What’s New in Revit Structure 2014: Reinforcement Rounding

This is Shruti Harve, Senior Application Specialist at Ideate, Inc.
 
One of the new features added to Revit Structure 2014 is the ability to apply ‘rounding’ to Structural Rebar. In the ‘Reinforcement Settings’ dialog box for Structural Rebar, there is now a new option: Reinforcement Rounding which allows for defining whether reinforcement rounding is applied to a Project or not as well as specify rounding for calculated Bar lengths and Bar segment lengths.

You can also specify Fabric Sheet dimension values for Structural Fabric Reinforcement. You can Select Custom from the list and enter an unlisted value in the Rounding increment field.

Don’t forget to look through the great features our Ideate Technical Team has found in the new 2014 releases for Revit Architecture, Revit MEP, Navisworks, Civil 3D, AutoCAD and more: ideateinc.com/2014

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Shruti Harve, LEED AP

Ideate Senior AEC Application Specialist
Shruti holds a Master of Science degree in Architectural Computing from University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom and is LEED accredited. Her experience includes working in Architecture and Construction firms in India and the United Kingdom as well as Structural Engineering firms in the Bay Area providing design, 3D modeling and drafting services. At Ideate, Shruti provides training and support for Revit Architecture, Revit Structure, 3ds Max, Ecotect and AutoCAD Architecture.

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eLearning – Upcoming Classes

Join the Ideate Tech Experts for eLearning – live online classes that provide your entire organization with easy access to premium education. 

Upcoming classes include:

6.3.13::Revit 201:
Getting Started with Presentations

6.20.13::Navisworks 201:
Clash Detection

6.25.13::Revit 201:
Converting Blocks to Families

Each class is designed to give you specific, improved results in a particular topic. You can interact with the instructor right from your own office, while eliminating travel time. Because the class schedule rotates, you can easily select your topics of interest and choose the day which best meets your schedule.

Click here for class descriptions, times and registration link. Questions? Contact education@ideateinc.com

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New Alternate Dimension Functionality in Revit 2014

In coordination with the Ideate, Inc. YouTube video on Autodesk Revit 2014 - Alternate Dimensions, this post describes how the Revit 2014 dimensions styles now include the ability to incorporate Alternate dimensions within the same dimension string.
 
One of the long standing requests for Revit was the inclusion of alternate dimensioning. This improvement allows firms to create dimension strings with alternate dimensions in a variety of dimensional unit formats. Figure 1. This new ability, eliminates time-consuming workarounds of including multiple dimension formats within construction documents.

Figure 1

Alternate dimensions can be included within all dimension types including: Aligned, Linear, Radial, Diameter, Arc Length, Spot Elevations, Spot Coordinates, and Spot Slopes. In order to take advantage of the alternate dimensions, dimension types now include parameters to set where alternate dimensions reside, the unit format, and if there will be a prefix and/or suffix within the alternate dimension. Figure 2.

Figure 2

Don’t forget to look through other great features our Ideate Technical Team has found in the new 2014 releases for Revit MEP, Revit Structure, Civil 3D, AutoCAD, Navisworks and more: ideateinc.com/2014

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Ron Palma
Ideate AEC Application Specialist
Ron has over 24 years of experience in the architectural industry as a drafter, designer, lead project designer, trainer, and a CAD manager implementing Autodesk Architectural Solutions for a residential design firm. His instructional background includes being an Autodesk Certified Instructor, trainer, support technician, educator at Portland and Clackamas Community Colleges, as well as a U.S. Army certified instructor where he was a senior instructor at Ft Lewis Washington. Ron is a member of the Oregon Army National Guard and platoon sergeant, training and mentoring soldiers in their careers. Ron is a published writer and continues to author professional technical training manuals and shorts for AutoCAD, AutoCAD Architecture, and Revit. As an Autodesk Certified Instructor, Ron provides Revit Architecture training and support for AEC firms. Follow Ron @RonPalmaAEC.

