Revit 2015 R2 – A Mid Life Upgrade

Autodesk has just launched a major mid-life update to Revit 2015 for Autodesk desktop subscription and maintenance customers. The update is much more than the usual service packs and updates, this is a completely new release which adds additional functionality to the Revit 2015 platform as well as service pack fixes.

The update also incorporates a site designer based on the former Eagle point site works tool which I will review in a separate post.

This update can be installed both on stand-alone and network products and also on all suites that contain Revit 2015. This update does not change the file format so you can upgrade Revit 2015 mid project if required.

As always I will focus on the structural related enhancements and new features but will include a full list of what’s new.

• Colours section: The new Background Colour setting replaces the Invert Background setting in the Graphics section.

• Wall joins: To simplify the control of wall joins in a plan view, you can now select multiple intersected wall joins with a single click, and choose to allow or disallow joins on all the selected walls with a single click. If you choose to allow joins, you can then specify a Display option (Clean Join, Don’t Clean Join, Use View Setting).

Reveal constraints: To see all dimension constraints and alignment constraints in a view, use the Reveal Constraints mode, available on the View Control Bar.

• Rebar: When reinforcing concrete elements, you can now place rebar in any 2D view. Place rebar in plan views, elevation views, and section views using the new placement plane tools. Here is the Context ribbon shown below.

This enables the placement of rebar on the following faces or a named Reference Plane in plan or elevation.

• Alignment reference: When changing the alignment reference of beam end geometry in a join, you can now select multiple framing element instances and change their alignment to a common join reference. You can also reset multiple changed references.
• Structural framing orientation: When refining your model, you can flip structural framing elements and maintain joins, as well as setback, geometry, and justification modifications. Right Click over existing members and choose ‘Flip Structural Framing ends’ from the context menu.

There has been a number of UI changes to tool positions such as Beam Justification and placement of analytical properties in the Properties Palette.

Here is the full list of changes to the Revit 2015 Platform.

http://help.autodesk.com/view/RVT/2015/ENU/?guid=GUID-6084E92F-4C46-4047-B98C-2984E730A53D

LawrenceH