Dynamo for Revit and Topography and your Thoughts

I plan  (meaning I am hoping) to teach a few classes on Dynamo this year at a few conferences including RTC, AU, and the BIM Workshops.

I would really like to hear your thoughts about Dynamo. If you have any suggestions or comments please post them here on this forum post.  My plan for the dynamo classes this year is to teach a class that is heavy on beginners and heavy on day to day applications.

Below are some of the samples I plan to show in the class that relate to dynamo and topography.

If you are not able to attend any of these conferences, don't worry I will make sure there are other means for you to access this information.

Free Revit 747 and 787 jet family from Marcello

Here are some more free revit jet models, the 747 (added back) and the 787.
I built these about 3 years ago. So here they are!

Revit 747 Family

Revit 787 Family

Subscribe to the blog. Then Return and download these families here.
Use these families as an education tool only....which also means use them at your own risk. Make sure to deconstruct it and enjoy.

Preparing for a Technical Presentation and Class Conference Rankings

I am in the process of developing a course and potential book about how I prepare and deliver a technical presentation. I thought I would write a blog post and show one of the outlines that show the phases that I go through to prepare for a lecture at a conference.  Preparing for a presentation at a conference such as AU or RTC does not happen overnight for me, in fact it takes months of planning as shown below. Stay tuned because I will keep everyone informed on my progress on the class and book.

PREP LECTURE OUTLINE

·        (+-1 year to 11 months prior) The "You can’t do that in that software" phase

·        (11 months to 10 months prior) The "I need a breakthrough" phase

·        (10 months to 9 months prior) The "Hurry, Proposals are due" phase

·        (9 months to 4 months prior) The "Testing" phase

·        (9 months to 4 months prior) The "Example Selection" phase

·        (4 months to 2 months prior) The "Practice" phase

·        (2 months to 1 months prior) The "Handout Writing" phase

·        (1 months to 0 months prior) The "Final Presentation Prep" phase

·        (0 months to 0 days prior) The "Delivery" phase

Top Speaker Award for a Lecture Class at AU 2013

I am pleased to announce that the class that I taught at AU 2013

 "AB3340: Make Hardscape Follow Site Topography and Site Topography Follow Hardscape in Revit"  

has been rated the top lecture class at AU2013!

Click here for last years AU2012 top rated class that I taught.

I want to thank everyone who has followed and supported me throughout the years. Without all your support, feedback, and collaboration this would not have been possible. 

To receive this award two years in a row makes me honored beyond words. 

If you missed the AU2013 class, you could watch it here and see what all the fuss was about

http://au.autodesk.com/au-online/classes-on-demand/class-catalog/2013/revit-for-architects/ab3340#ooid=dpMHU2aTrCVtAvCORSwqbZ7VqnKzBLZB

So make sure you sign up and follow my blog because I have even more exciting content to show in 2014

Learn How to Align and Measure a Scope Box in Revit without the API

Brand New Method Here!!!!!!!!!!

Frustrated with the limited modeling tools of the scope box element in Revit?
Did you ever want to know how to align and measure a Scope Box in Revit?

Anyone tell you it could not be done?
Watch the following video tutorial I recorded and decide for yourself.
No API was used for this method.
If any of you know me....you know.... I add a lot of background when I explain a new method so make sure to sit thru all 15 minutes and don't even think about skipping to the end or else you will miss something :)
This is for all levels of Revit , beginner to guru.
Make sure to turn up the sound because it was a little low when I recorded it. Enjoy! I hope this helps.

Free Revit 747 jet family

I have heard that I only give out Revit families to people who attend my conference sessions. That is true to some extent however, this time I decided to reward all of my blog site subscribers with a free Revit 747 family model. It is to true scale and has working landing gear.

Subscribe to the blog. Then Return and download this family here.
Hurry because this link will not be active for long.
Use this family as an education tool. Deconstruct it and and enjoy.

Send me your Site Topography and Hard-scape Challenges in Revit

I am asking anyone who thinks they have a site topography or hardscape modeling challenge to submit them to me so I could determine if it is possible to model it in Revit.  I am preparing for a class at Autodesk University 2013 titled 

"Make Hardscape Follow Site Topography and Site Topography Follow Hardscape in Revit"

In this class I will be showing step by step instruction on how to build straight walls, curved walls, sidewalks, curbs, stairs, planters, roads and other hardscape elements of any shape or size, that follow the exact shape and contour of any site topography element. Conversely, I will also be showing how to model site topography to match the location and shape of hardscape elements. 

One of the most common complaints I have heard about Revit is that it lacks "good" site topography modeling tools. Is that true? "So far" I have been able to model every hardscape and topo shape I wanted to....

So, if you believe the site topo modeling tools are "broken" or you simply think that you have a hardscape element that could not be modeled to follow the shape of site topography or if you think you have a topography shape that you don't think could follow a hardscape shape then send it my way. Simply leave a comment with a description of your challenge or a link to your Revit file. You have to be a member of this blog site to leave a comment though. So join up if you have not done so already. If you want to be a little discrete then you could email me at 
marcellojs@hotmail.com 

An example of a hardscape element would be "modeling curved walls that follow site topography" and an example of a site topography shape would be "model site topography to follow the shape of concrete stairs" 

Keep in mind that this class will focus on modeling hardscape that follows site topography and site topography that follows hardscape. So keep your requests for modeling dolphins and Star Wars characters to a minimum...oh what the hell... send those over as well.
AND...  if any of you know me by now, I will have to show how to model some type of "complex" shape using the site topography tools for the class. 

So remember to send me your challenges and make sure to sign up for AU2013 this year. See you there!