HOK BIM Solutions

The 2nd Annual HOK BIMies

2012-01-27T08:09:00.000-08:00

Lachmi Khemlani from AECbytes provides a great overview of the 2nd Annual HOK BIMies, be sure to check it out! We really do love what we do at HOK. :-)

http://www.aecbytes.com/feature/2012/HOK_BIM_Awards.html

Clipping Issues in Navisworks

2012-01-19T13:58:00.001-08:00

From the Beyond Design blog post, “Why does my model look sectioned?”

If you are experiencing clipping issues in Navisworks – especially with large models – you may have a spurious object far away from the main geometry. Your best option is to delete the extraneous element in the source model and reload it. If your composite model is just that large (airport, neighborhood, city…) then you might need to adjust the Clippng Planes under the Culling tab in File Options.

Read the complete article on the Beyond Design blog for more info.

Event: BIM in Modular and Prefab Construction

2012-01-18T10:08:00.001-08:00

HOK’s own James Vandezande is the president of the New York City Revit Users Group (nyc-rug.com) and organizes popular monthly meetings around various BIM-related topics. The January 2012 meeting featured guest speaker Ian Atkins who shared some of his real-world experience in applying BIM to modular and prefabricated construction.

Feel free to watch the recording of the meeting (Ian’s presentation starts at 12:30 into the recording)…

Enabling Better 3D Coordination

2012-01-17T06:47:00.001-08:00

Not too long ago, some in the industry thought that simply by exporting Revit models into Navisworks meant they were performing 3D coordination.¹ I firmly believe we are moving beyond this notion towards a more complete offering of coordinated inter-disciplinary model deliverables.

I was inspired to write this article from recent posts by Steve Stafford on RevitOpEd (“Designing Revit Content – What is Interference?”), and posts by Doug Bowers on Applying Technology to Architecture (“Clearance Zones in Revit Families – Part 1 and Part 2”). In their writings, Steve and Doug share some great tips and techniques for architects to generate more accurate clash detection results. Without reiterating their information on this blog, here are some of the key concepts:

Overlapping windows will not generate a warning in Revit
Know what families have 3D geometry and which consist of 2D linework
The door swing shown in plan is only a 2D symbol, unusable for clash detection
Clearance zones are not included in Revit door families because the rules can be different around the world

The main issue here is not necessarily about detecting interferences between 3D geometry, but one concerning model validation using implied spatial zones. I use the term ‘model validation’ because this type of checking has a range of uses including code compliance and maintenance clearance validation. Some facility owners are now starting to include such specifications in their BIM requirements. For example, writing the project execution plan for a recent project I found the following requirement:

“Clearances and access: All clearances and access to equipment, valves, etc. must be modeled in 3D and kept in a separate layer and labeled correspondingly.”

If your existing content library doesn’t include clearance zones, you might be in for some heavy duty family revisions as this project gets started.

As an alternative, an intelligent model checking platform can validate many of these rules (but not necessarily all of them). One such program in use at HOK is Solibri Model Checker (www.solibri.com). While this is worthy of future dedicated posts, the fundamental idea here is ‘intelligent model checking.’ What makes this tool intelligent? It utilizes IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) models that ‘understand’ the model parts. Navisworks does a great job in checking the raw 3D geometry, but the system cannot distinguish between various building elements - such as a wall and a door - without user interaction in the form of property search sets. In IFC, the data is generated from a compatible BIM platform and elements are classified according to international standards. As such, Solibri can understand a door and apply validation rules (ADA) to the door without the need to add them into the native door family.

Note 1: “3D Coordination“ is a defined BIM use in the “Project Execution Planning Guidelines.” Read more about BIM use definitions at the Penn State University website (bim.psu.edu). We also encourage you to follow a new blog by HOK’s Greg Schleusner: bimuse.blogspot.com

Taking Revit into the future…..

2011-12-20T06:17:00.001-08:00

David Light HOK London explains how HOK has adapted Revit for touch screen technology.

http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.projectview&upload_id=18396

DRAWING (S) in_form

2011-11-22T02:58:00.000-08:00

I am proud to say that I received a copy of Disegno (E) in_Formazione today or DRAWING (S) in_form. I was contacted by Massimiliano Lo Turco earlier this year asking for an interview on HOK’s experiences with BIM; as always, I obliged. The book is bilingual Italian & English & includes a wealth of knowledge on BIM strategy & software deployment.

More detail can be found here….

http://www.bimacademy.it/2011/10/disegno-e-in_formazione-disegno-politecnico

Viewing thumbnails when loading families

2011-11-01T14:33:00.000-07:00

Victor Martinez BIM Manager at HOK New York says; if you are loading families and want to view the icons in detail mode, hold your CTRL key down and middle mouse scroll in the window, the view will go from this:

To this:

The more you scroll with the CTRL key pressed the larger the icons will appear:

BIM Implementation – HOK buildingSMART

2011-10-11T04:02:00.000-07:00

David Light, BIM manager, HOK London gives an overview on HOK buildingSMART.

http://www.thenbs.com/topics/BIM/articles/BIM-Implementation_HOK-buildingSMART.asp

Using conditional formatting in schedules

2011-10-07T13:04:00.000-07:00

A request was made to me this week by one our project managers who wanted to know whether we where over or under our area requirements on one of our projects. We needed to show which rooms where providing more area than had been defined in the client brief & this needed to displayed graphically on plan. You would normally do this by setting up a Colour Scheme to display the results by a range.

However, on this occasion we just needed to display the results as either yes or no. I was able to resolve the problem which I explain in the youtube video below; it got us the result we needed. I am sure there must be a slicker way to do this, however this rather “rushed” video explains the steps I took.

AU2011 – Citrix & Revit

2011-09-23T02:07:00.000-07:00

Wanna know more about Citrix & Revit? Then be sure to check out HOK’s John Bartolomi, Director of IT Services class. He will be giving a presentation at Autodesk University on the virtualization of Revit. Class detail & times are below.

ID: AB4595
Title: Autodesk Revit Virtualization Using Citrix® Technologies
Date: Thursday, Dec 1, 2011
Time: 5:15pm
Duration: 90 minutes

Using Room Separation lines

2011-09-07T06:00:00.000-07:00

Find below Youtube Video with a few tips on how we use Room separation lines in projects. I can’t take full credit for the parking bay concept as I believe Joe Stott over at Revit Scratchpad came up with something similar first off.

Some will obviously freak out on how we add Room separation lines to a specific workset, but I can live with that. ;-)

Program Management Integrated with BIM

2011-08-24T08:36:00.001-07:00

The August 2011 meeting of the New York City Revit Users Group featured a presentation by Greg Schleusner of the firm-wide BIM leadership team at HOK. Greg demonstrates how the use of BIM-based program management tools such as dRofus can support and improve the project delivery process. The discussion focuses on the benefits of adequately documenting program requirements and then comparing those to an evolving design model.

NOTE: The featured presentation starts at about 12:00 into the recording.

Complete meeting recording from NYC RUG

Revit 2012 – missing thumbnails

2011-08-02T04:57:00.001-07:00

Have you had issues where your Revit 2012 thumbnails have disappeared, even though Windows is set to display them?

This often happens after uninstalling older versions of Revit, in particularly Revit 2010. Therefore to resolve this, open up a command promote & copy & paste this line into the command line.

regsvr32 "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Revit Architecture 2012\Program\Revit.Thumbnail.dll"

You will need to be a administrator to do this, but after you have done this, reboot your machine & you should find thumbnails will return.

Reusing data in Revit

2011-07-26T05:01:00.001-07:00

Need to reuse details from project to project? (of course!) Did you know that you can directly copy views from one project to another? Simply select and copy them from the project browser. Then paste them (ctrl+v) into the work area of another project!

This works on:

Drafting Views
Schedules
Empty Sheets
Entire Sheets with only Drafting Views on them
Legends will not work!

(Depending on your browser organization) the views will show up in the same position they did in the previous project.

Revit - 2D vs. 3D AutoCAD Backgrounds

2011-07-26T04:51:00.000-07:00

Did you know there are two very different types of CAD backgrounds?

Flattened “2D” backgrounds that are overlaid onto a view
Model element “3D” backgrounds that have a physical location within the model

The easiest and preferred method to link in a dwg is as a 2D background.

How can you tell them apart?

Select a CAD background.. if you are able to specify foreground / background from the options bar, then it is a 2D background.

When would you want to use a 3D background?

3D doesn’t necessarily mean a dwg will be given depth; what it really means is that the dwg will be created as a model element

3D backgrounds will be visible in all views where they are within the view range. Therefore if you link a CAD plan in, all floor plan views will automatically show the background!
If you want to see the dwg in a 3D Isometric or Perspective view
If you want to see dwg elements that were modeled in 3D
Because 3D backgrounds have a physical location, they can be obscured by other elements such as walls, ceilings or finish floors
A 3D background is not flattened, so any linework that has a height (Z value) other than 0” may show in unexpected places or not at all.
A 3D dwg linked into a floor plan will not show on an RCP even if you “copy/paste” it into the view UNLESS you give it a positive offset (such as 9’-0”) to bring it into the RCP view range
The seemingly random, bulgy, coloured linework in an elevation is usually a 3D dwg being seen from the side. These can be easily hidden by turning off “Imported Categories” through VG.

Setting an Offset

CAD Obscured Hidden Line by Ceiling

Same CAD visible in wireframe

When would you want to use a 2D background?

In most cases a 2D background is the easiest to work with because they cannot be obscured by other elements

A specific background (such as furniture) that does not need to automatically show in all views
RCP backgrounds
Elevations, Sections or other views where there is no real workplane for the dwg to be placed on
Sending the dwg link to foreground will show the CAD on top of all model elements. Sending the dwg link to background will place it behind model elements.
2D views WILL NOT show up in all views automatically, however they can be copy/pasted into other views (the link will still update)

So how do you choose to link a dwg as 3D or 2D background?

Actually it doesn’t specifically say annotation or model, 2D or 3D… the option is found in the dialog box when you are first linking the background as “Current view only”

Checked will create a 2D background
Unchecked will create a 3D background

Revit Architecture – underlay

2011-07-26T03:47:00.000-07:00

Kevin Shumbera explains how the underlay feature can assist when generating a reflected ceiling plan & then coordinating with the furniture layout.

Kevin says – “When working in a reflected ceiling plan, it is helpful to know where the furniture occurs”.

Revit provides UNDERLAY tools to make this easier.

You can work in the Ceiling Plan while viewing the Floor Plan as an Underlay.

NEW – You can work in the Floor Plan while viewing the Ceiling Plan as an Underlay. (this can be useful for MEP tasks).

The examples below, show a floor plan and a reflected ceiling plan

To see the furniture in the RCP, turn on the UNDERLAY in the VIEW PROPERTIES, as shown below:

What is new is that it is possible to see the Ceiling in a Plan view.

Turn on the UNDERLAY and change the UNDERLAY ORIENTATION from Plan to REFLECTED CEILING PLAN:

Note: It is also possible to see an underlay from a level different from the current level, if needed.

Looking for something?

2011-07-26T03:38:00.001-07:00

Kevin Shumbra from HOK’s Houston offices shares some wisdom on “stuff” which goes missing in Revit. Revit likes to play hide and seek… here is the process I use to find missing elements (beginning with the most likely cause)

General

Element is visible in other Views

Open another view or draw a new one.. If the element shows up, it may be one of the follow settings:

Workset
What Workset is the element on? Check the setting in element properties from a view where it is visible and then check the VG settings in the view where it isn’t visible. Or turn on ALL Worksets through VG.

Wireframe
Elements can be covered up by other elements or even masking regions, change the view to wireframe to make sure this isn’t happening. If so, is the element at the right elevation? The family may need to be modified to show correctly, or the covering element can be made transparent.

Reveal Hidden
The element may be hidden in the view, or by VG category. Turn on the light bulb to shows elements hidden one at a time or by category.
*Elements hidden by Workset will not show up in this mode.

Visibility Graphics
Check the VG settings to make sure the category isn’t turned off.

Visibility Graphics II – Revit Link
If the element is coming from a linked model, you may need to check the custom VG settings in the Revit Links tab. If a link is set to custom or “by linked view” then it’s VG settings won’t come from the regular view settings.

View Range
Is the element within of the view range? Draw a section where the element should be and see what elevation the element is at. The default cut plane is at 4’-0”, so elements above this will not show, nor will elements below the view depth. You may need to reposition the element, change the view range, or modify the family to make it show.

Design Options
Is the project using Design Options? Cycle through each of the options in the VG Design Options menu.

Phasing
Is the project using phasing? In View properties set the “Phase Filter” to none, this will ignore the phase of an element and show everything. If the element reappears, it may have the wrong phase or the view properties may be set incorrectly.

Filter
Does the view have filters applied? Check in VG and turn on ALL of the filters.

Family Properties
Edit the Family and go into the view that you are trying to see the element in (Plan, Front or Side Elevation etc.. ) Select a single part of the element and go to the “Visibility Settings” button from the toolbar. These settings can turn off any element in plan or elevation views and coarse, medium or fine detail levels. Within the project you can also change the detail level of the view between coarse, medium and fine.

Element is not visible in other Views

Workset
Is the element on a Workset that is turned off by default? Turn on all Worksets on in VG

Worksets II
Go to the Workset manager from the Collaborate menu and check that the Workset is open and not closed. Closed Worksets are unloaded from all views in the model.

