Archive for July, 2010
Focus 360 – Hawadi Revealed!
Jul 30th
This video is 98% computer generated and a great example of how CG can tell a compelling story. The subject matter is a master planned community in King Abdullah Economic City in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Produced entirely by the creative team at Focus 360.
Focus 360 – Hawadi Revealed! from Focus 360 on Vimeo.
Wood Framing Pack for Revit Architecture
Jul 30th
Wood framing in a fraction of the time with the Wood Framing Pack.
The time intensive tasks associated with the creation of wood framing for roof and floor systems has been greatly simplified with the Wood Framing Pack. The creation of these systems is often required for visual and model checking purposes, and the Wood Framing Pack allows you to perform these tasks in a fraction of the time. Consisting of Express Trusses and Express Framing, the Wood Framing Pack enables the rapid generation of roof and floor systems within Revit software.
The Wood Framing Pack is a suite package consisting of Express Framing and Express Trusses at a discounted price.
Automatically frame any roof with truss systems in Revit Architecture.
Jul 30th
Express Trusses reads roof information in a Revit model, then automatically frames out any roof situation with systems of trusses. You can now generate roof truss layouts in a fraction of the time it takes compared to using the standard truss tool within Revit. Trusses, web layouts, and framing sizes can all be customized to user needs. Increase efficiency and add visualization capabilities with Express Trusses.
Revit 2011 Hangs at Splash Screen or Crashes with Unrecoverable Error
Jul 30th
Revit 2011 Hangs at Splash Screen or Crashes with Unrecoverable Error
You launch Revit 2011 and it doesn’t get past the splash screen. Or you launch it and you see the splash screen followed by an unrecoverable error message. So what do you try next?
I have included the 3 most common causes for this behavior below, in the most common order. If you run into a scenario where these do not resolve the issue please do not hesitate to let us know!
1. WSCommcntr2.exe Process
I’ve included a technical solution for this one below. The technical solution is for AutoCAD, but the same process applies for Revit 2011:
http://usa.autodesk.com/getdoc/id=TS15228698
2. Corrupt WSCommCntrData.xml File
If the WSCommCntrData.xml file becomes corrupt, Revit may hang when attempting to read it at startup.
While Revit is closed, move or delete the WSCommCntrData.xml file at the location below:
Windows XP
C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Local Settings\Application Data\Autodesk\Revit\<Autodesk Revit Version>\ENU\Components\WebServices\WSCommCntrData.xml
Windows Vista & Windows 7
C:\Users\%username%\Appdata\local\Autodesk\Revit\<Autodesk Revit Version>\ENU\Components\WebServices\WSCommCntrData.xml
3. Corrupt UIState.dat File
This could also be potentially related to a corrupt UIState.dat file. While Revit is closed, move or delete the UIState.dat file at the location below:
Windows XPC:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Local Settings\Application Data\Autodesk\Revit\<Autodesk Revit Version>\UIState.dat
Windows Vista & Windows 7C:\Users\%username%\Appdata\local\Autodesk\Revit\<Autodesk Revit Version>\UIState.dat
#2 & #3 are user-specific, so if you see this behavior where it happens to one user but not another on the same workstation, this is typically the conflict.
Original post taken from the Revit Clinic blog
Interactive 3D Visualization of Building Envelope Systems Using Infrared Thermography and Sketch Up
Jul 30th
Interactive 3D Visualization of Building Envelope Systems Using Infrared Thermography and Sketch Up
March 2, 2010 Filed Under: PDF, Sketch-Up
Infrared thermography also known as thermal imaging can provide accurate, nondestructive information about the thermal envelope performance of any building. This includes validation of structural details, verification of energy performance (conduction and air leakage), location of moisture intrusion, and the identification of structural and system degradation of roofs and facades.
Thermography has been used since the 1960s to detect and diagnose building problems. During the 1970s fuel crisis, it was widely used to visualize the thermal signatures related to many building problems. It is common today for many professional home inspectors and energy auditors to use infrared imaging technology to evaluate the performance of this “thermal envelope” (i.e. the walls, fenestration, foundation, and ceiling or roof) for performing energy auditing of homes and buildings. Although thermography can be used to measure spot temperatures on a building envelope, it is commonly used to generate false-color images that relate a temperature scale to a color scale.
This paper discusses the application of the visualization capabilities of IR in conjunction with 3D models of buildings. 3D modeling is a powerful tool for visualizing and representing building conditions that is used by architects, builders, and contractors. Also, a 3D model is better understandable than a more abstract 2D representation (like a floor plan or an image).
A method will be presented to apply IR images to simplified exterior and interior models of a building using the freely available 3D modeler Google SketchUp. A variety of common application scenarios will be presented and examples for these will be shown. In addition, the viability of exploring the 3D model interactively and on the web will be discussed.
Lagoa Multiphysics 1.0 – Teaser
Jul 20th
Project Helix, Point Cloud Tools for Autodesk® 3ds Max® 2010
Jul 14th
I am pleased to announce the first Autodesk Labs project for 3ds Max, a technology preview enabling display and rendering of 3D laser scanning/LiDAR data sets with Autodesk® 3ds Max® 2010 & 2011 and Autodesk® 3ds Max® Design 2010 & 2011. With the 3ds Max Point Cloud Tools you can import reference data that has been captured from various 3D scanning devices and use as a snapping reference for modeling workflows, or simply apply a material and render the point cloud using the mental ray renderer. We anticipate seeing a wide variety of use cases for this technology preview and have already seen users load up to 1 billion points within the viewport.
The Point Cloud Tools for 3ds Max and 3ds Max Design allows you to:
- Import .PTS format point cloud data into 3ds Max or 3ds Max Design scenes (release 2010 & 2011)
- Display the point cloud data in the 3ds Max viewport with a variety of rendering options and levels of detail
- Render point clouds using the mental ray rendering option
- Slice point clouds into pieces using geometric display volumes
- Export multiple clouds or parts of clouds to a new .PTS files
- Snap to specific points within the data
- Render with shadows for quick shadow studies
- Apply materials or projection map images onto the point cloud data
- Display captured per point color in viewport
- Independent LOD control for viewport and render settings
Working with 3D point cloud data is very memory intensive, we recommend at a minimum Win 7, 64bit, 8GB RAM, and a 64bit version of 3ds Max. Stability problems will increase on lower spec systems and the amount of data you can work with is dependent upon the amount of RAM in the system. Although there are a number of very functional features in the technology preview, it has not been widely tested on a range of hardware and configurations.
