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Advancing Your Skills

Your Knowledge Your Power

Also in this issue: Integrated CAM with HSM

Express

The Creative Process in

3ds Max

The Potential for

Advancement in AEC

Diamond Sponsor

January 2014AUGIWorldT h e O f f i c i a l P u b l i c a t i o n o f A u t o d e s k U s e r G r o u p I n t e r n a t i o n a l
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Copyright 2013 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice.

* Select configurations of the ZBook 14 qualify as an UltrabookTM

Intel, the Intel Logo, Intel Inside, Intel Core, Core Inside, and Ultrabook are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Create. Collaborate.Innovate. On-site.Create anywhere with HP ZBook 14, the worlds frst workstation Ultrabook.*We packed the extraordinary innovation, power, and reliability of a Z Workstation

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AUGIWorld

contentsproduct focus

24

34

6 3ds Max 2014: The Creative Process

12 Revit Structure 2014: Creating AdvancedFamilies in Revit

16 AutoCAD: Cleaning Up AutoCAD

Drawings

24 AutoCAD Architecture 2014: Working

with Point Clouds

28 Revit Architecture: The Potential for

Advancement in AEC

31 Navisworks Manage 2013: Measuring Up

34 AutoCAD Civil 3D 2014: Hitting All the

Keys on the Piano

36 Inventor HSM: Integrated CAM withHSM Express

January 2014 www.augi.com

columns4 Editors Note

42 Inside Track

6

28

Cover image:

New Zealand Parliament buildings and statue of Richard JohnSeddon. Photo Copyright 2013 Robin Capper. Reuse of fullor partial copyright image, in any form, without prior writtenpermission is strictly prohibited. Visit Robins blog athttp://rcd.typepad.com/.
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Editors Note

JA

NUARY2014

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EditorsEditor-in-ChiefDavid Harrington - [email protected]

Copy EditorMarilyn Law - [email protected]

Layout EditorDebby Gwaltney - [email protected]

Content Managers3ds Max - Brian ChapmanAutoCAD - Curt MorenoAutoCAD Architecture - Melinda HeavrinAutoCAD Civil 3D - Christopher FugittAutoCAD MEP - William CampbellColumn: Inside Track - Lee AmbrosiusInventor - John EvansNavisworks - Michael SmithProduct Review - Lonnie CumptonRevit Architecture - Jay ZallanRevit MEP - Todd ShackelfordRevit Structure - Phil Russo

Advertising / Reprint Sales

Kate Morrical- [email protected]

AUGI ManagementPresidentDavid Harrington

Vice PresidentR. Robert Bell

Executive Director

Kevin Merritt

Treasurer

Desire Mackey

SecretaryMelanie Perry

Board of Directors

R. Robert BellShaun BryantTommy HolderDesire MackeyKate MorricalMelanie PerryMichael SmithWalt SparlingScott Wilcox

Publication InformationAUGIWorld magazine is a benet of specic AUGImembership plans. Direct magazine subscriptionsare not available. Please visithttp://www.augi.com/account/registerto join or upgrade your membershipto receive AUGIWorld magazine in print. To manageyour AUGI membership and address, please visithttp://www.augi.com/account . For all other magazin

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Published by:AUGIWorld is published by Autodesk User Group Intenational, Inc. AUGI makes no warranty for the use of itproducts and assumes no responsibility for any errorswhich may appear in this publication nor does it makecommitment to update the information contained hereAUGIWorld is Copyright 2012 AUGI. No informa-tion in this magazine may be reproduced withoutexpressed written permission from AUGI.

All registered trademarks and trademarks included in tmagazine are held by their respective companies. Everattempt was made to include all trademarks and regis-tered trademarks where indicated by their companies.

AUGIWorld (San Francisco, Calif.)ISSN 2163-7547

Hello, AUGIWorldReader!

Welcome to the first issue of 2014! WOOHOO! We have a wonderfulyear planned. Tis year you will begin to see non-product subject matterfrom columnists along with our traditional Autodesk software articles. As

always, each month we have a general theme to try to focus on our content and thismonth is no different. For January 2014 I asked our authors to consider sharing somevery advanced ideas and insight.

But before we roll into that I would like to thank Robin Capper, this months cover pho-

tographer. Robin captured some really interested shots on a recent visit to New Zealandand shared that with us. As mentioned before, if you have neat and interesting photos tograce our cover, just contact me and perhaps you too can be here.

Tis month we start out visual with an article by Ruben Dario Karamaites Arango,who shares the creative process he uses for his work with 3ds Max. Ten we have ScottMelching showing off his metal in creating advanced families in Revit Structure.

Next we have Walt Sparling doing a little early spring cleaning of drawing files when us-ing AutoCAD. And partnered in the AutoCAD space is Michael Beall, who brings howto edit Properties content quickly. We follow that with Melinda Heavrin, who shareswhat she has learned about using Point Clouds in AutoCAD Architecture.

Moving into Revit Architecture, Jennifer Storey tackles the potential for advancementin the AEC industry. And playing up the theme is Mark Hunter, who shows how tomeasure up when using Navisworks Manage. And then Christopher Fugitt bangs out achorus when hitting the keyboard to find solutions for using AutoCAD Civil 3D.

Wrapping up the month we have John Evans who gets integrated CAD with HSMExpress (whatever that is ) and then Lee Ambrosius with the months look at newproducts and services hot out of development in our Inside rack column.

Tere you have it! Te first of many issues of AUGIWorld this year. And for thoseAUGI Professional Members who get AW delivered in print, thank you for supporting

the organization such that we can provide you a hard copy of the magazine. See younext month!

ake care,

David Harrington

AUGIWorldEditor-in-Chief

AUGIWorld

Autodesk, AutoCAD, Autodesk Architectural Desktop, Autodesk Revit, Autodesk Building Systems, Autodesk Civil Design, Autodesk In-ventor and DWF are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc. in the U.S.A. and/or in certain other countries. All otherbrand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.
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BIM LibraryARCAT has the most comprehensive collecon of BIM objectsyou will find, available free of charge and without registraon.

The ARCAT BIM Library is also accessible in the ARCAT app,

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3ds Max 2011

PRO

DUCTFOCUS

by: Ruben Dario Karamaites Arang

INTRODUCTION

Why is Autodesk 3ds Max one of thegreatest programs on the market? Be-cause the tools blend so well that art-ists and other professionals can work

with it efficiently, minimizing time and effort.

In this article we will enter a realm of technical skills, tools, pitfalls,and problems I had to face to create Te Guna Yala Indian image.

Te Guna Yalas are native Indians of Panama and cultural iconswho shape Panamas identity. Living on islands such as San Blasamong other regions and reserves, the Guna Yala people are themost pictorial and colorful of them all.

The CreativeProcess

PHOTO SESSIONS

First of all, I want to thank photographers Javier Conte (his wesite is www.contefotografia.com) and Rita Willaert (you can finher on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/rietje/ ) for their pesonal time and effort in helping to make this project possible.

In the beginning of the project I called Javier Conte antold him about the idea of generating a 3d still image baseon the Guna Yalas; he was interested so we coordinated thphoto sessions.

At first, we spent some time searching for someone to modelremember looking for at least a month, but in the last week Javiremembered a friend that lived near him who agreed to help, so wstarted the photo shoot.

We began the sessions taking photos of the womans front vieside, back, close ups of hands, dresses, skirts, and handkerchieUsing two point light rigs with umbrellas and flashlights, we sup the scene so there was even illumination preventing projecteshadows onto our 3d model. Tis also helped to help create cutomized textures used for the 3d model.

Follow an artist as he creates the worktitled Te Guna Yala Indian using 3dsMax software and other products
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3ds Max 2011

Figure 1: The Guna Yala Indian 3d Model by Ruben Daro Karamaites Arango

he model was posed like Da Vincis he Vitruvian Man, aneutral posture with the hands extended away from the bodyon both sides. his is currently the best known pose for rig-ging methodology.

MODELING PHASE 1: HEAD AND DRESS

After we finished the photo session, I selected the photos thatwould most help me digitally sculpt the woman correctly.

I also researched anatomy references and size and comparisons ofheights in women. Tese helped me to develop a more accurate 3dmodel (using meters as my measure units).

Understanding anatomy and research is extremely important whenyou start modeling parts of the body, especially in humans and ani-mals. Te loops should flow following the muscle lines, which alsohelp determine the correct form of facial expression and providebetter control on the head rigging helpers.

In this case I modeled the face with the expression she had in thephotograph. After I modeled the head I sent the .obj file to Zbrushfor further sculpting.

o export obj files to Zbrush you can use the plug-in GoZ inZbrush, but if you are not familiar with its functions, try this: Goto the Max icon, click on export, then select OBJ format and in thepreset you can choose Zbrush and keep everything default. Youcan uncheck Export Materials and Create Mat-library inside theMaterial tab, then click export.

