Revit 2012 – position the type selector

One of the nice features when Autodesk switched to to the Ribbon interface with Revit 2010 was the ability to have the Type Selector positioned in the Ribbon. Whilst, I would agree it took up valuable screen real estate, it was useful to have instant access to to all the Types of a particular element, such as all Wall Types, when accessing the Modify Tool. With Revit 2011, the type selector within the Ribbon was stolen from us, as it migrated its way to the Properties Palette. Whilst this was probably a good move in the long run, what if you wanted access to choose a new Wall Type and yet you didn’t have the Properties Palette open? No Properties Palette, no Type selector!

Therefore with Revit 2012, the type selector in the ribbon is back! So how do you position the Type selector back into the Ribbon? Start by opening up the Properties Palette. (PP – keyboard shortcut)

Next right mouse click over the type selector in the Properties Palette.

A drop down menu will appear, where you can choose to either add the Type Selector to the Quick Access Tool Bar (QAT) or add to the Ribbon Modify Tab.

Choose Add to Ribbon Modify Tab.

Now when you select say the Wall tool, the various different Wall Types can be instantly accessed from the Type Selector position in the Ribbon.

Need to remove the Type Selector from the Ribbon? Just Right Mouse click on the Type Selector and choose Remove from Ribbon Modify Tab.

After writing this post on the train this morning; I noticed that Erik over at Inside the Factory also did a technical low down on the Type selector Improvements, which goes into a bit more depth.

Revit 2012 – spin that rotation

Explaining how the rotate tool works in Revit has always been an interesting experience in any training class I have ever run. Half the students get it, the other half are left scratching their heads. I suspect much has to do with the engrained AutoCAD mentality. So Revit doesn’t work like AutoCAD? That’s weird; don’t these two products come from the same company? Anyway, I remember struggling with the rotate tool the first time I encountered Revit. Not that I couldn’t understand it, I just didn’t have a clue how to alter the center point of rotation. It took some smart arse to tell me I have to drag the rotation icon!

Revit 2012 has put pay to all that frustration and tweaked the way you interact with the tool.So when you choose the rotation tool now, you can move the blue dot by dragging it to a suitable location to define your center point of rotation.

You can also define center of rotation picking the “place” button, this allows you to pick a center point of rotation on the canvas.

As you would expect, when you choose the “place” button, the rotate point can be snapped to other elements.

Revit 2012 – 3d mice – 3Dconnexion support

It’s been a long time coming, but finally Revit 2012 now has 3Dconnexion 3d mice support. I remember around 3 years ago speaking with Richard Gladman of 3Dconnexion UK about using a 3d mouse within the Revit environment, at that time it was not supported. So with the support finally in 2012, does the hype match up with the reality?

I managed to acquire a 3Dconnexion SpaceExplorer 3d mouse, courtesy of 3Dconnexion UK to test. 3Dconnexion produce various different mice; the SpaceExplorer is the mid-range version, this includes quick view keys as well as additional navigation settings.

The SpaceNavigator is the entry level 3d mouse, which I suspect most users will opt for, especially if cost is an issue. The SpacePilot Pro is the Ferrari version!

The box from 3Dconnexion duly turned up and I unpackaged the device. Placing it on the desk it looks like something out of the film Minority Report. There is an air of beauty about this sculpted techno geeky device and that was even before I plugged it in. I decided to go the 3Dconnexion website and download the latest drivers rather than install the ones provided on the shipped cd-rom. Once the drivers were installed; I plugged the 3d mouse usb cable in and then the blue light lit up on the navigation cap. I was ready to go! Can somebody tell me, why blue lights or highlighted blue buttons look so cool? There must be some research that has taken place that says blue = techno cheek porn; you must buy! Anyway, I was expecting to have to install special drivers to get full support with Revit 2012, but that wasn’t the case.

I fired up Revit 2012; the first thing you notice is that an additional icon is included within the navigation bar.

If you click the arrow below the icon you can access a 3Dconnexion control panel where you can assign different commands to the various buttons on the mouse.

Interestingly and as highlight by Tom over at Inside the Factory, you can actually add custom commands and string together multiple commands, which is extremely useful. Be sure to check out his  youtube video which will explain more, as well as how to customize a SpacePilot Pro.

