Description
Key Learnings
- Learn about achieving rebar-detailing efficiencies, including "single click" detailing to members, using the RebarCAD 3D Smart Detailer.
- Learn how to create production output files by release for the major fabrication systems and automatically lock the modeled rebar.
- Learn how to implement quality control to 3D rebar models and create, issue, and manage bar lists with the integrated bar list manager.
Speakers
- LHLee HaddrellLee Haddrell EngTech TIStructE TMICE Technical Support Engineer and RC Detailer Lee's passion for drawing from a very young age led him to study technical drawing at school using a drawing board. This proved to be the perfect foundation to learn how to use AutoCAD and CADS RC to create construction drawings for projects, while working as part of a Bridges and Civil Structures team for a multi-disciplinary Engineering Consultancy in the UK. Lee studied Civil Engineering at Thames Valley University and then combined his qualifications and industry experience to achieve professional accreditation with the Engineering Council, Institution of Structural Engineers, and the Institution of Civil Engineers as a Technician member. Working for a Structural Engineering Consultancy as a Technician Engineer, Lee broadened his experience by working on a wide variety of building designs for both domestic and industrial structures, comprising traditional masonry construction, steel frames and reinforced concrete framed buildings, among other designs. Learning to use Revit, Lee produced 3D structural models for building projects to create the structural plans, sections and schedules to quantify the required structural components. Working for CADS for the past 5 years, Lee offers technical support and product training to customers using our rebar detailing family of programs. He enjoys enabling others in the industry to achieve their potential while using CADS software programs. Additionally, he works closely with the development team to test newly developed software features and offer suggestions based on industry experience.
- JKJOHN KUNNIL KOCHUMMENJohn Kunnil Kochumen is an experienced Product Manager at CADS, overseeing the development of leading detailing products such as CADS RC3D and RebarCAD 3D. With over 30 years of diverse experience in civil engineering, industrial engineering, and software development, he has contributed to projects across India and Saudi Arabia. John holds an ME in Structural Engineering from Sathyabama University, AMIE in Civil Engineering from the Institution of Engineers (India), a Diploma in Concrete Technology and Design of Concrete Structures from Annamalai University, and a Certification in Project Management from PMI. Over the past 22 years, John has played a key role in the development of several civil and structural engineering software solutions at CADS.
LEE HADDRELL: Hello and welcome to RebarCAD 3D for Revit, making detailing efficiency a reality. My name is Lee. I'm a technical support engineer and RC detailer at CAD software and I've been detailing reinforcement for approximately 25 years, working on a wide variety of projects. I started my career working for a bridges and civil structures team for a multidisciplinary engineering consultancy based in the UK and then for a number of years, a structural engineering consultancy working on a variety of building designs.
Now, you may be more familiar with some of our other detailing programs. Certainly in North America, perhaps RebarCAD for AutoCAD and we've now added RebarCAD 3D for Revit, and perhaps for the rest of the world, CADS RC for AutoCAD and now RC 3D for Revit.
Now, we first attended Autodesk University in 2018 to demonstrate our new product, RebarCAD 3D for Revit. Six years on, we're back again, this time to demonstrate the efficiency of RebarCAD 3D over plain Revit. Now what do I mean by that?
Well, let me make myself clear. I'm not here to explain how much quicker it is to detail Rebar in 3D compared to 2D, something we are asked all the time. So I'll save you the trouble. RebarCAD 3D was written to make detailing in Revit achievable, meaning we have added to the existing tools in Revit to complete the detailing package.
Now, this is a program written by detailers for detailers to help take away the fear of moving away from a different platform. Now, some Rebar places have adapted their working practices, moving away from paper drawings and moving to the use of tablets on site. Now on a tablet, you can pick a single bar and it highlights the entire bar set, which makes it a lot easy-- a lot easier and efficient and more accurate when it comes to placing Rebar.
Therefore, the purpose of my presentation today is to demonstrate the efficient processes that you can apply to your construction projects in Revit using RebaRCAD 3D. And to do that, I've split the presentation down into three simple sections, starting with RebarCAD 3D introduction. This is where I'll explain what the program is, how to use it, and understand a little bit about why we created the program.
Second section, we'll look at some of the detailing efficiencies. This is where we'll look at all the learning objectives of the presentation today. And then we'll move to a plan of action, which is basically how to find out more, if you like what you see. Then of course, there's time for questions at the end.
