Technology preview: Staggeringly fast Revit processing with Excitech DOCS

At Excitech we are continuously developing technologies to automate tasks that are: labour intensive, prone to human error, or simply just too slow. 

You may have seen some of the automation that we have achieved with our document and drawing management software Excitech DOCS which involves automatically naming documents and drawing in accordance with ISO 19650 file naming standards, the creation of transmittals with all relevant information in just a matter of minutes, and uploading documents to a variety of extranet services with their metadata and connection details for each project to name a few.

In order to further speed up the workflows of architects and engineers, we have developed a method within our document and drawing management software Excitech DOCS that allows us to modify and re-publish a sheet in seconds. 

Historically, Revit can take a significant time to process sheets and while you can use automation tools to schedule the tasks, you still have to wait for Revit to get the job done. With this new tool, you won’t have to go into Revit to update the drawings; it will be updated from directly within Excitech DOCS, and within a matter of seconds. 

For instance, let’s say you have a drawing that has the suitability code “S0 – Work In Progress (WIP), but you need to push it through the ISO 19650 workflow as it is now suitable for coordination, all you need to do is select “shared” for the CDE status and then select the code “S1 – Suitable for Coordination”, and then preview the PDF drawing and see the updates. 

Watch the short preview below to see it in action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=secf4B_csiI&list=PLyBt4gIhwg2dO8X8fWyqT_xrPqD8oKDdw&index=2&t=0s

To find out more about our document and drawing management software Excitech DOCS visit our website or contact us at info@symetri.co.uk or 01992 807 444.

Creating a gabion wall in subassembly composer

Subassembly Composer is an application that can be installed with Civil 3D and enables users to create their own subassemblies. You can then add those subassemblies to Civil 3D and use them in a corridor.

During this blog, we will walk through an example to create a gabion wall subassembly that adjusts the number of levels based on an elevation target.

Let’s start by launching Subassembly Composer, the interface is divided into several panels. In the packet Settings’ panel, set the subassembly name to GabionWall. That is the name that will show in Civil 3D when the subassembly is imported into Tool Palettes.

Next, set some input parameters to define the dimensions of the gabion baskets. These parameters will be exposed in Civil 3D in subassembly properties and can be edited.

In the same panel, change to the ‘Target Parameters’ tab and add an elevation target, that will be used to work out the number of levels that are needed. Our subassembly will have a minimum of 1 and a maximum of three levels but you can easily add new levels following the same process.

We can now focus on the flowchart, which is where we can build the logic of the program. You can click and drag the corresponding nodes from the Tool Box to the Flowchart and then change the connections between them if needed. This is how the finished graph should look like.We will now go through the process.

Insert a sequence in the Flowchart and rename it Codes. A sequence can be used to group a number of nodes that are related, helping you organise the chart. Inside the sequence, add a few ‘Define Variable’ nodes to create some variables that will define the point, link, and shape codes. By creating variables, we reduce the risk of typing the same code differently if it needs to be assigned multiple times. It will also make it easier to change the codes once the chart is finished.

Add a Point node after the Codes sequence in the origin and assign a code of TopInside. This point represents the attachment point of the subassembly.

Next, we define a variable NumberofLevels to control the number of levels that are needed to be based on the elevation of the attachment point, the elevation target, and the height of each gabion basket. Assign the following formula to the value of the variable:

CType(Math.Ceiling((P1.Elevation-BottomOfWall.Elevation)/Height), Integer)

Now define another variable Currentlevel to keep track of the level we are in and initialise it with a value of 1.

Include the geometry of the top level in a ‘Level 1’ sequence by adding Point, Link, and Shape nodes and assigning the codes as indicated in the preview below. At the end of the sequence, increase the current level by one using a ‘Set Variable Value’ node.

Insert a Decision node to determine if we continue to the next level or if we stop at this point. The condition to check is ‘CurrentLevel<= NumberOfLevels’.If it evaluates to True we will proceed to level 2, otherwise, the execution will end.

Copy the sequence used for level 1 and modify it accordingly to reflect the geometry of level 2. Note how you can drag the BottomOfWall elevation target and the preview will update, modifying the number of levels as needed.

Create level 3 (and subsequent levels if desired) following the same logic and save the packet file as ‘GabionWall.pkt’. There just remains to add the subassembly to Civil 3D.

Open Tool Palettes in Civil 3D, right-click on one of the existing tabs and add a new palette.

Right-click on the newly created tab and import the subassembly:

The subassembly should now display in Tool Palettes, ready to be inserted into an assembly.

It can now be used on a corridor where the baseline represents the top-level of the gabion wall, the bottom level is given by an elevation target (e.g. a profile) and the length of the baskets is controlled by the frequency.

If you need assistance with content creation, application automation, project support and more, visit our website to explore our consultancy services:

https://www.excitech.co.uk/Services/Consultancy/Services-Consultancy?specialism=4

Alternatively, develop your software skills with us by attending one of our scheduled or private training courses. Our full list of courses can be found here:

https://www.symetri.co.uk/training/training-courses

Support Revit Homeworking & Business Continuity with BIM 360

With the country in the process of returning to normal and social distancing rules still in place, businesses have had to make some changes to their working spaces, with a number still allowing their employees to work from home. It is understandable that businesses are concerned about their employee's wellbeing and their own continuity as the globe adjusts to this new way of life, it is natural to expect business-as-usual will look somewhat different as the COVID-19 pandemic dust settles.

