Beside the Cursor...

AUGI AEC EDGE Magazine is THE Expert Resource for BIM and Revit

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Binning) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:10:00 +0000

Do you want to deliver your projects faster and more efficiently? Then you need to read AUGI AEC Edge. It is jam packed full of industry best practices, best of class Autodesk Revit advice, and case studies and white papers from industry experts.

AUGI AEC Edge is a brand new publication dedicated to delivering mission-critical information to Architects, Engineers, Designers, and Contractors using Autodesk AEC products.

The image above is a screen capture from the AUGI AEC EDGE microsite. Check it out and download your copy today.

Legacy VBA Error - For next loop may really mean If end if.

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Binning) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:12:00 +0000

I was updating some legacy VBA code today and had to add some additional logic to a function. When I click the run button, I was faced with this dialog box

A quick check of the code indicates that there IS a closing "NEXT" statement for the "For Each..." loop. When this happens to you, check any "If...." logic constructs within the "For ... Next" loop. Chances are you'll find a missing "End if" statement.

Block Insertion Swap Routine for AutoCAD

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Binning) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:44:00 +0000

I was asked today if I knew of a way to swap out a single block for another block? I knew that the Express tools could do this, but a global block redefinition was not what we were looking for.

So I did a quick search in the AUGI lisp forums and found a routine posted by Miff that was close to doing what I needed. In reviewing the routine, I realized that it would be nice to allow single or multiple selection. I modified the routine slightly to remove the SSGET modifier for single selection (ssget "_:S") resulting in this code:

(if (and (setq ss (ssget ":S" '((0 . "INSERT"))))
becoming this code:

(if (and (setq ss (ssget '((0 . "INSERT"))))

Since I wanted all the staff to be able to utilize this routine, I added an autoloader to the company standard acaddoc.lsp file and placed the newly named "blkswap.lsp" file out in the network applications folder:

(autoload "blkswap" '("blkswap"))

You're welcome to download my modified version here:blkswap.lsp
Or grab Miff's original from the AUGI forums.
Thanks Miff!
Thanks to AUGI as well for providing such a fantastic resource.

Here is a short video detailing how to use the routine once it is available via autoload.

Facebook landgrab in full swing - have you got yours?

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Binning) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 10:46:00 +0000

Just made my landgrab. Did you get your facebook landing page? Now anyone can visit my facebook page using this url: http://www.facebook.com/richard.binning

Apparently, facebook granted me two names cause http://www.facebook.com/richardbinning also works!

Want to get yours? Visit this link: http://www.facebook.com/username/ and claim yours today!

I read about this on techcrunch.

more info here...

Revit Tip - Fillet with Radius

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Binning) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 20:59:00 +0000

New Revit users are constantly tripped up by the ghost of AutoCAD past! It may seem logical to think that the fillet with radius command would be an editing tool in any software package. After all, the default Trim tool in Revit does a Fillet Corner for pete's sake! Rather than delete the wall and draw a new one with the "Radius" option toggled on, try this:

Right-Click one of your walls and choose "Create Similar" to launch the Wall tool using the correct family.

Click your Sketch Options pull down and pick "Fillet Arc" and then immediately pick your two walls.

Now graphically stretch the arc into size.

You could toggle on the Radius option, but why not draw and then modify? It's all about iteration after all!

Revit Workflow in 3 Easy Steps - Think 3

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Binning) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:43:00 +0000

Think 3. The workflow is clockwise within the Revit editor, no matter what flavor you are using.

ONE (1) - You begin by selecting your tool from the design bar on the far left of Revit's screen. Various palettes are available containing context sensitive tools for use.

TWO (2) - Once you've selected your tool, move your eyes and your mouse to the top of the Revit screen and select/modify the options available in the options bar. You can drill down using the element properties button if necessary, but most of the general properties are available within the options bar itself as shown below.

THREE (3) - Third and final step is to place the element within the design window using the options selected in the previous step.

Note: Some elements like slabs and roofs, require you to complete your sketch within the drawing window and then complete the sketch by picking on the design bar. This is another reason why the workflow resembles a circle drawn clockwise.

Want to learn more? Visit AUGI.com and take an ATP course.

Get the AU Online Code!

