© 2011 Autodesk WARNING! This may void your Manufactures warranty: Dissecting Revit Content with the Pros Steve Germano – Director of Technical Sales Bryan Novotny – Senior BIM Developer Parley Burnett – BIM Development Manager

© 2011 Autodesk Class Summary The world is shifting head first into Building Information Modeling (BIM), and a wave of Revit MEP content is being produced by manufacturers. Knowing what to look for and what your models should contain can make or break your company's workflow. This class will serve as your MEP content crash course and you will learn how to separate the good Revit MEP content from the bad.

© 2011 Autodesk Who is ?  Sister Company with JBA Consulting Engineers  Headquartered in Las Vegas, NV  MEP / Tel-Data / Life Safety / Security / AV Design Firm  Company Vision – “Optimizing the Building Lifecycle”  BIM Content  BIM Applications

© 2011 Autodesk Speaker Bio  Steve Germano – Director of Technical Sales  8 Years of HVAC Mechanical Engineering Design  Implemented Revit into worldwide MEP firm  Using Revit MEP since its inception  Bryan Novotny – Senior BIM Developer  8 Years of Manufacturing Mechanical Design  Part design Inventor / Solidworks / Pro-E  Parley Burnett – BIM Development Manager  4 Years Architectural Design Background  Designing with Revit Architecture since 2005

© 2011 Autodesk Learning Objectives At the end of this class, you will be able to:  Identify a high quality BIM Model  Identify key factors that make the transition from ‘Generic’ to Manufactured easier  Identify key factors that really hinder project performance, Myths vs. Facts  Apply additional little-known tricks to your content creation workflow

© 2011 Autodesk BIM Standards  Revit MEP content has been around for over 5 years

© 2011 Autodesk Who is Developing Standards and Where are they?  Government Sectors  Agencies and Organizations

© 2011 Autodesk Can’t Find the Standard you Need?  At a minimum refer to the Autodesk Metadata Style Guide  Visit online hosting sites such as Autodesk Seek

© 2011 Autodesk Why Aren’t You Using Manufacturer Based Content?  Imported, Non-Revit Geometry - No Visibility Options - No Linking of Materials - Effects Project Performance Lack of Meta-Data - No Data? - Improper data/data types Content Providers Lack of Industry Knowledge -Hosting Behaviors, Incorrect Data Types, Incorrect Family Categories etc..

© 2011 Autodesk Why Aren’t You Using Manufacturer Based Content? Over Modeled Geometry -Revit Models are NOT Fabrication Drawings Too Many Parameters or Un-Organized Parameters Scheduling Conflicts - Lack of Standardized Parameters

© 2011 Autodesk Advantages When Using Quality Manufacture Content Time Saving Swap nested annotation symbol to firm standard easily Accurate Data/Geometry Highly Customizable Content Visibility Settings/Graphics Configured to Work Within a Project

© 2011 Autodesk The Good, the Bad, the Ugly!

© 2011 Autodesk Example: The Bad and Ugly

© 2011 Autodesk Example: The Good

© 2011 Autodesk Revit Family Performance Testing

© 2011 Autodesk Solid Geometry vs. Void Extrusions MYTH - Voids use up more file size  Voids use exactly the same file size  Only add file size when voids CUT solid geometry SCENARIO: One solid shape uses 20 KB. Copy the solid and make it a void. Together, they now equal 40 KB. Cut the solid with the void. Family now equals 60 KB. (We saw an average increase factor of 1.5)

© 2011 Autodesk Imported CAD vs. Native Revit Geometry Many say NO to imported CAD, but for the wrong reasons.  Imported CAD uses LESS file size AND loads faster  Materials CAN be assigned through imported CAD layers. KB Imported CAD modelNative Revit model CAD Geometry Project File Size (10,000 1x1x1 boxes) = 5,420 KB Revit Geometry Project File Size (10,000 1x1x1 boxes) = 9,128 KB

© 2011 Autodesk Imported CAD vs. Native Revit Geometry Real reasons:  Autocad files are often over modeled/detailed for Revit’s purpose.  Materials not set through traditional method  No flexing  Visibility: all or nothing  Stability

© 2011 Autodesk Nested Families MYTH - Any nesting beyond 2 levels will kill your family Our test: Structure: Parent Family (288 KB) Level 1 (288 KB) Level 2 (288 KB) Level 3 (288 KB) … Level 8 (288 KB) Testing Variations:  Only Geometry  Geometry with linked parameters  Geometry with types What was Tested:  Load times  Project file size  Project performance observed

© 2011 Autodesk Nested Families – Project File Size KB

© 2011 Autodesk Nested Families – Load Times into Project Seconds

© 2011 Autodesk Things to avoid - ARRAYS ARRAYS BAD! Affects load times, responsiveness KB Seconds

© 2011 Autodesk Things to Avoid - GROUPS GROUPS BAD! Affects file sizes KB Seconds

© 2011 Autodesk Things to Avoid – 3D TEXT KB Seconds

© 2011 Autodesk Formula Performance WRONG WAY: if(AND(Condition1, Condition2, Condition3), True, if(AND(Condition1, Condition2, Condition4), True, if(AND(Condition1, Condition5, Condition6), True, if(AND(Condition1, Condition5, Condition7), True, etc….)))) RIGHT WAY: if(Condition1, if(Condition2, if(Condition3, True, if(Condition4, True, False)), if(Condition5, if(Condition6, True, if(Condition7, True, False)), False)), False)

© 2011 Autodesk Masking Regions PLAN VIEW : BAD!PLAN VIEW : GOOD!

© 2011 Autodesk Tips and Tricks

© 2011 Autodesk Exploding Families Live demo… The problem: difficult to edit stacked geometry The solution: exploding families

© 2011 Autodesk Hidden Nested Family Geometry The problem: difficult to hide nested families The solution: Before: Modules above patch panel are technically hidden, but visible in the family After: Modules above are still there, just not visible Set the visibility of nested family geometry to a new yes/no parameter. Then, inside the parent family, map this parameter to the same one you would the ‘Visible’ parameter.

© 2011 Autodesk Visibility of Voids Live demo… The problem: Can’t hide void shapes The solution: Move it so it doesn’t intersect!

© 2011 Autodesk 3D Error Messages Live demo… The problem: Can’t control user selections (other than types) The solution: Output 3D Text Error Messages

© 2011 Autodesk Look Up Table Switch The problem: fittings don’t “flip” when pipe orientation is changed Two Solutions: 1)Add rows to look up table for opposite configurations 2)Change formulas to look for both configurations EXAMPLE: Parameter = if(and(ND1/ND2 Configuration Not Found, ND2/ND1 Configuration Not Found), Default Value, if(ND1/ND2 Configuration Not Found, ND2/ND1 Value, ND1/ND2 Value))

© 2011 Autodesk Clearance Areas Tip: use solid geometry to identify areas that should remain clear of any other geometry in the project. This will enable powerful collision detection Other considerations:  Only visible in 3D  Assign subcategory: Clearance Areas  Symbolic lines to represent it in plan/section views  YES/NO parameter to turn on/off  Depth should default to industry standard

© 2011 Autodesk Snap-in-place families Live demo… The problem: Difficulty in assembling products The solution: Make it easy by improving references for Snap-in-place behavior

© 2011 Autodesk Flipping Connectors Live demo…

© 2011 Autodesk Autodesk, AutoCAD* [*if/when mentioned in the pertinent material, followed by an alphabetical list of all other trademarks mentioned in the material] are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product and services offerings, and specifications and pricing at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document. © 2011 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved. Questions & Answers

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