Detail Lines
Element drafted with details lines, symbols or detail components will only exist in the view where they are drawn.

Design Options
Is the project using Design Options? Cycle through each of the options in the VG Design Options menu.

Social Media at HOK

2011-06-02T08:12:00.001-07:00

Social media tools such as this blog, Life @ HOK, Twitter, Flickr, Facebook and others are important parts of our firm’s dedication to open communication and collaboration. Our CIO, Ken Young, discusses this evolving practice at the KA Connect 2011 event…

42nd Annual Architectural Foundation of San Francisco High School BIM Awards

2011-05-01T03:18:00.000-07:00

Alan Sandler kindly asked us to judge the 42nd Annual High School Design Competition for AFSF. We received 14 entries many of which were quite nice considering that they were built by such young minds. We were asked to identify a winner along with a second and third place finish.

The students were asked to submit a Revit 2011 model, an animated walk through video, and a rendered image. The design concept was centered around "Sails of History" where the students would design "An America's Cup Youth Pavilion."

Here are the top three entries along with a few honorable mentions and a quick bit as to what our impressions were on them in terms of how BIM was used to communicate their ideas.

First Place, Entry #48 by Erina Yamada
Academy of Arts and Sciences/Build San Francisco
This model contained a nice variety of forms and was put together quite nicely. The student did not spend too much time on any single item in the model and it appeared to be at an even level of completion. This model contained an interesting stair system, lighting, a green roof, and a topography surface with attention paid to the modeling of interior as well as exterior features of the design.

Second Place, Entry #13 by Matthew Lew
Lowell High School/Build San Francisco
This was an amazing model with a beautiful design. The image below is one of the student generated renderings contained internally within the Revit model. This student should be very proud and definitely has a future in design!

Third Place, Entry #16 by Priscilla Ng
Lowel High School
This was a nicely put together model. The curtain system was well modeled and had some interesting forms that exploited some of the advantages of the use of BIM. Very nice work!

Honorable Mention, Entry #44 by
Billy Hu, Alan Fu and Bryant Fu
George Washington High School
Modeling a dome shaped curtain system deserves a mention for sure. I did not find any doors or breaches in the dome system to support entry or a patio or this model may have made it higher in the finishing. A very interesting design!

Honorable Mention, Entry #61 by Baby Joy Quejarro
Academy of Arts and Sciences/Build San Francisco
A green roof, clam shell beds, and nice use of various model elements gets this entry an honorable mention. This was a neat building and a well built model.

Honorable Mention, Entry #4 by Cooper Minetti
Alhambra High School
This entry was nice in that the presentation was well communicated and put together onto a sheet. The student used some advanced elements and I'm sure they learned plenty while putting this model together, nice work.

Allow NWC Overwrite in Navisworks

2011-04-21T09:18:00.001-07:00

Tip submitted by Stan S. in San Francisco

If you are a regular user of Navisworks to perform 3D coordination or 4D simulations using model data from Revit, you may have encountered a problem with updating the NWC files exported from Revit. Navisworks can directly open or append models from a number of formats including DWG, DGN, IFC, and so on. It does so by creating temporary files called cache files (NWC). Because Navisworks cannot directly open a Revit project file (RVT), Autodesk provides a free exporting tool to create NWC files directly from a Revit model; however, if you have a Navisworks file set (NWF) open when you try to export from Revit, you will see this error:

To solve this, go to the Navisworks Options Editor (under the Application button) and examine the Model options. You may have to scroll down to find this option, but make sure the setting for “Close NWC/NWD Files On Load” is checked as shown below. This will allow you to overwrite the NWC files while Navisworks is running.

With this setting enabled, you must remember to refresh your file set when an NWC file is overwritten. Found on the Home tab (or by pressing F5), this is the usual method for updating when an original model of another format (DWG, DGN, IFC…) is received.

About References in Families

2011-04-20T09:27:00.001-07:00

The folks over at Andekan – a company “focused on the creation of manufacturer-specific product familes” – recently posted a detailed article on how to use reference planes in the Revit Family Editor environment. Definitely worth a read if you are creating content.

Read “On Strengths and Weaknesses (in the Revit Family Editor)” by Jose Fandos

Setting a +/- Offset in a Revit Family

2011-03-28T12:47:00.000-07:00

Have you ever run into an issue where you needed to enter a negative offset value within a family and got an error? If you haven't... you will.

Here's a nice tip from Bruce Madsen in the San Francisco office that was used to allow for a quick positive or negative distance value to adjust curtain panel offsets:

The problem is that Revit does not allow negative distances:

When a negative distance is entered, Revit will report, “Parameter <name> has an invalid value.”

SOLUTION

Create the Offset parameter as a number and use an IF statement to control the length – and to convert the number to a distance.

Steps to Follow:

Create a “Number” type parameter for the offset dimension

“MyOffset_Inches”, in this case
The formula will assume inches, so we added “Inches” to the name

Add a formula to control the Variable Length parameter

In words, to calculate the Variable Length;

If the Offset is negative, subtract the absolute value of the Offset from the Base Dimension
If the Offset is zero or positive, add the value of the offset to the Base Dimension

In the formula, note the multiplication by 1”. This is to convert the Offset (Number) parameter to a distance.

LEED the Way with Revit

2011-02-04T11:53:00.000-08:00

So you’re working on a renovation project and going for LEED certification, congratulations! You’ll eventually need to calculate total surface areas for various elements in your design and compare them between what is being reused, demolished, and new for material reuse credits.

Here are a couple of Revit tricks to gather these calculated values and display them in a nice and easy to read set of schedules. You will need to create separate schedules for New, Demo and Existing for proper comparisons.

First create a new text shared parameter named something to the effect of “LEEDScheduleFilter” and bind it to all categories in your model. This parameter will be the target of any schedule and view filtering for each of our required conditions. This parameter also allows us to filter out specific elements that exist in the facility model but are not part of the renovation scope (very important).

Bind this new parameter to all categories in your model.

Some families may need to be modified to schedule calculated facial areas and volumes (doors, casework, etc.).

Now that this parameter is accessible as an instance parameter to all categories in the model, we can begin to enter filtering data for the categories that we need to calculate surface areas for.

I typically setup a few working views so I can visualize the data that I am entering into my elements by using filters. Create a new view and name it something like “LEED Surface Areas Level 1” and set it to “Hidden Line.” Then in Visibility Graphics, create filters in the Filters tab for:

· Included Walls Exterior

· Included Walls Interior (Area X 2)

· Included Casework

· Included Doors

· Included Ceilings

Apply these filters to the view and set a color for each of them so you can tell which elements have “qualified data” applied to them. Setup your schedules to use the same filtering rules as your filter views.

As you know, LEED

Here are some fairly self explanatory images for setting up your schedules:

If you love this kind of stuff and also like to dabble with the RevitAPI, I manage another blog called http://www.revitnet.blogspot.com/. Happy LEEDing

Problem with demolishing Light fixtures

2010-11-04T14:35:00.001-07:00

Bruce Madsen from our SF office highlighted this problem recently. It relates to issues when demolishing light fixtures when using phasing in Revit.

THE PROBLEM

THE CAUSE

Since the ceiling is NOT demolished, the light-fixture hole edges remain as existing

THE WORK-AROUND

Use the Linework tool to change the lines from Solid to Demolished

Understanding cut geometry in Revit - developing deliverables from your model

2010-10-19T13:43:00.001-07:00

David Light, Revit Specialist for HOK London explains how to use different family categories so you can develop detailed deliverables from families placed within your project environment.

This question has come up a number of times recently, but understanding how Revit cuts geometry is particular important if you trying to generate deliverables off your model. Contrary to popular opinion, it is possible to do this.

In the example below, the requirement is to generate a number of different plans representing a reception desk. But the prerequisite is to show these at various level, ie. Top View, View below sign-in counter, a view indicating how the millwork is developed.

You first just need to know what families are cuttable and which families are not, the Autodesk Revit help file actually explains this very well. Then you need to understand how to use plan regions to control the different plan depths you require.

Start by changing the family category to “generic model”. This ensures that the geometry is cuttable in plan as well as section.

Replicate the plan views as required, for each plan you are trying to develop.

Then pick one of the views, then go to view and “plan region” and sketch around an area where you need to see a different depth.

Select the plan region and adjust its Cut plane as required, in the case of below I have dropped this to 500mm.

The resulting geometry will now look like this.

If you need to provide different areas at different heights, pull back the plan region or sketch around what needs to be shown at a different height and alter the cut plan.

In the image below; the resulting views with different plan regions added to represent how the reception desk will need to be shown on the drawings.

PDF to DWG …..DWF to DWG… hack

2010-10-19T13:35:00.001-07:00

It is a well known trick that you can export a PDF to DWG by using Adobe illustrator. This is achieved by opening the PDF and then choose export and export as a DWG, assuming the PDF contains vector linework.

However, can you do the same with a DWF file?

Technically yes, there are various tools and plugins which will allow you to convert a DWF to a DWG, but you will have limitation in the quality of the linework. However, you may have some success if the DWF contains vector linework with one of the following:-

You can open the DWF in Autodesk Design Review, then PDF it using acrobat writer, then convert the PDF as highlighted in the technique above, using Adobe Illustrator.
Alternatively, you could open the DWF in Design review, choose Copy to the clipboard, then in AutoCAD, choose Paste Special to copy the elements into AutoCAD.
You will need to scale up the resulting DWG in both cases and the quality will be very low, but it should be enough to start a basic schematic plan from.

Copying & Pasting Objects between families and projects

2010-10-15T01:56:00.001-07:00

Have you ever wanted to copy and paste objects between families and projects? Yongmoo Hur BIM manager for our Hong Kong explains more…..

Assume that you started working in a project and need to model roof/exterior skin on the walls below using ‘Conceptual Mass’.

You may want to bring the walls into the Conceptual Mass, but you cannot do it in current version of Revit. Basically Revit does not allow us to copy objects between projects and families with some exceptions with lines. Most importantly, you can NOT copy anything directly onto ‘conceptual mass family’. You will get error messages below.

True - You can’t copy between families and projects. But you CAN copy between families. We can use this.

1. Click ‘In-Place Mass’ to start ‘In-place Mass family’

2. Using ‘Reference or Model line’ + ‘Pick Lines’, Trace profiles.

3. Before you ‘Finish Mass’, Pick the lines and paste it onto ‘Conceptual mass’. Because you are inside of an in-place family, you will be able to copy lines to Conceptual family template.

Now you can model objects in the Conceptual Mass family!

You can also model a mass, and you will be able to copy and paste the mass within edit mode (again, BEFORE you ‘Finish Mass’)

For those who are more interested, below are further findings about behaviour on that subject

You can NOT copy and paste walls directly into any family templates.
Linking Revit will NOT work. The ‘Link Revit’ button becomes greyed out.
You can NOT copy model lines to the ‘Conceptual mass family’ template.
You CAN copy model lines to regular family templates. Trace profile using model lines and copy and paste onto family templates- generic model, for instance. And you CAN load this regular family into Conceptual Mass Family. It would be great if we can get rid of this extra step though.
You CAN copy detail lines to Profile family templates. -- Trace profile using detail lines and copy and paste onto the ‘Profile family template’. But you can NOT load this into ‘Conceptual Mass’

Select Previous in Revit 2011

2010-10-13T13:33:00.001-07:00

When you select objects, use

Ctrl – to add

Shift – to exclude

“Ctrl + Left Arrow key” is the shortcut for “select previous”

Control Temporary Dimensions

2010-10-13T13:04:00.001-07:00

Yongmoo Hur, BIM manager in our Hong Kong office explains how to control the appearance of Temporary Dimensions. We all know that Temporary Dimensions appear when you select objects. I would like to cover little bit of this Temporary Dimensions.

This temporary dimension will not show up when the model becomes too complex to show all related dimensions. You can force to show this by clicking ‘Activate Dimensions’

If you click icon underneath, the dimensions will turn into permanent linear dimensions.

You can change how these temporary dimensions behave. You can set Temporary dimension to measure from centerlines to centerlines, faces to faces and etc. Manage tab > Additional Settings > Temporary Dimensions

You can also change the size of text. Often these temporary dimensions become illegible interfering with other objects, and you can make it bigger and more legible!

The R icon > Options >Graphic Tab > Temporary Dimension Text Appearance

You can select the blue square, drag and snap to new points.

Disallow wall joins

2010-10-13T12:40:00.000-07:00

Brok Howard of our St Louis office, shows how to use the disallow wall join feature in Revit Architecture 2011.

Rehost geometry in a different plane

2010-10-13T12:33:00.001-07:00

How do you rehost geometry to a plane in a different angle? William Lopez Campo from HOK London explains.

When trying to move geometry around (ie using a sketch from a reference plane to another) you can rehost between parallel surfaces.

The steps I followed in order to let the geometry “jump” from a plane to another non-parallel are:

The geometry is hosted on the Plane A.

Set Current a horizontal plane, and draw from any point a line perpendicular to Plane A and another from its endpoint perpendicular to plane B.

Draw a point hosted on the line perpendicular to Plane A. Select the geometry and select “Pick...” in the Host dropdown list. The plane defined by the point on the line is parallel to Plane A, so the geometry will “jump” to the plane.

