Navisworks: Revolutionizing Quantity Surveyors’ World!

Introduction

Welcome, Quantity Surveyors! Today, we’re exploring the world of Autodesk Navisworks, focusing on its Quantification Tool. We’ll also highlight three YouTube tutorials that can turn you from a novice into a ninja.

Pro: Precision Meets 3D

Navisworks’ Quantification Tool is like having x-ray vision for measurements. You can measure quantities directly from 3D models, making the days of puzzling over 2D plans feel as outdated as using a sundial.

Navisworks Training: Custom Catalog & Visual Takeoff Check for Quantity Surveyors

Con: The Tech Hurdle

Embracing Navisworks might feel like learning to drive a spaceship when you’re used to a bicycle. It’s a shift, especially for those cozy with traditional methods. But don’t fret, “A Really Simple Quantification Setup in Navisworks” is here to make this transition smoother than your morning coffee.

A Really Simple Quantification Setup in Navisworks

Pro: Clash Detection – Your Project’s Sixth Sense

Navisworks’ clash detection is like having a sixth sense for potential design conflicts. Imagine it as a friendly ghost whispering in your ear, alerting you to any design missteps before they become real headaches. This foresight is invaluable, saving time and preventing costly reworks.

Con: The Need for Speed (and Space)

This tool is a bit of a diva when it comes to system requirements. If your computer is still living in the dial-up era, you might find Navisworks more sluggish than a Monday morning. Consider this a nudge to embrace the future with a hardware upgrade.

Pro: Collaboration Made Easy

Collaboration is a smooth dance rather than a clumsy tug-of-war. It allows multiple stakeholders to contribute and review in a shared digital space. “Navisworks – Essential Skills for Quantity Surveyors” can be your guide to mastering this dance.

Navisworks - Essential Skills for Quantity Surveyors"

Conclusion: A Tool of Many Talents

Autodesk Navisworks’ Quantification Tool is a multifaceted addition to the quantity surveyor’s toolkit. While it demands a bit of tech-savvy and investment, the rewards in precision, efficiency, and collaboration are well worth it. With the right approach and resources like the mentioned YouTube videos, you’ll soon be navigating this software like a pro. Happy quantifying!

CHANGE YOUR BUSINESS IN 2 MINUTES

“We understand that the one tool isn’t right for everybody, and it’s really important to keep abreast of all of the new technologies in the new software, that can help businesses work as efficiently as they possibly can and give them insight to their projects and staff skills.”

Guy Smithers (Director – Viewlistic)

The Architecture and Construction Industry: A Balancing Act

The architecture and construction (AEC) industry is a complex and ever-changing landscape. Architects and construction professionals are constantly juggling a variety of challenges, including:

Personnel: Finding and retaining qualified employees is a major challenge for many AEC firms. The industry is facing a shortage of skilled workers, and the competition for talent is fierce.
New and changing skillsets: Technology is rapidly transforming the AEC industry, and professionals need to be able to adapt to new skills and technologies in order to stay ahead of the curve.
Financial: AEC projects can be very expensive, and managing costs effectively is critical. Firms also need to be able to deal with unexpected financial challenges, such as material shortages or delays.
Infrastructure: AEC firms rely on a variety of infrastructure, both internal and cloud-based. Ensuring that this infrastructure is reliable and secure is essential for smooth operations.
Hardware and software: AEC firms use a variety of hardware and software to design, build, and manage projects. Keeping this technology up-to-date and secure can be costly and time-consuming.
Client expectations: Clients expect AEC firms to deliver high-quality projects on time and within budget. Meeting these expectations can be challenging, especially in complex and demanding projects.
Competition: The AEC industry is highly competitive. Firms need to be able to differentiate themselves from their competitors and offer clients a unique value proposition.
The future of the AEC industry: The AEC industry is being shaped by a number of emerging trends, such as sustainability, digitalization, and automation. Firms need to be able to adapt to these trends in order to remain competitive and successful.

Why You Need a Discovery Session

A discovery session is a great way to learn more about the challenges facing your AEC firm and to develop a plan to address them. During a discovery session, you will have the opportunity to discuss your specific needs and goals with an experienced consultant. The consultant will then work with you to develop a customized plan that will help you achieve your objectives.

Conclusion

The AEC industry is a complex and challenging one, but it is also an exciting and rewarding one. By understanding the challenges facing the industry and by developing a plan to address them, AEC firms can position themselves for success.

"Talking with clients about the tools that they're using in their workflows, we always look at the best tool for them. We understand that the one tool isn't right for everybody, and it's really important to keep abreast of all of the new technologies in the new software, that can help businesses work as efficiently as they possibly can and give them insight to their projects and staff skills."

GUY SMITHERS | DIRECTOR VIEWLISTIC

Watch Guy Smithers (Director – Viewlistic), Joe Keogh (Director – Viewlistic), and Nick Lukas (Director – Architecton) reveal some of the challenges facing the architecture and construction industry below.

