Has this ever happened to you? 

"Frankly, I’m annoyed by having to turn on my workset every time I create a new view. "

When a workset is created, there is an option to make it not visible by default.  If you've run into the scenario above, this box was unchecked when the workset was created. 

One work-around is to create a new workset that is 'Visible in all views', and then delete the original workset.  When you delete a workset that contains elements, you have to option to move those elements to another workset, so you can move them to the newly created workset.  However, be aware that when you do this, those elements may be visible in views where they weren't previously visible (assuming their category is visible in those views).  So, you may need to 'clean up' after yourself, to turn off the worksets where they're not needed.

New in 2011 is the ability to change your mind about the workset visibility default.  In the worksets dialow, there is a new column titled 'Visible in all views' where you can toggle this setting.

This setting is then tied to the 'Use Global Setting' option in a view's visibility graphic overrides settings.  The Global Setting will indicate Visible or Not Visible as appropriate.  You also have the options of Show and Hide as in previous releases.

I have advised against unchecking the 'Visible in all views' option prior to 2011, because if a file had worksets marked as such, there was no way to turn on the worksets when linked into a host model.  However, now with 2011, you have the ability to control the visiblity of worksets in linked files.

 
However, I would still advise to exercise judgement when making something not visible by default.  Consider a scenario where roof drains are on a workset marked not visible in all views in the architectural model.  The plumbing designer, not knowing any better, doesn't go looking for roof drains in toggled off worksets.. he just expects to see them if they exist in the project.  IMO, it is better to have things visible, then turned off by the 'view owner' if/when not needed.

Better control of workset visibility, especially for linked files, is a great enhancement in Revit 2011. 

Did you know you can use the dimension tools to evenly space elements, such as pipes.  Say, for example, you have a series of pipes you want spaced evenly at 6".  You  can use the Aligned dimension tool with its 'EQ' control to evenly space the pipes, then, a second dimension to define the distance between the pipes.  See a quick demo here.  

Did you know you can use the dimension tools to evenly space elements, such as pipes. Say, for example, you have a series of pipes you want spaced evenly at 6". You can use the Aligned dimension tool with its... Martin Schmid

Did you know you can use the dimension tools to evenly space elements, such as pipes. Say, for example, you have a series of pipes you want spaced evenly at 6". You can use the Aligned dimension tool with its... Martin Schmid

Have you ever needed to create geometry from point cloud data?  Well now you can with the new Point Cloud Shape Extraction tool for AutoCAD Plug-in.

 

The Point Cloud Shape Extraction for AutoCAD Plug-in is an intelligent point cloud shape extraction solution which allows you to import, load, and extract shape and geometry information from point cloud data in AutoCAD. Once installed, the tools for point cloud shape extraction are located in Point Cloud tab on the ribbon user interface.

The Point Cloud Shape Extraction tool is now available to test on Autodesk Labs.  You can even download sample data to experiment with and learn more about it. See how well Shape Extraction works for you, and be sure to tell us what you think at labs.acad.shape@autodesk.com.

Have you ever needed to create geometry from point cloud data? Well now you can with the new Point Cloud Shape Extraction tool for AutoCAD Plug-in. The Point Cloud Shape Extraction for AutoCAD Plug-in is an intelligent point cloud shape... Armundo Darling

The Revit User Experience Team is researching the topic of piping. Anyone who oversees, designs, models, or documents pipe is eligible for this survey.  You do not have to use Autodesk products to take this survey. We intend to collect information about your existing workflows, tasks, and requirements.

 

The data from this survey will be used by the Autodesk Revit product team to focus product design and development efforts, prioritize potential features, ensure good usability, and better understand the needs of users involved in piping design and engineering. 

 

Topics include piping systems, sizing calculations, sloped piping, piping content, displaying and modeling piping, and more.  Depending on how many sections you choose to complete, the survey could take from 30 to 60 minutes. You can exit the survey and return to it; you do not have to complete it in one sitting. The deadline for submitting feedback is midnight eastern daylight time, Monday, July 12th.

 

If you know of anyone who might be interested in taking the survey, please feel free to forward this email. If you no longer wish to be sent emails about research opportunities, please let us know. Thank you for your consideration.

 

Link to survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LZPL9QZ

 

If you have any questions or problems with this survey, feel free to contact me at:  jason.martin@autodesk.com.

Sincerely,

 

Jason Martin
User Experience Manager, Revit Engineering

AEC

Autodesk, Inc.
100 Commercial Street

Manchester NH, 03101

The Revit User Experience Team is researching the topic of piping. Anyone who oversees, designs, models, or documents pipe is eligible for this survey. You do not have to use Autodesk products to take this survey. We intend to collect... jason

The 2011 release of Revit MEP has given many new format options for panel schedules.  Some are obvious; the purpose of others are not as easy to figure out.  One such option is the control to display multi-phase circuits on multiple rows.  While working in the Set Template Options dialog when editing a panel schedule template, have you noticed this option and not figured out why it is always disabled?

 

 

 

There is a simple answer.  This control only applies to panels that use the One Column Panel Configuration.  Typical two column formats will show multi-phase circuits on multiple rows by default, but the one column formats show multi-phase circuits on one row by default.  Checking this setting will break out the phases onto separate rows as illustrated by the preview image in the dialog.

 

(Click the image for an enlarged view.)
 

The 2011 release of Revit MEP has given many new format options for panel schedules. Some are obvious; the purpose of others are not as easy to figure out. One such option is the control to display multi-phase circuits on... Eric Grey

This is to notify all Revit MEP 2010 users that a hotfix has been provided to deal with an issue where circuit data was lost or modified when users performed a save to central.