Figure 2: The handkerchief

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3ds Max 2011

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MODELING PHASE 3: ARM PEARLS

One of the most difficult tasks in creating this image was push the limits in modeling techniques and managing incredibamounts of object instances. Building up the bracelets was a lonand tedious task.

Te first issue I encountered was to determine how these braceleare truly built. Te process is quite difficultit consists of insering a wool thread through the pearls hole and then at the end tit up with a knot all the way from the wrist to the elbow, almocompletely covering the forearm.

At the beginning I copied the arm and then subdivided it sthat the transversal loops will be as close as possible whitrying to keep the distance of two pearls. I selected ring, theselected the loop inside the editable poly properties so thparallel edges will be converted into splines using the CreaShape from Selection.

Te pearls were constructed as patches using splines and a Lathmodifier to make the holes in the center. I use these patches make copies of these instances and work them around the splinusing the Align menu Spacing tool.

Te incident triggered viewport performance problems and an amost inoperable machine with a 1.3 GB NVidia GeForce vidcard and a scene containing close to 800,000 polygons. Tis oligated me to find an alternative to handling the large amount repeated patch instances 3ds Max failed to handle.

As for the dress shirt and skirt, I created a base model in 3ds Max, andthen I exported them to Zbrush to paint general wrinkles and base de-formations. When I finished with the base model in Zbrush, I exportedonce again, but in this case to model a new topology inside opoGun.

With opoGun, I drew polygons following the contours of the wrin-kles, defining the loops better to get the consistency I needed for detailsat a higher scale. Tese were applied to sleeves and the upper part of theskirt where the wrinkles were more pronounced and where applying anormal or bump map would fail at creating the proper illumination.

MODELING PHASE 2: THE

HANDKERCHIEF

Te handkerchief on her head was really easy to do. I created asingle plane, converted it into an editable poly, and triangulatedit using the essellate modifier. Inside the essellate properties Ichose triangle and on the tensions I dropped it to 0.0 and put 4 inthe iterations tab to increase resolution.

After that I assigned collisions to the head and dress as rigid bodyinstances and the handkerchief as a cloth with gravity applied toit. Finally, I created an animated simulation with correct dynamicsand physics to simulate the cloth.

Te animated simulation started with the cloth suspended in airwith gravity applied to it; the head and dress had no gravity ap-plied to them. I ran the simulation, which caused the cloth to layon the head and dress and eventually fall to infinity. I deleted all thekeys from the simulation I was not going to use and kept the onewith the handkerchief in the proper shape.

Figure 3: The arm pearls
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3ds Max 2011

Te performance problem appeared to be caused by the patches,which generally have less of a polygon count than other options,but seem to require more processing power.

Te solution was to make polygons and use the urbosmooth

modifier for a higher resolution. With editable polys, the scenespolygon count rose 3,000,000 more or less, at least three timesmore than when using patches, but my machine processed betterand moved evenly in the viewport. I also attached all the instancestogether to make a single object and displayed it as a bounding boxusing Object properties so I could keep working on the other arm.

TEXTURING PHASE 1: ZBRUSH UV

MASTER

After the modeling stage and everything was set up, I began un-wrapping (an important step for texturing). Te tools in 3ds Max

for unwrapping purposes are really good and easy to use, at leastfor selecting things and efficiently breaking UV groups and poly-gons. It has a great relaxing tool using the faces method and with1,000 iterations, UVs can spread strongly.

In this case, I didnt use the unwrap modifier inside 3ds Max. In-stead I used Zbrushs UV Master plug-in that comes with Zbrushversion 4R2. Tis plug-in allowed me to unwrap everything aftersculpting, which saved me some time.

A great advantage of using the UV Master plug-in was that I justhad to paint the areas or the loops I wanted to efficiently unwrap.

I also had the ability to automatically relax things evenly withoutusing checkered images to analyze polygon stretches. Finally, iteliminated the need to use sub-elements such as vertex, edges, andpolygons to move things around. Tis helped to avoid errors.

After unwrapping, I used MARI 2.1 to paint. I consider MARIone of the greatest painting programs I have ever used, and ex-traordinarily useful tools come with the new version.

Some examples of these tools are its new layer system, wherebefore it used channels to paint. Also available are filters such asmultiply, overlay, and screen, and an option to use color correctionmodifiers on each layer.

TEXTURING PHASE 2: MARI AND MAX

SHADERS

Regarding the process of painting images on the 3d models in MARI,one of the first steps I did to the picture, for example, the front view ofthe face, was to remove all highlights and shadows and make the pictureas balanced as possible, helping to minimize glossy skin due to naturalskin oil and light exposure, which cut out skin detail in those areas.

Using displacement maps, normal maps, and bump maps a greatamount of detail could be added. I altered the expressions usingother photos as reference, and applied proper color corrections, fi-nally painting the image projections inside MARI.

Figure 4: Texturing

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Ill talk next about displacement maps and bump maps. For thebiggest detailsbone structures and big wrinkles, for exampledisplacements are the best option. Te problem with them is thatyou need a great number of polygons for the map.

Here I used the 3ds Max Displace Modifier. Tis was a good op-tion because I could see the effect of the displacement maps onviewport and could assign how much strength, decay, and lumi-nance center I wanted for better results.

Te Displace Modifier is easy to use, but I usually follow spe-cific steps to use it. I usually load the .tif file of the displacementmapsthe shirt, for instanceand drop it into the Material Edi-tor socket as an image and then drag and insert it inside Map. Teother important step is that I check Using Existing Mapping so itrecognizes the unwrapping I do in Zbrush or Max. Finally, I checkthe Luminance center to help keep the majority of the initial shapeand move strength to enhance features.

For bump mapping I usually use a composite material so I can add

it in the bump channel inside the SSS Shader. Tis helps me tohave control in the opacity values and strengths.

TEXTURING PHASE 3: SSS SHADER

In this section we will see some of the techniques I use for get-ting a proper setting inside the SSS Shader. I usually use the SSSs(Subsurface Scattering Shader) Fast Skin, because it has lots ofproperties and also is the most accurate.

Tese properties are used to simulate skin layers and, with someeffort, get results much closer to reality.

Tere are various channels I use inside the SSS Shader. One is thebump shader and, as I stated before, it is used to create wrinkles byusing composite materials. Another channel that is really importantis the Overall Diffuse Coloration; here I import the original colorimage that I took from MARI. Te effect for obtaining real skinis enhanced by a series of channels. Tese are the Epidermal opLayer, which is a channel that basically is related to dead skin. As wehumans are constantly shedding skin, this image is used to simulateit. Basically its the original skin image with a very low saturation(almost a black and white image with a bit of red and yellow values).

Te other channel I use was the Subdermal Scatter Color whichis basically the skin layer beneath our outside skin. Tese simu-late the lower veins, capillaries, internal injuries, and bruises. Teimage I use is the original skin image with strongly enhanced redvalues and a little bit of yellow as well.

By default, the SSS skin shader has also specular channels thatcontrol the shininess of the skin, but the values are too high for re-alistic skin and if you render it as is, the skin will look like plastic.

Te image I use inside the Specular Weight#1 was a retouchedimage of the displacement maps with high contrast, but with grays

and white information in the areas were glossiness (exposure) wstrongfor example, the tip of the nose, in the top eyelids, the tof the ears and lips.

Another great trick was changing the Reflection Weight values minimum and importing an HDR image inside the Local Envronment channel to create a Fresnel reflection effect that helpfor realism.

RIGGING PHASE

Tis phase was really not too difficult, but as always it had its owissues. One of the things I found most difficult was the natural psition. It was relative to gravity, state of mind of the person I usas reference, and the persons expression.

Rigging the body was not demanding because I modeled it instanding pose. Te fingers took the most time.

A great trick is to model the hand with slight bending of the fingers so the rigging can be manageable from straight positions full fist positions. Flexing the fingers was delicate work becausehad to learn where the knuckles bent and how the wrinkles reactbeneath them for proper effect.

With the Skin Modifier properties, painting weights has to be acompanied with good modeling. For example, in areas where thknuckles bend I created several loops so when the Biped Bone bethe form would be maintained while creating the effect of the skwrap around the internal bone and ligament of the fingers.

DISCOVERIESIt was a great experience managing all the steps to create this image. I found pitfalls that helped me learn, such as the multiplicopies instances with patches, eliminating skin glossiness anshadow information in photo references, among other discoverithat appeared on a lower level.

As I say to my 3d animation students, the learning process is dificult because of the amount of information available. It is impotant to push yourself to the limit by assigning yourself projecwith strong challenges. I believe this is the best way to learn. Withours and hours of hard/intensive work and dedication, in time

will come to you.