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Revit 2014: New Enhancements to Stairs and Railings

Ideate, Inc. is pleased to show a continuation of development for stairs and railings that began in Revit 2013 and continues in Revit 2014. New in 2013 was the assembly of stairs as common components (run, landing, support) with associated handles that allowed them to be resized outside of the sketch mode. There was the addition of placement justifications (left and right) there was new behavior where stairs runs could overlap in the same stair. Railings had a new added handrail and top rail elements with options to extend top rails and handrails, which allowed designers to address ADA standards.
 
In Revit 2014 there are new justification options – Exterior Support Left and Right for placement of stairs so you can now be pacing the stringer face and not the inside width of the stair.

Revit 2013

Revit 2014

There is also a new control on the stair landing which allows you to easily adjust the connection between run and landing.

Revit 2013

Revit 2014

Revit 2014

There is also the restored ability to edit temporary dimension for the components which was not possible in the 2013 release.

 

Stairs got a lot easier in the 2013 product and that development has continued in this 2014 release.

Separate components with their own properties makes it possible to customize each component and the new enhancements let you continue to work on the components – with less need to resort to the embedded sketch, although that option remains and allows for custom shapes for stringers, treads, railings and handrails.
 

Don’t forget to look through the great features our Ideate Technical Team has found in the new 2014 releases for Revit Architecture, Revit MEP, Revit Structure, Civil 3D, AutoCAD and more: ideateinc.com/2014

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Jim Cowan
Ideate AEC Application Specialist
Jim Cowan’s extensive AEC design industry experience and Autodesk design solutions expertise have made him a sought after university curriculum developer, instructor and presenter. Jim’s areas of expertise include interoperability between solutions and overcoming barriers to the adoption of Building Information Modeling (BIM). Educated in Architecture at Edinburgh College of Art/Heriot-Watt University and in Landscape Architecture at University of Manitoba, Jim has special focus on sustainability issues: daylight analysis, sun studies, lighting analysis, modeling buildings and conceptual energy modeling (models with shading devices). YouTube Channel: MrJimCowan

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Classroom Training – Open Revit Classes

Know It. Ideate Training.

Position yourself to land dream projects. Tap the full potential of your software solutions. Increase your facility, fluidity and capability to maximize the value of your precision software tools.

Here are a few of the training opportunities Ideate has to offer in the coming weeks:

5.29-31::Portland
Revit MEP Electrical Fundamentals

6.3-5::Portland
Revit Architecture Fundamentals

6.10-12::San Jose
Revit Architecture Fundamentals

6.17-19::San Francisco
Revit Architecture Fundamentals

6.18-20::Seattle
Revit Mechanical and Plumbing Fundamentals

 Know your software. Sign up now!

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Ideate, Inc. Publishes New Study in Success Featuring Kasian and Ideate BIMLink

SAN FRANCISCO, California – 5/28/2013 – Ideate, Inc., a leading Autodesk® Authorized Developer and Autodesk solutions provider offering quality software, training, support and custom consulting services to the AEC industry, today announced the publication of its latest Study in Success, “Kasian Sets a New Facilities Planning Standard using Ideate BIMLink.” 

The study reveals how Kasian Architecture, Interior Design and Planning, with offices in Canada, China and the Middle East, is eliminating information bottlenecks and easing workflows by using Ideate BIMLink for Autodesk Revit®. The Kasian office in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, developed and spearheaded the use of Room Data Sheets (RDS) which enable the firm to harness all relevant BIM data for project stakeholders. The practice is fast becoming facilities planning policy for the firm worldwide.

The Ideate BIMLink-facilitated approach came out of a need to overcome escalating costs in time and prospective software purchases. To formulate and verify a single large project’s program/spatial requirements via traditional methods, Kasian estimated a cost of $400,000 Canadian (CA$). By revising workflows with Ideate BIMLink, those anticipated expenditures were reduced to $5,000 CA$. 

Kasian BIM Support Specialist Laura Kay Smith says, “In the past, we did all the Room data and qualifications by hand, which cost us expensive time. With our new standard that brings in Ideate BIMLink at the beginning of every Integrated Project with Strategic Facilities Planning, we save an immeasurable amount of time and money. And designers are apt to have less re-design.”