Now set the original horizontal plane as current again, and rotate the line. Drag the rotation centre to the endpoint of the line and snap the rotation for the lines to overlap. There will be a warning message of overlapping lines, ignore it. Notice that the point and the geometry will rotate with the line.

Select the Geometry again, and repeat the Host Pick... procedure, now you should be able to pick Plane B

And job is done!

Autodesk Univeristy 2010

2010-10-11T13:21:00.000-07:00

HOK will have a healthy presence at AU2010. Along with its numerous conference attendees, HOK will be sending five speakers!!

Don Rudder from the San Francisco office will be a sole lecturer for the CP333-1 customization and programming class entitled "Leveraging the Tail End of the BIM Lifecycle with APIs" where he will speak on facility management capabilities using Autodesk Revit and Autodesk Design Review pulled together into an ASP.NET web environment.

James Vandezande from our builingSMART group in the New York office will be primary speaker for two lectures and one "Unconference." David Light from the London office will be a guest speaking in the AB220-3P class on curtain walls while Lee Miller from the San Francisco office will be guest speaking in the AB427-4 class entitled "BIM and IPD for Project Leaders."

William Lopez-Campo out of our London office will present two Virtual classes each twice all done in Español!!

Moving the Sun to adjust shaded views

2010-10-08T00:15:00.001-07:00

There may be times when you need to adjust the sun and shadows in your model. With the introduction of the sun path tool in Revit Architecture, this is a lot easier. Bruce Madsen from HOK S.F explains.

In the 3D view of interest, click on the sun icon in the lower-left of the drawing space.

When the dialog box opens, select the top option. This will show the sun as a yellow ball in the view.

Revit displays the sun and sun path.

Modify the date and time as needed to adjust the sun – just click on the text and change the numbers.

After changing the text, Revit changes the sun angle and you can verify if it gives a better contrast.

How to use Revits Underlay tools

2010-09-24T02:54:00.001-07:00

Bruce Madsen, one of BIM managers for our San Francisco office says, when working in a reflected ceiling plan, it is helpful to know where the furniture occurs.

Revit provides UNDERLAY tools to make this easier.

You can work in the Ceiling Plan while viewing the Floor Plan as an Underlay.
NEW – You can work in the Floor Plan while viewing the Ceiling Plan as an Underlay. (this can be useful for MEP tasks).

The examples below, show a floor plan and a reflected ceiling plan:-

To see the furniture in the RCP, turn on the UNDERLAY in the VIEW PROPERTIES, as shown below:-

What is new is that it is possible to see the Ceiling in a Plan view.

Turn on the UNDERLAY and change the UNDERLAY ORIENTATION from Plan to REFLECTED CEILING PLAN:-

· Note: It is also possible to see an underlay from a level different from the current level, if needed.

How do I create???? – Types of Conceptual Masses in Revit 2011

2010-09-20T09:02:00.001-07:00

I posted these examples of my own blog site, but thought it worth sharing with the wider HOK BIM community. I get many questions about how to create forms in Revits Conceptual massing environment. So please find links to various Youtube videos which explain the basics on how to create particular forms. This should get you started when first adventuring into Revit 2011’s massing environment and this will work in a conceptual mass family as well as a project mass.You will find videos which show you how to create…..

Extruded form
Revolve
Blend
Sweep
Swept Blend
Cone
Dome
Sphere
Torus
Loft 1
Loft 2
Pyramid

1. Extrude

2. Revolve

3. Blend

4. Sweep

5. Swept Blend

6. Cone

7. Dome

8. Sphere

9. Torus

10. Loft 1

11. Loft 2

12. Pyramid

Using Navisworks for Presentation

2010-08-09T06:52:00.001-07:00

The following YouTube presentation explains how to use Navisworks for real-time clients presentation. The workflow requires you to export an 3d DWF from Revit and then import this into Navisworks.

Controlling and changing Grid Line display

2010-04-19T04:05:00.001-07:00

Victor Martinez , BIM Manager from HOK NYC said “While working on a recent project, the need to show column grid lines differently between composite plans and finish plans was requested. In order to accomplish this, the following method was used.”

In this first image, the composite plan is showing the grid lines with the project default settings:

Select a grid line and view it’s properties.

From the Type properties window, there are a few options to adjust how column grid lines are being generated. You are able to change the center and end segments here as well as the symbols being used. For this example, change the center segment to none:

Your plan will now look like this:

After changing the center segment, select a grid line and use the blue grips to drag each end segment to the center which will turn the grid lines back into a continuous centerline in the composite plan view.

Do this for each grid line in the view:

After dragging each grid line in the one view, the grids will now display differently in this view as compared to the rest of the other views:

You can then select the grid lines in the view you changed them in and propagate extents to the remaining corresponding views:

Once you Propagate Extents, you will now have the ability to control gridlines differently in multiple views:

Rotating Callouts

2010-04-16T05:37:00.001-07:00

This tip comes from Victor Martinez of the HOK New York Office.

A callout has been placed in a view that appears to run parallel with the angle of a wing of a building, but you aren’t sure. A decision has been made to rotate the callout back to a default 0 degrees. Since there is no way of getting the angle or the rotation of the callout from its instance properties, how can it be rotated accurately back to a default 0 degrees?

By placing a scope box (blue dashed line in below image) in the view you can name the scope box and then assign the callout to the scope box so the callout assumes the angle/placement of the scope box (assuming the default value of a scope box is 0 degrees of course):

Callout Instance Properties:

The result is the callout assumes the scopebox angle:

The scopebox can then be deleted without affecting the callout. Now the callout can be rotated accurately if desired.

Linking Revit MEP models into Revit Architecture

2009-12-15T02:08:00.001-08:00

Dave Ivey asks:-

“We’re working with MEP models for the first time, and seem to be having problems viewing their content. The image below shows locations for pipes which are system families (in MEP), and which do not show up any view (2D or 3D) when the model is linked in to RAC 2010. All the obvious stuff has been checked (Worksets, View Range, Object Styles, Visibility Graphics, etc…). We even tried linking to a specific view in the MEP model, and all we see anywhere is Annotation. Hopefully I’m just missing something obvious?”

Lee Miller says:-

“Create a new 3D view, then go to instance properties for the view and set the discipline to Coordination”.

“Next go to Visibility/Graphics for the view; then under Revit Links, set the Display setting to “By Linked View”.

Creating a surface In Revit 2010 from a linked AutoCAD DWG containing vertical lines

2009-10-28T15:07:00.001-07:00

I thought I’d share this trick with you. This approach is particularly useful if you are trying to create a complex surface. The idea is to create a series of vertical lines, in the z axis in AutoCAD, spaced evenly with varying lengths. Link the resulting DWG into Revit and then using the new massing tools in Revit 2010, build a surface using points and splines attached to vertical z axis lines on the linked DWG.

Revit Content - Doors

2009-10-25T05:28:00.000-07:00

HOK RAC2010 doors are being manufactured with nested frames, and nested door panels. In this short video the steps needed to make a door type "F" are described.

RAC 2010 - Propagating Grids

2009-09-21T06:37:00.000-07:00

Here is an efficient method to adjust grids in a view as suggested by Mark R in our San Franciso office:

• You DON’T have to adjust the layout of your grids for every view.
• You CAN propagate the same layout from another sheet.
• It’s easy, you just use “Propagate Extents”.

But first, a caution about GRIDS:

CAUTION: The GRID is put into the model as a 3D Datum.
A change to a 3D Datum in one view will affect other views that it extends to.
Grids remain 3D in a view until it has been PROPAGATED or until you manually select 2D for the grid.
If you want to manipulate a grid in a VIEW, you should ensure that 2D is selected first
Do this by clicking the ‘3D’ and it will change to ‘2D’:

Now here’s how to propagate a grid to other views:

1. The Propagate Extents tool is disabled if the view is cropped. So un-crop the view you are propagating FROM and the view(s) you are propagating TO.

2. Select the grids that you want to propagate (from):

3. Select the “Propagate Extents” button:

4. The Propagate Datum Extents window will open. It shows views you can propagate the grid layout to (if a view is cropped, it will now show up). Select the view(s) and click the OK button.

5. Voila! The checked views will have the same grid layout.

6. PIN YOUR GRID SO IT CANNOT ACCIDENTLY BE CHANGED!

2009-09-21 Ming H from Washington DC adds:

"I found the easiest way to change Grid or levels from '3D' to '2D', especially when you have a lot of grids or levels is: use crop region, any grids and levels out of the crop region will automatically become '2D'. After adjusting and apply propagating, you can always turn off the crop region. I found this way is much faster for high-rise building. ( I have 75 stories)"

Understanding Hosted points in Revit Architecture 2010

2009-07-31T07:06:00.001-07:00

Points are a great feature in Revit 2010. The following video is another extract from my HOK Revit 2010 massing class which explains the principles of points and how hosted points can be used to control geometric forms.

Revit 2010 - MEP Coordination

2009-07-30T02:09:00.000-07:00

Question from Bart V:
Does anyone have experience with Revit and MEP coordination....The issue is the same for more disciplines, but the lighting layout is a good example: we want to have ownership of the location, while the electrical engineer will be responsible for types, connections, etc.

Option 1: All fixtures will be in the architectural model, and the electrical engineer would connect to the fixtures through a linked file. Problem is that this is not possible… yet. Apparently the next version of Revit might. Secondly, if the link might be (temporarily) removed, what would this do to the connections in the electrical file?

Option 2a: All fixtures live in the electrical file, and we would dimension linked elements. This doesn’t work that well, assuming at some point the link might have to be removed, and all dimensions will be lost. Additionally, the fixture families might be too detailed for our use.

Option 2b: All fixtures live in the electrical file, and we would copy/ monitor all elements. I believe (after a quick test) that it is not possible to copy/ monitor anything but grids, levels, columns, walls, floors and openings.

Option 3: We would have a separate set of “dimension grids” that will allow us to show the desired dimension, but we have to move these elements manually as the fixtures are moved.

Solutions from Don R:

Revit Lighting Fixtures - It is suggested that your coordinate the layout of all light fixtures through your consultant and that the fixtures live exclusively in the MEP model. Most architects would cringe at the thought of this, but if coordinated with enough diligence is the better option.

This method actually solves a couple problems...
- There wouldn’t be two separate lighting layouts between the engineers and the architect (very common and always troublesome)
- The light fixture layout that displays on all sheets will be accurately coordinated with the IECC calculations that the engineer is required to provide

Keep in mind that in order for the engineers to accurately schedule and circuit the fixtures, they will have to exist in their design model and be controlled by them (manufacturer, wattages, bulbs, model numbers, etc.). It is common that light fixtures will require locale modifications in order to accommodate egress foot candle minimums and to stay under the IECC wattage requirements so it is best to give your engineer the right to make these types of adjustments so long as they keep you informed as to where and why they have to shift any light fixtures.

Dimensioning - I suggest you save dimensioning fixtures to the end or that you have your engineer provide basic dimensions under your guidance. In the old 2D mindset an engineer would never consider this, but given the new technologies where the building model and its dimensions are far more realistic and accurate in a Revit environment, you may find that your engineer may be willing to do this.

Copy Monitor Limitations - You CANNOT copy monitor light fixtures, nor can they copy monitor your plumbing fixtures.

Detail of Fixtures - In terms of the light fixtures being too detailed when provided from an engineer, I think you will find that engineers tend to avoid over detailing their graphics and that you will not have that issue. If you are concerned as to their graphical representation detail, discuss it with them and I’m sure you can work out a compromise.

Further HOK/ Industry / Revit MEP users comments and suggestions welcome!

Creating parametric forms using Revit Architecture 2010

2009-07-27T09:30:00.001-07:00

Apart from the Ribbon interface, the major focus for the 2010 release of Revit Architecture are the new conceptual massing tools. The following video explains how to create a parametric freeform surface utilising the new conceptual massing tools and the new conceptual mass design environment. This is based on a short extract from a class which I ran for HOK staff. Hopefully, you will find it useful.

Revit Architecture - Conditional Formatting

2009-06-11T04:24:00.000-07:00

Lee Miller says....Ever wonder how to color fields in Revit Schedules?

In the Element Properties of the Schedule, click on Formatting.

In the Formatting Tab, ALT + N… "The super sneaky shortcut"

You will get a dialog like this:

Rendering soft shadows in Revit 2009/2010

2009-05-07T02:51:00.001-07:00

I came across this tip from one of the Autodesk Revit development QA guys, Zach Kron and I thought it was worth sharing, I've expanded a little on Zach's original post, however Zach owns the credit. :-)

This will work in both Revit 2009 and 2010. Below you will see a render of a form which utilises soft shadow, giving the image a slightly different look compared with the default out of the box render settings. Whether you like this look is a matter of opinion, but it is certainly provides something a bit different.

You achieve this result by setting the Revit Mental Ray render engine to an early morning setting of say 2am and then adjusting the exposure control from 14 to between 2 to 2.5. You can always tweak it further using the Adjust exposure once you completed the render ( more on that later).

Setup your scene in the normal manner. Then open up the render dialogue window; make sure your Lighting scheme is set to "Exterior:Sun only". Next, edit your Sun settings to something like 2am in the morning.

Under image, click Adjust Exposure, this will open up the Exposure Control dialogue. Set the Exposure Value your from 14 to around 2 to 2.5. The image above had an exposure setting of 2.2.

Also, make sure the Background Style equals Sky: No Clouds.

