ASCENT Blog

Upgrades to the Revit MEP Fundamentals Training Guide for 2017

By Martha Hollowell

Last year I integrated a lot of changes to our Revit MEP Fundamentals Training guide including:

• Reducing the overlap of material
• Applying MEP-specific processes rather than general Revit tool grouping
• Streamlining the models and component families to test skills without unnecessary complexity

You can visit our YouTube Channel and watch the webcast about this for a refresher as these all apply to this year’s guide as well.

We always want to keep our training guides up to date not only with the latest changes made by Autodesk but also with better presentation and practices. As always, we appreciate feedback so let us know what you need!

A few things to be aware of this year. I've added:

• Separate practices for Testing HVAC and Plumbing Systems.
• An Electrical specific practice in the schedules chapter.
• A full slide deck that is included in the Instructor Tools such as the one shown below.

Have fun with Revit 2017!

Editing Dimensions in AutoCAD® 2017

By Renu Muthoo

If the dimensions are interfering with some parts of a drawing or are overlapping each other, a variety of tools have been provided in the AutoCAD software to edit and modify them. You can edit dimensions using grips, shortcut menu options, and commands and tools provided with the software. The various dimension editing methods and tools are discussed in detail in Chapter 19: Adding Dimensions of the AutoCAD/AutoCAD LT 2017 (R1): Fundamentals - Mixed Units (2nd Ed.) student guide.

Dimension Shortcut Menu:

Selecting the dimension and then right-clicking on it gives you many options to modify dimensions.

• Dimension Style option controls the basic features of a dimension, such as the text location and number of decimal places.
• Precision option controls the text location and number of decimal places in a dimension.

Editing Dimensions Using Grips:

Grips can be used to relocate dimension elements. Without starting a command, select the dimension to display its grips.

Using grips, you can edit the dimensions as follows:

• Select the grip at the dimension line and move it to change the distance from the object.
• Select the grip on the text and move it to change the location of the text (and sometimes the dimension line).
• Select the grip at the extension line origin to change the length of the dimension. (This option might disconnect the associativity to the object it is dimensioning.)

Multifunctional grips:

Hover the cursor over a grip, and select an option in the dynamic input list. Depending on the specific grip that you hover over, a different list of options displays.

• Use the various text options, such as Move Text Only and Above Dim Line to move the text to a different position.
• The Reset Text Position option returns the moved text to its original location.
• You can use an existing dimension as the beginning of a series of related dimensions in either Continue Dimension or Baseline Dimension .
• Use the Flip Arrow option if the arrowheads on a dimension were pushed out and you want them to be inside the extension lines or on the opposite side.

Adjusting Dimension Spacing:

You can modify the space between sets of dimensions using the Adjust Space command.

Unevenly spaced                                            Evenly Spaced

1. In the Annotate tab>Dimensions panel, click  (Adjust Space).
2. Select the base dimension (the one closest to the object) of the group you want to modify.
3. Select the rest of the dimensions in the group.
4. Type the distance that you want to have between dimensions or press <Enter> to accept the automatic distance.

Dimension Breaks:

When there are many dimensions in a drawing, the various extension lines and dimension lines can overlap. Using the Dimension Break command, you can create dimension breaks without changing the associativity of the dimension object.

Without dimension breaks                   Dimension breaks added

1. In the Annotate tab>Dimensions panel, click  (Dimension Break).
2. Select a dimension to break.
3. Select an object to break the dimension or select one of the options.
4. Continue to select other objects to break their dimensions as required.
5. Press <Enter> to complete the command.

I hope that you will find the above dimension editing methods and tools useful in cleaning your drawings and making them more up-to-date and accurate. As mentioned earlier, I have provided a fully detailed section on these dimension editing methods and tools along with a hands on practice in Chapter 19: Adding Dimensions of the AutoCAD/AutoCAD LT 2017 (R1): Fundamentals - Mixed Units (2nd Ed.) student guide.

