LARUG Presents: Near(er) to You Than Ever Before

Let's jump right in shall we? No!!!

First off:

Here's proof that Salvador Dali was the first known #BIMmodelingFluffyKittenKilla that I am aware of... Image links to Un Chien Andalou -Dali & Bunuel's movie collaboration... For a Surrealist break...

Secondly: 

LARUG has long been proud to be "For Revit Users, By Revit Users"

With that in mind, we understand that the entire User base is a dynamic group with all levels of expertise; understanding that, we will make sure to include enough presentations for the newer & intermediate Revit Users.

No matter what I might say about "never doing basic level presentations" we don't wish to alienate anyone, so we will continue to provide a wide array of Revitastrophe's for everyone to enjoy.

Oh, and we are keeping the meetings FREE as always!!!

Now to all of our fans, don't worry; we will still do mind-blowing, transformational, breakthrough work, just not at the expense of all types of presentations... We will continue to include all :-)

OK, Now onto my main points...  

Last night, my long developed plans to have an LARUG Consortium be a truly functioning & inspirational group has finally become in-arguably solidified!!!

Sometime about 2 years ago or so, I began including a group of AEC friends and colleagues in the emails that are sent out to organize our monthly LARUG meetings. The initial core group was & is Marcello Sgambelluri, Troy Gates, Joe Mendez, Elisa de Dios & Cody Nowak; with Jennifer Storey joining late last year and Brian Andresen being included just last night, officially.

At first, The Consortium was no more than a group of people who would meet before and after the LARUG meetings and give me sounding board to ideas, as well as offer their thoughts about what I was doing with LARUG...

Now this group has now truly become "The Consortium" and we are pleased to announce our first set of coordinated "LARUG Presents" meetings... Ready? I bet not but here we go regardless:

The LARUG Consortium Presents: Essentially Revit. A 3 part, in 4 cities Revit User Group Extravaganza!!!

What will this look like? ...I am glad you asked...

Here is a preliminary agenda, city-by-city, with the meetings; each being on different days, planned to be the 3rd and 4th weeks of each month...Dates to be finalized and communicated :-)

August 2012 The LARUG Consortium Presents: 

Essentially Revit Volume I

Los Angeles | Orange County | Inland Empire | San Francisco

1)    Schedules / Project Parameters
2)    Phases / Phase Filters / Demo
3)    Worksets / View Templates / Browser Organization 

September 2012 The LARUG Consortium Presents:

Essentially Revit Volume II

Los Angeles | Orange County | Inland Empire | San Francisco

1)    Keynotes / Note Blocks
2)    Shared Coordinates / Linked Models
3)    3rd Party Add-ons

October 2012 The LARUG Consortium Presents: 

Essentially Revit Volume III

Los Angeles | Orange County | Inland Empire | San Francisco

1)    Family Creation Techniques
2)    Formula based Parameters
3)    Model Management and Settings

There will be more to follow, we just wanted to get this exciting news out there and see who embraces it...

This is the continuation of what we know to be a great Users Group, that will benefit a larger part of California Reviteurs, as well as LARUG members from around the world.

If you are in one of these cities we hope to see you there and if you are elsewhere on Earth, you will be included via live streaming and recorded archives of our presentations, with the Twitter-ability to communicate with us live and become part of the Growth of Revit expertise, no matter where you are.

Here we are (well, links at least), in case you don't already follow our Twitter-escapades:

Los Angeles Revit Users Group @LARUG

Jay B Zallan @JayZallan

Marcello Sgambelluri @marcellosgamb

Troy Gates @TroyGates

Jennifer Storey @Storeyjl

Elisa de Dios @dedios


Brian Andresen @CADBIMManager

What's Next?

July 2012 Los Angeles Revit Users Group Meeting

Agenda:
SITE TOOL BREAKTHROUGHS: VOLUME 1
RTC USA 2012 In Review

This month's meeting will be at JAMA on (YES THURSDAY)Thursday July 26th, 2012 at 6pm.

JAMA and their Los Angeles Offices @ 950 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90015; being in the Federal Reserve Building; have some very specific requirements for attendees and those who wish to park in the building (although we suggest parking elsewhere!!!), so here goes:

ATTENDEES
All attendees must RSVP to get security clearance, so use either a direct RSVP to the evite (if you got one obviously) or email us at: larug.president@gmail.com and we (well JayZ) will add you to the attendee list to allow security to do their required job...

Please arrive at the location by 5:45 to make the entry process relaxed for all... Even The Consortium will be there early... Which means that our gracious and generous sponsors will want to arrive by 5:30!!! 

