Revit Architecture 2009

Here's waht you can expect to see in Revit Architecture 2009:

Dimension Enhancements
Revit Architecture 2009 makes documenting your designs even easier. With new dimension capabilities, users can dimension to intersections and arc centers. New dimension text formatting enables users to apply common text effects, such as bold, italics, and underline, to their dimension text.
A second new addition to dimensions is the ability to override dimensions with text. While this feature enables users to override dimensions with text such as “Varies, See Stair Plans” or “11” MIN” and thereby achieve new flexibility in their documents, the feature helps to maintain model integrity by disallowing user overrides that misrepresent actual dimensions. For example, users cannot make a 14’ 4” dimension read 14’ 6”.

Revision Enhancements
The new revision enhancements allow architects and designers achieve the various revision styles that they demand. New flexibility enables revision tables to build from the bottom up or top down. Also, numbering sequences can include and be sorted by numbers or letters. A new field called “Issued By” helps revision tracking.
New flexibility for revision layouts includes an ability to rotate the schedule on a sheet and to set revision schedules to fixed or variable size.
The added control and flexibility over revisions makes the differing standards in various regions around the world easy to meet.

Room Enhancements
The behavior of rooms in section has been expanded to include several new capabilities.
For example, rooms can be displayed or selected, and vertical limits can even be changed. Finally, color fills can be applied in section and elevation.
In Revit Architecture 2009, new productivity and possibilities can be gained by expanding room behavior in sections and elevations.

Room Tag Improvements
In Revit Architecture 2009, the added control over room tags helps designers expand the range of documentation possibilities to match the styles of individual firms.
Similar to the functionality of door, window, and other tags, when rooms in a view are not tagged, users can save time by tagging all of them in one step. Room data is very important, and when a room moves, the tag can move with it to save time.
In addition, room tags can be rotated to achieve various effects. For example, users often want to rotate a room tag to fit in a narrow space. Finally, room tags have the ability to align to rotated dependent views.

View Templates and Mirror Project
New control over view templates combined with new flexibility to mirror a project helps architects and designers derive a more efficient workflow by reusing existing project work.
View Templates: A new dialog box builds an easier-to-use tool while users now have the ability to pick and choose which view properties they apply from the view template.
Mirror Project: Designs often change without warning and require designers and their tools to remain agile. The new Mirror Project tools mean a project can be mirrored to accommodate owner requests or repetitive designs.

Form Finding
This new type of mass geometry can be combined with the existing parametric capabilities of Revit Architecture 2009 to create new forms based on algorithmic design variations. Extending the range of what is achievable during conceptual design and family creation, swept blend functionality offers more opportunity to express complex forms.

Quality and Rendering Performance
With mental ray software and building information modeling (BIM), you can generate photorealistic or stylized imagery, precise building models, and fully contextualized design visualizations for envisioning, planning, and presenting architectural projects of any size. The mental ray rendering engine brings award-winning quality to the fingertips of the architect for in-process visualization.
Revit Architecture 2009 includes an extensive library of materials that are predefined and organized into material classes (for example, carpet, glass, paint, metal, liquid, and fabric) that are easily browsable by thumbnails or searchable by keywords. Material libraries combine with other mental ray capabilities such as physically accurate lighting, photometric light capabilities, real sun and sky solutions, and an optimized render solution for architectural scenes.
The addition of the mental ray rendering engine optimizes the computing-intensive rendering process to deliver the highest-quality results in minimal time. The result is a significant reduction of in-process render times and an increase in photorealistic consideration, which empower your initial creativity and perception in a competitive market.

Advanced Visualization with 3ds Max Design
When even more advanced tools are required for your designs, the new FBX software export feature enables accurate transfer of geometry, lights, materials, settings, and perspectives to the award-winning 3ds Max software.
3ds Max software offers advanced control over light settings as well as object and character animation that help bring extra life to your designs. At the core of 3ds Max lies an ability to predict light reaction on surfaces. 3ds Max offers new functionality that helps architects and designers find efficient daylighting solutions through daylight simulation and analysis tools.

Worksharing Monitor (via Subscription only)
The Worksharing Monitor gives actionable, real-time information to users on the project team. For example, team members can
Be aware of the current status of central files
Monitor progress of editing requests and notifications
Plan for the best time to save to central

Autodesk 3D UI
The Autodesk 3D UI provides an intuitive, standardized navigation experience across multiple Autodesk 3D design products.
Whether you are new to 3D or an advanced user, you can navigate 3D scenes more effectively, and your extended team can apply the same software skills across different products and disciplines.
Learning new tools in the Autodesk portfolio just got a little easier.

Data Exchange
When the topic of collaboration is brought up, the notion of easily exchanging design data immediately comes to the forefront. Obstacles to easy data exchange range from not having the same software that was used to create the initial data to not having the appropriate reader to view the design data. Revit Architecture 2009 helps alleviate data exchange pain by providing native support for a variety of file formats.
DWF files published to the XPS specification can be automatically opened and viewed using the XPS viewer built into Windows Vista, without the need for plug-ins or other downloads. For Windows XP users, this same DWF support can be achieved via download.
New DWG enhancements make collaborating with those relying on DWG-based workflows easier, and the FBX export increases interoperability between Revit Architecture 2009 and Autodesk 3ds Max Design software.
Revit Architecture 2009 users can more easily share detail-rich information with members of their extended design team.


Form Finding
This new type of mass geometry can be combined with the existing parametric capabilities of Revit Architecture 2009 to create new forms based on algorithmic design variations. Extending the range of what is achievable during conceptual design and family creation, swept blend functionality offers more opportunity to express complex forms.

Plotting
New improvements allow drawings that rely on Hidden Line Removals (e.g. many Floor Plans, elevations, etc) in Revit Architecture 2009 print faster.

Start-up
Upon start-up, Revit Architecture 2009 displays a graphical representation of recent projects and recent families that have been opened by the user. This allows quick visual access to recently used files as well as faster Revit Architecture 2009 start-up.

API Expansion
The continued development of the Revit Architecture 2009 application programming interface encourages growth of the Autodesk Developer Network and enables partners to develop new function-specific tools that work with the building information model. Including:
• UI Suppression
• New Event Handlers
• New Element Creation
• Performance Increases
• ODBC Round-Tripping