OK, so what does RebarCAD 3D for Revit actually do? Well, in a nutshell, we provide Rebar detailers with the right tools to create 3D Rebar models, 2D shop drawings, associated bar lists and production output files in Revit quickly and efficiently, so you can complete your project, meet standard requirements and make a profit on the job while becoming the Rebar detailer everyone wants to use.
Now, why did we write the program in the first place? Well, it helps by understanding the problem in the first place. So let me set the scene.
You land a new project and you are required to complete all Rebar details in accordance with necessary detailing requirements. You must create bar lists for the project and generate production output files for fabrication. You must also satisfy the client and design engineers requirements and ideally make a profit in the process. But here's the catch the client requires the job to be done in 3D using Revit.
Maybe your thought first thought is, I already have a system that works and I've never needed a 3D model. Or perhaps you consider the business options but need the work, so take the job. Maybe you wonder whether you have enough Revit knowledge to complete the job adequately or question whether Revit is up to the task. The last thing you want to do is under-deliver on your commitments.
Maybe you're thinking I shouldn't have to be a Revit expert to produce good work. Now, we understand your concerns, and we actually know how it feels to detail Rebar in Revit. We have a team of detailers producing Rebar details for projects in both 2D and 3D for clients across the world. We know the frustration and challenges that you may face to get the job done, and it is out of that frustration that we have created the necessary tools that you need to successfully complete the project using Revit and RebarCAD 3D.
Now, just to give a little explanation and an example here, this is a project that we worked on London College of Fashion with a fully detailed, reinforced model. Now, you can see the building there. This particular project had exposed concrete finishes. So the finishes had to be to a premium standard. And there were some very peculiar shapes, particularly Rebar shapes, in this project.
If I just move to the here, we've got an example on the left of the reinforce. reinforced model showing the curved wall and the stairs and then on the right, the finished product afterwards. And move on, so we've got some tapered columns as well, just to show those in the Rebar model.
And really to emphasize the complexity of some of the shapes on this, you can see the elliptical openings in the photo on the right hand side and some of the curved stairways cascading down the opening there. And then, of course, the image on the left shows the Rebar model and how with using the model in Revit, we were actually able to detail all of these curved bars that the guys on site were able to work in conjunction with the 3D model in order to fix these.
And I've got another here just to really illustrate some of the curves that were actually present for this stairway. And you may be thinking, what about other types of structure. Well, we're increasingly asked to undertake many forms of civil structures as well as building structures, bridges, retaining walls, tunnels, that sort of thing.
And sometimes we're asked to redetail complicated structures in 3D, even though they've already been detailed in 2D. And the reason for that is to use the 3D model, one to make sure it works before arriving on site, but also to prevent delays and provide efficient Rebar placement, particularly for the complex areas of Rebar.
So why choose RebarCAD 3D? Well, I've got four very quick points here before we move on to the demo. So achieved increased efficiency, and that's what my main focus today is going to be on, All the many functions that we've added for detailer tools to enhance your Revit detailing experience and of course, provide efficiency in the process.
No black box. What does that mean? Well, the way we've written the program is that it will use all native Revit functionality, and it has full transparency, by the way that it's written. So nothing is locked and entombed. The Rebar isn't entombed. And the advantages with that is even though you can create the model using Revit and RebarCAD 3D, you can share that more easily with your colleagues and with others on the job and on the project without the requirement for additional licenses.
And then a comprehensive software solution that works. We don't only program software, we have a team of Rebar detailers as well, successfully reinforcing projects across the world. And we actually use this software. It's what we do for a living. A wise man once told me it's like buying the winner's car at a race. We know it works.
And then, of course, fantastic support. Now, I would say that I'm part of our technical support department. But that's exactly it. We have a technical support department. So any queries, even if it's on the job and you need us to connect remotely, we're more than happy to run through the issues you face.
We always maintain an open dialogue with our customers and we welcome requests for new features and improvements. We also provide tutorials and regular free webinars as well as providing free trials upon request. So let's get to the detailing efficiencies.
So this is where we're going to look at some examples to run through some of the efficient processes that we've managed to implement. Now, you may notice the photo inset on the left-hand side there. We've got a photo of a guy on site using a tablet in order to check the Rebar, how it has been placed and obviously to fix the Rebar itself.
