Has BIM Increased Our Productivity?

I get that question a lot. When I first started promoting Revit as a replacement for AutoCAD, I talked about how Revit would reduce the time it took to complete a project.

…but that’s not what happens.

I don’t see a dramatic decrease in project delivery time, but I do see an increasing abilityto deliver projects.

My experience – and that of many others – has been that Revit does enable faster creation of drawings. I can certainly produce a set of drawings for a generic building a lot faster in Revit than AutoCAD; however, increased project demands such as design complexity and timeline/budget constraints make it hard to see a measurable improvement in project delivery speed. Managing the rising levels of information and data required on projects inhibits our ability to quicken our pace. That being said, we have seen a measurable improvement in the quality of our deliverables and our service.

Measuring these more qualitative analytics can be difficult due to the diversity of our projects. Each project is unique, with a distinctive set of constraints and demands.

I can honestly say that some of our projects would not have been successful if Revit had not been used. As opposed to following traditional CAD methods, using Building Information Modeling (BIM) allows us to deliver a more concise, thought-out design that is better coordinated and executed, and with fewer staff.

The benefits of using BIM go beyond delivering a set of drawings. 

Quite simply, BIM helps us do better work for our clients.

Sc.

The 8 Worst Things You Can Do In Revit

The 8 Worst Things You Can Do In Revit

1. Never leave inserted AutoCAD DWGs in a Revit model. Although you can insert a block or drawing into Revit it can cause severe performance and stability issues. DWG files bloat the model by using far more memory than pure Revit entities. If the AutoCAD file is necessary as a background, linking the file in rather than importing it can prevent and reduce some of these issues.

2. Don’t let unresolved Revit warnings languish. Large numbers of unresolved warnings can seriously degrade model performance and stability. Resolve warnings as they occur to keep them from building up in the model. Periodically check the “Warnings” tool on the “Manage” ribbon to see what warnings (if any) have built up in the model.

3. Don’t use Revit Families from Manufacturers without checking them first. Building Product Manufacturers are responding to your requests for Revit content by having families of their products created in Revit. These families may look great when viewed, but if they contain too much detail they can quickly bloat your model.

4. Don’t over-model. One of the most common mistakes among new users of Revit is to put too much detail in the model. Determine how much detail is really necessary to convey your design intent, and then monitor your team to prevent over-modeling.

5. Don’t use in-place families too often. While it is inevitable that you will have to use in-place families in a typical project, be selective in their use. If you create an in-place family and later decide that it should be a component family, there is absolutely no way to convert it. If you must use an in place family, do not duplicate it. For example, if you have to use in-place families to create light coves in several rooms, create them all in one in-place family; don’t create a different in-place family for each room. 

6. Don’t over-constrain model geometry in a project file. Dimension and alignment constraints add overhead to the file and increase the potential for the dreaded “constraints not satisfied” error message. If you’re not absolutely sure that you should constrain something, then you probably shouldn’t.

7. Don’t lose control of your views. Exercise good view management. Don’t create unnecessary views and don’t leave views unnamed. During the course of a project, the project browser can become populated with a large number of unnecessary views that add to file size.

8. Don’t over-use Groups. An inordinate number of groups in a project can impact performance and bloat the model. Make sure to purge unused groups from the model regularly and turn off the “Group and Associate” option when using the Array tool. 

Sc
I found #5 :-)

Reducing Revit File Size

Here are some tips on how to reduce your Revit file size

      Warnings - These get ignored and pile up and some of these are more offensive than others. Room, space and area errors caused by boundary issues or redundancy is wasting your cpu's time. Any warning is a waste of "space" and "resources" to some degree.

      View Detail - Do you have a lot of views that are using fine or medium detail level but have scales like 1/16", 1/8"=1'-0" (1:200, 1:100, 1:50)? These views won't really show this level of detail for all elements effectively and you are asking the computer to show it anyway.

      Unused Content - Families that are not going to be used at all can contributed to some bloat. Especially if they are complex families that are quite large to begin with. Purge out any unused families, if you’re not sure export the families into a container file before purging the project file.

      Compact Central - An oversimplification, it is akin to the operating system performing defragmentation of your computer's hard drive. Think of it as asking Revit to clean up after a busy day, it allows Revit to reduce file size.

      Create New Central File- Open the Central file with the “detach from Central” box checked, and then save as a new Central file with a different file name, or to a different location on their server. What this does is it rewrites the database associated with the file and can dramatically reduce the file size.

