At long last - I have bid a fond farewell to all things Revit.
Despite what so many foolishly deluded Revitards had claimed - there is a whole world existing outside of the Revit hellscape of missed deadlines, budget overruns, and lost profits. I can still see their hollow eyes, hear the echoes of their false promises of productivity and coordination. What I enjoyed most after I left were several interviews with other firms that were struggling to come to grips with the 'reality' that the Revit Elite were driving the whole fucking train off the tracks and into a ravine.
I had always wondered how in the fuck independent engineering firms were faring - considering Revit's lack of backwards compatibility, the sizes of the files they were having to get from architectural firms, and how much of a fuck-around linked files were - even within the same firm, much less when people are basically operating totally disconnected from each other until files get transferred back and forth.
The answer is - they are totally fucked.
One firm did primarily government facilities - which, as I've mentioned before, were the target of an end-run on the part of Autodesk around the design community to get Revit (or BIM at least) required for all projects. I listened as they related all of the problems they had trying to change over from tried and true methods and standards to the unholy shitfest that Revit brings to the table. They were basically seeking a 'Revit Guru' to save them - and probably still are, because I said 'fuck that shit'.
Another was a smaller-scale firm that was hemorrhaging money attempting to keep up with the Revit Joneses - I interviewed with them literally just for my own amusement. Even with my complete lack of fucks given towards it, I probably could have landed a job simply by having Revit on my resume, because despite all of the self-proclaimed Revit wizards out there, trying to staff entire offices with people who can actually produce anything reliably with it is proving to be more than a little challenging.
Fortunately, I was in a position where I could relax for a few months - and then pick and choose what I wanted to do next. The firm I landed at has nothing to do with Revit (and will continue to be Revit free) as they are outside of the shithole world that commercial/industrial building design has degraded into thanks to Autodesk's army of asshats. The topic of Revit came up briefly at my interview (I had it on my resume - mostly as a joke), and we all shared laughter at the idea that the industry was force-feeding a set of jury-rigged non-backwards compatible set of software onto designers and engineers.
Now I am back to actually applying my skills and experience to engineering, rather than listening to the Revit choir sing off-key - and I couldn't be happier. I'm sure I'll still post from time to time to wrap up a few loose ends, excoriate the deluded, and to put smiles on the faces of those still in the trenches fighting the good fight.
Fuck Revit To Pieces!
-The Ex-Skullfuck
Monday, November 16, 2015
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
Typindicular
"Everything happens for a reason. But sometimes the reason is that people are stupid and they make bad decisions'.
-Unknown
A follow up to the typical (typical) debacle - I had become a little concerned about the responses I was getting from people after my attempt to explain that there were issues, so I decided to print out three versions of a plan. One Normal, one ADA, and one Alternate. The problem was now plain to see - they weren't just three variations on a plan, they were three different plans.
I started by taking these plans to the Revit 'Guru' who originally set up the model, and who I think might finally be starting to realize that I'm not just some 'holdout' - and that there are actual incompatibilities with the way Revit operates and/or is being used by our firm and the things I (and others) desperately need it to do (although I'm not holding my breath).
After explaining to him what had been going on since he set his little Revit boat afloat on the tides of Architectural dumbfuckery, he started to stir from his Revit-induced trance (making him look at pieces of paper instead of a fucking Revit model for once might have helped). I gathered some information from him and proceeded to the Architectural lackey's desk.
At the Architectural lackey's desk I made my presentation - polished from having run it through once with the 'Guru' (who also pointed out one more mistake that I wouldn't have noticed), and showed them the blatant errors (some of which they were aware of, most of which they were not), and as luck would have it, the actual Architect walked by and I was able to bring them up to speed.
After the Architect saw that the lackey (and their Reviteer) had dicked up the project beyond all recognition (and pointed out other errors and inconsistencies of their own), the lackey and I proceeded to the Reviteer's desk, only to find them missing - so we went back to the Guru, who didn't really have much more to add, but it was good to watch the lackey's struggle to comprehend what we were discussing.
After leaving the Guru's desk - it was back to the Reviteer, who had returned from whatever masturbatory bullshit they might have been up to (I was amused to see another Reviteer/Guru Wannabe sitting next to them and flipping a model of some kind of fountain around and around), this was the trickiest confrontation yet because this is where the retarded Revit rubber hit the retarded Revit road.
Explaining (with the lackey's 'help') to this guy that he had fucked up both the work we had already done for zero gain - meaning that additional effort on his part was necessary in order to bring things back under some semblance of consistency, plus the difficulty factor of trying not to fuck up any more of our work, plus the instructions from the Architect to make other changes to standardize the plans (which the lackey disagreed with - but fuck them) all added up to me going back to my desk - only to almost immediately be called again.
A confused babble of nonsense ensued (from their side) so I decided to return to the Reviteer's desk (with another of my designers) and we looked at how to best initiate damage control, while maintaining some standard of consistency (some of which was being dictated by the Lackey), with the final result being that we will have to redo at least two of our plans (from scratch) - but only once they figure out what the fuck they are doing first.
Now - from the outside, there are probably any number of 'obvious solutions' to prevent (or minimize) this from happening again in the future. Making people that know what the fuck they are doing responsible for doing things that require knowing what the fuck they are doing being primary among them. My solution is simple - stop using shitty fucking software that sucks donkey balls and licks corpse ass-cracks.
Fuck Revit and the clusterfuck it allows idiots to bury everyone in.
-Skullfuck
Next Time: Maybe I'll finally get to flesh out my ideas for solving some basic fucking shit in regards to all Revit content sucking ass.
-Unknown
A follow up to the typical (typical) debacle - I had become a little concerned about the responses I was getting from people after my attempt to explain that there were issues, so I decided to print out three versions of a plan. One Normal, one ADA, and one Alternate. The problem was now plain to see - they weren't just three variations on a plan, they were three different plans.
I started by taking these plans to the Revit 'Guru' who originally set up the model, and who I think might finally be starting to realize that I'm not just some 'holdout' - and that there are actual incompatibilities with the way Revit operates and/or is being used by our firm and the things I (and others) desperately need it to do (although I'm not holding my breath).
After explaining to him what had been going on since he set his little Revit boat afloat on the tides of Architectural dumbfuckery, he started to stir from his Revit-induced trance (making him look at pieces of paper instead of a fucking Revit model for once might have helped). I gathered some information from him and proceeded to the Architectural lackey's desk.
At the Architectural lackey's desk I made my presentation - polished from having run it through once with the 'Guru' (who also pointed out one more mistake that I wouldn't have noticed), and showed them the blatant errors (some of which they were aware of, most of which they were not), and as luck would have it, the actual Architect walked by and I was able to bring them up to speed.
After the Architect saw that the lackey (and their Reviteer) had dicked up the project beyond all recognition (and pointed out other errors and inconsistencies of their own), the lackey and I proceeded to the Reviteer's desk, only to find them missing - so we went back to the Guru, who didn't really have much more to add, but it was good to watch the lackey's struggle to comprehend what we were discussing.
After leaving the Guru's desk - it was back to the Reviteer, who had returned from whatever masturbatory bullshit they might have been up to (I was amused to see another Reviteer/Guru Wannabe sitting next to them and flipping a model of some kind of fountain around and around), this was the trickiest confrontation yet because this is where the retarded Revit rubber hit the retarded Revit road.
Explaining (with the lackey's 'help') to this guy that he had fucked up both the work we had already done for zero gain - meaning that additional effort on his part was necessary in order to bring things back under some semblance of consistency, plus the difficulty factor of trying not to fuck up any more of our work, plus the instructions from the Architect to make other changes to standardize the plans (which the lackey disagreed with - but fuck them) all added up to me going back to my desk - only to almost immediately be called again.
A confused babble of nonsense ensued (from their side) so I decided to return to the Reviteer's desk (with another of my designers) and we looked at how to best initiate damage control, while maintaining some standard of consistency (some of which was being dictated by the Lackey), with the final result being that we will have to redo at least two of our plans (from scratch) - but only once they figure out what the fuck they are doing first.
Now - from the outside, there are probably any number of 'obvious solutions' to prevent (or minimize) this from happening again in the future. Making people that know what the fuck they are doing responsible for doing things that require knowing what the fuck they are doing being primary among them. My solution is simple - stop using shitty fucking software that sucks donkey balls and licks corpse ass-cracks.
Fuck Revit and the clusterfuck it allows idiots to bury everyone in.
-Skullfuck
Next Time: Maybe I'll finally get to flesh out my ideas for solving some basic fucking shit in regards to all Revit content sucking ass.
Trypical
It's another day in Revit land - let me take you by the hand, and slam that fucking hand in a drawer.
I had intended my last post to discuss more about Revit content (or lack of content) and maybe trying to flesh out some kind of way of getting the fuck around all of the bullshit garbage nonsense and other shit, but it got a little off topic. It also didn't help that I had someone else asking me to help bang their head into a project with typical units - which is what I'm going to start off talking about today and try to tie it back into the content suckhole.
As I discussed in a previous post - people in our office have been trying to figure out a way (after 7-8 years of sucking the Revit dick) of getting it to actually let them do a project with typical units - and assemble them into buildings. They had tried this, and tried that, and failed miserably, generated fuckloads of duplicate work, screwed multitudes of people over, burned money, and drug projects out far beyond their deadlines.
If history is any indication, this latest attempt will be more of the same. I mentioned laughing when I heard another discipline almost immediately start explaining reasons how this new method was incompatible with their design criteria - and after looking at what the guy who is working on our electrical drawings is doing, I'm seeing some of the same holes.
We start with a typical unit (we'll call it '1'), with a typical panel - we'll call it 'A'. Okay - now there are variations of unit '1' all of which will be virtually identical from an electrical perspective and will all be using panel 'A' (and yet, each have to be manually laid out thanks to Revit), but once you've used 'A' in the first unit type, you have to call the next one something else, or it will vomit up an error about duplicate panel names.
Looking back at the last mongolian clusterfuck (that got done from scratch twice due to a total lack of communication) I saw where the guy who did it the second time simply drafted the typical units, with text instead of circuit tags, making it possible to have all variations on unit '1' show circuits on panel 'A'. I didn't look too hard, but I assume at least one of these typical units had an actual panel hiding in it somewhere, and either they did actual Revit circuiting on it, or just connected the devices to it and faked in the homeruns and tags (the same for all of them).
I came up with two possible solutions - the first was to go ahead and put a panel in each variation and call them "A1", "A2", etc. (or what the fuck ever) and when we put the schedule for "A" on the sheet - simply overwrite the text for it with "A/A1/A2/etc.". The next was to basically do the same thing, but instead of tagging the panels and homeruns on the other units, simply use text so the panel and homerun circuits could be tagged "A" (my reasoning being that as long as we're being fucked by Revit, we might as well make it do the homeruns, wire ticks, etc. even if we had to manually tag everything with text).
I think option two is what we will do - and (of course) this is all pointless and retarded, because at the end of the day, we won't be tallying up the loads for the buildings based on these panel loads anyway since there are calculations we run to determine demand load on buildings depending on the square footage of the units, the equipment in the units (including either cooling or heating - whichever is larger), and finally - a demand factor based the number of units per building.
This all comes from the code (which the Autodicks responsible for Revit obviously don't have any concept of) and I'm sure if you wanted to carefully wedge your entire cock 'n balls into the Revit grinder, you could probably figure out a way to extract this information and get it to automatically calculate, generate a schedule to let you enter this information and let it crank out the answer (or you can spend 5-10 minutes with a calculator and a functioning brain to do it manually.
As far as the layouts are concerned - my traditional (i.e. ACAD) way of going about it was to get all of the floor plan variations in front of me, lay out the first one, and then copy and adjust to the rest of them - now in Revit, you get to go through and lay out every single one from scratch - and that's before you get to all of the variations they want (or need) to have on the plans (primarily handicap accessible, but also owner driven options).
Add into that the fact that Revit files get tossed from moron to moron - and the next thing you know a plan that you had completely detailed out is now fubar because they decided to modify that plan for an alternate instead of going to a new unit (now we have to fix one plan and do another from scratch). As usual 'workarounds' abound, all of which have their positives and negatives - but none of which address the actual problem.
We can try to cram as much as possible onto each plan to keep from having 12 sheets full of typical units (since the point in typical units is that you don't detail out the entire fucking building in the first place) but that could become cramped and illegible (even after considerable time is wasted trying to tweak it) - or, we can try to create a bunch of little details off to the side showing all of the variations and options and hope to God that it doesn't fuck us (again and again).
This, of course, will result in a bunch of partially detailed out plans in the overall model and individual unit models - and it won't surprise me if they are 1) not done fucking around with it or 2) bitch endlessly about us not Reviting properly (in which case they can suck my dick). And, of course - all of this while we attempt to finish the rest of our details - and a site plan that won't stop shifting around because nobody took the time to lay it out properly in the first place.
Then work on the rest of these fucking projects.
Fuck these 'people' - fuck Autodesk, fuck Revit, fuck every single person responsible for 'developing', 'programming', marketing, re-selling, using, practicing apologetics for, or otherwise propagating this piece of fucking shit.
Balls Upon Their Faces.
