New Features Revit 2012 | Simple Sense Blogspot

If you haven’t noticed there are quite a few enhancements that have been made in Revit Architecture 2012 and I’d like to give you a brief overview in a short 10min video. Below you’ll find the list of new features and enhancements straight from the New in Revit 2012 Wiki (See Revit Architecture 2012 Wiki Help to learn more).

Highlighted below are the topics I skim in the video:

User Interface Enhancements

Rotate tool. To relocate the center of rotation, drag or click the Center of Rotation control, press the Spacebar, or click Center of Rotation: Place on the Options Bar. See Rotating Elements.
Type Selector. To maximize space in the Drawing Area, you can add the Type Selector to the Modify tab on the ribbon. See Properties Palette.
Keyboard shortcuts. Export all commands, even if they do not have shortcuts assigned, to a local xml file. You can edit the local xml file to assign shortcuts to commands, and then import them back into Revit. See Keyboard Shortcuts.

Graphics

Improved selection and pre-selection effects. By default, a selected element displays as a semi-transparent blue color. You can change these colors, and control the use of semi-transparent from the Options dialog. Also, as the cursor hovers over an element, before it is selected, the same semi-transparent blue color displays along with a halo effect around the edges. See Use and Manage Views.
Improved grips. Grips and controls now display with smooth edges, and are easier to see. Temporary dimensions now display in a blue color rather than black.
Improved tessellation of small objects. Small family components, such as screws and pipe fittings, as well as DWG imports, display with high clarity.
More flexible visual style combinations. You can now create visual styles such as Realistic with Edges, Consistent Colors with Shadows, Consistent Colors with Ambient Occlusion, and Hidden Line with Ambient Occlusion. The Ambient Occlusion effect now prints.
Graphic display options. An improved Graphics Display Options dialog now has 5 categories from which you can set visual display options: Model, Shadow, Lighting, Sun and Shadow Intensity, and Background. You can also save the settings as a view template.
Edges in visual styles. To turn edges on (default) and off for the Shaded and Realistic visual styles, use a checkbox in the Graphics Display Options dialog.
Ghost surfaces. Use this new option in the Graphics Display Options dialog to see elements that are obstructed by a wall or a pipe, for example. You can select Ghost Surfaces as a view override, a category override, or an element override.
Improved graphic card error messaging. If graphic card issues arise between your computer’s video card and Revit, a message displays in the Graphics tab of the Options dialog, explaining what the issue is and how it can be resolved.
Display styles for analysis add-in applications. You can concurrently display multiple calculated results in 4 possible display styles: colored gradients, markers, diagrams, and vectors. These multiple analysis tools are also available to the Revit API. See Display Styles for Analysis Add-In Applications. The functionality of legends has been enhanced to improve documentation and meet the needs of all 4 display styles.

Materials

Use the Paint and Remove Paint tools in 3D perspective views. You can select faces in 3D views to apply or remove paint.
The Paint tool opens the Materials browser for modeless selection. See Applying Materials to Elements.
Materials applied by the Paint tool to the faces of elements are distinguished from those applied as the property of an element. You can schedule materials applied as paint.
Share user property set libraries with Revit and other Autodesk applications.
Multiple materials can reference the same appearance or structural property sets.

Large Team Workflow

The following enhancements improve workflows for large interdisciplinary teams.

Worksharing

Worksharing display modes are temporary view modes that use color to visualize the status of workshared elements. You can customize these display modes to visually distinguish the following in a view: borrowed elements, current element owners, model updates, and element checkout status. See Worksharing Display Modes.
Disable worksharing to turn a workshared model into a non-workshared model. See Disabling Worksharing.
Control the frequency of worksharing model updates. See Controlling Worksharing Display Updates.
Receive editing request notifications when a team member requests a workshared element that you currently own.
Specify the default view that Revit displays when a model is opened. SeeSpecifying the Model Starting View.
Additional access to the Manage Worksets command is provided by right-clicking a linked model listed under Revit Links in the Project Browser. SeeOpening Linked Worksets in the Host Model.

Revit Server

Use editing requests with Revit Server.
Use the Revit Server command-line tool to automate the creation of local models to facilitate worksharing.
Use the Revit Server command-line tool to save a copy of the specified model as an RVT file. See Revit Server Lock and Save Command-Line Utility.
Revit Server Administrator displays more detailed model submission information and provides the ability to add comments when checking in files. See the Revit Administration Guide.
See also Revit Server 2012 New Features.

Linked Models

You can tag rooms, spaces, areas, and HVAC zones in linked models. SeeOverview of Tagging Elements in Linked Models.
Use the Tag All Not Tagged tool to place room, space, and area tags on elements in linked models. See Tag All Not Tagged.
You can place keynote tags on elements in linked models. See Placing Keynotes in Linked Models.
You can place tags for beam systems, floor/footing span symbols, and area/path span symbols on elements in linked models. See Overview of Tagging Elements in Linked Models.
Use the Beam Annotations tool to place tags and spot elevations on beams in linked models. See Tagging Beams in Linked Models.
To sort rows in the Manage Links dialog by any column, click the column header. See Manage Links Dialog.

Copy/Monitor

More MEP categories. The Copy/Monitor tool supports additional MEP fixture categories, including: Communication Devices, Data Devices, Electrical Equipment, Electrical Fixtures, Fire Alarm Devices, Lighting Devices, Nurse Call Devices, Security Devices, Sprinklers, and Telephone Devices. See What Types of Fixtures Can I Copy?
More actions. Additional actions are supported for MEP Fixture Copy/Monitor rules (Accept Difference, Move Fixture in Host to Position of Fixture in Link). See Actions for Coordination Review.