The link and instructions for the hotfix can be found on the Autodesk website here:  http://usa.autodesk.com/getdoc/id=DL15282292

This is to notify all Revit MEP 2010 users that a hotfix has been provided to deal with an issue where circuit data was lost or modified when users performed a save to central. The link and instructions for the... Jeremy Smith

This is to notify all Revit MEP 2010 users that a hotfix has been provided to deal with an issue where circuit data was lost or modified when users performed a save to central. The link and instructions for the... Jeremy Smith

Circuit naming in Revit MEP has always been based on the standard used in the U.S. For example, if the first two circuits added to a panel are both three-pole, they will be named 1,3,5 and 2,4,6. But what if... Eric Grey

Circuit naming in Revit MEP has always been based on the standard used in the U.S.  For example, if the first two circuits added to a panel are both three-pole, they will be named 1,3,5 and 2,4,6.  But what if you are designing in a locale that uses a different standard?  What if you would expect those circuits to be named 1,2,3 and 4,5,6 or better yet RST1 and RST2?  As part of the new panel schedule functionality in Revit MEP 2011, circuit naming and panel schedule formatting have been made more flexible to allow for different naming standards.  The following are the key features to be aware of to create the RST1 example.

 

First, to make the circuits number down a schedule (1,2,3) instead of back and forth across a schedule (1,3,5), you will want to create a panel family that uses a different Panel Configuration.  This new parameter is found by editing the family.  Set it to either One Column or Two Columns, Circuits Down.  Panels migrated from earlier versions of Revit MEP will be set to Two Columns, Circuits Across by default.  The Panel Configuration parameter tells Revit how to number the circuits and where to show them in a panel schedule as they are added to the panel.

 

 

Next, set the panel to use By Phase circuit naming.  This option is found in the instance properties of the panel.

 

Then set the labels for each phase to use your standard.  This control is found in the Electrical Settings dialog > General node.  The labels default to A, B, and C.  They have been changed to R, S, and T in this example.

 

 

As a result, the circuits assigned to this panel are using my local standard correctly as seen this in Revit MEP panel schedule.

 

Are you using View Templates? 

View templates are NOT new to Revit 2011... however, if you are not familiar with them, here is a primer.

First, you may ask, what is a View Template?

A View Template is essentially a collection of settings that define how to display a view.... in the world of MEP, we have lots of different types of views... duct views, piping views, plumbing views, lighting views, power views, low voltage system views, the list could go on.  If you are tediously manually setting up each individual view, you should realize that much of that work could be simplified by using View Templates.  Just about all the settings in the view's Visibility/Graphics (V/G) may be applied using a view template. 

View Templates are found on the View ribbon, Graphics Panel, View Templates > View Template settings.  Refer to the product documentation for more info... however, this should be fairly straight forward... the settings here are very similar to those found in View Properties.

Alternatively, when you have a view defined as you need, you can right-click the view name in the Project Browser, and select Create View Template From View... This will take the settings of the view, and create a template for you.

You'll note that on the right click menu on a view in the Project Browser is Apply View Template...this lets you select a view template and apply its settings to the selected view(s).

Another item is Apply Default View Template.  The Default View Template is a property of each view (under the Identity Data group).  This allows you to set a view template that may be used to 'reset' the settings of the view, without having to explicitly select the view template.  For example, as you're working on your duct, pipe, plumbing, electrical, etc, views, you may change the Detail Level to Coarse and the Visual Style to Wireframe to speed things up... however, when you go to plot, you need to revert these back to the default settings as per the Default View Template associated with each view.  So, before plotting, just select all the views, and select Apply Default View Template, and each view will be re-configured to your 'standard' settings.

As you work on your initial/pilot projects, you will likely be tweaking your views/view templates as you go (it's hard to discern if your view template is 'correct' at the start of a project since you don't have any model geometry defined to see the effect).  However, once you have settled on the necessary settings within a project, you can then use that project as a basis for future or other ongoing projects.  You can use Transfer Project Standards (Manage ribbon, Settings panel) to copy your View Templates to other projects.  If you make use of Filters (many MEP views do) just make sure you also transfer the Filters, otherwise the V/G Override Filters settings in your View Templates may not work as expected.

Happy templating!

Are you using View Templates? View templates are NOT new to Revit 2011... however, if you are not familiar with them, here is a primer. First, you may ask, what is a View Template? A View Template is essentially a... Martin Schmid

In AutoCAD MEP 2011, users can now configure conduit routing preferences to satisfy unique conditions for different industry standards. As a result, the appropriate fittings are automatically inserted into the layout. Auto layout can generate different routing solutions, letting you choose the most suitable alternative.  Look at this video to see how new Routing Preferences can be created based on your company standards or required project parameters.

In AutoCAD MEP 2011, users can now configure conduit routing preferences to satisfy unique conditions for different industry standards. As a result, the appropriate fittings are automatically inserted into the layout. Auto layout can generate different routing solutions, letting you... Armundo Darling

All conduit and fitting tools now have more detailed properties in AutoCAD MEP 2011.  Draw new conduit runs or modify existing layouts using the Properties palette. User can now be more productive and design more efficiently with all the conduit properties available on the Properties Palette for improved access and ease of use.

In addition, AutoCAD MEP 2011 now supports the nominal size, sometimes referred to as trade size, for conduit and conduit fittings. Outside diameter and nominal size are now provided for conduit bends and elbows that support industry-standard radius values. See how you can layout conduit with nominal diameters through the Properties palette and ensure that they meet local standards and codes in this video.