1. Seeing Data And More… The Analysis Visualization Framework in the Revit API
Matt Mason
Director, Software Development, IMAGINiT Technologies, inc.

2. Don’t Leave!

3. Who Am I?
Matt Mason
Director, Software Development, IMAGINiT Technologies (merged with Avatech Solutions)
Veteran of 90 Small/Medium Revit API projects and 10 large API projects over 7 years.
Packaged Software Developer:
IMAGINiT Utilities for Revit
BIMreview – now Autodesk Revit Model Review
Scan to BIM for Revit
Occasional Revit API Blogger at:

4. Who Are You? A Quick Survey….
Level of Revit Experience (Expert, Solid, Moderate, Beginner)
Level of Revit API Experience (Expert, Solid, Moderate, Beginner)
Type of Company (AEC firm, Software Company, Other)
Type of Software Firm (Analysis-oriented, Other)

5. The Revit API Track Classes Tues 10:15 am
Seeing Data and More (Matt Mason)
Tues 3:15 pm
Extensible Storage in 2012 API (Jeremy Tammik)
Tues 5:15 pm
Asynch Interaction and Modeless (Arnost Lobel)
Wed 8:15 am
What’s New in the Revit 2012 API? (Elizabeth Shulok)
Wed 3:15 pm
Geometric Progression: Further Analysis (Scott Conover)
Thu 10:00 am
Revit API: Managing Building Data (Mario Guttman)
Thu 3:15 pm
Construction Modeling and API for Builders (Harry Mattison)
Thu 5:00 pm
Creating an Add-in, Start to Finish (Lab – Mike King)
Thu 5:15 pm
BIM Beyond Revit: Linking to External DBs (Greg Wesner)

6. What Inspired This Class?

7. Goals for this class?
Understand what the Analysis Visualization Framework (AVF) is, and what it can do.
Understand the uses for AVF (both traditional and unusual)
Interlude: Creating Temporary Geometry
Create and show a variety of visualizations
Understand the limitations

8. What is the Analysis Visualization Framework (AVF)?

9. Building Analysis Application
Traditional Workflow
Building Analysis Application
Analyze
Export
Re-interpret

10. New Workflow

11. The AVF – In Practical Terms
Revit API routines to let you draw “data” graphics on screen
Graphics are TRANSIENT – they do not live in the Revit model.
Graphics have different display “styles”

12. AVF: Graphic Types Colored Surface Point Markers (w/ optional text)
Diagram (w/ optional text) *
Vectors (w/ optional text) *
* Revit 2012 only

13. AVF: Typical Uses Analysis Results: Lighting Energy Structure Airflow
Temperature

14. AVF: Unusual Uses Temporary Graphics: Point Cloud rendering
Point Cloud deviation from model
Visualizing Geometry
Temporary Vectors (curvature, grids, etc)
And more…

15. Technical Fundamentals

16. AVF: Fundamentals
Results Data
Specific View
Revit Model

17. AVF: User Interface / Configurability

18. Point Marker Example Data

19. Technical Details

20. Fundamental Building Blocks of AVF
AVF Display Style
Spatial Field Mgr
Analysis Display Schema
Field Data Points/Values
Revit View

21. AVF Programming Workflow
Create AVF Styles
Get Spatial Field Mgr
Analysis Result Schema
Create Field Data Points/Values
Update Spatial Field Primitive
Apply correct style to view

22. AVF Programming: Getting Started
// Get the Spatial Field Manager from the current view, or create if it needs it. SpatialFieldManager sfm = SpatialFieldManager.GetSpatialFieldManager(doc.ActiveView); // create it on the active view, with one-dimension data. if (sfm == null) sfm = SpatialFieldManager.CreateSpatialFieldManager(doc.ActiveView, 1);
// deal with looking up the results schema, if it exists – and create if not. if ( _schemaId != -1) { IList<int> results = sfm.GetRegisteredResults();
if ( results.Contains(_schemaId) == false ) _schemaId = -1; if (_schemaId == -1) { AnalysisResultSchema resultSchema1 = new AnalysisResultSchema("ShowPoints", "Data Points");
_schemaId = sfm.RegisterResult(resultSchema1); } }
return sfm;

