LRUG Computational Design LT in Revit

Pump up the Volume - Control Panel using Adaptive Components

Last week I did a presentation at LRUG (London Revit User Group) entitled "Computational Design LT" - using Revit as a design tool, with model changes driven by sliders (100% Revit, no Dynamo).  This was achieved by various methods, including Adaptive Components and Global Parameters.   This talk was largely based on presentations that I did at RTC/BILT conferences in Scottsdale, Arizona and Adelaide, South Australia: "Power to the People" (2016-7);  and "Pump up the Volume" in Chicago and Melbourne (2014).

Sliders Using Global Parameters

In previous blog posts I have documented most of the background research I did on Global Parameters (refer to contents page).  In future blogs I will add more descriptions of how this works.

Sliders by Design

Power to the People - Global Parameters at RTC NA 2016

Here is a sneak preview of my upcoming presentation on  Global Parameters - "Power to the People" (Session 1.4 at 3.15pm) at RTC NA in Scottsdale, Arizona on 14 July 2016

This will be a presentation on how Global Parameters work, and how to use them for computational design - no Dynamo, API or any third party software involved - just 100% Revit 2017 and some brainpower:

View on Youtube

Revit Computational Design - RTC 2014 Competition Entry

Pump up the Volume - Computational design with slider controls

Above is an image of my competition entry for the innovation category of the drawing competition at RTC 2014.
It may not be such a flashy image, but the intent was to show innovation in the use of Revit as a design tool using 100% pure Revit without any Dynamo or API add-ins.

What is in the image?

• On the right is a mass model representing a twisting building with a sloping top;  the green rectangle represents an angled "solar access cutting plane" that prevents the building going any higher than defined but adjustable height controls.
• On the left is a series of slider controls that can be used to change the dimensions of the mass model, along with its degree of twist; 
• There are also slider and rotating controls for the solar access cutting plane, which set the base cutting height, sun angle and azimuth so that overshadowing can be evaluated at different times of day and year just by rotating the dials in Revit.
• There is also a mass floor area schedule and tags that automatically update, as well as calculate the Floor Space Ratio (FSR) of the building mass.

How was this done?

• The slider controls are line based components, placed into a model;  they have shape handles that can be dragged
• The Mass family is an in-place mass that is built onto a series of adaptive component rigs
• The Adaptive Component rigs have several free adaptive points that are snapped onto the sliders;  the distance between the adaptive points is measured using reporting parameters
• Changes in reporting parameter distances drive changes in the adaptive rigs, which in turn change the mass family that is hosted onto the rigs.

All of this is clearly described in the handout notes that accompanied my presentations "Pump up the Volume" at RTC 2014 in Australia (Melbourne) and North America (Chicago).  Hopefully I will get time to publish the technique in more detail on this blog in the future.  Alternatively you can download the presentation from the RTC website if you attended either conference;  or wait until they become available on AUGI later this year.


Refer to this post for a link to a youtube video

Pump Up The Volume in Revit - RTC 2014

I will be presenting at two Revit Technology Conferences this year:

RTC Aus - Melbourne, Australia (May 2014) - Session 13 at 10.45am Sat 31st May.
RTC NA - Chicago, USA (June 2014) - Session 10 - 2.30pm Fri 21st June

The topic titled "Pump Up The Volume - With or Without Dynamo" will be on Computational Design: creating external controls in Revit to adjust building massing or other Revit families.  I will demonstrate two methods, and compare the relative merits:

• Pure 100% Revit without the use of API, macros or Dynamo
• Dynamo visual scripting to do create and control Revit models

Here is a Youtube promo for Pump Up The Volume

I hope to see you at RTC, where you will be able to learn how to apply these techniques and use them on your own projects.