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Still struggling with multiple Revit files?

RTV Drawing Manager for Autodesk Revit is a tool designed to manage and streamline workflows, particularly when working with multiple Revit files in a project. This can save significant amounts of time and reduce manual work in various aspects of a project.

Maximize Your Revit Efficiency with RTV Drawing Manager!

Hello, Viewlistic readers! If you’re knee-deep in Autodesk Revit projects, we’ve got some exciting news for you. Let’s dive right in.

What’s RTV Drawing Manager?
It’s like a Swiss Army Knife for your Revit projects! Imagine all your tedious tasks being handled smoothly in the background.

Here’s How It Can Revolutionize Your Workflow:

📘 One-Stop Dashboard: See all your drawings in one place. No more hopping between files!
🖨️ Click & Print: Batch print sets of drawings. Say goodbye to manual print jobs.
🚀 Auto-Pilot Mode: Auto numbering, auto revisions, and even auto naming/exporting. Yep, it’s that smart!
🔄 Stay Synced: Keeping data consistent across projects? Consider it done.
💡 Design Focus: Spend less time managing and more time creating.

In short, RTV Drawing Manager takes the heavy lifting out of Revit projects. It’s a game-changer for any Revit enthusiast. So, why wait? Dive in and let tech do the work! (Details below)

Happy designing,
The Viewlistic Team

Centralized Management: The Drawing Manager offers a consolidated interface where you can see, review, and manage all your drawings from various Revit files. Instead of opening each file individually, you can streamline actions across multiple files.
Batch Printing: With RTV Drawing Manager, you can batch print sets of drawings from multiple Revit files. This reduces the need to open each file and print them individually.
Automated Sheet Numbering: Instead of manually renumbering sheets, RTV Drawing Manager can automatically renumber sheets for you based on criteria you set. This is especially useful for larger projects with many sheets.
Revision Management: The tool helps in automating and tracking revisions across multiple drawings. This means no more manually tracking which drawings have been revised or needing to cross-check various revision numbers across files.
Document Transmittal: RTV Drawing Manager can automatically generate document transmittals, saving you the time of creating these manually.
Sheet Issue Records: The tool can create and manage a record of sheets that have been issued. This is essential for tracking and project management.
Sheet and Project Data Synchronization: Instead of manually updating sheet or project data across multiple files, RTV Drawing Manager can synchronize this data for you.
Automatic Naming and Exporting: RTV Drawing Manager can automate the naming and exporting of files, which can be a massive time-saver when dealing with numerous files or versions.
Issue and Mark-up Management: The Drawing Manager also provides tools for issue and mark-up management, centralizing the feedback and corrections process, and ensuring you don’t overlook any notes or changes.
Template Management: For those frequently starting new projects or needing consistent sheet setups, RTV Drawing Manager provides template management. This ensures that every project starts with the same settings, sheets, and setups, reducing the manual setup time for each new project.
User-friendly Interface: Its intuitive interface reduces the learning curve and makes it easy for users to access and utilize its features.
Integration with Revit: Being directly integrated with Revit means there’s no need for complex export or import processes. This tight integration ensures consistency and efficiency.

In essence, RTV Drawing Manager takes many of the manual, time-consuming tasks related to managing multiple drawings in Revit and automates or streamlines them. The cumulative time savings across a project can be significant, allowing teams to focus more on design and problem-solving rather than administrative tasks.

Autodesk Revit: Content Creation Essential Tips

Mastering the process of Revit Family content creation is essential for success in the AEC and BIM industries. By following these 12 essential tips, you can significantly improve your content creation workflow and boost the overall efficiency of your team. Stay ahead of the curve and consistently deliver high-quality content with these best practices.

12 Essential Tips to Enhance Your Revit Family Content Creation Workflow

Revit content creation has become essential to the AEC and BIM team. Mastering the process of creating efficient and effective Revit Family content is crucial for the success of any project. In this blog post, we will explore 12 essential tips to support the Revit Family Content Creation Workflow.

Essential Tips 1, 2, 3

TIP 1: The Importance of Planning Before Modeling Your Content

Before diving into content creation, take the time to plan your project. Define clear objectives, identify necessary Revit Families, and establish a suitable naming convention. Proper planning helps to avoid duplicated efforts and ensures consistency across your team.

TIP 2: Always Review the Location of the Origin Point

Be mindful of the Origin Point when creating or modifying Revit Family content. Ensuring that the Origin Point is in the correct location will help maintain consistency in your project and make it easier to insert the content into the model.

TIP 3: Relocating the Origin Point – A Fix for Families

If you discover that a family’s Origin Point is not properly located, take the time to relocate it. This fix will improve the family’s usability and prevent potential issues when placing it in your project.