Ruben Dario Karamaites Arangowas born in a small town called ParqueLefevre in a small country, Panama.He has studied and worked in Ar-gentina as a 3d artist and worked inIndia as a exturing Supervisor forSkyworks Studios. He is currently theartist making 3d renderings for theTird Set of Locks inside the PanamaCanal Authority.
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Revit Structure 2014

PRO

DUCTFOCUS

PRO

DUCTFOCUS


by: Scott Melchin

When discussing the advanced applica-tions that Autodesk Revit offers,the opinions are varied. When dis-cussing which advanced applications

are important, the opinions are equally varied. Eachdiscipline has its own idea of which applications are more ad-vancedand more importantthan others. But whatever dis-cipline, all can agree that Revit offers more capabilities, to moredisciplines, on a broader scale than any other software inthe world. Revit has something to offerwhether in Architec-ture, Engineering, Mechanical, Conceptual Modeling, and soon,Structural Steel Detailing.

STRUCTURAL STEEL DETAILING

Te concept of detailing structural steel within Revit, and furtherdefining the idea of BIM, is becoming increasingly popular. With

the evolution of BIM, the need for one model by designers becoming clearer with each project. Te recent announcement technology acquisition from Graitec, specifically its Advance Steand Advance Concrete product lines, by Autodesk, underscorthat need. While other programs exist that perform structursteel detailing, none perform it directly in the Revit environmenor even in the same language. Our hope would be that this acquition would lead to it being done directly in the Revit environmenwhich is certainly possible. When fully realized, this developmewill poise Revit to become the undisputed King of the Hill of thAEC industry.

As the primary focus of our business, we utilize Revit for just thpurpose. Granted, out of the box Revit currently doesnt lend self easily to this task (hence, the subject of this article); howevethe vast depth of advanced Revit functions do allow for this, moeasily than you might think.

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January 2014 www.augiworld.com

Figure 1: Structural steel detailing in Revit

VARIETY OF SELECTION

As any detailer knows, no single connection willwork everywhere on a project. Te entire concept ofdetailing is creating whatever elements are neededto connect a structure, while ensuring those connec-tions meet AISC and/or LRFD criteria. Tat beingsaid, Revit is actually the perfect tool for this. Te

advanced parametric functions of Revit allow forthe creation of complex connection families that canbe parametrically controlled, through instance parameters and/ortype parameters, depending on the specific need. Tere really isnta limitation on the type of family that can be constructed in Revitusing advanced family building techniques.

Tere have been many books published on the subject of familyconstruction. Tese are a great start, but the final determinationon how well you are able to develop custom Revit families will bedetermined by the amount of seat time you can devote to thetask. Family construction, for the novice, isnt an easy task, but likeanything in Revit or in life, practice makes perfect. Soon, you willbe creating custom families that significantly reduce the amountof time spent in a project, increasing your profitability. Eventu-ally, you will be creating custom families that allow you to offerservices that no one else can offer, at prices no one else can touch,all because you put the seat time into the family creation task anddeveloped a better mouse trap.

Figure 2: Structural connections in Revit

MORE THAN A CONNECTOR

Detailing is much more than connections, and soare Revit families. Detailing also includes Misc.Metals. Examples of the families that can be cre-

ated in-house include parametric roof frames, stairassemblies, railing assemblies, railing brackets, gird-er and joist stabilizer plates, saddles for wood beams,girder/beam haunches, joist bottom chord exten-sions, cap plates, base plates, shear plates, angle clips,

just to name a fewand all fully parametric. Tebeauty of Revits family creation tool is that what-ever the need is on a project, if can be constructed inRevit. As a fabricator, if I needed something made,

I went to the shop, picked the proper steel item, and created what-ever I needed. As a detailer, utilizing Revit, I create elements in thevery same manner. Te advanced capabilities of Revit really are adetailers dream.

Figure 3: Miscellaneous Metals in Revit

REVIT AS A PROTOTYPE TOOL

Revit is perfect as a rapid prototyping tool. In the engineering of-fice, Revit can be used to rapidly assemble a rough structural framefor the engineers review. After this review, the frame can be final-ized based on the in-house detailers use of Revit for structuralsteel detailing. Tis vital step in the design process is one that is

often overlooked as unimportant, but the reality is, as we move to-ward full BIM implementation, the only logical placement choicefor the structural detailer is in the engineers office. Te ability touse a detailer to create the initial model, then connect up and detailthat model after the engineers approval, is a currently unrealizedcost savings in both time and rework.

MORE THAN A DETAILING

TOOL

How many of you have received the dreaded call, Our

equipment wont fit? Often, the need arises to co-ordinate equipment sizes and locations with buildingelements long before the equipment is installed. In

Figure 4: Rapid prototyping in Revit

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some cases, buildings are constructed aroundequip-ment. With Revit, coordination of such elementsis an easy task. Many times it is possible to simplydownload the manufacturers equipment modelfrom Autodesk Seek or other online sites contain-ing user-created Revit content. Sometimes, however,the model you need simply doesnt exist. Create it.Revits advanced modeling capabilities allow, literally,anything to be made. Whether it is a grain silo, ham-mer mill, mash cooker, or yeast tank...all of these elements are easilycreated in Revit. As these models are created they are easily insertedinto the model, and coordination becomes a routine task. In the caseof a well-known ennessee distillery, grain silos were created, in thefinished configuration, and moved around the site to ensure that thefinal positioning allowed for the proper ingress/egress of the dozensof tractor trailers that would be seen on a daily basis. Likewise, otherequipment models were created and inserted into the model to en-sure that all the elements fit properly, and even maintenance needswere addressed through this process.

Figure 5: Equipment coordination in Revit

MORE THAN A COORDINATION TOOL

Revit has also been used on historic preservation projects. Friendsof Old Seven (www.friendsofoldseven.org) was found-ed in an effort to spearhead the rescue and preserva-tion of the historic Seven Mile Bridge in Marathon,Florida. As part of this effort, Revit was utilized notonly to reflect the current condition of the bridge,but also to show what the bridge could look like afterthe preservation efforts were complete. Consideringthat the bridge is more than 100 years old, every ele-ment created for this project was created completelyfrom scratch, using Revit exclusively.

In addition to the existing 100+-year-old elements that had to becreated for the project, the proposed final use model included ele-ments that currently do not exist, but would have to be createdfor this project. In both cases, Revit easily handled the creation ofthese elements. One of the unique elements for this project was ascale transport train to traverse the bridge, carrying tourists alongits historic route. Revits phenomenal family creation tools evenallowed for this to be created. A word of caution: Dont open Revitexpecting to find a train creation tool, and you wont find it in theEntourage folder either. Tis was a completely custom element inRevit; however, the fact that it CAN be created in Revit speaks tothe unilateral, unparalleled power of Revit.

Figure 6: Historic preservation concepts in Revit

REVIT AS A SALES TOOL

We designers sometimes tend to forget that others either cannoor do not, see our vision. Customers look to us to create their finvision. Tis is not an easy task; if it were, everyone would be a dsigner. Te often overlooked visual representation tools affordby Revit can be the perfect sales tool. It may take a bit more effo

on the front end to create a conceptual model for

serious customer, but what better representation your proposal than a model showing exactly whyou are proposing?

Te amount of time spent on the model is up to eadesigner, but the ability to show a rendered photgraph of the finished product or even a walkthrouvideo will always tell more than any conversatio

can. Te beauty of Revit is this: When you create a conceptumodel, you have already started a working model. No more wyou have to take a SketchUp model and recreate it in Revit; thconceptual model will take its place. No more will you have convert a hand sketch to a model. Tat task has been eliminatand you may have gained a sale because of it.

Figure 7: Revit as a sales tool

FINAL DETERMINATION

It is impossible to list all the individual functions that can bperformed with Revit to make your project, or your daily worflow, stand out among the rest. Each advanced technique is aplied based on what you are creating, how you are creating and your intended final application. o say that using advanctechniques is an art wouldnt be an overstatement. In many wait is art, and those who can artfully use the techniques are thones who will stand out among the rest.
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Scott is a former fab/erect companyowner with 25 years experience in

the industry. An avid Revit enthusi-ast and Revit Architecture CertifiedProfessional, he is currently the ownerof S Detailing & Design, Inc.www.stdetai l inganddesign.com,American Stair Designwww.americanstairdesign.com,and Phoenix Design Studioswww.phoenixdesignstudios.com.Living the beach life in sunny SouthFlorida, Scott can always be reachedat: [email protected]

Below are some images of projects created completely withinthe Revit environment, most of them using completely customfamilies. Te final determination on which advanced level youoperate in Revit will be determined by seat time and desire. Forthose who dare to be different, who dare to stand out among thecompetition, the time will be easily given. It requires a substan-tial dedication of passion, time, and effort, and while that maynot be for everyone, Revit is.