Brigid Barriscale, Kasian Associate, adds, “When the Strategic Facilities Planning Department used to check data sheets by hand, it took two to three weeks. With Ideate BIMLink, it takes more like two to three hours.” 

Along with examples of savings, the Study in Success also details several Kasian projects and the role Ideate BIMLink had in the project’s success.

Bob Palioca, President, Ideate Inc. says of this latest Study in Success, “When we see our Ideate-developed software become integral to a firm’s standards, we are especially gratified. We consider changed workflows a demonstration of the value of our solutions.”

Ideate has published “Kasian Sets a New Facilities Planning Standard using Ideate BIMLink” online. Download the Study in Success at http://www.ideateinc.com/ideas/case.html.

About Ideate, Inc.
Ideate, Inc. is a leading Autodesk Authorized Developer with 25+ years’ experience in software development and specific focus on Building Information Modeling (BIM) and is an Autodesk solutions provider offering quality software, training, support and custom consulting services to the AEC industry since 1992. Headquartered in San Francisco, California and operating five Autodesk Authorized Training Centers (ATCs) in the northwestern U.S., Ideate is recognized as an Autodesk Gold Partner for Architecture, Engineering and Construction, one of Autodesk’s highest levels of authorization.

Ideate BIMLink lets users pull data from an Autodesk Revit file into user-friendly Microsoft Excel and push Excel data into Revit with equal ease. www.ideatebimlink.com

Ideate Explorer for Revit is a simple, powerful Autodesk Revit add-on to explore, quantify and manage the 100,000+ building elements in a Revit model. www.ideateexplorer.com

Autodesk, ATC, and Revit are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

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Navisworks 2014: Point Cloud Support - ReCap

Ideate, Inc. is pleased to show additional support for large point clouds within Navisworks 2014, which provides new opportunities for documentation of a site’s context or for comparisons between the proposed building model (BIM) and a scanned “as built.”
 
ReCap has two file formats (RCS and RCP). The file reader does not convert data to objects that reside in the model but instead makes a link to the RCS/RCP file. If you intend to share the data then the linked files have to be provided external to the scene, ideally in a folder or location that maintains the same relative position as the original files. 
ReCap files can be managed to support fast updating of the point cloud. Under the Navisworks Application menu and the Options button, there are choices that let you control the display speed for the point cloud as you navigate through the scene. You can check for clashes and include points.

Navisworks ReCap Options

ReCap files can be appended direct to Navisworks and they can be linked to Revit 2014. 

Don’t forget to look through the great features our Ideate Technical Team has found in the new 2014 releases for Revit Architecture, Revit MEP, Revit Structure, Civil 3D, AutoCAD and more: ideateinc.com/2014

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Jim Cowan
Ideate AEC Application Specialist
Jim Cowan’s extensive AEC design industry experience and Autodesk design solutions expertise have made him a sought after university curriculum developer, instructor and presenter. Jim’s areas of expertise include interoperability between solutions and overcoming barriers to the adoption of Building Information Modeling (BIM). Educated in Architecture at Edinburgh College of Art/Heriot-Watt University and in Landscape Architecture at University of Manitoba, Jim has special focus on sustainability issues: daylight analysis, sun studies, lighting analysis, modeling buildings and conceptual energy modeling (models with shading devices). YouTube Channel: MrJimCowan

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eLearning – Upcoming Revit Classes

Join the Ideate Tech Experts for eLearning – live online classes that provide your entire organization with easy access to premium education. 

Upcoming classes include:

5.28.13::Revit 201:
Making Titleblocks

6.3.13::Revit 201:
Getting Started with Presentations

Each class is designed to give you specific, improved results in a particular topic. You can interact with the instructor right from your own office, while eliminating travel time. Because the class schedule rotates, you can easily select your topics of interest and choose the day which best meets your schedule.

Click here for class descriptions, times and registration link. Questions? Contact education@ideateinc.com

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New in 2014: Autodesk ReCap Part 2 – Key Features

In Part 1 of our ReCap posts, we discussed how this new application processes and combines laser scan files into a ReCap Project. Now we’re looking at some of the Key Features available once the projects are launched. 
 