USCAD will be providing the COLD beer, Microdesk -HOT pizza and Kelar Pacific all the other COLD drinks, ICE and dessert goodies too :-)

JayZ, The Consortium and all LARUG members really thank our host JAMA and all the resellers listed above; as their being so great to the LA Revit community for so many years is helping us as professionals, as well as the AEC world in general -we really appreciate your support; THANKS!!!

PARKING
Parking is free in the Federal Reserve Building for the registered attendees; however, enhanced security arrangements are enforced. Along with your name, company and arrival time you will need to provide your make, model and color of car at the time of registration. Parking entrance is off Olive Street (one-way street north direction only). Heading north, the parking structure entry is on the left hand side, just south of 9th Street.  Please be prepared to stop, identify yourself and be searched.   Security guards may search your car’s trunk, under the car etc.   Park your vehicle in the building at any unmarked space on levels P3-P6.   Proceed via elevator to the First Floor Lobby Security, where you will go through TSA-like gates logged in and may be searched again...  After being provided a name tag at the reception desk, you will be escorted to the 5th floor presentation room. 

Please time your arrival for about 15-30 minute or so, to allow for all this, as the presentation will start ????.  There are alternative, low-cost, “for pay” parking lots at the adjacent blocks. If you decide to use those, there are two pedestrian entrances one on Grand Avenue and the other on Olive Street both will involve a personal security check.

Practical BIM 2012 Highlights -by Steve

Friend of LARUG, Steve Bennett has written a synopsis of the past week's USCArchitecture Practical BIM 2012 symposium. Several of The Consortium were proud to participate in it and since Steve has seen fit to write his post we will stand aside and let you get to his site...

We will be posting our content & presentations in subsequent postings but for now: THANKS STEVE... To even be mentioned as being the highlights of such a symposium, with all of the talent there is a great and cherished honour!!!

-Hey, That's us!!!

USCArchitecture BIMposiums Summer 2012

Friends of LARUG,
If you are planning on being (in) LA this Summer, or already are here ;-) then you should be aware of the #BIMposiums being presented by USC Architecture ...BTW: tweet them up @USCArchitecture

Now that you are aware we hope to see you there/here!!!

Several of LARUG's Leadership Consortium & #BIMmodelingFluffyKittenKillas_LA will be speaking at Practical BIM 2012 (Check them & all the presenters out, on J's Blog) There are many of our local & international friends and colleagues participating so the value of these will be fantastic!!!

Here's a copy of a correspondence from Karen; one of our favorite Professors at USC, inviting everyone to join in... See you in July!!!

PRACTICAL BIM 2012, Friday July 13, 2012.  The 6th Annual USC BIM Symposium.  Building Information Modeling in architecture, engineering and construction. Best practices and case studies in collaboration, implementation, training, analysis and programming.   Thirty-eight presentations in two simultaneous tracks, taught by people who actually do BIM. The emphasis this year is on practical solutions.   $25 Registration fee. AIA CEU: 7 units.   Speaker list attached below. Further information and registration are online at:  http://www.uscarchitecture.com/bim

FACADE TECTONICS 8, June 28 - July 1, 2012.  Twenty-seven presentations over two full days (June 29-30), plus preconference meetings (June 28) and a post-conference walking tour of downtown Los Angeles facades (July 1).  Issues in the design, engineering, manufacturing, construction and operation of building enclosures. Materials, analysis, acoustics, case-studies, high-performance, design-processes, etc.  $195 Registration fee. AIA CEU: 10 units. Speaker list, further information and registration are online at: http://www.uscarchitecture.com/facades

EXECUTIVE EDUCATION: BIM AND PROCESS CHANGE: TESTED TECHNIQUES AND NEW INNOVATIONS.  Maximum of 25 participants.  Some of the most experienced BIM experts and practitioners in the Los Angeles area will present case studies to demonstrate how BIM works and what new innovations are being tested. You will also gain knowledge of client demands for BIM and review the open standards technology available for BIM and how it is being applied today.  $225 Registration fee. Includes breakfast, lunch and an evening networking reception. AIA CEU; 7 units.  Speaker list, further information and registration are online at: http://www.uscarchitecture.com/sessions/bim-and-process-change

Thanks!

Karen M. Kensek

School of Architecture

University of Southern California

Trying to Work in Revit WorkSharing files From Home, Sans Revit Server???