23. Field Data for Point Markers
FieldDomainByPoints
XYZ
FieldValues:
List<ValueAtPoint>

24. AVF Programming: Simple Point/Values
public void ShowValues(Document doc, List<XYZ> points, List<double> values) {
// take care of Spatial Field Manager / AnalysisResultSchema, etc SpatialFieldManager sfm = getSpatialFieldManager(doc);
// now we need to populate the FieldDomainPointsByXYZ and values
FieldDomainPointsByXYZ xyzs = new FieldDomainPointsByXYZ(points); IList<ValueAtPoint> fieldValsAtPoint = new List<ValueAtPoint>();
// values could be multi-dimensional, so it's a little complex to build foreach( double val in values ) { List<double> valueList = new List<double>(); valueList.Add(val); fieldValsAtPoint.Add( new ValueAtPoint( valueList ) ); }
// (continued)
FieldValues fieldVals = new FieldValues(fieldValsAtPoint);
// add and update the spatial field primitive
int idx = sfm.AddSpatialFieldPrimitive(); sfm.UpdateSpatialFieldPrimitive(idx, xyzs, fieldVals, _schemaId); }

25. AVF Programming: Updating the Default View Style
private void updateViewAVFStyle(View v, string stylename) { //does the current view have an analysis style? Parameter avf = v.get_Parameter(BuiltInParameter.VIEW_ANALYSIS_DISPLAY_STYLE); Document doc = v.Document; if (avf != null) {
// NOTE: Find styles by a static method – not FilteredElementCollector
ElementId pc = AnalysisDisplayStyle.FindByName(doc, stylename); if (pc.IntegerValue > 0) { bool success = avf.Set(pc); } } }

26. Point Data Sample Practical Sample

27. AVF: Analysis Display Schema / Settings

28. AVF Programming: Working with Surface Data
Data is surface-oriented
Associate the data to the surface
Put data in surface (u,v) coordinates (not XYZ)
(2.2,1) V U

29. AVF Programming: Working With Surface Data
public void ShowValues(Document doc, Face f, List<UV> points, List<double> values) {
// take care of Spatial Field Manager / AnalysisResultSchema, etc SpatialFieldManager sfm = getSpatialFieldManager(doc);
// now we need to populate the FieldDomainPointsByUV and values
FieldDomainPointsByUV pnts = new FieldDomainPointsByUV(points); IList<ValueAtPoint> fieldValsAtPoint = new List<ValueAtPoint>();
// values could be multi-dimensional, so it's a little complex to build foreach( double val in values ) { List<double> valueList = new List<double>(); valueList.Add(val); fieldValsAtPoint.Add( new ValueAtPoint( valueList ) ); }
FieldValues fieldVals = new FieldValues(fieldValsAtPoint);
// add and update the spatial field primitive
int idx = sfm.AddSpatialFieldPrimitive(face, Transform.Identity);
sfm.UpdateSpatialFieldPrimitive(idx, xyzs, fieldVals, _schemaId); }

30. Surface Data Sample

31. No Surface? Make your own with GeometryCreationUtilities!
Transient (in-memory) geometric elements
Create:
Blend
Extrusion
Revolved
Sweep
Swept Blend
Use For:
AVF Faces
Find Elements Intersecting Solid
Boolean Operations
Geometry Operations
Face.Project()
Face.Intersect()