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Binning) — Fri, 08 May 2009 12:43:00 +0000

Many of you have attended Autodesk University and know the value of this fantastic training and networking event. But I know that many of you don't get an opportunity to attend for many reasons. Since I have access to the training materials, I thought I would share the code with those who've never attended.

Here's the deal: Send me an email stating why you want to experience AU through the online portal. I'll select five people and then send them a link that will let them register and gain access to the thousands of classes, handouts, and screencasts. Don't delay. This deal expires on June 1st, 2009.

AUGI Member Exclusive Download - AutoCAD 2010 Tips-n-Tricks Booklet by Lynn Allen

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Binning) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 03:23:00 +0000

AUGI Members Only Exclusive!

You all know the value of Lynn Allen’s Tips and Tricks. You know that she has saved you tons of time and effort. Now Lynn Allen, Autodesk technical Evangelist and AUGI Sweetheart, is offering an exclusive to our members. A sneak peek at the AutoCAD 2010 Tips and Tricks.

That’s right – before anyone else gets to see them, Autodesk is allowing AUGI members an exclusive downloadable version. This PDF download is stuffed with the best of the best from Lynn. You have used them in the past and they have made you more productive. Get the latest in a long stream of helpful hints directly from Lynn to AUGI members. You must be a member to download the booklet.

If you're not an AUGI member, be sure to sign up today! Membership is free. Once you're a member, you can download the booklet!

Visit the AutoCAD Community to download a copy now! - http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?t=98905

Better yet – download your preview copy, then go see Lynn and the tips live and in action at the Autodesk Imagine Tour at a city near you. You can get a hardcopy of the handy booklet at the event.

Join informative sessions, including Take Design Further: Lynn Allen's AutoCAD 2010 Tips & Techniques, and learn how AutoCAD 2010 delivers groundbreaking new capabilities to tackle the most challenging design problems with ease. In addition, you'll see our range of solutions in action in our industry sessions, including design and intelligent modeling solutions such as Autodesk® Inventor® software, Revit® software, AutoCAD® Map 3D software and Autodesk® 3ds Max® software.

www.autodesk.com/imagine

Want more? Visit Lynn's blog for even more tips… www.autodesk.com/lynnallen

Plotting with PDFCreator inside AutoCAD

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Binning) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 18:04:00 +0000

If you're using PDFCreator to plot your drawings to PDF, you might wish to turn off the FULLPLOTPATH variable prior to plotting or publishing. If you leave it on, you'll get file names that include the full path, drawing name, and layout tab name.

Ex: C___Mirror_Drives_Testing_PlotTesting_0800560_I-0.1_NOTES I-1_NOTES (1).pdf

Note: Notice that the colon and backslashes are replaced by an underbar character. Simply changing this variable resulted in the following much more pleasing pdf name:

Ex: 0800560_I-0.1_NOTES I-1_NOTES (1).pdf

Key Schedules a potential fix for Jumpy Text

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Binning) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:02:00 +0000

Did you catch Donnia's class at AU? If so then you know what key schedules can also be used for in Revit. If not, then Dave B has a good blog post that covers it. Go read his post.

ACA 2009 VBA Macro - Room Zoom Available

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Binning) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 16:06:00 +0000

R2009Find_Room_Zoom2.dvb is a VBA Macro that displays a modeless userform on the screen with a text box and a button labeled "Find". When you enter a room or space number in the text box and click the "Find" button, it will cycle through all the available space/room objects in the current drawing and any attached xref files and zoom your display to center on that space or room with the corresponding number. This macro originated in Autodesk Architectural Desktop (ADT) R3.3 and is now updated for Autodesk AutoCAD Architectural (ACA) Release 2009.

Take a look at the code within the macro to see how to:

Use the acfocus control (allows you to keep the form visible on the screen while you interact with entities within your file.

Find the schedule property and get the associated space or room object.

You'll find more helpful utilities in past posts here and at AUGI.com, R U a Member?

I learned something new about 3DSMax and Backburner today

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Binning) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 14:38:00 +0000

Although 3DS Max 2009 can submit backburner render jobs to both 32bit and 64bit machines, it cannot submit to both at the same time. There is a toggle in the Advanced Tab of the network render dialog box see below:

This toggle allows you to send your job to either option but not both at the same time. You also don't want to mix and match render jobs on both 32bit and 64bit if you are creating an animation as you may introduce a noticable flicker in the final animation.