Modeling Enhancements

Cutting geometry with solids. You can use solid forms to cut other solids as with voids. When you use a solid, you remove the overlapping area, and the abutting solids remain. This capability is available in conceptual massing and for family instances of all categories in the project modeling environment. See Cutting Geometry with Solids.
Surface Subregions. A surface can host subregions that have their own properties. You can assign a material to a subregion or extrude its profile into a solid or void form to change the topography of the surface. This capability is available in both conceptual massing and in-place families in the project modeling environments. See Splitting Faces.
Workplane Viewer. Use the Workplane Viewer to modify work plane dependent elements of a conceptual model. This tool is useful for editing profiles in forms, sweeps, and swept blends. This is available in both the conceptual massing environment, all families, and project modeling environment. See Editing with the Workplane Viewer.
Formula-driven component types. Parameters created to drive component types in families can be generated by conditional formulas. These parameters may also be applied for panelization of divided surfaces. Formula-driven component types can be used in pattern families, adaptive component templates, conceptual massing environment, and all other Revit families.
Rounding function in formulas. You can round integers in a formula to a whole number. New functions include round, roundup, and rounddown.
Hosted point parameter. The Hosted Point parameter can be assigned a measurement type to segment length, normalized segment length, chord length and angle for circle, in addition to normalized or non-normalized curve parameter for points hosted on curves and edges. Once the measurement type is determined, you can specify the beginning or end of the line from which the selected hosted point location is measured. This is available in both the conceptual massing environment and in-place families in the project modeling environment. It is also available in the generic model adaptive and curtain panel by pattern component templates.
Placement of adaptive components in a project. Adaptive components can be placed in the project environment, no longer requiring to be contained in a massing family. Adaptive points and shape handles are also available in the project environment and maintain the same behaviors when placed in the conceptual massing environment.

DWG/DXF Export

Use a new, resizable, tabbed dialog to manage setups for improved fidelity when exportingRevit projects to DWG and DXF formats for use in CAD applications, or publishing the exported files to Buzzsaw.

Improved layer mapping lets you easily add prefixes and suffixes to layer names to build the layer structure you need.
Use new mapping functionality for lines, patterns, and fonts.
Export setups preserve settings for future use.

Revit Families

Save all loaded families to a folder. See Saving Loaded Families.
Export family types from the current family to a text file. See Exporting Family Types.
Import family types from a text file into the current family. See Importing Family Types.

Dimensions

Dimensions can have 2 types of leaders: Arc and Line. See Permanent Dimension Type Properties.
For arc leaders, there are 2 options for the Show Leader When Text Moves parameter: show the leader when text moves beyond the witness line, and show the leader when text moves away from its origin. See Moving Dimension Line Text.
Line leaders can be placed inline or above the text by using the Text Location parameter. See Permanent Dimension Type Properties.
Line leaders can display with a shoulder by specifying a shoulder length parameter. See Permanent Dimension Type Properties.
A new Leader Tick Mark parameter allows arc and line leaders to display an arrow on the dimension side. See Permanent Dimension Type Properties.
You can control the visibility of a dimension leader at the segment level: select By Element, Always On, or Always Off. See Controlling the Visibility of a Dimension Segment Leader.
You can specify a global alternative to the EQ label for equal dimension segments. See Changing the Default Equality Text Label.
You can override the individual dimension segment value or equality label with custom text. See Overriding a Permanent Dimension Value or Equality Text Label.

Tagging

You can lock a 3D view and tag elements in the view. See Tagging in 3D Views.
See also information about tagging in linked models (above).

Journal Files

Journal files reside in the following location:
- Windows XP: %USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\Autodesk\Revit\<product name and release>\Journals
- Windows Vista or Windows 7: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Autodesk\Revit\<product name and release>\Journals

See Journal Files.

Conceptual Energy Analysis Updates

For subscription customers who use the Conceptual Energy Analysis feature, the latest updates for Energy Analysis reports and features are automatically installed while Revit is running. Updates for Conceptual Energy Analysis are checked when a user selects Analyze Mass Model or Results & Compare on the Analyze tab of the ribbon.

User Assistance (Documentation)

For online users, WikiHelp provides access to the full Autodesk-provided Help content, and lets you rate, comment on, and contribute content (articles, images, videos) to share with your peers.
For offline users, a locally stored copy of the Help content is provided in a browser window, providing seamless access to user assistance.

You can change settings to specify whether you want to use WikiHelp or the locally stored Help, and your preferred web browser for viewing the Help. See Online Help.

Performance Improvements

Purge Unused improvements. The Purge Unused tool now includes unused import categories and object styles.
Multi-threaded element loading. Loading elements into memory is now multi-threaded, thereby reducing view open times when elements are displayed for the first time in the session.
Parallel silhouette computation. Multi-threading is enabled for the following:
- Computation of silhouette edge graphics, which is the outline of a curved surface, in perspective 3D views. This improvement is engaged when opening views, changing view properties, and navigating the view. Its effects are more noticeable as the number and complexity of curved surfaces increases.
- Computing the graphical representation of model elements. This improvement is engaged when opening views and changing view properties. Its effects are more noticeable as the number and complexity of model elements increases.