client programming with revit?

[Maximillian]

Wondering if there are any activity programming functions for revit? Like a schedule that creates massing objects from the clients activity data. I may be getting into the ultraworld of BIM with this one, but I thought I would throw it out there.

[dbaldacchino]

Check this out:

www.trelligence.com (http://www.trelligence.com)

[truevis]

Didn't someone post some clever families recently that used formulas to calculate code requirements, etc?

Perhaps that's the kind of approach that might work.

[Mencken]

Here's the link to another programming app named Facility Composer.

https://ff.cecer.army.mil/fc/index.jsp

Cheers

[dbaldacchino]

Here's the link to another programming app named Facility Composer.

https://ff.cecer.army.mil/fc/index.jsp

Cheers
Here's an excerpt from that site:

" Layout Composer works in conjunction with vendor neutral software such as, MicroStation/JTM, MicroStation V8TM or AutoDesk Architectural Desktop 3.3 (ADT)TM (currently in Alpha testing)....."

ADT 3.3?! When was that site (and their software) last updated?

[Maximillian]

I was thinking of something that is already a part of Revit. Are people actually using these other software packages? I guess my needs are much less because I am doing small projects and dont require major program (besides Revit) to keep my programming organized.

Here is what I was thinking:

A crude schedule:

date satisfied:
date changed:
date removed:
Activity:
Support: object&size
Storage: ( will include drop-down of components that are in the room and their sizes)
indoor adjacent to:
outdoor adjacent to:
size req. for activity:

This would then generate generic massing objects (rooms) with labels or room tags and the support and storage components in that room so you can get an idea of the space needed in the room and adjust massing size. Then start doing your adjacency. Then the idea is to enter this in and then attach walls to the massing. That way there is a direct relationship between programming and Revit. I haven't exactly thought this through yet but that is the idea.

[dbaldacchino]

Trelligence have a software product called "Affinity" that does similar to what you're saying. They're developing a bi-directional link with Revit....we'll be testing it shortly.

[Maximillian]

I appreciate all the input. My problem is that I hate to buy additional software to interface with my main software. It creates additional problems, costs and compatibility issues.
example: export Revit project to viz or max. I look forward to hearing about how the software performs.

[greg.mcdowell]

Well... you can always create these mass families with the parameters you need but Revit won't do it for you "automatically".

We did do a project with the owners program preloaded into the project before we started building but we didn't use it the way you're talking about here with the mass objects.

[truevis]

..
date satisfied:
date changed:
date removed:
Activity:
Support: object&size
Storage: ( will include drop-down of components that are in the room and their sizes)
indoor adjacent to:
outdoor adjacent to:
size req. for activity..Remember that you can define rooms in a schedule without placing them, plus whatever parameters you need. You can also make formulas like "required area - actual area'" for when you start defining the rooms' shapes.

[greg.mcdowell]

That's what we did... the only problem we had with it was how it's organized in the selection box when placing them. We had multiple organizations that all needed offices so when you see "office" in the drop down the question is "which office?" What we did to deal with that was to assign all of the rooms in an organization with the same room number (actually used an abbreviated form of their name) so that it would at least group them together... still, not my favorite exercise.

[dbaldacchino]

Yep, that's how I did my first project. Typed in the program, added parameters so I can section it out the way it was in Excel, and then placed the rooms from the list. The list is a bit of a pain to go through and find your space in it, since it cannot be filtered or organized in sections like schedules can.

[Mencken]

Maximillian,

As a one-person facility programming firm, I believe I understand your concerns about additional programs' compatibility, cost, etc. issues. Having had a demo of the Affinity pre-production plug-in for Revit, it looks truly bi-directional (something I have encouraged the E-Specs folks to incorporate). Development's been delayed as often happens.

I encourage you to continue keep it in mind even for small projects, as it appears to offer work flow and data capture and retention advantages over any other approach I've seen or tried.

I can see advantages to the single-model BIM for programming through occupancy and use, but I wonder if it's feasible. See Michael Tardif's recent essay: http://www.aia.org/aiarchitect/thisweek06/1027/1027rc_pract.cfm
for a counterpoint to vendors' and buildingSMART hyperbole.

Cheers

[ajayholland]

Update

Affinity for Revit (http://www.trelligence.com/affinity_revit.php)

~AJH