dODDS and ENDS

Join the the Autodesk Virtual Event

Join us for the Autodesk Virtual Event on March 29, 2012. See how Autodesk BIM solutions are transforming the building and construction industries.

With tight budgets, project complexity, and short timelines, the building and construction industry is under pressure. It’s time to move forward or risk falling behind. Building Information Modeling (BIM) and new technologies are changing what’s possible. With our latest software releases, Autodesk^® helps you lead the way in transforming your business now and into the future.

This year’s event features sessions from Autodesk executives, as well as building and construction experts, including:

• Review of Strategic Initiatives for Autodesk by Carl Bass, Amar Hanspal, and Lynn Allen
• Building a Better Architecture Business with BIM, by Joy Stark
• BIM for Building Engineering, by Sarah Hodges
• Implementing BIM in Construction, by Anthony Governanti

Register now: http://experience.autodesk.com/build/

Item Assigment with Autodesk Quantity Takeoff (QTO)

Often times I am asked about the process for using Item Assignment in QTO. So to help add a little clarification to the question I created this quick post complete with exercise that you can try on your own.

Updating Revit Models
When using Revit Models for the first time you go through and use the “Assign to Item” feature to move items from the Revit model into the catalog.

 
Using this feature opens another dialog box where you can select a place in the catalog to place the item in the catalog.

 
One of the added benefits is that when you move items from the Revit model into the catalog using this process using this is that is creates an Assignment Link between the model and the catalog. This is denoted by the link symbol shown below (you may have to scroll all the way to right to find the Assigned category).

 
Once you begin liking items to your catalog, the next time you bring in a new Revit model they will assign themselves to their respective places in the catalog for you (perform a model takeoff to help with assigning your items).

Exercise (short version)

• Open the exercise files (download files here)
• Create a new QTO file by importing the 2D and 3D DWF files
• Make sure to add the Catalog when you are importing your new files
  • (make sure save Options file is turned on when)
• Use Model Takeoff to take off your items
  • If you takeoff by Items from the Model palette the Assign link will not work properly
• Assign a few of the items to the Catalog
• Verify that the Assignment Link shows up (located all the way to the right)
• Save and close the file
• Begin the process again by creating a new QTO file with the 2D and 3D DWF files as well as the catalog
• Perform another Model Takeoff. The previously assigned items should move their respective Catalog Assignments
  • You can check Edit > Preferences > Assignment to view what items have been assigned

#AU2011 - Additional #Navisworks Class Just Added

I cannot believe that its already October and its time to start gearing up for AU2011. How exciting!

This year I am teaching hands on labs for both QTO and Navisworks and they are filling up quickly. But not to fear, theAU team has added another Navisworks class. For those of you who were not able to sign up, or have been thinking about it, now is your chance to get some hands on time with Navisworks at AU.

Here is a quick rundown on the class dates and times:

• Tuesday 11/29, 1PM (just added) - Quick Spin: Autodesk® Navisworks® Manage 2012
• Tuesday 11/29, 3PM - Quick Spin: Autodesk® Navisworks® Manage 2012
• Wednesday 11/30, 1PM - Takeoff to the Next Level: Advanced Autodesk® Quantity Takeoff 2012
• Wednesday 11/30, 3PM - Integrating Autodesk® Quantity Takeoff and Sage® Timberline™ Estimating (co-teaching this class with Kevin Miller from BYU)

Workbook Setting Error when Exporting Catalog from QTO

Have you ever found yourself working with a QTO project and then you try to export the catalog to XML (Excel) only to find that you get the below error message?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Frustrating yes, but not to worry. What I was able to find out, and easily correct was that Excel has a problem with a simple syntax of characters in the catalog when trying to open. Basically if you use to many slahses (/) in the same Parent Group of the WBS, Excel will get confused. See image below for example.

 

 

 

So to fix the problem all I did was locate this field, remove the slashes from the Parent Group of the WBS and exported the catalog again. Then I was able to open the catalog just fine. See image below.

 

 

You can still have the slashes in other Groups, just not the Parent Group of the WBS.

Another good tip that I can pass along is if you look at the path in the the actual Excel Workbook error and open up the log file listed you can get the exact field value that is causing the problem. If there are several items causing problems then you can see the while list of them as well.

Additional Currencies for QTO

via beyonddesign.typepad.com

Great post from Paul Walker' Blog! Check it out

AU 2011 Class Catalog is Live! #AU2011

Its hard to believe that its that time of year where we can stat thinking about AU already. But it is and the class schedule has been posted for everyone to start planning which classes they want to attend. Here is the link: http://au.autodesk.com/?nd=au2011_class_catalog This year I have 2 classes (Navisworks and Advanced QTO) that I am teaching and 1 other that I will be co-teaching with Kevin Miller. Be sure to look them up in the catalog.