32. Transient Geometry Creation

33. Transient Geometry Creation: Code
public Solid CreateCylinder(Application app, XYZ origin, XYZ vector, double radius, double height) {
// create a plane normal to a vector at an origin point
Plane p = app.Create.NewPlane(vector, origin);
// need to create this as two arcs rather than one! Curve circle1 = app.Create.NewArc(p, radius, 0, Math.PI ); Curve circle2 = app.Create.NewArc(p, radius, Math.PI, Math.PI * 2.0);
// make a curve loop
CurveLoop profile = CurveLoop.Create(new List<Curve>(new Curve[2] { circle1, circle2 })); List<CurveLoop> loops = new List<CurveLoop>(new CurveLoop[1] { profile });
// create Solid cyl = GeometryCreationUtilities.CreateExtrusionGeometry(loops, vector, height);
return cyl; }

34. Transient Geometry: What’s Next?
Access the faces of the solid via the “Faces” property
Just need a single surface? Find the closest surface to the location you need
Highlight single surface with AVF
Highlight all surfaces with AVF

35. Transient Geometry / AVF – Simple Face Highlighting
public void ShowFaceValue(Document doc, Face face, double value) {
// take care of Spatial Field Manager / AnalysisResultSchema, etc SpatialFieldManager sfm = getSpatialFieldManager(doc);
// now we need to populate the FieldDomainPointsByUV and value // we will use just a single (arbitrary) minimum bounding box point
List<UV> points = new List<UV>(); BoundingBoxUV box = f.GetBoundingBox(); points.Add( box.Min ); FieldDomainPointsByUV pnts = new FieldDomainPointsByUV(points); IList<ValueAtPoint> fieldValsAtPoint = new List<ValueAtPoint>(); List<double> valueList = new List<double>();
valueList.Add( value ); fieldValsAtPoint.Add( new ValueAtPoint( valueList ) );
FieldValues fieldVals = new FieldValues(fieldValsAtPoint);
// add and update the spatial field primitive
int idx = sfm.AddSpatialFieldPrimitive(face, Transform.Identity);
sfm.UpdateSpatialFieldPrimitive(idx, xyzs, fieldVals, _schemaId); }

36. Cylinder Sample Practical Example

37. Vector Data
Similar setup:
XYZ points
XYZ values (VectorAtPoint)

38. Vector Samples
Simple Sample
Practical Example

39. Advanced Topics

40. AVF: Setting Units // set a single unit (unit factor) for the data
AnalysisResultSchema resultSchema1 = new AnalysisResultSchema("Deviation", "Deviation of data from geometry");
List<string> unitNames = new List<string>(new string[1]{“Inches”}); List<double> unitFactors = new List<double>(new double[1]{ 1.0 } ); resultSchema1.SetUnits( unitNames, unitFactors );

41. AVF: Setting Units (Multiple)
// set multiple unit factors
AnalysisResultSchema resultSchema1 = new AnalysisResultSchema("Deviation", "Deviation of data from geometry");
// make it display values in either Inches or CM
List<string> unitNames = new List<string>(new string[2]{“Inches”,”CM”}); List<double> unitFactors = new List<double>(new double[2]{ 1.0, 2.54 } ); resultSchema1.SetUnits( unitNames, unitFactors );

42. AVF Limitations Total Number of Points in View Graphic Load Per Point
vs. =

43. Advanced AVF Notes Points per primitive Not limited by SectionBox
SDK Samples:
Spatial Field Surface Gradient
DistanceToSurface
MultiThreadedAVF

44. AVF Limitations
Where can you use them?
Not Families!
Printing Data

45. Multiple Values in AVF Used For: Different scenarios
Point
Value 0
Value 1
Value 2
Value 3
Value 4
(0,0)
1.1
1.2
1.3
(1,1)
1.4
1.5
1.6
(1,2)
2.1
2.0
1.9
1.8
(2,2)
2.3
2.25
2.15
Used For:
Different scenarios
Days/Months of the year

46. Conclusions Ideas? Q & A

47. Autodesk, AutoCAD* [*if/when mentioned in the pertinent material, followed by an alphabetical list of all other trademarks mentioned in the material] are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product and services offerings, and specifications and pricing at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document. © 2011 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.