Over the last few months, we have seen unprecedented levels of calls from customers seeking advice to support businesses continuity, and solutions that will enable their teams to work from home and continue to deliver against their ongoing commitments. 

Here are some options they considered:

Revit Users& Anyone Else Accessing or Working with CAD / Drawing Formats

It’s Time to Embrace Construction Enabled Cloud Solutions

There is a real win/win opportunity here for businesses and employees alike. If it’s not already, this is a must have a topic for any C-Suite agenda. 

Here is why…BIM 360 has the potential to make it easier for designers, and anyone working with drawings for that matter, to do their jobs more effectively and for businesses to realise enormous productivity gains, whilst enabling working from home, or anywhere, anytime, with absolute confidence.  

Autodesk’s Construction Centric Cloud platform offers businesses and people in the AEC space a real opportunity to work smarter and, given the current climate keep people safe in the process.BIM 360 will help form a solid foundation to support design-lead businesses effectively hereafter.

The following table presents a brief snapshot of how BIM 360 could be leveraged to address core business challenges supporting remote working. 

Challenge	Solution
Any Project Participant Not using Revit
Work from anywhere any time	Once you have been set up, you can sign into BIM 360 using an internet browser or mobile device.
Access all project models and files for which you have permissions	Access to projects, folders, files is controlled so you will only be able to access content that has beenshared with you
View more than 60 2D and 3D CAD formats	BIM 360 Docs supports the viewing of 60 different CAD and other formats from a web browser. This means users can share and view CAD files, models and documents in their native format without having to revert to creating and sharing PDF's.
Revit 2018.3 and Later (You will need a PC at home that can run Revit)
Revit Version 2018.3 or later	Best practice is to use Revit 2018.3 and later for work-sharing as all information contained here relates to the current version of BIM 360 Design.
Work from anywhere any time	Once you have been set up. You can sign into BIM 360 Design using your work email address.
Access all project models and files for which you have permissions	Access to projects, folders, files is controlled so you will only be able to access content that has been shared with you. You will need to have a PC able to run Revit. One option is to take your work computer home with you. Another is to install and activate Revit on your personal PC. Autodesk user’s policy enables a Revit licence to be activated on your home computer under a home use clause.
Revit work-sharing fully enabled	BIM 360 Design is engineered to support Revit collaboration from Revit version 2018.3 and later. This makes it more effective even than hosting the Revit model on your local server.
No lengthy sync with central times	When a Revit project is opened for the first time the file will need to download and cache to your local PC. Thereafter, every time you sync with central only the changes are synced making this typically much faster by comparison.
No sync with central issues that prevent other users from working	Unlike Revit Server, when you sync a model in BIM 360 Design, this process does not affect any other user connected to or working on the model.
Version Control & Backups	All documents uploaded to BIM 360 are automatically versioned and backed up. This means that only the very latest version is visible but previous version can be viewed, made current, and visually compared with the previous version to detect changes. Potentially a great security blanket that is not possible when saving your Revit model to the local server.
Collaboration Sets	Not sure what these are? Consider when you create a copy of your Revit model each week and then spend ages cleaning it up so it only contains the elements (3D views, Sheet, Schedules, etc) that you want to share and then you package this up to share with others. Well, you can stop doing that now.  Using BIM 360 Just create a collaboration sets for each discipline, state, level, phase, etc in your Revit model and simply add the elements you want to share to these sets as you work. When you are ready to share, just publish the set to the relevant shared folder on BIM 360.
All updates fully auditable	This is more for the company’s point of view but when using BIM 360 Design incremental updates by each designer are tracked automatically. All interactions are tracked, and a log of activities can be accessed.
No need to waste time producing pdf’s	BIM 360 supports the viewing of 60 different CAD formats. This means you can share files in their native format without having to waste time dumbing them down and creating PDF's. To share a Revit model or sheet with people who don’t have Revit, just share the Revit model or sheet.See below for raising and tracking issues and marking up drawings.
Security
Full user, role and company permissions control	Only people with rights can access what they have been given permission to access.
Control access at project or folder level	Share projects or folders with internal design teams and/or external parties. You can create a shared environment where external parties can upload data to their own folder - completely eradicating the need for WeTransfer, Dropbox, Zip files etc. - and in a native file format (see viewing below) saving even more time.
Full permissions	Upload, view, edit, download, etc. by name, role, company.
BIM 360 Security Protocols	We’ve created a presentation that answers all your security questions.
Design Review
View more than 60 2D and 3D CAD formats	BIM 360 supports the viewing of 60 different CAD formats from a web browser. This means users can share and view models and files in their native format without having to revert to creating and sharing PDF's.
Raising & Tracking Issues	BIM 360 has built-in Issue Management where stakeholders can raise and assign issues on 2D drawings or 3D models on the fly, from a browser or mobile device.
Centralise the logging and tracking; respond to issues in a single place	Get a complete view of all issues raised with valuable insights such as: issues raised by or assigned to you, total issues raised by project, outstanding issues, time to resolve, issues by theme.
Marking up drawings	Add mark-ups to CAD files and models with tools dedicated to the task.
Backups & Version Control
Backups	All Documents uploaded to BIM 360 are automatically backed up and versioned.
Version Control	All documents uploaded are automatically versioned – this means that only the very latest version is visible but previous version can be viewed, made current, and visually compared with the previous version to detect changes.
Revit Project Management
Project Timeline	BIM 360 Design includes a complete project timeline which reflects when project data was shared and consumed by all parties. This makes it very easy to keep track of all interactions between project design stakeholders.
User updates	During the WIP stages, every time a team member updates the central Revit project, their activity is tracked on the project timeline.
Automated linked project models from other disciplines on approval	When collaborating with other parties or disciplines using BIM 360, shared project models are automatically updated when they are consumed via the project timeline immediately updating the linked Revit file with no effort required by the designers.
IT
No VPN required	Connecting via a VPN does tend to be slow when working with Revit models and other large model formats, but especially slow with Revit work-sharing. This is mostly due to the extremely long lag times in uploading (often much slower speed than downloading) files back to the server when users save or the settings are set to autosave files (which can be set to every 5 minutes for some companies).
Revit work-sharing fully enabled	Unlike a VPN, BIM 360 Design is engineered to support Revit collaboration and work-sharing from Revit version 2018.3 and later. Opening a project for the first time will be like a VPN, however thereafter only changes are synced making it more effective even than hosting the Revit model on your local server.
No lengthy sync with central times	When a Revit project is opened for the first time the file will need to download and cache to your local PC. Thereafter, every time you sync with central only the changes are synced making this typically much faster by comparison to a VPN.
No sync with central issues that prevent other users from working	Unlike a VPN or Revit Server, when you sync a model in BIM 360 Design, this process does not affect any other user connected to or working on the model.
No IT infrastructure required	Nothing to download or install. Just sign in and you are good to go.
No IT admin overhead	No administration to local servers, virus protocols, networks etc.
Unlimited Storage	With BIM 360 there is no storage limit making it possible to store any and all project files and models
BIM 360 Security Protocols	We’ve created a separate presentation to answer your questions on security.
Change Management
Change visualisation	How long does it take to compare changes when you receive a new Revit model? Minutes? Hours?With BIM 360 it can take seconds.  Model elements are coloured green for new, red for deleted and yellow for modified - even if it’s just parameter. Not sure how long that would take to do otherwise.
Compare changes in 2D drawings, pdfs, sheets	Raster and vector PDF's can be compared with changes highlighted in red.
Compare changes in Revit and IFC models	Not only can you view and visually compare Revit models, in a browser, you can also compare changes to an IFC file.