Now, I also want to bring your attention to the guy's gloves. He's had to adapt them in order to use them adequately with a tablet on site, but perhaps room for improvement for PPE. But I think that just emphasizes a different way of working. Now, we have found that some have adapted to use-- to no longer need 2D drawings when placing Rebar on site, instead choosing the interactive 3D model using a tablet.
There's a whole host of reasons for this. You can pick on a single bar and it'll show you the whole run of bars and where they should be placed. It's very easy to check from-- quick and efficient. Often as well, due to the complex Rebar and the ability for clash checks and obviously checking the construction sequence prior to arriving on site.
Now, if considering using a 3D model, it is really important to know firstly, what the client wants or do they know what they want. If not, it is really important to have a consultation with them very early in the project to establish expectations right at the start.
How will the 3D model be used? Questions like these-- would it be for the maintenance of the building afterwards. We found this was essential for military and nuclear and governmental projects. Will your Rebar be used for clash checking, perhaps using a third party software to clash detect. Is it necessary to populate all concrete elements in the Rebar model, or can you reinforce just one and multiply them up in the bar list, a bit like you can using 2D drawings?
Now, these are all questions that will determine the level of detail that you need to get the job done. So just before I run through the demonstration here, what we've got is the learning objectives that I'll be covering today. So that's achieved. Rebar detailing efficiencies, that's what I'm just getting to now, implement quality control and manage bar lists, create production output files for fabrication, and of course, produce the shop drawings using configurable annotation tags.
So now, I'm just going to flick over to Revit. OK, here's the first example that we have. So firstly, what I've got here is, as I've just said, understanding the requirement of the 3D model enables you to apply different efficiencies when it comes to detailing the Rebar. So if you need to add all the Rebar to all members, here, we've got just a single pad. You can use functions like copy Rebar host to host and pick from the reinforced host to the next and so on, irrespective of its orientation, and it copies and applies that Rebar cage to the next host.
Now, it is dependent on the constraints of the Rebar from the original host. But once it's copied, it does take constraints onto the cover lines of the new host, such that if you change the host size there, you'll see the Rebar cage does adapt with it. So it maintains the native Revit functionality of the Rebar.
Now, placing Rebar, sorry-- so changing sizes. I will demonstrate another option to place Rebar cages. That will follow shortly. But placing Rebar in every structural element can overload the model, increasing its model size, and can potentially make it difficult to manage. So really you do need to ask, ask yourself, do you really need to do this. Or ask the client, and make that clear right from the start.
If you don't need to populate all elements, you can use a tool that we've added called count override. Now, this works very similar to the 2D system that we have for AutoCAD, where you simply add a multiplier to a host. So you reinforce one, you add an override and it will multiply up in the bar list.
So here, if I pick this host, let's give that a host mark, which is simply a name of a piece of concrete. Let's give it a reference P1. And then before we create the bar list here, I'm just going to run through the creation of the shop drawing. And the reason for that is because we then assign the Rebar to the shop drawing and then create the bar list from that.
So I'm going to go to a plan view of the drawing now. So here's the same pad that I was just looking at in the 3D model. Now we've added some automated annotation tools, which enable you to either pick the host or some of the Rebar to automatically annotate those in a configurable way.
So if I pick annotation, now, here's the three options. I can pick the host. So that's the concrete pad, pick the Rebar or select grouped Rebar. If I pick host, pick the pad and finish. And automatically, that has placed annotations. We've got range lines on here and all of this maintains Revit functionality to adjust them afterwards.
These are configurable tags. They can be preset in your configuration in what we call the project settings. I don't have time to run through that today, but perhaps something that we can have a look at in a bit more detail another time. OK, so we've got the presentation and some annotations called up there in plan. I can do the same for a cross section.
I have exactly the same options to either pick the host or if I go to a tick and tag here, I can select the host or I can select the Rebar end and just pick a single bar to add some bar references on there. And then, of course, we want to add the bars around bar runs in cross section there as well.
So if I pick Rebar ref, place, pick the bar and then pick a point directly above it. I've now got lots of options. If I pick first and last bars, that will place just two references and then pick finish. After these are placed, again, they can be stretched about the same way, using the grips, as you can in native Revit.