      Audit your Families– You can check the file size of your families simply by “export family types” then going through the family list to check the file size. You’ll easily be able to spot large family files at a glance.

      Limit custom crop regions – Custom crop regions are “resource intense”, you computer has to think every time you go to that view, reducing the amount of custom crop regions will help reduce the file size.

      Limit 3D views – Keep the number of 3D views in your project to a minimum where possible. Similar to custom crop regions, 3D views are “resource intense”.

      Limit imported images – Images can easily inflate your file size, if you have any background images for rendering or images in your title block that you need to keep, look at reducing the image file size by as much as possible without compromising the quality of the image.

      Export Renderings and walk-thru’s – Any renderings or walkthroughs created in Revit increase your file size, by exporting these you can dramatically reduce the file size.

      Limit the use of Groups and Array’s – Large numbers of groups and array’s in a project can bloat the model. Purge unused groups from the model regularly and turn off the “Group and Associate” option when using the Array tool.

Revit Shortcut Guide

Autodesk have a excellent resource available in the form of a Revit Shortcut Guide.

From their website http://www.autodesk.com/shortcuts/revit you can jump to a specific section or download the Revit Shortcut Guide PDF to either print or have available as a downloadable resource for your staff.

The Shortcut Guide is a great resource for all levels of Revit users including beginners all the way through to my power users.

Check it out.

Not everyone needs to be a Revit Rock Star!

Not everyone wants to be a rock star, some team members are quite happy keeping their head down and do the work assigned to them and they have no desire to take on additional responsibility or step out of their comfort zone. These are my “Steady Eddy’s”, team members who focus on getting the work done!

And that’s OK!

Not everyone needs to be a Rock Star!

It’s your job to recognize these individuals and guide them to be the best they can possibly be (or want to be), some individuals are goal oriented achievers, whereas others will make it quite clear to you that they have no interest in taking on responsibility, they just want to do their job, and do it well.

By recognizing this you can adapt the direction you are “encouraging” each of your team members. Don’t try to push someone to be a “rock star” who is not interested, it’ll backfire on you and end badly. By understanding each team member you can gauge how best to utilize their skills and how comfortable they would be stepping out of their comfort zone.

Utilize your “steady “Eddy’s” in positions where production is key, you can typically rely on these people to produce clear accurate work when provided with clear accurate direction. 

These team members are your foundation to the productivity of the project and should not be neglected. Your steady “Eddies” will progress on their own time, they will wait to see what has been proven and when they are ready and have seen firsthand the proven path they will be ready to move forward.

I’ve spoken previously on team members who are either not read, or willing to move forward, here you have two options; either redirect their knowledge into a position where you still can utilize their depth of knowledge or let them move on where their comfort level is more in line with another company. Reluctance to do this will result in your team working to the lowest denominator. Don’t let someone’s reluctance to move forward inhibit the rest of your team, this will only result in frustration of those wanting to move forward and hold back potential team members from reaching their goals. Ultimately you will lose the key people who are beneficial to your company and you will be left with those who are holding you and the company back.

Do whatever you can to provide encouragement to your team, make resources available for those who want to explore their possibilities, praise and reward your “steady Eddy’s” you may be surprised as to who takes up the challenge and becomes your next Rock Star!

Sc

Project Stingray

If you havent already check out Project Stingray from Autodesk.

Stingray for Design Visualization

A direct link to 3ds Max and real-time rendering enables you to walk through designed spaces before they’re built.

View images of Stingray, a 3D game engine that helps advanced and novice game makers create visually stunning games. Stingray is also a real-time rendering engine that helps design professionals better visualize their projects and present their ideas to clients. Stingray is integrated with 3ds Max, Maya, and Maya LT software.

Image taken from http://autodesklivedesign.com/

Imagine combining the power of 3DsMax and Revit!

Check out more here: Designliving

Sc

Collaboration for Revit Crash

We recently experienced our first "glitch" with Collaboration for Revit

One of my users recently experienced C4R crashing when opening up the project.
We couldn't find any obvious triggers for the crash, other users on the project went having any issues and the project and linked files were all audited and working fine as were the families being used, there was no obvious reason for the crashing for this specific user.

So if your getting unexpected crashing on your C4R project try deleting the recently opened files/families directly from your Revit.ini file.

Seems to be working fine now for us...

Sc

Revit 2016 and the new Energy Analysis features

Yeah! 

Autodesk finally released Revit 2016. Cant wait to check it out and see what new features have been added and how well it performs.