Whether your project is a simple boat house, a complex hospital,a structural frame, or a visual representation, Revit is the capableone. Revit isnt just everything to one disciplineit is everythingto everyone. Te only limitation is your imagination. If you candream it, Revit can help you create it.

Figure 8: Unlimited creativity in Revit

Below are some examples of custom Revit connection familiesused during the structural detailing process. All of these familiesare fully parametric, allowing single families to be used multipletimes within the same project, or on multiple projects. Whetherit is a shear plate, connection bolt, or a modified joist family, all areeasily created in the Revit environment.
http://www.augiworld.com/http://www.stdetailinganddesign.com/http://www.americanstairdesign.com/http://www.phoenixdesignstudios.com/mailto:mailto:Scott%40STDetailingandDesign.com?subject=mailto:mailto:Scott%40STDetailingandDesign.com?subject=http://www.phoenixdesignstudios.com/http://www.americanstairdesign.com/http://www.stdetailinganddesign.com/http://www.augiworld.com/

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by: Walt SparlinAutoCAD 2014

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Anecessary part of many AutoCAD usersday is cleaning up drawing files. Not allusers set up their drawings with your usein mind, and sadly some dont set them

up with anybodysuse in mind. Tere are a variety ofreasons why AutoCAD users would need to clean up drawings.

MEP users who receive updated backgrounds from architectsor civil engineers.

Architects who receive clients prototypical drawings thatneed to be converted to the architects standards.

Architects who receive civil drawings to clean up for an archi-tectural site plan.

Autodesk Revit users who need to clean up AutoCADdrawings before linking or, in some cases, importing theminto Revit.

Architects and engineers who clean up their drawings beforesending them to an outside consultant or owner.

Archivers who need to clean up drawings for archival purposes.

Many times, users will clean up drawings only when they have to,such as for errors (crashing drawings, inability to import into otherapplications), or files being too big to email, etc. By keeping the

cleanup process simple and automating as much as possible, itmore likely to get done on a regular basis. As we all have expeenced, issues tend to hit on deadline day.

Everything starts with good habits and procedures. Start by keeing your drawings lean and efficient. Use standard layers, linetypand text styles. Use polylines and polygons when creating objecuse explode as a last resort, and use blocks/dynamic blocks to reresent your drawing data. Automate your drawing standards, anobject insertion processes verses copying one job to create anothSometimes, even with good drawing practices, files will need to

cleaned up. And when dealing with outside users, cleanup is a lmore likely.

AutoCAD has some built-in tools that can help make the drawicleanup process much easier. Tese tools can be used individuato handle certain cleanup tasks, or they can be used in conjunctiwith others to handle larger cleanups. A few of the tools that ymay find useful are Purge, Audit, Selectsimilar, AND Wblock.

A brief outline of what you would use each command for and tha more detailed description of how they can be used for your cleaup purposes follows, as well as some example scripts on how

Cleaning

Up AutoCADDrawings

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AutoCAD 2014

automate their use for drawing cleanup. Some of these commandshave dialog and command line options, so depending on your pro-ductivity style, you have options. If you are a mouse dialog, rib-bon, or toolbar user, I encourage you to consider the commandline versions to increase your productivity. Te command line canbe a powerful production option, especially when combined withshortcuts and macros.

PURGE: Removes unused named objects, such as blockdefinitions and layers, from the drawing using a dialog or thecommand line.

AUDIT: Evaluates the integrity of a drawing and correctssome errors (command line).

SELECTSIMILAR: A simple method to select objects basedon similar properties such as layer, color, name, or lineweight.

WBLOCK:Saves selected objects out of the current drawingor converts an existing block to a specified external drawing file.

PURGE

Over time, drawings get bloated with unnecessary and outdated in-formation. Tis can include unused layers, linetypes, fonts, styles,and blocks. By getting rid of these extraneous items you keep yourdrawings lean. Lean drawings use less memory and have less stor-age requirements, thus saving drive space, backup space, load andsave times, and email overhead. Lean drawings also are less likelyto become corrupt. Te following types of unused named objectscan be removed from the current drawing: block definitions, di-mension styles, groups, layers, linetypes, and text styles. It willalso remove zero-length geometry and empty text objects. TePURGE command will not remove un-named objects (see belowfor un-named blocks).

Purge can be done from the command line or through a dialog box.For various scenarios you may use one or the other. See Figure Afor the Purge dialog box from AutoCAD 2013. Te dialog showsthat basically no items are available to be purged. If you change thetop option from View items you can purge to View items youcannot purge, you can see all the things that are not purgeable.Are these still being used? Tese can include styles, linetypes, lay-ers, plot styles, and so on. If you dont think you are using these, butitems will not purge, then check some of the following.

Blocks:

Could it be nested inside another block?

Is it an attached Xref?

Is it an anonymous block that just wont purge? (*A)

Layers:

Is it a standard AutoCAD layer (0 or Defpoints)?

Is it used in part of a block definition?

Is it set current?

Does it have a block inserted on it?

Styles:

Could it be used in a dimension or mleader style?

Is it set current?

Linetypes:

Could it be used in a layer that is not being purged?

Is it set current? Is it part of a block definition?

Figure A: Purge dialog (Release 2013)

-PURGE (COMMAND LINE)

Purge also allows you to remove unused named objects from adrawing at the command prompt. You can only remove one level ofnested items at a time, so you may need to repeat the process untilthere are no items left to be purged. (Create a macro or script toautomate this.) Te PURGE command will also remove un-namedobjects (zero-length geometry or empty text and mtext objects start-ing in 2010). Even when using the All option, purge by default willnot remove REGAPPS**. Basic prompts and typical responses arebelow when typing -purge (the quotes are not required).

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or supply grille locations, but doing layer isolate (another handytool) gives you everything. Selectsimilar to the rescue!

Selectsimilar provides you with a way to select objects based onsimilar characteristics. Objects based on properties such as layer,color, or lineweight can be grabbed quickly with this command.Access the command by typing selectsimilar at the command lineor from the right-click shortcut menu after youve selected an ob-

ject. What is selected will depend on the current SELECSIMI-LARMODE value.

If you have objects with a different color being included whenselecting objects based on color, note that objects are consideredsimilar if they are set to BYLAYER. Tis also includes proper-ties such as linetype, lineweight, plot style, material, and trans-parency. For example, you may get text or line work selected eventhough they are not the same color if their color property is setto BYLAYER.

o select similar objects, you can type SELECSIMILAR (cre-

ate a shortcut like SS) or select an object that represents the cat-egory of objects you want to select, right-click, and choose SE-LEC SIMILAR.

Note: Only objects of the same type (lines, circles, polylines, etc.) areconsidered similar. You can change other shared properties with theSELECSIMILAR command, using the SE (Settings) option.

Te Settings dialog box controls which properties must match foran object of the same type to be selected.

Color Considers objects with matching colors to be similar.

Layer Considers objects on matching layers to be similar.

Linetype Considers objects with matching linetypes to besimilar.

Linetype scale Considers objects with matching linetypescales to be similar.

Lineweight Considers objects with matching lineweightsto be similar.

Plot style Considers objects with matching plot styles tobe similar.

Object style Considers objects with matching styles (suchas text styles, dimension styles, and table styles) to be similar.

Name Considers referenced objects (such as blocks, xrefs,and images) with matching names to be similar.

SELECTSIMILARMODE

o automate the SELECSIMILAR command in a macro orscript you would use SELECSIMILARMODE. As with manyAutoCAD commands, each combination of options has a bit code(numericalvalue). Some examples:

Select color only = 1

Select Color and Layer = 3

Select Color and Name = 129

Select Layer and Name = 130

o determine these values, run the SELECSIMILAR command,type SE, and toggle the options. Ten run the SELECSIMI-LARMODE command to find the numeric value of these options.

I use 130 most often. his allows me to isolate named ob-jects such as ext on the same layer. Using Selectsimilar to

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-WBLOCK not cutting it?

Sometimes even the WBLOCK command will not reducethe size of your files. For these continually nagging files, trythe DXFOU command.

DXFOU the file

Open the DXF

PURGE

SAVEAS

AUTOMATE YOUR CLEANUP PROCESS

By combining a mixture of the tools above along with some otherAutoCAD commands, you can reduce the cleanup time dramati-cally with Macros, Scripts and Scriptpro. Although macros havebeen my standard automation tool, it is often easier to use scripts

so that you can do batch automation with Scriptpro, a free utilityfrom Autodesk that can be found on the Autodesk website.

