A visual Alphabet of Architects and their works
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Top Visited Posts in 2012
2012 SummaryCatalà - Castellano - Deutsch
#01. List of SketchUp Plugins: A post dated from 2009 but that has been (or used to be, when I had teh time) updated regularly with all the SU Plugins I have reviewed on this site. It needs some link updating which I will do soon, but it is still the favourite post for most visitors to CAD Addict.
#02. Using AutoCAD autosave files to recover lost work: This post explains what can you do after one of those moments when apparently you've lost part of your work in AutoCAD. It is the post with the most number of comments and all of them positive, so it is the one that made my work here feel more rewarded. Thanks to all who spend the time wirting down a comment, good or bad, it's great to know someone is reading.
#03. Plugin to Make faces from lines in SketchUp: I have toc onfess I am a bit puzzled by this post being so popular. The plugin was very useful back when the version of SU was v.6 or so and the program was not very smart creating lines from a closed set of lines. I think this was pretty much solved in later versions of SU, but oddly the post keeps getting a lot of visits. If anyone knows why the info will be very much appreciated.
#04. Volume Calculator Plugin for SketcHup: A post explaining how to use this old plugin to calculate volume of entities in SketchUp. A simple post about a simple plugin but that has had a lot of visitors and comments during these last months.
#05. How to install plugins in SketchUp: This is simple tutorial on how to get your plugins working in SketchUp. Sometimes the posts you think are too simple become the most wanted ones.
#06. List of BIM Software and Providers: Back when I was writing my Master Thesis, I started researching on all the scope of providers that have Building Information Modelling related software. This posts gathers most of that info and organizes it in different categories. One think this post taught me: People love lists.
#07. Converting 3D objects into 2D drwaings in AutoCAD: THis post explains the use of the FLATSHOT command in AutoCAD that allows you to flatten 3D Objects into a 2D drawing.
#08. Representing section cuts with solid fill in SketchUp: Another simple tutorial with images to get a nicer representation of the section cuts that SketchUp allows us to do very simple.
#09. Converting lines into tubes / cilinders in SketchUp: A post explaining the use of two different plugins that allow you to do this operation very fast.
#10. Mirroring objects in SketcUp: THree different methods to do the mirror operation in SketchUp. The oldest post (it dates back from 2008) to appear on this top ten list.
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Happy 2013 - End of year thoughts
The most innactive year comes to an end, hope next one is better.Català - Castellano - Deutsch
2012 comes to an end. It's time to think about all those new year's resolutions and of course, after checking that I only posted 6 times on this blog in 2012, my new year resolution seems obvious, POST MORE. I already explained the main reason why I was not having time to blog at all here. Well, good news for the blog (not so much for me) the construction is over and I am temporarily back to office. It is a more relaxed sort of job I am doing right now, but of course not so interesting. So apparently it seems I will have more time after work (and more energy) to think on posts and to write them. That is my new years resolution. Of course, there are others, but can't publish them here ;-). On the mean time, I just want to say thanks to all readers who keep coming here on purpose or just by chance through a google search during 2012, you are my motivation to keep the blog active. Cheers and happy 2013 to all! I have though one good news coming soon, will post it already in 2013!
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[Guest Post] MS Excel: How to find the corresponding value for a given entry
Using the VLOOKUP function in ExcelCatalà - Castellano - Deutsch
Another Guest post by my brother about Excel. Imagine you have this list, where each letter has a value
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[Guest Post] Some useful shortcuts for Excel
Some useful shortcuts for Excel. A guest post by my brother Jordi.Català - Castellano - DeutschThis is a guest post by my brother Jordi. A list of useful shortcuts for MS Excel that will make your workflow much faster. Here they come:
- Ctrl+”+”: Add a new column or row. Click on the column/row where you want to add and press “Ctrl” and at the same time the “+”.
- Ctrl+”-“: Delete a new column or row. Select the column/row want to delete and press “Ctrl” and at the same time the “-”.
- F2: Modify a cell. When you are in a cell, press F2 and you will be able to modify directly the cell without the need to double-click it.
- F4: Repeat an action: When you want to repeat and action you just performed, press F4 and the last action you made will be repeated.
- F9: recalculate the values. Sometimes the excel sheet are put into manual calculation, if you want the sheet to calculate and show you the values, pres F9
- Ctrl + “up arrow”/“down arrow”: Move to the first/last line with values: Press Ctrl + “up arrow”/“down arrow”
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[Updated Old Post]: AutoCAD Image Frame
Settings for image frames in AutoCADCatalà - Castellano - Deutsch
This is an updated verion of a previous "guest post". I've been asked to remove that post, but since the topic is relevant I will just summarize it here.
Images in AutoCAD have frames (even if you don't see them). Playing with the "IMAGEFRAME" system variable allows you to toggle from seeing or not seeing the frame. THe three settings for the IMAGEFRAME system variable are these:
If you set it to 0 it means the frame is completely off (not seen nor printed), setting it to 1 means the frame is on (seen and printed), and finally setting it to 2 means that the frame is on in the drawing, but it will be off in when you print.
