Sharp Elbows - New Revit 2013 'Structural Material' Parameter and Model Upgrade Problems

The purpose of this post is to shed a bit of light on a Revit 2013 model upgrade problem. It will also assume a certain level of Revit knowledge

The materials functions have been seriously overhauled for Revit 2013.
On the Structures side, a new built-in parameter 'Structural Material' has been introduced.

This parameter is non-modifiable and non-removable. It can only be altered from 'Instance' to 'Type' and vice-versa. The function is by design and appears to be for the purpose of using extended information for calculation and to provide a more fixed and stable platform in the structural model for third party analysis software linking

When family files are updated in Revit 2013, the upgrade elbows out any existing material parameter and replaces it with this.

However, we have discovered a slight complication with this. Take specifically families which have a nested component, and the material parameter in this nested component is linked to a material parameter in the host.

If you open the family file directly in Revit 2013, the upgrade process will 'sever' this link, but it will upgrade.

If you are upgrading a project that contains such a family, the upgrade will fail for these elements and Revit will require that these are deleted from the model before continuing. This is happening here with our Pile Cap families, which have a Pile family nested inside.

To get around this, you have to open the project model in the previous Revit version and edit the offending families to de-couple the material parameter link. The model will now upgrade in Revit 2013. You can now re-edit these families to re-couple the parameters, then reload back into the model.  You may also want to consider changing the previous material parameter to the new 'Structural Material' to take advantage of the new functionality

I trust this helps and is clear, but please feel free to comment

Trace a Spline in a Linked Dwg File and Some Recommended Reading

The scenario. You get a dwg file for overlay. The architect has drawn a beautiful sweeping curved  edge to their building, You link the dwg file into your model and see its a Spline.

Which presents two problems:

• You can't trace over it in Revit
• You can't set it out. And if you can't draw it, they can't build it

Fortunately, you can use the 'Flatten' command in Autocad to turn it to a polyline of arcs. By then exploding the polyline, you are left with a series of arcs that you can pick in Revit and also set out. The following short video demonstrates this



On another note and as a supplement to this, I recently came across
'The CAD Setter Out' blog by Paul Munford. For people who regularly have to clean up third party CAD files for use in Revit (or generally), this is comprehensive and highly useful resource. Its written generally from the CNC/Fabrication perspective, but is very pertinent reading to the designer. I'd recommend the following posts as a starter

From CAD to CAM, Cleaning up 2D DWG files for CNC.

How to optimize your AutoCAD DWG drawing files

Why Setter Outs aren’t (and don’t want to be) Designers.

'Date & Time Stamp' for Generic Annotation Families

The following video outlines a method for getting the Date/Time stamp parameter available to Title Block families into Generic Annotation families. The example shown is an update to the status banner that we use on drawing sheets.



The main points are as follows:

• Open the Generic Annotation family you want to edit (or start one from scratch)
• Create a new label. Under 'Family Category & Parameters', change the category to 'Title Blocks'. This will open up the 'Date Time Stamp' parameter. Apply this parameter to the label
• Select all labels in the family and cut to the clipboard
• Under 'Family Category & Parameters', change the category back to 'Generic Annotation'
• Paste the label elements back to the same place
• If working on an existing family, as demonstrated in the video, it will mess up some of the categories and labels. These now need to be corrected. If starting from scratch, do the 'Date Time Stamp' steps above first, to avoid any of this re-work
• Please note that this built-in 'Date Time Stamp' takes its format from the Windows system settings

That's pretty much it. Enjoy

Unlock Legend Component Views

When it comes to Legend Components, some can be placed showing any view of the object, whilst some can only be placed 'Floor Plan', 'Elevation Front' and 'Elevation Back'.


For Generic Model Families and their derivative categories, this is dependent on whether the family is work plane-based or not. Work-plane based families will only show the limited range of views (as will only host-based families). 

The video below outlines a method of leveraging out these extra views for work plane-based families. Please note this will not work for host-based families, such as wall, floor or face-based. Essentially, the steps are as follows

• Place the component into the 3D model onto its host face
• Right click the component and 'Edit Family'. 
• In the Family Category Parameters, uncheck the 'Work Plane-Based' box 
• Reload into the project
• Place the Legend Components into the Legend with the required extra views
• Re-edit the family, Re-check the 'Work Plane-Based' box and re-load

The Revit Option bar dropdown box will read the incorrect view, but the properties for the Legend Component will show the extra view as correct. Revit now retains these views

Please feel free to feedback if any issues arise, as this is a recent discovery. As far as I can tell, things are sound in the method, but you never know.

Revit & Novell Woes

Ok, this one is a little off-piste. We've had a few problems running Revit on Windows 7 (64-Bit) through a Novell Network. The information out there is a bit piecemeal, so the aim of this post is to summarise the problems and solutions in plain english and add some context

• Scenario 1

User 1 opens a local copy of a workshared Revit file and starts working. User 2 opens their local copy. User 2 hits 'Synchronise with Central'  and bang, BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) with 


APC_INDEX_MISMATCH 


This error was resolved by installing Novell Client SP1 for Windows


Deep breath, and carry on

• Scenario 2

With Scenario 1 sorted, work rolls on, 'Synchronise with Central'  functioning fine. Pause work for a second to stare out of the window and bang, BSOD again with 


NCCache.sys


This error was resolved by turning off the 'Client File Caching Enabled' & 'Level 2 OpLocks Enabled' options, server & client side


Ok, surely third time lucky

• Scenario 3

Plugging away fine, No trace of the problems in Scenario 1 or 2. Finish working, exit from Revit and yes, you've guessed it, bang, BSOD with


System_Service_Exception


On restart, Revit is now unable to acquire a license with a '[-5.412.0] error'


This was resolved by firstly, installing Novell Client 2 SP1 for Windows (IR5). This dealt with the BSOD error.  To sort the license issue, make sure Revit is exited. Browse to C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\Adlm and rename the 'cascadeinfo.cas' file to something else. Restart Revit; the program will now re-aqcuire a fresh license file


So far, fingers crossed, everything seems to be running ok. If we get any more issues, I'll append this post. (Apparently, there are still ongoing issues according to Novell). Next post, no more network stuff; normal service will resume.