Example macros:

SuperSave:

^C^C -PURGE;A;*;N; -PURGE;A;*;N;AUDI;Y;-PURGE;A;*;N;ZOOM;E;SAVE;CLOSE;

Superpurge: (includes Regapps and WBlock)

^C^C-PURGE;A;*;N;AUDI;Y; -PURGE;A;*;N;-

PURGE;R;*;N;AUDI;Y;-PURGE;A;*;N;-WBLOCK;

Sample Macro in CUI

DeleteSimilar:

^C^CSELECSIMILARMODE; 130;SELECSIMILAR;/ERASE;P;

Note: be sure to define your similar mode in your script/macro bysetting the selectsimilarmode value.

If you have to commonly bind and save your drawings to an olderversion (SAVEAS), you can have a macro set up just for that.

^C^CZ;E;-PURGE;A;;N;AUDI;Y;-PURGE;A;;N;-PURGE;R;*;N;-PURGE;A;;N;BINDYPE;1;-XREF;B;*;SAVEAS;2004;

Tere is not one super cleanup command or macro tool that will

work for everyone, but you can get pretty close to what will equatetoyoursuper tool with a little thought. Look at your cleanup pro-cesswhat are you repeating or what is client A always requiringas part of the cleanup process? Automate these items using thetools above and tweak as necessary for each client.

Lets say you want one ultimate macro that varies slightly by client,but is pretty consistent overall. Some things you may want:

Set consistent units Use the Units command options.

Want the drawings to be lean and error free Use Audit andPurge.

All items to be color by layer Use the SEBYLAYER com-mand (Taws and Unlocks all layers).

Want the layers to be consistent Use client-specific LayerStates.

For clients who use the standard AutoCAD font style astheir standard Rename it to ARCH-SANDARD.

Saved when zoomed to extents Use Zoom, extents.

Te below macro would accomplish that and would take literally sec-onds to run.

^C^C-UNIS;4;16;1;0;0;N; -LAYER;;*;ON;*;UNLOCK;*;;-PURGE;A;;N;AUDI;Y;-PURGE;A;;N;SEBYLAYER;ALL;;YES;YES;Z;E;-LAYER;A;I; F:/CUSOM/LAYER_SAES/CLIEN_NAME/CLIEN.LAS;R;DESIRED_SAE;;;-RENAME;S;SANDARD;ARCH-SD;Z;E;SAVEAS;

Items in RED would vary by client.

If every job is totally unique for you and you need a generic macro,you would remove the layer states option above and you may want toskip the SEBYLAYER command as it may give undesired resultswhen plotting.

After the macro runs, you could use some of the other tools men-tioned above to clean up the drawing even further.

Standardization, automation, and training are the best tools for in-creasing your efficiency in any process in AutoCAD. Once you findout which tools (commands/macros/scripts/LISPs) are your go-toitems and you have a set process, you can whip through the drawing

cleanup process. Over time I have standardized on many of the abovecommands and macros, but I am always looking for new options toreduce any repetitive or time-wasting tasks.

TEST

est, est, est! When incorporating new tools and methods intoyour arsenal or cleanup process, be sure to test on non-productiondrawings or at least copies of drawings before you implement theseas standard tools. Each office may have unique file requirements thatneed to be considered when implementing these processes.

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OTHER TOOLS

Tis article by no means covers all the tools available for drawingcleanup, but these are some very useful ones that, when used in-dividually or in conjunction with others, can make your drawingcleanup process go much faster. As there are a multitude of optionsand tools available in AutoCAD for cleaning up your drawings, I

encourage you to look into some of these other powerful commandsand AutoCAD options.

SEBYLAYER:

Sets selected objects to color BYLAYER (as they should be). You canalso use this to change the linetype, lineweight, material, and transpar-ency to BYLAYER. Like SELECSIMILAR, SEBYLAYER hasa mode value (SEBYLAYERMODE) that can be set (i.e., for coloronly the value is 113). I typically do NO change linetype to BY-LAYER as it is a common scenario to have a linetype set to by entitybut on the same layer with other line types.

FILER:o create saved selection sets.

QUICK SELEC (QSELEC):

Use to select different types of objects that share the same proper-ties such as color, linetype, plot style, lineweight, transparency, etc.,and build a selection set on the fly.

OVERKILL:

Use to remove duplicate items in a drawing that share the samespace (i.e., doors, walls, lights, etc.) right on top of one another.Tis often happens when binding similar XREFs or copying itemsand inadvertently selecting the same origin and destination pointand not realizing it.

Clean, efficient drawings make for happy users!

Walt Sparling has worked in thebuilding design industry for 25+

years, starting as a hand drafter.He moved on to CADD in the mid1980s and then into CADD andnetworking training and consulting.Walt has served as project managerand designer in the mechanical andarchitectural realms and currentlyworks with an electrical engineeringfirm in ampa, Florida. In hisspare time, Walt maintains acouple of blogs and a personal website:FunctionSense.comand waltsparling.com

And Heres How toEdit Quick

Properties Content

Rollover ips are great (see AUGIWorld October 2012 forediting tips), but if you need to change a property of the se-lected object(s), simply customize the Quick Properties con-tent. Tis is another tidbit I shared in my Autodesk Univer-sity lab last month on how to add Background Mask to theQuick Properties content of Mtext.

How to Add a Background Mask Toggle toQuick Properties

1. Click on any Mtext, then click Quick Properties on theStatus bar.

2. Click the Customize button in the top right corner toopen the CUI, displaying three vertical panels. [In themiddle section, Mtext is already highlighted.]

3. In the Properties section on the right, check the box forBackground Mask.

4. Click OK to save your changes and close the CUI.

5. Click an Mtext object, then click the Background maskoption in Quick Properties.

6. Click the ellipses button to open the Background Maskdialog box.

7. Check the box for Use Background Mask as well as the boxfor Use Drawing Background Color, as shown in the figure.

8. Click OK to close the Background Mask dialog box, thenclose Quick Properties.

When you move the text on top of another object, you see themask effect.

Michael E. Beall (B. Arch.) is anAutodesk Authorized Author andthe owner of CAD rainer Guy,LLC. He has been presenting onsiteCAD training around the planet formore than 30 years. Contact him [email protected] orgive him a call at 502.500.2267.
http://functionsense.com/http://waltsparling.com/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://waltsparling.com/http://functionsense.com/

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http://www.xicomputer.com/

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PRO

DUCTFOCUSAutoCAD Architecture 2014

PRO

DUCTFOCUS


by: Melinda Heavr

Apoint cloud is basically a large collec-tion of points that are placed on a three-dimensional coordinate system. Pointcloud files greatly speed the design pro-

cess by providing real-world context where you canre-create the referenced objects or insert additional models. Pointclouds are derived from raw data gathered by using a 3D scannerto obtain points from such things as buildings, topographies, ormanufactured items.

Before you can use the data in your drawing, however, it needsto be converted to a point cloud file. Tis process is sometimesreferred to as indexing. You can use AutoCAD Architecture toconvert raw scan files to an ISD or PCG format. You can useAutodesks ReCap product to convert raw scan data to an RCSformat. Autodesk ReCap can also save files in an RCP format thatserves as a project file that references multiple RCS files. Bothformats can be attached to an AutoCAD Architecture drawing.

CREATING POINT CLOUDS FROM SCAN

FILES

A scanned data file can be converted to a point cloud file that cathen be attached to your drawing. o do this, begin by clickin

the Insert tab of the ribbon, Point Cloud panel, and then seleCreate Point Cloud. In the Select Scan File dialog box, finand select one or more files that you want to use to create poiclouds. You can choose the following formats: LAS, XYB, FLFWS, XYZ, X, ASC, PG, PS, PX, CLR, and CL3. the Create Point Cloud File dialog box, enter the settings for thimported point cloud, including whether to merge the files, wheto store the point cloud files, and what point cloud file format use (see Figure 1). If you import more than one file, you can merthem by selecting Merge All Scan Files into a Single Point ClouWhen selecting what point cloud format to use, you can select tAutodesk format (PCG) or Ambercore (ISD). With PCG fil

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AutoCAD Architecture 2014


you can import such properties as color, intensity, andnormal and custom attributes.

Now, click the Create button to start the process,which can take minutes or hours, depending on thefile size. Te dialog box is minimized, so you can con-tinue to work while the scan is in progress. Whenthe process is complete, the Status column in the tablechanges to Click to Attach.

o attach the new point cloud file to the current draw-ing, you can either click the Click to Attach messageor click the link in the balloon message on the taskbar. While point cloud creation is in process, hoverthe pointing device over the point cloud icon in thedrawing status bar in order to view the status of thebackground point cloud creation. o cancel a point cloud creationprocess, while the raw point cloud scan files are being indexed, youcan either right-click the point cloud icon in the drawing status barand select Cancel Point Cloud Creation, or you can click Cancel in

the Create Point Cloud File dialog box.