Along with standard navigational tools like pan, zoom, orbit, look, and fly-through, ReCap also has the capability of editing point cloud data; something that has not been a part of Autodesk software in the past.

Selection Tools

Annotation Tools

The bottom-center of the screen includes annotation tools for notes, distances, angles and faces, as well as selection tools for editing. Window and Fence tools can be used to easily crop or delete selected sections of the point cloud, quickly removing unwanted data and reducing file size.

Display Tools

The upper-left of the screen includes display options to control how the point cloud data appears in the application. The Project Navigator, Limit Box and Display Settings allow users to control which files from the dataset are displayed, how much of the data is displayed, point color, point size, background data, and lighting and shading effects.
 
With functionality similar to point cloud review and processing tools from Trimble and Leica, Autodesk customers now have access to a program that can process and edit point cloud data prior to being used in Autodesk design software like AutoCAD, AutoCAD Civil 3D, Revit, Navisworks and Autodesk InfraWorks. Best of all, it’s included in the 2014 Autodesk Design Suites and available now on Subscription Center.

For a video of Autodesk ReCap in action and other great features our Ideate Technical Team has found in the new Autodesk 2014 releases, visit: ideateinc.com/2014 
Ideate Note: If you are experiencing a Fatal Error issue when trying to launch a ReCap project this is most likely based on system hardware rather than an issue with the application. For more information about this issue and Ideate’s solution, read our recent blog post titled: Help! Autodesk ReCap is Crashing.

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Matt Miyamoto, P.E.
Ideate AEC Application Specialist
Matt is a licensed Civil Engineer in the state of Hawaii. Matt obtained a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and has 7 years of private sector design experience which he applies in his role as an application specialist with Ideate, Inc. His project experience includes residential and commercial site development, private and public sewer, water and drainage systems, harbors improvements, and roadway improvements. While in Hawaii, Matt was involved in multidisciplinary projects for City and County agencies, State Departments, the Army COE and private developers. @MattM_PE

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New Room Calculation Point Functionality in Revit 2014

In coordination with the Ideate, Inc. YouTube video on Autodesk Revit 2014 - Room Calculation Point, this post describes how the Revit 2014 “room aware” families now include the capability of recognizing rooms and spaces they reside in.
 
One of the long standing requests for Revit was the ability of families recognizing a room or a space that they belong to. A new setting within “Room Aware” families allows you to turn on a parameter known as a Room Calculation Point. Room aware families include families such as furniture, doors, casework, generic models, specialty equipment, and windows. Turning on the Room Calculation point within one of these family type enables the Room Calculation Point arrow. Figure 1.

Figure 1

The Room Calculation Point includes a string with two arrows pointing the direction in which the family recognizes the room or space it resides in. Upon loading the family into a project. room aware elements report the room they are in through the To Room: and From Room: parameters. Previous versions of Revit initially recognized the To Room: and From Room: parameters, but would not update if the families were moved or flipped to a different room. With the Room Calculation Point enabled in a room aware family the To Room: and From Room: parameters become dynamic reporting the room that these types of families live in. Figure 2.

Figure 2

Don’t forget to look through other great features our Ideate Technical Team has found in the new 2014 releases for Revit MEP, Revit Structure, Civil 3D, AutoCAD, Navisworks and more: ideateinc.com/2014

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Ron Palma
Ideate AEC Application Specialist
Ron has over 24 years of experience in the architectural industry as a drafter, designer, lead project designer, trainer, and a CAD manager implementing Autodesk Architectural Solutions for a residential design firm. His instructional background includes being an Autodesk Certified Instructor, trainer, support technician, educator at Portland and Clackamas Community Colleges, as well as a U.S. Army certified instructor where he was a senior instructor at Ft Lewis Washington. Ron is a member of the Oregon Army National Guard and platoon sergeant, training and mentoring soldiers in their careers. Ron is a published writer and continues to author professional technical training manuals and shorts for AutoCAD, AutoCAD Architecture, and Revit. As an Autodesk Certified Instructor, Ron provides Revit Architecture training and support for AEC firms. Follow Ron @RonPalmaAEC.

