Creating and customizing families is likely one of the most desired advanced skills in Revit software, and learning the Family Editor can be challenging—not only due to the vast amount of knowledge there is to be gained, but also because much of the resources to learn the Family Editor are focused on architectural examples and processes. This lab will provide an introduction into the Family Editor from a structural perspective. While we can apply the fundamental ideas to any discipline, we will structurally focus the examples.

This session is full, but an alternate time is now available.

Normal duct and pipe systems in Revit software can provide huge value on Building Information Modeling (BIM) projects; but did you know that it's possible to link duct and pipe systems together to automate calculations? This session will show you how to create integrated networks of duct and pipe systems in order to achieve this lofty ambition. We will cover everything you need to know about: the creation of families that automatically recalculate heating and cooling flow rates when duct flow rates change; the creation of systems that use these families to pass information dynamically between duct and pipe systems; and the employment of methods that use mechanical calculations to aid electrical and structural engineering analysis. As an added bonus, this session will also show you how to insert breaks into systems to help organize your Revit system browser into a manageable hierarchy. And if you don't believe it's possible to use these techniques on large projects, wait until you see the model we will use.

The collaboration features of Revit Structure software with Structural Analysis software were widely presented and experienced over the last years. However, despite all this featured software, many structural engineers still stay with their Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and their common pencil-and-paper routine. Not all software supports all codes, and very often it is faster to use those light spreadsheets than it is to work with heavy analysis software. This workshop will demonstrate how you can implement those spreadsheets into the parameter fields of a Revit software family, making use of the formula capabilities of the Revit software parameter and of nested families in order to make Revit software tasty for engineers. We will present examples that will include a reinforced-concrete footing design, a concrete retaining wall, timber joists designs, and a timber joist cantilever design. The workshop will also cover the documentation features and possibilities.

This session will share a recent project that incorporates custom families into an early design project. The families have engineering built into them such that they essentially design themselves once placed in the project. Then, with changes to particular items in the project, the families update their designs in real-time, and the model then updates as well. In addition, the elements are scheduled, with approximated construction cost. This model was created for a client to use as a tool for making design decisions. This client builds a great deal of similar structures and wanted a way to visualize how various design decisions may affect things like ceiling heights, cost, and so on. This session will show how the custom families were created and how the project was modeled.

Assemblies figure prominently in the building of Civil 3D corridors. They provide the basic information that can be used in many ways as your design takes shape. There is the potential for a lot of data, and since wrangling that data later could get confusing, having a strategy to manage the building blocks of corridors can make the long-term maintenance pay off. Save time and effort by using processes that standardize your corridor assemblies.

This class presents several custom families that incorporate structural engineering within the families themselves. By integrating engineering into custom families, a structural engineer can capitalize on more features of Revit Structure to aid in the engineering design process. The families demonstrate several tools within the Family Editor, including nesting, formulas, conditional statements, reporting parameters, and visibility settings. In a companion class, SE1592: Incorporating Engineering into Revit® Structure: Project Procedures, these families and all of their features are demonstrated within the project environment.

Mechanically-stabilized earth (MSE) walls are inherently complex shapes; smoothly curving in all 3 dimensions while the structure changes shape. Modeling complex geometry for quantity takeoff, automated machine guidance (AMG), and coordination can be accomplished using AutoCAD® Civil 3D® software with or without the use of Subassembly Composer (SAC). In this advanced class, we create an MSE wall that is based on construction documents. We streamline stepped profile creation, removing a data input bottleneck. We also demonstrate 2 methods for creating MSE wall assemblies and the advantages and disadvantages of using SAC. Moving onto creating the corridor itself, we discuss issues of representing profile steps and how Civil 3D can properly represent necessary detail for MSE walls. After creating the model, we briefly show quantification, visualization, and coordination. All of these steps lead up to exporting the model for AMG to enhance field productivity. At the end of this class a user who knows Civil 3D will be able to easily create a 3D MSE wall. Although this class focuses specifically on MSE walls, these same techniques can be used for any linear structure.

