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For more articles in creating complex family shapes in Revit, please check out my blog space at: www.clubrevit.com
Sneak Preview of Upcoming Revit Family Releases
For our second release of Revit families of kitchen and dining accessories, we are adding more commonly used appliances such as the following : food mixer (shown below), coffee maker, colander, plastic containers, place mats, assorted ingredient bottles, etc.
 
 
more...
 
Software, Books and Computers
DesignWorkshop

I credit my first exposure to 3D modeling to DesignWorkshop. Back in 1995, I was self employed and on the Macintosh computer platform using a 2D software called PowerCADD. To supplement my drawings with 3D models, I downloaded a trial copy of DesignWorkshop. In a matter of days, I was producing 3D models of my projects. I then went on to work for Douglas Teiger of Teiger Architects in Santa Monica, CA where I got to use DesignWorkshop extensively. Here’s a couple of images that are still posted at Artifice’s Gallery page:
 

1997 - 3D massing model of a movie theater (Arvada, Colorado) created for Behr-Browers Architects, Westlake Village, CA


1998 - Retail store (Main Street, Venice Beach, California) created for Teiger Architects, Santa Monica, CA

As you can see from these two images above, I have been incorporating a lot of details to my models already which made them stand out and look realistic.

Sketchup

My exposure to this software came from a colleague who contracted me to do massing studies for a proposed casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. With the knowledge I gained from DesignWorkshop, I bought Sketchup and was up to speed in a couple of days. Aside from the illustration below, I was able to do movies, walkthroughs and other views using Sketchup. 
 

2004 - 3d Massing of a Proposed casino in Las Vegas, Nevada

Revit

I am proud to credit my Revit exposure and experience to Friedmutter Group, a well known Las Vegas architectural firm specializing in casinos and other hospitality projects. It is with this company that I got my firsthand experience in BIM using Revit for construction documents and details. Aside from getting the chance to work on multi-million dollar projects, I had the privilege of working with world class Revit users.

At Gensler of Nevada, I was working on BIM projects side by side with the company’s top Revit experts.

Books and References

Numerous Revit books are available out there. Here are a few of the ones I constantly refer to for directions and ideas:
  • The Aubin Academy Master Series: Revit® Architecture 2011_by Paul Aubin
  • Mastering Revit® Architecture 2011_by Eddy Krygiel, Phil Read and James Vandezande
  • Introducing Autodesk® Revit® Architecture 2011_by P. Davis with C. Busa, B. Turner,S. Stafford
  • Revit® Architecture 2010_No Experience Required_by Eric Wing
  • Mastering Revit® Architecture 2010_by Greg Demchak, Tatjana Dzambazova and Eddy Krygiel
  • Mastering Autodesk® Revit® Building_by Paul F. Aubin
  • Revit® Structure 2010_by Thomas Weir, Jamie D. Richardson and David J. Harrington
Internet Sites

Thanks to the internet, we have tons of sites dealing with Revit which are too many to mention here. They are a source of information as well as inspiration in my everyday work. I also constantly purchase books dealing with 3D modeling, building construction and detailing.

Computer Setup

Dell Studio XPS 16 Laptop:
T9550 (2.66 GHz/1066 Mhz FSB/6M L2 Cache); 4 GB DDR3, 1067 MHz 2 Dimm for XPS 1640; ATI Mobility RADEON HD 3670 – 512 MB; 500 GB 5400 RPM SATA Hard Drive; Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit Edition
24” LG Flatron W2486L External Monitor
Epson Artisan 710 Muliti Purpose Colored Printer
HP Pavilion Elite HPE-270F Desktop PC
Intel Core i7-930 Processor (2.8 GHz, 1 MB L2 Cache + 8MB Shared L3 Cache, Intel X58 Express  Chipset); 24 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM memory; Two-1 Terabyte (7200 RPM) Serial ATA hard drives; Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner with LightScribe  Technology; ATI Radeon HD 5770 graphics card with 1GB DDR5 dedicated graphics memory, HDMI, dual-link DVI,  display port, and VGA capabilities; 
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit Edition
24" LG W2486L monitor
BOXX 4920 XTREME
Intel i7 Six Core Enhanced Performance Processor (4.5 Ghz); 32GB DDR3 1600 (8 DIMMS); NVIDIA Quadro 4000 2GB; 256 GB SSD SATA 6Gb/s; 180 GB SSD SATA 6Gb/s; 20X Dual Layer DVD±RW Writer; Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Edition 64−Bit; 1 Terabyte (7200 RPM) Serial ATA hard drive
2 - BENQ EW 2420 monitor
Navigation Devices:
 
