Lego Millennium Falcon-Stop Motion Assembly 3d

Amazing vid by Francisco Prieto

 Quote
"Assembly of the Lego set 10179 from Star Wars Ultimate collector series in stop motion in 3d. Created using 3ds max and V-ray. A very long work over 3 years, modelling all the pieces by myself. and rendered frame by frame."

Just awesome !!!

Lego Millennium Falcon Stop Motion Assembly 3d from Francisco Prieto on Vimeo.

Poor Kittens!

Poor Kitten

Great Video by @zoog !!!

Oh, the humanity!

(Every time someone says "BIM Model" a fluffy kitten dies!)

by: czoog

Revit Visibility Hierarchy

Nice little descriptive writeup on Visibility Hierarchy straight from The Revit Clinic

Revit Visibility Hierarchy

Revit gives the user a number of ways to override the display of an element.  It may not always be clear which method “wins” over another method, but there is a visibility hierarchy.  This list may not cover every possible scenario but does include common overrides.
10 being the lowest and 1 being the highest using walls as an example:
1. Line Work Tool
2. Override Graphics in View > By Element > Halftone
3. Graphic Display Options – Silhouette Edges
4. Override Graphics in View > By Element
5. View Filters
6. View Depth – “Beyond” Line Style
7. Phasing Graphic Overrides
8. Visibility / Graphic Overrides > Override Host Layers > Cut Line Styles
9. Visibility / Graphic Overrides > Projection \ Cut Lines
10. Project Object Styles
Here is a graphical example using walls:

Another example to this:

• There is a Visibility/Graphic Override for the wall category in the view
• The wall has an override by element
• The view uses a phase graphic override
• There is a view filter applied overriding the graphics of walls over a specific thickness

When all 4 of these overrides are in place, by default the Override Graphics in View > By Element is visible since it is highest up the chain at #4:

Remove that override and I now see my view filter:

Remove the view filter and I see the phasing graphic override:

And lastly, change the phase filter of the view and I will see my Visibility/Graphic Override:

Formulas in Families: Setting Limits

From (what appears to be outdated blog / website) All Things Revit,
I stumbled across a tutorial on Formulas in Familes....this was appealing to me because of my want/ need to learn more control in my families.

So, After going thru the process, I've made a few changes (mostly because this tutorial  was made in RAC2010 and I wanted to learn in RAC 2012! and to strip out basic directions you should know by now!) to what you see below....



....Using formulas and creating complex families is not for the faint-of-heart. While it’s not rocket science, a bit of "left-brain" is helpful. Those with some programming knowledge, or experience with Excel-type formula syntax should find this fairly straight-forward.

About The Family Created In This Tutorial

The examples that follow are intended to demonstrate concept. They only scratch the surface of what’s possible. The family that we’ll create primarily consists of reference planes. Additionally we’ll add some symbolic lines so that the family is visible when it’s loaded into a project.

Objectives

The main objective of the following exercise is to add an upper limit of 6’- 0” and a lower limit of 2’- 0” to a length dimension, and to and demonstrate its behavior using both Type and Instance parameters. The exercise is broken down into three parts:

• Create the Family: In this first section you'll create the initial family version, and add the required parameters and formulas.
• Load the family into the project: In this section you'll load the family into the project and flex it to test the limits.
• Modify the family: In this final section you'll modify the family to make it more bullet-proof, and then reload it int the project for verification.

Create The Family

1. Start a new "Generic Model" family.
2. Save the new family as: Grid 1.rfa
3. Create four reference planes as shown with a 2'-0" offset each way.



4. Add the dimensions, and create the equality constraints as shown:

(Adding equality constraints as shown above will will cause the model to flex symmetrically around a center axis in both directions. - I prefer this in most of my families....)

5. Click on one of the 4’- 0” length dimensions and then from the Label drop-down in the Options Bar select <Add parameter...>.
   

6. In the Parameter Properties dialog box, enter all values and settings as shown below, then click OK.
   


7. Click on the remaining 4’- 0” length dimension  and then from the Label drop-down in the Options Bar select Length_Calc.
   

(The dimensions should now look as follows. If not, go back and repeat the necessary steps.)



8. Open the Family Types dialog box:
   


(Notice the parameter Length_Calc has been added with its default value set to the dimension length from which it was created.)

9. Click on the Add... button to open the Parameter Properties dialog box.
   
10. Enter all values and settings as shown below, then click OK. Be sure all fields are exactly as shown!

(Notice the parameter Length has been added in the Family Types dialog box, with its default value set to 0’ 0”.)

11. Enter the formula for the Length_Calc parameter exactly as shown below:


This “if” statement sets the upper threshold, or “max” value only. It basically says, “If the Length parameter is less than 6’- 0”, then use it, otherwise force the value to the upper limit of 6’ 0”.”

(Notice the value field for the Length_Calc parameter = 0’ 0”, which is the same as the Length parameter.)

In order to add a lower threshold, we need to insert a nested “if” statement.

12. Modify the formula for the Length_Calc parameter exactly as shown below:
    

We have now added a lower threshold of 2’ 0” to the formula. The whole formula basically means, “If the Length parameter is less than 6’ 0”, then check if the Length parameter is greater than 2’ 0”, if so then use it, otherwise force the value to the lower limit of 2’ 0”. If the Length parameter is not less than 6’ 0”, force the value to the upper limit of 6’ 0”.”

(Notice the value field for the Length_Calc parameter is now 2’ 0”, which is the lower limit set by the formula.) This is because the Length parameter is 0’ 0”, which is below the lower limit.

1. Change the value for the Length parameter to 4’ 0”. The value of the Length_Calc parameter should now also be 4’ 0”.
   


2. Experiment by setting various values for the Length parameter that are above and below the upper and lower limits of Length_Calc, and observe the behavior of the Length_Calc value field.
   
3. Reset the Length value to 4’ 0” and click OK.


4. Place and lock symbolic lines to the four outer reference planes as shown:|
   


5. Trim the four symbolic lines to form a closed box.
   
6. Save the Family

Load The Family Into a Project

1. Start a new project and open the "Level 1" floor plan view if not already there.
2. Switch back to the family Grid 1.rfa. and load the family into the project:
   
   
3. Place the family anywhere in the model, and zoom in to make it easier to see.
   
4. Dimension two sides as shown:



5. Select the Grid 1 element, navigate to Properties dialog box to enter 1’ 0” in the Value field for the Length parameter, then click OK.
   
   
(Notice that the element scaled symmetrically around the origin, and the two dimensions have been restricted to the 2’ 0” minimum, despite entering 1’ 0” for the Length value.)

6. Do the same thing again, but this time enter 8’ 0” in the Value field for the Length parameter, then click OK
   
(Notice that the element scaled symmetrically around the origin, and the two dimensions have been restricted to the 6’ 0” maximum, despite entering 8’ 0” for the Length value.)

Conclusion

Using formulas in families provides a powerful means of creating highly flexible and complex models. As stated in the beginning of this tutorial, knowledge of programming or Excel-type formula syntax is extremely helpful. If you’re not up on this, I would recommend further reading before attempting to tackle a family with complex formulas.



So this just begins to give a small taste of what formulas can do for our families... MORE TO COME