ATTACHING POINT CLOUDS

o attach a point cloud file as an external reference, begin by click-ing the Insert tab of the ribbon, Point Cloud panel and then se-lect Attach. In the Select Point Cloud File dialog box, find andselect an ISD, PCG, RCS, or RCP file to attach to the drawing andclick Open. In the Attach Point Cloud dialog box, specify yourpreferences for insertion point, scale, and rotation (see Figure 2).

If you would like to prevent the attached point cloud from beingmoved or rotated, select Lock Point Cloud. You can control the

individual scan file settings in the attached RCP file. You shouldturn on this setting if you do not want your drawing to be affectedby changes to the on/off status of individual scan files that are ref-erenced in the reality capture project (RCP) file. o do this, at theCommand prompt, enter POINCLOUDVISREAIN. Tenenter either 0 or 1. For zero (0), the drawing inherits the mostrecent on or off status of individual scan files referenced by theattached RCP file. For one (1), the drawing retains the on or offstatus of individual scan files at the time the RCP file was attached.

WORKING WITH POINT CLOUDS

Once a point cloud is attached to a drawing, you canmodify it, use it as a guideline for drawing, change itsdisplay, or apply a color mapping to distinguish differ-ent features. You can modify an unlocked point cloudin several ways.

Filter un-needed points by clipping You can cre-ate one or more clipping boxes to show only themost relevant areas of the point cloud. Drag theclipping boundaries to change the display and turnoff or invert the clipping filters as you work.

Modify point cloud density You can manageprogram performance and visual noise by increas-

ing or decreasing the number of visible points. Standard editing operations You can cut, copy,

paste, move, scale, rotate, stretch, and erase a pointcloud.

Edit properties You can change general propertiessuch as color and layer in the Properties window. Youcan also modify the insertion point, rotation, and scaleas well as turn locking and clipping on or off and con-trol whether the color is derived from the source or thecurrent color settings.

Figure 1: Create point cloud

Figure 2: Attach point cloud

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Use components as a reference when drawing You can turnon the Node object snap, and snap to individual points as youdraw. You can also snap to the insertion point.

Use color stylization You can use color stylization to helpyou analyze features within the point cloud. You can retainthe original scan colors or specify color stylizations that arebased on objects, point orientations, or intensity.

For point cloud files that inherit intensity values, intensity styliza-tion helps distinguish between features such as foliage and build-ings. Use different color schemes such as Spectrum for more com-plex images or Grayscale for simpler visualization. You can usecolor mapping on both locked and unlocked point clouds. Youcan print a point cloud and retain the color stylizations in all visualstyles except for 2D wireframe and wireframe. It is important tonote that the MIRROR3D command copies and moves a pointcloud, but does not mirror it. You cannot explode a point cloud.

CHANGING POINT CLOUD DENSITY

You can control the number of displayed points to help you man-age program performance and decrease visual noise. You canchange the maximum number of points in the drawing, which iscontrolled by the POINCLOUDPOINMAX system variableonly for 64-bit operating systems. Increasing the limit improvesvisual fidelity for the point clouds, whereas lowering the limit im-proves system performance. Tis option is disabled on 32-bit sys-tems, which are limited to 1.5 million points. Begin by clickingthe Application menu and select Options. In the Options dialogbox, 3D Modeling tab, drag the Maximum Point Cloud Points perDrawing slider to change the number of points that can be dis-played in the drawing.

You can change the density of all displayed point clouds. o dothis, begin by clicking the Insert tab of the ribbon, Point Cloudpanel, and select Density slider (see Figure 3). You can now eitherdrag the Density slider to increase or decrease the percentage ofcloud points that are displayed in the drawing or you can entera value that represents a percentage of the maximum number ofpoints set by POINCLOUDPOINMAX.

You can change the density of displayed point clouds during Pan,Zoom, or 3D Orbit. Lowering the real-time density degrades thepoint cloud display during panning, zooming and orbiting, butmakes those operations quicker. o do this, begin by clicking the

Insert tab of the ribbon, Point Cloud panel, and then select Reatime Density slider (see Figure 3). You can now either drag tslider to increase or decrease the percentage of cloud points thare displayed during real-time pan, zoom, and 3D orbit, or you caenter a value that represents a percentage of the maximum numbof points that can be displayed in the drawing during pan, zoomor 3D orbit. Tis value represents a percentage of the maximunumber of points set by POINCLOUDPOINMAX.

POINT CLOUD CLIPPING

If needed, you can clip or hide a portion of a selected point clouIf you wish to create a 2D rectangular or polygonal point clouclipping boundary, then in the drawing area, select the point clouNow, on the Point Cloud tab, Clipping panel, select Create ClBox flyout. Now, you can either Select Rectangular or Select Plygonal on the flyout (see Figure 4). If you Select Rectangular, theXYplane of the drawing area, specify diagonal corners of threctangular clipping boundary and press Enter. If you Select Plygonal, on theXYplane of the drawing area, specify three or mo

segments for a closed polygonal boundary and press Enter. Tpoint cloud points that fall outside the defined clipping boundariare hidden.

Both rectangular and polygonal clipping boundaries can be rshaped. In the drawing area, select a point cloud. Select a grip the clipping box and when it turns red, drag it to change the cliping box shape. Te point cloud display is updated after the droperation is complete.

If you wish to convert a polyline to a 2D clipping boundary, the drawing area, select the point cloud. On the point cloud taclipping panel, Create Clip box flyout, then select Polyline (sFigure 4). In the drawing area, select a polyline to define the cliping boundary. Te polyline can be open but must have straigsegments. Te point cloud points that fall outside the definboundaries are hidden. Sometimes, however, you may find it usful to have a polyline that coincides with a 2D point cloud clippiboundary. o create the polyline, enter POINCLOUDCLIP the command prompt. Ten Enterp(generate Polyline). Now, the drawing area select a point cloud. Te new polyline will inhethe current layer, linetype, and color settings.

Figure 3: Adjust point cloud density

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A 3D point cloud clip box can be re-shaped based on the bounding box. odo this, select a point cloud and thenclick the Point Cloud tab on the ribbon,Clipping panel, then select Clip Box. Aclipping box that is the same size andshape of the point cloud bounding boxis displayed. If the point cloud alreadyhas a clipping box that has been modi-fied, you can choose whether to restorethe default clipping box or retain themodifications. o adjust the clippingbox, drag the grips using either Standardgrip (square) or Height grip (triangle).Standard grip resizes the length andwidth of the clipping box along the XYplane of the point cloud object. Heightgrip resizes the height of the clipping box along the Z axis of thepoint cloud object.

Te point cloud clipped view can be turned on and off within adrawing. When the ribbon button is highlighted, select a pointcloud clipping boundary or clipping box. Click the Point Cloudtab on the ribbon, Clipping panel, then select Show/Hide. Tisturns the view on or off. Sometimes instead of turning it on or off,you may need to remove it completely. Select a point cloud andclick the Point Cloud tab on the ribbon, Clipping panel, and thenselect Delete Boundary. Select the clipping boundary or clippingbox that you want to remove and press Enter.

Figure 4: Point cloud clipping boundary

COLOR MAPS THAT DISPLAY POINT

CLOUD INTENSITY

Some types of scan files contain color intensity data that can beretained in the point cloud. Tese file types include LAS, PG,PS, PX, CLR, and CL3. o assign colors to map the pointcloud intensity, in the drawing area select a point cloud that con-tains intensity data. Click the Point Cloud tab on the ribbon,Visualization panel, then select Intensity Color Mapping. In thePoint Cloud Intensity Color Mapping dialog box, adjust the fol-lowing settings.

Melinda Heavrin is a CADCoordinator & Facility Planner forNorton Healthcare in Louisville,Kentucky. She has been usingAutoCAD Architecture since release2000. Melinda can be reachedfor comments and questions [email protected]

Color scheme Select a color scheme to help illustrate the pointcloud intensity mapping. Colors range from Spectrum to grayscale

and single colors.

Color ramp Drag the sliders to define the color range to use inthe mapping.

Intensity minimum and maximum Enter values between 0.000and 1.000 to specify the percentage of intensity values to be dis-played using the color map stylization. Tese values represent thehigh and low values of the entire range of intensity values associ-ated with the selected point cloud. Points with intensity valuesthat are outside the limits you specify are displayed using the origi-nal scan colors.

Once thats complete, click Apply to test how the settings affect theselected point cloud.