This is a significant project being undertaken in Southeast Asia, and contains many road crossovers, 15 stations and stockyards, as well as a large number of bridges, viaducts, and tunnels. The development of this project will showcase the contractor’s investment in the ability to develop workflows that can be automated and scaled from various resources to generate the solutions for fast review for construction and auditing for the independent reviewer and the government body. This class will cover a quick review of the project and then dive into the consultants, support, and standards that provided automation workflows to deliver outcomes and deliverables. We will look at a Dynamo, Revit software, BIM 360 software, InfraWorks software, Civil 3D software, and Navisworks, in an ecosystem that was developed to meet the transport bodies’ requirements. This project is ongoing, and we will look at the works and milestones delivered to date.

Creating and customizing families is likely one of the most desired advanced skills in Revit software, and learning the Family Editor can be challenging‚ not only due to the vast amount of knowledge there is to be learned, but also because much of the resources to learn the Family Editor are focused on architectural examples and processes. This lab will provide an introduction into the Family Editor from a structural perspective. While we can apply the fundamental ideas to any discipline, we will structurally focus the examples. This lab will build a different family than we did last time!

The Dynamo extension is exciting, and the examples of its capabilities are awe inspiring, but are they practical in a real-world structural workflow? When an engineer creates a Dynamo script that resembles a bowl of spaghetti but will create some elaborate structure, is that practical and useful on a daily basis? While the farfetched and futuristic capabilities are exciting for probably 1% of projects, are they applicable to the other 99%? This session will focus on the other 99%. Due to the perception that it is only good for the crazy stuff, many structural engineers have not explored the Dynamo extension. Instead of ignoring a fantastic technology, engineers should learn ways to utilize Dynamo. This roundtable will offer an environment for structural engineers to share ideas for utilizing Dynamo to create innovative solutions to real-world, everyday problems. Note: This roundtable was created with structural engineers in mind, but all disciplines are welcome to come share practical applications of Dynamo extension. This session features Dynamo Studio, Revit, and Revit Structure.

This class shares a project that was completed for investigative engineering purposes—not for building design. The original goal of this project was to generate a visual aid of an engineering failure to be used as part of an expert witness report; however, the project evolved into much more. The families and corresponding model that were created incorporated structural engineering such that the model not only provided a visual aid to show deflection of roof members due to ponding water, but actually calculated the amount of deflection that could be expected due to a given amount of rain. We cover how these families (1 structural framing family and 1 adaptive component) and the model were created, as well as the lessons learned after completing such a project.

A real-life metro project design will be demonstrated through using Autodesk AEC Collection. Design Authoring, 3D Coordination, Existing Conditions Modelling, Creation of Design Documents and Engineering Analysis were the BIM uses of the project. Stations, tunnels, underground utilities and real environment of the project were modeled by using Revit, Infraworks and Civil 3D. Autodesk CFD, Revit, MagiCAD tools helped designers for engineering analysis and simulation studies. Active use of technologies such as reality capture, virtual reality played an important role in the design process.

This class will discuss and demonstrate the new features and tools in Revit 2015 software that enable structural engineers to create far more accurate physical models. Whether the intent of the model is comprehensive design or as-built conditions, the new features in Revit 2015 software greatly enhance the user's ability to achieve greater precision and accuracy. This class will cover these many new features, from fine-tuning the ends of framing members to controlling the joining of members. Furthermore, this class will discuss how these new tools enable structural models to provide greater accuracy in the physical model while still maintaining greatly accurate analytical models.

Are you required to provide a COBie deliverable and you're using Revit software? This is the class to learn all you need to know about the Construction to Operations Building Information Exchange format and how to deliver a compliant spreadsheet using the COBie Extension for Revit. The team who built this free Autodesk utility will teach you the key aspects of COBie, how to use the COBie extension effectively, pitfalls to avoid, and other tips and best practices.