OK, so now we've got the shop drawing created. What we need to do is assign the Rebar to this drawing sheet. And as you can see there, it's sheet number 120. So I'm going to go back to the 3D view.
And let's Zoom in on our pad. So here, I'll come up to assignment and go drawing sheet, select the Rebar and then pick finish. And what pops up is a little dialog with a dropdown menu where I can choose the drawing sheet, so sheet 120. Pick OK. And now the Rebar has been assigned to that drawing sheet.
Now I've assigned it to the drawing sheet, I can use the count override before I create the bar list. So if I pick count override, change the filter at the top, and here you can filter by all or drawing sheet or release. So we're creating the bar list based on drawing sheet. So I'm going to pick drawing sheet, specify the drawing sheet here, 120.
Then you can see we've got the member name. That's the P1 reference that I gave it. There's one modeled in the project. And let's put a multiplier of say, 50 in total that we want to appear in the bar list. Pick OK. And now, we can create the bar list to show that.
So first, we need to go to the bar list manager. Let's go Show. So here we pick Create. We want a bar list or schedule.
I need to add a format of my schedule in here. So what we've got is project settings. Let's pick on that. This will open up a separate dialogue of all our project settings. So here, one of the tabs, we've got template and sorting. Now you can see that I've got a list of loaded templates in the table in the center, but I've not actually specified a template in the top.
So if I pick bar list template, that will now use this template in order to generate that schedule. Now, these templates, they are RST files, Revit schedule template files. However, they can be customized using Excel.
So down in the bottom left corner here, there are some Excel output templates, both for the bar list but also the weight report or a weight summary report. Each of these can be customized simply using Excel, so they're really, really simple to modify.
Now, I'm going to pick OK. Now, I've applied that, and then we go Create. Here we go. So now I can bring the settings dialog over. So firstly, we've got again another filter, filter by drawing sheet or however you're creating your bar lists, but in this case, by drawing sheet. Pick the drawing sheet in the table and then make sure if you're using a count override, you pick use count override. And then pick OK.
So that will then create your bar list as shown. And as I mentioned, these can be-- the format for this can be easily customized. And although we've got only one pad reinforced in the model, you can see the quantity of bars there have been multiplied up by the 50 that we specified.
Now, if I close that and we head back to the drawing sheet or the shop drawings, sorry, what I can do here is let's go to Schedule. Show schedule, which brings up the bar list again. And what I can do now is go Place and I can place that on the shop drawing as well. And then let's close that one down.
Here we go. Let's just move that into a sensible place. So we've now got the bar list hosted on or placed on the shop drawing as well.
Now, another note just to add to this before we move on is, if you prefer to use partitions, you can adjust the setting in project settings to use the override for partitions instead of by host count, if that's a preferred option for you. So count override applies a multiplier for a specified host to achieve the correct quantity of Rebar shown in the bar list. Saving time, obviously, and making you far more efficient to get the job done.
OK, next, what we would look to do is to create a release. So I'm going to go back to the 3D view here. Now, if I were to assign the bars here to a release, first, I need to create a release.
Now we've got to manage on the assignment panel up here. Manage release. Here, what you can do is add and then specify a release number. Let's say R2 for this one. And just call that release two.
That's created, the release by the specified name, of course. Pick OK. Then I can assign, so we go back to the same dropdown menu. Assign release. Pick the Rebar and then pick . Now I can choose the release from the dropdown menu. Let's say R1 and pick OK. And that has assigned those bars to the named release.
Next, we would look to order those materials, and produce the production output files. So to do that, we go simply order materials and then choose from the format that you need. So here we've got format options available-- BVBS, ASA, ASARDX, [INAUDIBLE] XML or SLE, and still pack output as well.
So I'm going to pick-- I'm just going to pick ASA there. And what you'll get that pops up is a production output dialog. Here, you can then tick the release that you're about to order. You need to specify a unique drawing number. And then pick OK.
Here on the column on the left-hand side, You must make sure you populate all of those that have asterisks next to the values. So here we need a job number. And then pick outside of the cell. And once they're all populated, OK, we'll be active. Then you can pick OK. Now, the output file has been generated and saved.
Firstly, though, if I zoom in on the pad that we've assigned, pick on one of the bars here, you may notice that the properties on the right-hand side are all grayed out. You can't modify. I can't pick in any of these to change anything to do with any of these bars, and I cannot change even the Rebar type that is specified for it either. And the reason for that is when you order the materials-- let's just go up to manage release.