Essential Tips 4, 5, 6

TIP 4: The Importance of Using the Correct Family Category

Using the appropriate Family Category is crucial for creating efficient Revit content. Selecting the correct category ensures that your content behaves as intended within the model, improving overall project functionality.

TIP 5: How to Change a Generic Family Category to a Different Family Category

To change a family’s category, open the Family Editor, navigate to the ‘Family Category and Parameters’ dialog box, and select the desired category from the list. Click ‘OK’ to apply the change, and don’t forget to save the family file.

TIP 6: Practice Consistent Naming Conventions

Consistency is key when naming Revit Family content. Adopt a clear and systematic naming convention for your files to facilitate easy identification, organization, and retrieval of content.

Essential Tips 7, 8, 9

TIP 7: Creating a Visual Revit Family Content Grid Catalogue for Quick, Easy Access

Organize your Revit Families in a visual grid catalogue for quick access and improved efficiency. This allows your team to locate and utilize the necessary content faster, reducing time spent searching and improving overall productivity.

TIP 8: Not Strictly a Content Creation Tip, but Hey! Still Need to Know About Solar Study

While not directly related to content creation, understanding the Solar Study feature can be useful for Revit Family design. Solar Study allows you to analyze the impact of sunlight on your design, helping you create content that better integrates with the building’s environmental performance.

TIP 9: The Close Inactive Views Button to Help Speed Up Your Workflow

Speed up your workflow by using the ‘Close Inactive Views’ button in Revit. This feature will close all non-active views, helping to optimize your project file’s performance and keep your workspace clutter-free.

Essential Tips 10, 11, 12

TIP 10: Reference Planes, Parameters, and Dimensions

Master the use of reference planes, parameters, and dimensions when creating Revit Family content. These tools help you create accurate, flexible, and adaptive content, ultimately improving the efficiency of your design process.

TIP 11: Flexing the Model Thing

Regularly ‘flex’ your Revit Family content by adjusting parameters and dimensions to ensure the family behaves as intended. This process helps to identify and resolve any issues that may arise in various configurations, ensuring that your content is reliable and efficient.

TIP 12: What are Cuttable and Non-Cuttable Categories?

Understanding the difference between cuttable and non-cuttable categories is essential for creating efficient Revit Family content. Cuttable categories are those that can be sectioned, while non-cuttable categories cannot. Be mindful of this distinction when designing your content to ensure it behaves as intended in your project.

Like to know more?

Streamline BIM Project Management

With a cloud-based solution like BIM Collab Pro, you’ll never have to worry about version control again. It’s like magic! And no more trying to remember which local drive or server you saved the latest version of the project to.

Are you tired of handling your Autodesk Revit designs using traditional methods that involve local servers and hard drives? Using a cloud-based tool like BIM Collab Pro can be a game-changer! Moving your data to the cloud frees you from manual data merging and version control hassles, while also enabling your team members to collaborate on the same project regardless of their geographical location. Furthermore, your data is safe and protected with BIM Collab Pro. By shifting to a cloud-based solution, you can save a considerable amount on server upgrades and maintenance costs. You only pay for what you use! With BIM Collab Pro, you can say goodbye to version control and file sharing issues that lead to wasted time and effort, and increase your team’s efficiency and productivity. Remember to secure your files with timely backups to avoid data loss. Try BIM Collab Pro and experience the benefits of a cloud-based solution today!

Managing Versions on BIM Collab Pro

Comparing Versions: 3 Ways

Better Markup Tools in BIM Collab Pro

These Markup tools provide a quick and efficient way to communicate design intent, coordinate changes, and track project progress. Whether you’re an architect, engineer, contractor, or owner, the benefits of these tools are clear: they streamline your workflow, reduce errors and rework, and ultimately help you deliver projects faster and with greater accuracy.

Autodesk BIM Collab Pro has a set of Markup tools that will change the way teams collaborate on BIM projects. These tools allow for easier and a direct way to mark up 2D and 3D models with annotations, measurements, and comments, without the need for any additional external software.

The Markup tools provide a quick and efficient way to communicate design intent, coordinate changes, and track project progress. Whether you’re an architect, engineer, contractor, or owner, the benefits of these tools are clear.

The Markup tools make it easier to collaborate with team members, without the need to switch between multiple software applications.

Overall, Autodesk BIM Collab Pro’s Markup tools provide a significant benefit to project teams, enabling them to streamline collaboration, enhance communication, and increase accuracy. By using these tools, teams can ensure that everyone is working towards the same goals, reducing the potential for delays or errors, and ultimately delivering projects faster and with greater accuracy.

In conclusion, if you’re looking to enhance your collaboration and communication on BIM projects, Autodesk BIM Collab Pro’s Markup tools provide an efficient, effective, and user-friendly way to do so. Give them a try and experience the power of streamlined collaboration firsthand!

