Tim Huff - Man, I didn't know Acrobat could do that!

 

I get asked this question alot, and I have to say it is very easy to get your Revit models into Acrobat 3D version 8. The question you have to ask yourself; do I need the BIM data, or is this just for review and mark up! Whoa, Tim, now you’re getting technical on us! Well, just sit back relax and let your ol’ buddy Tim step you through the process.

Ok, in Acrobat 3D version 7, it was a bit of a challenge to get your full Revit Models into it. But in version 8 we updated the Capture Routines to work better with Revit’s graphic sub system. ….Sub grap…syRev…..HUH! Well let me take a step back and give you a little technology back ground.

One of the coolest things about Acrobat 3D is the fact that you can make 3D PDF files from any 3D application on the planet! We have direct translators for many of the major 3D CAD packages such as Catia, Pro-E, UGS, SolidWorks, SolidEdge, Inventor, AutoCAD (yes, you can do 3D in AutoCAD), 3D Studio Max, Maya,…(For a full list Click Here) But, you may notice that the list is very heavy on the manufacturing side, so what about AEC and EPC formats? Well we are working on them, but in the mean time what do we do? As I was saying above, Acrobat 3D has a very cool technology called OpenGL Capture, what that means is any package that supports OpenGL, we can get the 3D data out of it! Very cool huh! That is the first method I will show you. Using OpenGL Capture to get your Revit 3D Model

 

 

Select the Settings button and you will see the 3D Capture Settings Dialog box, the Preset Name should say Autodesk Revit XXXXX(based on what version you have)

 

 

You will need to jump to the OpenGL tab and change the settings; to get the settings for Revit and other software packages please go here to get the latest and greatest! It can also be found by searching our Knowledge Base for Article 332661. Here are the settings for Revit. Note that you only have to do the set up the first time you capture from a new 3D application. After that the set up data is retained.

 

 

With that all done we can now get to the Capturing!

 

 

Ok so now close, Acrobat 3D and start Revit, load your model. Then start Acrobat 3D version 8. In Acrobat 3D go to FILE|CREATE PDF|FROM 3D CAPTURE this will start Acrobat waiting for something to grab. Go about your business in Revit, or at least rotate the model a few times. This will fill the OpenGL pipeline with data that Acrobat 3D can use. Once you have done that, HIT THE PRINT SCREEN button on your keyboard. Today, you get no indication that anything is happening, and it could take up to 60 seconds for Acrobat to come up with the Acrobat 3D Conversion dialog box but you will hear your hard drive become active as the data is written and the 3D data constructed.

 

 

In the Acrobat 3D Conversion Dialog box you will see a tabbed area that allows you to tune your import, in this workflow; I will be using the U3D format not PRC (I will discuss that one in another entry) So, on the General Tab you can set the back ground color, lighting, rendering style, Animation…, I suggest you create a small model and just experiment with these settings.

 

 

The Import tab allows you to select the format you wish to use, in the case as mentioned I will use the U3D format and keep it with a high resolution.

 

 

The Optimize tab will allow you to compress your model for size sake, again you will need to play with this to get your settings.

 

 

The Enhance Tab allows for Animation control, again this is for another post

 

 

And Transform, will allow you to manually rotate your model, set a scale and add custom units
Now just say Ok and you will get your 3D model in Acrobat 3D in about 30 seconds.

 

 

You have full control of the model, you can change lighting, create views, do mark-ups, cut sections (all will be covered in later posts) One thing to notice is the Model Tree. The OpenGL Capture will get all materials, colors, objects, really anything that is posted to the screen, but we lose the BIM data. So going back, that is why I asked what are you using the model for? If it is Mark-Ups, or visuals this is a perfectly fine workflow. But what if you need the BIM data? Well not to worry!

