25Jul

Excerpt from The Revit Clinic article; “64 Bit Revit and Stability“
- “We see another reason to switch to 64 bit, stability. In general, 64 bit operating systems running 64 bit Revit are about twice as stable as 32 bit operating systems running 32 bit Revit.”
The Basic Rule of Stability and Memory
Revit needs about 20 times the size of your Revit file in RAM in order to be able to expand the file fully in memory.
- 64 bit operating systems and 64 bit Revit give you additional access to RAM (32 bit OS is limited to 3GB, with the 3GB switch) thus, you can work on larger projects on a 64 bit operating system.
Read the complete article, “64 Bit Revit and Stability“
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Tags: 64-bit operating systems, revit 64-bit, revit equipment recommendations, revit implementation, revit model coordination, revit worksets, the revit clinic
21Jul

Register Now | Revit: Strengths of Nested Families
I am providing a free, online training presentation for SCI, a Chicago-Wisconsin Revit Reseller-Autodesk Partner.
- When: Wednesday, July 28
- Time: 11:00-12:00pm CDT
- How: Online Broadcast

Register Now | Revit: Strengths of Nested Families
When a Revit Family is inserted into another Revit Family (Host), it becomes a Nested Family.
This gives the Host Family, new functional strengths.
I’ll demonstrate this functionality using a variety of Revit family tools within several Revit families.
- We’ll review a louvered sun shade with a nested structural support family,
- Create a furniture cabinet where the nested door family adjusts its size with the cabinet size,
- Create a plumbing fixture with multiple placements of a nested soap dish family; and
- Build a stretchable locker room bench that increases the quantity of nested pedestal supports as it gets longer.
Register Now | Revit: Strengths of Nested Families
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11Jul

As design firms transition their graphic standards into the Revit software environment, they find Revit software uses TrueType fonts rather than the proprietary AutoCAD SHX fonts.
As they seek replacements for their company’s “hand lettering” or presentation CAD fonts, they find their choices limited or non-existent.
Here’s a low cost solution, YourFonts; that I blogged a couple years ago for my Revit clients.

- Personalize your Revit drawings with fonts you create and own
- Your own handwriting turned into your very own font
- Create fonts with more than 200 characters
- Optionally include your signature and digitally sign your contracts
- You’ll have your very own font within 15 minutes
- Preview your font for free
- Make as many fonts as you like
- Use your fonts on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux
- Personalize your digital scrapbook pages and invitations
- Make your own “family handwriting history”
- Use your fonts in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and every program that you own
- Currently just $9.95 (plus $5.00 if you upload both template pages) – only purchase if you’re satisfied!
Major Quality Difference

Step 1 – Print Online Character Template
- The first thing to do is print the template. We have it available in two common formats; a PDF document and an image.
Step 2 – Complete Your Personal Font Character Template
- Use a suitable pen (e.g. a black permanent marker of fine or medium thickness) to draw the characters the way that you normally write. Make sure you draw your characters into the designated cells.
Step 3 -Scan & Save Font Character Template
- When you’ve drawn all characters you want to include in your font, it’s time to scan the completed template.
Step 4 – Upload Font Character Template
The font name will appear as the font name in all applications, so make sure you give your font an appropriate name. Optionally provide copyright information, that will be embedded into your font.
Step 5 – Preview Your Font Online
Step 6 – Download Completed Font Library
Step 7 – Install Your Personal Custom Font
- In order to use your font, you need to install it. Installing a font makes the font available to all applications (including but not limited to most word processing, spreadsheets, desktop publishing and graphic design programs like Microsoft Word, Adobe Illustrator, etc.) on your computer.
Windows 7
Windows (Vista, XP, 2000, Me, 98, 95)
Macintosh (Mac OS X)

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Tags: american institute of architects, architect, autocad shx fonts, bim management tools, bim manager, company standards, construction documents, graphic standards, hand lettering fonts, microsoft windows, revit architecture, revit consulting, revit implementation, revit mep, revit structure, schematic design, true type fonts
25Jun

SCI | Autodesk Revit / Civil 3D / AutoCAD Reseller
I am providing a free, online lunch & learn training presentation for SCI, a Chicago-Wisconsin Revit Reseller-Autodesk Partner.

Register for the Revit Worksharing-Worksets Lunch/Learn Event on the SCI Events page.

I posted initial information regarding SCI / Engineered Efficiency in this article
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19Jun

What are the most common web sites to get Revit-BIM objects?
This was the “Discussion” question raised by Chris Andersen in the Club Revit Group on LinkedIn the professional networking website.
Here’s the list of Revit component family download websites generated from that discussion:
Kawneer Curtain Wall Systems
USG Wall Systems
Woodwork Institute – Casework
MEP objects (some of the links might be outdated): from AUGI:
- http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?t=99663
Acuity Brands Lighting
American Standard
- http://www.americanstandard-us.com/resources/
A.O. Smith
Applied Air
- http://appliedair.com/building-information-modeling-bim.asp
Bradley Corporation
ClimateMaster
- http://www.climatemaster.com/index/comm_literature
Focal Point
- http://www.focalpointlights.com/resources/BIM.html
Greenheck

Kohler
- http://www.us.kohler.com/tech/cadsymbol/cadsymbol.jsp?
- (Revit families @ bottom of page)
Lightolier
- http://www.lightolier.com/resources/downloads.jsp#BIM
LJ Wing | Heating & Makeup Air Equipment
- http://www.ljwing.com/building-information-modeling-bim.asp
Sierra | Fresh Air Systems
- http://www.sierra-fas.com/building-information-modeling-bim.asp
Temprite Industries
- http://www.ljwing.com/building-information-modeling-bim.asp
Temprite Industries
- http://www.tempriteheating.com/building-information-modeling-bim.asp
Loren Cook
- http://www.lorencook.com/About/destools.shtml
Marley
- http://spxcooling.com/en/about/detail/revit-files/
McQuay
Mono-Systems
- http://www.monosystems.com/revit.asp
Price
- http://www.price-hvac.com/software/revit
Ruskin
- http://www.ruskin.com/revit.aspx
Siemon
- http://www.siemon.com/us/download/bim.asp
Victaulic
- http://www.victaulic.com/content/autodeskrevit.htm
Visa Lighting
Watts Regulator | Watts Water Technologies Inc
- http://www.watts.com/pro/whatsnew/whatsnew_3dCAD.as
HVAC – York – Mitsubishi – Raypak
Revit Family Content
- http://andekan.com/
- http://www.broutek.com/
- http://www.cadworks.net/Revit.htm
- http://smartbim.reedconstructiondata.com/
RPC Content
Titus
- http://www.titus-hvac.com/software/Revit.asp
Lochinvar Boilers/Water Heaters:
- http://lochinvar.com/products/documentation.aspx?mode=filetype&filetypeid=22
Taco pumps & accessories:
- http://www.taco-hvac.com/revit.html
TurboSquid
- http://www.turbosquid.com/Revit (fee-based)
Reed Construction | SmartBIM Library
- http://www.reedconstructiondata.com/bim/bim-library/ (fee-based)
Yellowbryk
- http://www.yellowbryk.com/index.html (fee-based)
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