What this actually does, is turns off the sun (as its night time ), but keeps the sky image map and the low level ambient lighting. As noted by Zach, to achieve the best results, it's worth setting your render quality to "best" to get the best shadow depth you can. Setting your render to "best" will obviously result in long render times, so it's probably worth doing a few low resolution renders in the first instance to be assured that the settings will work for you.

Once you've rendered your image, you can also play with the exposure settings in realtime to again adjust the look and feel of the image. Using the settings above, this is what the image looks like with a White Point setting of 4000 and a saturation set to 1:-

Adjusting the White point to 4000 and saturation to 0.2 gave this look:-

The same image has then had all the exposure control settings adjusted, giving these results:-

Exposure Value:2.2

Highlights:0.07

Mid Tones:0.3

Shadows:0.8

White Point:4440

Saturation:1.08

Exposure Value:2.2

Highlights:0.25

Mid Tones:0.3

Shadows:0.8

White Point:7080

Saturation:1.08

Exposure Value:2.2

Highlights:0.07

Mid Tones:0.3

Shadows:2.581

White Point:9548.4

Saturation:1.08

Merging two workset projects

2009-02-17T07:30:00.001-08:00

This a useful tip from Lee Miller, HOK Firmwide Revit CAD manager. The question is, "How do I merge two workset projects together?"

Here's what to to; the key to this process, is preparation.

Prepare the models

First make backups of all your work.
Choose the smaller, least complex of the two models, and purge unused.

Get the model as lean as possible.
Determine what drafting elements will need to be preserved

The Binding process

In the model which you will bind your project into, create a new temporary workset. This will be the workset that the bound elements will be dump into.

Create some new worksets, i.e. core etc. These are worksets you will use to transition objects into.
Select the linked project and choose bind from the options bar.

Decide whether you need to include Attached Details, Levels,Grids....

A message will the appear warning you about binding a linked file. Just choose the remove link button.

It may take some time for Revit to complete this exercise! Depending on the size of your project.
Once the link has been bound, this bound link will be a group. You can then choose to ungroup and the start to transition objects to previously created New worksets.
Finally, recreate views, import sheets, etc as required.

Comparing Revit models and drawings

2009-01-13T08:03:00.001-08:00

This question comes up on a fairly regular basis, how can I compare two Revit drawings to see what has changed between revisions? Also, how can I compare two different versions of the Revit model to see what has changed?

In this post we will look at three different tools that can help facilitate this.I am sure their are other tools available to enable us to do this, but I have tried to highlight the most common ones which many of us have installed on our laptops or workstations.

Model Compare

The Model Compare tool is part of the Extensions for Revit utilities which can be downloaded and installed from the Autodesk subscription site. Originally only available for Revit Structure users, Autodesk finally saw sense last year and released it for all of the disciplines. It's very easy to use; you start by opening the two models you want to compare, then choose model compare from the extensions pulldown menu.

The application will the start and will look for differences between the two models. Once the comparison has been completed, you will be presented with a dialogue box which lists the two models and highlights general information relating to the two projects.

You can then choose to review the difference in elements by selecting "elements" in the menu on the far left hand side of the dialogue box.

You can then use the "Comparison Type" check boxes to change how the elements in the models are compared.

You have the ability to review elements as follows:-

mapped equally to one another "="
different to one another "<>"
no longer exist in the project "<"

The report tool allows you to generate a report of the compared models. This can be saved as an MHT or html file or you can export to Word or Excel as well as being able to print the report directly from the dialogue box.

Below you will find a typical report exported to Excel.

Drawing Compare - DWF

You can also compare drawing output from Revit using Autodesk Design Review 2009. However, you need to publish your drawings in DWF format from Revit, to start with. Then open one of the DWF's in Autodesk Design Review 2009 and choose compare from the tools pulldown menu.

You will be presented with the following dialogue box.

You can then choose the target DWF you want to compare, click the browse icon to locate the DWF, then choose "ok". Design Review will in essence compare the two different DWF outputs and highlighting what has changed by adding additional markup to the DWF.

This additional markup can be saved in the DWF, but you also have the ability to load this back into Revit if required. This is achieved by choosing import/link in Revit then selecting the DWF you added to the markup to. The markup will then appear as a markup layer in Revit.

Drawing Compare - PDF

OK, DWF is fine, but what if you published all you drawings from Revit using PDF? In Acrobat Professional we can do something similar to the Compare functionality found in Design Review. Start Acrobat Pro and choose a suitable PDF created from Revit, then from the advanced pulldown menu choose "Compare Documents".

Again this will open a dialogue box which will allow you to browse to the PDF you want to compare against.

There are different types of comparisons that you can use and you also have the ability to create two different report types based on the comparisons found.

A side by side report provides you with this output:-

A consolidated Report provides you with this type of report, which just balloons the various changes:-

There you have it, three different ways to compare differences between models and drawings. I guess that some of these may be obvious to the Revit user, nevertheless it fails to amaze me that many users and document reviewers are still not using digital tools to compare differences and changes, instead opting for the old school approach of printing the drawing out to paper and using a magic marker to highlight changes!

Revit - Modelling balcony slab with sloped edges

2008-12-15T02:09:00.001-08:00

Here's an interesting modelling challenge set by Nilanjana of the London Office. She wanted to quickly produce a balcony, based on the sketch below, for a large high rise residential scheme.

You will see from the diagram above that the majority of the balcony is 450mm deep and is flat as indicated by the blue area. The balcony then falls away on three edges to only 150mm thick. You will also notice the balcony is not rectilinear as indicated, with three sides at different angles.There are a number of different ways to tackle this.... create a family, an in-place family? All have their merits, but at the concept stage of a project you don't always have time to produce what in essence is actually a rather complex family to create. So the easiest way to create the balcony is in four separate elements.

So start by sketching out a few reference planes to define the extent and shape of the balcony.

Next create a new floor slab type which is 450mm thick. Edit the type properties of the construction of the floor slab and set the structure "variable" radio button is ticked. This will ensure that that slab is flush on the underside after you have edited the slab.

Next model four separate slabs based on the reference plane sketches.

You can then slab edit the edges of the three slabs which need to slope away using the sub-element edit tools. Select one of the floor slabs you created and the sub-element edit tools will appear in the options bar.

Next select the edit points/edges tools, then select the outer edge of the slab you want to edit and alter the elevation from 0mm to -300mm; this will drop the whole edge of the slab and it will slope as required.

Now do this for all the other edges which need to fall away.

For extra finesse, use the join geometry to clean up all the floor slabs.

One could argue that this is not a purist approach to the BIM problem because you end up with four slabs rather than one, but at that concept stage where you want to convey an idea, this approach is ideal.

Keynote Tag and Model/Annotation Crop Boundaries

2008-12-09T23:34:00.000-08:00

Kevin Shumbera in Houston writes:

I'd like to report an easily reproducible issue to watch for (and to pass on to Autodesk).

If an element with a keynote is outside of the model crop region, but the keynote itself is inside the annotation crop, the keynote will NOT show up in plan but will STILL schedule per that sheet.

This happens in dependant and non-dependant views in both 2008 and 2009.

Revit - matching dependent views across multiply views

2008-12-05T16:37:00.001-08:00

William Lopez Campo asks:-I have a project which I have created a total of 30 dependent views on one level, how can I create duplicate dependent views on all my other views to match the 30 I have already created, without having to manually create them?

To propagate a series of dependent views from one particular level to the levels above, you need to do the following.

Set up you dependent views as required on one level only, in your case this is 30 dependent views! Next select the primary view associated with these dependent views.

With this view selected, go the view pulldown menu and choose "apply dependent views".

This will open a dialogue box which will allow you to propagate the dependent views you initially created to any other plan view you require.

The additional dependent views will be created for you at each level, based on the dependent views you initially created. You will obviously have to rename them and it should be noted that the dependent views will not maintain associativity in relationship with the crop regions across the multiple levels.

Zoom in and out edit colour scheme dialogue

2008-11-27T09:09:00.001-08:00

I discovered this one by mistake yesterday and thought it would be good to share. When working in the edit color scheme dialogue it is now possible to zoom in and out of the scheme definition window in Revit Architecture 2009; it is not possible in Revit Architecture 2008.

All you need to do is place your mouse pointer in the scheme definition window part of the edit color scheme dialogue, then hold down the control key on your keyboard and then use the middle mouse scroll wheel. On doing this you will find that you can scroll in and out, to view more or less of the values in the scheme definition.

Revit Timber Lattice

2008-10-21T11:49:00.000-07:00

Darryn B, LON asks: I need to create a timber lattice structure, such as the attached pictures, as a wall and possibly as a slab too. I was wondering if anyone knew of or has done anything like this before?

William LC responds: Here’s a couple of examples on the approach I would take for a Timber Lattice Material.
As you can see I’ve played with Transparency and Bump, for a straight and a 45º option. You can use it in a Wall or in a Curtain Wall setting (my recommendation), be careful to modify the Mullions accordingly too.
In my test the Lattice is roughly 8 cm wood x 12 void, but that can be customized through the Maps and Map Alignment. Notice the material has a 50% Transparency and a Surface Pattern, for Revit shaded or Hidden views.

Creating a Tunnel in Revit

2008-10-17T05:28:00.000-07:00

Aungwara N, ATL says: We have a project that requires us to carve out areas that are larger than the pad openings and connect with each other below street level, like tunnels. Has anyone came up with a way to create a pad and able to control its height? The whole site will end up being about 0.5 mile long and the void will be filled with utilities and rail system.

Adam S, ATL says: "If you have enough spot elevation data, one option is to establish fixed elevation points at the corners / perimeter of the pad, and then create a new floor type of earth / structure to match the pad dimensions. Click on new floor and use the ‘modify points and edges’ tool and select each corner point and match its elevation to the spot elevation of the toposurface. Given the scale of the site, this will probably have to be done with a number of slabs in order to make the model reasonably accurate. I don’t think it is possible to join geometry with the toposurface, so the joint between slab and topo may be apparent in shaded views (or get creative with visibility/graphic override). It should fade away when rendered, and can be hidden in section views by using the linework tool.

Examples show an option with no variable thickness components in the slab, and an option with variable thickness for the earth component (if you want a flat underside of slab)."

David Light, Excitech says: ."This really breaks the Revit rules as my example is a very large floor slab which has been edited, but this does allow you to cut a void to show a tunnel.
At the moment this cannot be achieved using the toposurface tool. The only other options to consider are an inplace family or maybe a combination of an inplace family and a toposurface."
In summary, we are fighting to use Revit for planning and landscape design although I guess a half mile long tunnel constitutes a major Civil engineering project (we could use Autocad Civil 3D without much connection to Revit). In early design we would like these kind of tools in Revit Architecture. We need better Revit tools for site modelling to include a tunnel and roads features. Autodesk? As workarounds these suggestions are great, thanks!

Steel Doesn't Conform to Object Styles

2008-09-11T18:49:00.000-07:00

If you find that structural framing elements fail to appear according to their object style settings you need to check the view range of the view. In order for these elements to use their category or sub-category assignments they must be part of (within) the Primary Range of a view's View Range settings.

Adjust the Bottom of the Primary Range so that it intersects or is below the structural framing and you'll find the object style assignments "return".

Keep in mind you may get slightly different behavior between RST and RAC and whether or not you are using an Architectural or Structural discipline assignment.

Revit Diamond Curtain wall

2008-08-04T02:42:00.000-07:00

Joe from HK says "We would like to make grids parallel to segments shown in image below in red"

Lee Suggests: You can change the configuration of the Grid layout. To do this, select the curtain system and select the configure grid layout icon that appears.

Click in the Degree value to set the angle of the grid

Exporting & Plotting to File Errors

2008-07-03T10:58:00.001-07:00

This issue just popped onto the radar yesterday. Revit was generating the following error message while exporting to dwg.

The issue is the use of illegal file name characters in the name of a view and/or project name. Revit has to create a file during export or plotting to a file and if the sheet name/view name or project name contains illegal characters Revit will complain and fail to do what you ask.

Just keep it LEGAL!

3d DWG models in Revit

2008-05-22T07:34:00.000-07:00

You want to know why when you link a 3d DWG model into Revit and try to cut a section through the linked model you don’t get a true representation of the section cut?
Unfortunately you can’t simply link in a 3d DWG to your project and cut sections through the linked 3d DWG data.

To get a true section through a 3d DWG in Revit, you must approach it in one of three ways.

Within your project create an inplace family, making sure that you select an appropriate family category which allows the geometry to be cuttable. Then import the 3d DWG into the inplace family. This is no preferable, as you are adding weight to your project.

Create a new family component such as a generic model family, which allows your geometry to be cuttable. Import the 3d DWG into the family then load this into your project and place the family. This approach allows you to manage the data a little easier as you can easily delete the family component from your project when it’s no longer required.

If you have a very large 3d DWG survey that you want to use within your project you may be better using the above approach of creating a family component and then placing the component into a new project. Then link this “survey” project into you master project file. This keeps the 3d DWG survey data separate from the building model and makes the update process and management of the data a lot easier.

Ceramic tiles on walls

2008-04-30T06:36:00.000-07:00

How do I show wall tiling in Room elevations?

When creating room elevation of toilets or bathrooms there may be times when you want to show tiling on the walls. You could approach this in a number of ways, however a good start point is to use the split face tool which can be found in the toolbar across the top of the Revit UI.