A Work at Home on 'Some' Worksharing Files Post bit.ly/KYTGhX Fun @RevitForum w/ Guest Star @Twiceroadsfool twitpic.com/9lfur1

— Jay B Zallan (@JayZallan) May 15, 2012

May 2012 Los Angeles Revit Users Group Meeting

This month's LARUG will again be hosted by & at RTKL's beautiful Downtown office, with special help by LARUG Leadership Consortium's own Joe Mendez (Thanks Joe!!!)... Is he & RTKL awesome, or what!!! YES.

LARUG May 16th 2012, 6-8:30pm+/-
RTKL
333 South Hope Street
Suite C200
Los Angeles, CA 90071

Parking is pay-to-play so read all the signs or better yet walk or mass commute!!! (If you can ;-)

So, what are we up to @LARUG in May?
Well, getting ready for #RTCAUS and #RTCUSA so you can plan on seeing more of what we will be sharing at those awesome conferences... You will still want to go to the RTC's since we cannot do all of the classes though!!!
Yes, this invitation is much like last month's but that is where the similarities of this LARUG meeting will end!!! This month's presentations will be one to Restructure your practice from and also one to Play Games with and soooo much more :-)

As you may know we are continually focused on helping make Los Angeles a leader in Revit & BIM, by bringing the best possible learning content for FREE!!!

Well free to you at least, due to our great sponsors: Microdesk, UsCad & Kelar Pacific, who we thank for their continued support!!! Perhaps one day #Autodesk will find it in their budgets to help support these meetings again, since we support them!!! Until then Extra thanks to the resellers and you!!! OK, OK, 'us' too ;-)

Cheers!!!

#BIMmodelingFluffyKittenKillas_LA

Revolutions & Open References: Model Out of Your Mind!!!

At the April 2012 LARUG Marcello Sgambelluri presented a new method for modeling or more apt: controlling objects in Revit. He presented the "Open Reference Method" (PART 1) below... Oh, BTW: In the posts, "What If" is a question...even though the statement is made that we never need use the Angle Dimension again; that is for you to decide...the best tool at the right time and all...

So now we have the old-school Angle Dimension method PLUS:
Ride The Rails Method
Open Reference Method
Revolution Method

This was awesome, for nothing if not showing that there is hiding functionality: namely the Arc Angle dimension (not the Arc Length) ...there is no tool for Arc Angle...it magically shows up when selecting a curved Reference Line...niiiiice.

Anyhow, after he posted this method there were some comments about this not spinning all 360° or that it breaks at 180°...well, as we said at the LARUG: a door with that hinge setup cannot in reality open to 180°, since there are door handles!!!

Well, it seems that even though that is true, Marcello took it on to make a similar rig that does rotate to any (yes ANY) angle and does not break & is very stable (PART 2) below. This is the Revolution Method.

If I may speak to all of LARUG and everyone in RevitLand: If you take nothing else from this outside of inspiration and a new way to think about 'problems' that would be great: to paraphrase one of MS's comments from last week:

'The day I stopped complaining about what the tools can do & how they do things and instead focused on how to get the work done, by using creative solutions and thinking a problem through; was the day I began to have breakthroughs'

'If you look at tools and functionality (even one's you'd like modified) as gifts you will be much more productive!!!'

I completely agree with that idea... There is 'gold' in everything, it's up to us to divine it!!!

I suggest we all take a page from that concept: Think, Try, Try Again Differently: Shampoo/Rinse/Repeat...

PART 1

PART 2

April 2012 Los Angeles Revit Users Group meeting

Keep an eye out...the cow is Soooo 2011 (although she looks great in 2013)... There is some cool shit going on & coming up so keep in touch!!!

See you @LARUG And remember it's FREE!!!

AUGIworld is in Print & J is in AUGIworld

I like pages 24-28 myself but all of the articles are nice as well...Yes, the image & red text are links.

Next month look for another collaboration from Marcello Sgambelluri & J highlighting some of the new features, new concepts and ...well you'll have to read that too!!! Marcello's part is awesome as usual.

Remember AUGIworld is now a print magazine again, so update your AUGI profile with a real name and address and email them to say you want the printed copy (if you do want it)!!!

It's awesome that the RTC ad is in the middle of my article... synchronous happenstance for sure... I think that's good for everyone!!! See you at RTCUSA... If you are going that is...

#LABIMmodelingFluffyKittenKillas

Come On LA, Get Vasari'd

Need I say more??? One never knows but these may get folded into our favorite BIM Authoring Platform, so if you haven't yet gotten up to speed on/in Vasari you had better...

Others are and you want to stay attractive to employers, right?

Awesome job ADSK!!!