Just announced: This session was voted “Top-Rated” at Autodesk University 2022. Learn more here.

Have you ever tried to control the shape of a curved form parametrically in the Family Editor? If so, you’ve no doubt discovered that flexing them sometimes throws you a curveball. In this session we’ll explore several techniques to tame your unruly parametric curves. We’ll look at examples of circles, arcs, quarter round, half round, arches, and we’ll even check out some splines. We’ll look at both simple and compound curves. We’ll work primarily in the traditional Family Editor but most techniques apply to the massing Family Editor environment as well. We’ll explore curvature and rotation, and we’ll throw in some trigonometry for good measure. After this session, I cannot guarantee that you’ll never have another misbehaving curve in your family content, but what I can promise is that you’ll come away with several useful tools to help you tame them when curve-mischief strikes!

• 2023 Dataset (ZIP - 44 MB)
• 2023 Handout (PDF - 55 Pages)
• 2016 Extras (PDF - 8 Pages)
• 2014 Handout CSRW (PDF - 62 Pages)
• 2015 Handout (PDF - 73 Pages)
• 2015 Dataset (ZIP - 14.0 MB)
• 2015 Presentation (PPTX - 1.4 MB)
• 2016 Handout (PDF - 61 Pages)
• 2014 Dataset CSRW (ZIP - 18.5 MB)
• 2014 Handout MU (PDF - 15.3 MB)
• 2014 Dataset MU (ZIP - 54 Pages)
• 2016 Dataset (ZIP - 16.8 MB)

Dynamo brings the power of visual programming into your Revit workflow. Dynamo is undergoing rapid development, has a huge community of supporters and is now built right into Revit! This class is designed to show architectural offices how you can utilize Dynamo to enhance your Revit workflows and even involve your non-Revit users in the Revit environment. The class will cover how Revit can extract data from external software for use in manipulating an architectural building design. Let’s do some Dynamo!

• 2017 Dataset (ZIP - 45.4 MB)
• 2017 Handout (PDF - 24 Pages)

If you create Revit family content, there has been a slow trickle of new features that have crept into the family editor in recent releases. They just have not received much fanfare, so let’s play a little game of: “Is that new?” We’ll look at new features like: room aware location points, new family templates and let’s not forget reordering parameters! We’ll explore 3-point adaptive arcs and the newest new feature: “load into project and close”. But we won’t just focus on new stuff. Using some slightly obscure techniques we can make a parameter hidden in the project environment so you can use it to drive formulas without users inadvertently modifying it (because they won’t even know it’s there). We will explore using family types parameters to build drop-down lists and play some tricks with categories and shared vs. nonshared families. If you create family content even occasionally, there’s bound to be a topic in this session that will have you asking: “Is that new?”

• 2016 Dataset RTC (ZIP - 35.1 MB)
• 2016 Dataset BIMW (ZIP - 35.1 MB)
• 2016 Handout BIMW (PDF - 25 Pages)
• 2016 Dataset CADMW (ZIP - 35.1 MB)
• 2016 Handout RTC (PDF - 30 Pages)
• 2016 Handout CADMW (PDF - 29 Pages)

In this session you’ll gain the skills you need to begin getting the most out of your Revit Material Libraries. Learn to create and manage material libraries and share them with any Revit project or family. Create custom procedural materials and even image-based materials from your own photographs.
All model elements in Revit use materials, but if you like many Revit users, you have probably not spent much time in the Material Editor beyond simply selecting from the existing list. Considering how many times the factory has redesigned the material editor in recent years, it is no wonder that most users have tried to steer clear. In this session, we will take a look at the material editor (which is now unchanged over the last couple releases). We will explore how to manage our material library, locate existing materials, add them to projects, families and more importantly to customized libraries that we can share with our teams. Next we will explore how to create custom materials. If you have always assumed that to get really robust materials that you had to leave Revit and use 3ds max or similar products, you might be surprised at just how much complexity is hidden away in the Revit material editor. We’ll explore both standard procedural textures and creating custom materials using photographs of real life materials. At the end of this session you will have the skills you need to begin getting the most out of your Revit Material Libraries.