-Skullfuck.
I had intended my last post to discuss more about Revit content (or lack of content) and maybe trying to flesh out some kind of way of getting the fuck around all of the bullshit garbage nonsense and other shit, but it got a little off topic. It also didn't help that I had someone else asking me to help bang their head into a project with typical units - which is what I'm going to start off talking about today and try to tie it back into the content suckhole.
As I discussed in a previous post - people in our office have been trying to figure out a way (after 7-8 years of sucking the Revit dick) of getting it to actually let them do a project with typical units - and assemble them into buildings. They had tried this, and tried that, and failed miserably, generated fuckloads of duplicate work, screwed multitudes of people over, burned money, and drug projects out far beyond their deadlines.
If history is any indication, this latest attempt will be more of the same. I mentioned laughing when I heard another discipline almost immediately start explaining reasons how this new method was incompatible with their design criteria - and after looking at what the guy who is working on our electrical drawings is doing, I'm seeing some of the same holes.
We start with a typical unit (we'll call it '1'), with a typical panel - we'll call it 'A'. Okay - now there are variations of unit '1' all of which will be virtually identical from an electrical perspective and will all be using panel 'A' (and yet, each have to be manually laid out thanks to Revit), but once you've used 'A' in the first unit type, you have to call the next one something else, or it will vomit up an error about duplicate panel names.
Looking back at the last mongolian clusterfuck (that got done from scratch twice due to a total lack of communication) I saw where the guy who did it the second time simply drafted the typical units, with text instead of circuit tags, making it possible to have all variations on unit '1' show circuits on panel 'A'. I didn't look too hard, but I assume at least one of these typical units had an actual panel hiding in it somewhere, and either they did actual Revit circuiting on it, or just connected the devices to it and faked in the homeruns and tags (the same for all of them).
I came up with two possible solutions - the first was to go ahead and put a panel in each variation and call them "A1", "A2", etc. (or what the fuck ever) and when we put the schedule for "A" on the sheet - simply overwrite the text for it with "A/A1/A2/etc.". The next was to basically do the same thing, but instead of tagging the panels and homeruns on the other units, simply use text so the panel and homerun circuits could be tagged "A" (my reasoning being that as long as we're being fucked by Revit, we might as well make it do the homeruns, wire ticks, etc. even if we had to manually tag everything with text).
I think option two is what we will do - and (of course) this is all pointless and retarded, because at the end of the day, we won't be tallying up the loads for the buildings based on these panel loads anyway since there are calculations we run to determine demand load on buildings depending on the square footage of the units, the equipment in the units (including either cooling or heating - whichever is larger), and finally - a demand factor based the number of units per building.
This all comes from the code (which the Autodicks responsible for Revit obviously don't have any concept of) and I'm sure if you wanted to carefully wedge your entire cock 'n balls into the Revit grinder, you could probably figure out a way to extract this information and get it to automatically calculate, generate a schedule to let you enter this information and let it crank out the answer (or you can spend 5-10 minutes with a calculator and a functioning brain to do it manually.
As far as the layouts are concerned - my traditional (i.e. ACAD) way of going about it was to get all of the floor plan variations in front of me, lay out the first one, and then copy and adjust to the rest of them - now in Revit, you get to go through and lay out every single one from scratch - and that's before you get to all of the variations they want (or need) to have on the plans (primarily handicap accessible, but also owner driven options).
Add into that the fact that Revit files get tossed from moron to moron - and the next thing you know a plan that you had completely detailed out is now fubar because they decided to modify that plan for an alternate instead of going to a new unit (now we have to fix one plan and do another from scratch). As usual 'workarounds' abound, all of which have their positives and negatives - but none of which address the actual problem.
We can try to cram as much as possible onto each plan to keep from having 12 sheets full of typical units (since the point in typical units is that you don't detail out the entire fucking building in the first place) but that could become cramped and illegible (even after considerable time is wasted trying to tweak it) - or, we can try to create a bunch of little details off to the side showing all of the variations and options and hope to God that it doesn't fuck us (again and again).
This, of course, will result in a bunch of partially detailed out plans in the overall model and individual unit models - and it won't surprise me if they are 1) not done fucking around with it or 2) bitch endlessly about us not Reviting properly (in which case they can suck my dick). And, of course - all of this while we attempt to finish the rest of our details - and a site plan that won't stop shifting around because nobody took the time to lay it out properly in the first place.
Then work on the rest of these fucking projects.
Fuck these 'people' - fuck Autodesk, fuck Revit, fuck every single person responsible for 'developing', 'programming', marketing, re-selling, using, practicing apologetics for, or otherwise propagating this piece of fucking shit.
Balls Upon Their Faces.
-Skullfuck.
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
The Final Solution
When Revit sets the pace - everyone loses.
Someone posted a great line in the comments of a page I was reading aimed directly between the eyes of Revitbots everywhere - it basically said 'Why would Autodesk improve Revit? They've already got you, and you aren't going anywhere'. Their attitude of indifference when it comes to the people they fuck on a daily basis has been on display for everyone to see - making anyone who continues to use it complicit in their crimes against humanity.
I spent some time doing the bare minimum in Revit for a fairly simple project (ha - there is no 'simple' anything in Revit) this morning, and finally figured out something that had been bugging me - I would try to rename a sheet view, and, like every time you try to type something in any of the fields in properties, it automatically opens a 'menu' to allow you to select items you may have already typed. This is great if you are wanting to put the same piece of information in several places, but it starts to filter based on what you type, and if it can't find any matches - when you hit 'apply' it reverts back to what was in the box before.
In order to keep your changes, you basically have to click on another field, and it will automatically update - meaning the 'apply' button is only there to fuck up what you've typed (it even grays itself out after a few seconds - begging the question of why the fuck it is even there in the first place). I had run into this several times - and had chalked it up to an intermittent problem. Now I know better - it's just a piece of shit, like so many other things in Revit.
If I'm going through the 'Approved By', 'Designed By', 'Checked By' fields, I can type the engineers initials in the first field, and then use the pulldown to select the same intitials in the other two fields, but if I start typing - bang the automatic pulldown tries to match (or displays 'no matches') instead of just letting me type (frustrating when I'm trying to quickly jump from field to field - but instead, I have a pulldown in the way of the next field).
Anyway - minor issue, but just another pain in the ass when I'm in a hurry trying to set up sheets - which already require me to start a new sheet, have it default to a subheading under 'Sheets' labeled '???' instead of just asking me the discipline and sheet name right off the bat - fuck, it should just let me fill out all of the information instead of having to scroll down through a 81 field long list of 'properties' (with a glitchy as fuck control) which includes three fields each for SIXTEEN FUCKING REVISIONS THAT DON'T EVEN FUCKING EXIST YET in order to get down to where I can change the discipline and sheet sort order.
I've complained repeatedly about the way that so much stuff in Revit seems to be based on a 'do it wrong or put it some random place first and then fix it' workflow. Views operate the same way - try to set up a new floor plan, ceiling, etc. (more on that in a minute) and it defaults to 'Coordination' instead of asking you (or - god forbid, when you are using worksets - GOING TO THE FUCKING DISCIPLINE RELATED TO YOUR WORKSET - although this is probably because it doesn't know that 'Electrical' workset means I'm doing Electrical Engineering).
Speaking of Electrical Engineering - I decided to use the Architectural model to do my work in - because in the past I've been able to save time by simply copying Architectural views and working in them. Something has been fucked up in the last few projects I've worked on though. I'm not sure if it's because of something that the idiot fucks that are setting them up have been doing (90% chance), or if it's because of something specific to the type of building, but half the time when I copy their view it looks fine - right up until I switch the discipline to 'Electrical'.
In this case it was a ceiling plan - and the Revitbot that set up the project first tried to tell me that it had something to do with phasing (it didn't), then tried to tell me that it was something in their template that could be tweaked for next time (it wasn't). I finally broke down and asked the 'Revit Guru' and after looking at the file, he was able to do something to the underlay to make it show up correctly - well, I say correctly, but I still had to go in and change the underlay again to get a door to show up.
I was successful in drafting in 95% of the crap I needed to show - because fucked if I'm going to dick around modeling a bunch of shit that is:
1) Still in the DD phase.
2) Gains me nothing to show in 3D
3) Doesn't take into account existing field conditions.
4) Probably wouldn't get installed the way I showed it anyway - meaning that drawing a schematic to communicate design intent is all I'm trying to accomplish in the first goddamned place.
I've got a fuckload of other shit I needed to be doing, but I decided to jump on it due to Mr. 'It's something in the phasing' Revitbot whining because he had stuck his dick in the Revit pencil-sharpener to get the building (which, along with pretty much everything we needed to do, was already sketched out by someone else in ACAD) modeled and wanted some company in the sharpened pencil-dick ward of the Revit mental hospital.
While I've been dicking around with this - I ran across another useful piece of information while attempting to help someone else hone their dick to a point - provided by a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed (and incomprehensibly slow) Mechanical designer/Revit apologist on how to select individual elements from a linked model by clicking on 'select links' (the icon in the lower right with an arrow pointing at what is apparently supposed to be two chain links, but looks more like an infinity symbol) to turn off the red 'x'.
Despite his (possibly unintentional) condescending tone of voice while he was over-explaining how to do this, it was extremely helpful of him - which almost made me feel like a jerk when I informed him that 'Revit sucks dicks - and that's being nice about it' (my exact words) in response to his comment as he was walking off about how 'Revit isn't so bad'.
It's great that someone thought of putting an icon down there to give you the option of not accidentally clicking on individual items in a linked model - but there is no reason it couldn't prompt me to enable this functionality if I'm trying to click DIRECTLY THE FUCK ON a piece of equipment from that linked model instead of just sitting there with it's dick in it's hand. My first inclination as it ignores my clicks (or attempts to tab to the piece of equipment) is that something is fucked up - and while it's great to know this functionality exists, it's yet another goddamned thing I had no way of knowing about, and have to remember for future reference (it also gives me one more reason to want everything in one model so linked shit isn't a fucking issue).
There is probably a ton of functionality within Revit that I am unaware of - but it becomes a moot point when everything on the front end is so fucking clunky, glitchy, and shitty-looking. I'm sick of fighting the view settings, and trying to track down a solution to something (not always for myself) every time it decides to go tits up - and it's about to get someone's hands smashed with a hammer.
Fuck Revit, Fuck Revitbots, Fuck Revitards, Fuck 'BIM', Fuck Autodesk, and if you don't like it - go model yourself a massive dildo in Revit, send it to a 3D printer, and proceed to go FUCK YOURSELF WITH IT.
Indisputably,
-SkullFuck
I almost forgot - it's 'Web Gem' time - I can't seem to figure out when the fuck this douchebag posted this cock-slobbering nonsense, but 'Jason Hale' of 'Perry Crabb' licks the Revit ballsack raw:
http://www.perrycrabb.com/electrical-revit-time-saver-or-not/
His spurious claim that 'once you've managed to beat one project out of Revit, you will save time on future projects' is beaten only by the final line about 'every time Autodesk comes out with an update, it only gets better'. My assumption is that this is from a while back (3-4 years), as most posts regarding Revit seem to be.
Next Time -More Typical Bullshit On Typical Units
Someone posted a great line in the comments of a page I was reading aimed directly between the eyes of Revitbots everywhere - it basically said 'Why would Autodesk improve Revit? They've already got you, and you aren't going anywhere'. Their attitude of indifference when it comes to the people they fuck on a daily basis has been on display for everyone to see - making anyone who continues to use it complicit in their crimes against humanity.
I spent some time doing the bare minimum in Revit for a fairly simple project (ha - there is no 'simple' anything in Revit) this morning, and finally figured out something that had been bugging me - I would try to rename a sheet view, and, like every time you try to type something in any of the fields in properties, it automatically opens a 'menu' to allow you to select items you may have already typed. This is great if you are wanting to put the same piece of information in several places, but it starts to filter based on what you type, and if it can't find any matches - when you hit 'apply' it reverts back to what was in the box before.
In order to keep your changes, you basically have to click on another field, and it will automatically update - meaning the 'apply' button is only there to fuck up what you've typed (it even grays itself out after a few seconds - begging the question of why the fuck it is even there in the first place). I had run into this several times - and had chalked it up to an intermittent problem. Now I know better - it's just a piece of shit, like so many other things in Revit.
If I'm going through the 'Approved By', 'Designed By', 'Checked By' fields, I can type the engineers initials in the first field, and then use the pulldown to select the same intitials in the other two fields, but if I start typing - bang the automatic pulldown tries to match (or displays 'no matches') instead of just letting me type (frustrating when I'm trying to quickly jump from field to field - but instead, I have a pulldown in the way of the next field).
Anyway - minor issue, but just another pain in the ass when I'm in a hurry trying to set up sheets - which already require me to start a new sheet, have it default to a subheading under 'Sheets' labeled '???' instead of just asking me the discipline and sheet name right off the bat - fuck, it should just let me fill out all of the information instead of having to scroll down through a 81 field long list of 'properties' (with a glitchy as fuck control) which includes three fields each for SIXTEEN FUCKING REVISIONS THAT DON'T EVEN FUCKING EXIST YET in order to get down to where I can change the discipline and sheet sort order.