How to Survive Supply Chain Shortage

More than ever Architectural Practices have to consider supply chain shortages in skills and materials. This impact is enormous when viewed in the light of planning issues, extended time frames and costs overruns.

Building in a Post-COVID World: Adapting to Material and Skill Shortages

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a ripple effect on industries worldwide, and the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry is no exception. One of the biggest challenges we’re facing is a shortage of skilled workers and materials. This can be a real headache for architects who have designed their projects around specific products or skill sets.

Imagine this: you’ve meticulously planned and documented your project, only to find that the materials or expertise you need are suddenly unavailable. This can lead to delays, cost overruns, and a whole lot of frustration. It’s like ordering a gourmet pizza and getting a plain cheese one instead.

One of the tricky issues that can arise is a change in wall thickness. This might not sound like a big deal, but it can actually affect the overall size of your building. That means you might have to go back to the drawing board to make sure your design still complies with planning regulations.

So, what’s the solution? We believe it’s all about planning for the unexpected. When designing a building, it’s important to consider the possibility that certain materials or skills might not be available when construction time comes. One way to do this is to create “flex zones” in your design. For example, you could allow for external “wall zones” that can accommodate changes in wall thickness without affecting the overall layout of your building.

By thinking ahead and planning for flexibility, we can minimize the impact of these shortages and keep our projects on track. After all, in a world where change is the only constant, adaptability is the key to success.

HOW TO SURVIVE SUPPLY CHAIN SHORTAGE

More than ever in our architectural practice, we have to consider the issue of supply chain shortages both in skills and materials. The impact is enormous when considering planning issues, extended time frames and financial costs

ACTUALLY STARTING PLANNING

Joe Keogh, Director of Viewlistic, on the importance of planning and anticipating changes in your Revit project, but also for supply chain shortages becoming a real and frequent occurrence.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Revit & Supply Chain Shortage, what you can do about it. Advice from Nathan Fenn Design Technology Specialist

REVISION TRACKING WITH BIM COLLAB PRO

Did you know you can track revisions in BIM Collab Pro? And retrieve previous versions. Nathan Fenn explains.

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BIM Collaborate Pro for Model Coordination

Model Coordination is a topic that keeps coming back to haunt us. Since the Pandemic and with the requirement to work off-site, many of our clients has turned to BIM Collaborate Pro (previously BIM 360) as the method for project file storage and sharing. But did you know you can do so much more.

VIDEO CONTENT:

PART 1: OVERVIEW OF MODEL COORDINATION

COLLABORATION AND COORDINATION THE CURRENT REALITY
AEC DESIGN REVIEW: BIM COLLARORATE PRO SPECIFICALLY IN DESIGN REVIEW WORKFLOW

PART 2: THOUGHTS ON MODEL COORDINATION

CDE (COMMON DATA ENVIRONMENT) YOUR BUSINESS BEYOND CLOUD STORAGE AND HOW BIM COLLABRATE PRO TAKES YOU THERE
WHY STILL USE NAVISWORKS? HAS BIM COLLABORATE PRO NEW TOOL SETS REPLACED NAVISWORKS? EXPLORE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO
BIM COLLABORATE PRO: ISSUE TRACKING TO REVIT AND NAVISWORKS, EXPLORING NEW TOOL SETS

Collaboration

Design Review

Common Data Environment

Navisworks

New Toolset

Like to know more?
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Discovery Session – Nuts & Bolts

“we quickly realized that one day we would have to move into the big space, so the discovery session for us was a way of streamlining that process and making it simple and as efficient as possible. ”

Nick Lukas (Director – Architecton)

"Talking with clients about the tools that they're using in their workflows, we always look at the best tool for them. We understand that the one tool isn't right for everybody, ..."

GUY SMITHERS | DIRECTOR VIEWLISTIC

Unveiling the Essentials: A Glimpse into Our Discovery Session

Embark on a journey to optimize your workflow and design technology needs with our insightful discovery session. Through a three-phase approach, we’ll delve into your aspirations, identify areas for improvement, and craft a roadmap tailored to your business goals.

Phase 1: Uncovering Your Aspirations

We begin by understanding your aspirations, the driving force behind your business objectives. This deep dive into your vision allows us to align our efforts with your desired outcomes.

Phase 2: Assessing Your Workflows

Next, we meticulously examine your existing workflows and processes, identifying strengths to leverage and areas ripe for enhancement. This comprehensive assessment ensures that we capture every aspect of your operations.

Phase 3: Charting Your Roadmap to Success

Armed with insights from the previous phases, we meticulously craft a roadmap that blends your unique needs with our AEC industry expertise. This roadmap serves as a guide to propel your business forward, addressing key aspects such as workflows, content, templates, infrastructure, hardware, software, and skills training.