Get it. Know it. Use it.

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Classroom Training – Open Revit Classes

Know It. Ideate Training.

Position yourself to land dream projects. Tap the full potential of your software solutions. Increase your facility, fluidity and capability to maximize the value of your precision software tools.

Here are a few of the training opportunities Ideate has to offer in the coming weeks:

5.29-31::Portland
Revit MEP Electrical Fundamentals

6.3-5::Portland
Revit Architecture Fundamentals

6.10-12::San Francisco
Revit MEP Electrical Fundamentals

6.10-12::San Jose
Revit Architecture Fundamentals

Know your software. Sign up now!

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New in 2014: Autodesk ReCap Point Cloud Review and Processing (Part 1)

Here at Ideate, we try to take advantage of all opportunities to test and work with any new Autodesk product that might be useful to our customers. This year, Autodesk released a new point cloud processing application called Autodesk ReCap. 
 
With functionality similar to point cloud review and processing tools from Trimble and Leica, Autodesk customers now have access to a program that can process and edit point cloud data prior to being used in Autodesk design software like AutoCad, AutoCad Civil 3D, Revit and Autodesk InfraWorks. And best of all, it’s included in the 2014 Autodesk Design Suites.
 
This is a great opportunity for end users to now review and process large lidar datasets in an application made specifically for that task, without having to purchase additional software. Additionally, Autodesk ReCap (.RCP) projects and (.RCS) files can be directly imported into 2014 Autodesk applications.
 
Autodesk ReCap includes a processing engine that allows users to select multiple data files at once, and produces a single (.RCP) Project file that links back to the processed data. Each original data file becomes a (.RCS) file that is part of the project. Process time is dependent on the size and amount of files selected, and during our testing a 1.5 GB dataset with eight original files took about an hour to complete. A convenient timer also provides an estimate on how long each file and the entire project will take to process.
 
Once processed, the ReCap project can be launched directly, and the composite point cloud appears in the application. Here’s a screenshot of the completed point cloud in ReCap (file provided by Surface and Edge 3D Laser Scanning).

For a video of Autodesk ReCap in action and other great features our Ideate Technical Team has found in the new Autodesk 2014 releases, visit: ideateinc.com/2014 
Ideate Note: If you are experiencing a Fatal Error issue when trying to launch a ReCap project this is most likely based on system hardware rather than an issue with the application. For more information about this issue and Ideate’s solution, read our recent blog post titled: Help! Autodesk ReCap is Crashing.

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Matt Miyamoto, P.E.
Ideate AEC Application Specialist
Matt is a licensed Civil Engineer in the state of Hawaii. Matt obtained a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and has 7 years of private sector design experience which he applies in his role as an application specialist with Ideate, Inc. His project experience includes residential and commercial site development, private and public sewer, water and drainage systems, harbors improvements, and roadway improvements. While in Hawaii, Matt was involved in multidisciplinary projects for City and County agencies, State Departments, the Army COE and private developers. @MattM_PE

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What’s New in Revit MEP 2014: This “Fitting” is Just Right! Ability to Embed .CSV File to Revit MEP Fitting Families

Revit MEP 2014 has some great enhancements, one of the best is the ability to embed the .CSV file onto Revit MEP fittings, and other types of families as well.
 
One of the most common issues that we come across when supporting Revit MEP for designers at Ideate, Inc. is the common problem of “custom” Pipe Fittings that do not display the correct proportional (connector sizes are indicating the correct diameter, just not the graphical appearance) size. The main reason for this is because the Lookup Table file ( or .CSV file ) for that family isn’t found. To overcome this issue, and others, the ability to embed the .CSV file has been added. 
 
This new feature is different in this release of Revit in four distinct areas:

1. Pipe and conduit fittings use the function: size_lookup.
2. “Lookup Table Name” is a user defined parameter, which can be modified or removed.
3. The “.csv” is removed from table names in formulae. See the following example:
   • e.g. [size_lookup (“Pipe Fitting - Generic,” “FOD,” Nominal Diameter + 0' 0 1/8" Nominal Diameter)]
4. A new Lookup Tables Manage… button has been added. This is a new button available in the Family Types window to manage lookup tables. The Manage Lookup Tables dialog lists all related lookup tables for the family. It provides the ability to import, export or delete lookup tables for the family.  See the following dialog:

 

One of the major benefits of this feature is that with the .CSV data embedded into the family, that family will then “know” how to model themselves, which if the file was “not found” could lead to unexpected results.
 