When you order the materials for release one, notice the two columns here on the right-hand side, one for freeze and one for ordered. So this will not only order and create the production output files automatically, but it does automatically freeze and lock the Rebar in its current position. Now, what do I mean by that. Well, it locks it in place to a greater extent than pin.
We did find that with some of the constraints set, some bars did update, so by freezing and locking them in place using this option, you can be confident that no changes will occur to release Rebar unless of course, you want it to. If you do, then you need to come back unorder by unticking this option and then untick the freeze option. Pick OK. There we go.
So please note that frozen Rebar has now been unfrozen. So if I now pick on this bar here, I will be able to make changes as before. But unless you go through that process, you will not be able to make changes to those released Rebar.
So with RebarCAD 3D, you can create the releases, the generate the production output files, all with just a few clicks and automatically freeze the Rebar that is released. Now, copy host to host and count override both require the Rebar to be detailed in the member first. And as I mentioned earlier, we have another method of placing Rebar cages.
Now, we're going to go through that. And that's using smart detailer. So for that, I'm going to go to a different view. Here we've got a fairly basic concrete frame and a couple of pads, and we're going to use smart detailer.
Now, smart detailer applies Rebar to a member using pre-defined Revit templates. Now, this allows the detailer to reinforce a member in the model with a single click based on those predefined templates. And the templates are really simple to customize. They are just standard Revit templates.
So if I come up to smart detailer, first thing to notice as it opens in the panel here on the right, at the top, you've got a pulldown menu for the category. Currently here, we have beam, column, pad, slab edge and wall. But provided you have a structural host, you can customize these and apply them using your own Revit templates. So these are adaptable.
So if I now go to Pad Footing. And what you will have is a list here of all the images of templates. So in this case, there's only one. So I'll pick this template, choose whether a line-- whether I wish to align by host or by face. Pick apply.
Now, that loads the template, ready to be used in the model. And then I simply pick the pad and it will place the bars. And then let's pick the second one here as well. And it doesn't look like it's done much at the moment. So I'm going to press Escape. And the reason for that is because we can't see through concrete. It's not transparent.
So let's pick visibility, another tool we've added, and Show All. Now, this will make the reinforcement prominent above the concrete, so we can see. And there we go. We've got the pad reinforcement. And in fact, starter bars as per the template used here.
Now, I can change the category this time. Let's pick Column. Pick this top template here, align by host and apply. Now I can pick the two columns. And then let's change the category to beam. Take a beam template, aligned by host, apply, again, that loads the template and then I can pick each of these in turn to place the Rebar.
So now if I go Rebar, visibility show all. There we go. We've got all the bars placed. And if you pick on any of these, these are just the same standard Revit ranges of bars. So there we go. We've got all the bars placed based on the template.
Now, it is really important when creating and modifying the templates, that you pay close attention to the constraints that are applied. Because what you can do is use smart detailer and apply that to varying sized hosts and using the template, it will adapt the Rebar accordingly, but it will be dependent on the constraints. So making sure the constraints actually are set in the template correctly is of utmost importance. And then, of course, you can enjoy the efficiencies to whiz around your model with a few pics and get an awful lot of detailing done very, very quickly.
Now, we are looking to add further functionality to smart detailer, things like the ability to change bar centers, steel grades and bar types and so on. However, even though at the moment when you place those Rebar cages, if you do need to make changes, it's a case of zooming in and adapting the Rebar that you've got placed in the current model. You are still way ahead of the game in terms of efficiency and actually applying and reinforcing the structure in the first place. So in summary then, you can build your own library of templates using smart detailer or to use, sorry, to use smart detailer to apply to your model, and of course save time on the modeling, the actual modeling of Rebar in your current model and ideally get the job done more quickly and efficiently.
Now, I mentioned earlier, we have an open dialogue with our customers. For example, we were receiving multiple requests for tools to overcome some challenges our customers were facing when detailing circular structures like wind turbine bases and tanks and things like that. Some of the solutions required included the ability to use shape driven Rebar instead of freeform Rebar for curved structures, setting out curved Rebar at specified centers, and splicing sorry bars along a curved path.
