Rhino to Revit in 47 Easy Steps

I have yet to find the magic button or transfer format which will bring a form generated in Rhino into Revit, and allow for the application of any Revit functionality.  The only ting i have found which works is ingenuity, tenacity and reference points.

So they came to me with this:

And said "lets rationalize the geometry and explore joist spacings and make structural drawings for this roof"

I'm not a Rhino guy...I know that it is a mighty program and plug-ins like grasshopper, salamander & polar bear extend it even further, but I am just not that capable....I knew I could recreate this in Revit faster than learning Rhino.  So here we go.

The first thing to do was bring the model into ACAD and setup the layout circles and cut lines which would govern the geometry in Revit, starting at the topmost form.

You will notice many small circles placed at positive Z values.  These have been placed at the heights described in the original architect's model.  The reason to use circles is that REFERNCE POINTS snap to circles really nicely in Revit.

Also if you look closely, you will see that all the arcs are split up as well. this will make it much easier for me to create the individual surfaces later in the process.

So i bring my completed "Guide-line DWG" into the Revit conceptual massing environment:

With these guidlines in place, recreating the geometry is quite direct.  First i place the REFERENCE POINTS in all the circles, then i select them 3-at-a-time and push the CURVE THROUGH POINTS button.

Then i pick the pairs of lines for the top and bottom of each surface until the roof forms are complete:

The work so far took me an afternoon.

Now that i have the basic geometry in place, I can start using the DIVIDE SURFACE tool to find the joist lines according to whatever spacing is desired:

But if you look closely, its not "perfect".  the design calls for the joists to match 1-for-1 at the ridges of all the roofs, and this most assuredly doesn't:

Playing with both the BELTLINE parameter and the number of segments for a selected divided surface, i could get the arrangement 'perfect'

To cut to the chase, when i bring the form into the project environment, I can start adding structural elements and get to all the juicy good stuff:

It took me about 2 days to input the rest of the base geometry:

 And divide all the surfaces:

 Then i could ship it back to ACAD to generate a DWG file:

And with the wire frame in-place, we could pass the whole arrangement into analysis.

Happiness....joy in the kingdom....and 3 days later I quit that job.



Making trouble with bricks

I changed jobs....I make trouble for a new master now....and this new master comes to me the other day and says, i wanna do this:



Maybe not literally, but figuratively.  He wants robots....and automated construction....and he doesn't want to build bathrooms anymore.

more info is here:

Flying Robots Build a 6-Meter Tower

found another awesome example here:



This troublemaker now has his work cut out for him.

Faulty Division_Abusing the DIVIDE PATH Command

I would like to go on record as saying that I am really happy with the divided path tool.  The possibilities of this thing are ridiculous.  Love It Love It Love It!!!!  I actually sat in a lab class at RTC so just so i could play with the tool...I wasn't interested in the class topic, only the divided path tool.  The guy next to me didn't seem to mind watching me screwing around either.

The basics are pretty simple.  Draw a curve, or a pair of them in this case:

Hit the DIVIDE PATH button:

and enter how many divisions...you can link this to a parameter...great....

I made a simple rod as an adaptive component 

Bring it in and place on the path

Hit the repeat button

and voila....

Ok....thats nice...AFTER the element had been copied, I changed it so that the top and bottom curves had an unequal number of points.  Nice.

On a whim, i wanted to see what would happen if set an unequal number of points BEFORE the adaptive rod had been placed

Now we are getting into some trouble....so i went further.  I made a rig:

Added a top curve and placed the adaptive rod, then i got the weird error message "There is only one component in this repeater"

Which is when I realized this tool is sensitive to the direction that curves are drawn!  So i attached the rod differently:

And then i got some weird stuff going on...

Dancing and singing in the happy valley ensues...

Does this picture create inner turmoil for anyone else?

BIM: Value and Challenge

Good god.  two months since my last post....a shame.  I have been busy as can be...making trouble and such.

From the BIMPhilosopher desk:
I got approached by FuturArc, an architecture magazine published in South East Asia, to write an article about BIM.  I wrote about how negligible labor costs in Asia don't provide the strong impetus for change by either builders or clients.  Maybe its interesting to somebody...BIM: Value and Challenge

From the Office of National BIMplementation:
I am have been solicited to act as a mouth piece for Singapore's Building Construction Authority and introduce the Singapore National BIM Guide.  A document put forth by the government to assist firms in meeting the mandate for BIM use in Singapore by 2015.  Very interesting document, that i am pleased to have been a part of developing, though I can't yet post it here.  But if you happen to be in the area, there will be many great speakers at this year's BuildSmart Conference @ Singapore Marina Bay Sands, and Thursday the 17th is all about BIM.

From the Anti-Podean BIM Hit Squad
I am going to RTC Australia later this month to speak about some of the work we did at ARUP surrounding the Singapore National Stadium.  It was a big Revit party...The title of the talk is something about "Nine Pregnant Women Can't Make a Baby in One Month"  I better get started on the slides....RTC Australasia....Wollongong here i come....

And Finally
From Center For The Promotion of 3D Monkey Business
I am putting together a lengthy post about how I made these forms in the Revit Conceptual Massing Environment....Now THAT's a story!

Aligning Reference Lines

Its taken me a few years, but i am finally gonna put up something useful.

Sometimes i have to deal with reference lines flying through space and i am damn sick of the fact that they rotate willy nilly about thier axis without regard for my feelings.

take this shape for example:

looks nice enough.  A couple of reference lines defining a plane in space.  but if we look carefully, you can see things ain't too kosher.

Them thar reference lines aren't square up to the plane they define!  Bastards!  And what happens if you want to extrude a form along its edges?

WTF????  I don't want my mullions at 72.72dgerees to the face.  Call me a primadonna, and many have, but I want my damn rectangles perpendicular to that face.  not 89.9, not 90.1...but a dead on 90 Degrees!


Have you struggled with this?  If you are reading my blog, drink the same koolade as me, and play in the same sandbox as me, chances are you have had this problem at some point....Well this week i found a solution.  Hallelujah!

Now this ia solution that may create duplicate reference lines in the same place, so you gotta be careful when you are making your family, but this does work!  Remember, with great power comes great responsibility.

I'll start with my 3d triangle and draw a rectangle on its face.  Lookie Dis!  They are aligned in the direction i want!

I deleted 2 lines i didn't need, slapped reference points hosting my extrusion profile on the 2 remaining, and then pulled them to the edges of my triangle...

And BAM!  My edge profiles are aligned!

Cool!  BUT, a word of caution, when you flex the family, these relationships can fall apart, and you will have unhappiness and sorrow....none the less, this is a really good trick to know about!  It has saved my a55 this week.

Now, here is food for thought.  When i go back to my original triangle and pick one of the unaligned, original reference lines,

 I noticed on the properties panel a little greyed out box called "Follow Surface" but for the life of me i can't figure out how to 'un-grey' it.

My hope is that the Wizard of BUILDZ might be able to shed some light on this one when he is done futzing with the balloon animals.