Some of you may have been Furloughed or unable to work during the current COVID-19 crisis and I am continuing to create tips and tricks, tutorials and videos that are suitable for intermediate/advanced users of Revit. However, there are many of you that are possibly still using 2D CAD applications that would like to move into Revit for project delivery, or those that may want to revisit the essential skills required to use Revit.
I have started to create a course that is FREE and hosted on my YouTube channel. Additionally, I have created a website that hosts the required datasets that are needed for the online course. Currently I have the first module created (40 mins)
I am continuing to build the course and hope to cover all the essentials skills to work with Revit 2021 using Steel, In-Situ Concrete & Precast Concrete. The course is project based and builds on skills learnt on previous tutorials to build a full structure from a blank template.
In part two of this tutorial we will look at utilising the MS Excel workbook that was exported from Revit 2021 in Part 1. If you did not work through part one of the tutorial, here is the link:
The primary part of this tutorial will be looking at Microsoft Power BI and importing the MS Excel workbook. Obviously, you can present the data directly in MS Excel by using the inbuilt tables but Microsoft Power BI has better tools for presentation and data visualisations and allows data tables to be referenced to each other via unique keys. Another advantage is that the dashboard can be shared via a weblink to anyone that wants to consume the data.
Just as a quick recap, when exporting Revit model data via ODBC, Revit creates a data table for each model category. Additionally, the tables are differentiated by instance and type.
In the image below you can see the worksheet for the floor instance.
Below is the table representing the floor types
Working with Microsoft Power BI
Once Microsoft Power BI is running the interface should look like the image below. In this tutorial I am using the desktop version.
The first step is to connect to a data source. In this case we will connect to our Microsoft Excel workbook. On the Home ribbon click Excel.
You then browse to your MS Excel file. Power BI will then connect to the data and present the Navigator. In this example we will select the following tables:
Floors
FloorTypes
Levels
StructuralFraming
StructuralFramingTypes
Click the Load button. This will take a few moments to load in the data from MS Excel.
Before we start working on the visualisations, we need to create some relationships between the type and instance properties. Revit creates unique keys to enable this linking.
In Power BI click the model icon.
You will then see the selected tables presented. You can move and drag these around on screen to fit everything into view.
Click the Manage Relationships icon as shown below. This will enable the linking of data so we can visualise both the type and instance properties.
In the Manage Relationships dialog click the new button in the bottom left of the dialog.
Configure the dialog box as shown in the image below. Note that the data columns are selected (TypeId and Id) These are the unique keys that tie the instances to types.
Click OK and then close. The tables now have a relationship.
We can now start to visualise the data. Click the Report Icon as shown below.
On the Field panel click the Type Name as shown below. You will see a table presented on the page.
Now open the Floors table and select volume. Notice that this new field is added to the same table. You can now select a visualisation for the data.
This is just a simple example of a chart, you can continue to make additional relationships with other tables and create a dashboard to better understand material quantities of your structural elements.
It has been a while since my last post, and surprisingly, I have been very busy working from home with all sorts of projects, software development and online training/consultancy engagements. It is good to know the world is still turning!
Anyway, perhaps some of you have less demands on your time and something I wanted to share was the ‘easy’ method of extracting data and metrics from your Revit models without expensive software or Dynamo skills. When we think/talk about BIMs the important part is really the information that is held within your very expensive Revit models. Only a select few have the privilege of looking into this sea of data. In this tutorial we will take a look at how you can extract some basic information from Revit and present this in meaningful ways using MS Power Bi. You could do some of these things just with MS Excel, but MS Power Bi is much better a presenting and sharing data visualisations.
Part 1 of this tutorial writes data to MS Excel and Part 2 will show some basic operations to read this into MS Power BI and create some data visuals.
The only software you will need is Revit and MS Excel/MS Power BI.
However, if you do not have the MS Excel drivers you can download and install the AccessDatabaseEngine_X64.exe from the link below, https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=13255
Then run ODBC Data Sources (64-bit) and Microsoft Excel Drive (xls, xlsx, ….) can be found.
Make sure MS Office installed is 64-bit.
Below is an extraction of an automated report showing the Revit categories and total material consumption. So much easier to understand the data when presented in a graphical form.
So, let us start by looking at ODBC. Some of you may have seen the option to export to ODBC within the Export options of Revit. If you have not seen this, then the image below shows how you can navigate to this option.
ODBC is an acronym for Open Database Connectivity and it essentially is a tool to connect databases together. Most of us will know that Revit is fundamentally a database with a graphics engine for the visualisation of the building elements.
The ODBC option gives us a simple platform to extract data from a Revit project and view the data in applications such as MS Excel, traditional databases, or software tools such as MS Power BI.
Lets first create a new MS Excel file to store our data. Open Windows Explorer and create a new Microsoft Excel Worksheet by right clicking and selecting the New option.
Name the workbook RevitDataExtraction.xlsx
Lets now configure the ODBC Datasource!
The first step to export some Revit data is to configure a data source, I am assuming we are all using Windows 10 so this will be for 64-bit systems. To access the ODBC Data Source Administrator, type ODBC at the search bar.