The split face tool can be used on any non-family instance. You can use the split face tool to split selected elements and then use the Paint tool to apply different materials to selected faces. It should be noted that you are not actually changing the structure of the element. So to split the face of a wall to apply a ceramic tile material to a selected area, do the following.

Select the split face tool. Place your cursor on the wall you’d like to split and select that wall face.
You will now be in sketch mode, which allows you to place a closed loop inside the face or an open loop with ends that touch the boundary face. If you then select finish sketch from the design bar you will see that you wall face has been split.

Next you can use the paint tool to apply a different finish to the split face.

You can also use the align tool or dimensions on the fill patterns to alter and align the spacing of the fill pattern on the split face.

How do I add text to a Revit dimension?

2008-04-29T07:20:00.000-07:00

Currently in Revit Architecture 2008 you can not override dimension text, to be honest that’s not a bad things! However, on those rare occasions where you have to, there are a couple of ways around this, if you refer to Steve’s blog article this explains how to use a font which has been stripped of all symbols.

http://www.revitoped.blogspot.com/2005/11/de-value-engineering-dimensions.html

Alternatively, you could create a custom line based family to match your dimension style. This would typically include a Length parameter as well as Text parameter. Using a yes/no parameter you can switch between the Length parameter or the Text parameter allowing you to display the manually inputted text rather than the Length.

If you take a look at the image below you will see the family types that make up this custom line based family.
You will see the Length parameter under constraints provides feedback of the length of the line based family and will display accordingly when the family is placed within a project.

Under Text parameter you will see a parameter called “Text value”, this allows you to type the text you want to display in the dimension. You will then see two parameters, one called “Text Value ON” and another called “Length value ON”.

These are yes / no parameters which allow you to control whether you display the actual length of the line or the custom text.

In Revit Architecture 2009 adding text to dimensions is less of an issue. If you place a dimension and then double click the dimension value a dialogue box will open. This dialogue box allows you to replace the numeric value with text or a combination of a numerical value and text.

The smart thing is you can’t just replace the true numerical value with an alternative numerical value; therefore you can’t fudge the dimension! If you do attempt to replace the original numeric value, Revit kicks back at you informing you that you can only replace the original numerical value with text or a combination of numeric’s and text.

You will also notice that this dialogue box also allows you to place a text value above or below the original dimension value, you can also add a prefix or suffix to your original dimension.

Revit 2009 Keyboard Shortcuts

2008-04-14T04:45:00.000-07:00

Here are Revit 2009 keyboard shortcuts. This file is located is located C:\Program Files\Revit Architecture 2009\Program\KeyboardShortcuts.txt. It is not recommended that this file is amended as it is not user defined. Thanks to Paul Duggelby for locating this.

Modelling menu

File menu

"ER" menu:"File-Editing Requests"
"RL" menu:"File-Reload Latest""RW" menu:"File-Reload Latest"

Edit menu

"DE" menu:"Edit-Delete"
"MD" menu:"Edit-Modify"
"SA" menu:"Edit-Select All Instances"
"MV" menu:"Edit-Move"
"CO" menu:"Edit-Copy"
"RO" menu:"Edit-Rotate"
"AR" menu:"Edit-Array"
"MM" menu:"Edit-Mirror"
"RE" menu:"Edit-Resize"
"GP" menu:"Edit-Group-Create Group"
"EG" menu:"Edit-Group-Edit Group"
"UG" menu:"Edit-Group-Ungroup"
"LG" menu:"Edit-Group-Link Group"
"EX" menu:"Edit-Group-Exclude Member"
"MP" menu:"Edit-Group-Move Member to Project"
"RB" menu:"Edit-Group-Restore Excluded Member"
"RA" menu:"Edit-Group-Restore All"
"AP" menu:"Edit-Group-Add to Group"
"RG" menu:"Edit-Group-Remove from Group"
"AD" menu:"Edit-Group-Attach Detail"
"PG" menu:"Edit-Group-Group Properties"
"FG" menu:"Edit-Group-Finish Group"
"CG" menu:"Edit-Group-Cancel Group"
"PP" menu:"Edit-Pin Position"
"UP" menu:"Edit-Unpin Position"
"CS" menu:"Edit-Create Similar""PR" menu:"Edit-Properties"

View menu

"ZR" menu:"View-Zoom-Zoom In Region"
"ZO" menu:"View-Zoom-Zoom Out (2x)"
"ZF" menu:"View-Zoom-Zoom To Fit"
"ZE" menu:"View-Zoom-Zoom To Fit"
"ZA" menu:"View-Zoom-Zoom All To Fit"
"ZS" menu:"View-Zoom-Sheet Size"
"ZP" menu:"View-Zoom-Previous Scroll/Zoom"
"VP" menu:"View-View Properties"F8 menu:"View-Dynamically Modify View
"VG" menu:"View-Visibility/Graphics"
"HH" menu:"View-Temporary Hide/Isolate-Hide Element"
"HI" menu:"View-Temporary Hide/Isolate-Isolate Element"
"HC" menu:"View-Temporary Hide/Isolate-Hide Category"
"IC" menu:"View-Temporary Hide/Isolate-Isolate Category"
"HR" menu:"View-Temporary Hide/Isolate-Reset Temporary Hide/Isolate"
"EH" menu:"View-Hide in view-Elements"
"VH" menu:"View-Hide in view-Category"
"EU" menu:"View-Unhide in view-Elements"
"VU" menu:"View-Unhide in view-Category"
"WF" menu:"View-Wireframe"
"HL" menu:"View-Hidden Line""SD" menu:"View-Shading with Edges"
"AG" menu:"View-Advanced Model Graphics""TL" menu:"View-Thin Lines"
"RR" menu:"View-Rendering-Raytrace"
F5 menu:"View-Refresh"

Modelling menu

"DR" menu:"Modelling-Door"
"WN" menu:"Modelling-Window""CM" menu:"Modelling-Component"
"LI" menu:"Modelling-Lines"
"RP" menu:"Modelling-Ref Plane"

Drafting menu

"DI" menu:"Drafting-Dimension"
"EL" menu:"Drafting-Spot Dimension-Spot Elevation"
"TX" menu:"Drafting-Text"
"GR" menu:"Drafting-Grid"
"LL" menu:"Drafting-Level"
"TG" menu:"Drafting-Tag-By Category"
"RM" menu:"Drafting-Room"
"RT" menu:"Drafting-Room Tag"
"DL" menu:"Drafting-Detail Lines"

Site menu

Tools menu

F7 menu:"Tools-Spelling"
"MA" menu:"Tools-Match"
"LW" menu:"Tools-Linework"
"PT" menu:"Tools-Paint"
"SF" menu:"Tools-Split Face"
"AL" menu:"Tools-Align"
"SL" menu:"Tools-Split Walls and Lines"
"TR" menu:"Tools-Trim/Extend"
"OF" menu:"Tools-Offset"

Settings menu

"SU" menu:"Settings-Sun and Shadows Settings"
"UN" menu:"Settings-Project Units"

Window menu

"WC" menu:"Window-Cascade"
"WT" menu:"Window-Tile"

Help menu

Snap overrides

"SI" snapcode:"Intersections"
"SE" snapcode:"Endpoints"
"SM" snapcode:"Midpoints"
"SC" snapcode:"Centers"
"SN" snapcode:"Nearest"
"SP" snapcode:"Perpendicular"
"ST" snapcode:"Tangents"
"SW" snapcode:"Work Plane Grid"
"SQ" snapcode:"Quadrants"
"SX" snapcode:"Points"
"SR" snapcode:"Snap to Remote Objects"
"SO" snapcode:"Snaps Off"
"SS" snapcode:"Turn Override Off"

Alternates with closer key spacing

"ZZ" menu:"View-Zoom-Zoom In Region"
"ZX" menu:"View-Zoom-Zoom To Fit"
"ZC" menu:"View-Zoom-Previous Scroll/Zoom"
"ZV" menu:"View-Zoom-Zoom Out (2x)"
"VV" menu:"View-Visibility/Graphics"
"CC" menu:"Edit-Copy"

Other alternates

Revit - controlling wall hatch patterns

2008-04-10T03:15:00.000-07:00

Sometimes there are occasion when you what to control the hatch pattern in walls. One particular situation is if you have a wall at a 45 degree angle on plan and the hatch pattern runs parallel with the wall. Graphical, this does not look good.

However, you can control how hatch patterns in materials display on screen. There are three different conditions:-

Orient to View
Keep readable
Align with element

These display slightly differently and have positives as well as negative out comes. Let’s look at these different settings in detail. Start by drawing a couple of walls similar to the image below, we will start by using UK metric template with a typical brick and block work cavity wall construction.

We are going to modify the brick hatch pattern. To do this we need to access the materials. Go to the settings menu> then materials. The materials dialogue box will appear. Scroll down the material listing until you locate “Masonry-Brick”.

We need to adjust the cut pattern of the material. Click the button next the to the cut hatch pattern.

This will take you into the fill patterns dialogue box. Next select the edit button on the right hand side of the dialogue box.

The modify patterns properties dialogue box will now appear. In this dialogue box you will notice a setting called orientation in host layers. There are three different settings. Let’s look at the different results from each setting in turn.

Orient to view

Orient to viewwill cleanup all the hatch patterns, so they always display correctly in a view. This is very much how AutoCAD users would expect hatch patterns to display when hatching walls in a DWG environment. However, the negative side of this is if your wall is at an angle and it happens to align with the angle of the hatch pattern, ouch! The pattern will run parallel in the wall, which is not ideal.

Keep readable

Keep readable will always try to keep hatch patterns in host elements which are horizontal or vertical to a view readable, thus they will always cleanup. However, if the wall element is drawn at an angle, the hatch patterns will remain readable to the angle it is drawn at, so you can see in the example below, the angled piece of wall and horizontal piece of wall do not cleanup correctly, which is what you would expect.

Align with element

Align with view always keeps the hatch pattern oriented correctly to the host element. So in the example below you can see that the brickwork hatch patterns remains at its correct orientation to the way it was drawn even when the element changes direction. The negative side of this is that the hatch patterns do not appear to clean up correctly.

There you have it, an explanation of the three different settings which allow you to control the orientation of hatching in host layers. Each has its merits as well as its pitfalls; you need to choose which one is suitable for your project on a case by case condition. Finally, its should be noted that this only works for "Drafting Patterns" and that it does not do anything with Filled Regions. If you want to change a Filled Region pattern you will need to duplicate the hatch pattern and alter the angle of the pattern to suit the view.

CAD Surveys and Your Revit Project

2008-04-03T07:30:00.000-07:00

This text was posted at AUGI by David Conant (Autodesk Revit Product Designer) in February this year. It is very important information.

This method should ALWAYS be followed. It is critical to follow when the survey coordinates of your building site have large values (> 2 miles/3km from site 0,0):

ALWAYS locate sites underneath buildings. Revit buildings like to stay near home and be oriented to project north. Sites can wander about and talk to the buildings later. DON'T try to pan your view 40 km northeast of 0,0 and try to build your building model there because your site coordinates have a remote origin. This will work in AutoCAD but in Revit you will be very unhappy.

NEVER import or link a site with large coordinate values Origin to Origin! This may seem correct based on AutoCAD experience, but here too you will be very unhappy in Revit. You will get the correct origin later in the process.

Build your revit model at or near the position of the elevation marks in the default template with the building oriented orthagonal to your desired printing frame. i.e. use a Project North not True North for your working environment.

For one building on a site:

Link in a site model or site dwg.
Move and Rotate the SITE so that it is located correctly relative to the building.
Acquire the site's coordinates. Now, the site's origin will be the origin of your shared coordinates. The site's Y axis will be True North. The site coordinate values can be arbitrarily large without disturbing Revit's internal calculations.
You can later open the site model and link in the building using shared location and it will land in the exact position.

For multiple buildings on a site:

Create a Site project, link in a site dwg, placing the center of the building site near the center of the default view.
Acquire coordinates from the site.
Build any site elements, topos, etc.
Link in building rvts. Move and rotate them so that they are correctly located on the site.
Publish coordinates to the rvts. Now all models will have the same Shared origin and True North orientations.
You can now link the site into any of the buildings (the other buildings can be linked in as well) using shared location and it will be in the exact location.

Interference Detection & Detail Level

2008-04-02T09:43:00.000-07:00

Interference Detection does not include solids that have a specific Visibilty assignment for Detail Level. This is the dialog box we are referring to.

In testing we've determined that assigning the visibility of a solid to Medium and/or Fine ONLY (not checking Coarse) harms the ability of Revit to detect that solid while running Interference Check. The issue has been submitted to Autodesk, any information from them will be posted later.

David Kingham added a comment at his blog, BIM Manager, about this being a similar issue for Navisworks Exports.

Slab Editing - Edit Cut Profile Issue

2008-04-01T08:33:00.000-07:00

You can generate this message (and you probably don't want to) when using the Edit Cut Profile tool on a Floor slab which has been altered using the Shape Editing tools.

The cause of this message is sketching the Cut Profile at the intersection of the slope condition of the slab as shown in this image. To get what you want, almost, and not get the error message, sketch the profile a tiny distance away from the actual intersection.

In this image the Profile was moved 1/64" to the right, no complaint from Revit.

Now let's backup and review a couple things.