I used my now legendary at-at.rvt model as a test to put the 3d mouse through its paces. Whilst navigation does take some time to get used to, it’s really cool being able to navigate and view a Revit model using this device. Here is me messing around with the at-at, I am sure the more I use it, the better I will get an navigating!!! Hand eye coordination has never been a strong point. :-)

The hot keys on the SpaceExplorer allow you to rapidly orient the model to various elevation views. I set too and tried different graphic displays. I actually found that the newer graphic modes of consistent colours and realistic mode operated faster than hidden line and shaded with edges. I believe this is because the newer graphic modes utilise the full support of your graphics card, whilst the legacy modes are still reliant somewhat on the processor to display the graphics. I certainly noticed a bit of lag when rotating the model. Therefore, your best option is to use the newer graphic modes when using the 3d mouse.

So who will use a 3d mouse you may ask? I guess it depends on the type of work you do within Revit. I am thinking that designers are going to love it or anybody who will need to review models for consistency and virtual coordination. However, if you are just doing production work, you may not see any benefit. If you regularly navigate the Revit environment or you are a techno geek, then this is a must have device for your desktop!

Blogpress for iPad

These days I am trying to extend my blogging capabilities. Our household has so many different electronic devices connected to the Internet I thought I would try to blogging from each of these different devices. I have recently purchased a copy of Blogpress for iPad.

http://blogpressapp.com/

So far it works very well, maybe not as good as Microsoft Live Writer, but great for blogging on the go.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Revit 2012 printing issues

I read with interest the problems Alan over at Revit Learning Curve was having with printing from Revit 2012. More details on his challenges can be found here.......

http://cadalot-revitlearningcurve.blogspot.com/2011/04/printer-plotter-bugs-with-revit-2012.html

Now this opens up an interesting debate; Is this a bug with Revit 2012 or during the update of Revit 2012, has what ever changed made the drivers incompatible? In my view, two different items. Now I have never really been a big fan of Kip printers; they are cheap and do a reasonably good job, but they are hardly Oce Printers. But not everybody can afford Oce devices! I remember as far back as Revit 5 having stability issues when printing from Revit to a Kip printer. Anyway, after trying various different driver versions, we got one which provided reasonably good results.

Anyway, to the point of this post. Let's assume there is a genuine issue with 2012; who's fault was it and why wasn't it picked up before? Those that Beta tested the product or Autodesk? Now I will put my hands up and say, when I was testing Revit 2012 I did not attempt or try printing from the beta software, which I have to admit is very poor! Thinking about it, we all talk about the virtual model, but printing the deliverables is still part of the basic delivery process. So I wonder if anybody else tried printing during the beta? Alan did you try printing during the beta? because if you had, I wonder if you would have picked up the problem then? Should we be blaming Autodesk? I have visited the factory a number of times and I certainly didn't find a room packed full of all the latest printers run test plots from future versions of Revit.

I guess this is the real issue; we get so excited about the new functionality, yet we miss the fundamentals. The nature of software will mean there will be issues, the beta program is supposed to pick up these issues, but the fragmented nature of the Windows platform will mean that things sometimes get missed. I am sure Autodesk will put there hands up and say that there is an issue, which they will fix. Maybe it's not; it could fall on the printer firms to fix there drivers, if this is the case, you may be waiting a long time! However, its also up to those that get invited to test the software to help QA the product. Once upon a time I couldn't wait to get the latest version installed onto my laptop, nethertheless these days I take the view, wait until service pack 1!! ;-)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Newforma Addin for Revit

If you don’t know by now, I’m a big fan of Newforma! Whilst on the face of it you may think I am biased because my old boss now heads up the EMEA division and a few others friends have set up a the first Newforma reseller in the UK. Far from it, I remember seeing Newforma well before Tim Bates joined Newforma and I was instantly struck by its ease of use, flexibility, understanding of the architectural workflow and density of functionality. Whilst I have heard a few (and you know who you are!) just say that the Newforma is only great for managing emails, maybe readying this article will give you a different opinion.
http://www.newforma.com/getdoc/9477e984-3ab5-4ca9-8eb4-26b37af8a53a/Article-CADUser-Synchronicity.aspx