Managing images is easier with Revit 2019.2

Imagine that you use Revit 2017/2018/2019, or whatever version prior to Revit 2019.2, and you need to place an image that is already loaded within your Revit model. What would you do? You open the ‘Manage Images’ dialog hoping to re-place your image (Insert > Manage Images):

Surprise! Manage images does not allow you to actually use your data stored within the model database:

There are a couple of workarounds for managing Revit images, like using pyRevit add-in to export all images from the model, then re-import them back:

And now that we have Revit 2019.2 around, we can use an OOTB button that simply places an instance of selected image to the current view:

So if you struggle to fine this tiny time-saving button, then update your Revit install.

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Revit 2019.2 forces install Dynamo update

Following up with Revit 2019.2 update install issues, there is another critical point that wasn’t documented. When you install Revit 2019.2, it silently updates your current Dynamo install to the 1.3.4 version.

As a general rule of thumb, Dynamo supports three versions of Revit: the current release (2019) and two versions back (2018 and 2017).

Revit version	First stable Dynamo for Revit version	Last supported Dynamo for Revit version
2013	0.6.1	0.6.3
2014	0.6.1	0.8.2
2015	0.7.1	1.2.1
2016	0.7.2	1.3.2
2017	0.9.0	Latest Daily Build
2018	1.3.0	Latest Daily Build
2019	1.3.3	Latest Daily Build
2019.2	1.3.4	Latest Daily Build

See the Dynamo primer for more info.

While the Revit 2019.2 & Dynamo 1.3.4 updates may not break your existing Dynamo workflows, it would be better for Autodesk to notify users of these hidden installations.

How to fix Revit 2019.2 update install issues

Revit 2019.2 update has been around for a couple of days now. It brings some great features that enhance connectivity and productivity (see the list of enhancements @ Autodesk blogs). But in some cases the update fails to install correctly, and here is why:

• The problem with Revit 2019.2 occurs on systems that had the Revit 2019.1 update installed first and the Revit 2019.0.2 security fix applied later.
• The Revit 2019.0.2 security fix failed to block the unsupported update path, leaving Revit 2019 in a bad state.

The only known solution for this problem is to completely uninstall and reinstall Revit 2019, and then apply the 2019.2 update (see this thread @ Autodesk forums for reference).

If you experienced other installation issues, please see the Troubleshooting article @ Autodesk knowledge network.

Aesthetics in data visualization – HOK MissionControl

MissionControl is a web application presented by Konrad K Sobon at Autodesk University 2017 that allows you to access Revit data from a web browser. It brings important data from Revit models right at your fingertips in a clean and responsive format:

MissionControl has some nice features like:

• Dashboards for data visualization
• Revit add-in with model health report and tasks list
• Live link between Revit models and web dashboars
• Task manager

And the greatest feature is that HOK MissionControl has recently been open sourced:  https://github.com/HOKGroup/MissionControl

Here is the full Konrad’s presentation from AU2017: https://www.autodesk.com/autodesk-university/class/Web-Based-Project-Management-2017#presentation

ArchiCAD Connection add-in updated for Revit 2019

Graphisoft has recently updated its ArchiCAD Connection Revit add-in that streamlines the dataflow between ArchiCAD and Revit through the IFC format.

ArchiCAD Connection has several main features:

• “Improved IFC Import” has extra options compared to the native Revit IFC importer.
• “Link IFC” merges IFC models into the current Revit project as a non-editable reference.
• “Export to ArchiCAD” enhances Revit elements conversion to IFC for use in ArchiCAD.

ArchiCAD connection may be also useful for non-ArchiCAD users, because it correctly exports IFC with shared coordinates.

The add-in is available for download from Graphisoft Interoperability section after logging in.

Farewell to the Revit 2019 Extensions

Bad news for everyone who has been waiting for the next Revit 2019 Extensions release. Autodesk recently published the following statement concerning the fate of Revit Extensions:

As of April 20, 2018, Autodesk will not deliver Revit® Extensions for Autodesk® Revit® 2019. Instead, customers using the timber and reinforcement modeling extensions can easily migrate to alternative solutions delivered by technology partners.

Revit 2018 is the last version that supports Extensions.

For more info check out an article at Autodesk blogs.

Getting some data from Revit shared parameters with Dynamo

I recently ran into an issue with shared parameters that have the same name but different GUIDs. This happens when somebody creates the new shared parameter instead of using an existing one. And the difference between parameters’ GUIDs is a huge problem: Revit knows that these parameters are not the same by looking at the GUID.

Revit does not show parameter GUID unless you export this parameter to the txt file. And this may be a problem if you have tons of shared parameters loaded to the project.

So I thought that it would be a good idea to build a Dynamo script for reporting some information about shared parameters. Firstly I queried unique Ids for the shared parameters:

Turns out, these Ids are not the GUIDs that I was looking for. This could be checked by opening the shared parameters txt file. That’s why I built a couple of custom nodes using the Revit API to extract data from shared parameters:

The first one (called “SharedParameters.GUID“) extracts names and GUIDs from the shared parameters in the Revit project. These are the GUIDs that could be found in the shared parameters.txt file.

The second one (called “SharedParameters.Info“) extracts type, group, and unit type from shared parameters in the Revit project. This data may be useful for managing parameters (like sorting / grouping) in Dynamo.

Shared parameters nodes are included in the recent Zhukoven.com package update (2018.9.21 – see the downloads section).