Phase 4: Implementing Your Personalized Strategy

In the final phase, we collaborate closely with you to review and implement the roadmap. Your involvement is paramount as we translate the roadmap into tangible actions, ensuring a seamless and successful execution.

Embrace Clarity and Embark on a Path of Progress

Our discovery session is designed to provide clarity and direction, empowering you to optimize your workflow and design technology needs. Through a collaborative approach, we’ll guide you towards achieving your business aspirations.

Also watch out for Part 1 of Reasons Why You Need Discovery

Digging deeper into the delivery session with Nick Lukas (Director – Architecton), Guy Smithers (Director – Viewlistic) and Joe Keogh (Director – Viewlistic)

Like to know more about our Discovery Session?
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Moving to Revit? Creating Content

“So content creation is tackled right at the start before we start any training of anyone working in Revit. We try to develop as much of your standard content. That you’re going to need for every project right at the start. ”

Joe Keogh | Director Viewlistic

What about Revit Content?

Once you have made that decision to move from AutoCAD to Revit, the logical next step or question is what about Revit Content.

This is an important issue because having good reliable content is one of the key factors that will impact on productivity. By this we mean the amount of time you save having Revit content at hand.

Our video below will highlight how Viewlistic and Detail Studio work together to tackle the issue of Revit content and Revit Content Creation. Looking at Revit Families and Revit Templates, which contains your documentation standards (unique to each practice).

If you are still considering the move from AutoCAD to Revit, check out our video, also with Detail Studio on their experience of the move. Link here.

If you have made the move and are in the middle of that transition and want tyo know more about how you management and distribute your Revit Content Library, we highly recommend Kinship. Link here.

"Obviously moving to Revit was quite cost prohibitive as a a small to medium sized firm, but we certainly assess the value, in that we had previously tried to in-house move to Revit unsuccessfully, the upscaling and training in staff was was paramount for us to do it properly. "

MATT MARTIN | DIRECTOR DETAIL DESIGN

AutoCAD to Revit Content Creation: How did Design Studio tackle Content Creation in Revit

Like to know more?
Contact us for live demo or free trial.

AutoCAD to Revit isn’t that hard

“We felt the need to move to Revit
It’s almost become industry standard as well. We didn’t want to be left behind, we’re always trying to be proactive and forward thinking. ”

Matt Martin | Director Detail Studio

AutoCAD to Revit isn't that hard when you have a guiding hand.

If you have ever considered taking that step from working in 2D in AutoCAD to 3D Modeling in Revit. Check out our story below.

Matt Martin (Director) and Lauren Rollinson (Architect)of Detail Studio Adelaide, generously let you in on their move from AutoCAD to Revit . You will hear sound advice to consider when you decide to take that journey. Not a decision to be taken lightly, but one you will make.

Joe Keogh, our Design Technology Leader, Director is there to give a guiding hand.

We hope this will help you start thinking and asking some important questions before you make that move.

Also watch out for Part 2 of AutoCAD to Revit: about Content Creation.

"Obviously moving to Revit was quite cost prohibitive as a a small to medium sized firm, but we certainly assess the value, in that we had previously tried to in-house move to Revit unsuccessfully, the upscaling and training in staff was was paramount for us to do it properly. "

MATT MARTIN | DIRECTOR DETAIL STUDIO

AutoCAD to Revit isn’t that hard

Like to know more?
Contact us for live demo or free trial.

Revit Content – Finding the needle in the haystack with Kinship

There are some things you wish you could do quickly and without too much strain. Our video blog examines the difference between working with Revit without Kinship alongside using Kinship for searching and placing Revit Families.

Finding and placing Revit Content with speed and ease

Kinship is a cloud based Revit Content Management system available since 2008. Over this time Kinship have accumulated a raft of features which are essential before Covid19 lockdowns and the assent of the work from home culture (WFH).

The ability to access Revit content in multiple locations; version control for your team and studio i.e. curating the most up to date version of the Revit Family Library ; using Collections to manage IP in joint venture projects, just to name a few.

Our simple test shows the speed and ease in placing a dryer family. This can apply whether your library is located in a local server, Dropbox or Google Drive.

Read more about Kinship here

Like to know more?
Contact us for live demo or free trial.

Manage Multiple Revit Files

Drawing Manager from RTV Tools may take away some of your pain.

RTV Tools is best known for its RTV Exporter for dealing with weekly document deliverables, allowing your to save presets for Sheets so it becomes a one button exercise (after your visual check). There are many other hidden gems in this Revit Plugin.

If you have worked long enough on any project with Revit as your main modelling tool, there will be times when you wished some of these mind numbing tasks would just go away. Don’t you wish you could manage all your drawing sheets, your revisions, and transmittals in one place?

Drawing Manager from RTV Tools may take away some of your pain.

RTV Tools is best known for its RTV Exporter for dealing with weekly document deliverables, allowing your to save presets for Sheets so it becomes a one button exercise (after your visual check). There are many other hidden gems in this Revit Plugin.