• 2016 Dataset (ZIP - 79.3 MB)
• 2017 Dataset (ZIP - 87.9 MB)
• 2016 Handout (PDF - 32 Pages)
• 2017 Handout (PDF - 30 Pages)

Creating custom family content in Revit has always been a bit challenging to master. In recent versions of Revit it is even more so thanks to Conceptual Massing Environment. When it first came out (back in 2010) I assumed it would be transitional and that eventually the tools and features of the traditional and massing environments would be merged together to make a single and more powerful family editor. But alas, this is not the case. So here we are several releases later with two similar, but very distinct family editing experiences. This wouldn’t be such an issues except for the fact that you cannot easily move between the two. Take profile families (vs the need to use Generic Models in massing) as an example or the inability to copy and paste between the two environments and you can begin to understand the issue. In this session, we’ll look at a side-by-side comparison of the two environments and then open it up to discussion from the group. Both your questions and your expertise are welcome in this session. Come join the conversation.

• 2015 Handout (PDF - 12 Pages)

Global parameters (GP) bring the power of the Family Editor into the project environment, letting you label dimensions and drive parameter values directly in the project environment. Imagine being able to drive an offset distance between elements in multiple locations around the entire project, or drive instance parameters of several independent families from a single control panel. These are the kinds of things that are possible with global parameters. In this session, we’ll walk through several scenarios using GP to establish relationships in your projects. We’ll explore using them for establishing critical design dimensions and helping with design exploration. We’ll also look at how GP can make your content even more powerful by letting you control several separate families at once from a single parameter, without needing to embed the families into one another first. If you want to explore the exciting global parameters feature, then this is the session for you.

• 2018 Dataset (ZIP - 124.7 MB)
• 2017 Handout RTC (PDF - 22 Pages)
• 2017 Dataset MU (ZIP - 106.4 MB)
• 2018 Handout (PDF - 40 Pages)
• 2017 Dataset RTC (ZIP - 106.4 MB)
• 2017 Handout MU (PDF - 25 Pages)

Anyone who has used Revit for a while knows that the mere mention of shared coordinates always gets the attention of users both new and old. Let’s face it, Revit’s way of handling coordinate systems is unique. But unique doesn’t make it any less powerful than other software. In fact, Revit’s approach is quite powerful indeed. In this class we will walk through a few file linking scenarios using Shared Coordinates. The goal will be to remove some of the mystery surrounding this sometimes baffling topic. We’ll explore common scenarios involving single buildings, multiple buildings and how to both set up coordinates and maintain them as a project progresses. We won’t cover every possible approach to using coordinates in this lab. But we will cover solid and reliable ways to use shared coordinates to ensure that your models are always positioned correctly.

• 2012 Handout (PDF - 15 Pages)
• 2012 Dataset (ZIP - 25.0 MB)
• 2015 Handout (PDF - 15 Pages)
• 2016 Dataset (ZIP - 33.6 MB)
• 2015 Presentation (PPTX - 2.1 MB)
• 2015 Dataset (ZIP - 26.9 MB)
• 2016 Handout (PDF - 24 Pages)

3D Printing has been around for years. But until recently you had to have access to very pricy equipment in educational institutions or large corporations. But with the advent of many consumer and prosumer level machines priced around $1000, 3D printing is poised to become mainstream. Add to this the ability to create 3D printer ready models directly from the software you use every day, and 3D printing is more accessible than ever! In this session, I will showcase a small 3D printer that you can purchase as a kit, assemble yourself and with free software, begin creating 3D printed models at home or in your office. We’ll discuss the machine (which I will have physically on premises), building the model in Revit and the accompanying considerations, and then show the print actually being made as well as a series of finished products.

• 2015 Presentation (PPTX - 47.5 MB)
• 2015 Handout (PDF - 25 Pages)