Frankly I don't expect any "Earth Shattering" features... in fact I'll be happy if they don't have anything too new! I think were beyond that point of truly "new features" with Revit. 

For 2016, all I expect is for it to perform better than 2015 with the inclusion of some of the add on features such as the Building Performance Analysis tools which I think will become more main stream as we use these tools as part of the development of our designs.

I think 2016 (version) will be the juncture where we move from desktop applications to cloud computing, I believe that is the direction Autodesk is going, along with the integration  of software such as Inventor as we go from design straight to fabrication.

Check out some of the new BPA tools for Revit 2016 here and keep up to date on the BPA tools by checking out the BPA New and Community blog.

Sc

Troubleshooting Revit Issues - Part 3

This is part 2 of a 3 part series addressing ways to troubleshoot issues in your Revit project.

The Autodesk Help site has some great information. Here, I have taken the liberty of adding my experiences to their outline. 

Here are some tips when troubleshooting mysterious issues with Revit.

Note: When troubleshooting Revit, you might make changes that you will not want to keep. To avoid making unwanted changes to your project file, make a copy of the project (and if necessary linked project files) and only work with the copied file.

Views and View Templates

If you find that one view, is not behaving like your other views in your project create a view template from the view that is working and apply that template to the problematic view. If the issue is cleared rebuild the view based upon the working view template, If you’re still having issues with the new View Template try deleting the view and re-creating it.

Also check your “Hardware Acceleration” setting under Revit Options, try un-checking the Hardware Acceleration option to see if this makes a difference.

Families and Components

If you have particular elements that you suspect are causing the issue, delete them, and test if the issue continues. Sometimes a family or a component may be causing an error, an error may be related to a specific instance of a family, not the family itself. If this is the case either re-build the family instance type or start eliminating unnecessary family types.

Try cutting to the clipboard and then pasting it back into the same place. If this does not work (or is not possible), remove the items and recreate it.

After selecting the elements, and before deleting them, filter your selection by category, removing groups of categories. This will allow you to find the category of the problematic elements.  

Once you know the category, use the project browser to find all of the families associated with that category, expand the family, right click and Select All Instances, and select In Entire Project. Remove groups of families within the category to find the specific family related to the issue. 

Crashing in a particular view or a particular command

If you find you’re crashing when accessing a particular view or selecting particular commands, you can quickly check if the issue is related to elements within the project (by deleting "all" elements), and then narrow down and isolate the problematic elements.

Delete all elements from the project by going through the following steps:

1. Go to a default 3D view
2. Draw a crossing selection box (from bottom right to top left) over all the visible elements, and delete them all
3. Delete all of the project views, except for the default 3D view
4. Delete all of the schedules 
5. Delete all of the sheets 
6. Delete all of the loaded families 
7. Delete any Design Options 
8. Disable Worksharing

If the issue stops after removing "everything" from the project, then we know it is related to one of the items removed. Start removing less elements to find the group responsible. 

I hope this helps, feel free to add your own tips by sending me your comments, hopefully I'll be able to add more as I come across solutions.

Sc

For additional postings and BIM information check out the BIM User Group Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/OkanaganBIMUsers

Troubleshooting Revit Issues - Part 2

This is part 2 of a 3 part series addressing ways to troubleshoot issues in your Revit project.

The Autodesk Help site has some great information. Here, I have taken the liberty of adding my experiences to their outline. 

Here are some tips when troubleshooting mysterious issues with Revit.

Note: When troubleshooting Revit, you might make changes that you will not want to keep. To avoid making unwanted changes to your project file, make a copy of the project (and if necessary linked project files) and only work with the copied file.

Is it a glitch or just a miss-keystroke?

Is the issue a problem with the file or have you inadvertently turned on or off a feature?

You can typically tell the difference such as a “unable to select element”, or “my ribbon is missing”, which are settings in Revit, compared too “the icons on my ribbon are blank” or “I select a component and Revit freezes”.

Copy paste into blank project file

As a test to determine if it’s a modeling issue, open up a blank default project file and copy/paste the entire project into the blank file. Test the project to see if you are getting the same issue, if you are not it may be view specific or template specific.

  

Uninstall Linked files

Linked files can sometimes cause unexpected behaviour especially if your bringing in updated linked files weekly, they can even prevent a project file from opening up in the first place. If you can't open the host project file, try copying it to a location without the linked files.

If you can open the project, you can then begin to determine which linked file is preventing the project from opening.