RTV Tools Drawing Manager can help streamline managing multiple Revit project files in one location.

At it’s core is an SQL Database which adds a layer of “protection?” to the Revit database. You will need to Sync with the Revit Project file to commit changes made in Drawing Manager. Which is not a bad thing, allowing for some flexibility for reversing unintentional mistakes.

The other neat tools includes: Long complex numbering systems (which are unavoidable for infrastructure projects, health projects and defense projects..) Revision requirements for construction (with history reports) and Transmittals (that lets you work with complex numbering systems. To name a few. If you find this is the space you are in why not have a chat with us.

Wish I could do that!

Manage multiple Revit files in one place.

A Simple Tool for Managing Revit Content

Your Revit families have multiplied at an alarming rate.

Naming conventions have gone out the window.

And versions – which one is the latest, and where is it!?

Can Kinship Revit Content Management System get you out of this mess?

How did you get here?

You are on your way. You have been using Revit for a while now, or you have just changed over. You have a great team.

So what’s happened to your Revit families?

Revit out of the box has a “contained” Libraries folder – an acceptable naming convention.

But now, with no fanfare, your Revit families have multiplied at an alarming rate; you have the standard out of the box library, you now have it on your team’s local drives, in project folders on the server, and yes, let’s not forget… in the cloud too.

Naming conventions have gone out the window.

And versions – which one is the latest, and where is it!?

How did families from one project suddenly appear in a different project with the naming structure from the other project?

What a mess!

Now here comes the studio manager, a new project, a joint venture project, you need to protect your IP. Can you share families limited to the joint venture project?

How do you manage this!

Viewlistic has experience with several Revit Family Content solutions. We find Kinship to be a valuable addition to the range of Cloud based Revit content management tools currently available.

Let us look at the issues we are trying to solve:

Revit content in different locations
Able to identify Families visually and quickly
Naming conventions
Versioning and quality control (which one is the updated version)
The use of non approved Families
Project Teams
Joint ventures working with other studios

Taking a sneak peek at Kinship

Kinship is cloud-based Revit Family Content Management Solution.

It has two components – cloud-based Web interface and a Revit Plugin which lives in the add-ins Ribbon.

There are 2 types of user accounts – Administrator and User.

The library has an approved section and an unapproved section. Users can only see families in the approved section, which allows for an audited and curated library.

The search button looks at your current opened model, the curated “approved” Library, and finally any collections and other registered projects. You get a thumbnail view of what you are searching for.

The Library is where you monitor consistent naming convention, versioning and health of the Family.

You can make unlimited Lists which works as a filter.

Joint Venture projects and privacy

One of the shiny features of Kinship is the ability to create collections (another way of viewing your Library), specifically assigned to projects with privacy settings.

This is a great way to give limited access to your Revit Family Content Library for team members of a joint venture project, for example.

What about Revit Project Health?

Kinship also includes analytics on your Revit Families and Project Health:

Like to know more?
Contact us for live demo or free trial.

Control Site Data with RECAP PRO

Our video blog looks at pointclouds for existing conditions and context survey. We look at some of the benefits in using pointclouds as part of your workflow.

The good (comforting?) news is that your AEC Collection includes RECAP PRO.

More and more we find ourselves working on projects where the fees are tight and the time frame for completing tasks shorter. So any tool that comes along and offers some modicum of hope is gladly received. Hello Recap Pro!

Our video blog looks at pointclouds for existing conditions and context survey. We look at some of the benefits of using pointclouds as part of your workflow.

The good (comforting?) news is that your AEC Collection includes RECAP PRO.

RECAP PRO has a number of functionalities that will help in the use of pointclouds.

Asides from the ability to stitch together multiple scan files, multiple drone photograghs; RECAP PRO can be used to reduce the points per inch of your scan file, thus reducing file size and making it manageable for use in your work flow.

Or contact Guy Smithers, Joe Keogh or John Young at Viewlistic.com.au

We are happy to help.

AEC Collection: Control your Site Data with RECAP PRO

We look at the benefits of using pointclouds for existing conditions modelling. With RECAP PRO as part of your AEC Collection, it would be a missed opportunity not to use it as part of your workflow.

For more on RECAP PRO 2022 visit the following site: Introducing ReCap Pro 2022 – ReCap Blog (autodesk.com)

Revit Survey Levels: 4 easy steps

Moving from Autocad to Revit, this and the previous tutorial (Survey Files in Revit in 4 easy steps) is for you.

Survey Levels in Revit in 4 easy steps.

If you are moving from Autocad to Revit, this is for you. (refer previous tutorial Survey Files in Revit in 4 easy steps)

This is the second of a series of tutorials to help you setup your Revit Projects quickly and painlessly; allowing you to work (or display) between Project Levels and Survey Levels.

