If you have been using Revit to create walkthroughs of your building you may have noticed there is not a default option for 'walk up stairs'. Instead you have to create the scene yourself. By default the camera follows the line of sight, which is usually efficient when walking around on flat ground. The problem occurs when you try and walk up stairs or along other non-flat paths as this does not create a very realistic looking result.

If you have been playing around in Revit 2013 and trying to learn the new features, you may have heard of, or come accross adaptive components. Adaptive points and Adaptive components can be used to make elements which are adaptive, or elements which can move. An example could be a panel system on a wall which can be modified and reshaped according to the points you set. The use of repeating and dividing is another feature which is useful when modeling complex geometry in Revit. Reporting parameters can be used to report and react to certain situations, e.g. a panel which opens and closes depending on the proximity of the sun.

Vasari is an excellent tool for design analysis and conceptually massing and energy testing. Although your results are not accurate enough to use for construction purposes, it is a great tool to compare different design options in order to see the affects of the mass or building in relation to the surrounding environment. If you are unsure how to set up vasari for energy analysis, you can view an older post here which will take you through the process step by step.

Adaptive points are a tool which has been available in Revit since the 2011 release. They are an adaption of the pattern based curtain panel. Adaptive families, unlike a standard parametric family, which can be resized by flexing and changing values are able to adapt to different situations and scenarios in a building, controlled by the points you setup. They are often used for panels and curtain panels which are similar in appearance and function but different sizes. Adaptive families are able to 'adapt' to their surrondings by settings points as markers or connectors. e.g. A square panel will have 4 adaptive points which you will add on each of the 4 corners of the structural framing.

When creating large Revit families which have a number of types / variations (e.g. size) of the same model, it may be useful to create a 'type catalog' to accompany the family in your project. In short, a type catalogue will reduce the amount of data going into your model when you import a new component / family. Rather than loading all 6+ types of the same family into the project, it will allow you to pick from a list (your type catalog) which size or modification of your family that you need loaded in this particular instance. This is particularly useful in families where you have 6 or more different types which could significantly slow your project down.

Are you or your practice creating custom Revit Families to use in your projects? If so I expect you already implement in one form or another, standards throughout your Families. If not, or if your looking to revitalise your standards, you should check out the 'bimstore bibe - Revit family creation standards'. The following areas are covered in this document:

You may have noticed this morning that when highlighting objects and lines in Revit that the lines are appearing Red. This will be the case if you are using Windows 7 - Last night there was a Windows update which has caused an error in the Revit UI which is making this bug appear. To resolve the issue, all you have to do is go into your 'Graphics options' and turn 'Hardware Acceleration' off. I presume there will be a future update from Windows that will sort this problem, but for now, this will temporarily fix the problem.