If you can open the project, go into the Manage Links dialogue, and remove all linked files from the project to see if the issue is related to one (or more) of the linked files.

I hope this helps, feel free to add your own tips by sending me your comments, hopefully I'll be able to add more as I come across solutions.

Sc

For additional postings and BIM information check out the BIM User Group Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/OkanaganBIMUsers

Troubleshooting Revit Issues - Part 1

This is part 1 of a 3 part series addressing ways to troubleshoot issues in your Revit project.

The Autodesk Help site has some great information. Here, I have taken the liberty of adding my experiences to their outline. 

Here are some tips when troubleshooting mysterious issues with Revit.

Note: When troubleshooting Revit, you might make changes that you will not want to keep. To avoid making unwanted changes to your project file, make a copy of the project (and if necessary linked project files) and only work with the copied file.

When did the issue start?

Have there been any changes since the last time it worked properly?

Have there been any updates to your computer, inserted any new families, created any specific views?

Does rebooting your computer make a difference?

This can quite often reset Revit if you’re having a minor glitch. If it keeps reoccurring it may be worthwhile reinstalling Revit.

Does it only happen on your computer?

Can you replicate the issue on someone else’s workstation?

Check to see if you have the latest Revit build or are on the same build as your team, you can do this by going to the “About Autodesk Revit” in the top right hand corner.

If you can replicate the issue on another workstation it’s a project file issue, if you cant it’s an issue specific to your workstation.

If certain categories of elements are missing from your view, you can check whether they are turned off in the visibility graphics settings.

I hope this helps, feel free to add your own tips by sending me your comments, hopefully I'll be able to add more as I come across solutions.

Sc

For additional postings and BIM information check out the BIM User Group Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/OkanaganBIMUsers

RTC NA

I received my acceptance as a speaker at Revit Technology Conference yesterday! Woo hoo.
I'm always excited to be accepted as a speaker... at any event! But especially RTC.

For me RTC is where I can connect with the top people in my industry (AEC) and specifically, but not limited too, Revit. I see more and more the blend between software products, hardware (check out IrisVR) as well as processes, specifically BIM and IPD. 

My session will be about being a BIM Manager, tips on how to manage projects and the people working on those projects, it will also include a interactive round table discussion after my presentation which is always a great opportunity to hear what challenges other people are having and the solutions that arise from the discussion. Round table sessions are always lively and fun. 

If you have attended my session last year at RTC or at AU, this will be different format, content, information etc...

I'll be posting more about my session as the time gets closer. In the mean time registration will open soon for RTCNA, I believe some time in March.

I've also been working on my presentation skills.... probably something you don't often hear people say eh! I'm fortunate that the company I work for (CEI Architecture) encourages presenting and we recently held an "in office" speaker workshop run by Robert Murray who worked with each of us on fine tuning our presentation skills.

So, if your able to attend RTC North America I hope to see you there, once again, if you follow my blog come and say hi.

Sc.

Drumming and Revit

My drumming instructor has told me (not for the first time) that I need to practice more... I'm a snare drummer for our local Pipe Band the Kalamalka Highlanders Pipeband and I need to practice so I can learn more tunes, become a better drummer and improve my drumming abilities.... in short I need to practice more.!

The reason I don't practice at home as much as I should, is that it's not part of my routine. 
I need to change my routine to include 10 or 20 minutes a day of basic practice, this will make me a much better drummer and band member. I'm part of a group of great people who rely on me to perform to the best of my abilities.... the same applies to my work life. 
If you just do the same thing over and over everyday how will you add to you skill-set?

Much like Revit, unless you spend time learning the new tools, exploring the existing tools you are not familiar with or don't commonly use your skills get rusty!

Spend some time exploring your software, the more you know about Revit the better tech you'll be. By exploring the tools your not familiar with you may discover that you can use these new tools to increase your productivity and make you a more valuable employee!

Make learning part of your routine!
I'm going to go practice on my drum now.....

Sc

Revit to Showcase

I just found this great document by DCCADD on importing Revit models into Showcase.
It explains how to bring it into Showcase via 3DsMax in a way that you can work with the Revit materials as well as explore design options.

It will take you step by step through the process, really one of the best instructional documents I've read in quite some time...

Here's an image of my model in Revit, realistic Visual Style.

Aghhhh.... it takes soooo long to bring into Showcase!!!!

This is what it looks like in Showcase with a background and Ray Trace.
Looks great but is slow and clunky on my laptop....I'm sure with a powerful desktop it'll perform much better.