Revit roadmap update – September 2018

Autodesk has just published an update for the public Revit roadmap. The updated document contains both new features that have already been implemented in the latest 2019.1 release, and plans for the future development.

We’ve add some major projects to our roadmap for this update.  We’ve decided that is time to start working on improvements to wall elements since walls are such a critical piece of the project. We are starting slowly with some more straight-forward improvements that have been on Revit Ideas, but behind the scenes will be working to make the data of walls more robust and better serve the future.  Our goal is to reduce the need for complex modeling tools (like in-place or massing) and provide better data for quantities and materials as you design for better understanding of the impact of design choices.

Read the full article at Autodesk blogs.

Rhino inside Revit is live on GitHub

It’s been a month since I wrote about the work-in-progress McNeel’s technology called “Rhino Inside”:  Will Rhino 7 run inside Revit? And now it is live on GitHub!

The Rhino Inside technology allows Rhino and Grasshopper to be embedded within other products, including Revit and AutoCAD. This repository contains all the sample developer code for loading Rhino inside other 64-bit Windows applications.

Note that you’ll need to download Rhino WIP version to be able to play with Inside technology.

Revit RFO Benchmark v3.2 now supports Revit 2019

Revit RFO Benchmark is the free Microsoft PowerShell-based benchmark that analyzes Revit performance. The benchmark has recently been updated to version 3.2, which supports Revit 2019 and comes with the following list of enhancements:

1. The Squiggly Lines graphics test has been removed from the Full_Standard set.
2. A new Graphics_Comparison set compares standard graphics views, squiggled views and now 3D levels views.
3. If your DPI Scaling is above 150% you will get a warning, but the benchmark will proceed. If it crashes, especially in the middle of Model Creation, try setting your DPI Scaling lower. It seems there is a problem with high DPI scaling and journal playback. More detail on that in a separate post.
4. DPI Scale is now included in the report, so we can try to grok what settings and what hardware actually works.

Revit RFO Benchmark is available for free download from RevitForum.org (note that you’ll need to log in to your Revit Forum account first).

And if you are struggling to launch the benchmark on localized version of Revit, try these suggestions: Revit RFO Benchmark fails with journal error on localized Revit installs

APIdocs.co brings Revit, Rhino, Navisworks and Grasshopper APIs together

Apidocs.co is an ambitious online project by Gui Talarico, the author of the Revit API website called RevitAPIdocs. Instead of focusing on one particular application, apidocs combines several applications’ APIs into one online library with more than 120K unique documents:

Apidocs has a clean and user-friendly interface, which is easy to use and navigate. Just select the desired application, then either search or dive into its API:

This project is a huge timesaver and a one-stop shop for several design applications’ APIs. Moreover, it is open and free for everyone.

And if you are interested in supporting the project, head over to support page: apidocs.co/support

Will Rhino 7 run inside Revit?

McNeel & Associates have recently published a webpage about the “Rhino Inside” technology, which sounds pretty amazing:

Rhino 7 WIP (Work in Progress) can now run inside other 64-bit Windows applications such as Revit, and potentially AutoCAD, Solidworks, Photoshop, Excel, etc.

Imagine that you could run Rhino’s geometry engine inside Revit environment. This could be a game-changer for those who work with conceptual design.

The bad news is that “Rhino Inside” is in the early phase of development, so that there is nothing to see or test for the moment. Even the Rhino Inside webpage is full of placeholders for the download and help links:

Try Rhino inside Revit (RiR)

1. Download and install the Revit plugin.
2. Try the Rhino, Grasshopper, and Python examples.
3. Build your own RiR tools. How to get started…
4. Check out the source code for RiR and the related examples.
5. Try writing a Rhino Inside plugin for your favorite product. How to get started…

Personally, I don’t mind the wait: it’s almost certainly better to have the new feature work well when it launches, rather than launch with bugs.

What’s better than clash detection? Live clash detection!

We’ve been doing iterative clash detection in out projects for years. This is an old-fashioned and time-consuming process, which consists of repetitive manual or semi-automatic tasks:

1. Convert each discipline model into the Navisworks / Solibri file formats.
2. Update project federated model.
3. Run multiple clash tests.
4. Publish results.
5. Introduce results to the design team.
6. Next hour/day/week/month repeat steps 1..5

Wouldn’t it be great if we could spend our time in a more effective manner? There are actually a couple of software platforms that offer live (real-time) clash detection inside Revit environment.

BuildingSP ClashMEP

Read more about ClashMEP here

MagiCAD for Revit 2019

Read more about MagiCAD for Revit 2019 here

Both of these Revit add-ins use the same concept: they provide you with clash detection in real time, while you build your model. There is no need to iteratively run clash tests, and you can visually see the conflicts in views and schedules. You can see the full process in these videos above.

The future of clash detection is coming!

Autodesk published IFC Manual for Revit users

Revit IFC Manual is a 52-page document, which describes all of the available options for using IFC format within the Revit environment. This is definitely a handy document for everyone working with Open BIM.

This document is intended to serve as a guide for Revit users handling IFC data and providing a better understanding of the settings available in Revit, discussing the way they can influence the quality and the content of the IFC file.

The Revit IFC manual therefore sets out the basics of IFC and explains in detail how to export, link and open IFC files in Revit.

The Revit IFC Manual is available for download from the official Autodesk website (direct link). I also suggest you to check out a series of articles by Simon Moreau from BIM42 about Revit IFC exporter settings:

• IFC from Revit – part 1
• IFC from Revit – part 2

You may also need to update your Revit IFC exporter to the latest version: download from Sourceforge