Thanks to all who attended our recent webinar on Curtain Walls & Panels. Our engineer showed how to efficiently framing architectural curtain walls or curtain panels in Revit. He put together a condensed version of the webinar below.

When framing a prefabricated wall panel in Revit, the “Frame Parts” function is useful when you have parts of the wall that do not belong to the prefabricated panel, e.g., siding that will be built in place. Here’s a workflow showing how you can frame parts.

Our Precast Concrete solution for Revit was just recently updated with new features and performance improvements, including new ways to split walls, add details, and create shop drawings/tickets. But by far the most significant update is that the Metal Framing Floor+ feature has been added to Precast Concrete! We did this especially for clients wanting to create slabs by using Structural Framing families and even apply this to warped double tee slabs for precast parking garages.

The whole point of creating BIM models is to reap as much benefit from them as possible. One benefit for structural engineers is that when you create a physical model, you can create an analytical model simultaneously, saving you time later because you can send it straight to structural analysis software instead of creating it from scratch.

So, with that in mind, here is one tip about analytical lines for beams.

If you want to have a physical beam under another beam but keep the analytical lines at the same level, then use the z-offset in the beam properties instead of moving the beam down.

Analytical and physical model goes into the same location:

In this webinar, we'd like to present to you the brand new version of our MEP Hangers software that has more power, handsome good looks, new features, and greater speed.

To put it more exclamatorily:

NEW software engine! NEW software interface! NEW workflows! NEW (↑) software speed!

Q: I want to use the split pipes command to generate fabrication cut sheets for our sprinkler lines. I need to split all the lines into segments of equal lengths. How can I add a starter length of pipe? e.g. The first segment needs to be less than all the others and will be cut in field to adjust to where our sprinkler mains have been run.

A: See video :-)

Q: Is it possible to batch-change the category of families in a project?

A: Yes. You can change the category of your families in batches by using Smart Browser. Here's how.

To exchange families inside your project, you have to add an extra parameter for those families and write some notes for Smart Browser. Smart Browser doesn’t see when you change categories, and it can’t upload a new family, but if you change category and add a parameter – it will see and change the families in your project. Let's see how to do it.

AGACAD will be in Paris for BIM World on March 28-29. We’re very glad to be sharing a stand with our French partner Eurostudio. Come see us at booth 202!

At this event, our team will be showing our lineup of Revit tools as well as demonstrating BIMAXON, a new-generation BIM platform that gives real-time access to data from whatever sources are being used (Archicad, IFC, Navisworks, Revit, Tekla, etc.). One of the primary purposes of BIMAXON is to reduce the information delivered to BIM actors to only what's necessary – no more, no less. And of course delivering it at the right time in the building life-cycle process. That means eliminating unnecessary information that clogs up our heads and IT systems. Which translates into increased efficiency and accuracy all around.

You'll find lots of interesting topics in the March 2018 issue of our AGACAD Advances newsletter – like the workflow for a precast garage, how to export drilling points, other expert tips, recent launch of the French-language version of our free TOOLS4BIM DOCK, updates from several conferences in Europe and the US. Upcoming webinars. A client story.

Read the newsletter for a quick overview.

This month, our partner in the Middle East, Omnix International, and their partner, Promedia Qatar, are hosting seminars entitled “Building BIM Together: Future of BIM and Digital Construction”. They will be held in Qatar and Kuwait. For those located in either of these countries, this is an excellent way to get a close-up look at some great BIM software!

Location	Qatar	Kuwait
Date	March 20	March 21
Time(s)	9:00 AM – 1:00 PM 3:00 PM –6:00 PM	9:00 AM – 1:30 PM
Venue	Grand Hamad Street P.O. Box 18360 Doha	Radisson Blu Hotel Al Bida Road Al Ta'awn Street Salwa Safat 13122

Our partner Amal Mathew with Omnix International