First, if you want to be able to alter a floor slab using the "newish" slab shape editing tools you need to make sure you don't use the Structural Foundation Slab tool. The shape editing tools don't work on them. These are the tools that appear on the Options Bar when you select a Floor Slab.

Second, this example uses a floor slab whose surface has been altered to slope down by 4"(100mm). The floor is defined so that the bottom edge is flat and the surface slopes (via the Layer - Variable check box in the Structure Properties of the floor, un-checked the entire slab slopes instead).

May your day be error free!

Revit to Max workflow

2008-03-20T21:31:00.000-07:00

Robert O, from Atlanta asks: "How can I pass a Revit model to max without it becoming a a gigantic file. For example, when I export out of Revit to a dwg and it becomes a 6-8meg file...in Max it becomes a 186meg file. Is there another way to import that I am not aware of?"
Steve B from our Dallas office says: Before you do anything, make sure you are in a 3D view. Depending what you are going to do in 3D Max, you will first disable certain worksets. For example, if you are going to do renderings of exteriors only, you will disable worksets that apply to interior partitions, for you don’t need them for exterior. If you need some of the interior walls, I would place them in a special workset for this purpose only. These steps will generate a much smaller file!!

1. Go to File pull down menu and select Export – Cad Formats (pay attention to the save as type option depending if you want to save it as 2007 or 2004 format)
2. Select options – Make sure you select export as polymesh in the Solids (3D views only) section 3. Leave all other options default
4. Save file
5. Open file in Autocad and set the proxygraphics to 1 – Save file
6. In 3D Max, I use File Link Manager for obvious reasons – linking can save a great deal of time on changes, etc.

Additional Notes : If you have AccuRender materials applied to objects in Revit, they will carry thru to MAX.

If you are going to render using Mental Ray (suggested) open Materials Editor and use the idrop to select object. This will pull in the material associated with object, therefore you can change the material to a mental ray material, thus changing all objects that material was attached to in Revit.

David A, SF comments: When exporting to MAX 9 or 2008, create an ACIS Solids Model. In past Revit revisions we found that a “polymesh” was the flavor of choice. In the latest builds of Revit and MAX an ACIS Solids generated model is a bit more efficient.

Is there a better process? ...FBX is going to really help with Revit 2009 to Max 2009 workflow, this is where a material library between the two applications can be shared...I am assuming Accurender materials will become redundant..ED

Also take a look at this post from last year: workflow-revit-to-max-optimisation

Also new Pardigm Shift blog reporting 2009 enhancements: announcement-of-revit-and-3ds-max-2009

AecBytes Max 2009 tips: 2008/issue28-3dsMax

Revit - Dimensions to Existing Walls

2008-03-20T19:51:00.000-07:00

When working on existing building where wall faces are often not parallel how can dimensions be placed?

Revit errors occur when trying to dimension walls that are not parallel as follows “The References of the highlighted Dimension are no longer parallel” and “Can’t create dimension. Highlighted references are not parallel to first selection”.

In this example the highlighted wall is less than 0.7 degrees, in other words is tilted and not parallel to wall above.

To overcome this error, select Basics>Dimension>Aligned.

Pick first wall face that is orthogonal, then hover over second wall face and tab to cycle until you see a tiny dot in the corner of the wall then pick wall face.

If you don't see the dot move your cursor closer to the wall intersection and tab again to see the dot. You can zoom in to do this.

Zoom out and click in empty space to place the dimension.

It is worth practicing this as it easy to miss this feature. Many thanks to Krisztian from Autodesk for this Revit solution.

Revit: Hidden Constraints

2008-02-15T07:14:00.000-08:00

Tim Rogers, CA problem: "I have run into an issue where two levels are constrained to one another. I have searched all through my model and cannot find dimensions or anything else that would constrain the two levels to one another. Is there something else that would cause this?"

Kevin Shumbera, HOU solution: "If a dimension is locked and then deleted, Revit gives you an option of leaving the constraint or removing it with the dimension. Unfortunately, if the dimension is deleted but the constraint is not removed, there will be little visible evidence of the level being locked. If this has happened, when you select the level you will see a locked symbol on the far left or right (in addition to the locked symbol referring to the ends of the level moving together)."

I checked this out and sure enough you right and applies to other objects like walls etc, thanks for the solution!

Important: Don't over constrain your model, if you not sure leave it unlocked!!

Revit: Select with TAB Key

2008-02-15T04:52:00.001-08:00

Alvaro, HOU asks "Can someone help me snap drafting lines to corner wall situations - when drawing roof drain lines?"

Solution: "Selecting the TAB key repeatedly cycles through the snaps. This should help." Michael R, ATL

How do I create ceilings in Revit

2008-02-12T01:40:00.000-08:00

Here are some simple steps to creating Ceiling in Revit, leading to a feature ceiling and a dropped bulkhead ceiling (click on images to see full size).

1. Open a Ceiling Plan view. If you add ceiling in the floor plan view you will get this warning. (If the walls are not showing correctly it is likely that your view range is not set correctly also check VG for worksets and model objects.

2. Click Modelling menu Ceiling, or on the Modelling tab of the Design Bar, click Ceiling.

3. In the Type Selector, select a Compound Ceiling 600 x 600.
4. Click inside a room to place the ceiling. A ceiling appears.

5. Adjust the grid by using Move to set out to centre of room or corner etc.

6. You can sketch a ceiling to be any shape you need. In this example the room has a 600x600 grid and a plasterboard ceiling being defined.

7. For a ceiling that has a plaster border, you can create a ceiling in sketch mode, add an inner ring to create the whole.

8. Fill the hole with a nother ceiling in this example 600x600 grid by using the ceiling sketch mode and ajusting grid position (5) to center the tiles.

9. In this example the grid ceiling is raised 600mm, by adjusting the 600x600 ceiling height to 3200mm

10. In this example the ceiling is 5omm thickness. I need to create walls to form the upstands - to do this duplicate an existing wall, edit and change width to 50mm, and select Finishes - Interior - Plasterboard for the material.

11. Add 50mm plasterboard walls to the inner ceiling surround.

12. Adust the wall so that the base offset is 50mm above the lower ceiling height,

13. Adjust in sketch mode the celing extent to align with the wall faces. Note that doing this correctly will mean that the lower ceiling goes below the upstand wall and therefore is not visible in the Ceiling plan.

In the following example a ceilng bulkhead is created with a 300x1200 ceiling plank.

1. Create some reference lines to construct ceiling.

2. Add plasterboard ceilings to either side of the bulkhead using sketch mode set to 2600.

3. Add another ceiling for the bulkhead surround. Set this ceiling at 2300.

4. Add a new Compound Ceiling family by duplicating the 600x600 grid and name as 300x1200 Grid.

5. Edit the family material for the Finishes - Interiors - Plasterboard and create a new pattern for 300 x 1200

6. Sketch the shape of the new infill ceiling.

7. If the grid is round wrong way, click on ceiling and rotate 90 deg.

8. Finished ceiling with bulhead showing 300x1200 planks.

12 Feb - Chirag says: "To create upstands or soffit walls, change the wall function to soffit. In this case, the attachment is made to the surface of the ceiling, regardless of the shape of the ceiling. Use join geometry to clean it up"

Creating matchlines in Revit

2008-02-03T06:30:00.000-08:00

How do I create a matchline to references small views of a building that is too large to fit on one sheet?

1. Select a floor plan view that will become your “primary view”, right click and create a new view by using the command Duplicate View/Duplicate as a Dependent.

2. Label the view in CAPITALS as this will distinguish from those views not on sheets (HOK CAD Standard)
3. In the dependent view turn crop region on, and adjust it to suit the sheet size.

4. Now you are ready to create the next dependency, it is easier to duplicate from the dependent you have just created as you can move the crop box.
5. To create match lines go to the Primary View and turn on crop regions.
6. In design bar, View/Matchline – and draw match lines between the overlapping sheets.

7. Now you can add a symbol to show the drawing number – using View/View Reference.
8. Place the views onto sheets for the View Reference symbols to be populated.

For more information look at the Revit help file under View References or Matchlines.

This approach can also be used for sections and elevations. However, the solution falls short of being able to get the Matchline references onto a sheet, as Revit does not permit independent scales on the Primary View (which the dependencies are related too).

For example I have a project that has 1:200 floor plans to describe the full floor plan and eight 1:50 views, the only way I can label the 1:200 is to create a duplicate view (not independent!) and add text which is disappointing. If you have suggestions for a better way please add comments to this post.

Breck Baird, SF replies:

I was using this method for the project I am working on right now. However, the project manager did not like the fact that the matchline was in the same place on each dependant view; so, anything that was covered by the matchline in one view was also covered by the matchline in the adjacent view.My solution was to use a custom View Reference based on the standard "Matchline HOK.rfa" file I found in our HOK Content folder.

By using a view reference made to look like a matchline each dependant view could have its own "matchline" in a slightly different location. Having the matchlines in different views offset from each other (with a little portion of the building shown in both views) prevented any portion of the building from being obscured by the matchline in both dependant views.

Don't forget about the Shaft Opening Tool

2008-01-30T08:23:00.000-08:00

A recurring theme is the use of model lines to indicate where an opening occurs in a floor. In the transition from 2D drafting it seems a bit counterintuitive to bother to create a floor. In plans the perimeter of the building defines the floor...or does it? Sometimes. In Revit the task of creating a floor should essentially equal the task of developing a slab edge plan, at least the sketching of it.

When it comes to predictable poorly coordinated work we need look no further than shaft floor penetrations (hmmm, we should look further, but not for this post). Thus the subject of the post. Remember to use the Shaft Opening tool in Revit instead of sketching Lines, be they Detail or Model.

Two features stand out for Shaft Openings, they cut through floors, ceilings and roofs they come into contact with and they can include Symbolic linework to represent the classic "X" for an opening, the "yin/yang" of vertical round duct risers or elevator car graphics for example.

You find the tool via Modelling (Design Bar or Menu) > Opening > Shaft Opening. They are sketch based elements, meaning you define them in Sketch Mode.

When you are done you must "Finish Sketch" to finish. To change them you must select them and then choose "Edit" from the Options Bar. A Shaft Opening sketch can include multiple closed boundaries, to describe multiple openings, but they will all rise or fall exactly the same way, according to their Base and Top Constraint parameters as well as Base and Top Offset parameters. This means you must use separate Shaft Openings when their shape/profile changes at different elevations.

You can refer to THIS post and THAT post for additional comments.

Don't forget your friend, the Shaft Opening tool.

Radial Dimensions and Annotation Crop Boundary

2008-01-28T09:00:00.000-08:00

These two features interact poorly when you choose to display the center mark of a radial dimension. Radial dimensions have two parameters which control the display of a center mark and its size.

When you use these to display the center mark you will need to expand the annotation crop region so that the center mark is visible, otherwise the dimension will not be visible at all.

As pictured here.

If you need to crop a view and see the radial dimension when its center mark is well outside the cropped view you need to use a dimension style that does not display the center mark. Just create a new dimension style and uncheck those options. Use this style in any view that you need to crop but still see the radial dimension. You also need to adjust the dimension line length so it does not extend beyond the Annotation Crop Boundary.

Keep in mind that if you want to see the Center Mark in a coarser scale view, just use the original dimension style.

Identical Grid Numbers

2008-01-24T15:03:00.000-08:00

In some situations it may be desireable to define two Column Grid segments as the "same" grid number/letter. Revit however restricts each Column Grid" to a single segment and a unique number. A structural grid layout that simply changes direction but is the "same" grid as far as the team is concerned as pictured here.

The above example shows the use of extra characters to make the second segment almost the same, 1 and '1, 2 and .2 and 3 and -3. These seem like reasonable solutions but sometimes they are met with either resistance or outright refusal. If you meet with outright refusal then you can consider this option.

Create half of the "same" grids in a separate project file and then Import/Link the file into your project. These linked grids will be unique in their own file so you can re-use the numbers/letters that are already assigned in the real project.

This approach isn't perfect as you may need to change the layout of the grid in specific views. In order to manage these specific changes you need to create special views in the "angled grid" project file that provide the offset or individual adjustment needed. Then in the host project you can override the visibility/graphics settings to use this special view instead of the default setting.

The above example displays the special view created and used when a unique situation is required. Link both files together so you can manage the appearance of the grids in either file more easily.

Fwiw, the Copy/Monitor tool will not permit you to re-use the same grid numbers so it isn't an option.

[Added: Daniel Hurtubise suggested another approach that we had already considered but ought to be included. Each Grid Line type can be assigned a specific Grid Head family. A special Grid Head can be made that displays a fixed value using Text and does not display the Grid number/name. A separate grid type is required for each grid name that needs to be repeated and a separate grid family assigned accordingly. You use the special grid types for each end of the segment(s) and then use another Grid line type that uses no annotation for those in between, if needed. Each Grid has a number so it is important to number them uniquely and in a way that they do not interfere with real Grid numbers in use.]

Revit to Navisworks workflow

2008-01-23T03:58:00.000-08:00

Autodesk NavisWorks Jetstream needs to be installed to enable an export from Revit. Here are some simple steps to achieve this.

1. Install NavisWorks Jetstream v5.4 for compatibility with Revit Architecture 2008
2. Via Windows Control Panel add the Revit plug-in > Add or Remove Programs > NavisWorks Jetstream v5 > Change/Remove > Modify > Select Autodesk Revit Architecture...

