IMAGINiT Building Solutions Blog

Custom Catalog Properties for Plant 3D

 

You can create custom property definitions for catalog part families using the Spec Editor, but these properties are not visible at the part size level within those families.

For example a part family for pipe may contain sizes from 1-12", but the Spec Editor interface will not display these custom properties in the sizes tab of the catalog editor.

** It is possible with the following workflow to populate unique property values to the part sizes at the catalog level.

When adding a custom property definition select "All Part Groups' for the add property to: option and you must fill in the default value field. Click the add button below the added properties column to include the property in all of the part families (groups) in the catalog. Click the OK button to apply the changes and then save the change to the catalog.

Here I have created a custom property "Custom1" with a default value of "Null" and a field size of 20.

Back in the Spec Editor tab we can then add part families to the specification that we are defining.

After adding the family double click the family in the top half of the dialog and you will see that the custom property "Custom1" has been added to each part size in the specification. This property can be modified at the specification level, but not at the catalog level in the Spec Editor.

In the Catalog Editor tab we can import/export the catalog family and/or size data to an Excel file.

This is extremely helpful in populating information for the catalog part sizes once they have been created in the Spec Editor, but it also enables us to re-populate the default entries for the custom parameter "Custom1" for each size in the catalog.

Select the Full catalog data export option or the resulting Excel file will only contain a list of the defined families and not their individual sizes.

In the Excel file you will have to unprotect the sheet before you can make any changes.

It is important to remember that you cannot add columns (Parameters) or rows (Sizes) into the Excel file...this data will not import back into the catalog if you do.

Note: You can safely edit most of the field in the Excel file, but you should never edit the SIZERECORDID.

When importing the modified data back into the catalog the Spec Editor will identify and highlight those changes as seen here. This allows the user to accept or reject the changes individually or globally with the tool buttons located at the top left corner of the tabular list of properties and their values.

Once they have been accepted or rejected you can click OK to apply the changes and then save the catalog.

Back on the Spec Editor tab you can "Check for Catalog Updates".

Choose to update or discard the changes as required and then save the changes to the specification before closing the Spec Editor.

You will then need to add the custom property "Custom1" to the appropriate Plant 3D Class definition.

Right click on the project name to access its properties.

This parameter will cascade down through the tree to all sub-branches...so be sure to place the custom property at the highest level of the required class.

In a 3D drawing in the plant project you can now route pipe using the specification that you just created/updated.

The properties palette will show the part size values for "Custom1" under the section titled General.

   

   

 

     

New IMAGINiT Utilities for Revit! and Excel!

IMAGINiT has recently released an updated set of Utilities for Revit (2013). If you renew your Autodesk software subscription through us, you can get these for free – everyone else?... sorry… but they are still available for a nominal fee…

We have three significant new tools for 2013:

Parameter Concatenater – Using this, you can assemble multiple parameter values into a single text parameter using a custom expression. 

Dim Text Update – Easily override the text in multiple dimensions using user-specified options.

Revit Excel Link – Export Revit project data to Excel and Import data from Excel to a Revit project.

Looking at these, changes are that the Excel Link is the most appealing one in the mix, so here’s a quick rundown on how it can work for you.

It’s an easy find in our IMAGINiT toolbar, with two commands, one to export information to Excel, and another to import from Excel.


Once you’ve started an import or an export, you’ll be asked to specify a template to control the process. This template defines what category of objects and related parameters get exported or imported – we have a few defaults built in, but you can create your own templates too. Make sure you have one field that provides a unique identifier for the objects you are exporting – we use that to map the data to the correct objects when we import from Excel later on. (Element ID can be a good one for this)


From here, you can filter what object information gets exported by specifying all objects, a selection set, a phase, or more.


Once the information is in Excel, edit to your heart’s content, save the file, and start the import process in Revit. You'll get a preview of the import during the process you can ensure that all of the information appears correct - green highlight data can be imported, greyed out information will not be imported.

If there are any errors on import, we let you know what has happened so appropriate actions can be taken. In this case, it looks like someone may have been borrowing a room object, so for me it was set as read only.

But looking a little deeper, aside from general text field changes, we can also make edits in Excel that cause geometric changes in the Revit model. In the example below, you’ll see that we export a Door Family and Door Type parameter to Excel and can make a change there – effectively changing a single door to a double door through Excel!

Doors before:

Door Parameters before and after edits:

But while this can be really neat, you also need to be careful – changing an object’s Type setting or dimensions might change the geometry in unanticipated ways. In this specific case, the single door grew into a double door, but also grew into the neighboring wall.

This utility provides you with a lot of power, but you must use it with caution and only for good.

Have Fun!

Unique Volume Calculations in Revit

Here’s a good one for you – we have a client who asked if we could get volume calculations out of Revit, and after our initial answer of “sure”, they followed it up with, “OK, how about giving us the volme of water it will take to fill up this pool.”


Ummm…
My first reaction is that to get volume from an irregular shape like that we’d need to generate a mass that had the overall shape of the water area of the pool – taking lots of voids out of a basic mass to get the volume information. The short answer for that solution is that it would be no fun at all! Not to mention it’s not flexible as the pool design changes. Chuck Jolin from our Denver office looked at it a little and said, “Why don’t you just use a room object?”

Duh

It’s just one of those things that becomes completely obvious once someone else makes the statement. Here are a couple of items that make it work a little better:

Make sure that all of the items that form the 3D perimeter of the Room are all set to be Room Bounding in their properties. Should be obvious, but it needs to be stated.

Create a unique level for the water line (usually a little below the top of the pool, right?) and place your room on that level. In this situation Revit does better projecting down than projecting up, so we don’t want the room to be placed at the bottom of the pool – and by creating a unique level for the water line we’re able to better control how the volume is calculated.


Another one that should be obvious, but be sure that room volume calculations are turned on in your room settings


To make the room volumes easier to see, in Visibility / Graphic Overrides, turn on the visibility of the room’s “Interior Fill” and potentially “Reference” sub-components.


When you’ve taken care of all of the above tasks, place a room on the appropriate level and check out its properties. Set the room’s upper limit to 0’-0” and lower limit to something below the bottom of the pool. In this case I set it to -20’.


If you create a section and look at the before and after shots of the Room within the pool’s boundary, you can see how it fills in the available volume of space. It even looks a little like water.

Now, for the question about rendering the water in Revit since Rooms don’t show in 3D views and there really isn’t any physical geometry associated with Rooms. Make a solid with a water material – it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t match the pool outline since you won’t see the stuff that is outside the pool boundary.

And use 3DS MAX Design. Just sayin’.

Have fun!

joe