BIM (Building Information Modeling) is great for large commercial projects with conventional geometry, but what about modeling an architectural Mayan ruins site that's been excavated, or modeling themed columns with adjacent rockwork, or pulling quantities for a mountain? These are some of the challenges we faced when considering Revit software for our theme park projects. Come and listen as we share the good, the bad, and the ugly of our lessons learned when taking on these unconventional projects, and how we overcame the problems. This is the story of a firm's quest to design a Mayan theme park in Revit, and how that firm used Revit to set in motion best practices for all its subsequent theme park projects.

You now have the responsibility to manage CAD within your department and/or organization, but your job title does not include CAD manager. You do not or cannot dedicate your time full time to this task. So how do you do this? We will use my transition from reseller to mining equipment manufacturer in an examination of how to get buy-in from management, how to get participation by the users (and your peers), where to start, and how to proceed. Let us talk standards, processes, procedures, training, CAD, management, and continual leadership.

Concrete structures are the core of Vinci’s business. Therefore, planning accurately vertical formworks on a daily basis during the preconstruction phase is critical, but also very time consuming. That is why, over the years, Vinci has used improved toolsets in AutoCAD software to do it more efficiently—but it was 2D-based nonintelligent drawing unconnected to the intelligent model. One year ago, Vinci decided to develop, with the help of Autodesk Consulting, a similar tool in Revit with 2 objectives: Capitalizing on already-captured building information from the Revit model (building geometry, phase, building options); and capitalizing on the 3D and connected 2D drawings to better communicate with the site. This class will show how Vinci successfully integrates this toolset into its process (using built-in Revit functionality—parts, phase, linked file, custom families, data files, and the Revit API), and how this technology piece is an important step for the BIM transformation of a construction company.

This session will present how an enlightened building owner (The Ohio State University) has successfully partnered/collaborated with both a Building Information Modeling (BIM)-savvy architect and contractor to develop a BIM project delivery standard that enables the model to serve as a single source of truth for relevant spatial and asset information throughout the building lifecycle. This delivery standard has truly begun with the end in mind by taking advantage of the knowledge gained from the BIM for the existing buildings portion of the Buckeye BIM Initiative. We'll highlight how the .RVT portion of this deliverable will work in collaboration with Revit software's COBie Toolkit-structured data to facilitate its utilization in asset management, space tracking, geographical information system (GIS), and sustainability. Lastly, we will highlight the need to implement Technology Solutions and workflows to enable the use of the model across the university and to support interoperability with other data systems.

Developing a construction workflow for electrical systems in Revit software can be time consuming and inaccurate. This session will explore new tools to assist in electrical cable routing, cable selection, and construction management. You can extract intelligent data from the design model and use it to calculate exact requirements and bill of material for electrical systems. This session will also show you new tools to assist creating pull tickets, cable inventory, and installation status. Come see how electrical contractors can finally begin to use the intelligence that is built into the design model.

Are you are still using AutoCAD software to document your projects instead of Revit software? In this class, we'll explore how to migrate your AutoCAD library to Revit so you can benefit from the many capabilities of this Building Information Modeling (BIM) platform. As blocks are migrated to Revit Families, you will be able to extract quantities more accurately, and help lead to a path for full BIM implementation.

After many years of having a successful Autodesk University class on AUGI tips and tricks featuring AutoCAD® software, we are updating and bringing it back Autodesk Revit software style. Pulling from AUGI (Autodesk User Group International) forums, magazines, and other publications, this class will show you how others are using Revit—and you will be amazed! This tips and tricks class will cover a wealth of topics. Find out about wall cleanups, other uses for rails, scheduling options, and pre-existing legends, and get some family counseling as well. AUGI users are some of the best in their fields, and they love to share their knowledge. If you have not already joined AUGI, you will find out how you can get plugged into this incredible source of information.

HVAC Solution is a schematic simulation tool that you can use to determine and size many of the heating, ventilating, and air conditioning components that you will use in your Revit software projects. The tool can also serve as a guide to help you connect your Revit software objects in the right order. You can start off your project by choosing our windows-based drag-and-drop technology to lay out your project, or you can begin by using one of our numerous wizards. Answer your questions and build your air, hydronic hot and chilled water, steam, controls, and plumbing systems. Our intelligent systems enable you to run 'what if' scenarios and perform all the necessary HVAC system calculations. Once systems are created and calculated, you then automatically select equipment from many of the equipment manufacturers in the HVAC industry. Once you have determined all the equipment capacities, you can import the schedules and schematics into Revit software using the new Revit 2015 software add-in feature, or you can import data into the corresponding Revit software families.

With the release of Design Automation for Inventor on Forge, it's possible to leverage the scale of the Forge platform not only saving money but also removing the bottleneck of processing automated workflows. You can now automate jobs in parallel and only pay for the processing time used. In this talk we'll go over a number of customer success stories in moving automation from on-premise Inventor servers to our cloud-enabled, scalable Forge service reducing time to process from days down to minutes, imparting a competitive advantage. Specific topics include: 1) design automation overview and typical workflows; 2) customer case studies on moving automation to Forge; 3) extending the value of existing design data through the Forge platform; 4) Manufacturing and Construction automations with Inventor and Revit engines together; 5) what's next: road map and things we’re hearing around automation and Forge.