ASCENT Offerings at a Glance: Part 5: Video-Enhanced eLearning Bundles

Although online learning has become more popular in recent years, some still wonder whether it delivers the same experience as classroom training. ASCENT’s Video-Enhanced eLearning Bundles improve the online learning experience in ways that support many different learning styles and improve information retention rates.

Video-Enhanced eLearning Bundles contain all the features of ASCENT’s eLearning bundles, but they also have video lessons from CADLearning integrated throughout the courses. Students report that video content is like having an instructor by their side while they learn online. Videos provide instructors’ descriptions and demonstrations of key features and concepts.

ASCENT currently offers Video-Enhanced eLearning bundles for four Autodesk software offerings:

AutoCAD: Includes 482 videos and the following courses:

• AutoCAD/AutoCAD LT Fundamentals
• AutoCAD Advanced
• AutoCAD 3D Drawing & Modeling

This bundle is available in both metric and mixed units.

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AutoCAD Civil 3D: Includes 130 videos and includes:

• Civil 3D Fundamentals
• Civil 3D for Surveyors
• Civil 3D Grading
• Infraworks Fundamentals

This bundle is available in both metric and imperial units.

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Autodesk Inventor: Includes 277 videos and includes:

• Inventor Introduction to Solid Modeling
• Inventor Advanced Part Modeling
• Inventor Advanced Assembly Modeling
• Inventor Sheet Metal Design courses

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Autodesk Revit Architecture: Includes 248 videos and includes:

• Revit Architecture Fundamentals
• Revit Architecture Conceptual Design & Visualization
• Revit BIM Management: Template and Family Creation
• Revit Collaboration Tools
• Revit Site and Structural Design

This bundle is available in both metric and imperial units.

This post concludes our series on ASCENT’s offerings “At-a-Glance.” To learn more about our training guides, Video-Enhanced eBooks, Instructor Tools, eLearning bundles, or Video-Enhanced eLearning bundles, feel free to contact us.

ASCENT Offerings at a Glance: Part 4: eLearning Bundles

When it comes to employee training, many options exist. Some companies prefer classroom training, while others prefer online education. No matter what flavor of training your organization wants to use, ASCENT can help. If self-paced, online learning is attractive to your team, ASCENT’s eLearning bundles are a great solution.

With our eLearning bundles, content from ASCENT training guides is aggregated into an online learning platform. Through an annual subscription, students have the ability to complete fundamental through advanced level courses from any location that has Internet access. ASCENT offers eLearning bundles for users of Dassault Systèmes’ CATIA, PTC’s Creo, and Autodesk’s AutoCAD, AutoCAD Civil 3D, Autodesk Inventor, and Autodesk Revit Architecture software.

Online learning is ideal for end-users and instructors, as well as many different types of learners, including new users, experienced users who want a refresh, self-paced learners, and students who can’t spend time away from the office to participate in classroom training. When students use ASCENT’s eLearning bundles, they benefit from:

• Multi-version courseware. If an eLearning bundle is updated to the next software release during a user’s annual subscription period, he or she will automatically receive access to the latest version of courseware once it becomes available. Since ASCENT develops its course content in-house, updates are completed quickly after new software releases are issued.
  
  
• Search functionality. This makes it easy for students to find topics and keywords.
  
  
• Exercise datasets and interactive review quizzes. Datasets are included for each exercise, so students can practice what they’ve learned. In addition, interactive quizzes enable students to answer chapter review questions at the end of each section and instantly receive their score.
  
  
• Transcript reports. These reports show users how long they have spent on each section. In addition, managers can generate usage reports for employees.
  
  
• Course certificates. Every student who receives a passing grade at the end of a course receives a Certificate of Completion.

ASCENT’s eLearning bundles expand the training options available to organizations, while guaranteeing the same quality content that is available through ASCENT’s classroom training materials. In our next blog post, we will explore how eLearning can be enhanced through the use of videos.