Following
on from last week’s blog on Dynamo BIM I have had a number of requests on what
are the practical uses of Dynamo BIM.
Dynamo is so powerful its uses
are endless. In this blog I’ll describe some practical examples where it can be
used.
Some basic uses of dynamo are listed below
Renumbering
objects
Often rooms or doors/windows
need to be renumbered. This can be a time consuming task and you have the risk
of errors been made during renumbering. This process may need to be done
numerous times during a project.
A dynamo program can be written to
automate this task. Any time renumbering needs to be done you just run the
program again
Extract
Coordinate Data
One function I’ve always wanted
to do is extract coordinates of pile or column locations and place them in a schedule.
You can’t do it with native Revit but you can with Dynamo or buy an expensive
plug-in. The table below shows the extracted id and xy coordinates of objects
using dynamo
Import/Export
data to and from external programs such as Excel
This is a really useful function
with Dynamo. I don’t know how many times I have needed to communicate directly
with Excel. Exporting schedule data to excel allows third parties to change
data then that data can be reimported back into Revit. When the data is
imported not only will it update the schedule it will also update the geometry due to Revit’s
Bio-directional nature.
We work a lot with facilities
teams. With the ability to import data from Excel we have a method for
importing data from the facilities software. Saving time on a person having to
do it and reducing the risk of errors.
Adding
Elements in Revit
You can use Dynamo to add or
edit elements. Do you need to add columns or grids in Revit, this can be done
using dynamo. Alternatively data for the positions of objects can be read in
from an external program such as a spreadsheet.
Using
Maths, logic & Formulas
For the more advanced users dynamo
has a full range of features for complex calculations and maths. With nodes
such as the formula node
Conditional operators such as
if, while and loop functions.
The above example shows walls
within a certain tolerance are coloured. On the left the original model and on the right the model after the Dynamo program is run.
The above example places floors and
framing at different levels defined by the user
The above are just some sample
uses of Dynamo. You can mix and match all the above functions to solve multiple
problems in Revit or just to automate repetitive tasks.
Siscín will run Dynamo BIM workshops around Ireland and
the UK. If you would like to find out
more contact us at info@siscin.ie
If you have any questions on anything in this
blog or any other blog please feel free to contact me at dan@siscin.ie.
Dan Deery is the managing director of Siscín. Dan has over 20
years in the construction industry and has been using BIM since the mid 90’s.
He also worked as a programmer for a CAD software company. Siscín specialise in BIM Consultany. training & visualisation
and animation for the Infrastructure, Engineering, Construction, Facilities and
Architectural industries. Check out our Website www.siscin.ie