Did you know Acrobat 3D with the new version 8 will read in a Native DWF file? Well now you do, and with that, we can keep all the 3D metadata!
So to keep all the 3D Metadata, Publish a 3D DWF from Revit, then Drag and Drop the DWF file into Acrobat 3D

 

 

You will then get the model and all the associative data

 

 

And that’s it, sounded hard but was very easy! That’s it for this entry. To see a video of this process click here

Have fun and remember to keep some life in your life.
Tim Huff
Acrobat for AEC / EPC

 

Posted by at 2:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I was at one of the largest oil field tool provider today and things were going pretty good. We where discussing Acrobat 8 Professional, Acrobat 3D Version 8 and a little LiveCycle Policy Server, when a one of the ladies from the document group asked what I thought was a very simple questions…..How do you change the text style in a Text Box? Well I piped up and said…..

 

As I was saying, before I got rudely interrupted by the “Read More” link, I piped up and said, oh well that is easy, you just select the Text Box, Right Mouse Click, and go to Properties and it is right…….humm, well, maybe if we select the text then Right Mouse Click and go to Properties, it is….yeah there you go under Text Style just simply……UUUMMM, let me see Superscript, bold, no change font type! Well, now I’m starting to wonder, where the heck did that go? I remember I could do it before, so….what’s up? Well, sitting there in front of them, probably looking like a deer in headlights, I just swallow real hard and say the words I hate to say, “I DON’T KNOW!” Oh the pain! The humanity! I can believe they “Stumped the Chump” with a question about changing a font, not an explicit question about the metadata extraction from a 3D file or a question about linking a form to a SQL Database, but how to change a FONT! I lost some huge Nerd points here! But, as I drove to the airport, in a pool of tears, it came to me, what about the ol Ctrl E Properties tool bar? That has to be it! But, now comes the quandary, do I miss my flight or get my nerd points back…well a quick call to the airlines and the geek Gods are smiling on me and my flight is delayed! Well, I pull over on the highway, pull out the laptop and try my newly remembered solution. THAT’S IT, it worked, well, I promptly pull out the PDA and email the customer the solution.

Ahh Geek status replaced!

Here, let me show you what I mean:

I created a blank PDF and called up the Mark Up Tool Bar (see Video on how to do this), I then added a Text Box by selecting the Text Box tool and drawing a 2 point Rectangle.  I then typed some text for test.

Once here I tried all the Right Mouse Clicks I could think of. 
First I tried selecting the box and RMC I got Properties for the Text Box.  This is very useful in setting standards for your markup text boxes such as color, linetype, and being able to set it as the current property is very handy!  But no way to change the font type and color....Humm the search continues.....

Ahh yes, of course you must select the text then RMC, there it is Text Style, but denied again, I see Bold, Italic... but no way to change Font type, Starting to sweat now.

But a quick Dr. Pepper latter (you know a little caffine to clear the mind), I remembered the Ctrl Key Commands in Acrobat (click here to download a PDF of all the shortcuts), the Ctrl e function brings up the Text Box Text Properties.  Ahh Geek Nirvana! That's it, you can now change the font type color and other properties!

 

Well that was a fun one, remember to see a video of this click here and to download the PDF of the Keyboard shortcuts click here.  And as alway, put some life in your life, and keep the questions comming!

 

Thanks all

Tim Huff
Acrobat for AEC
Acrobat in the AEC and EPC industry

Posted by at 11:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

 

Yep, the big 2 hour Acrobat for AEC review is this Wednesday June 6! This has been a great series and really fun for me. These training video's will continue but will be more general, but, you will get some amazing information! Click to read more!

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Bonus 2-hour Recap Put them all together on June 6 at 10 am PT for a special 2-hour overview on the following 4 topics - exclusively for AEC professionals.

- Creating INTERACTIVE digital forms.

- Attaching forms to DATABASE WORKFLOWS.

- Using optical character recognition (OCR).

- PROTECT DESIGN and confidential information.

This will be the last one I do for a while, I will do a few of the general sessions, but, please search for Acrobat for AEC and EPC PODCast's and check out YouTube for some more videos from Me. You should be able to search YouTube for Tim Huff and get them that way as well. And as always I will be posting the videos here on this blog. To register for this webcast click here

Welp as always try to keep some life in your life, root for the US Men's National Soccer Team as they fight for the Gold Cup this week! Oh WAY TO GO GUYS 4-1 over China, it was a great game!

 

Peace!

Tim Huff

Acrobat for AEC and EPC

Posted by at 7:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)