3D view of the model and not the drawings created from it. It...
Trying out Autodesk 360
I was recently searching for a web-based collaboration platform to quickly exchange models between people from different organizations, and since Autodesk had just release its new flavor of Autodesk 360...
Revit Tracking
My previous post about Revit performance highlighted the need for precise feedback from user about starting and synchronizing time. This is important when dealing with many users, with potentially different...
Revit Performance Tips
A regular complain about Revit is its slowness. If this can be a psycological problem coming from people used to the quick reaction time of AutoCAD, it can also become...
Revit Phases
Phases are a very interesting feature in Revit, allowing us to place our project in time. Phase can also become a major headache when not used properly, so in order...
CASE Design, Inc. Add-Ins
As Case Inc update their set of tools for Revit 2015, I write a few words about them. CASE Inc. is a Building Information Modeling consultancy based in New York...
Managing linked worksets
A pretty powerful function in Revit is the ability to manage worksets in a linked Revit file. In the Manage Link window, selecting the Manage Worksets open a list of...
Understanding View Range
Setting up view range regularly came with great stress, and “why I can’t see this particular element” shouts. To explain it to myself (and maybe other), I write a few...
Autodesk Screencast
Implementing BIM software across a company implies to communicate in-house procedures or best-practices to a potentially large audience. We also have to keep it mind than our public is generally...
Revit Database
It has been a while since I want to export a whole Revit project to a database. I had a few prior experiences with MySQL and the SQL management software...
The great mystery behind shared coordinates
To make thinks clear for myself and for some of my colleagues, I play with some models in order to understand how Revit coordinates works. Here is the result of...
My version of the Living Cube
Designed by Till Ewert Koenneker, The Living Cube is an assembly of shelves, storage space and a bed. Tightly integrated in an ergonomic cube, its timeless design allows it to...
Modelling skirting boards
One of my current project at work is to develop an application for the creation of a set of detailed drawings for each room of a building. This set includes...
Tekla BIMsight
As a regular user of Autodesk product, I am using Navisworks as my main coordination and project review software. But recently, one of my client ask for BIMSight, a solution...
Revit linked models visibility
A recent request from a client make me think on the different possibilities for displaying a linked MEP model in a general coordination model. In this project, each discipline is...
From Revit to Tekla Structure
After a long absence, I am back wishing you all the best for 2013, a year full of opportunities and crazy BIM projects. During a meeting dedicated to a BIM...
Level Of Development
One of my current project made me think of talking about the so-called LOD of a building model. The LOD (Level Of Development or Level Of Detail) was first described...
My Revit experience
I previously dealt with some issues regarding the use of Digital Project. These problems arrose mostly because CATIA is not suitable for the AEC industry. Even if Digital Project is...
Walls in Geometry Gym
A recent webinar about interoperability between Grasshopper and Revit make me look again on these tools, particularly for importing walls, In fact, I generally test these kinds of tools with...
Dreaming of a new drawing table
As BIM software has greatly improved over the last few years, there is not much change on the interface side. Since the beginning of the concept of BIM, we have...
Parts Management in Digital Project
Because of its industrial origins, Digital Project give all its power in pieces-oriented construction project where the building can be divided in a bunch of small parts easily manageable one...
Parametric modeling in Revit
There is a trendy topic on the Grasshopper forum these days about links between Grasshopper and Revit, and this refers to a more general subject : How to generate parametric...
From Grasshopper to Tekla
I keep on trying the Grasshopper Plugin Geometry Gym, and one of our current projects made me search more extensively in the Tekla export module. It presents itself as a...
4D planning
A 4D construction, or planning simulation, include everything referring to the integration of time-related data directly into a 3D building model. One of the most broadly used functionality of this...
Navisworks Optimization
Since I have been using Navisworks for clash detection, I have tried to find out how to optimize my results, in order to avoid sorting manually thousands of irrelevant clashes,...
BIM is spreading
BIM 42 is growing, and it has its very own name by now. You can now follow me at bim42.com.
Geometry Gym
I was talking on a previous article about the Grasshopper plugin develop by Jon Mirtschin called Geometry Gym. This set of tool for building modeling firstly came as a plugin for...
About Tekla Structure
I just came out of a week of training on Tekla, and I feel like talking about it. As you might expect, Tekla Structure is a BIM application mainly oriented...
Digital Project Automation
Aside from a lot of features, CATIA, and so Digital Project, comes with powerful automation tools. Knowledge Templates is a programming language interface, tightly integrated into CATIA, allowing adding rules...
Using Digital Project
As Franck Gehry was designing is extraordinary museum in Bilbao, he had to use the only 3D modeling software available at this time, CATIA (Computer Aided Three-dimensional Interactive Application). This...
Virtual Environments
Virtual environments are a trending topic among our clients these days. Owners don’t want only pretty pictures of their future building anymore, but also videos, and lately, whole 3D environments....
About Navisworks
Navisworks is the 3D design review software included in the Autodesk BIM solution. I’m working with it for some times now, and I have finally found it pretty useful, especially while...
Industry Foundation Classes
Anyone who has worked in the BIM field may have eared something about Industry Foundation Classes. Yes, you know, this little logo… Generally, it appears when we try to export...
Justification planes for beam families
I am still baffled in front of some functionality in Revit families. One of these is the possibility to create our own justification axis for positioning a beam. As an...
About Grasshopper
Did you ever try using Rhino? I know, I know, it’s not a BIM software, it’s just able to make pretty 3D drawings and nice pictures. But, as I have...
Inside Revit 2013
In any BIM related department, Christmas came generally in May. And with my heart full of joy and wonder, I have downloaded the new version of Revit, hopping to finally...
But what the hell BIM is ?
This video, found via (bim)x, and made by Graphisoft, seems a good introduction to the Building Information Modeling. And the rendering is pretty, which is still the best way to sell BIM...
About my job
As a part of the building information systems department, I’m involved in the development and implementation of BIM in our design process. This implies various tasks, from finding new software...
Why a new blog about Building Information Modeling ?
First of all, welcome to the BIM 42 blog, dedicated to Building Information Modeling and some related subjects. Following advices from WordPress, I try to answer a few questions about...