I've complained repeatedly about the way that so much stuff in Revit seems to be based on a 'do it wrong or put it some random place first and then fix it' workflow. Views operate the same way - try to set up a new floor plan, ceiling, etc. (more on that in a minute) and it defaults to 'Coordination' instead of asking you (or - god forbid, when you are using worksets - GOING TO THE FUCKING DISCIPLINE RELATED TO YOUR WORKSET - although this is probably because it doesn't know that 'Electrical' workset means I'm doing Electrical Engineering).
Speaking of Electrical Engineering - I decided to use the Architectural model to do my work in - because in the past I've been able to save time by simply copying Architectural views and working in them. Something has been fucked up in the last few projects I've worked on though. I'm not sure if it's because of something that the idiot fucks that are setting them up have been doing (90% chance), or if it's because of something specific to the type of building, but half the time when I copy their view it looks fine - right up until I switch the discipline to 'Electrical'.
In this case it was a ceiling plan - and the Revitbot that set up the project first tried to tell me that it had something to do with phasing (it didn't), then tried to tell me that it was something in their template that could be tweaked for next time (it wasn't). I finally broke down and asked the 'Revit Guru' and after looking at the file, he was able to do something to the underlay to make it show up correctly - well, I say correctly, but I still had to go in and change the underlay again to get a door to show up.
I was successful in drafting in 95% of the crap I needed to show - because fucked if I'm going to dick around modeling a bunch of shit that is:
1) Still in the DD phase.
2) Gains me nothing to show in 3D
3) Doesn't take into account existing field conditions.
4) Probably wouldn't get installed the way I showed it anyway - meaning that drawing a schematic to communicate design intent is all I'm trying to accomplish in the first goddamned place.
I've got a fuckload of other shit I needed to be doing, but I decided to jump on it due to Mr. 'It's something in the phasing' Revitbot whining because he had stuck his dick in the Revit pencil-sharpener to get the building (which, along with pretty much everything we needed to do, was already sketched out by someone else in ACAD) modeled and wanted some company in the sharpened pencil-dick ward of the Revit mental hospital.
While I've been dicking around with this - I ran across another useful piece of information while attempting to help someone else hone their dick to a point - provided by a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed (and incomprehensibly slow) Mechanical designer/Revit apologist on how to select individual elements from a linked model by clicking on 'select links' (the icon in the lower right with an arrow pointing at what is apparently supposed to be two chain links, but looks more like an infinity symbol) to turn off the red 'x'.
Despite his (possibly unintentional) condescending tone of voice while he was over-explaining how to do this, it was extremely helpful of him - which almost made me feel like a jerk when I informed him that 'Revit sucks dicks - and that's being nice about it' (my exact words) in response to his comment as he was walking off about how 'Revit isn't so bad'.
It's great that someone thought of putting an icon down there to give you the option of not accidentally clicking on individual items in a linked model - but there is no reason it couldn't prompt me to enable this functionality if I'm trying to click DIRECTLY THE FUCK ON a piece of equipment from that linked model instead of just sitting there with it's dick in it's hand. My first inclination as it ignores my clicks (or attempts to tab to the piece of equipment) is that something is fucked up - and while it's great to know this functionality exists, it's yet another goddamned thing I had no way of knowing about, and have to remember for future reference (it also gives me one more reason to want everything in one model so linked shit isn't a fucking issue).
There is probably a ton of functionality within Revit that I am unaware of - but it becomes a moot point when everything on the front end is so fucking clunky, glitchy, and shitty-looking. I'm sick of fighting the view settings, and trying to track down a solution to something (not always for myself) every time it decides to go tits up - and it's about to get someone's hands smashed with a hammer.
Fuck Revit, Fuck Revitbots, Fuck Revitards, Fuck 'BIM', Fuck Autodesk, and if you don't like it - go model yourself a massive dildo in Revit, send it to a 3D printer, and proceed to go FUCK YOURSELF WITH IT.
Indisputably,
-SkullFuck
I almost forgot - it's 'Web Gem' time - I can't seem to figure out when the fuck this douchebag posted this cock-slobbering nonsense, but 'Jason Hale' of 'Perry Crabb' licks the Revit ballsack raw:
http://www.perrycrabb.com/electrical-revit-time-saver-or-not/
His spurious claim that 'once you've managed to beat one project out of Revit, you will save time on future projects' is beaten only by the final line about 'every time Autodesk comes out with an update, it only gets better'. My assumption is that this is from a while back (3-4 years), as most posts regarding Revit seem to be.
Next Time -More Typical Bullshit On Typical Units
Monday, August 3, 2015
Layout Fast
All Right.
So, since day one I've been complaining about the lack of electrical content for Revit (or at least usable content), and while some manufacturers have made valiant attempts at providing Revit families, it has been a mishmash of pretty looking (but virtually useless) garbage. I don't blame the manufacturers - as they were attempting to respond to engineering/design firm's requests for content, but were most likely running into the exact same confusing nonsense that everyone (except for a few autofellating Revit whores) were running into.
As I've mentioned previously, my firm made the mistake of purchasing a 'productivity pack' that contained mostly useless crap that they had apparently compiled from various websites (I seriously doubt if they generated any of it themselves). It was a waste of money, time, and effort on our part - and for the most part I ignored it (only digging through it when I couldn't find anything else that would work - with mixed results).
The frustration of having to stop and hunt through folders (and the internet) for something usable, download several files, only to find out they would not work properly (or weren't even making an attempt at being usable - out of the content that I've seen individual users put up online, most of it is so sub-standard that I can't imagine anyone 'proudly' putting it out there with their name on it), only to finally give up and fake something in in order to move on with the project was incomprehensible. Attempting to compile a folder of useable equipment/devices served to be equally frustrating, since even if you could find something that sort of worked, there was no guarantee it work the next time you used it.
The other day, though, (and this should not be mistaken for any kind of 'aha moment' or change of heart), I ran across a free Revit plug-in from Schneider Electric (of 'Square-D' fame) called 'Layout Fast'. It was kind of a fluke - I was actually looking for something completely different, and ran across a quick video explaining what it was:
http://tv.schneider-electric.com/site/schneidertv/?video=Ewd29wcTqfD0NSKnyoeVwF4T1NUrIteC&chnl=Corporate&args=us/EN
It has apparently been out for a little while - so I set up an account and downloaded it. I was unable to log in to it at first - because you have to go through the account setup a second time once you install it (for some reason), but once it was installed I could run it from my desktop and have access to the entire catalog of Square-D distribution equipment (cut sheets, details, etc.) - but more importantly, upon opening Revit, I had a new tab on my Ribbon that allows me to bring up this virtual catalog, select a piece of equipment (transformer, panel, switchgear, etc.) name it, specify voltage/phase/ampacity/etc., and insert it directly into the model.
The equipment comes in at the correct size, already named (I had been running into problems the other day convincing a transformer to let me name it so I could tag it), with clearances (assuming Square-D equipment gets used), and connections to allow me to lay out distribution - which I am going to attempt on the next project I do. It was kind of a bittersweet moment - because while I was somewhat excited about the ability to finally have this equipment at my fingertips (much of which already existed - but was difficult to locate) - it almost immediately reminded me of how the rest of Revit continues to operate on retarded logic, arbitrary limitations, and other counter-productive methods for accomplishing even the simplest of tasks.
The only real hope for this stupid piece of shit (short of getting replaced by something better) is for manufacturers and other 3rd parties to step in and fill in the gaps - which if I'm not mistaken, was what Autodesk was gambling on (that, or individual firms generating their own content) which is a sad fucking way to do business, and a shitty way to treat customers - but ever since the inception of Revit, that's been par for the course.
As always - Fuck Revit, Fuck Autodesk (and if you don't like it fuck you) - but YAY SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC!!!
Next time: Permanent Solutions.
So, since day one I've been complaining about the lack of electrical content for Revit (or at least usable content), and while some manufacturers have made valiant attempts at providing Revit families, it has been a mishmash of pretty looking (but virtually useless) garbage. I don't blame the manufacturers - as they were attempting to respond to engineering/design firm's requests for content, but were most likely running into the exact same confusing nonsense that everyone (except for a few autofellating Revit whores) were running into.
As I've mentioned previously, my firm made the mistake of purchasing a 'productivity pack' that contained mostly useless crap that they had apparently compiled from various websites (I seriously doubt if they generated any of it themselves). It was a waste of money, time, and effort on our part - and for the most part I ignored it (only digging through it when I couldn't find anything else that would work - with mixed results).
The frustration of having to stop and hunt through folders (and the internet) for something usable, download several files, only to find out they would not work properly (or weren't even making an attempt at being usable - out of the content that I've seen individual users put up online, most of it is so sub-standard that I can't imagine anyone 'proudly' putting it out there with their name on it), only to finally give up and fake something in in order to move on with the project was incomprehensible. Attempting to compile a folder of useable equipment/devices served to be equally frustrating, since even if you could find something that sort of worked, there was no guarantee it work the next time you used it.
The other day, though, (and this should not be mistaken for any kind of 'aha moment' or change of heart), I ran across a free Revit plug-in from Schneider Electric (of 'Square-D' fame) called 'Layout Fast'. It was kind of a fluke - I was actually looking for something completely different, and ran across a quick video explaining what it was:
http://tv.schneider-electric.com/site/schneidertv/?video=Ewd29wcTqfD0NSKnyoeVwF4T1NUrIteC&chnl=Corporate&args=us/EN
It has apparently been out for a little while - so I set up an account and downloaded it. I was unable to log in to it at first - because you have to go through the account setup a second time once you install it (for some reason), but once it was installed I could run it from my desktop and have access to the entire catalog of Square-D distribution equipment (cut sheets, details, etc.) - but more importantly, upon opening Revit, I had a new tab on my Ribbon that allows me to bring up this virtual catalog, select a piece of equipment (transformer, panel, switchgear, etc.) name it, specify voltage/phase/ampacity/etc., and insert it directly into the model.
The equipment comes in at the correct size, already named (I had been running into problems the other day convincing a transformer to let me name it so I could tag it), with clearances (assuming Square-D equipment gets used), and connections to allow me to lay out distribution - which I am going to attempt on the next project I do. It was kind of a bittersweet moment - because while I was somewhat excited about the ability to finally have this equipment at my fingertips (much of which already existed - but was difficult to locate) - it almost immediately reminded me of how the rest of Revit continues to operate on retarded logic, arbitrary limitations, and other counter-productive methods for accomplishing even the simplest of tasks.
The only real hope for this stupid piece of shit (short of getting replaced by something better) is for manufacturers and other 3rd parties to step in and fill in the gaps - which if I'm not mistaken, was what Autodesk was gambling on (that, or individual firms generating their own content) which is a sad fucking way to do business, and a shitty way to treat customers - but ever since the inception of Revit, that's been par for the course.
As always - Fuck Revit, Fuck Autodesk (and if you don't like it fuck you) - but YAY SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC!!!
Next time: Permanent Solutions.
Friday, July 31, 2015
Let's Experiment With Revit!
It's a brand new day - with yet another Revit dick set to hate-fuck your eye-socket!
I might be showing my hand a little bit here, but I just sat through a meeting and several side conversations afterwards regarding how a project is going to be completed in Revit. I'm not going to get into details, but as with many other projects we've worked on lately, it's an attempt at making it 'easier' for some disciplines (while complicating things for others) as well as allowing us to simplify future projects.
Listening to someone explain the reasoning and processes behind how this project was set up were dizzying both in scope and logic. It was amusing when another discipline almost immediately pointed out how this new set up was not compatible with the way they needed to do things (as if anybody gives a fuck) but also mind numbing to listen to nearly everyone involved (myself not included) laugh off the (self-admitted) fact that 'this might blow up in our faces'.
Much of this new process was being proposed to battle problems that we had run into on a previous project (ignoring that Revit was what allowed those problems to exist in the first place). Of course, most of the blame was diverted away from Revit and towards a brand new Revitbot that had inexplicably been allowed to take on a large scale project and made the kinds of inevitable mistakes that any new employee (Revit or otherwise) is going to make.
The difference is that in this case, those mistakes resulted in considerable extra work and the screwing over of everyone involved (including themselves). Fortunately I was only involved in one aspect of that particular project (that didn't require Revit) so I wasn't directly harmed. I have probably mentioned this project before though, as it was the one that was done to completion before being completely redone due to nobody bothering to communicate that it was the same fucking project with a new name.
I don't entirely blame the new Revitbot, as they were probably just trying to fight the good fight and get the project completed (and didn't ask to be put in that situation in the first place). They probably came in the door assuming that everyone would be working together to ensure success, rather than an 'every man for themselves' taken towards how Revit will be used, and how projects will be completed. Like I've said, they measure their success by other people's failure - all the better if they can praise the Revit while condemning their fellow Reviteer.
If these people were trying to break my sanity, I literally can't imagine what they could do better. My motivation has been sapped, my productivity has dropped to nearly zero, and all because I can't fathom how anyone involved in the process has allowed things to get so far fucked into a hole in the ground. I'm incredulous as I think about the sheer volume and diversity of work that I have been able to accomplish at my firm, both before and after the Revitlution - only to find myself struggling to figure out how to even start the next project.