One benefit I do like is being able to change materials in Showcase...

There is a direct export from Revit under "Suite Workflows".
The document explains how to use both methods of importing into Showcase.

Not sure if we'll use is as typically when presenting were either doing it from a laptop or "remoting" into a computer....We'll see...

Sc

Ethical Architecture

I recently read a blog posting by Steve at Revit OpEd (http://revitoped.blogspot.ca/2012/07/due-diligence.html) where he “was musing about a recent conversation where one guy's position was that BIM is hype, unnecessary and worse really just being foisted upon our profession in a scheme to get more money from "us"

This got me thinking…

I typically find that people who express comments like that are both short sighted and closed minded about opportunities to do what we/you do better.

Yes we can create magnificent architecture with a pencil but should we?

Personally I find that in the region that I work (Western Canada) we talk about BIM but we are still not fully embracing BIM, we say were using BIM technology but basically all we have done is replace ACAD with RAC… this is not true BIM, it’s Lonely BIM!

We still hand over a set of drawings to the contractor, not a building information model (unless we are legally obligated too). We coordinate with other BIM lonely consultants but there is still resistance to sharing a complete model…..Why? Are we afraid of Liability? Responsibility? Do we not have confidence in our model?

Knowing the people that I work with, I have absolute trust in the ability in the technicians creating the model, the information they have been given or gather is true and correct given the usual parameter that we work within. Which are the same parameters that we have worked under for many, many years.... so why the fear? Maybe it’s because we haven’t done enough to educate those members of a firm who make these kinds of decisions on the capabilities of BIM and Revit?

Integrated Project Delivery may be the saviour in regards to this, if everybody associated in a project signs a piece of paper (simplified here I know) stating that they wont sue each other everyone involve would be more willing to share information, confident that  that if the information may be incorrect the ramification wont escalate to a legal scrimmage. This of course does not reduce the responsibility of ensuring that the information you are passing on is as correct as you can possibly make it. This is called due diligence!

We need to be more confident in our capabilities and the capabilities of the people whom we place in roles of responsibility.

Once this is achieved I believe we will move forward and create true “responsible” Architecture, or "Ethical Architecture"!

Sc

Wordle - Revit and getting side tracked on Twitter

You know some times I feel like I live under a Rock!!... Or maybe it's that I'm too busy and some things get past me.


I've had to drop Twitter because of this, while at the RTC Conference there was a lot of twittering going on both during the sessions and afterwards.... sometimes I prefer to focus on one output or the medium and be able to absorb the information a little better rather than try and keep up with everything... That's just my preference and my method, there are other methods that work equally well or if not better which include Twitter....


Anyway.... I digress. I was intending to write a brief blog about Wordle...
Wordle has been around for quite some time but I haven't had time or the inclination to look into it further.. until now.


I saw a Wordle during one of the sessions at RTC and this has resparked my interest....


It's sooo easy! I went to http://www.wordle.net/ typed in my Blog address and it came up with some beautiful Wordles!


Here are some of the Wordles that were created from words taken from my blog... such as Revit, Families, Architecture, etc...

This is awesome.... I just need to figure out where else I can use this!!!


Sc

Oh Sketch-up I love you....But!

Oh Sketch-up I love you!....But you know were really not compatible! :-(

Sketchup is soooo popular for doing quick and easy conceptual design and visualization.
However in a Architectural firm or a Design office using Revit, Sketchup can cause some issues.
you can loose design intent whenever you switch from one program to another where you cannot transfer information, like in the case of doing the concept design in Sketchup and then preliminary/construction design in Revit.

When I talk about design intent I'm referring to the feel and flow of the design. When recreating that in another program you typically find that whoever is inputting the design there are inevitable design changes that occur for a variety of reasons (I wont go into here).

The same is true for any program I'm not just picking on Sketchup.

I have seen instances where floor plans don't match elevations which don't match sections because each was created using a different program!

What few Reviteers realise is that a lot of the same tools you use in Sketchup are available in Revit, it's just a matter of spending a little time familiarising yourself with how to use them and you'll quickly see you'll be able to recreate what you can create in Sketchup in Revit.

In fact you may find that you can do more......!

AND! You will not loose the integrity of the design making the transition and flow from each design process easier with less mistakes.

So next time your doing a concept design give the tools you have in Revit a try, such as the Massing tools, Visualization, Solar study, Paint materials, Space scheduling, Visual Styles etc... I think you'll like the results and you wont be replicating work you have already done!