3. Create a 3D view for name this view “Export for Navisworks”, use VG to set view that you need to export.
4. Go to Tools > External Programs > Navisworks Jetstream V5
5. Save .NWC to folder ..\Revit\Publish\Review\YYYY-MM-DD description (folder is HOK standard)
6. Open NWC file in Navisworks Jetstream > save as NWD, this file can now be circulated.
7. A free viewer called “Freedom” is available from: http://www.navisworks.com/jetstream/overview/freedom

The Revit > Navis workflow can be enhanced by introducing an NWF file where the NWD from Revit can be linked in. Save views including section views, eyelevel views for floor levels etc in the NWF. The NWD for publishing can then be written from this NWF file. The immediate improvement to workflow is that you can create new exports on a regular basis and quickly produce a file for distribution with the same views saved.

Kevin says: "This is great. Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you."

Exporting/Plotting - Multiple View Selection

2008-01-09T14:26:00.000-08:00

We resolved an issue in Houston today that was causing some confusion. You are probably familiar with these dialog boxes.

The Show options that appear for Sheets and Views are filters to control the display of views in the list above. They do not affect whether a view is selected or not. If you have Views selected and turn off Views display, they remain selected and they will print/export regardless.

It is important to either scroll down the list to make sure just the views you really want are selected or click the Check None button to start over, otherwise you may end up with a bit more than you expected.

Amended to include Autodesk Support Response: (01/30/08)

This appears to be the result of an interaction between the Annotation Crop and the Revision numbering mechanism. This has been reported in a few cases before this. I will log this problem and you will be updated on the progress of this.

The workaround for this is to go to the View Properties for the view with the Tag in it and turn off Annotation Crop. Insert your Revision Tag. Your Tag should now be visible but your annotation is now visiable every where. Go back into the View Properties and turn Annotation Crop back on. This should fix your problem.

Detailing and Error "Line is slightly off axis..."

2008-01-08T12:21:00.000-08:00

Revit is quite controlling about the tolerance we use to create things. This is because Revit's internal mathematics is ordered according the the scale or tolerance of buildings (inches/mms), not manufacturing tolerances (thousandths of inches/mms).

For example we cannot draw a line segment smaller than 1/32" (0.79mm). Revit will generate an error message, "Line is too short". Also, Revit will generate errors when we sketch a line at an angle that is as or more precise than 0.2 degress. This is the familiar warning Revit presents.

When you are doing large (fine) scale details that include and/or are representing manufactured parts/components it can be quite frustrating because the cad files we get from manufacturers include lines that are too short, in Revit's view, and are drawn at very precise angles. If you use these files and explode them (shouldn't routinely do that, explode them that is) in a project file you'll likely quickly acquire hundreds if not thousands of Reviewable Warnings (Tools menu > Review Warnings).

Too avoid inflicting this on your projects consider first using these cad files in a Detail Component family. Even if Revit generates these warnings in the family itself, when it is loaded into a project the warnings do not appear in the project's warning list. This will go a long way to cleaning up the list of Reviewable Warnings, rather reducing the list of warnings to review in the first place.

As for the details themselves, tiny fillets and short segments of linework is "lost" on Revit and in fact the short lines are deleted as "too short". Lines that are drawn at very precise angles can be left alone as they are not going to generate errors once loaded into the project. But consider that it may not be important to keep that degree of accuracy since your detail is not what the manufacturer will use to make the part, you are referring to/using their information after all.

Regarding exploding cad files in Revit, don't do it in projects and if you must do it in an isolated project file first, cleanup the line work and then paste or create components from the cleaned up linework. Exploding cad files proliferates object styles for each layer in the cad file. This will most likely unnecessarily bloat a project with objects styles, line patterns and linestyles, unless the details you use are extremely clean and well organized.

Curtain Systems (Applied to Massing) and Doors

2008-01-08T10:20:00.000-08:00

Curtain Wall Panel Doors that are used in Curtain Systems applied to massing do not acquire a Level parameter. This will affect your ability to schedule doors according to Level. Their Level parameter will be blank in your schedule and this will place them at the top of your schedule.

This is one solution assuming that a door should/could be used in the Curtain System at all, meaning the wall is plumb and not a warped surface.

Switch the panel for the Empty System Panel (which leaves a "hole")
Sketch a plain curtain wall in the hole (no pattern, panel or mullion assignments)
Disallow Join for each end if desired (select curtain wall, right click over each blue grip "dot", choose Disallow Join)
Switch the panel for the curtain wall panel door you need.
Adjust height parameters of curtain wall.

This approach permits the door to acquire the level parameter. You can use the curtain wall panel door families you already have.

[Note: When using Linked Projects and scheduling those linked projects you can use Level to Sort/Group schedules. Unfortunately you cannot use Level as a Filter. You must come up with a different strategy for Filtering. The most obvious solution is to evaluate the door number (mark paramter) in some fashion.]

Revit Architecture Build 20080101_2345 released

2008-01-08T01:28:00.000-08:00

New build includes fix to "Revit leap year problem" plus:

• Improves stability when editing groups, saving views/groups to the library or creating a new project with template set to “None”.

• Improves stability when upgrading or linking a project from Autodesk Revit Building 8.1/Revit Structure 2 or older.
• Allows the ability to array face-based families placed on a vertical face.
• Allows the ability to maintain face-based instances on curved surfaces of a Revit link when the link is unloaded.
• Improves stability when selecting sections.
• Allows the ability to insert an electrical receptacle into a legend view.
• Improves stability when accessing the Help menu in Revit Architecture on a computer with the Microsoft
Windows Vista operating system.
• Improves stability when applying a view template to a sheet.
• Improve the performance of a view when it contains many objects with overridden graphics by element.

Full details of enhancements

For more information visit Steve's blog and AUGI Revit forums.

Revit Leap Year Fatal Error

2008-01-03T12:01:00.000-08:00

Lee Miller writes: Please be advised that there were some problems reported with Revit Architecture 2008 that creates fatal errors and can cause your program to shut down. The problem is caused by some code written to address the leap year, and should only effect the month of January. Autodesk is aware of the problem and is apparently working on a resolution.

So far, three activities have been reported to cause this fatal error:
1. Saving a drafting view to a new file
2. Saving a group to a new file
3. Creating a new project with a template set to “none”

Workaround:
1. Before saving the drafting view or group, make sure to save your work.
2. Change the date of your computer to the previous or following month.
3. Save the file.
4. Change the date back to the original date.

4 Jan - Dave says: Revit will also bomb if you try to save a schedule from your project for use in another project!!! Select scheduled from the project browser, right mouse click and save. You will recieve the same error message. The Autodesk work around is to move the date forward on your pc to Feb. 2008, hmmmm not too sure what impact that will have on other applications as well as your email. However, I am told that a new build is being worked and should be released in the not to distance future.

7 Jan - Steve says: I have not experienced fatal errors, just the message "Unspecified Error". Clicking OK accepts the message and you can carry on but you can't complete the task you wanted without changing the pc date.

8 Jan - Miles says: Revit development team have worked quickly on this one new Revit Architecture Build 20080101_2345 just posted....SOLUTION!

Revision Tag Fails to Display a Value

2007-12-20T09:40:00.000-08:00

Using the latest build of Revit Architecture (20071109_2345) Revision tags have been failing to display a value. We have not determined the cause but at this time it looks "buggish". In the meantime a work around.

Place the revision cloud
If no revision value is supplied in properties (or in a tag if placed)
Edit menu > Cut to Clipboard (the problem cloud)
Edit menu > Paste Aligned > Same Place ( or Current view)
Value should display now in properties and a tag when placed

Autodesk Responded with this:
This appears to be the result of an interaction between the Annotation Crop and the Revision numbering mechanism. This has been reported in a few cases before this. I will log this problem and you will be updated on the progress of this.

The workaround for this is to go to the View Properties for the view with the Tag in it and turn off Annotation Crop. Insert your Revision Tag. Your Tag should now be visible but your annotation is now visiable every where. Go back into the View Properties and turn Annotation Crop back on. This should fix your problem.

Revit Structure 2008 Updated SP3 (20071209_1300)

2007-12-19T15:40:00.000-08:00

Wai Chu Autodesk announces new Revit Structural build for API developers. If you are not using the API you will not need this new build. More...

"Tip of the year 2007" fade out in elevation from Revit model

2007-12-18T14:02:00.000-08:00

Joe Zhou from our Hong Kong office says - "this tip provided by Kei from Autodesk helped us and is so good I want to let everyone know about it"

This tip is useful especially in Scheme Design stage when you want to create fade out effect in elevation sheet. Here is the procedure to achieve 'half toning' far side elevation view overlapped on regular elevation view both layout on same sheet

Create two elevation views:

1 - Farside clip just about enough width (does not need to be accurate) that will appear on specified elevation view angle.

2 - Foreside with thin layer of depth clip, but having overall width for ground surface. (This is for better performance + not to show farside objects)

3 - Place them on sheet in order: Place farside first

4 - Then, place foreside - when placing this view, you should be getting center of gravity ‘cross reference lines’ for accurate location (placement order matters for foreground/background. See elevation image above, farside is overlapped by foreside without trimming at right edge.)

If you happen to place foreside first then the farside, delete foreside then replace it.

Did something in your project disappear?

2007-12-11T16:03:00.000-08:00

Most of HOK CAD Solutions are home grown, but here is a great checklist from David Duarte Revit Beginners blog.

http://revitbeginners.blogspot.com/2007_01_01_archive.html

1. First, check to see if it is still visible in other views.
2. Check Visibility/Graphics. Is the object category (and subcategories) ON?
3. Check Visibility/Graphics. Is the linestyle set to Override?
4. Check Visibility/Graphics. Is the detail level set to By View?
5. Check Visibility/Graphics. Are all the worksets ON?
6. Check Visibility/Graphics. Are all the filters ON?
7. Check Visibility/Graphics. If the object is in a linked file check Revit Links.
8. Check Visibility/Graphics. Check each design option.
9. Try changing phase and phase filter in View Properties (VP).
10. Try changing the detail level of the view.
11. Are all your worksets opened? (it may be hiding in a closed workset).
12. Check View Range in View Properties (VP).
13. Check for Plan Regions if in a floor plan view.
14. The object may have been moved to a new elevation.
15. Check Crop Region and Far Clip settings in View Properties (VP).
16. Set your view to wireframe. It may be hiding behind a filled region or other object.
17. Select the Linework tool (set to By Category) and see if it wasn't hidden with this tool. It would be very benefitial if one could toggle on/off the use of the linework tool in a view.
18. If the problem is with a family file open the family and check the visibility of the elements.

"If you can't find it by now it was probably deleted!"

David is a BIM manager with an architectural office in Santa Barbara http://revitbeginners.blogspot.com/

Disappearing Revit crop region

2007-12-11T04:35:00.000-08:00

Bart van Vliet/SF says: "When snapping to the edge of walls, ceilings, etc to define the crop region , sometimes the lines disappear. I can’t figure out how to allocate a line type to the crop region. The only solution I can think of is to stretch the crop region beyond the limits of the elevation, and then create a masking region of two closed loop lines, of which the interior has the heavy line and the exterior lies beyond the extends of the crop region."

> David Nilsson/ATL solution: The two loop masking region is the solution I use. You can create a detail component with the masking region already set up to speed the process up a little, but as far as I know that’s the only way to get the profile lines to appear in the traditional manner. I’d love to find out that I’m wrong.

>> Kevin Parks/ATL responds: I use this same technique, but as far as the crop region is concerned, pull the region off of the edge of the wall just a little and the line will not hide. Revit wants to snap to the wall face and covers up the increased line thickness. So, the solution is to pull the crop region back off the face of the wall and the line will show up again. Make sure when you do this that your thin lines button is turned off so your line thickness shows up.

>>>Bart: The best option I have seen is the one I started with: puling the crop region off of the walls, ceiling and floor and creating a masking region with a heavy line outlining the face of wall, ceiling and slab and another line outside the crop region. Still open for suggestions, as it is quite a bit of work.

Ed - "Revit Wish List" then!

New Revit Builds 2007-1109

2007-12-03T04:00:00.000-08:00

Steve Stafford reports the new builds avaiable for Revit products.
Autodesk Revit Downloads

Revit Paving Patterns

2007-11-22T08:20:00.000-08:00

Alberto Dominguez, Landscape Architect in London says: "I have a Revit question about external paving. We have been developing a project in Revit, architecture and landscape, but there is a problem with the construction drawings for the external landscape finishes. We are having to draw the paving units and joints as 2D detail lines as we have been unable to find a way to set up specific paving unit dimensions with Revit. This process (drawing 2D detail lines in Revit) is a slow and painful one, which also makes the project file bigger so I would really appreciate if any of you could let me know if there is a practical solution to this problem. "

John Vogt in St.Louis quick solution:
The easiest way to do this is to create a custom filled region using a hatch pattern text file with a .pat extension like this.

Add a filled region in Revit, duplicate and name, go to type properties and edit Fill Pattern, select Model pattern type and change the settings, select custom, import pattern and name. Select OK.

The great thing about filled regions is they can be accurate for setting out purposes, the boundary can be adjsuted to suit and

rotated as needed. The easiest way to do this is to create a custom filled region using a hatch pattern text file with a .pat extension like this.