Meanwhile, there are people patting themselves on the back for their 'accomplishments', and managing to take great pride in the half-assed work they have done (despite it also being only a fraction of what they needed to have done). We find ourselves further hampered by having to revisit projects on almost a daily basis due to mistakes, oversights, and other issues that should have been worked out the first time around (hindered even FURTHER by the fact that they have to fix those problems in Revit.
It's a goddamned circus - and the fucking clowns are running the show.
Fuck Revit, fuck Autodesk, and fuck every Sanctimonious Motherfucker (TM) to ever set foot on the face of the planet and expose the rest of us to their incompetence and self-importance.
May their suffering be legendary, even in Revit.
Sincerely,
Skullfuck.
(Edit: I was browsing the internet to see if I could find where anybody had made any progress on the multi-tenant front, and ran across a post (from 3 years ago of course) where a useless piece of shit calling himself 'WWHub' berates and insults someone pointing out functionality lacking in Revit:
http://www.revitcity.com/forums.php?action=viewthread&thread_id=26728
It runs the entire standard process from someone asking a question, to self-important motherfucker sticking their diseased cock in everyone's face and waving it around, to the asker finally throwing their hands up. I will post more if I find them)
I might be showing my hand a little bit here, but I just sat through a meeting and several side conversations afterwards regarding how a project is going to be completed in Revit. I'm not going to get into details, but as with many other projects we've worked on lately, it's an attempt at making it 'easier' for some disciplines (while complicating things for others) as well as allowing us to simplify future projects.
Listening to someone explain the reasoning and processes behind how this project was set up were dizzying both in scope and logic. It was amusing when another discipline almost immediately pointed out how this new set up was not compatible with the way they needed to do things (as if anybody gives a fuck) but also mind numbing to listen to nearly everyone involved (myself not included) laugh off the (self-admitted) fact that 'this might blow up in our faces'.
Much of this new process was being proposed to battle problems that we had run into on a previous project (ignoring that Revit was what allowed those problems to exist in the first place). Of course, most of the blame was diverted away from Revit and towards a brand new Revitbot that had inexplicably been allowed to take on a large scale project and made the kinds of inevitable mistakes that any new employee (Revit or otherwise) is going to make.
The difference is that in this case, those mistakes resulted in considerable extra work and the screwing over of everyone involved (including themselves). Fortunately I was only involved in one aspect of that particular project (that didn't require Revit) so I wasn't directly harmed. I have probably mentioned this project before though, as it was the one that was done to completion before being completely redone due to nobody bothering to communicate that it was the same fucking project with a new name.
I don't entirely blame the new Revitbot, as they were probably just trying to fight the good fight and get the project completed (and didn't ask to be put in that situation in the first place). They probably came in the door assuming that everyone would be working together to ensure success, rather than an 'every man for themselves' taken towards how Revit will be used, and how projects will be completed. Like I've said, they measure their success by other people's failure - all the better if they can praise the Revit while condemning their fellow Reviteer.
If these people were trying to break my sanity, I literally can't imagine what they could do better. My motivation has been sapped, my productivity has dropped to nearly zero, and all because I can't fathom how anyone involved in the process has allowed things to get so far fucked into a hole in the ground. I'm incredulous as I think about the sheer volume and diversity of work that I have been able to accomplish at my firm, both before and after the Revitlution - only to find myself struggling to figure out how to even start the next project.
Meanwhile, there are people patting themselves on the back for their 'accomplishments', and managing to take great pride in the half-assed work they have done (despite it also being only a fraction of what they needed to have done). We find ourselves further hampered by having to revisit projects on almost a daily basis due to mistakes, oversights, and other issues that should have been worked out the first time around (hindered even FURTHER by the fact that they have to fix those problems in Revit.
It's a goddamned circus - and the fucking clowns are running the show.
Fuck Revit, fuck Autodesk, and fuck every Sanctimonious Motherfucker (TM) to ever set foot on the face of the planet and expose the rest of us to their incompetence and self-importance.
May their suffering be legendary, even in Revit.
Sincerely,
Skullfuck.
(Edit: I was browsing the internet to see if I could find where anybody had made any progress on the multi-tenant front, and ran across a post (from 3 years ago of course) where a useless piece of shit calling himself 'WWHub' berates and insults someone pointing out functionality lacking in Revit:
http://www.revitcity.com/forums.php?action=viewthread&thread_id=26728
It runs the entire standard process from someone asking a question, to self-important motherfucker sticking their diseased cock in everyone's face and waving it around, to the asker finally throwing their hands up. I will post more if I find them)
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Monday, July 20, 2015
FUCK EVERYTHING REVIT STANDS FOR!!!
Back in the shitfest again.
I can't go ten seconds in Revit without finding some mindless piece of shit arbitrary limitation, broken functionality, or obtuse user interface fistfuck.
You can literally do EXACTLY THE SAME THING three different times in Revit and get three RADICALLY FUCKING DIFFERENT results - all dependent on how Revit decides it wants to fuck you over at that point in time. Oh - and just to completely fuck your head up - every once in a while it will do something PERFECTLY - EXACTLY THE WAY YOU WANT IT - but then GOOD FUCKING LUCK reproducing that shit.
I want to shove this entire program, computer, monitor, network cabling, router, server, and at least a portion of the building it is housed in DIRECTLY UP THE FUCKING ASS of every single GODDAMNED MOTHERFUCKING PIECE OF SHIT responsible for developing, marketing, selling, purchasing, using, propagating, or force-feeding this DILDO INFESTED software from the 9TH CIRCLE OF HELL.
FUCK EVERY GODDAMNED ONE OF THEM!!!
FUCK REVIT.
FUCK AUTODESK.
FUCK YOU.
FUCK ME.
FUCK IT.
FUCK.
-skullfuck
I can't go ten seconds in Revit without finding some mindless piece of shit arbitrary limitation, broken functionality, or obtuse user interface fistfuck.
You can literally do EXACTLY THE SAME THING three different times in Revit and get three RADICALLY FUCKING DIFFERENT results - all dependent on how Revit decides it wants to fuck you over at that point in time. Oh - and just to completely fuck your head up - every once in a while it will do something PERFECTLY - EXACTLY THE WAY YOU WANT IT - but then GOOD FUCKING LUCK reproducing that shit.
I want to shove this entire program, computer, monitor, network cabling, router, server, and at least a portion of the building it is housed in DIRECTLY UP THE FUCKING ASS of every single GODDAMNED MOTHERFUCKING PIECE OF SHIT responsible for developing, marketing, selling, purchasing, using, propagating, or force-feeding this DILDO INFESTED software from the 9TH CIRCLE OF HELL.
FUCK EVERY GODDAMNED ONE OF THEM!!!
FUCK REVIT.
FUCK AUTODESK.
FUCK YOU.
FUCK ME.
FUCK IT.
FUCK.
-skullfuck
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Everything In Revit Looks Like Shit
Get Fucked.
I am sick and fucking tired of staring at shitty looking Revit models, text, linework, etc. that this fucking 'flagship' program can't even manage to show correctly while zooming. Shit pops in and out of existence, overlaps, or otherwise becomes illegible unless you zoom way in on it, and at each level of zoom you get different artifacts, blurring, etc.
Half the time I can't tell what the fuck is going on - I've started re-drawing shit because I thought it fucking ate itself, only to zoom slightly differently and have it pop back in. It generally plots correctly (after you wait for it to fucking plot - slow piece of shit), but goddammit how in the fuck am I supposed to accomplish anything when it inexplicably screws up everything I'm looking at?
There is no excuse - this is shitty program design, and a complete lack of fucks given on the part of Autodesk. I don't give a fuck if this program 'isn't supposed to be for drafting' or what the fuck ever - it gets used for a variety of tasks, and it needs to be able to accomplish them ALL with some semblance of competence, or it needs to go fuck itself.
There is a massive discrepancy between what Autodesk and the other disciplines I see using Revit (and even some of the people attempting to practice my discipline) need to have in the way of tools in order to accomplish their work. Maybe other people have managed to overcome some of the many hurdles in Revit to reach a point where it no longer hinders them, and maybe even helps them.
In my experience though - this is bullshit, because they weren't doing what I do to begin with. Not as quickly, accurately, or as efficiently anyway - and so Revit allows them to drag their feet, point fingers, and create an illusion of competency and productivity. I've watched it happen, and it's not a pretty sight.
What Revit is, on the other hand, is an excellent way for people who already have an over-developed sense of superiority and entitlement (i.e. - Sanctimonious Motherfuckers (TM)) to revel in sucking their own dicks while they refuse to acknowledge massive holes in both the software they worship and the failed processes they have allowed to develop in it's wake.
Fuck Sanctimonious Motherfuckers (TM) and if you don't like it - FUCK YOU.
Indecipherably,
SkullFuck.
I am sick and fucking tired of staring at shitty looking Revit models, text, linework, etc. that this fucking 'flagship' program can't even manage to show correctly while zooming. Shit pops in and out of existence, overlaps, or otherwise becomes illegible unless you zoom way in on it, and at each level of zoom you get different artifacts, blurring, etc.
Half the time I can't tell what the fuck is going on - I've started re-drawing shit because I thought it fucking ate itself, only to zoom slightly differently and have it pop back in. It generally plots correctly (after you wait for it to fucking plot - slow piece of shit), but goddammit how in the fuck am I supposed to accomplish anything when it inexplicably screws up everything I'm looking at?
There is no excuse - this is shitty program design, and a complete lack of fucks given on the part of Autodesk. I don't give a fuck if this program 'isn't supposed to be for drafting' or what the fuck ever - it gets used for a variety of tasks, and it needs to be able to accomplish them ALL with some semblance of competence, or it needs to go fuck itself.
There is a massive discrepancy between what Autodesk and the other disciplines I see using Revit (and even some of the people attempting to practice my discipline) need to have in the way of tools in order to accomplish their work. Maybe other people have managed to overcome some of the many hurdles in Revit to reach a point where it no longer hinders them, and maybe even helps them.
In my experience though - this is bullshit, because they weren't doing what I do to begin with. Not as quickly, accurately, or as efficiently anyway - and so Revit allows them to drag their feet, point fingers, and create an illusion of competency and productivity. I've watched it happen, and it's not a pretty sight.
What Revit is, on the other hand, is an excellent way for people who already have an over-developed sense of superiority and entitlement (i.e. - Sanctimonious Motherfuckers (TM)) to revel in sucking their own dicks while they refuse to acknowledge massive holes in both the software they worship and the failed processes they have allowed to develop in it's wake.
Fuck Sanctimonious Motherfuckers (TM) and if you don't like it - FUCK YOU.
Indecipherably,
SkullFuck.
Revitards, Their Retarded Revit Models, And You - A Tale Of Skullfuckery
Fuck Revit and everything it stands for.
I've been watching with barely concealed amusement (mixed with disgust) as yet another project gets drug down into the Revit hole. Inexplicable amounts of time have been spent by incompetent morons in order to piece together what can barely be considered a shell of a building, leaving the people dependent on having a workable model struggling to fill in the gaps.
As is the case on many of our projects, we have a large amount of information coming from a third party - and, as usual, it is a mess of incomplete/contradictory nonsense that required deciphering before we could even determine what it was that was missing, and even after pointing out the errors, having to wait while this third party struggled to fix/update their drawings.
Of course, this information comes to us in ACAD format - which is still the industry standard for the vast majority of equipment vendors (as well it should be). Combine the process of pointing out glaring oversights to the people who are supposed to 'specialize' with Revitards who are unwilling (or incapable) of properly integrating and updating layouts, and it drags the whole process to a stop.
Attempting to contact the equipment manufacturers can often lead to even more questions as the vendors do not provide complete (or even remotely correct) model #'s, and many of the pieces of equipment have so many options (none of which are being selected by me) that the requirements can vary widely. Their websites also tend to be useless, providing little to no electrical information.
Even once I have managed to verify the actual equipment requirements - determining the location(s) of that equipment becomes a nightmare as they are often tagged incorrectly on the plans (and that's before you get to things changing multiple times throughout the course of a project). THEN I run into Revit refusing to allow me to place devices where I need them.
This is often because the model is set up incorrectly - and is a mix of actual 3D elements, 2D Revit linework, and inserted ACAD linework. The irony is that at the beginning of a project (before a Revit model has even been started), we will receive a building layout that would be sufficient for me to do the whole fucking project front to back with nearly zero input from the revit model.
Eliminating the Revit roadblock from the process means I can focus on the electrical design, rather than wasting time trying to figure out what the Revitard has done (or hasn't done). It gives me complete freedom to do my schematic design instead of fighting tooth and nail to produce a barely passable set of construction documents.
I've mentioned before how coordinating with third-party ACAD files (and thank god they are ACAD files because how the fuck are you going to coordinate with a third party Revit file?) becomes infinitely easier when I can manipulate both the building floor plan and third-party equipment plan, integrating them (along with my schematics) into a seamless set of documents.