Can you manage without drawings? Can you design long-span bridges in Revit software? Of course! Through creative use of Revit, the Revit API, and Dynamo we have designed a 520-meter cantilever bridge—the Trysfjord Bridge—completely drawing-free, as a part of a 19-kilometer highway project in the southern part of Norway. We will use the model of this bridge as the use case for the presentation, and it is the sole delivery to the contractor. Governmental demands of drawing-free design are not solved by any out-of-the-box software, yet our approach yields the possibility to harvest high-quality data for construction and manufacturing directly from the model. We’ll investigate how to identify the contractor’s need for information, exemplified by solutions for formworks, tendons, and tabulation for slip forming, with model objects aligned with the requirements for the specifications given in the tender documents. Satisfying these demands requires a sound review of the model, and we’ll describe how to automate this.

Modeling sloped framing seems to be one of the items that Revit users shy away from. The perception is that it is time consuming and difficult to accurately model sloped framing—but this doesn’t have to be the case. This lab will demonstrate two methods—one conventional, and one utilizing Dynamo. With both methods we can model sloped framing quickly and easily, such that the framing is placed correctly and will stay in the correct location if the roof moves or changes. Accurately modeling sloped framing in Revit is important for so many reasons, both internally for the structural engineer, and in coordination with other disciplines. Modeling sloped framing does not have to be a monumental chore, and this lab will show how to make it easier.

This session will focus on transfer of steel fabrication elements from Revit software to Advance Steel software and back. There have been many changes in recent years, so for users and managers of these systems, it is sometimes difficult to understand the background process being used. Therefore, we’ll focus upon the various database types, tables, and locations, and what’s used for which parts of the process, so users can understand how to manage this operation in both platforms to achieve a successful collaboration. We’ll see how the correct use of the mapping database and creation of elements in both software systems, as a management operation, enables a smooth transfer, which is very important in multidisciplinary organizations—so CAD managers understand the need for this processing. Have correct Revit families created to the steel fabrication format, materials identified and mapped, and connection instances created.

Parametric tools are still sitting in a niche corner and, incorrectly, considered applicable only to equally niche projects. This talk will demonstrate how a basic understanding of Grasshopper software and the Dynamo extension can add massive value to a design team (and I will quantify said value to help you convince the skeptics). This class will demonstrate simple workflows in Dynamo, Grasshopper, Microsoft Excel, and Revit software that we developed to help us efficiently design and document a new stadium in Sydney, Australia. These tools helped us reduce our documentation time by more than 500 hours (50%). These simple tools were developed in both Dynamo and Grasshopper, and this talk is targeted at anyone interested in new workflows and increasing efficiency. We will demonstrate a series of scripts associated with foundation and rock assessment and column modeling and scheduling, and we’ll cover design and documentation tools for the geometrically complex tensile roof. In addition, we will touch on tools developed to automate view creation for documentation. This session features Revit Structure, Dynamo Studio, and Revit. AIA Approved

An important part of the Building Information Modeling (BIM) process for concrete structures is the derivation of 2D shop drawings from the 3D reinforcement model. This model is more or less the same worldwide; shop drawings, however, may look very different. This class will show you how to use Revit Structure software together with SOFiSTiK Reinforcement Detailing to easily produce shop drawings and schedules out of Revit software models that contain rebars. Learn how to use individual content to meet requirements of different markets and company standards. A second part of the course will cover the creation and modification of the required families.

See a demonstration of how the Connector for ArcGIS can save time migrating geographic information system (GIS) data from an Esri ArcGIS Portal into InfraWorks software and Civil 3D software for use in infrastructure workflows. See how the GIS data can be modified and published back to an ArcGIS Portal, and learn how to export this data to an external GIS database. Join Autodesk Expert Elite member John Mayo and Autodesk Product Manager Ramesh Sridharan as they show how this new technology can save time working with GIS data in Autodesk products.