If you are not a fan of the color scheme, you can change it in the Proper-ties palette. If the Properties window is not displayed, select any objectand then right-click the object and select Properties. In the drawing area,select the point cloud. In the Properties window, under Point CloudVisualization, Intensity Color Scheme box, select a different option.You can also perform this function using the ribbon, which I find a littleeasier. In the drawing area, select the point cloud. Ten click the PointCloud tab on the ribbon, Analysis, then select Intensity. Now you canselect a color scheme under the Spectrum flyout or select Intensity Color

Mapping and select the color scheme you want to use (see Figure 5).

Figure 5: Point cloud intensity color mapping
http://www.augiworld.com/mailto:melinda.heavrin%40nortonhealthcare.org?subject=mailto:melinda.heavrin%40nortonhealthcare.org?subject=http://www.augiworld.com/

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by: Jennifer Store


Advancementwe hear about it everyday. How radical are the advancementswe are making in the Architecture En-gineering and Construction (AEC)

industry; how fast advancements are coming; howmuch we have embraced advancements; which firms

or companies serve as ambassadors for advancement

According to the Merriam-Webster definition, advancement is theact or result of making something better, more successful, etc.

How do we measure better or more successful? Looking again atthe definition of better, its higher in quality - more skillful - moreattractive, appealing, effective, useful, etc. And successful: havingthe correct or desired result - ending in success.

According to these definitions, it is evident that we are advancing: Wecreate attractive buildings that are useful and end in success. One caneven win an award for building design or construction quality.

Yet these are subjective determinations; we do not yet have a simpquantifiable measurement for advancement. And such determintions can be relative to a person, company/firm, or project team.

For example, when we want to advance within our organzations, we have to demonstrate that we are productive.

we are not productively adding value to our company, wwill not advance. So should productivity be a measuremefor advancement?

For all our sakes, lets hope not. Because according to U.Department of Commerce data, the construction industhas not become more productive in the last 50 yearsan acomplishment made even more disconcerting when comparto other non-farm industries, which more than doubled therespective productivities.

The Potential for

Advancementin AEC

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Productivity in and of itself isnt a fair quantitative measurement be-cause our work has changed, and quite dramatically. We must recog-nize that building projects today are more complex and require big-ger teams to complete them, while at the same time project budgetsare tighter and schedules are shorter than they used to be.

Yet we still think we can build projects the same way we alwayshave. An architect designs and draws the building, a contractorbuilds the building, and an owner lives with the building.

I submit that this paradigm change is the main reason our in-dustrys overall productivity appears to have gone in the wrongdirection. We have just started to address these added complex-ities by utilizing technology, teaming for the design and con-struction of a building, and changing the way we think about afacility overall.

In most industries, the answer to becoming more productive liesin the use of technology. And the same should prove true for theAEC industry.

Tis is a very exciting time to be in the AEC industry because we

have never seen more ability to change and grow. It is a time withthe potential for great advancements in many ways. Our technol-ogy is advancing in ways we would never have thought imagin-ablesuch as visualization capabilities, analysis accuracy, and eventhe speed with which it functions.

When we switched to computer-aided design, it was just a shift inthe tool we were using to do the same job. You would draw a linewith a computer instead of drawing it with a pencil.

Now we are building our buildings virtu-ally. We are coordinating them fully beforein-field physical construction even starts.Tese changes allow for pre-fabricationwithin construction. Te ability to dothese things would not be available to uswithout the use of Building InformationModeling (BIM).

Te owners have to see and understandwhat their space will look like to allow us topre-fab parts of the building. Tey will nothave the opportunity to walk through theconstruction site and ask for more outletsin the wallor move the medical gases todifferent locations in the headwallwhenthey see the rough-ins and get a better un-derstanding of the physical space. Teyhave to have this understanding of theirspace early to allow us to fabricate and in-

stall quickly and efficiently.

Te use of BIM for design and constructionhas started us on a road to collaboration the likes of which we havenever experienced before. Te designers want the input from theconstruction team, the people who know how the building willphysically go together. Te contractors want a better understand-ing of the design intent so they can achieve it. Te team, designand construction, is excited when they can come up with a newinnovative way to achieve the design intent that saves the projecttime or money. Working together, they are more likely to come upwith these innovations because they bring different skills to thetable as well as different ways of thinking.

eaming does not have to mean Integrated Project Delivery; itdoesnt have to be contractual. It can be a way of doing things.We are teaming, contractually or otherwise. We hear about IPD-like projects happening every day. Tese project delivery meth-ods/approaches are a step in the right direction. I have listenedto many architects comment that they do not dread going to jobmeetings anymore. Tey do not feel the contractor will point atthem and say they didnt know what they were drawing or thatthey messed up. eams are no longer asking who is at fault in a jobmeeting. Tey are working for the better of the project, and thequestion has become, How do we fix it? Te more teaming be-

comes the way of construction, the better the buildings we provideto owners and end users.

Another advancement taking place is recognition within our in-dustry that our work is not complete when the Architecture/En-gineering/Construction portion is complete. Rather, were nowlooking at operations of the building.

Estimates show that initial building cost, design, and constructionrepresents only 15 percent of total building cost. So designing andconstructing a facility for the long term is where true savingssome 85 percent of overall building costwill be recognized.

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o truly advance as an industry, we must consider long-term op-erations. We cant just build it and walk away.

Expanding operations is where we will realize true advancement.Until we consider operations and facilities management of thebuilding during the entire projectbefore we start designwewill not be able to fully realize our advancement potential.

his means we have to educate our building owners on theneed for BIM standards that incorporate their facility manage-ment needs.

I believe that as an industry, we are recognizing this fact. In

signing up for Autodesk University classes this year, I noticedthat a much larger portion of classes are addressing FM needs.I also noticed how quickly these classes filled up. We are allthriving for knowledge in this area, so we are interested inthis advancement.

We must quit viewing construction of a building as the endgame. he building itself is just the beginning. We will trulyadvance when we share knowledge and information gained dur-ing design and construction that can be used for the lifecycle ofthe building.

Jennifer Storey, AIA, EDAC, is chiefoperating office for Buric Global,LLC, Chagrin Falls, Ohio, whichprovides enhanced project controlsincluding critical path method(CPM) scheduling, BIM services, andowners representation. She previously

worked as senior healthcare architectat Leo A. Daly in Los Angeles,California, and project architect andBIM manager at Bostwick DesignPartnership in Cleveland, Ohio.Jennifer is a member of the AmericanInstitute of Architects, a Revit certifiedprofessional, and she holds the Centerfor Health Designs Evidence-BasedDesign Accreditation certification.She earned her architecture degreefrom Kent State University.

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Navisworks Manage 2013by: Mark Hunter


From the beginning, some of the most valu-able information that comes from 3D mod-els is also some of the simplest to retrieve.Visualization and quick precise measure-

ments are the things I have been asked to providemore than any other piece of information during my career.

Tanks to the measuring and sectioning tools in NavisworksManage, it is easier and faster than ever to provide your teamwith the information they need. And because these featuresare also in Navisworks Freedom and 360 Glue, you can helplighten your workload by empowering your team to find theinformation themselves.

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MEASURE TOOLS

Te measuring tools in Navisworks have some simple commandsthat make them very powerful. But first well look at the measurewindow and how to read it.

Figure 1: Measure window

Te measure window consists of four rows: Start, End, Differ-

ence, and Distance. At the very top are all the measure tools:Point to Point, Point to Multiple Points, Point Line, Accumu-late, Angle, Area, Shortest Distance, Clear, ransform Objects,and Convert to Redline. Tese same tools can be found underthe Review tab.

Te measuring tool is pretty straightforward, but there are a fewthings you should understand before measuring. Te Start and Endrows have three columns. Tese columns represent from left to rightthe X,Y,Z coordinates of your measurements based on where your0,0,0 point is in the project. Navisworks gives you the option to lockyour measuring direction to the X,Y,Z axis and parallel or perpendic-ular to a surface. Tis is important to remember because if you wantto pull certain measurements from your Navisworks model, you needto pay attention to how you export your models or how you positionthem in Navisworks.

For example, if I want to get the flat dimension between two pipesrunning straight but at different elevations, I could use the Pointto Point measuring tool. After selecting a point on my first pipe Ican hit X or Y on my keyboard and Navisworks will lock the mea-surement to that axis. But what if my Autodesk Revit model wasrotated 15 degrees and I exported using Shared Coordinates? TeX,Y axis in Navisworks would be off, so if I tried this measurementwith a rotated model it wouldnt work. I would either need to zero

out my rotation in Navisworks by selecting the entire model anopening its Units and ransform, or I could change the exportesetting in Revit to export using Project Internal coordinates.