They can easily be viewed side-by-side - or layered over the top of each other (without it turning into an incomprehensible mess). Conflicts can be seen and dealt with, and most important of all - SHIT CAN BE OVERRIDDEN. I don't personally give a fuck if everyone else's drawings are hopelessly broken, but mine will not be.
These people have shown time and time again that they cannot be relied on to do anything correctly, and I will be damned if I will allow them to fuck me over, force me to have to redo things (any more than I already have to), or suck me down into the hell they have built for themselves. They can all go fuck themselves.
And if you are responsible for developing or propagating Revit in any way - you can go fuck yourself too.
Sincerely,
Skullfuck.
I've been watching with barely concealed amusement (mixed with disgust) as yet another project gets drug down into the Revit hole. Inexplicable amounts of time have been spent by incompetent morons in order to piece together what can barely be considered a shell of a building, leaving the people dependent on having a workable model struggling to fill in the gaps.
As is the case on many of our projects, we have a large amount of information coming from a third party - and, as usual, it is a mess of incomplete/contradictory nonsense that required deciphering before we could even determine what it was that was missing, and even after pointing out the errors, having to wait while this third party struggled to fix/update their drawings.
Of course, this information comes to us in ACAD format - which is still the industry standard for the vast majority of equipment vendors (as well it should be). Combine the process of pointing out glaring oversights to the people who are supposed to 'specialize' with Revitards who are unwilling (or incapable) of properly integrating and updating layouts, and it drags the whole process to a stop.
Attempting to contact the equipment manufacturers can often lead to even more questions as the vendors do not provide complete (or even remotely correct) model #'s, and many of the pieces of equipment have so many options (none of which are being selected by me) that the requirements can vary widely. Their websites also tend to be useless, providing little to no electrical information.
Even once I have managed to verify the actual equipment requirements - determining the location(s) of that equipment becomes a nightmare as they are often tagged incorrectly on the plans (and that's before you get to things changing multiple times throughout the course of a project). THEN I run into Revit refusing to allow me to place devices where I need them.
This is often because the model is set up incorrectly - and is a mix of actual 3D elements, 2D Revit linework, and inserted ACAD linework. The irony is that at the beginning of a project (before a Revit model has even been started), we will receive a building layout that would be sufficient for me to do the whole fucking project front to back with nearly zero input from the revit model.
Eliminating the Revit roadblock from the process means I can focus on the electrical design, rather than wasting time trying to figure out what the Revitard has done (or hasn't done). It gives me complete freedom to do my schematic design instead of fighting tooth and nail to produce a barely passable set of construction documents.
I've mentioned before how coordinating with third-party ACAD files (and thank god they are ACAD files because how the fuck are you going to coordinate with a third party Revit file?) becomes infinitely easier when I can manipulate both the building floor plan and third-party equipment plan, integrating them (along with my schematics) into a seamless set of documents.
They can easily be viewed side-by-side - or layered over the top of each other (without it turning into an incomprehensible mess). Conflicts can be seen and dealt with, and most important of all - SHIT CAN BE OVERRIDDEN. I don't personally give a fuck if everyone else's drawings are hopelessly broken, but mine will not be.
These people have shown time and time again that they cannot be relied on to do anything correctly, and I will be damned if I will allow them to fuck me over, force me to have to redo things (any more than I already have to), or suck me down into the hell they have built for themselves. They can all go fuck themselves.
And if you are responsible for developing or propagating Revit in any way - you can go fuck yourself too.
Sincerely,
Skullfuck.
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Revit 'Gurus' Can Go Fuck Themselves
Greetings and Salutations.
Let's get right down to it - the concept of the Revit 'Guru' is a strange one - this is commonly used to refer to someone who has 'mastered' (i.e. masturbated eagerly to) Revit. The term 'Guru' itself comes from Sanskrit and is used in various religions (Hinduism/Buddhism/etc.) to describe a 'teacher' or 'master', usually one who imparts experiential knowledge to their students.
The term has also been misappropriated by various cults to describe their 'leaders' in order to impart them with a 'mystical' quality - and that's a much more accurate description of the average Revit 'Guru'. They are the one within any Revit burdened firm that has taken their fascination with sucking their own dick to a whole other level.
Without fail, they will have ingratiated themselves to management (see also: 'Sanctimonious Motherfuckers (tm)'), and set themselves up as the 'go to' for any time Revit decides it wants to shit itself, refuse to do some simple task (that it was just doing a minute ago), or otherwise fuck up, break, glitch, crash, lose information, or corrupt a file.
They can sometimes be useful if you are stuck trying to overcome some herculean task (like putting a receptacle into a drawing), only to have it refuse to show up - even after going through reveal hidden elements, visibility graphics, detail level, view range, cut plane, blah blah blah, on and on, WHAT THE FUCK?, JESUS FUCKING CHRIST, GODDAMMIT, etc. etc.
The problem is, you don't want to pull them in until you've tried every single possible thing (so that you can shoot down their attempts to wave their hands with vague references to every single possible thing). It's a self-defense mechanism on the part of the Revit 'Guru' to be such an utter fucking twat that people will only call them in on a problem as a last resort.
Basically - a Revit 'Guru' is what pops out when you have a whole firm of people wasting their time Reviting and one finally takes it upon themselves to man the helm (and go down with the ship). They keep the Revit dream alive by pumping it full of drugs and hooking it to various life support machines.
Anything to keep from having to admit what I think most of them already know (and some of them are even willing to admit, if only partially, and only then in private, and even then only after a bit of cajoling), and that is Revit is a stinking pile of shit that fucks over everyone even tangentially exposed to it.
Interestingly, you never hear anyone talk about being Architectural or Engineering 'Guru' - if you want to be an Architect or Engineer you go to school, you put in your time, you pass the tests, and you bust your ass to become one (so that you can put your ass on the line while idiots waste time wanking over new software or technology).
The person who wrote 'Want To Be An Architect? Don't Learn Revit' article understood this - they knew that a piece of software (even a good one) doesn't define the discipline. Much less a brain damaged, donkey-fucking, shitfest like the one I've been staring at all morning - which in it's grand 2016 release has the ribbon icons decide to occasionally just FUCKING DISAPPEAR.
Now, most of you know that normally, I'm all for the Ribbon fucking off and disappearing - it's the first thing to go bye-bye in ACAD when I set up a new version, and it's been a dream of mine to make it go bye-bye in Revit as well, but in the meantime it's a necessary evil to be able to access all the bullshit 'tools' and 'features'.
If I'm working along and suddenly my 'tools' and 'features' are now a blank grey field (cycling through 'minimize to tabs/titles/buttons' sometimes brings it back, but eventually it will disappear) then this already totally useless hunk of shit has moved even further into complete and utter EAT SHIT AND DIE territory.
Closing and restarting is the only way I have found to fix it - which, depending on the 'model' you are working in at the time (and how many other people are hammering the server by opening/saving their shitty 'models') can take a couple of minutes - at best. This is not fucking acceptable - at any level. The Reviteers just shrug their shoulders though - they are used to banging their heads into useless fucking software. At this point, you could shit directly into their mouth, call it a new Revit feature, and they would probably believe you.
In closing, and as always, IF YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR PROPAGATING THIS FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT, YOU NEED TO FUCK OFF, EAT SHIT, AND DIE PAINFULLY WHILE WATCHING EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE YOU LOVE BEING BURNED, CRUSHED, AND DESTROYED IN FRONT OF YOU.
Sincerely,
Skullfukd.
Next Time: Maintaining Your Motherfucking Model - BITCH!
Let's get right down to it - the concept of the Revit 'Guru' is a strange one - this is commonly used to refer to someone who has 'mastered' (i.e. masturbated eagerly to) Revit. The term 'Guru' itself comes from Sanskrit and is used in various religions (Hinduism/Buddhism/etc.) to describe a 'teacher' or 'master', usually one who imparts experiential knowledge to their students.
The term has also been misappropriated by various cults to describe their 'leaders' in order to impart them with a 'mystical' quality - and that's a much more accurate description of the average Revit 'Guru'. They are the one within any Revit burdened firm that has taken their fascination with sucking their own dick to a whole other level.
Without fail, they will have ingratiated themselves to management (see also: 'Sanctimonious Motherfuckers (tm)'), and set themselves up as the 'go to' for any time Revit decides it wants to shit itself, refuse to do some simple task (that it was just doing a minute ago), or otherwise fuck up, break, glitch, crash, lose information, or corrupt a file.
They can sometimes be useful if you are stuck trying to overcome some herculean task (like putting a receptacle into a drawing), only to have it refuse to show up - even after going through reveal hidden elements, visibility graphics, detail level, view range, cut plane, blah blah blah, on and on, WHAT THE FUCK?, JESUS FUCKING CHRIST, GODDAMMIT, etc. etc.
The problem is, you don't want to pull them in until you've tried every single possible thing (so that you can shoot down their attempts to wave their hands with vague references to every single possible thing). It's a self-defense mechanism on the part of the Revit 'Guru' to be such an utter fucking twat that people will only call them in on a problem as a last resort.
Basically - a Revit 'Guru' is what pops out when you have a whole firm of people wasting their time Reviting and one finally takes it upon themselves to man the helm (and go down with the ship). They keep the Revit dream alive by pumping it full of drugs and hooking it to various life support machines.
Anything to keep from having to admit what I think most of them already know (and some of them are even willing to admit, if only partially, and only then in private, and even then only after a bit of cajoling), and that is Revit is a stinking pile of shit that fucks over everyone even tangentially exposed to it.
Interestingly, you never hear anyone talk about being Architectural or Engineering 'Guru' - if you want to be an Architect or Engineer you go to school, you put in your time, you pass the tests, and you bust your ass to become one (so that you can put your ass on the line while idiots waste time wanking over new software or technology).
The person who wrote 'Want To Be An Architect? Don't Learn Revit' article understood this - they knew that a piece of software (even a good one) doesn't define the discipline. Much less a brain damaged, donkey-fucking, shitfest like the one I've been staring at all morning - which in it's grand 2016 release has the ribbon icons decide to occasionally just FUCKING DISAPPEAR.
Now, most of you know that normally, I'm all for the Ribbon fucking off and disappearing - it's the first thing to go bye-bye in ACAD when I set up a new version, and it's been a dream of mine to make it go bye-bye in Revit as well, but in the meantime it's a necessary evil to be able to access all the bullshit 'tools' and 'features'.
If I'm working along and suddenly my 'tools' and 'features' are now a blank grey field (cycling through 'minimize to tabs/titles/buttons' sometimes brings it back, but eventually it will disappear) then this already totally useless hunk of shit has moved even further into complete and utter EAT SHIT AND DIE territory.
Closing and restarting is the only way I have found to fix it - which, depending on the 'model' you are working in at the time (and how many other people are hammering the server by opening/saving their shitty 'models') can take a couple of minutes - at best. This is not fucking acceptable - at any level. The Reviteers just shrug their shoulders though - they are used to banging their heads into useless fucking software. At this point, you could shit directly into their mouth, call it a new Revit feature, and they would probably believe you.
In closing, and as always, IF YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR PROPAGATING THIS FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT, YOU NEED TO FUCK OFF, EAT SHIT, AND DIE PAINFULLY WHILE WATCHING EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE YOU LOVE BEING BURNED, CRUSHED, AND DESTROYED IN FRONT OF YOU.
Sincerely,
Skullfukd.
Next Time: Maintaining Your Motherfucking Model - BITCH!
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Revit Is Balls Deep In Your Eyesocket
The time has come for diving ass-first into the swimming pool full of dildos that is Revit 2016.
Since a heartfelt apology to all of the people they are responsible for fucking over all this time was not forthcoming upon startup, I am forced to operate under the impression that Autodesk is still deluding itself into believing that Revit is a quality product that stands on it's own merits. Instead it's the same shit-stained clusterfuck it has always been - propped up by flop sweat and masturbatory fanboy fantasies. You almost wouldn't even know you were in a new version - same splash screen, same garbage ribbon, same unintuitive interface and same glaring lack of fucks given.
It also didn't help that the first devices that I attempted to insert into my drawing would not show up, regardless of what I did. This wasn't a 2016 problem (as far as I could tell), but I needed to copy a view (with detailing) from another discipline so that I would get information that they had imported from drawings the owner had provided. If I copied without detailing my devices would show up fine, but the second I copied with detailing they would disappear. Toggling 'Reveal Hidden Elements' would cause them to show up, but they weren't actually hidden (I could hide and unhide them to no avail).
Everything was set to show up in Visibility Graphics, no filters turned on, I even tried over-riding the global workset visibility setting just in case - and still nothing. This was all after I had tried multiple families, thinking that something was incompatible, then moved on to adjusting view-range settings just in case something was tweaked. It was par for the fucking course - always fucking something with Revit preventing me from doing even the most basic tasks. I finally had to relent and get someone to look at it for me - fortunately they were just as puzzled, but finally forced it to work by applying a 'workset template' (whatever the fuck that is).
