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October Tech Tip!

Using the Revision Cloud and the Schedule!

Here is one for you guys out there looking to learn something about the Revision Cloud command in Autodesk Revit.  This will be the same in all versions of Revit and past releases.

I briefly discuss the purpose and use behind the revision command and why it should be done the way it was created.  If you have any comments please post them below.

Click on this link and it should take you to our YouTube channel.



We at Sterling Systems can help you with your technical issues and your business needs.  Just give us a call at (480) 719-4599 and we’ll be happy to assist you!

Steve Coburn, Applications Engineer

September Tech Tip!

Working with Annotative Elements!

Well, welcome to another tech tip from Sterling Systems!

I'm glad you could join us as I talk a little about how the Annotative Elements such as text, dimensions, multi-leaders, hatch and blocks can help us save time and effort while producing our projects.

I hope that you have found this useful and I have cleared up some of the mystery of Annotative Elements and their use in today's workflow.

if you can't get the video to play, you can find the link here on our YouTube channel.

We at Sterling Systems can help you with your technical issues and your business needs.  Just give us a call at (480) 719-4599 and we’ll be happy to assist you!

Steve Coburn, Applications Engineer

Civil 3D to Revit

Civil 3D to Revit and back!

Okay guys, I know that it's not technically a tech tip, but I know that we market to a lot of Civil engineers and Architects, so I wanted to get this bit of information out there to those of you who want to collaborate on a better playing field with your Civil and Architect friends.

This is a great video/class presented by the CAD Technology Center at the University of Minnesota.  Props to the presenters, Brian Levendowski and Shawn Zirbes, for diving in and working this out plus allowing us to see their work.

This has always been a sticky subject when it comes to the Civil project data melding with the Revit Architectural project.  What you have to remember, and they state it several times, always follow the process.

Click here to see the video on YouTube.  It is a bit long as it is a breakout session and demonstration at 1:38:09 so be prepared to spend some time with it.  It is well worth the time if you're looking to make the workflow better.  Software being used in demonstration is 2014 releases.

We at Sterling Systems can help you with your technical issues and your business needs.  Just give us a call at (480) 719-4599 and we’ll be happy to assist you!

Steve Coburn, Applications Engineer

August Tech Tip!

AutoCAD Architecture Door Schedule!

In the past several months we have had some questions about the upgrading from ACAD LT to regular AutoCAD 2014 and to AutoCAD Architecture 2014. In these conversations we would discuss several of the options that you will receive if you do the upgrade.  One of these is the ability to schedule the blocks within the project.  One of these items are doors.

Below I have put together a little video showing you how easy it is to work with the schedules in the program in using the AutoCAD Architecture 2014.  You will see as well that this will also work with windows and rooms.

If you are having problems viewing the video, please click here to watch on our YouTube channel.

We at Sterling Systems can help you with your technical issues and your business needs.  Just give us a call at (480) 719-4599 and we’ll be happy to assist you!

Steve Coburn, Applications Engineer

July Tech Tip!

Sketchbook 2014 to Revit 2014!

Use the program Autodesk Sketchbook 2014 to quickly draft your ideas in a 2D representation much like you would on a napkin at the meeting table with your client.  Take that info and transfer it to Autodesk Revit through the workflow of the .dwg file format and quickly start your design without having to redraw the original intent.  Now we have a process to keep information from being lost between the client meeting and the office process of inserting into CAD.

If you are having problems viewing this video, please click here to view it on our YouTube channel.

We at Sterling Systems can help you with your technical issues and your business needs.  Just give us a call at (480) 719-4599 and we’ll be happy to assist you!

Steve Coburn, Applications Engineer

June Tech Tip!

Parameter Order!

There are those of us out there that when we go to create parameters in our families that we want some organization to the list.  As you well know Revit does not alphabetize or numerically list our parameters.

If you have done any research on this you may very well know what I am about to talk about.  It’s a simple tool or key stroke called the “asterisk”(*,or star).

The first step you want to do in any planning is to PLAN!  Layout your parameters in the order you want them in.  Of course if you don’t know them yet then this will be hard to do, but let’s try to think ahead and plan on what we will need.

Let's start with the "Generic Model" in the family editor.

Basic Family type layout.

Second step is to create the family file right.

While we are creating the file, during this process we insert the needed parameters.  I want to say start with the last parameter on your list.  Want to know why?  Well during the creation of parameters the program likes to put them anywhere it wants to sometimes, most of the time right above the one you previously created.  There is not a definite pattern.  So . . . the asterisk, mentioned above, allows you to at minimum put in order the parameters you are using.

For example let’s put in our first parameter we’ll call it “Par A”.

Our next one is “Par B”, but we don’t want it placed above “Par A”.

So . . . we remove the “Par B” and we go modify the “Par A” and call it “Par B” then add another one called “Par A”.

This is the simple method of doing things, with a couple of extra clicks that we did not want to do in the first place, right?  But what happens when you go changing and adding other names that start going under and above the ones already listed?

Well, the trick is to select the parameter that is right below the one you want to add and modify it.  In the name of the parameter add an asterisk(*,or star) before the name, copy the entire name and add a new parameter.

Paste the copied text into the name field, add another character to the end, making it different, make your choices for the data type and then hit ok.  You should see something like this.

As you can see I wanted to add the “Par A2” below the “Par A” and it would not allow me.  What I did was add the asterisk to the “Par B” added a 2 behind the new one and it automatically put it above the old “Par B” parameter.  Now what you would need to do is delete the Par A2 and rename the “*Par B2” to “Par A2”.  Of course go back and modify the original “Par B” to take out the asterisk and you’re all set.

So you should be seeing something like this.

Remember previously I said to plan your list, this is where you will need to do as much as you can, because it will go very quickly if you do all the copying and renaming first before you start adding formulas and the parameters to the geometry.  Simply keep adding the same parameter and adding more characters to the end to keep them in order as such:

After Renaming

Before Renaming

So while this was a very simple example it can be used in the most populated of families and their lists of parameters.

We at Sterling Systems can help you with your technical issues and your business needs.  Just give us a call at (480) 719-4599 and we’ll be happy to assist you!

Steve Coburn, Applications Engineer