Today the Dutch Revit user group (RevitGG) released the latest version of the Dutch Revit Standard. With some help of Martijn de Riet and Autodesk I’ve developed a modification to the IFC Exporter for Revit. It will now be possible to make a mapping file to map Revit parameters to the IFC properties. A mapping file looks like this:

1
2
3
4
5

Pset_WallCommon   FireRating    fire_rating
Pset_WallCommon   Compartmentation  brandwerend
Pset_WallCommon   SurfaceSpreadOfFlame  brandklasse
Pset_WallCommon   Combustible   ontvlambaar
Pset_WallCommon   AcousticRating    luchtgeluidsisolatie

The Revit parameter ‘fire_rating’ will be assigned to the ‘FireRating’ IFC property for a wall. With the Dutch standard combined with my modification to the exporter, the only thing left to do is to make a default mapping file for the Dutch Revit Standard to create a full workflow from Revit model to IFC model all within the Dutch Revit Standard. The first standardized workflow from Revit to IFC in the world!

Later today Autodesk will release a beta version with the new functionality included.

Update: Beta is online now!

Together with my sister we’ve released the website for the iOS application nummi! Shortly we will be able to publish the app in the AppStore. We’re also working on an Android version which we’ll publish within a few weeks. Please head over to the website and press the Facebook like button to receive the latest updates.

nummi website

The Auto Number Add-in is now available for free, a sort of Christmas present! This add-in can Mark any element which has a Mark parameter. You can use interval, prefix, postfix and offset options to get the output you want.

I’ve also added the x86 versions of the add-ins. So feel free to try these add-ins if you use 32bit!

Yesterday Mark Wieringa of cepezed pointed out the blog posting of Luke Johnson at What Revit Wants. We thought this way of remembering a selection within Revit is a bit cumbersome. That’s why I created the Revit Save Selection Add-in and it is free to download from the Revit Save Section page. To speed up the selection process you can put the icons in the Quick Access Toolbar or assign Keyboard Shortcuts to it. Please leave a comment with your findings.

For one of my projects I needed to calculate color values between two colors. This is what I came up with:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31

class Gradient
  attr_accessor :resolution, :R0, :G0, :B0, :R1, :G1, :B1

  def initialize(start, stop, resolution)
    @resolution = Float(resolution)

    @R0 = (start & 0xff0000) >> 16;
    @G0 = (start & 0x00ff00) >> 8;
    @B0 = (start & 0x0000ff) >> 0;

    @R1 = (stop & 0xff0000) >> 16;
    @G1 = (stop & 0x00ff00) >> 8;
    @B1 = (stop & 0x0000ff) >> 0;
  end

  def gradient(step)
    r = interpolate(@R0, @R1, step);
    g = interpolate(@G0, @G1, step);
    b = interpolate(@B0, @B1, step);

    (((r << 8) | g) << 8) | b;
  end

  def interpolate(start, stop, step)
    if (start < stop)
      return (((stop - start) * (step / @resolution)) + start).round;
    else
      return (((start - stop) * (1 - (step / @resolution))) + stop).round;
    end
  end
end

You can use it like this:

1
2

g = Gradient.new(0xe6ebf9, 0x33abe3, 100)
g.gradient(50)

And with the optional to_s(16) it will return a hex value, which can be used in the CSS code.

Today I’ve posted a page on my site explaining how the process of developing a Revit add-in works. With this page I hope I can take away the fear of developing your own add-ins.

Read here

Earlier this week I’ve released my new website! My previous website was a standard WordPress blog, but I wanted more control of the blog and other pages so I’ve created my own site in Ruby on Rails. One of the extra functionalities I’ve added is a download section at the Revit pages, so everyone can try the add-ins before buying. I’m also planning to add more features in the future; like a store for add-ins, a search field and social network sharing buttons.

This site is built on the latest release candidate of Ruby on Rails 3.1. It uses the new asset pipeline with SASS and Coffeescript. I’ve used test driven development as the development process, which is very suitable for a Rails project. First tests are made and subsequently the code is added to the project to make the tests pass. My code is monitored with guard and has a 100% test coverage.

This site provides new opportunities for both my Ruby on Rails and my Revit projects. Please check out the rest of my site and if you are a Revit user, make sure you download some of my add-ins. I will be adding more of them in the upcoming days.

Just a quick update on the Revit Add-ins, I’ve made an add-in named: Tag By Filter and Angle Validation. Tag By Filter does exactly what you would expect: Tag elements per view which meet specific filter rules. These rules filter by element parameters and can be combined together. The Angle Validation plugin lets users check if all elements, mainly walls, are parallel or orthogonal to the grid. Both add-ins are small, fast and will save the designers a lot of time and will improve the quality of their Revit model.

The Dutch Revit User Group (RevitGG) meets on a regular basis to create standards and guidelines for the Dutch market. One of their efforts lately is a way to calculate the square meters of wall finish required for a project. This procedure is relatively accurate, but very time consuming to actually execute in a real project. Together with Arno de Lange from SEED architects I’m building a Revit Wall Finish Add-in which uses the guidelines of the Revit User Group and executes the procedure automatically. Right now the Add-in is in a beta stadium and I’m looking for beta-testers to help me improve the Add-in. If you are interested please let me know: tom@tnux.net. More information.

Yesterday I’ve released my first paid application in the Revit App Store. It is an extended version of the Auto Number Parking Component application. This version allows the user to update the Mark parameter of all Families with the Mark parameter. The free version is also updated and is restricted to update only Parking Components. So if you are in doubt this application will perform as you would expect, try the free version first. If you have any suggestions or comments, please let me know.