I'm always left second-guessing myself whenever I hit a roadblock like that - and in my opinion it's unforgivable to develop a set of software that puts people in that position. Of course, before I broke down and asked someone to look at it, I tried looking on the Internet - but despite several lists of 30+ reasons why you can't see the things that you desperately need to see so you can get on with your fucking life and complete a goddamned project already, there was nothing to help - but (of course) there was at least one dickless fuckwit there with a smart-ass response:
http://blog.microsolresources.com/2011/09/14/top-10-reasons-you-cant-see-an-element-in-revit/
"People who are new to Revit are always having issues seeing everything in a project view. I guess it’s the AutoCAD mentality that is so hard to shake at first"
This is from four fucking years ago (as are most of the results I get from googling various Revit questions), but I made sure to post a rebuttal (well, at least I told him to go fuck himself and called him a faggot). Seriously - what the fuck does Revit's inability to have things simply show the fuck up when you need them to show the fuck up without having to go through twenty fucking menus of meaningless and useless settings have to do with 'The Autocad Mentality'? I've taken that to mean 'the logical and productive mentality' as opposed to the 'let's cornhole a nailbomb' mentality exhibited by the average Reviteer.
I know it's just another example of some fucking loser trying to bait people, but posting that kind of shit on a public forum, using your real name, often with links/bios listing your place of work and other personal information - that's a good way to end up being a self-righteous fuck with broken kneecaps who is missing his fingernails and eyelids while wrapped in duct tape and stuffed in the trunk of a fucking car that is slowly sinking to the bottom of the Delaware river.
On the upside - while setting up distribution for the first project I am sure to regret wasting my time dicking around with in Revit 2016, I actually managed to run across a new feature on the panelboard schedules (that should have been around since day one). It now has the ability to pick a breaker and move it to a target space (instead of being limited to 'move down' or 'move across' that led to having to shuffle breakers around like one of those old plastic letter or number puzzles to get them in the order you wanted them). This sounds dangerously close to being in response to somebody's (or more likely several somebodies) wishlist request.
It is especially helpful in the case of a switchboard style schedule - where the only option before was to disconnect loads and reconnect them in the order that you wanted them to appear. Now - if there was just a way to put in spare breakers, assign them loads (and classifications), and have them calculate. I spend an inordinate amount of time on some projects faking in loads with j-boxes/disconnects/receptacles/etc. to represent loads that don't relate to items that will be modeled (i.e. - estimated, existing, or future loads). I run into the same problem as Architects who end up having to model half of a building just to show one or two walls being modified during a renovation.
Trying to figure out how to most efficiently produce a set of plans when under multiple deadlines and with limited resources requires having tools that are designed to work under those conditions - and Revit still ain't cutting it.
Now if you'll excuse me - I've got some duct tapin' to do.
-S.K.U.L.L.F.U.C.K.
Next Time - How many Revit gurus does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
Since a heartfelt apology to all of the people they are responsible for fucking over all this time was not forthcoming upon startup, I am forced to operate under the impression that Autodesk is still deluding itself into believing that Revit is a quality product that stands on it's own merits. Instead it's the same shit-stained clusterfuck it has always been - propped up by flop sweat and masturbatory fanboy fantasies. You almost wouldn't even know you were in a new version - same splash screen, same garbage ribbon, same unintuitive interface and same glaring lack of fucks given.
It also didn't help that the first devices that I attempted to insert into my drawing would not show up, regardless of what I did. This wasn't a 2016 problem (as far as I could tell), but I needed to copy a view (with detailing) from another discipline so that I would get information that they had imported from drawings the owner had provided. If I copied without detailing my devices would show up fine, but the second I copied with detailing they would disappear. Toggling 'Reveal Hidden Elements' would cause them to show up, but they weren't actually hidden (I could hide and unhide them to no avail).
Everything was set to show up in Visibility Graphics, no filters turned on, I even tried over-riding the global workset visibility setting just in case - and still nothing. This was all after I had tried multiple families, thinking that something was incompatible, then moved on to adjusting view-range settings just in case something was tweaked. It was par for the fucking course - always fucking something with Revit preventing me from doing even the most basic tasks. I finally had to relent and get someone to look at it for me - fortunately they were just as puzzled, but finally forced it to work by applying a 'workset template' (whatever the fuck that is).
I'm always left second-guessing myself whenever I hit a roadblock like that - and in my opinion it's unforgivable to develop a set of software that puts people in that position. Of course, before I broke down and asked someone to look at it, I tried looking on the Internet - but despite several lists of 30+ reasons why you can't see the things that you desperately need to see so you can get on with your fucking life and complete a goddamned project already, there was nothing to help - but (of course) there was at least one dickless fuckwit there with a smart-ass response:
http://blog.microsolresources.com/2011/09/14/top-10-reasons-you-cant-see-an-element-in-revit/
"People who are new to Revit are always having issues seeing everything in a project view. I guess it’s the AutoCAD mentality that is so hard to shake at first"
This is from four fucking years ago (as are most of the results I get from googling various Revit questions), but I made sure to post a rebuttal (well, at least I told him to go fuck himself and called him a faggot). Seriously - what the fuck does Revit's inability to have things simply show the fuck up when you need them to show the fuck up without having to go through twenty fucking menus of meaningless and useless settings have to do with 'The Autocad Mentality'? I've taken that to mean 'the logical and productive mentality' as opposed to the 'let's cornhole a nailbomb' mentality exhibited by the average Reviteer.
I know it's just another example of some fucking loser trying to bait people, but posting that kind of shit on a public forum, using your real name, often with links/bios listing your place of work and other personal information - that's a good way to end up being a self-righteous fuck with broken kneecaps who is missing his fingernails and eyelids while wrapped in duct tape and stuffed in the trunk of a fucking car that is slowly sinking to the bottom of the Delaware river.
On the upside - while setting up distribution for the first project I am sure to regret wasting my time dicking around with in Revit 2016, I actually managed to run across a new feature on the panelboard schedules (that should have been around since day one). It now has the ability to pick a breaker and move it to a target space (instead of being limited to 'move down' or 'move across' that led to having to shuffle breakers around like one of those old plastic letter or number puzzles to get them in the order you wanted them). This sounds dangerously close to being in response to somebody's (or more likely several somebodies) wishlist request.
It is especially helpful in the case of a switchboard style schedule - where the only option before was to disconnect loads and reconnect them in the order that you wanted them to appear. Now - if there was just a way to put in spare breakers, assign them loads (and classifications), and have them calculate. I spend an inordinate amount of time on some projects faking in loads with j-boxes/disconnects/receptacles/etc. to represent loads that don't relate to items that will be modeled (i.e. - estimated, existing, or future loads). I run into the same problem as Architects who end up having to model half of a building just to show one or two walls being modified during a renovation.
Trying to figure out how to most efficiently produce a set of plans when under multiple deadlines and with limited resources requires having tools that are designed to work under those conditions - and Revit still ain't cutting it.
Now if you'll excuse me - I've got some duct tapin' to do.
-S.K.U.L.L.F.U.C.K.
Next Time - How many Revit gurus does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
Thursday, May 14, 2015
Revit 2016 is a... Reality???
Alright Ladies and Gents,
So - after getting ACAD 2016 up and running, I fired up Revit 2016 and.... immediately went back to using Revit 2015 because, of course, in order to work in Revit 2016, the project I'm working on would have to be updated to Revit 2016 format.
I'm working in an Architectural model, and *almost* decided to just let the thing upgrade (it may end up getting upgraded eventually anyway) when I noticed one nice 'feature' that should have been around since DAY FUCKING ONE and that is the ability to hit 'cancel' on the upgrade rather than having to either let it sit there and go through the upgrade (then 'temporarily upgrade' any linked files) before closing it out and re-opening in the older version - or ctrl+alt+del and kill the fucking program (although I have to admit, I do love killing Revit - and it dies quickly).
I've complained before about not having a way to know what version a Revit file is in before you open it (I've currently got three versions on my machine, and god forbid I have to open a file older than that). I had done some rudimentary searches, but the best ideas I saw were to include the release version in the file name (which is great, until someone fails to change it when they upgrade it, and/or fails to bother to tell anyone that has the file linked in - I've seen folders full of Revit files, and the only way you know which is the correct one is by the date that it was last saved).
I decided to do a quick search today - and found where someone had developed a (free/donation) 'File Version Reporter' program that would not only tell you the last saved version of a file, but would also give you the option to click 'No' before automatically starting to upgrade the file (holy fucking shit - what a concept!!!):
https://boostyourbim.wordpress.com/2014/02/04/free-revit-file-version-tool-download-it-today/
More power to them - but this is yet another example of a third-party having to get involved in order to solve what should be simple, basic, goddamned intuitive fucking shit and allowing Autodesk to continue to shart out half-ass garbage. I also ran across yet another innocent attempt at asking about reverting a Revit file back to an older version that quickly degraded into some faggot named 'Ryan713' accusing the asker of 'wanting Revit to be like Autocad':
http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-architecture/2015-revit-files-convert-to-2014/td-p/5324183
Granted, it was after the guy who asked about it accused Autodesk of running a monopoly (which isn't entirely off base), but 'Ryan713' deserves to be beaten so badly after making that comment that they would have to identify him by digging tooth fragments out of my fists, using a 3d scanner and software to recreate them, and then compare them to dental records (only to find out that it was justifiable homicide after finding out that he had made that comment).
And none of this even addresses what happens (and did happen a few months ago here) if some idiot decides to upgrade a file without bothering to ask anyone, and it turns out that the client (who is also doing work in Revit - although this is not a typical client) hasn't upgraded yet - and maybe doesn't have a plan to upgrade yet. OR what happens if someone upgrades a file, and the new release of Revit decides to take a shit.
Obviously keeping backups of stuff could prevent major problems from occurring because of this - but what generally happens is that work gets done before the mistake is found, so simply pulling up an older file from a backup or local file isn't necessarily going to magically fix it. It would also help if everybody involved with using Revit actually gave a shit and communicated with other people, but being oblivious to what is happening beyond the tip of your own nose seems to be the hallmark of Reviteering.
Anyway - I do have a project coming up in 2016 Revit that will allow me to give it a full rundown (it's a 'reuse' of an older project - which is 'exactly like the older project', except for the part where it's in a different location, oriented differently on the site, has gotten longer on one side, and had a dozen other floor plan changes). This is a common trope in the design industry - presenting a project to the design team as 'just like this other one.... (wait for it).... (keep waiting).... Except... (BANG)'.
Fortunately I didn't waste my time doing the last one in Revit - only putting the lights into the ceiling to shut them the fuck up and attempt to coordinate with the HVAC design (always entertaining to watch them proceed to ignore the shit out of everything I put into the model - and that's if their plenums and whatnot even line up with the fucking ceiling). The model they dug up and revived still had my lights in it - but of course, they are strewn to the fucking wind because the current project and the old project are the 'same' only in that they are both buildings, and have walls/ceilings/etc.
This particular client (in addition to being deluded about what constitutes a 'reuse' of a project) is also certifiably insane - and that brings us to the topic I promised from last time. Incompetent/indecisive clients aren't Revit's fault - but that doesn't prevent Revit from getting in the way of getting their projects out the door. I've watched people spend inordinate amounts of time getting every fucking detail in a model 'just so', fighting issue after issue, doing the 'workaround dickaround' and then drag everybody else into their fucking hell - just to have some idiot client come crashing through their project like a bull in a china shop.
If I'm doing schematics - then it might be a pain in the ass, but if I'm trying to maintain a Revit model - it's totally fucked. Obviously we should get paid more if the client is making changes, but nobody (the client or the people running the show) have any concept of how much actual time and effort goes into chasing the clients ever-shifting dreams and whims - made even more difficult to quantify when you consider how many late nights and weekends Reviteers willingly burn through for free (don't even try to deny it you Revit Fucks).
Nobody wants to nickel and dime a client for 'minor changes', but clients figure out pretty quick that all they have to do is convince whoever they are dealing with that their changes are 'minor' and ignore anyone attempting to point out the reality of how difficult making those changes will be, and how it will 'trickle-down' onto the heads of everyone else trying to play catchup. This is made even worse by people buying into claims that 'Revit makes doing this or changing that so much faster and easier' and now you've got people so disconnected from the design process that they think Revit is doing all of the heavy lifting, leaving clients free to make whatever changes they want, at whatever time they want, regardless of the schedule, because 'it's easy now'.
I'm working on several projects right now (I'm always working on several projects), one of which has a large amount of important information that has not been forthcoming. We've asked for this information since day one (weeks, if not months ago), and have been blown off so many times, we could have built a wind turbine and powered our office for a year from the wind energy. We started out with one equipment layout and cut-sheets (that were wrong - not to mention incomplete), and when we pointed this out - we were told to refer to a 'prototype'. After pointing out that the prototype didn't bear any resemblance to what we were being told to do this time around (which they already knew), we were begrudgingly given an updated layout/list/cut-sheets (again, incomplete) along with drawings for another aspect of the project that upon review turned out to be (you guessed it) wrong.
We continued to press for this information - and it's being promised 'tomorrow' (I'll believe that - only when and if I get it, review it, and find out if it's not just another round of hand waving to make us go away). In the meantime we've had to make a number of guesses, all of which open us up to liability and/or actionable positions. We've attempted to be the squeaky wheel that gets the oil, but instead we've just been the squeaky wheel that gets told to shut the fuck up. The client doesn't have any concept of this - as they've never done a project this elaborate.