Autodesk Quantity Takeoff: Adding Assemblies to the Workbook

While working in the QTO workbook have you ever come across a takeoff that is missing an Assembly?

In this case the Take off is missing the the Wall Base. Normally you would have to stop and go back to the Takeoff Palette to the add the Wall Base back in.

But there is a shortcut where you can add it from the Workbook and save yourself a little bit of time. Here are the quick steps:

 

Over the QTO Item that you need to add the Assembly, Right-click. This will being up the context menu where you can select Add Item. This is going to open the familiar Assemblies Browser where you can select your assembly to add. In this case its the Wall Base.

 

 

Once the Wall Base has been added you need to fill in the Formula information. You can simply click in the box and begin typing your Formula, or open the Formula editor.

Now your Assembly has been added without having to open another dialog box or return to the Takeoff Palette.

Autodesk Quantity Takeoff (QTO) 2012 Hotfix Released

Autodesk Quantity Takeoff 2012 Hotfix Released!!!!

Here is a snapshot aof some of the features that have been updated by the hotfix:

• Some projects cannot be opened in QTO and the message "The selected file is not a valid project file" displays.
• Switching between different sheets takes a very long time to complete. (ex 3D to 2D)
• The memory consumption increases dramatically with "Snap to point" turned on.
• A dialog prompts to say "Not enough memory to continue" when saving some projects in QTO.
• QTO crashes after setting the display unit for one 3D model.
• Some model takeoff markup scales incorrectly on canvas if you zoom in to some extent.
• Some PDF files may be displayed in a wrong direction if they are copied for multiple versions and one of them is rotated.
• Exporting quantities with some 3rd party applications sometimes exports an XML file instead of an ATQ file.
• Formula 1 and Formula 2 are missing in the exported *.atq quantities file.

You can download the hotfix here:
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=17326646&linkID=10381885

Autodesk Quantity Takeoff 2012 Released

Autodesk Quantity Takeoff 2012 has been been released.

I'll work on a few more in-depth blog posts about a few more of these features in the near future. Read below for a quick snapshot of a few things to expect in this release:

• New installation wizard to streamline the Autodesk Quantity Takeoff installation process and to compliment the Ultimate tier of the Autodesk Building Design Suite
• User Assistance (Documentation) transition to Web Help. Includes improved search capabilities and streamlined Help reference content 
• Content value combinations such as Quantity 1, Quantity, 2, WBS, or No Label are now available for in-canvas takeoff objects from the Contextual Tools toolbar. Default settings are modified from the Project Settings dialog
• Legend Improvements: You can now select "Neither" as a quantity value. Units are now left-aligned and integers are right-aligned as expected. Decimals are also right-aligned and maintain alignment with decimal points
• Default units and currency can now be specified for all projects from the Project Setup Wizard.
  Square and cubic units will now be shown in exponential form such as m² and m³
• Perimeter is a General Model Takeoff property that will populate as a Quantity 2. Visible in areas such as Takeoff Item Properties, and as a column in the Workbook
• Assignment relationships are exported with catalogs, making them available for use in other projects
• You can now specifically duplicate groups without objects
• Descriptions for groups and their subgroups can be relabeled with the same label, label and number strings, or with just number strings
• Advanced print options are available from the Print dialog. These options include the ability to send data as bitmaps to the printer
• Negative dimension values are possible
• Different versions of QTO can now run concurrently (2012, 2011, and 2010 for example)
• Memory and performance enhancements

Adding\Subtracting Points to Area and Linear Takeoff in Autodesk Quantity Takeoff

Have you ever been working on a project in QTO and thought to yourself that it would be great to be able to add or remove points to a Linear or Area takeoff? Well believe it or not it is possible to do such a thing. So I thought I would put up a quick post about how to get it done.

Linear and Area Takeoff:

 

The process is pretty much the same for both Linear and Area takeoff for adding or removing points (grips).

Take for example you need to fill in the area by the door as part of the origional takeoff.

• Select your object that you want to add grips to.
• Activate your Linear or Area takeoff (Polyline) tool, depending on the type of object you selected, in this case it would be Area (Polyline).
• Return to object.
• Press the CTRL (control) key to to begin adding points. Notice you get a different cursor with a + at the bottom. This means you can add points now. Left-click to add.
• While CTRL is pressed you can move over an existing point to delete the point. Notice the add symbol changes from a + to a -. Left-click to remove.

 

Points added so you can readjust the Area takeoff using the newly added points.

 

 

A few Limitations:

• Rectangle and Ellipse cannot have points added or removed. Only Polyline can add or remove points. This works for both Area and Linear Takeoff.
• If you use Backout on an Area takeoff you will not be able to add or remove points, even if it was created with Polyline originally. Backout combined with a Linear Polyline takeoff will still allow you to add or remove points however.