Revit 2012 Service Pack 2 Available

Well, the latest service pack for Revit is now available!  You can download the update HERE. As always, make sure you download the appropriate version (for OS) and read the Readme file.

The update list isn’t available yet, but check back on the download site within the next couple days and it should be available.

I posted this morning that SP2 was needed in order to utilize the Cloud Rendering that’s now available via the Autodesk Cloud.  So once you install SP2, you should now be able to utilize the Add-in for Cloud Rendering.

Autodesk Cloud and Revit Rendering in the Cloud

By now, many of you have probably already have heard or read about Autodesk Cloud for Subscription Customers.  One of the items available in the Autodesk Cloud is being able to Render  Online (in the Cloud) directly from within Revit 2012 via an Add-in that you can install (from the Cloud site).  One thing (and kind-of a big thing) is that in order to install the Add-in for Cloud Rendering, you must have Update 2 for Revit 2012 installed.  Oh wait, Update 2 isn’t available yet!!

So, looks like we’ll just have to wait for SP2 to come out…which I would have to guess won’t be too much longer.  That was quick, SP2 is now available!

New Ceiling Modify Option

Here’s a little something I ran across in my last training session…

When you want to modify a Ceiling, you typically had to get the to edge of the ceiling, select it, then you would get the option to Edit Boundary (left image).  If you select just a grid line, you don’t get that option (right image)…

   

This has now changed in Revit 2012!  If you select just a grid line of a ceiling, you now get the option to Edit Boundary…

So, no more placing your curser at the edge of a ceiling/wall and using the Tab key to cycle until you get to the ceiling to select it.

Revit Architecture 2012 Update 1 Available

I knew this would happen… get busy and things slip through without being noticed.  Thanks to a co-worker, I was notified this morning that the 1st service pack/update was now available for the Revit 2012 products.  You can download the update HERE.

For some reason, the list that’s typically included isn’t available quite yet.  There are a few people that have posted about some of the fixes (What Revit Wants has a post that explains this a little along with a couple of the items people have notice that are fixed).  As soon as the list becomes available, it will be plastered all over the web!

One of the things that I noticed and am very, very happy that is fixed is Revit 2012 crashing when working with the Materials dialog.  My Revit 2012 has been crashing every time I went to close the Materials dialog, and now with Update 1, that’s been fixed!

So keep your eye on the web for the list of updates…I’m sure it won’t be too long before it’s out.

Vault Integration with Revit 2012

Last week I spent a couple days starting to learn the ins and outs of Vault Collaboration 2012 and it’s integration with the AEC products for 2012.  This is the first iteration of Vault being integrated with the AEC products, so this is definitely a work in progress.  At this point, here’s how Vault works with the Revit family of products for 2012…

• Archival of Central files – This process doesn’t need to happen every time you sync to central, this really only needs to happen when you want to save a copy of the central for archival purposes. There are options that you can enable so that when you sync to central, Vault will make a detached copy inside Vault.  This is essentially taking the place of a manual Detach and Save-as when you need to archive a central file.
• Family Management – This is something I can see being very handy for many firms, but I think it still needs some work.  The concept here is that a “content manager” can set families to different statuses, thus allowing the end users to only see content that is say set to “Approved”.  So while families are being worked on and aren’t ready for prime-time, users won’t see them in Vault.  There is a search function that allows users to search for families based on many different things, which is nice.  But at this point, there isn’t the ability to search for parameters that already exist in the families themselves…this is where the improvement needs to come in.  Sure, you can tag a family inside of Vault with properties, but the ability to search the parameters would be a great addition. (Just like SmartBIM currently does)

 

Overall, I think the biggest benefit of Vault for Revit at this point would be the Family integration…but we’ll see where Vault goes in the future.  As I get more time to work with Vault and really get to dig into some work-flow pieces, I’ll definitely be posting more about this subject.

Revit Architecture 2012 New Features

Instead of just replicating the new features here, I’ll post a link to a great post by David Light over at his Revit Blog.  David did a GREAT job at covering the new features with some commentary….well done David!!

If you just want a quick list of the new features, here you go…

• Revit Server (Now Native inside Revit)
• Citrix Ready Release (Cloud based Revit??)
• Autodesk Vault Collaboration AEC
• Linking Improvements (Tag Rooms, Keynote, etc.)
• Worksharing Enhancements
• Improved DWG export fidelity
• Visualisation Enhancements
• 3d Tagging (Annotate a 3D View)
• Modelling Enhancements
• Performance
• Construction Modelling
• Massing enhancements
• Materials
• Point Cloud Support
• IFC

As time goes on, I’ll be posting more about the new features as well.   

System Requirements for Revit 2012 Products

That time of year for new Autodesk products.  Below are the updated system requirements for the Revit family of products for 2012…

32-bit Systems

• Microsoft® Windows® 7 32-bit Enterprise, Ultimate, Professional, or Home Premium edition, Microsoft® Windows Vista® 32-bit (SP2 or later) Enterprise, Ultimate, Business, or Home Premium edition, or Microsoft® Windows® XP (SP2 or later) Professional or Home edition*
• For Microsoft Windows 7 32-bit or Microsoft Windows Vista 32-bit: Intel® Pentium® 4 or AMD Athlon™ dual core processor, 3.0 GHz (or higher) with SSE2 technology 
• For Microsoft Windows XP: Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon dual core, 1.6 GHz (or higher) with SSE2 technology
• 4 GB RAM
• 5 GB free disk space
• 1,280 x 1,024 monitor with true color
• Display adapter capable of 24-bit color for basic graphics, 256 MB DirectX® 10-capable graphics card with Shader Model 3 for advanced graphics (find out more about recommended graphics hardware)
• Microsoft® Internet Explorer® 7.0 (or later)
• Microsoft Mouse-compliant pointing device
• Download or installation from DVD9
• Internet connectivity for license registration

64-bit Systems

• Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit Enterprise, Ultimate, Professional, or Home Premium edition, Microsoft Windows Vista 64-bit (SP2 or later) Enterprise, Ultimate, Business, or Home Premium edition, or Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional x64 edition (SP2 or later)*
• For Windows 7 64-bit or Windows Vista 64-bit: Intel® Core™ i5-2300 quad-core processor (2.8 GHz, 6 MB cache) or equivalent AMD® processor.
• For Windows XP Professional x64: Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon dual core, 1.6 GHz (or higher) with SSE2 technology
• 8 GB RAM
• 5 GB free disk space
• 1,680 x 1,050 monitor with true color
• Display adapter capable of 24-bit color for basic graphics; 256 MB DirectX 10-capable graphics card with Shader Model 3 for advanced graphics (find out more about recommended graphics hardware)
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0 (or later)
• Microsoft Mouse-compliant pointing device
• Download or installation from DVD9
• Internet connectivity for license registration

Looking for the (Performance) RECOMMENDATIONS and not the Requirements, take a look at these specs…

• Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit Enterprise, Ultimate, Professional, or Home Premium edition
• Intel® Core™ i7-2600 quad-core processor (3.8 GHz, 8 MB cache ) or equivalent AMD processor
• 16 GB RAM (or more)
• 1,980 x 1,200 monitor with true color
• 2 GB (or more) DirectX 10-capable graphics card with Shader Model 3 (find out more about recommended graphics hardware)