Using this ability to add the lookup function to the family will provide a convenient means to not only define parametric fitting content, it will be flexible for use even if not all considerations are accounted for in the “embedded” lookup tables by the use of the default value parameter in the function. 

Don’t forget to look through other great features our Ideate Technical Team has found in the new 2014 releases for AutoCAD MEP, Revit Structure, Revit Architecture, Civil 3D, AutoCAD and more: ideateinc.com/2014

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Bill Johnson
Ideate Senior MEP Application Specialist

Bill has over 20 years experience in applying AEC design solutions for large commercial companies. A graduate of Pasadena Institute of Technology, he has worked for TEECOM Design Group, GTE/GTEL, Greg LeDoux and Associates, and Scottish Power in England. Bill has also had the opportunity to act as Lead AutoCAD Designer for multimillion dollar communication sites which have included structural, electrical, HVAC, conduit, cable plans and equipment layouts. He has a Sustainable Design Certification from the University of California at Berkeley.

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Help! Autodesk ReCap is Crashing

Here at Ideate, we try to take advantage of all opportunities to test and work with any new Autodesk product that might be useful to our customers. This year, Autodesk released a new point cloud processing application called Autodesk ReCap. For those of you who have had a chance to install this product, I hope you’ve been able to try it out and see what it can do. 
 
If you’re like me and some of the other techs here at Ideate, you may be running into a Fatal Error issue when trying to launch a ReCap project. Before I go into the details, let me first say that this doesn’t happen on all systems, and from what we’ve been able to find, it is actually based on system hardware rather than an issue with the application.
 
So here’s the issue: Autodesk ReCap has successfully been installed, registered, and launches successfully on your computer. A new project is created, and lidar data files are selected for processing (so far all is well). The point files complete processing successfully, and an option to “Launch” the ReCap project appears. However, once you click on “Launch Project,” ReCap crashes and an error report appears on screen. Quite frustrating, seeing as everything up to this point has been successful and has gone as expected.
 
The technical staff here at Ideate is running Lenovo W530 laptops with 64-bit Windows 7, quad core processors, 16 GB of RAM, and NVidia K2000M graphics cards. This is by far a sufficient system for running Autodesk ReCap. Additionally, an old test machine that we have is a Dell M6300 with Windows 7, 8 GB of RAM and an older NVidia Quadro FX graphics card (below recommendation). The issue above occurred on the Lenovo system rather than the Dell system. On all Lenovo’s that we tested, the application consistently crashed upon launch of the project. With the Dell system, everything ran smoothly.
 
After some digging, and after reviewing the system .NFO file for the Lenovo, we noticed that it actually comes with two graphics processors; the high-performance NVidia card that we ordered with the system, and an integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000 processor that comes with the laptop by default. Apparently, the crash is being caused by the system defaulting to the Intel card rather than the high-performance NVidia card. 
 
That led us to the solution for the issue, which requires some manual changes to the graphics settings on the laptop. By accessing the NVidia Control Panel, we were able to override the default settings that were pointing the application and the 3D OpenGL preset to the Intel card instead of the NVidia card. Once those were changed, everything was up and running without any fatal errors.
 
To fix the problem, right click on your desktop and access the NVidia Control Panel. There are TWO settings that need to be adjusted. On the left under 3D Settings, click on Manage 3D Settings. From there, the main window will display two tabs.  

On the Global Settings tab, select 3D OpenGL Stereo from the list of Global Presets, and change the Preferred Graphics Processor to High-Performance NVIDIA Processor.

Then switch to the Program Settings tab. In the Select a Program to Customize area, select Autodesk AutoCAD. Under Select the Preferred Graphics Processor for this Program, select High-Performance NVIDIA Processor.
 