Also, you can switch from Visible (number 1) to invisible (number 0) frames by using the TFRAME command. It doesn't allow to control the variable to set it to number 2 though, but this gives you the flexibility to switch on and off the frames quickly.
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Ferrovial's Handbook Against Waste [1962]
A Handbook against "waste" dated back from 1962.Català - Castellano - Deutsch
Recently, I got news of the realease of the "handbook against waste" written as an internal document for Ferrovial (one of the biggest general contractors in Spain). I had heard of this docuemtn for a while but had not had the chance to read it. Now it is available for everyone from this link. [The handbook is in Spanish]. I am also keeping here a mirror copy just in case the link goes down and I am not available to update it. Click on the image below.
It is a very interesting read, and what is specially interesting is that it dates back to 1962. Sometimes we tend to think that all the fuzz about Lean, Last Planner or Location Based Scheduling is something new that just came out of nowhere just a few years back. This handbook is the proof that some companies and many professionals have worked with better standards and processes for a long time, they just didn't publish it openly. Competition is fierce in the construction sector, and maybe this fierce competition is what for a long time has made it impossible for companies to share their knowledge and improve so the Construction Industry as a whole. Luckily, I think the internet and the advent of Social Media, has changed this, and more and more companies are sharing part of their better processes. I am back! ;-)
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The reason i am not blogging
Can't find the time to blog sorry, too busy.Català - Castellano - Deutsch
Been to busy recently to keep on blogging, the reason? Last december I prepared a presentation for a project we were bidding to be the general contractors, and it seems the presentation was good enough to win the bid. You can see part of the presentation below.
SO now I am the Project Manager on site, dealing with all subcontractors, writing contracts, controling costs, taking care that we keep on the tied schedule we have, all that! So no time to blog at all other than this few lines 2 months after the last posts. At some point I'll be back, can't tell you when yet. Hope you don't leave the blog forever.
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First Pull Session of the Last Planner System™
Just sharing a short summary video of our first Pull Session.Català - Castellano - Deutsch
One of the reasons I haven't been blogging in the past month is that I have been very busy at work. One of the two reasons (the second one I will explain soon if I can) I've been so busy is because we have been implementing the Last Planner System™ (LPS)at one of our projects to control the works on site.
I am not sure yet if I will share this type of information on this site in the future or if I will start a new blog on the topic somewhere else, but for now, let me share a short summary video of this 1st Pull Session. See below.
The Last Planner System™ is a set of processes to improve predictability of construction works through a series of planning and controlling conversations between the stakeholders of the project. We have been for now testing the LPS in one of our projects and we are trying to turn it soon into the standard methodology to plan an control the works on all of our construction projects.
We are proud to be of the few pioneers who are implementing this in Spain, and we will be sharing our experiences on the coming meeting of the Spanish Group for Lean Construction that will take place in Madrid on February 14th.
What you see in the video might be the first Pull Session in the history of Spain, so it might become a historic document ;-). The Pull Session is the first meeting to collaboratively agree on a schedule of the works were the Last Planners (those who actually will perform the tasks on site) share their insights and opinions on what is the best sequence to be able to do their tasks.
This is of course a very simple way of describing a Pull Session, if you need any help or more information or if you want a Construction Company that can / wants to work with this system, please do get in touch with me.
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The best multi device file and folder sharing and online storage
Share files from a desktop to another one or a cell phone. Even better than dropbox.Català - Castellano - Deutsch
No Spam intended, but I am not gonna lie., if you sign up for SugarSync, I will get extra storage for my account. So despite there is a slight interest from my site on this post, it is also like all others my way of sharing something I think it will help you. If you ar cool with this keep reading.
I have used Dropbox for a long while to be able to share files on diferent devices and have them always accessible. Recently, I discovered an alternative that actually works better for me for a couple reasons I will explain. This alternative is SugarSync.
Why SugarSync? Well, first of all it gives you 5Gb of free storage from the beginning on their free plan (compared to the 2Gb of dropbox). But more relevant to my decision is that you can share any folder in your computer in SugarSync without the need to work inside the SugarSync folder. In Dropbox, you need to drop files to the dropbox folder making it sometimes not useful if you have a very well organized system of folders to organize your files.
Why is Dropbox more popular than SugarSync? I have no clue. So if you are interested in trying it, go to this link. For me it is the best option I know so far for this sort of file sharing.
Do you know of any better service? Please share!
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Revit Interference Check
Check for interfering / clashing elements in your model directly in Revit.Català - Castellano - Deutsch
Revit has a functionality to check for elements that are interfering with each other. This might be used to check interferences when collaborating between consultants (Architect, MEP Engineer, Structural Engineer, etc) or simply to check that the model you build has no interferences that could cause unwanted results. The functionality, of course is called "interference check".
To run it, simply go to the Collaborate Tab --> Coordination Panel --> Interference Check --> Run Interference Check.
You should be now at the interference check interface, where you can select the elements you want to use to check interferences. Select a type or types of elements on the left and another type or types on the right and click OK.
If there are interferences (i.e. those elements collide with each other) you will get a report listing those interferences like the one I am showing below.
Having this report, you can either select an object and click on Show to see the object, or you can also export the report to have a reference list of potential things to be solved / modified in the model. An exported report (HTML) looks like this.
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