We held a webinar back in March to help our customers further understand how BIM 360 can support homeworking. You can access our webinar recording here: Enable Home Working and Support Business Continuity with BIM 360

Other Options to Consider

Option 1: Office 365 / One Drive

Microsoft Office 365 seems to be somewhat underrated as a collaboration platform. If you run Office 365 then each of your staff has access to 1Tb OneDrive storage essentially allowing employees to access their work from anywhere and collaborate with other employees in real-time. 

Here’s what’s important to understand if you have Office 365:

• Using your work email address, you can sign into your online 365 account where you can access your One Drive https://onedrive.live.com/about/en-gb/signin/

• Each user has One Drive (or can enable One Drive) folder on your local PC

• Files copied or saved to your One Drive on your PC are automatically synced to the cloud. This means all your data is automatically backed up

• Office files stored on your local PC’s One Drive can be easily shared and accessed by others 

• You can share folders and files with others by hitting the Share button on the top right of the menu bar or right clicking on the file/folder and selecting Share

• Documents can be shared using a link to the file (less secure) or by adding a specific email address for secure sharing

• You can also set the permission level for greater control

• Importantly, any number of people can work on the same file at the same time with changes reflected instantly (real-time) for other participants - making it an effective collaboration platform worth considering.

There are tons of articles online explaining the benefits of using Office 365 & One Drive for Business.

Option 2: VPN and Remote Access. 

One option is to enable staff to access data, or remotely control their PCs, from home. Whilst this does need some consideration due to logistics and cost, it is worth considering. Our IT team compiled a quick outline of considerations you can explore here: [Read Blog Here]

People need to ensure they continue to work, not just for their own sanity, but to ensure the company they work for maintains its ability to keep them employed.  Hopefully this blog has given you some additional ideas of how this can be enabled.

Useful Links

For guidance on working from home with your current licensing deployment, please read our blog "Autodesk Licensing and Working from Home." 

For guidance on the impact of remote working on your critical IT infrastructure, please read our blog "Ensuring your Business Continuity during the Current Coronavirus (COVI19) Outbreak."

If you would like further information on BIM 360, please contact us on 01992 807 444 or email marketing@excitech.co.uk