2011 Teaser

I just got done reading the new features that were released in the new Revit 2011 that were posted on David Lights Blog.(linked via Cris Deel's) Impressive.... I am new to this Autodesk world that is Autocad and Revit, etc. I think that they are doing a good thing trying to bring a diverse set of programs together under one roof. This has to be a daunting task to buy a innovative company and try to make it work with your proprietary software. Both Revit and Ecotect are examples of such an umbrella procedure. Under the 2010 version of Revit I think that users have been experiencing what is the transition phase to Autodesk thought process from the prior company. This is why the earlier versions worked well, they were just improvements on the existing software architecture. (Hate, that software companies call this such) Now, finally we are seeing what the Autodesk powerhouse can produce. The 2010 format was all new and in many ways both innovative and a step backwards. 2011 seems from David Lights Blog to be improving the areas that need working on and debugging the system. It is my opinion that no one should depend on a new program/format for anything wonderful for the first few versions/years, especially when it comes to software. However they are making strides in the right direction. Modeling tools are getting better. Autodesk has realised that the 2009 way of modeling profiles should be reintroduced (go user interaction) and has attempted to meld the two. It also seems that several interfaces that have a need to be consistently available are becoming such; Type drop downs are now in a separate ribbon, etc.

This post is meant as a teaser for the front end of the class blog to get others interested in searching about the system to find out things that most of the time students pass over in favor of doing other work.

Aaron Buckman

aaron buckman PROJECT #1

This blog is going to be rushed because I have spent the last hour trying to work around the Mac/PC interface that is Revit running in BOOTCAMP. finally decided to just export the .JPG and convert in illustrator to PDF on the MAC side so that I could use the OS that the UO recommends architecture students invest in. (Even though NO Autodesk or Rhino product yet runs in this OS).

I have found the GTF's daily hands on experience has been the best for me learning the actual BIM software the class is about. Although the website is a good resource for us with the power of GOOGLE search and all of the REVIT communities that exist on the web I do not feel that it warrants the amount of time I have spend learning this interface.(I could just be a frustrated introverted non-writing architecture student.)

The tools that I have found frustrating so far has been PRINT in Revit. The sheet set up to print did not show the gridlines and when exported to a jpg. they suddenly appeared.

Questions that this project raised is how to put in a site and when will someone else figure out an intuitive conceptual massing program as easy to use as Sketchup.

aaron's precedent study building

I have decided to do my precedent study project 1 on Richard Meier's Smith House. Barring the iconic starkitect name, prior to this term I knew nothing about this architect. Style, time period etc. all drew a blank when I was assigned him in my diagramming class. Now I know that he was a classicist who built in the modern format during the 1960's-90's. Most of his early work has been rendered in white, as is evident in the picture to the right, this makes material choice in Revit easy, ha ha. This building has mainly been an experience in making sure that I completely understand the structure and construction of the building prior to modeling it. Evidence that Revit is not a conceptual tool but an contract document device. Then nice thing is that many of the mistakes I have made are easily fixable with Revit's parametric dimensioning capabilities. The biggest challenges I have faced so far have been the modeling of the exterior stairs. Not only are they curved at the landing but they have a solid wall railing wrapping one side of them while on the other they have a minimal glass and pipe railing. The task that I have not been able to tackle yet is the construction of the main vertical element in the building, the central facade fireplace. The further I diagram this building (for my other class) the more I realize how important it is to be there. I could create a simple form that resembles the actual build fireplace but as in all my digital models I have a need for everything to be physically correct. This has led to many problems in past projects, slowing down of machines, crashing programs, even refusal by some machines to run certain models but it is a problem I am attempting to rectify. The decision to completely model this fireplace stems from it being the most complex thing a significantly small model, and from its significance in the meaning of the main circulation and gathering spaces. Help in this direction will be needed to continue.

what aaron buckman wants from BIM

My name is Aaron Buckman. I'm in Arch 424, Spring 2010 BIM class. I am bringing to this class a limited computer experience but a willingness to put in the time. I have some experience with Rhino, Sketch-up, and the Adobe suite. I am hoping this class will serve as an opportunity for me to actually stick with Revit long enough to get some decent interface time so that I will no longer be hesitant to pick it up when I have to prepare final documents for a presentation. This seems to me to be its greatest gift to the designer-draftsman. It would be nice if I could get involved in a model building program that is more intuitive and easy to run than Sketch-up for the conceptual through schematic design phases, but i don't think that exists yet in one format. I am however excited to try the massing modeling tools incorporated into Revit to see if they compare. I know that we will be concentrating on Revit as the main focal point in our BIM process, but I was also hoping to further my total software tool box skillset by getting more familiar with Rhino, possibly importing some of the crazy boolean shape easily created in that program into Revit, maybe even incorporating Rhino's plug-in Grasshopper for the generation of some of those shapes. In addition I would like to get a basic introduction into exploring some of the environmental modeling programs such as Ecotect and get a feel for how they could be integrated into the my design decision process, either in my next studio or later in the real world.

First day of BIM Spring 2010

The use of the Teleconferencing room in MK 175 is a little awkward for a class of this size and nature. Looks like it would be great for a conference call with up to 10 personnel on the Eugene side, but as a class we were scattered all over a room with building structure in the field of view of the large TV.

The lecture was well prepared, with a good explanation of the underlying nature of the class and BIM as an intro.

Breakout into the lab was smooth with a quick startup by David, followed by a good walk-through of the Revit interface