You will then see the ODBC Data Source Administrator dialog box. Here you will see data sources that are already configured. We are going to Add a new Data Source. Click Add
There are many options here but to keep things simple, select the Microsoft Excel Driver option as shown below.
Click the Finish button. You should then be presented with the ODBC Microsoft Excel Setup dialog box as shown below.
Click the Select Workbook button and browse to the MS Excel document you just created. The file navigation is very old so be warned!
Once you have located the Excel workbook you need to give the Data Source a name. In the below example I am naming this DataExtractionFromRevit
Click OK
You will now have your data source configured.
Click OK to the ODBC Data Source Administrator dialog.
Extracting Data from a Revit Model
Now that the ODBC driver is configured, we can use this data source to extract information from a Revit model. To begin, lets extract data from a sample file that ships with Revit. Click the File Ribbon, then Pause over the Open command and select Sample Files from the menu.
From the Open dialog select rst_advanced_sample_project.rvt. This is a basic structural model with a variety of elements that will serve as a tutorial.
The model should look like the example shown below.
We are now ready to extract the Data. From the File Ribbon select Export and then ODBC Database as shown below.
From the Select Data Source Dialog click the Machine Data Source tab as shown below.
Once in the Machine Data Source Tab, select the Machine Data Source that we just set, ‘DataExtractionFromRevit’.
Click OK
Select your workbook and click OK
There should now be a slight pause while Revit writes the data to our MS Excel document.
Open your Excel file and you will notice that the categories are arranged as work sheets. Scroll to the Structural Columns and you should see the following data. Each column has a separate row with all the data displayed.
It is worth noting that if additional shared parameters are added, these will also appear in the workbook.
In the next session we will use Microsoft Power BI to present this data!
So, it’s that time of year again to review and comment on the new features and improvements in Revit 2021, as always, I will focus on the structural features and mention a couple of core platform features which will be useful. Don’t forget to check out the new features in 2020.1 and 2020.2 as I will not be reviewing these in this blog post.
Before I take a look at the structural features lets look at a platform feature which many have been waiting for a very long time! The ability to rotate section heads, elevation heads and detail callouts. I think every time I create a template or train Revit; someone always asks if the sections can be rotated. Having said that, most now simply accept the standard way in which sections are presented but if you want to change the section heads then you simply open the family and check the ‘Rotate text with component’ option.
Another useful platform feature is the ability to enable filters that are setup in the filters tab of the Visibility/Graphic Overrides dialog. This is particularly useful as in previous releases you would need to remove the filter to return to the default view but now you can simply deactivate and reactivate with a simple checkbox.
Another welcome addition is specific categories to support structures such as bridges and tunnels. These new categories have been created to support workflows with Autodesk Infraworks but I am sure will be put to good use with all sorts of structures. In the past I have been using the generic model category with subcategories for items such as bearings, abutments etc. However, in testing I did not see a method of creating your own families and applying these categories. Hopefully this was just a glitch!
Anyway, let’s move on to the new and improved structural features of Revit 2021! I will break this down into two separate areas, concrete and steel.
Concrete New Features and Improvements
I don’t think a single release has passed when a new feature or improvement for rebar has not been implemented and the same is true for this release. Let’s start with the improvements to shape codes. Autodesk have now implemented a method of generating shape code 98 (the chair) which will be very useful for contractors and some consultants that want to show this detail. In the image below you can see two chairs placed to separate the top and bottom layers of rebar.
The new shape is part of the structural template that is shipped with Revit 2021 but you can easily make the new shape be overriding the hook lengths. Autodesk have now configured all rebar shapes to have a rotatable hook that can be overridden for each instance. In the image below you can see Shape Code 98 in the shape browser.
Lets now move on to an improvement to an existing command, rebar constraints. You can now place and edit multiple rebar constraints in the same command. For example, if you are constraining the new chair to the top and bottom layers and also constraining the width of the chair, this can now be achieved in the same constraint command. A huge improvement.
Fabric reinforcement has also been improved by having the same view visibility states as ‘standard’ rebar. This means that you can now view the fabric reinforcement as solids in 3D. Another issue with older releases was that the fabric would not display correctly when viewed in section. The fabric now sections and behaves perfectly in all views! In the example below, you can see the fabric viewed as a solid with flying ends displayed.
Steel New Features and Improvements
The steel tools had a huge leap in the last two releases, strengthening the ability to place standard connections, design the connections to EC3 and create custom connections. To really make a useful set of tools for steel fabricators, who will get maximum use from the connection tool, Autodesk need to implement a documentation tool like Advance steel for the production of drawings and CNC code for the machine tools. Whilst we can transfer the Revit model to Advance Steel for fabrication, in reality, many fabricators will not want to take on the risk of directly using the consultant’s model.
However, there are a few new steel modelling tools that will help with the production of drawings for consulting engineers.
Stiffeners can now be placed using the same style of connection tool. You can place a single stiffener at a point or place multiple stiffeners along beams or down columns. In the image below you can see the new connection type.
To allow correct documentation of the setting out of stiffeners, Autodesk have implemented the ability to dimension to plate centres. This will allow the stiffeners to be set out and dimensioned as below.
All in all another strong release for Revit, particularly for the concrete workflows and interchangeability with infrastructure.