Thoughts anyone?

Sc

Revisions and Revision Clouds

 So I have finally got around to writing about Revision Clouds..... don't know why it has taken me so long.

Here is a basic run down on how to use Revisions and Revision Clouds.

I typically have two types of Revisions, one that is related to a revision cloud and one that is related to the issue date of the drawing(s). I also combine these both into one revision schedule.

Revisions can be specific to one sheet or cover all sheets depending upon what you want.

Lets start from the beginning.

Revision Clouds: Revision Clouds indicate an area on the drawing that has been revised after the initial issue of the drawings. Add a revision cloud from the Revision Cloud tool on the Detail panel under the Annotate tab.

You can draw multiple revision clouds on multiple views, you can tag them to the same revision description.

Under the properties of the Revision Cloud you can assign the appropriate Revision, a mark number and any comments.

Using the Tag by Category tool tag your Revision cloud.

At this point if you create multiple Revision Clouds and Tag them it will only be the number 1 as currently there are no other "Revisions" created yet.

Under the View tab on the Sheet Composition tab you'll find the Revisions tool.

This will open up a dialog box where you can add additional Revisions.

Here you can number the revisions Per Sheet or Per Project, meaning if you choose to number revisions by Sheet it will number the revisions sequentially regardless of what sheet it is placed on.

If you choose by Project your revisions will be blank (even after you have assigned the revision to the cloud) until you place that view on a sheet at which time Revit will then assign a number starting at #1.

On sample #1 I have my Revisions set to Per Project, so my 4th Revision is number 4.




Sample 1

If I add another revision (#5) on another view on another sheet and than added #6 to this view on this sheet it will then be placed directly under my #4.

  On sample 2 I have the revisions set to Per Sheet.

Sample 2

Note: If you switch it after you have placed revision tags it will war you that Revit will change the numbers.

Here you see Cloud #1 refers to my fourth revision, revisions number 2 and 3 can be another sheet and would be numbered 1 and 2 on that sheet.



Each revision on the view that resides on that sheet is numbered sequentially starting at 1 regardless of the revision number on the Sheet Issues/Revisions dialog box.  See Sample 3.



Sample 3

Revisions will only show up on the revision schedule (yes its a schedule imbedded into your template) of the sheet that the view where the Revision Tag/Cloud resides.

So I typically set mine to Per Project.

Each Revision number matches the number in the Revision box on the sheet.

On the Sheet Issues/Revisions dialog box you can keep track of whether or not the Revision had been issues as well as by whom and who too. checking this box will lock your revision making it impossible to delete the cloud.

The Show column determines whether or not you will see the cloud and only the tag or neither cloud or tag.

This is where you can get sneaky and create a "ISSUES FOR REVIEW" revision, place a cloud and tag on each view and select None under the Show option to get the Issues for Review in the Issue Description Box on your sheets.

Background Image for Renderings

So you have this great model and you have 3D views that the client love....but... they have a fantastic view you want to accurately display while appearing to be standing on their balcony. Or they want to see how the building will look on their site so you can accurately place the building.

You have some photograph's of the site that you can use so bring them into your model!

Here is a (quick) example of a finished product. Here I created a camera view looking out over the balcony. camera placement is important, luckily you can always move the camera around to get the right angle to suit your image.

On the Rendering dialog box under the Background style you  can specify your image.

Here you can customize the image and the position of the image by adjusting the offset and scaling the with and height etc.

You can manipulate location of the image only from this dialog box.

Run the rendering in a low or Draft mode or render a region if you have a large view.  Make any changes to the location of the image or the situation of the camera to get a realistic appearance.

Here is a quick one I did, doesn't look too bad and the clients love this, it adds a sense of realism for them.

Things to look out for, look where the sun is in your photo, you may want to adjust your location and time of day under the Shadows setting to match your photo. Nothing worse than seeing the sun in your photo and seeing the shadows on what would be the sunny side of the building.

Take a bunch of site photos if possible taking into consideration the location of the house and the features of the view. Think of where you have placed the Camera View and try to replicate that location on site.

Remember if you are rendering a project that you have light sources in and your using interior lighting, create a  artificial lighting set where you can basically turn off the lights you wont need in your rendering, otherwise Revit will have to take into consideration all of the lights even if they will not affect your rendering, this will speed up your rendering process. Don't make Revit work any harder that it has too...

This also works great for interior views where you want to show the view through the windows, say from laying on the bed in the master bedroom, or standing in the kitchen looking out.....