Thanks to Matthew Sulhoff at Incipio Technologies for providing the screen shot and some of the above information.

Revit 2010 Build Checker Updated

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Binning) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 15:37:00 +0000

The BesideTheCursor Revit Build Checker has been updated to support Revit 2010 products when they are available. No need to launch Revit and search for the build number...just launch my script to get a report on installed versions of Revit from Release 9.1 through 2010.

Also works with 64 bit Windows XP and Vista.

Also works with Revit MEP and Revit Structures.

Get a copy here.

I welcome your feedback on this tool.

Set Coordination Views at Higher Scale than Regular Project Views

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Binning) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 18:57:00 +0000

Do you have coordination views in your Revit model? Do you cut sections or elevations or details in that view expressly for coordination issues and not intended to be part of your set? Want to prevent those callouts from polluting the rest of your views?

Remember to set the Coordination view Scale to be higher than the bulk of your project views before cutting sections. This way those new callouts will have their "Hide at visibility higher than...." set to match your coordination view. With that done you won't see those new "coordination only" callouts in all your other views. I promise it'll save you a lot of time "hiding elements" in other views.

Thought for the day

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Binning) — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 20:56:00 +0000

"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions.
Small people always do that, but the really great make you
feel that you, too, can become great. "
--Mark Twain

Revit Text Editing Quick Tip

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Binning) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 16:11:00 +0000

Save yourself a click or two in Revit when you are using the tab key to align text. Think about which line is the top line of the section and align from the bottom up using tabs on subsequent lines to align the edges. Look at the example below:

As the image shows, only tab twice to align with the word above (step 1.), then move up a line and tab to move both into place (step 2.) Finish the alignment by tabbing the top line into place (step 3.).

If you follow the pattern shown above, you will find adjusting and aligning text to go much smoother. If you try to work top down, you'll soon find that you end up doing a lot more back spacing as you work through your notes.

Remember too, that Revit will cruelly "adjust" your text when it goes into edit text mode, meaning that the justification will be different than when you first clicked on it. But it will remember when you exit. So as long as you like what you see on screen when you are done editing, that is what you will see when you exit the edit mode.

Getting free tools and books via twitter

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Binning) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 13:40:00 +0000

For all of you manager-tools followers, (I'm one too!) I thought I'd post a quick note about twitter. I use it to keep a loose connection to my friends and acquaintences and hopefully to move some of the information firehose known as "email" into a more appropriate tool. Twitter can help to get your inbox to zero too!
But it is not all noise, today I found out:

I could get a free copy of "The Art & Science of CSS" from the folks at Sitepoint.com.
I could get a free copy of Zone Alarm Pro

Now you know too! But hurry, like the posting box on twitter - the window is small

Free Autodesk certification for all AU attendees.

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Binning) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 13:48:00 +0000

Want to get Autodesk certified? Are you certifiable? Find out by attending AU 2008 in Vegas. According to the special offers page, you can get a free voucher that waives the exam fee (up to $125 value) and it will be good for up to 6 months.

Just follow these steps:
1. Upon arriving and registering at AU you’ll receive a voucher.
2. Go to booth #120 for more information or go directly to Zeno 4710, present the voucher, and take the exam. Exams held during AU are organized by Autodesk (but please note, that exam spaces are limited during AU).
3. Your voucher is valid for six months. So even if you don’t take the exam during AU, you may still use the voucher to get certified for free at participating Autodesk Authorized Training Centers.

See you at the AEC BIM Mixer

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Binning) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 18:03:00 +0000

Got email turned off so you can be productive? So do I! But it is AU time and the party invitations are imminent. The AEC BIM Mixer, formerly the Revit Mixer, invitations are arriving! Did you get yours? I'll see you there.

Remember to arrive early as #1201 gets to wait until one of us leaves!

Getting Ready for the Big Game - Go Gators

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Binning) — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 12:59:00 +0000

Woke up this morning and saw the carnage from the night before first hand.
Get ready Georgia, you're in Gator Country today!

Want to attend the Revit Implementation Bootcamp?

