Network maintenance of Autodesk service packs

If you have to manage a lot of Revit versions over many computers over a network, things can get messy. It is difficult to keep track of which computer has which software and which service pack installed, etc.

Autodesk gives a nice tool called “Autodesk Product Manager” to keep a tab on this. You have to install it from any Autodesk software DVD as a part of the Utilities / Tools.

You can run this tool and do a search on just “Revit” or all Autodesk software. The tool gives a list of computers along with the version / service pack information like:

You can download the Autodesk product manager tool or get more info from here.

Structural Framing and Plan display

When we link a Structural Revit file that has structural bracing into an architectural RVT project,

Revit does NOT show the true cut section in the floor plan (based on the view range settings). For eg. the bracing looks like this in plan:

However, if we cut a detail section or callout, it looks like:

which is the correct representation based on the cut plane and view range.

This is unacceptable. Revit should also show the bracing in plan view types correctly. This can lead to lots of coordination issues. To make Revit display the bracing correctly, ask your structural engineer to

Open the steel bracing family.

Go to Settings > Family Category and Parameters.

Clear the checkbox for "Show family pre-cut in plan views".

Reload the family back into the project.

After this is done, Revit show the bracing in plan like:

Even though the architect can edit the structural family to make this change, Architect’s edits in the structural file will be overridden when the structural file is updated next time by the architect. So, it is better if the structural engineer makes the edit it.

Thanks to Autodesk Subscription team for this tip.