Tag Archives: customization

Revit pumpkin carving!

Posted on October 31, 2013 by nmcclure

Used the holiday to introduce the teams to adaptive components for creating complex geometry.  In this case, a parametric pumpkin, that each person then carved out with voids.  Here’s my sample:   And rendered with ‘candles’ inside:

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Why/When to use Shared Parameters

Posted on March 14, 2013 by nmcclure

Revit is an Object Oriented Database, using numeric ‘handles’ to track data fields, and associate them to individual elements, via category definition. This invisible ‘handle’ is more important than the name of the parameter itself in correctly consolidating information. Whenever … Continue reading →

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Linework of embedded elements

Posted on September 27, 2012 by nmcclure

Users often complain about ‘missing lines’ where complex assemblies overlap/embed into each other: The easiest resolution for this is to use the Join Geometry tool, and select the two elements that overlap, however if the elements are (as in this … Continue reading →

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Highlighting Affected Parameters

Posted on September 20, 2012 by nmcclure

I like to give credit where credit is due – and this aspect of working formulas into parametric families deserves a bit of praise – when selecting parameters in the Family Types dialog, the view will highlight the parameters that … Continue reading →

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Defining the Workflow

Posted on September 11, 2012 by nmcclure

We designers are visually oriented folk. Defining a workflow that teams will understand (and therefore more likely follow) has been most successful if accompanied by one of these: Each item is expanded on in documentation I’m adding to a client’s … Continue reading →

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3D or not 3D – that is the question

Posted on April 23, 2012 by nmcclure

First off – not EVERYTHING in a virtual 3D model needs to be in 3D. This is an important concept to emphasize, as the first impulse of a team is that everything will be 3D, and that can be overwhelming  … Continue reading →

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Putting the I in IPD

Posted on February 8, 2012 by nmcclure

More and more, subconsultants are being provided a Building Information Model rather than traditional 2D backgrounds, and are being asked to return a 3D deliverable in kind.  And with that, comes questions: Q:  Do I have to use Revit, too? … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, BIM/Revit | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Customizing PAT files

Posted on December 13, 2011 by nmcclure

Most architectural firms are using Revit heavily for the visualization benefits, and as such want to get as close to reality representing key materials as possible. While some requests just don’t weigh out in the ‘pros/cons’ analysis (modeling battens on … Continue reading →

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Geometric Formula Parameters

Posted on October 11, 2011 by nmcclure

Content creation is an evolving skill. Training team members to create symbolic furniture or equipment families is at the lower end of the skill set, where creating multi-referencing parametric families involving rules of proportion are at the higher end.  This … Continue reading →

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Introduction to the Revit .ini

Posted on August 18, 2011 by nmcclure

All of the default settings and operations in Revit are controlled by the .ini file in the install.  The ini file is the portal for any customization of your Revit environment, from changing the background color from white to black,  … Continue reading →

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