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Binning) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:23:00 +0000

I got a chance to IM with Scott and got the skinny on future plans with regard to the Revit Implementation boot camp.
The Good news first:

The attendee count has been increased to a total of 96
There may be a future "tour of sorts"...
The format will be 2 to a computer

Here is the bad news:

All invitations went out to pre-registered attendees of AU2008
You had to be registered by 10-2-2008
The wait list surpasses the increased total.

All for now...

Hopefully, Scott's idea of a tour pans out!

Revit Implementation Boot Camp Invitations are out.

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Binning) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:03:00 +0000

You heard it here first, Autodesk will be holding a single day Revit Implementation Boot Camp during the week of Autodesk University in Las Vegas.

Date: Monday, December 1, 2008
Time: 8:30am Registration; Continental Breakfast
9:00am — 5:00pm Presentation & Workshop Sessions
Where: Venetian Hotel, Las Vegas — Lando 4301, Level 4

I hope you received an invitation and got registered. It looks like the room is all filled up. Let's hope they receive an overwhelming number of attendees and expand the program or repeat it on a different day.

AutoCAD Architectural Schedule Formula Tip

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Binning) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 18:40:00 +0000

Problem: Schedule Formula (simple area addition) does not display as intended.

Solution: Check your format for the underlying property set variables.

As you can see from the image above, the combined area of two properties is not displaying as intended. What can I do to get a simple sum that displays in square feet? Here is the executive summary.

1.) Verify that your Schedule Cell format is set to Area.
2.) Now check each variable in the formula and scroll to the right setting their format to "standard" instead of area as shown in the following image.

That's it! Your Problem is solved!

Continue reading below for the step by step version.

Step by Step:
Step 1: Select your schedule table, right click your mouse and choose "Edit Schedule Table Style..." from the pop up menu.

Step Two: When the Style Editor dialog box appears, navigate to the offending column and select it by left clicking with your mouse. Now move your mouse to the "Modify..." button at the bottom of the dialog box and left click it with your mouse. Now find the sample values list area indicated by #3 in the image below and left click and hold your mouse button down while sliding your mouse to the right. When you can see the format column you can let go of the mouse and continue to the next step.

Step Three: Double check that your chosen data format is "Area" for the Column Properties as shown in #1 in the image below. Next move your mouse back to the sample values list and change the format value for your variables to "standard" from "Area" as shown in the image below next to #2 and #3 in the image.

Step Four: Left Click the "OK" button and verify that your schedule updates to display as shown below. You did it! Congratulations!

Hope that helps!

My Dream Workstation is now available.

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Binning) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 20:02:00 +0000

I found my dream workstation in a laptop form today and just had to tell you about it. It is a 17" desknote with a fast desktop processor, 8 GB of hi-speed (800) RAM, a solid state hard drive (SSD), and a workstation class video card (Quadro). Want to know where to get it?

Visit Eurocom and look for the EUROCOM D90xC PHANTOM-X.
You'll find an article about it in the latest desktop engineering headlines. Look for "Server-caliber Computer doubles as a mobile workstation" or just click this link.

I clicked over to Eurocom's site and configured a machine for Revit. Since it is a dream machine, I spec'd it for my dreams with the following items for only $4,177 USD:

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo® Processor E8400; 3.0GHz; 1333 FSB
Video: 512MB GDDR3; nVidia Quadro FX 1600
RAM: 8GB; 2x 4GB; DDR2-800
Harddrive: 250GB Solid State Drive SSD; Read>140MB/sec Write>90MB/sec; Seek<0.35ms

It would be interesting to compare this setup against a similarly configured laptop with a conventional 7200 rpm laptop drive. Eurocom? I'm ready to test it whenever you wish to send them over!

Want to learn more about SSD drives? Checkout the Solid_state_disk article at wikipedia.

Key Indicators Correct Customization File is Loaded

noreply@blogger.com (Richard Binning) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 14:11:00 +0000

Someone asked this question today.

How do I get the dwg setup menu and display manager/viewport scale menus to display at the bottom of the AutoCAD Architecture or Architectural Desktop interface?

Apparently, these items had disappeared from someone's profile - see image below:

These interface components are part of the main customization file...when these items disappear, the chances are real good that the main cui file is no longer an ADT or ACA file. I suggested reloading the profile.

Problem solved.