Click APPLY, and exit the NVidia Control Panel. As far as we can tell, both of these need to be changed. If either of the two is not set, the program continued to crash.
 
Here’s a Video of the process: http://screencast.com/t/S0KrIhb3Zl

To recap the issue, the fatal error only occurred on our Lenovo systems, so it may not happen to you. However, if your workstation also has dual graphics processors and ReCap is crashing, give that a try.

For a video of Autodesk ReCap in action and other great features our Ideate Technical Team has found in the new Autodesk 2014 releases, visit: ideateinc.com/2014

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Matt Miyamoto, P.E.
Ideate AEC Application Specialist
Matt is a licensed Civil Engineer in the state of Hawaii. Matt obtained a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and has 7 years of private sector design experience which he applies in his role as an application specialist with Ideate, Inc. His project experience includes residential and commercial site development, private and public sewer, water and drainage systems, harbors improvements, and roadway improvements. While in Hawaii, Matt was involved in multidisciplinary projects for City and County agencies, State Departments, the Army COE and private developers. @MattM_PE

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eLearning – Upcoming Classes

Join the Ideate Tech Experts for eLearning – live online classes that provide your entire organization with easy access to premium education. 

Upcoming classes include:

5.28.13::Revit 201:
Making Titleblocks

Each class is designed to give you specific, improved results in a particular topic. You can interact with the instructor right from your own office, while eliminating travel time. Because the class schedule rotates, you can easily select your topics of interest and choose the day which best meets your schedule.

Click here for class descriptions, times and registration link. Questions? Contact education@ideateinc.com

Get It. Know It. Use It.

Read More

Classroom Training – Open Classes

Know It. Ideate Training.

Position yourself to land dream projects. Tap the full potential of your software solutions. Increase your facility, fluidity and capability to maximize the value of your precision software tools.

Here are a few of the training opportunities Ideate has to offer in the coming weeks:

5.29-31::Seattle
AutoCAD Fundamentals

6.3-5::Portland
Revit Architecture Fundamentals

6.10-12::San Francisco
Revit MEP Electrical Fundamentals

6.10-12::San Jose
Revit Architecture Fundamentals

Know your software. Sign up now!

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Ideate, Inc. Tech Team Member Awarded Autodesk® Certified Instructor (ACI)

SAN FRANCISCO, California, 05/14/2013 - Ideate, Inc. (ideateinc.com), an Autodesk Gold Value Added Reseller, today announced that Ideate Senior AEC Application Specialist Shruti Harve was awarded Autodesk Instructor Certification (ACI) upon completion of the three-day ACI Workshop in San Rafael, California, February 27 – March 1, 2013. Harve joins Ideate AEC Application Specialists Ron Palma and James Cowan, who are also ACIs.

The ACI program, a cornerstone of the Autodesk Professional Excellence Program, provides professional instructors with the highest level of training on the use of Autodesk software and gives them globally recognized accreditation. The program requires each candidate to have at least two years’ teaching experience before application and admission. It is designed to ensure that students leave the classroom competent and confident.

ACI certified instructors must meet standardized requirements in order to teach Autodesk solutions. The program also provides an in-depth evaluation of an instructor’s proficiency with Autodesk solutions and the instructor’s ability to train others.

“During the ACI training, our expert technical team members continue to advance their presentation, listening and teaching skills. They undergo instructor, class and self-evaluation, all while maintaining the level of fresh energy that makes our AEC Application Specialists so extraordinary. They are key to helping our customers maximize their use of fast-evolving technologies,” says Bob Palioca, President of Ideate, Inc. “We congratulate Shruti on this outstanding achievement.”

About Ideate, Inc.
Ideate, Inc. is a leading Autodesk solutions provider, offering quality software, training, support and custom consulting services to AEC professionals. Established in 1992 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, Ideate is recognized as a Gold Partner for Architecture, Engineering and Construction, one of Autodesk’s highest levels of authorization. Ideate, Inc. operates five Autodesk Authorized Training Centers (ATC): San Francisco, Sacramento and San Jose, California; Portland, Oregon; and Seattle, Washington. Ideate facilities are Autodesk Authorized Certification Centers, providing globally recognized certification courses for professionals who sell, service and support Autodesk products and solutions. For more information visit www.ideateinc.com.

