We've been hard at work testing our brand new DOCK* against Revit 2020 to ensure complete compatibility. To those of you who have been anxiously awaiting the news, thank you for your patience. We're glad to say our tools are ready to use with Revit 2020!*The Dock is an interactive window in Autodesk® Revit® that allows you to access and manage all Revit® products developed by AGACAD.

Here's how to get our tools running on Revit 2020.

For current users of our software

To companies/individuals who have an active license maintenance/subscription of at least one of our tools, we've sent an email containing software activation codes and a link to download our 2020 Tools4BIM Dock. (If you can't find it in your inbox, please check your spam folder.)

NB: If you're with a company, please ask your BIM manager or IT coordinator for these codes.

What you need to do:

A cost-focused and energy-conscious Australian building design firm intent to extract all possible value from BIM considers AGACAD a key ally for the uniquely powerful and flexible functionality of its tools and solutions for Revit®.

Client Profile	BELA DESIGN BUILDING of Australia are BIM professionals offering building design and modelling, engineering expertise, and CNC services for prefabrication and modular construction. Founded in 2003, they specialize in mechanised light steel construction with masonry concrete tilt-ups. Cost- and energy-conscious, the firm administers projects online, thus extending its reach to clients well beyond its home in Palmers Island, New South Wales.

Join in this free webinar to see the flexibility of AGACAD’s Wood/Metal Framing solution for Revit, which has been enhanced by implementing some highly requested features relating to stud and sheathing distribution, joined openings, top plate supports, bracing, and more!

Expert Consultation: 30-minute presentation to be followed by 30 minutes of Q&A.

The latest versions of AGACAD’s Wood/Metal Framing Wall BIM Solutions for Revit have been enhanced by implementing some highly requested features. Now they’re more flexible than ever with additional possibilities for distributing studs and sheathing to help automate even more tasks of your complex framing projects in Revit. Also, you’ll have better control over framing joined openings, top plate supports and more.

Let's dive in!

1. Align Stud Spacing with Frame and Opening Sides

With this new feature in Wood/Metal Framing Wall+, you’ll be able to distribute studs by a predefined spacing and restart the spacing at king studs or the sides of openings.

Smart Details is going to be phased out over the next few months. In its place, we present you Smart Connections, our newest BIM Solution for Revit, that brings additional functionality and more intuitive performance along with a name that more clearly reflects its main purpose.

IMPORTANT NOTE for EXISTING USERS of Smart Details! Although you can use the same configurations as you’ve been using with Smart Details, some of them might be disrupted due to changes in the software. Smart Details will still be available for a time so that you can finish your current projects and then modify your configurations for new projects so that they will mesh with Smart Connections.

The remainder of this post is dedicated to showing what configurations existing users of Smart Details may need to modify when transitioning to Smart Connections. For starters, when making the switch, you might need to modify your wall, column, and beam connection configurations.

For example:

If my Smart Details configuration was inserting corbels, column shoes, and bolts as shown below...	...the same configuration used with Smart Connections gives me this messy result.

That’s because the definition of faces of Columns and Foundation elements has been changed in Smart Connections. But this way it will be clearer and more systematic. So, to fix it, you will have to go in and redo that part of your configurations. Check the descriptions below for details on how to do that.

AGACAD’s Wood Framing & Metal Framing software have been enhanced once again. Going forward, opening framing – king studs, trimmers, etc. – can be customized, and you can even create asymmetrical opening configurations. Also, you‘ll have more possibilities in framing walls with intersecting ridge and girder beams, splitting joists, and finally, selecting parts automatically.

As you may already know, it‘s been possible to create custom headers, sills, and top supports for some time now. Because of user feedback, we saw that this functionality was really appreciated, and so now we‘ve extended it, making it possible for you to design your own king studs and trimmers!

Moreover, by not ticking the “Kings are symmetrical” tick mark, you’ll be able to create asymmetrical framing for your opening.

For the left king:

And the right:

Our company continues the tradition of sharing information not only about our products but also about how to facilitate your everyday tasks in Revit. Below, our structural engineering maestro Valensas shares an insight about equality settings in Revit® dimensions.

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In working with various clients, I’ve noticed there are some things that for experienced Revit users look simple but for beginners might be very frustrating.

Recently I’ve received a couple of questions from different users about how to get an Equality Formula in dimensions when they have several of the same dimensions on a dimension chain.

Let’s take a look at the settings we have in Dimension properties.

In this webinar we'll show how to use our Smart Assemblies BIM solution – and particularly its revamped Smart Dimensions feature – to further automate your shop drawings in Revit. Whatever your line of work (wood/metal framing, precast, etc.), if you have to make shop drawings, this webinar is for you. We invite you to join!

What you'll see in this webinar:

• Automatic dimensioning rules in Smart Dimensions;
• Available settings in Smart Dimensions and what they mean;
• The difference between making dimensions using Smart Dimensions vs. the default settings of Smart Assemblies;
• Examples of dimensioning in shop drawings used in various countries around the world.

Bobby Stiles, the founder of Florida-based Preconstruction with Stiles LLC, says his BIM modeling and metal stud consulting business got a big boost from AGACAD’s light gauge steel framing solutions for Revit^®.

Client Profile

Preconstruction with Stiles LLC is a U.S. provider of BIM and as-built data services with special expertise in metal framing. The company works on public infrastructure (hospitals, airports, schools) and large commercial projects (retail, hotels, residential).

AGACAD’s framing and panelling solutions for Revit^® have boosted the speed and quality of this Dutch design firm’s design and documentation work, also for BIM to fabrication, allowing it to offer more competitive project pricing.

Client Profile	A-BET BV is a design and BIM consulting firm based in the South Holland province of the Netherlands that specializes in metal framing.