sloArch

Tag: Tools

  • Emc2 Architects releases Keynote Manager 7.1

    (02/16/12 UPDATE: For aditional tips and tricks on keynotes check out Revit OpEd’s latest post Keynotes – Files, Tags and Legends)

    (04/03/11 UPDATE: Version 10.0 has been released.  For the latest information visit the project homepage at http://keynotemanager.revolutiondesign.biz/)

    Emc2 Architects released Version 7.1 of their Keynote Manager software last Wednesday.  Keynotes in Revit are painful to manage, and the latest version of this Revit companion added automatic text casing and a direct link to the Windows’ Character Map from within the keynote editor dialog, as well as some nice interface modifications.  These minor additions and fixes feel like polish on what is already a powerful tool.

    Steven Faust, AIA, NCARBIn my opinion, this keynote manager, developed by Steven Faust at Emc2 Architects, is how keynoting should have been in Revit from the start.  By making the program “save as you go”, Steve has been able to allow multiple users to work on the same keynote file simultaneously.  Also, features like keyboard shortcuts, spell check, and a built in text search make managing keynotes easier than ever.  This program takes the mystery out of keynotes so that the end user doesn’t need to worry about the syntax of the text file.  The program makes it much easier for project managers, who aren’t familiar with the .txt file syntax, to make corrections to keynotes, and for BIM managers to create keynote templates that are readily available through the interface.

    The one problem the program doesn’t solve is the need to reload the keynote file in the Revit project for the changes to take effect.

    You can download the Keynote Manager from Emc2.  For the latest on the Emc2 Keynote Manager, see this thread on the AUGI forums.

    Screen shot of the main window
    Screen shot of the main window

    (more…)

  • Extreme Artlantis Animation

    Never content until I’ve reached the limits of possibility, I created this rendering as a way of testing more of Artlantis Studio’s capabilities.  This is a simple animation of the SloArch logo but there is a lot going on in 34 seconds.

    The modeling was all done with SketchUp.  As I did with my previous animation each piece was modeled and then converted to an Artlantis Object.  This allows each piece to be animated.

    I tried animation just about everything in this clip.  Besides some very complex paths, objects are rotaing and pausing in their motion.  The clouds, sun paths, and water all all being animated.

    In order to create the wave effect I animated the water material to change wave size over time.  This allowed the movement at the beginning of the sequence.

    There is definetly room for improvment.  Not being able to animate the infinite ground plane was a problem, and the cloud animations are not as smooth as I would like.

    [pro-player type=”f4v”]http://www.sloarch.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/09-0601_sm.f4v[/pro-player]

    This animation was reduced for putting on the web, the full resolution animation was rendered with the following parameters:

    • Frame count: 625 frames
    • Resolution: 1920 x 1080
    • Anti-aliasing: Low
    • Radiosity: Low
    • Render Time: 29:36:16

    The background audio created with samples from www.freesound.org.
    Additional software used: Adobe Photoshop and Premiere

  • Batch Rendering in Revit

    One of the newest Revit blogs to hit the Internet is Buildz by Zack Kron.  Zach does a really good job exploring the art of modeling complex parametric shapes in Revit.  I love going to his site to see what interesting things he’s creating.

    A recent surprise on his blog, a few days ago, was the release of a basic script for performing a batch render in Revit 2009 and Revit 2010.  Using the script feels like you’re doing some weird voodoo but it gives me hope that we will soon have this capability available to the masses with an easy interface.  I don’t think Zach is a trained programmer so even though the script is a bit tricky to use I have to applaud his being able to put something like this together.

    If there are any programmer/Revit users out there I would encourage you to take Zach’s script to the next level… or maybe Autodesk can include this function in Revit 2011?  Hint Hint.

    Download Zach’s Revit Batch Render Script and give it a try!

  • Help! Where is my RAC 2010 command?

    Have you transitioned to Revit 2010 or are you thinking of transitioning but are worried you are never going to learn the new interface?  Well don’t worry, Nicholas Iyadurai, a Revit blogger from Missouri, has created a great interactive flash tool that shows the coorelation between Revit Architecture 2009 and Revit Architecture 2010 commands.

    You can download the file directly (rac2010-ui.zip) or use it online.

     

    Screensot of RAC2010 Where Is My Command
    Screensot of RAC2010 Where Is My Command