And as a result, we've added a number of tools to help. One of which is the circular bar detailer. So let's go to--
Here we go. So what I've got is a wind turbine base, and I've already placed some of the Rebar here, but I've only placed half. So you can actually see more clearly where the bars are and hopefully be able to see what I'm pointing at on the screen. Sometimes, though, it is really difficult to manage some of the views with all the bars in place. And one of the tools, which I've already used for visibility, but I just want to emphasize how important and helpful this can be.
Now I can pick hide all and then carry on adding new bars without the other Rebar showing or show all, which brings them all back. But I think one of the most highly used options here is by layer. So you can assign a Rebar layer to the bars, and then tick which bars you wish to see and untick which bars you don't. So you can very quickly manipulate the view that you're looking at just by turning bars on and off by Rebar layer.
Now, it's a great tool and it's an absolute time saver. And it really does help. But it does mean you need to be in good practice of actually assigning the Rebar layers to bars that you add to the model as you're working through it.
So I'm going to go to a structural plan view here. And what we're going to look to do is place circular or curved bars that are spaced concentrically at a specified center. So we're looking, obviously, a [INAUDIBLE] plan, a wind turbine base. And for that what we're going to use is circular bar detailer.
So I'm going to pick that on the ribbon. Pick the host. And now here, we select the Arc Edge. So that's this edge here. And pick the first point. So I'm going to start from here and work all the way around. I'm going to stop at 180 degrees, but you can keep going. Do the full 360. You can stop short at any point. I'm going to say 180 there. And then pick the direction of the bars. So I want them to be in the upper half up here.
And then what we get is the circular bar detailer dialog. So it does start to populate some information, but you're not governed by that, so you can adapt and input the required information in here. For example, the inner radius, I'm going to put something in there, let's say 10 foot. And the outer radius for those bars, let's say 50 foot for those. And then specify a spacing. Let's just do one foot spacing.
Now, in the top right, what we've got here is the option to tick for both the top and bottom faces. So you can add the bars in the top and bottom face at the same time. And you can also specify-- let's just keep top on for now. And you can also specify a cover offset to those bars. So let's just put let's see, 3, 3 inches in there, shall we.
OK, next then, we specify the actual Rebar type. So let's pick a sensible size bar there [INAUDIBLE] for number 8 and let's increase the concrete grade to 5,000. Now, the reason we define these is because according to the Rebar type and the concrete grade, as I'm sure you are well aware of, the lap length will differ accordingly. And if what we've got here on the left-hand side, this is the prompted lap length based on a number 8 bar with the concrete grade set as such based on a standard lap.
Now, if I change that to, let's say, a tension [? poor ?] lap, that will increase that lap length or let's say compression poor, again, it's increased further. So what we've got in the background is a table of values set in project settings based on Rebar type and concrete grade in order to define what these lap lengths should be. Now, this is a suggested lap length. You can overtype this and put whatever lap length you require in there.
So I'm going to say standard lap and let's go ahead with that. Now, at the bottom here, you can see we've got splice is ticked. And what that means, it will play-- the circular bar detailer will place a curved bar based on the stock lengths defined in here. Obviously, will differ the closer it moves to the center of the circle, but also considering a transport width limit. Obviously, it needs to fit on a flat bed truck in order to get them to site. But by ticking splice, the program will splice and lap those bars and fit as many stock lengths in as possible and then have a run out at the end, which brings me on to toggle start point.
So if I move this just out the way a little bit, you can see the magenta arrowhead there. This is the starting point for the measurement of those stock bars that run around the circle, will be spliced, lapped, and then another one added, and keep going until the end of the point that you've specified. If I pick toggle, You can see that's now flipped to the other side there.
Let's toggle that back and then I'm going to just pick create. Now, what we found as an alternative, the only method there was to set out each one of these circular bars one at a time for each of the concentric circles. So you can imagine how long that will have taken. Whereas if I zoom in here, let's pick this out a bar. So we've got 40 foot bar here. Let's see-- the 30 foot and then 20 foot.
So you can see as we move closer, the bars have, in fact, been detailed, placed, spliced and lapped and set out based on the specified centers. And if I just go to this cross section through here, if I zoom in, obviously, we've got a wind turbine base, so the top face of that is actually sloped. And the program has taken that into account and actually placed them following that slope top face there.