They can't comprehend that what we are trying to do is in their best interest so that the building can be built, and when they roll their equipment in, it will be ready to connect to electrical (and gas, and water, and drains, and exhaust, etc. etc.) rather than resulting in us receiving change order after change order and thrown under the bus as if we were some kind of fucking idiots. They'll probably try to do it anyway once they keep making changes after we issue our drawings - requiring us to waste additional time and effort to defend our design in a professional manner (before most likely consenting to make the necessary changes for free in order to make them go away and/or guarantee that we will pick up more shitty projects from them in the future).
I haven't even heard a schedule for this project (we're long past the original one - so they've basically admitted they haven't given us the information we need to finish it, but that won't stop them from pretending that we're the hold-up), but I'm sure it will be 'OH MY FUCKING GOD HAIR ON FIRE ASAP!!!!', and the fact that I don't have to worry about Revit on top of that is the only reason I don't drag them out behind the woodshed and put them out of their (and our) misery with a bullet to the back of the head.
Since they tend to develop their own ACAD drawings to do their layouts (which are either out of date when compared to our Revit plans - or never actually resembled them in the first place) means that just linking them into the Revit model results in a complete nonsense (which is still a problem for when they go to build it - since walls and equipment can't typicaly occupy the same space), but for my purposes, I can get it in there, make adjustments as necessary and get my drawings out SOMETIME THIS FUCKING DECADE.
I may have mentioned it before, but I'll never forget the time someone sent me an equipment layout to coordinate my lights with (why didn't you coordinate your lights with this equipment layout that we failed to send you and/or sent you an outdated version of?!?!) I attempted to insert it into the Revit model (because for some fucking reason I was wasting my time in Revit). It looked like a clusterfuck - but because everything in Revit is goddamned unintelligible, I couldn't have even told you why.
The ACAD file was actually in metric - and it was automatically converting it to standard when it inserted (which is pretty cool) but there were walls not lining up, and a number of other problems that weren't readily apparent *until* I exported the fucking model into ACAD, overlaid the equipment plan (after carefully manually scaling it) and found that the reason it looked so cocked up in Revit was that they had (yes) developed their own floor plan to do the layout.
After pointing this out to the project manager (who pointed it out to the client) they both immediately came to the conclusion that I had (obviously) scaled it incorrectly (haha - look at this dumbass who can't even scale correctly!) That's when I pointed out several places in our Revit model (or more accurately in the ACAD file that I had exported from Revit) where columns were inside walls, and on the equipment plan the columns were next to the wall - which no amount of scaling (correct or otherwise) could cause to happen.
Then they told us 'well - go ahead and just do it close enough' but fortunately this is where the project manager stepped in and pointed out that they had been nitpicking detail after detail after detail in our design, and that we were reticent to 'do it close enough'. They relented, updated their equipment layout with our Revit floor plan, and then I completed the project (in ACAD because FUCK REVIT).
Similar kinds of things show up on nearly every project - almost to the point where it feels like 'Groundhog Day', or more accurately - it feels like every project we do is the first one we've ever done, because the same mistakes and assumptions, get made, and the same failed processes (most of the time centering around Revit) get implemented, and nobody fucking learns anything from it. Attempting to explain it to someone is almost immediately exasperating (to the point that I've pretty much given up on it), because it is such a complex and multifaceted problem that they don't have any chance of understanding unless they are dropped into the middle of it.
I've watched other people overcome gigantic hurdles in Revit in order to get projects completed - and that's EXACTLY the problem. If they weren't overcoming Revit hurdles - they could do their fucking jobs, and it would benefit everyone. Instead, Revit has become their job - and it shows.
FUCK Revit, FUCK Autodesk, and FUCK every single person willingly using or otherwise propagating this inbred clusterfuck.
And if you don't like it (and/or this is TL/DR) FUCK YOU!!!
-The Motherfucking Skullfucker
So - after getting ACAD 2016 up and running, I fired up Revit 2016 and.... immediately went back to using Revit 2015 because, of course, in order to work in Revit 2016, the project I'm working on would have to be updated to Revit 2016 format.
I'm working in an Architectural model, and *almost* decided to just let the thing upgrade (it may end up getting upgraded eventually anyway) when I noticed one nice 'feature' that should have been around since DAY FUCKING ONE and that is the ability to hit 'cancel' on the upgrade rather than having to either let it sit there and go through the upgrade (then 'temporarily upgrade' any linked files) before closing it out and re-opening in the older version - or ctrl+alt+del and kill the fucking program (although I have to admit, I do love killing Revit - and it dies quickly).
I've complained before about not having a way to know what version a Revit file is in before you open it (I've currently got three versions on my machine, and god forbid I have to open a file older than that). I had done some rudimentary searches, but the best ideas I saw were to include the release version in the file name (which is great, until someone fails to change it when they upgrade it, and/or fails to bother to tell anyone that has the file linked in - I've seen folders full of Revit files, and the only way you know which is the correct one is by the date that it was last saved).
I decided to do a quick search today - and found where someone had developed a (free/donation) 'File Version Reporter' program that would not only tell you the last saved version of a file, but would also give you the option to click 'No' before automatically starting to upgrade the file (holy fucking shit - what a concept!!!):
https://boostyourbim.wordpress.com/2014/02/04/free-revit-file-version-tool-download-it-today/
More power to them - but this is yet another example of a third-party having to get involved in order to solve what should be simple, basic, goddamned intuitive fucking shit and allowing Autodesk to continue to shart out half-ass garbage. I also ran across yet another innocent attempt at asking about reverting a Revit file back to an older version that quickly degraded into some faggot named 'Ryan713' accusing the asker of 'wanting Revit to be like Autocad':
http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-architecture/2015-revit-files-convert-to-2014/td-p/5324183
Granted, it was after the guy who asked about it accused Autodesk of running a monopoly (which isn't entirely off base), but 'Ryan713' deserves to be beaten so badly after making that comment that they would have to identify him by digging tooth fragments out of my fists, using a 3d scanner and software to recreate them, and then compare them to dental records (only to find out that it was justifiable homicide after finding out that he had made that comment).
And none of this even addresses what happens (and did happen a few months ago here) if some idiot decides to upgrade a file without bothering to ask anyone, and it turns out that the client (who is also doing work in Revit - although this is not a typical client) hasn't upgraded yet - and maybe doesn't have a plan to upgrade yet. OR what happens if someone upgrades a file, and the new release of Revit decides to take a shit.
Obviously keeping backups of stuff could prevent major problems from occurring because of this - but what generally happens is that work gets done before the mistake is found, so simply pulling up an older file from a backup or local file isn't necessarily going to magically fix it. It would also help if everybody involved with using Revit actually gave a shit and communicated with other people, but being oblivious to what is happening beyond the tip of your own nose seems to be the hallmark of Reviteering.
Anyway - I do have a project coming up in 2016 Revit that will allow me to give it a full rundown (it's a 'reuse' of an older project - which is 'exactly like the older project', except for the part where it's in a different location, oriented differently on the site, has gotten longer on one side, and had a dozen other floor plan changes). This is a common trope in the design industry - presenting a project to the design team as 'just like this other one.... (wait for it).... (keep waiting).... Except... (BANG)'.
Fortunately I didn't waste my time doing the last one in Revit - only putting the lights into the ceiling to shut them the fuck up and attempt to coordinate with the HVAC design (always entertaining to watch them proceed to ignore the shit out of everything I put into the model - and that's if their plenums and whatnot even line up with the fucking ceiling). The model they dug up and revived still had my lights in it - but of course, they are strewn to the fucking wind because the current project and the old project are the 'same' only in that they are both buildings, and have walls/ceilings/etc.
This particular client (in addition to being deluded about what constitutes a 'reuse' of a project) is also certifiably insane - and that brings us to the topic I promised from last time. Incompetent/indecisive clients aren't Revit's fault - but that doesn't prevent Revit from getting in the way of getting their projects out the door. I've watched people spend inordinate amounts of time getting every fucking detail in a model 'just so', fighting issue after issue, doing the 'workaround dickaround' and then drag everybody else into their fucking hell - just to have some idiot client come crashing through their project like a bull in a china shop.
If I'm doing schematics - then it might be a pain in the ass, but if I'm trying to maintain a Revit model - it's totally fucked. Obviously we should get paid more if the client is making changes, but nobody (the client or the people running the show) have any concept of how much actual time and effort goes into chasing the clients ever-shifting dreams and whims - made even more difficult to quantify when you consider how many late nights and weekends Reviteers willingly burn through for free (don't even try to deny it you Revit Fucks).
Nobody wants to nickel and dime a client for 'minor changes', but clients figure out pretty quick that all they have to do is convince whoever they are dealing with that their changes are 'minor' and ignore anyone attempting to point out the reality of how difficult making those changes will be, and how it will 'trickle-down' onto the heads of everyone else trying to play catchup. This is made even worse by people buying into claims that 'Revit makes doing this or changing that so much faster and easier' and now you've got people so disconnected from the design process that they think Revit is doing all of the heavy lifting, leaving clients free to make whatever changes they want, at whatever time they want, regardless of the schedule, because 'it's easy now'.
I'm working on several projects right now (I'm always working on several projects), one of which has a large amount of important information that has not been forthcoming. We've asked for this information since day one (weeks, if not months ago), and have been blown off so many times, we could have built a wind turbine and powered our office for a year from the wind energy. We started out with one equipment layout and cut-sheets (that were wrong - not to mention incomplete), and when we pointed this out - we were told to refer to a 'prototype'. After pointing out that the prototype didn't bear any resemblance to what we were being told to do this time around (which they already knew), we were begrudgingly given an updated layout/list/cut-sheets (again, incomplete) along with drawings for another aspect of the project that upon review turned out to be (you guessed it) wrong.
We continued to press for this information - and it's being promised 'tomorrow' (I'll believe that - only when and if I get it, review it, and find out if it's not just another round of hand waving to make us go away). In the meantime we've had to make a number of guesses, all of which open us up to liability and/or actionable positions. We've attempted to be the squeaky wheel that gets the oil, but instead we've just been the squeaky wheel that gets told to shut the fuck up. The client doesn't have any concept of this - as they've never done a project this elaborate.
They can't comprehend that what we are trying to do is in their best interest so that the building can be built, and when they roll their equipment in, it will be ready to connect to electrical (and gas, and water, and drains, and exhaust, etc. etc.) rather than resulting in us receiving change order after change order and thrown under the bus as if we were some kind of fucking idiots. They'll probably try to do it anyway once they keep making changes after we issue our drawings - requiring us to waste additional time and effort to defend our design in a professional manner (before most likely consenting to make the necessary changes for free in order to make them go away and/or guarantee that we will pick up more shitty projects from them in the future).
I haven't even heard a schedule for this project (we're long past the original one - so they've basically admitted they haven't given us the information we need to finish it, but that won't stop them from pretending that we're the hold-up), but I'm sure it will be 'OH MY FUCKING GOD HAIR ON FIRE ASAP!!!!', and the fact that I don't have to worry about Revit on top of that is the only reason I don't drag them out behind the woodshed and put them out of their (and our) misery with a bullet to the back of the head.
Since they tend to develop their own ACAD drawings to do their layouts (which are either out of date when compared to our Revit plans - or never actually resembled them in the first place) means that just linking them into the Revit model results in a complete nonsense (which is still a problem for when they go to build it - since walls and equipment can't typicaly occupy the same space), but for my purposes, I can get it in there, make adjustments as necessary and get my drawings out SOMETIME THIS FUCKING DECADE.
I may have mentioned it before, but I'll never forget the time someone sent me an equipment layout to coordinate my lights with (why didn't you coordinate your lights with this equipment layout that we failed to send you and/or sent you an outdated version of?!?!) I attempted to insert it into the Revit model (because for some fucking reason I was wasting my time in Revit). It looked like a clusterfuck - but because everything in Revit is goddamned unintelligible, I couldn't have even told you why.
The ACAD file was actually in metric - and it was automatically converting it to standard when it inserted (which is pretty cool) but there were walls not lining up, and a number of other problems that weren't readily apparent *until* I exported the fucking model into ACAD, overlaid the equipment plan (after carefully manually scaling it) and found that the reason it looked so cocked up in Revit was that they had (yes) developed their own floor plan to do the layout.
After pointing this out to the project manager (who pointed it out to the client) they both immediately came to the conclusion that I had (obviously) scaled it incorrectly (haha - look at this dumbass who can't even scale correctly!) That's when I pointed out several places in our Revit model (or more accurately in the ACAD file that I had exported from Revit) where columns were inside walls, and on the equipment plan the columns were next to the wall - which no amount of scaling (correct or otherwise) could cause to happen.
Then they told us 'well - go ahead and just do it close enough' but fortunately this is where the project manager stepped in and pointed out that they had been nitpicking detail after detail after detail in our design, and that we were reticent to 'do it close enough'. They relented, updated their equipment layout with our Revit floor plan, and then I completed the project (in ACAD because FUCK REVIT).