During Sketch Design phase, detail or feature survey information are seldom available. In this phase we work with project based (Revit Terminology) levels. The numbers are smaller and easier to comprehend.

Come Design Development phase, we receive more detail survey information. We now have Planning requirements. In this phase we set up levels in Revit to show survey levels, while retaining project levels.

Learn to set up levels, using the Relocate Project tool in the Manage tab.

If you need further explanation about the above method, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Survey Levels in Revit in 4 easy steps.

An easy way to set up Survey Levels in Revit without compromising Project Base Levels.

Survey Setup: 4 easy steps

This method will be handy for medium to smaller practices where you don’t have a BIM Manager or Design Technology Lead to rely on.

Finally a Survey Setup in Revit in 4 easy steps.

This is the first of a series of tutorials to help you setup your Revit Projects quickly and painlessly. You do not have to modify the Survey files but you do need to check the units used by your Survey. The units tend to be in meters but it’s good to check. The other issue is deciding on where the project origin point is. You may have already selected a point in your Project. But if you haven’t we recommend using the bottom left hand corner of your site, this is a good practice for the benefit of your team member who will be using Dynamo (for now) for any programming done to your project. That is any coordinates they work with will have positive numbers (don’t think it’s critical but certainly will make it easier).

This method will be handy for medium to smaller practices where you don’t have a BIM Manager or Design Technology Lead to rely on.

The final result is a Revit Project File with Shared Coordinates with the Survey File. This is also a Mapping Grid coordinate. Which will help when working with Point Cloud surveys or updates to feature survey files.

If you are unclear about any of the steps mentioned in the Video, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Survey Setup in Revit in 4 easy steps.

No modification to Survey files from Surveyor required. The final result is a Revit Project File with Shared Coordinates with the Survey File. This is also a Mapping Grid coordinate, which has big implications down the track.

Architectural Workflow with Civil 3D

Reasons for this:

Civil 3D has better tools for generating Roads and Footpaths.

The roads and footpaths are better integrated into the surface model.

In our last video on the AEC collection, we spotlighted six out of 17 software packages, highlighting Revit, Civil 3D, AutoCad, Infraworks, Navisworks Manage, and Recap Pro.

Consider adopting this workflow:

Start with Infraworks for the contextual model, move to Civil 3D for site works, and then use Revit Architecture, Structural, and MEP for building the model. You then integrate these into Navisworks for review. Building contractors employ this method for construction and model reviews as part of the BIM workflow.

For a more hands-on connection between the building and site models, Civil 3D manages the site model right from the start. This allows you to engage with a Points Database or Survey file. With Autodesk’s BIM 360, your workflow simplifies with fewer steps.

Civil 3D can generate your surface model, which you can then link to Revit using the ‘import toposurface’ option from the import files ribbon. A tool for managing shared coordinates between the two programs also exists, typically overseen by Design Technology or BIM managers for project and site setups.

For roads and footpaths, create a line in Revit to mark the location and scope, export it to Civil 3D for generation, and then reintegrate it into Revit.

Why do this?

Civil 3D offers superior tools for creating roads and footpaths, integrating them more seamlessly into the surface model. Revit lacks a comprehensive set of tools for topography modeling, particularly for neatly crafting roads and paths.

Amid the construction industry’s high-pressure environment, we constantly seek more streamlined methods.

To explore this method, ensure you have:

The AEC Collection,
A BIM 360 account (trial available),
The Autodesk Desktop Connector (complimentary from Autodesk) to bridge Revit and Civil 3D.

We suggest studying Eric Chappell’s Autodesk Civil 3D 2021 Essentials on LinkedIn Learning for a deeper dive.

For more inquiries, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Architectural Workflow with Civil 3D

A look at how Civil 3D can be part of your Architectural workflow. Architects need the modelled context for their buildings. Often Civil engineers and landscape architects only provide 2D context. Architects then must model this data themselves. Civil 3D will make modelling this context so much easier and with AEC Collections those tools are included.

AEC Collection: Not just Revit & AutoCAD

Aimed at the Architecture Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry, this collection includes 17 programs, an interesting array of tools to support the current crop of practices adapt to emerging modes of digital delivery.

Lately Autodesk is encouraging existing and new users of Revit and AutoCAD to subscribe or upgrade to their flagship AEC Collection. Aimed at the Architecture Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry, this collection includes 17 programs, an interesting array of tools to support the current crop of practices adapt to emerging modes of digital delivery. The major ones (asides from Revit and AutoCAD) include Civil 3D, InfraWorks, Recap Pro, Navisworks, 3ds Max, Formit Pro.

This first video attempts to look at 6 of the 17 programs, giving a small glimpse into their uses.

A goal of Autodesk is to help their customers move from traditional project delivery to the emerging digital delivery workflows, what we call BIM (Building Information Modeling). A big part of Autodesk’s Future of Making Things roadmap.