So let's go back to the 3D view of that, shall we? So visibility, show. And I've obviously turned some layers off here, but you can see these curved bars that I've got placed now, spliced and lapped. And if I now choose to bring the others on as well by layer, we can tick these on here. So you can see the new bars have been added. In fact, if I just pick unassigned, OK.
Right. So these are the new bars that we've just placed. And what we want is to add a Rebar layer to that. So I'm going to pick rebar layer. By selection, pick those bars. Pick finish. And then you specify whatever layer you like.
These are in the T2 layer. Pick OK. Now, I can continue using the visibility by layer function and pick which layers I wish on, wish to have on or off.
There's the bars there.
Now, unfortunately, we at the moment, we don't have a radial detailer or radial bar detailer. So all the bars running around the circle, all of these u-bars and so on, I've had to set out using native Revit functions, but we are working on it and it is something we're looking to add soon.
So circular bar detailer places the curved bars, setting them out concentrically at specified centers automatically. Additionally, you can add them both to the top and bottom faces at the same time. Now, another circular detailing request that we received was to splice and lap the bars along a curved path.
Now, to demonstrate that I've got a curved bridge deck example here. And all I've done is I've just placed some free form Rebar following the surface of the underside of the deck here. Now, if you think about the position of the lap when splicing these bars, you would want them to follow the curvature of the bridge deck.
What we've got is just some free form bars here. So let's close smart detailer, so we can see what we're doing. Let's pick this bar, and you can see here, we've got some free form Rebar and there we go. There's the shape there. So it only pulls them up as shape zero zero. So straight bars only, even though they're obviously not just straight bars. It's such a powerful tool with using freeform that you can just select the surfaces and set out a lot of bars very quickly. But what we've managed to add to that, let's go to a plan view really quick.
Here, we've got a plan view and all I've done is just add a detail line here and here's our freeform Rebar following that curve around. This is just a native Revit detail line, which has enabled us to then draw a nice curved line. Now, using the RebarCAD tools, what I can do is go to the Lap Line dropdown menu. And I can convert that detail line to a staggered or normal lap line.
So if I pick the line there, pick, finish. That's now changed this to a staggered lap line, which enables me to use the splice tools that we have. So if I pick splice, two options available straight lap or crank lap. Now, straight lap assumes the bars will be spliced and lapped in the same layer. And crank lap adds like a dog leg to one of the bars, so it can sit in the next layer up or down.
So I'm going to say straight lap, pick the Rebar, pick finish. And that opens the Rebar splice dialogue. First thing to do here is pick the Select Lap Lines button in the bottom left. So if we do that and pick this lap line and then pick finish.
Now, it's quite a similar format to what we've just looked at in the circular bar detail. But at the top, you've got concrete grade and obviously we've selected the Rebar. So the program knows that it's bar type already. So you can then choose your lap length, you can choose a lap offset. So a staggered lap takes the center line of the lap line, and then for alternate bars, will place the lap either side of that lap line running all the way along its length.
So I'm just going to put a 1 foot lap offset in there and I'll show you what that means, when the function has been performed. OK. Stagger Rebar in same place. Now, this is a tick option, yes or no. What that means is although I'm using a staggered lap line, what I can have is the laps appearing to one side or alternate.
So if I untick that, what I'll do is I'll show you how that appears in the model. And then there's an option here, split by stock length. Now, this isn't an option that I wish to apply in this instance, but we do have the added capability. Let's say you had a particularly large slab, you can split bars by stock length by specifying the stock length in here, select all the Rebar. Let's say you want all the bars to be 20 foot bars, for example. You can enter that value in here and it will automatically run around and splice and lap all the bars within a few seconds for you. That's not an option I'm looking at, so I'm going to untick that here and then pick OK.
Now, if I zoom in, I can show you the bars. So here can you see every other one increases and decreases in length. So we've got alternate bars here and then same the other side as well. So the lap position alternates one side to the other.
So if I just go to a back to a 3D view, and visibility show all. Now, I can see the bars. So let's zoom in. Now, if I pick this bar here, let's look in properties, that is still a shape zero zero, so a straight bar. And what we want really is for that to be assigned to the appropriate shape code.
OK. At the moment, that is still a free form bar, which means it will show as a straight bar in your bar list. However, if we go to the RebarCAD 3D tools to convert that, we can pick convert free form. Let's pick a few bars down here. And then pick finish.