SpacePilot PRO by 3Dconnexion
SpaceMouse Pro by 3Dconnexion
SpaceExplorer
SpaceNavigator
SpaceNavigator for Notebooks
 
Autodesk® Software

Autodesk® Building Design Suite, Premium 2013
Autodesk® Building Design Suite, Premium 2012
AutoCAD®
AutoCAD® Architecture
AutoCAD® MEP
AutoCAD® Structural Detailing
Autodesk® Showcase®
Autodesk® SketchBook® Designer
Autodesk® Revit® Architecture
Autodesk® Revit® MEP
Autodesk® Revit® Structure
Autodesk® 3ds Max® Design
Autodesk® Revit® Architecture Suite 2011
Autodesk® Revit® Architecture Suite 2010 
 
Testimonials
"I have heard several Revit content developers talk about level of detail in the past, but clearly Little Details Count has raised the bar. I manage thousands of Revit families and have talked with hundreds of Revit family developers. Never have I seen such detailed and complete families as the ones found here. It is great that we have finally found content that we know is 100% accurate to the specs provided".

Lonnie Cumpton
BIM9.com


"As with most things these days, there is an abundance of information that can be found on the internet. Revit has fallen into that category these days also. So finding quality Revit info and content is important. There are some excellent Revit content providers out there and clearly Little Details Count is one of them, if not the best. Though the quality of the content is fantastic, what sets this site above is their willingness to share quality info on family content construction methods as with this example titled: Carrel Family.
 
You'll want to bookmark this site, for new content purchases and learning."

Coreed
RevitCity Moderator
 
Our Revit Families and Formats
The intent of our products is to quickly “accessorize” Revit renderings, views and walkthroughs in the final stages of a project. All families can be edited and their materials and colors changed. We had chosen to create them as face-based families so they can easily be placed in any view without specifying levels. They attach easily to any surface and can be re-hosted. Here are a few products scheduled for future releases:
  • Part-2 of Kitchen and Dining Accessories
  • Part-2 of Casino Furniture and Equipment
  • Music Instruments
  • Office Accessories
  • Bar Accessories
  • Health Facilities Equipment & Accessories 

File Formats:
 
Since there is no backwards compatibility, we created our Revit families with Revit Architecture 2009. They are also available in the current version of Revit Architecture 2010. After the release of version 2011 slated by the March 2010, we are no longer going to support version 2009. 
 
Holman's of Nevada Welcome Message
Little Details Count is fortunate to have Mr. Joe Schmidt of Holman's of Nevada, Inc. give a welcome message to this website. Holman's of Nevada is the number one Autodesk® reseller and training center in the State of Nevada. Joe is the Vice President of the CAD Services Business Unit at Holman's.
 

From Joe Schmidt:
 
"Michael is a leader in 3D modeling and design technology. He has a love and ambition for creating impressive, detailed 3D models along with a personality that makes him a delight to do business with. Michael has the ability to adopt to new processes and technology quickly so he can stay on the leading edge. The line of Revit families he has created are top notch in terms of quality and functionality. We are truly fortunate to have access to the best casino families on the market!"
 
Joe Schmidt
Vice President
Holman’s of Nevada, Inc.
 
(702) 777-2050
www.holmansnv.com