Autodesk and ATC are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries.
 

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Navisworks 2014: Autodesk Rendering

Ideate, Inc. is pleased to show new functionality within Navisworks which enhances interoperability and avoids the need to assign materials and create lights within Navisworks. In this example, materials and lights are brought in from Revit and rendered to show internal and exterior lighting.

In this new release of Navisworks, Autodesk Rendering gives you access to a common materials library and lets you create four types of lights (point, spot, distant, and web). You can adjust environmental settings for location, time of year/day and exposure. Three render styles (low, medium and high) let you ray-trace on screen before capturing and saving images. This new feature compliments the Presenter option for rendering and provides a seamless workflow where you now have the building element surfaces, data, materials and lights with no need create materials or lights when they already exist.

Artificial Lighting

Daylight

Don’t forget to look through the great features our Ideate Technical Team has found in the new 2014 releases for Revit Architecture, Revit MEP, Revit Structure, Civil 3D, AutoCAD and more: ideateinc.com/2014

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Jim Cowan
Ideate AEC Application Specialist
Jim Cowan’s extensive AEC design industry experience and Autodesk design solutions expertise have made him a sought after university curriculum developer, instructor and presenter. Jim’s areas of expertise include interoperability between solutions and overcoming barriers to the adoption of Building Information Modeling (BIM). Educated in Architecture at Edinburgh College of Art/Heriot-Watt University and in Landscape Architecture at University of Manitoba, Jim has special focus on sustainability issues: daylight analysis, sun studies, lighting analysis, modeling buildings and conceptual energy modeling (models with shading devices). YouTube Channel: MrJimCowan

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eLearning – Upcoming Classes

Join the Ideate Tech Experts for eLearning – live online classes that provide your entire organization with easy access to premium education. 

Upcoming classes include:

5.14.13::Revit 201:
Roof Framing in Revit Structure

5.16.13::Ideate Software 101:
Revit Project Management with Ideate BIMLink

5.28.13::Revit 201:
Making Titleblocks

Each class is designed to give you specific, improved results in a particular topic. You can interact with the instructor right from your own office, while eliminating travel time. Because the class schedule rotates, you can easily select your topics of interest and choose the day which best meets your schedule.

Click here for class descriptions, times and registration link. Questions? Contact education@ideateinc.com

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Enhancements Made to Structural Reinforcement Tools in Revit 2014

Thank you for visiting Ideate’s blog to check out the new features added to Autodesk Revit Structure 2014. My name is Shruti Harve and I work as a Senior Application Specialist at Ideate, Inc.
 
There have been several enhancements made to structural reinforcement tools in Revit 2014 that will help with modeling rebar.
 
These improvements are:

• In the Reinforcement settings dialog box, there is an option now with which you can assign rebar to disregard hooks when specifying shapes. This helps with extending structural workflows into the fabrication process and improves definition of rebar shape codes according to European standards.

• The Reinforcement settings dialog box now also includes an option for Rebar rounding-that lets you specify rounding parameters for structural rebar.

 

• New lap-slice stagger positions have been added to Fabric Reinforcement
• Upon selecting a rebar element-there is a ‘Edit Constraint’ tool that lets you apply overrides to the default host constraint behavior on a selected rebar element. 

Don’t forget to look through the great features our Ideate Technical Team has found in the new 2014 releases for Revit Architecture, Revit MEP, Navisworks, Civil 3D, AutoCAD and more: ideateinc.com/2014

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Shruti Harve, LEED AP

Ideate Senior AEC Application Specialist
Shruti holds a Master of Science degree in Architectural Computing from University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom and is LEED accredited. Her experience includes working in Architecture and Construction firms in India and the United Kingdom as well as Structural Engineering firms in the Bay Area providing design, 3D modeling and drafting services. At Ideate, Shruti provides training and support for Revit Architecture, Revit Structure, 3ds Max, Ecotect and AutoCAD Architecture.

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