In our subsequent video we will be discussing what the other 11 programs can help you with these workflows.

AEC Collection: It’s not just Revit & AutoCAD

For those who purchased the AEC Collection and are not clear about what’s included, this is a brief introduction to 6 of the 17 programs in the collection.

Revit and Sketchup with Twinmotion

Most design studios with a moderately large team will use multiple platforms to meet project deadlines.
SketchUp and Autodesk Revit is one such combination.

Most design studios with a moderately large team will use multiple platforms to meet project deadlines.
SketchUp and Autodesk Revit is one such combination.
Using Twinmotion as their visualization platform, multiple models are combined to create amazing renders, animations and Virtual Reality (VR) experiences.

We have prepared 3 short Tutorials showing how to work with Sketchup and Revit, in Twinmotion.
We review issues when linking multiple files into Twinmotion.
There are two ways of linking Sketchup files to Twinmotion
And two ways to link Revit Model files to Twinmotion.

Understanding how this works may save time spent on rework.

NOTE: Twinmotion can only “Directlink” from one platform (current version)

If the main “Directlink” model is Revit, Sketchup models must be imported (Twinmotion Import Sketchup Models directly)

If the main “Directlink” model is Sketchup, then the Revit Model will be exported (from the Twinmotion tool ribbon in Revit) as an FBX model and imported into Twinmotion.

In the third video we show what happens to Linked and imported Sketchup and Revit files in Revit Project file and how these models behave when linked into Twinmotion.

Understanding Internal Origin locations of each platform will help speed up reloading different design options and design location adjustments.

The other issue covered is the level of the terrain model in Twinmotion. The Sketchup and Revit internal origins are coincident. The Twinmotion terrain is slightly lower, select the terrain model and adjust.

It’s a lot of fun working in Twinmotion. Hope all this helps.

PART 1: Sketchup with Twinmotion: Linking Sketchup files to Twinmotion

The two ways of linking Sketchup files to Twinmotion. 1. Directlink Method 2. Importing Method Two tips: Origins and Adjusting Terrain Levels

PART 2: Revit with Twinmotion: Linking Revit files to Twinmotion

The two ways of linking Revit files to Twinmotion. 1. Directlink Method 2. Export FBX and Import Method Two tips: Origins and Adjusting Terrain Levels

PART 3: Revit, Sketchup with Twinmotion: Issues to Anticipate

Issues to Anticipate 1. Linked Revit Files 2. Linked Sketchup Files in Revit 3. Imported Sketchup Files in Revit

Introduction

Pro: Precision Meets 3D

Navisworks Training: Custom Catalog & Visual Takeoff Check for Quantity Surveyors

Con: The Tech Hurdle

A Really Simple Quantification Setup in Navisworks

Pro: Clash Detection – Your Project’s Sixth Sense

Con: The Need for Speed (and Space)

Pro: Collaboration Made Easy

Navisworks - Essential Skills for Quantity Surveyors"

Conclusion: A Tool of Many Talents

Maximize Your Revit Efficiency with RTV Drawing Manager!

12 Essential Tips to Enhance Your Revit Family Content Creation Workflow

Essential Tips 1, 2, 3

Essential Tips 4, 5, 6

Essential Tips 7, 8, 9

Essential Tips 10, 11, 12

Like to know more?

Managing Versions on BIM Collab Pro

Managing Versions on BIM Collab Pro

Comparing Versions: 3 Ways

Building in a Post-COVID World: Adapting to Material and Skill Shortages

HOW TO SURVIVE SUPPLY CHAIN SHORTAGE

More than ever in our architectural practice, we have to consider the issue of supply chain shortages both in skills and materials. The impact is enormous when considering planning issues, extended time frames and financial costs

ACTUALLY STARTING PLANNING

Joe Keogh, Director of Viewlistic, on the importance of planning and anticipating changes in your Revit project, but also for supply chain shortages becoming a real and frequent occurrence.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Revit & Supply Chain Shortage, what you can do about it. Advice from Nathan Fenn Design Technology Specialist

REVISION TRACKING WITH BIM COLLAB PRO

Did you know you can track revisions in BIM Collab Pro? And retrieve previous versions. Nathan Fenn explains.

Collaboration

Design Review

Common Data Environment

Navisworks

New Toolset

Unveiling the Essentials: A Glimpse into Our Discovery Session

What about Revit Content?

AutoCAD to Revit isn't that hard when you have a guiding hand.

Finding and placing Revit Content with speed and ease

Wish I could do that!

Manage multiple Revit files in one place.

How did you get here?

How do you manage this!

Taking a sneak peek at Kinship

Joint Venture projects and privacy

What about Revit Project Health?

Survey Levels in Revit in 4 easy steps.

Survey Setup in Revit in 4 easy steps.

Autodesk Civil 3D

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