The Structural Design Toolbox

AutoCAD solution for transparent orbit problems

AutoCAD crashes while trying to locate the target for transparent orbit

Problem:

Your AutoCAD based product crashes when you try to orbit the model using the shift + Center mouse button. 

Solution:

1. Use the orbit command in the navigation tools instead of shift + center mouse button to orbit the model.
2. Start the orbit command, right click and in the right click menu uncheck the item “Enable Orbit Auto Target”. Use the transparent orbit as normal.

New Leica CloudWorx for Revit

Today Leica have announced their CloudWorx for Revit plug-in.  You can read the full announcement here.  It was made on the first day of SPAR Europe from The Hague, Netherlands.  It promises to be a very useful plug-in to enable more efficient modelling and re-use of point cloud data in Revit.  It is due for release in the very near future.

Point clouds in Revit and more...

On October 14th I had the pleasure of being with Leica Geosystems at Silverstone in Northamptonshire.  We were very busy on stand and met some really interesting people.  One in particular got me thinking...

Paul Burrows from Leica very kindly supplied me with a laser scan of a bridge which I then proceeded to use as a guide to create a Revit model.  Now I admit that the sections are not correct and some of my setting out is a bit off but this video show what was accomplished in less than two hours.  The last bit was fun getting data from Revit into Alias and then into Project Falcon.  You might also want to check out Project Vasari where similar things can be achieved.

Updates and Service Packs

Please be aware that there are many product updates, especially if you have invested in any one of the Building Design Suites.  Please see our web pages for more information.  I will try and compile a table of updates and their location for a later post.  Robot Structural Analysis has also been updated.

Thoughts

Has it really been that long?  What have I been doing?  Well...

a) lots of customer presentations - on all aspects Structural;

b) a relaxing holiday in the South of France during which I took in some fantastic sights (very old, old and new).  Any ideas what this is:

c) back from France and then immediately off up to sunny Aberdeen for Offshore Europe.  Our stand was well visited and was rather impressive (visitor's word not mine);

d) more customer visits and presentations;

e) DigiDoc 2011 in Glasgow where I was treated to an insight in the world of digital capturing techniques (more on this in later posts);

f) even more visits and presentations;

g) broadcasting to Australia and New Zealand (a long story);

h) two fine exhibitions with Leica Geosystems at Silverstone and Wembley (we are going to Wemberley) for their MyWorld roadshow.

Phew!  Now time to breathe a little before heading off to Las Vegas for Autodesk University and four (yes four) classes.

Forgot to mention - customer visits and presentations!

Robot Structural Analysis 2012 Released

Robot Structural Analysis 2012 is now shipping!

This version supports closer links to Revit Structure 2012.

It is available in both Standard and Professional versions for both 32bit and 64bit computers.

The Robot links will automatically go live in the Extensions and you are also able to use Robot 2011 with Revit 2012.  Revit will remember the last version used and call that when the link is initiated.

I will post more information on this exciting update later.

Web Update 1 and Revit Extensions available

Web Update 1 is now available for Revit Structure here.  You can view a list of the enhancements from this Download Enhancements_list_rst_2012_ur1 file.

The Extensions have also been released and can be downloaded from the Subscription Centre (or Center).

Service Packs

Recently we have added several service packs.

Robot Structural Analysis 2011 is now up to SP6 and can be found here in both standard and professional/x86 and x64 versions (where applicable).

AutoCAD Structural Detailing 2011 is now up to SP3 whereas 2012 has SP1 released and can be found here in both x86 and x64 versions.

Again - let me know if there are any issues!

UK Localisation Hotfix for Revit Structure 2012

I have had several emails regarding the so called removal of the UK specific terminology.  We in the UK do prefer primary to girder and notch to cope.  Having investigated the issue we identified instances when the terminology would not be installed and have created this hotfix to correct the problem.  There are two downloads - one for x86 and one for x64.  The readme explains what must be done to install the relevant files correctly.  Any problems please let me know!

2012 Templates and Content (revisited)

Just to be sure: if you are missing some metric family and Revit templates you need to go through Control Panel and Add/Remove Programs.  Select Change from the list and this will fire up this first screen.

 

After selecting Add or Remove Features you get to this second screen where you must tick US Metric AS WELL AS United Kingdom.

 

Other installation FAQs:

Under Windows 7 the families for RST 2011 were located at C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\Content\Metric Library - if you were on the ball you could also point other Revit installs to the same location and keep the number of files down to a manageable few.

For RST 2012 the location for the families have moved to C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\RST 2012\Libraries\UK - a slight change required as RST 2012 is now Citrix approved.  The revit.ini file has also moved to C:\Users\<USER_NAME>\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\Revit\Autodesk Revit Structure 2012\Revit.ini - again as a result of Citrix.

You may have also noticed that there is a new help system in place: WiKiHelp.  This is a fantastic improvement as it allows users to contribute help, tips, tricks etc.  To answer to the most often asked question: YES - it is moderated!

Enjoy!