Add a filled region in Revit, duplicate and name, go to type properties and edit Fill Pattern, select Model pattern type and change the settings, select custom, import pattern and name. Select OK.

"This is exactly what we were looking for and will save us a lot of time for future landscape drawings for the project." Alberto

Revit - stairs to levels with varying heights

2007-10-05T02:57:00.000-07:00

David Ivey, Chicago asks: "Is there a way to get Revit to land stairs at floor level when the levels having varying heights (i.e. the number of risers needs to change?"

Kiajoon Tan, London replies: The tread and risers will work for different runs within a same stair, To create different runs just do the appropriate maths and drag how many risers you want for each run, Release the mouse button when you have enough rosers for each run and then start the next run. The stair shown is created by controlling the number of desired risers to 30 and maximum height to 175 per riser, totally calculated to a 5.25m height to get the exact mid landing at riser number 20. i.e. you must be consistent with a common riser denominator with your levels.

But … sometimes will have problems resizing the different landings as they will end as far as how many threads you have for each run. If you have a shorter flight the landing will end short of a longer flight. Railings can also be an issue as sometimes they cannot be hosted properly. (Mind your head on the landing! - Ed)

Spot Elevation Tool tip for foundations

2007-10-05T01:56:00.000-07:00

Victor Martinez from NY asks: "When using the Spot Elevation tool with either the Project or Relative setting, the value shown when tagging a Pad in plan reports the elevation of the bottom of the Pad, even though the top of the pad is set to the correct level. Is this the correct value or a bug? Should we be placing a slab above the pad so that the tag displays the correct elevation? When tagging in section we can choose the top of the pad. Any feedback would be appreciated."

Cyril Verley's solution: "I recommend that you think of the “pad” as a vapour barrier and set the thickness to 1/16 (or 1-2mm)” instead of a floor slab. Place it and then place a real floor slab on top of it. This will give you a more accurate scheduling of the floor slabs vs. building pad. It will also help set the elevation tag correctly since it will display the “true” floor slab height."

AUGI Revit Architecture Wish List

2007-09-17T07:26:00.000-07:00

Here is a great opportunity to effect the future features of Revit. "If you have a wish list, submit it – the more, the better" - Steve Butler, Dallas

AUGI is pleased to introduce the new Revit Architecture Wish List! With the support of Autodesk, AUGI has developed a Wish List system for Revit Architecture that allows you to submit suggestions (wishes) for improvements to the product and then to vote for your 10 favorite wishes.

The Wish List system is simple to use. Just go to the Revit Architecture Wish List. We suggest reading through the How It Works section before you submit your wish. There, you will find valuable information including the approval process, notes about duplicate wishes, and information about what constitutes an "acceptable" wish. On the left tab, you will find the link to Submit a Wish. Submit your wish, and then watch your email. You will receive either an approval notice or an email from someone on the team with questions regarding your wish

Creating Elliptical Walls

2007-09-10T08:21:00.000-07:00

"Does anyone have a better way to create true elliptical walls (without just approximating them with curves)? I have been creating elliptical masses, and then adding walls to the faces, but then we can’t really edit their shape without going back to edit the mass, and then remaking the walls." David Ivey.

Solutions provided by Lee Miller:
There are some Known limitations to using the Ellipse. Here are 4 ways to create Elliptical Walls. If you are using the wall by face tool, the wall object is set to “Related to Mass”, so the only way to change the geometry is to edit the mass and remake the walls.

Ed - Is there a better way?

Use of SIM views (amended)

2007-09-02T12:29:00.000-07:00

In order to reference the "HOK Best Practice Details" details (which are drafting views) on a plan/section/elevation view we need to create a callout and select the "Reference another view" check box.

Every view type has a type parameter called "Reference Label". The text value of the reference label is a parameter of the view but it's appearance is controlled by the call out type. There is no user override of this behavior.

Current HOK policy states: Reference labels such as "TYP" "OPP" "REV" are never allowed. SIM" might be OK but is not recommended.

In the future we may want to use "SIM" to have an explicit Revit meaning: To distinguish actual views of the model from drafting or duplicate views. This is one of those situations where the Revit behavior is based on a clear logic and traditional practice is sort of fuzzy. For now let's stick to policy but should we ever have the need for multiple reference labels such as "OPP" and "TYP" we can easily create a separate view type for each label.

Creating multiple view types are possible only for Elevation, Section, and Detail views. Only one type of Floor Plan view is allowed which means we can only have one text option--most likely this would be "SIM". Placing the text manually is also thought to be a valid substitute for the parameter.

Lee Miller adds: Can you verify if the Reference label is filled out? To do this select the elevation or section tag, and select the type properties. (14 Sept)

Revit: new builds from Autodesk

2007-08-23T01:06:00.000-07:00

Autodesk have released new builds of Revit Architecture 2008 and Revit Structure 2008. When I looked there was no new build for Revit MEP. Note that the build now refers to the product as opposed to the year of release which is welcome and easier to relate to product.

REVIT ARCHITECTURE

Revit Architecture - Overview - Features - White Papers - Latest Build 20080810 - 1700

RAC2008 (20080810 -1700) has the following fixes:-
• Improves stability after receiving a corrupt element warning when opening a project.• Publish to DWF™ functions when Rooms are present and are clipped by the viewport.• Improves stability when saving a Project with a linked DWG™ file that contains an image.• Improves stability when applying a view template to a sheet view.• In Windows Vista™ operating system, allows the ability to write to revit.ini, licpath.lic,KeyboardShortcuts.txt, and the Journals folder.• Line based families contained in a group are no longer flipped when the group is mirrored.• Improves stability when importing group into Titleblock family.• Allows the ability to export renderings to TIFF format.• When temporary dimension text too small to read, user can adjust the size of the font through Revit.ini.• Linked DWG added by another user will now show up in Manage Links after reload latest.• “Relative” spot elevation updates automatically with the change in Level elevation.• When exporting to DWG, overlapping lines that share a point are no longer missing in the resulting DWG file.

REVIT STRUCTURE

Revit Structure - Overview - Features - White Papers - Latest Build - 20080810 -1700

RS (20080810 -1700) has the following fixes:-
• Straight beam joins and cuts back properly when supported by vertical curved beams.• Improves stability after receiving a corrupt element warning when opening a project.• Improves stability when saving a Project with a linked DWG™ file that contains an image.• Improves stability when applying a view template to a sheet view.• In Windows Vista™ operating system, allows the ability to write to revit.ini, licpath.lic,KeyboardShortcuts.txt, and the Journals folder.• Line based families contained in a group are no longer flipped when the group is mirrored.• Improves stability when importing group into Titleblock family.• Allows the ability to export renderings to TIFF format.• When temporary dimension text too small to read, user can adjust the size of the font through Revit.ini.• Linked DWG added by another user will now show up in Manage Links after reload latest.• “Relative” spot elevation updates automatically with the change in Level elevation.• When exporting to DWG file, overlapping lines that share a point are no longer missing in the resultingDWG.

REVIT MEP

Revit MEP - Overview - Features - White Papers - Latest Build- 2007_0615_1700

RMEP (2007_0615_1700 ) is the latest Revit MEP build.

The previous post related to same subject has been deleted from this blog.

Revit: limited access for "Project Managers"

2007-08-20T12:49:00.000-07:00

Solution provide by Steve Stafford for Tim Ulrich, Houston:
You need access to your Revit model and don’t want to interfere with the live project model or are concerned about altering any work that has been completed thus far. List of Steps:

1. Open Revit
2. Open the project and select Detach from Central
3. Click OK to accept warning message
4. Inspect the model – do what you need to do
5. Close the file
6. Close Revit

In-depth Explanation:
Open Revit: Double-click the Revit Architecture 2008 icon on your desktop.Open the Project: Click the File menu > Open. Now use Browse to the server and folder that your project files are stored in. You can check with your team’s data leader for precise location information. THIS NEXT STEP IS THE MOST IMPORTANT! Check the Detach from Central check box!

Inspect the model - As a project manager it may be unrealistic to expect that you become completely savvy with Revit. It is completely realistic to expect to be able to poke around your project so you can stay involved and connected to your team’s progress and how the model and documentation is tracking expectation. You may need a quick review of how to open views, spin a 3D view, print views or sheets.

Close the File: If you choose the File menu > Close Revit will close the project file without saving anything you have done. In fact the entire time you have been working within the project you have been working in a temporary file, with no name at all. If you decide to save anything you have done you must use File menu > Save and choose a directory to save the file in. You must NEVER save the file in the same folder as the actual project or use the same name as the original.

Close Revit: File menu > Exit

Revit: Exporting Revit to AutoCAD

2007-08-17T13:58:00.000-07:00

Solution by Lee Miller to suit our HOK Cad Standards:

1. Once the view is ready for export, simply go to the File pull down and select Export a DWG, DXF, DGN. Select DWG.

2. You have the option of saving the Revit View in either an AutoCAD 2007, 2004, or 2000 file format. We typically save to AutoCAD 2004 file format for AutoCAD.

3. You can also select multiple views, i.e. each level’s Floor plan, by changing the Export Range from Current View to Selected views/Sheets.

4. The export Layering scheme is set by default to V:\RAC2008\HOK Support\HOK Export Layer Dwg.txt. In most cases, you can select the existing standard If you are not exporting to HOK standards, you will need to create a custom one.

5. Finally, you’ll have to pick a directory where the DWG file will be saved. Create a folder in the Revit project directory under Publish\Background. Make sure to create a folder in the following format: YYMMDD – Description.

Revit: exporting images to file

2007-08-16T00:15:00.001-07:00

We are having issues exporting jpeg, tiffs or png images from Revit isometric views. We setup the view in the normal way and then go to export images from the file pull down menu. Set the resolution etc; however Revit seems to go through the process of exporting but when you go to the location you thought you had saved the export, you find that there is nothing exported. We have tried various different file formats, but with no success.

Solution from Kevin Parks that provides standard procedure that can be followed:

1. Select File / Export / Image...
2. Name the output location and provide a file name or it will go through the process, but no file will show up.
3. Select the Zoom to button and chose a percentage. Ex. if you chose 200% than your output will be (Raster Image Quality x 2)
4. Chose your file format, typically PNG for high quality. If you chose JPG use the lossless option.
5. Also, chose the Raster image Quality. Ranging from 72 to 600.

PLEASE NOTE: The output image on your monitor is only 72 dpi max. Print the image out on paper before making a judgment call on the quality of the image. HOK CAD Solutions - video burst

Workflow: Revit to Max optimisation

2007-08-07T15:00:00.000-07:00

Here are some good suggestions from Juan Carlos Arias and others for Revit > Max workflow:

Materials: All the geometry in the model should have a material previously assigned in Revit (especially families) in order to allow the use of the dropper tool in the material editor to select and change the material globally in Max.

UVW Mapping The UVW mapping of the geometry in max is generated by the work-plane in which the geometry was created in Revit. This is a very important factor to be considered in the creation of new families.

Geometry and number of faces/triangles: My advice in this matter is the proper use of worksets. For example, for the exterior renders we have been using three worksets: Shell, Core, and Structure (slabs, columns, and beams). In this way we ensure that only the geometry necessary for the creation of the exterior render is linked to Max.

Mental Ray: Distributed Bucket Rendering “DBR” is the optimal approach. Mental Ray allows you the use of up to 8 CPUs for a render of a single frame.

Enhancements to File Link and DWG Import Revit 2008 users can import projects into 3ds Max 9 Extension: Productivity Booster using the DWG format. This format encapsulates information about geometry, material, lighting, rendering properties, and cameras, streamlining project data exchange across multiple applications. This extension includes enhancements to DWG import performance, reliability, and ease of use.

Meanwhile, while we are trying to figure this workflow out Michael Ruiz a self confessed fan of Accurender is producing some great images inside Revit without the need to link to Max!.

Revit: how to dissallow wall join

2007-08-06T03:25:00.000-07:00

Question from Nekia Strong.
I am working on an office project that contains a series of vertical penetrations surrounded by a 2 hour shaft wall. We are looking for ways to get Revit to understand that this wall type must be closed off from other walls types. Does anyone know how to unjoin different wall types so that, in plan, they cleanly align and do not try to automatically wrap the finishes around each other? I have tried to simply disjoin them at the corners and keep getting strange offsets and gaps. Also, will the room command still work within a room made of non-joined walls?Please let me know if you know!

Solution by Lee Miller:
To unjoin the wall, it’s easier to grab the blue grip, or the wall end control, and move it away from the connected wall. Once the wall end is not connected, right click on the blue grip and select “disallow join”

Then you align the wall end to the wall without joining it. - Drag wall end to wall.

The wall should cleanup.

Walls with disallowed join are not affected by room bounding. This is a separate wall parameter that needs to be turned off. (Ed how is this done?)

ADT: How do I convert a PDF to DWG?

2007-07-27T06:04:00.000-07:00

Thanks Aida Staugaard and Chris Anderson for sharing this tip.

We need to convert PDF to DWG quite often, can anyone recommend good convert tool?

Answer - If you have a CLEAN line drawing only available in PDF format, you can convert this to Autocad dwg using Adobe Illustrator. Open the PDF file in Adobe Illustrator then do a File, Export, save to Autocad dwg selecting 2000 version. That’s it. When you open the file in Autocad, you will need to check the scale of the drawing and work on the layers since you will lose this information. Thanks Aida Staugaard and Chris Anderson for sharing this tip.