Now, if I pick that bar, you can see in properties, it's now become a shape driven bar and the shape has been automatically assigned. Let's turn the previews on. Here we go. Automatically assigned to the associated shape for that bar.
Now, provided you have the shape code families in the current model, when you convert them, it will auto assign to the correct bar shape for you, obviously, all with just a few pips. So again, factoring in that efficiency that is really needed.
So in summary, you can splice and lap bars along a curved lap line, including freeform Rebar. Using the CADS convert tools, You can convert the Rebar into shape driven Rebar and automatically assign them to the associated shape codes.
The last example I'm going to run through is when we are looking at placing bars in Revit, there is nothing that stops you from placing bars that do not conform to any given detailing standard or configuration. Based on the standard that you work to, there will be minimum requirements for things like hook lengths, leg lengths, minimum and maximum stock lengths and so on. Now, these can all be set in project settings. I'll give a very quick indication here as to what we've got.
So let's find my-- I'm going to go back to my other view.
So let's bring up project settings.
Now, what we have here, we're going to have a look at the settings that you can assign or set up for your project, hence project settings. Now, if I pick import at the bottom here, what it will do is it will give me the option in the configuration, so global configuration. It will prompt me for a load of national settings. So I've got the UK or US imperial and metric settings that I can import as part of the project settings.
But what we have here, if I pick over to Rebar dims, this is where all the lap length information was coming from. And then obviously based on the bar type and concrete grade and then the minimum legs, Rebar leg minimums were in the second tab here. So these will be imported based on those settings files.
However, they are just tables of values. If for the current project you need something slightly different, perhaps increased hook lengths for seismic activity, what you can do is overtype any of these values to what's required and then pick export. You can output and save that settings file. So it can be shared among colleagues specifically for the project that you're working on.
Now, based on those settings, we want to make sure the Rebar and the model actually conforms to the standard we're working to. So if I pick audit, we can run checks on the Rebar in the model based on the scope that we set. So in current view or I can pick entire project. If I pick on the length tab, we can check for Rebar less than minimum or greater than stock length and any Rebar legs that are less than minimum length.
We can check for bars that are unassigned to a drawing sheet or unassigned to a release, so there aren't any rogue bars in the model. So let's pick unassigned to a release, shall we? You can also check for the annotation. So creating your shop drawings, you can check if there are any untagged Rebar or duplicate tags as part of the creation of those as well. And also check for frozen Rebar.
So now if I pick audit based on the scope and what I've selected to audit, let's just move the dialogue out the way a little bit and make it a little bit bigger to read. What it will do is find any bars according to the audit settings that we've just picked, and it will highlight them in the model. Now, this dialogue remains active and it's helpful to have on a separate screen to run through at the same time.
But as I pick to the next bar, it will pick up each of the bars and there's a failure reasons column on the right to tell me that the hook length is less than minimum or the Rebar is not yet assigned to a release. So that way you can fully audit and gain the quality control over your model that you really need.
Now, just to recap, these are the learning objectives that we have covered today. And these are some of the functions that we've used associated with those learning objectives.
Now, section three, this is the end of the presentation, is a plan of action. So what do I mean by a plan of action? Well, there's absolutely no way I can demonstrate everything about this program to you in the time allocated today. So what I've got if I pick to the next slide, is a plan of action.
So of course, you can contact us for a demo, buy and install a software and receive ongoing support. However, we are planning or I am planning to provide a two hour free webinar training webinar, where I can cover in a lot more detail the use of the program and the settings and how to customize schedules and all those kinds of questions I'm sure you have.
Feel free to sign up using the two QR codes here, firstly for North America and then obviously for the rest of the world. So two separate times and dates there. We will be recording these as well. So I'll be able to send that out to you afterwards also.
So now that brings me back essentially, to the beginning of my presentation. What does RebarCAD 3D do? Well, we provide Rebar detailers with the right tools to create 3D Rebar models, 2D shop drawings, associated bar lists, and the production output files quickly and efficiently, so that you can complete your project, meet standard requirements, and ideally make a profit on the job while becoming the Rebar detailer everyone wants to use.
Now, my question for you today is, when are you starting your Revit Rebar journey? Because when you do, please remember RebarCAD 3D. And if you have any questions whatsoever, please send them to support@cads.co.uk or of course, sign up or have access to our web page using the QR codes. Thank you very much for your time.