Another way I could get that measurement if my model was nrotated is by using the shortest distance tool. After selecting thtwo pipes I can hit the Shortest Distance measurement and Naviworks will (frustratingly) change my view and then pull that mesurement. Te measurement will be at an angle which is not whwe were looking for, but if you look in the Measure window in thDifference row you can see the flat measurement along the X axTe measurement can be very different from the shortest distanmeasurement as shown in Figure 2

Figure 2: Reading the difference

SPEED SECTIONING

Sectioning can be a very useful tool during coordination. Somtimes you will have the luxury of sectioning before a meeting anpreparing views, and other times you will need to section on the flwhile everyone is waiting. Tere are quite a few tools for section

ing, but I will only cover the ones I have found most applicable BIM coordinations.

When preparing views before a meeting, Saved Viewpoints agreat because they will keep your section cuts, redlines, and hidproperties so you can set up views that will clearly display an issu

During a meeting I recommend having the Section Plane Settinwindow open even when sectioning is turned off.

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Mark Hunter is a BIM Managerfor C.W. Driver, a large generalcontractor in Southern California.Te firm is highly regarded throughoutthe design and construction industry

for implementation of BIMinnovations on each project, andfor creating customized softwareplug-ins to increase the efficiency ofthe latest software releases. Markhas a video showing how sectioncuts can be pushed in walkthroughsto the extreme on his blog:http://navisninja.blogspot.com/Mark can also be reached [email protected], or at909.945.1919.

Figure 3: The sectioning planes window can be turned on under View/Windows/

Sectioning Plane Settings

Sectioning on the fly can be fast and easy. You can try to use theop, Bottom, Front, Back, Left, or Right standard sections andthen move them to the desired location. At times it is also helpfuland faster to use the Align to View cut, but your camera is often

not straight so your cut will be at an angle. Te cut I use most oftenis the Align to Surface cut.

You may have noticed that throughout your Navisworks mod-els there is no shortage of flat surfaces in every view. Whetherit be a wall, cei ling, beam, duct, or even hanger, there are plentyof flat surfaces you can use to section quickly with the Align toSurface cut. Within two or three mouse clicks you can have aperfect section cut; when you select Align to Surface your cur-sor will turn into a crosshair. Use your crosshair to select a flatsurface close to where you would like your final cut. Once youselect your surface and your section cut is turned on with thecheck box next to it, you can adjust the cut with the Move com-

mand and youre done.

You can add two or more section cuts just as quickly until yourscene shows what you need it to show. And if you clicked on thewrong surface or want to pick a different surface, just use the greenRe-select button to the right of your cut.

I recommend saving a viewpoint after making important sectioncuts that you might want to see later.

BIM 360 GLUE

As I mentioned earlier, many of the measuring capabilities we havein Navisworks Manage are also in Freedom and BIM 360 Glue.

Because this information can be so important we want our projectteam to have access to it. We have found that the easiest way toempower them to use the models is through BIM 360 Glue.

raining anyone on Glue takes less than half an hour, and they willbe able to navigate a model, view redlined saved viewpoints, andpull their own dimensions.

Te Point to Point measuring tool in Glue has a feature that Ithink Autodesk should consider putting into Navisworksthatis when you take a point-to-point measurement it automaticallyshows you the X,Y,Z measurements in different colors.

Figure 4: BIM 360 Glue Point to Point measurement

Tese simple tools can be easily learned and taught to the projectteam, freeing you up for more technically intensive tasks.
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AutoCAD Civil 3D by: Christopher Fugi

Iplay the piano in my home every once in a while.

Mostly I do it to annoy my young daughterswho are learning how to utilize a piano properly.Even a casual observer would be quick to recog-

nize I do not know how to hit any notes, have no ideaabout pitch, nor know how to read music. I am hitting the whiteand black keys and on occasion pressing the pedals. I have no ideawhat the pedals do. All of this might contradict my statement thatI know how to play the piano.

I often find that when people indicate they use AutoCAD Civil3D, they are using Civil 3D about as well as I play a piano. Andthere is another similaritylearning to use Civil 3D properly re-

quires the same thought process that goes into learning how toproperly utilize a piano.

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

One thing people probably dont do enough is practice utilizingCivil 3D. We tend to figure out how to do a task then repeat it overand over. Sometimes we end up banging the keys on the keyboardto get the results and sometimes we fully understand the way weshould be getting there. Often we get some pointers on a betterway of doing a task, only to forget them quickly after the task iscomplete. It takes repetition to remember how to do a task.

Tere are many ways to practice using Civil 3D. One method

have used in the past is to write about the steps to accomplishgiven task in my blog, in articles for this magazine, or in a forupost. Writing it down reinforces the steps and forces me to explawhy I am doing a task a particular way. Tis provides me two beefits: the first is repeating the task so it may be easier to rememband the second is having a resource to refer to later on.

Another method I utilize is to create a video of the steps usinScreencast. Its free and easy to create an unedited video with Screncast, although if you want to create a more professional videowill take quite a bit more time. Tese videos help me step throuthe task steps I used as well as occasionally helping out other use

of Civil 3D.

FORUMS

Another great way to advance your knowledge is through discusion groups. Ive found this has two benefits. Tere is the beneof helping others and giving back to the overall community. Teis also the benefit of expanding your knowledge on how to solproblems that other people have encountered. A vibrant commnity, in my experience, makes learning Civil 3D easier. Te moactive a forum is the more often it will be returned throughsearch engine result.

Hitting All

the Keys onthe Piano

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For Civil 3D there are primarily two forums I use. Tere is theAUGI forum, which provides a great way to ask your fellow AUGImembers questions. It is moderated by your fellow users and tendsto be a nice place to ask questions. Another is Autodesks forums,which are active, provide a wealth of information, and usually showup in Google searches.

PLAYING YOUR OWN TUNE

My daughters recently had a piano recital. Some of the pupilsenhanced the song learned during their classes. Tey changed itup to provide a sound all their own. Similarly, after learning thebasics of Civil 3D, it is advantageous to your advancement to fig-ure out how to use the software in ways not originally intended.For example, Id often use two profiles to model a water line pipe,since at the time the pipe networks where strictly good for grav-ity pipe situations.

In my industry, the labels required are not intuitively createdin Civil 3D. his is especially true for sewer pipes and man-holes. In order to play my own tune, I utilize the power ofexpressions to get the label in the exact location I require, or

show the requisite information. Im always on the lookout forcreative ways to solve a problem. Sometimes these methodsdont come out the way I intended, but I usually learn some-thing in the process.

PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE

It takes feedback from others to truly understand how well youare using Civil 3D. In piano, there are recitals and being judged orgraded by those who have more experience playing the piano. And,similarly, in Civil 3D there are a variety of ways to put yourself out

there to gauge if others have better ideas.

One way is writing articles, such as the one you are reading. An-other way is through a blog. Feedback often occurs on posts, inwhich you find people with strong opinions on how to do some-thing. Of course, with any feedback its important to recognize ifthe feedback is appropriate.

A local user group is another great way to both put yourself outthere and get instant feedback on your ideas. It is also a greatplace to get ideas on how to utilize the software. I find I get themost out of user groups by participating fully. Ive presented at

a few of them and the process of preparing for these presenta-tions helps solidify my ideas of how to perform a task, whichhelps greatly in my understanding of how to utilize Civil 3D. Tefeedback also provides suggestions of ways I hadnt considered toaccomplish a specific task.

DIVERSIONS IN INTEREST

In life we often have diversions of interest. In the case of one of mypiano-playing daughters, it is learning how to play bells. In Civil3D it is important to keep an eye out for diversions. One diver-sion I found was utilizing Civil 3Ds API to enhance the featuresof the program. While my official occupation is Civil Engineer, Ialso do quite a bit of programming. I feel this has advanced myunderstanding of the product as well as provided a revenue streamoutside of Civil Engineering.

If programming does not interest you, there are programs availablethat enhance Civil 3D without requiring you to take up program-

ming. wo diversions I utilize are the SincPac by Quux Softwareand Steltman tools. And there are other products available thatmake doing civil projects easier.

Finding those products can sometimes be difficult. here isnow an Autodesk Appstore that helps you easily finding theproducts. Not all of the products available may be found in theapp store, but there are quite a few available. Besides the prod-ucts that make Civil 3D easier to use, there are also productsthat provide learning material.

RESULTS WILL VARY

Here Ive explained some of the items I use to advance my un-derstanding of AutoCAD Civil 3D. Following the steps will leadto people reaching out to you to figure out how they can utilizethe product as well as you. You might even get asked to join theAutodesk Expert Elite and get cool rewards such as trailmix, Altoid mints, and a cool button when checking intoAutodesk University!

One of the things about Civil 3D I enjoy is there is always some-thing new to learn to advance my knowledge of the software.

Christopher Fugitt has spent his yearsin the real world collecting certifica-tions and letters behind

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