Similar kinds of things show up on nearly every project - almost to the point where it feels like 'Groundhog Day', or more accurately - it feels like every project we do is the first one we've ever done, because the same mistakes and assumptions, get made, and the same failed processes (most of the time centering around Revit) get implemented, and nobody fucking learns anything from it. Attempting to explain it to someone is almost immediately exasperating (to the point that I've pretty much given up on it), because it is such a complex and multifaceted problem that they don't have any chance of understanding unless they are dropped into the middle of it.
I've watched other people overcome gigantic hurdles in Revit in order to get projects completed - and that's EXACTLY the problem. If they weren't overcoming Revit hurdles - they could do their fucking jobs, and it would benefit everyone. Instead, Revit has become their job - and it shows.
FUCK Revit, FUCK Autodesk, and FUCK every single person willingly using or otherwise propagating this inbred clusterfuck.
And if you don't like it (and/or this is TL/DR) FUCK YOU!!!
-The Motherfucking Skullfucker
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
2016 ACAD is BACK BABY!!!
Greetings from the skull that just keeps on fucking!!!
After the sad, phoned-in joke that was 2015 ACAD, it would appear as if somebody at Autodesk might've actually listened to the people using their software (do you hear that you Revitfuckers?) and either dialed back or fixed some of the shit they broke. Amusingly, I never actually used 2105 after setting it up and finding basic functionality broken: ACAD 2015 Rundown Rectacular
I went back to using 2014 in the interim - and even after installing 2016, I was pretty sure that I would be continuing down that path until they discontinued it. Much to my surprise it worked almost perfectly - right out of the box, although it seemed to be having the same problem 2015 had when it came to lagging for 1-2 minutes when attempting to pull a license.
Fortunately this cleared up after a few more times of opening, and seems to be working correctly (I don't know if other people complained to our IT department, or if it did it by itself, hopefully it's all set now). The first thing I checked was to see if it had the same problem 2015 had with snap settings (more detail in the article linked above) where it would attempt to snap to the grid any time you turned off object snap (even with grid snap turned off).
I had figured out that simply leaving object snap on and unchecking all of the options (end/mid/etc.) would make it work 'correctly' - but then if I wanted to use object snaps I would have to go and manually check and uncheck them instead of just toggling it on and off. Even with this workaround, there was still the second problem of the snap selection box/circle/triangle/x (depending on the option(s) checked) being so small as to almost be invisible.
Someone (maybe even Autodesk) may have eventually provided a solution or setting adjustment to fix one or both of these problems - but the first experience I have with any piece of software (or anything really) goes a long way towards forming my opinion of it (one of the main reasons I still consider Revit to be a quarter-ass piece of shit). If it's going to get in my way, prevent me from being able to concentrate, or otherwise hinder my work - it can take a flying fuck at a razor blade lined rolling doughnut covered with gasoline.
I can also guarantee that if I was finding shit like this within the first few minutes of using it, that there were probably other problems too - but it was already a deal-breaker, and I wasn't going to waste any more of my time and mental effort when I had projects to declusterfuckize (thanks to extensive amounts of Revit faggotry) and get out the door. Fucking with my ability to do my job by randomly breaking shit is grounds for a knee-capping.
Anyway - after verifying that this shit was working in 2016, and after disabling the viewcube, ribbon, the 'start' b.s., drawing tabs, seting the background to FUCKING BLACK YOU FUCKING IDIOTS, disabling the search/infocenter (I had sort of given up on this in the past, but a few seconds of googling and I had some guy's LISP routine to make it fuck directly off), and getting rid of most of the extra junk at the bottom, I had what is probably the single cleanest (and functional) ACAD setup I've ever had.
There seems to be a little trouble with the bar at the bottom - even after unchecking 'Display Configuration', 'Global Cut Plane Icon', 'Cut Plane Text', 'Replace Z Value', and 'Elevation', they keep wanting to come back on when restarted. That's a minor annoyance (and they can always be unchecked again) but there is also no option to turn off the icons for 'surface hatch toggle', 'layer key overrides', or the 'Autodesk Trusted DWG' icon (or the 'customization' icon for that matter - this should all be located in 'options' or somewhere else).
As people have time to look at it (and as I have time to search) 'fixes' for these minor items might present themselves - but there's going to be a bar at the bottom of the screen anyway (more on that in a second), so it's not necessarily taking up work space (it does like to jump up an extra line from time to time though - but it seems to go away when I uncheck the extra junk).
So I get my QAT set up (while looking at my 2014 setup), get rid of the stupid green and red X/Y lines, turn off the coordinates at the cursor (and tooltips), turn off polar tracking, extend the crosshairs to their limits, set up arrow to previous command, set right click to repeat previous command (and enter when in command), and I'm ready to rock 'n roll.
Then I notice that it has model/paper space (or 'work') tabs at the bottom of the screen - this is fucking awesome, because even in 2014 it was relegated to a single icon at the bottom that you had to click on, then select the paper space view you wanted. In 2015, even this icon went away, and I was forced to put one on my QAT.
Now, (rant warning) even though I understand the reasoning behind it - I don't fucking use fucking paper space. I consider it to be a huge aggravation and an impediment to my ability to get my shit done - but I do occasionally have to open drawings that were done in paper space from time to time, and being able to easily navigate through their sheets is essential.
When I'm working on a project, I want all my shit in one fucking place so I can fucking see it, wrap my fucking head around it, and manipulate it. People like to think that paper space (or Revit) helps to keep things organized - when all it does is spread shit out all over the place and leave people (and not just me) flailing. When I can do a birds-eye view of my entire project, as if the sheets were laid out on a huge desk, and zoom to any point on it at any time (or up to eight at once with VPorts), that is a fucking system for keeping things straight. (/rant off)
There is one new feature in 2106 ACAD (that I turned off because it was the default - but might actually end up getting some use), and that is the 'Lasso'. It's a little strange the first time you see it (especially if you aren't expecting it), but it basically allows you to have more flexibility when selecting objects/text than just 'rectangle'. You can easily avoid items that you don't want to select, rather than having to grab everything in the area and de-select items.
Not a game changer by any means - but it's good to see that people are still attempting to innovate and improve ACAD in these days of Revit-dicking. Hell - with as good of a job as they did with this release, they could probably make ACAD into BIM software (without the asinine interface and arbitrary limitations inherent to Revit), which is what they should have fucking done in the first place.
Instead, they decided to go the dickless motherfucker route - and so now, they can all go fuck themselves. And if you don't like it - you can go fuck yourself right along with them (because whether or not you are aware of it, or are willing to admit it - you are already both fucking yourself, and already fucked).
Next time - 'Revit Is Incompatible With Indecisive Clients'.
-SKFK 2016
*Edit - only one other minor issue, apparently in 2015 some fucking genius decided to add a 'feature' called 'rubberband lines' that shows a dashed line from your basepoint when moving/copying/etc. extending to wherever you drag the object, neglected to give us a variable to disable it, and this has carried over into 2016. Hopefully this will get fixed ASAP, but I can ignore it for now. If anyone runs across a fix, let me know!
*Edit #2 - I just ran across another annoyance, but it had a 5 second fix - setting 'selection preview' to 0 prevents it from highlighting shit when you hover over it.
After the sad, phoned-in joke that was 2015 ACAD, it would appear as if somebody at Autodesk might've actually listened to the people using their software (do you hear that you Revitfuckers?) and either dialed back or fixed some of the shit they broke. Amusingly, I never actually used 2105 after setting it up and finding basic functionality broken: ACAD 2015 Rundown Rectacular
I went back to using 2014 in the interim - and even after installing 2016, I was pretty sure that I would be continuing down that path until they discontinued it. Much to my surprise it worked almost perfectly - right out of the box, although it seemed to be having the same problem 2015 had when it came to lagging for 1-2 minutes when attempting to pull a license.
Fortunately this cleared up after a few more times of opening, and seems to be working correctly (I don't know if other people complained to our IT department, or if it did it by itself, hopefully it's all set now). The first thing I checked was to see if it had the same problem 2015 had with snap settings (more detail in the article linked above) where it would attempt to snap to the grid any time you turned off object snap (even with grid snap turned off).
I had figured out that simply leaving object snap on and unchecking all of the options (end/mid/etc.) would make it work 'correctly' - but then if I wanted to use object snaps I would have to go and manually check and uncheck them instead of just toggling it on and off. Even with this workaround, there was still the second problem of the snap selection box/circle/triangle/x (depending on the option(s) checked) being so small as to almost be invisible.
Someone (maybe even Autodesk) may have eventually provided a solution or setting adjustment to fix one or both of these problems - but the first experience I have with any piece of software (or anything really) goes a long way towards forming my opinion of it (one of the main reasons I still consider Revit to be a quarter-ass piece of shit). If it's going to get in my way, prevent me from being able to concentrate, or otherwise hinder my work - it can take a flying fuck at a razor blade lined rolling doughnut covered with gasoline.
I can also guarantee that if I was finding shit like this within the first few minutes of using it, that there were probably other problems too - but it was already a deal-breaker, and I wasn't going to waste any more of my time and mental effort when I had projects to declusterfuckize (thanks to extensive amounts of Revit faggotry) and get out the door. Fucking with my ability to do my job by randomly breaking shit is grounds for a knee-capping.
Anyway - after verifying that this shit was working in 2016, and after disabling the viewcube, ribbon, the 'start' b.s., drawing tabs, seting the background to FUCKING BLACK YOU FUCKING IDIOTS, disabling the search/infocenter (I had sort of given up on this in the past, but a few seconds of googling and I had some guy's LISP routine to make it fuck directly off), and getting rid of most of the extra junk at the bottom, I had what is probably the single cleanest (and functional) ACAD setup I've ever had.
There seems to be a little trouble with the bar at the bottom - even after unchecking 'Display Configuration', 'Global Cut Plane Icon', 'Cut Plane Text', 'Replace Z Value', and 'Elevation', they keep wanting to come back on when restarted. That's a minor annoyance (and they can always be unchecked again) but there is also no option to turn off the icons for 'surface hatch toggle', 'layer key overrides', or the 'Autodesk Trusted DWG' icon (or the 'customization' icon for that matter - this should all be located in 'options' or somewhere else).
As people have time to look at it (and as I have time to search) 'fixes' for these minor items might present themselves - but there's going to be a bar at the bottom of the screen anyway (more on that in a second), so it's not necessarily taking up work space (it does like to jump up an extra line from time to time though - but it seems to go away when I uncheck the extra junk).
So I get my QAT set up (while looking at my 2014 setup), get rid of the stupid green and red X/Y lines, turn off the coordinates at the cursor (and tooltips), turn off polar tracking, extend the crosshairs to their limits, set up arrow to previous command, set right click to repeat previous command (and enter when in command), and I'm ready to rock 'n roll.
Then I notice that it has model/paper space (or 'work') tabs at the bottom of the screen - this is fucking awesome, because even in 2014 it was relegated to a single icon at the bottom that you had to click on, then select the paper space view you wanted. In 2015, even this icon went away, and I was forced to put one on my QAT.
Now, (rant warning) even though I understand the reasoning behind it - I don't fucking use fucking paper space. I consider it to be a huge aggravation and an impediment to my ability to get my shit done - but I do occasionally have to open drawings that were done in paper space from time to time, and being able to easily navigate through their sheets is essential.
When I'm working on a project, I want all my shit in one fucking place so I can fucking see it, wrap my fucking head around it, and manipulate it. People like to think that paper space (or Revit) helps to keep things organized - when all it does is spread shit out all over the place and leave people (and not just me) flailing. When I can do a birds-eye view of my entire project, as if the sheets were laid out on a huge desk, and zoom to any point on it at any time (or up to eight at once with VPorts), that is a fucking system for keeping things straight. (/rant off)
There is one new feature in 2106 ACAD (that I turned off because it was the default - but might actually end up getting some use), and that is the 'Lasso'. It's a little strange the first time you see it (especially if you aren't expecting it), but it basically allows you to have more flexibility when selecting objects/text than just 'rectangle'. You can easily avoid items that you don't want to select, rather than having to grab everything in the area and de-select items.
Not a game changer by any means - but it's good to see that people are still attempting to innovate and improve ACAD in these days of Revit-dicking. Hell - with as good of a job as they did with this release, they could probably make ACAD into BIM software (without the asinine interface and arbitrary limitations inherent to Revit), which is what they should have fucking done in the first place.
Instead, they decided to go the dickless motherfucker route - and so now, they can all go fuck themselves. And if you don't like it - you can go fuck yourself right along with them (because whether or not you are aware of it, or are willing to admit it - you are already both fucking yourself, and already fucked).
Next time - 'Revit Is Incompatible With Indecisive Clients'.
-SKFK 2016
*Edit - only one other minor issue, apparently in 2015 some fucking genius decided to add a 'feature' called 'rubberband lines' that shows a dashed line from your basepoint when moving/copying/etc. extending to wherever you drag the object, neglected to give us a variable to disable it, and this has carried over into 2016. Hopefully this will get fixed ASAP, but I can ignore it for now. If anyone runs across a fix, let me know!
*Edit #2 - I just ran across another annoyance, but it had a 5 second fix - setting 'selection preview' to 0 prevents it from highlighting shit when you hover over it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)