Viewing your CAD 3D models in augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR) isn’t something that can be done with a one-size-fits-all, single-click solution. Tessellating, optimizing, and transcoding must be done to convert your CAD (parametric) 3D model into an AR/VR/MR-ready (polygonal) 3D model. CAD models consist of infinitely accurate curves and multiple materials that must be transformed into triangulated representations of these curves with materials converted to textures and baked onto the models for use on devices such as the Microsoft HoloLens. This class will provide a step-by-step demo showing how to convert your 3D CAD models into AR/VR/MR-ready assets using 3ds Max software. We will also show you how to create your own deployable AR/VR/MR application for viewing your 3D models using Unity’s real-time rendering engine and MRTK, the Mixed Reality Toolkit. The speaker has saved companies hundreds of thousands of dollars by producing MR design reviews, and will enable you to do the same.

In this fast-paced industry, many have adopted or understand the need for, a BIM (Building Information Modeling) coordinator on projects. However, BIM coordinators often lack the authority or respect to be successful in their project roles. This class will review common obstacles that BIM coordinators face, and how to overcome them. We will cover the various components that need to be in place for you to be effective and respected in your role. We will discuss the skill set of a BIM coordinator and where your focus should be.

Construction software tools are better than ever before, and each serves an important role for your company. See what excellent software you can integrate with PlanGrid to ensure that teams in the field have the information they need to build better and share real-time intelligence from the jobsite with decision makers in the office.

ArX Solutions is a top U.S. visualization firm founded 19 years ago. We’ve created more than 5,000 images and over 200 films and animations. At the beginning of 2015 we were asked to create a film with live actors to show the vision for the New Waldorf Astoria. There was a big catch: it had to be finished in less than 30 days from beginning to end. In this class we will show the different steps taken to make this happen. This includes the script creation: coming up with a good idea; the storyboard: communicating our ideas to the client; the 3D when there was no design in place: the charrette process and work on site with the designers; and the green screen production. We will also cover tips and tricks; how to plan the shots in a way that work for a short timeframe; using 3D Max software and optimization of the rendering times through different scripts; the post production: blending all the pieces together; and the audio track: how it is as important as the visuals.

This follow-up round table will provide an opportunity for Autodesk University attendees to discuss the value of Building Information Modeling (BIM) from an owner's perspective with the authors of The Ohio State University Buckeye BIM Initiative following their 'Defining a Holistic Owner-Driven BIM Project Delivery Standard' presentation. While a BIM standard that outlines a BIM-enabled project delivery process can be extremely valuable to an owner, it can become exponentially more worthwhile when that standard is able to outline the critical spatial and asset information that needs to be captured at turnover to better operate the facility throughout its lifecycle. This round table will provide an open forum to discuss which facility information can provide the greatest return on investment for owners. We'll also discuss how an owner can prescribe a methodology for project teams to collaborate through BIM-based technologies while developing a repository of relevant building data that grows throughout the design and construct phases of a project.

Building Information Modeling (BIM) planning for builders is inherently difficult. First, BIM planning practices overwhelmingly focus on design modeling despite that the builder is ultimately responsible for critical transitions between design, construction, and turnover. Second, preconstruction and construction typically start well after design BIM planning. Third, conventional architect-owner and owner-contractor contracts limit collaboration between designer and builder. Last, builders do little to none of their own model authoring, leaving implementation of BIM standards to others. Thus builder BIM must be adaptable and pragmatic to manage the standards and practices of cross-disciplinary partners. Skanska Building has developed numerous strategies-both technological and sociological-for executing builder BIM. In this lecture, Skanska Senior Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) Manager Pierce Reynoldson will share his insights from 11 years in the industry as builder, designer, and educator.

Early BIM workflows rarely included actual building product data and families. As our technology grows and matures it is becoming more important to move from the “Building Models” (BM) that we started with and add more and more “I” so that we take full advantage of “Building Information Modeling” (BIM). Who better to provide this information than the companies that actually manufacture the products we use in our design. Building Product Manufactures (BPM’s) were mostly left out of the BIM party during the early stages of our transition from 2D to BIM, but now they are slowly being incorporated into our models. So the question is how we best welcome them into our party to benefit the entire design build team. This class will discuss strategies, topics, and tools that help the entire design build team to realize the true power of virtual design.

The architecture field depends a lot on creativity—making a building out of initially tiny ideas. For this we have architects. While the tools of architecture have changed a lot over the years, architects surprisingly seldom have. Will they survive the digital transformation if just the mention of artificial intelligence elicits frowns? Implementing software in a field where almost no one is interested in it is like educating people about driving when they hate cars. To make this easier, not only for them and for us, but also for the technology providers, we want to talk about why they dislike the technology so much, and how to work around that. We believe that the way to both better software and better houses comes from better relations—and this class will be a crash course in how to achieve those relations.

This presentation will discuss the ways in which the construction of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights (http://www.cchrpartnership.org/) in Atlanta, Georgia, employed Building Information Modeling (BIM). Due to the fast pace of the project and the complex nature of the design, BIM played a crucial role in coordinating work, driving quality, and keeping the project on schedule. This presentation will address the many ways that project participants used Autodesk, Inc., tools—primarily Revit software and Navisworks project review software—during the project to solve problems beyond coordination between mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) and fire protection (FP). We will include examples of how Revit users can solve geometrically complex problems that are normally left for Rhino software users to tackle, and how you can lay those solutions out in the field.

As a group, we'll share ideas, workflows, and techniques to help make for a smoother and less painful transition from AutoCAD software to Revit software so that others may benefit from our successes and failures. You may have heard that the only way to switch to using Revit is to just take the plunge, all in. Well, maybe there are options to this "sink or swim" approach. Can you afford to retrain your entire staff? Do you know who should learn (or, more important, who should not learn) Revit software? Maybe this discussion will help answer some of your questions and address some of your fears. We'll share how switching to Revit has affected our offices, workflows, staffing, and efficiency. We'll discuss our biggest successes and failures. We want to hear any unique idea or workflow that you've discovered to help make for a successful transition to Revit.