Wiley Revit Architecture 2010: No Experience Required
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1. Custom LS r 6 1 07 1 0 11 2 1 0 1 1 0 3 4 1 0 if 1 0 3 8 1 0 174 1 0 3 16 1 0 1 8 1 0 1 10 0 3 32 1 0 1716 1 0 1 20 0 3 64 1 0 1 30 0 132 1 0 1 40 0 1 50 0 1 60 0 1 54 1 0 1 80 0 1 100 0 1 160 0 1 200 0 FIGURE 1 34 The scale menu allows you to change the scale of your view E Coarse El Medium FIGURE 1 35 The detail level control allows you to set different view levels for the current view If you want this view to appear with more graphical information you would select the Fine choice To see how the view is adjusted using this control follow these steps 1 Select the detail level icon and choose Fine 2 Zoom in on a wall corner Notice the wall components are now showing in the view 23 24 Chapter 1 The Revit World A TI P When you change the view control in a view it is not a temporary H display You are telling Revit how you want to plot this view If you see it on the screen you will see it when it comes out of the plotter There are other items on the View Control bar but we ll discuss them when they become applicable to the exercises The View Tab Since Revit is one big happy model you will quickly find that simply viewing the model will become quite important Within Revit there is some functionality that you can take advantage of in the form of2. C demos Templates Architectural Template ri Browse Create new m Project gt Project template const ree FIGURE 1 5 The New Project dialog allows you to start a new project using a preexisting template file or you can create a new template file Now that the task of physically opening the application is out of the way we can delve into the application At first you are going to notice many differences between Revit and CAD Some of these differences may be off putting while oth ers will make you say I wish AutoCAD did that Either way you will need to adjust to a new workflow The Revit Workflow In Revit there is certain feel you AutoCAD converts will need to get a grasp of Some of you will find this new workflow easy to adapt to while others will find it excruciatingly foreign To be honest I found the latter to be the case at first Either way it is a simple concept You will just need to slow down a bit from your AutoCAD habits Executing a command in Revit is a three step process 1 At the top of the Revit window is what is called the Ribbon Built into the ribbon is a series of tabs Each tab contains what is called a panel This will be your Revit launch pad Speaking of launch pad click the Wall button on the Home tab as shown in Figure 1 6 2 Once you click the Wall button notice that Revit adds an additional tab to the Ribbon with options specific to the command you are run
3. Windows By clicking on all of these views you are simply opening a view of the building not another file that is stored somewhere For some users this can be confusing It was for me When you click around and open all of these views they stay open You can quickly open many views There is a way to manage these views before it gets out of hand In the upper right corner of the Revit dialog you will see the traditional close and minimize maximize buttons for the application Just below them are the traditional buttons for the files that are open as shown in Figure 1 48 Click the X for the file Type a keyword or phrase lizate aj cade User Interface FIGURE 1 48 You can close a view by clicking the X for the view This does not close Revit or an actual file for that matter it simply closes that view In this case you have multiple views open This situation which is quite com mon is best managed on the View tab To utilize the Window menu perform the following steps 1 On the Windows panel of the View tab click the Switch Windows but ton as shown in Figure 1 49 2 Once the menu is expanded look at the open views 31 32 Chapter 1 The Revit World uy GD OF A ain E Replicate EM g a 58 a k oe Cascad ew g Switch Close a pene User Sheet EJ Windows Ss Hidden oO Tile o Interface 7 wf 1 NER OLinet 3D View 3D 2 NER OLevt Floor Pla
4. You do The Revit Architecture Interface not need every command that a mechanical engineer would need An electrical engineer would not need the functionality that an architect would require What you will find as you start getting comfortable with Revit is that there are many many choices and options behind each command Let s start at the beginning 1 To open Revit Architecture click the icon on your desktop see Figure 1 1 or choose Start gt All Programs gt Revit Architecture 2010 see Figure 1 2 Ah Internet i Internet Explorer l E mail ioi Microsoft Office Outlook EE Microsoft Office Word 2007 ve Revit Architecture 2009 A B Revit Architecture 2010 Ba N FileZilla Client Location Rev vie Adobe Acrobat 8 Standard LY Autot AD MEP 2009 US Imperial ad Notepad B Revit Structure 2009 gt All Programs A m C a me e FIGURE 1 1 You can launch Revit Architecture from the desktop icon 2 After you start Revit you see the Recent Files window shown in Figure 1 3 The top row lists any projects you have been working on the bottom row lists any families you have been working on 3 If you are firing up Revit for the first time both of these columns will be blank At the bottom of each column you are given a choice of cre ating a new model or of browsing for an existing one see Figure 1 4 4 Click the New button 5 The New Project dialog shown in Figure 1 5 opens You can c
5. Offset 0 o Radius 1 0 View Manage FIGURE 1 17 You can draw basically any shape you need Get used to studying the Ribbon and the Options bars it is going to be your crutch as you start using Revit Architecture Of course at some point you need to physically start placing items in the model This is where the view window comes into play The Revit Architecture Interface 13 The View Window To put it simply the big white area where the objects go is the view window As a result of your actions this area will become populated with your model Notice the background is white this is because the sheets you plot on are white In Revit what you see is what you get literally In Revit you aren t counting on color 5 which is blue for example to be a specific line width when you plot You will be able to see immediately what the thickness of all of your lines are going to be before you plot What a novel idea See Figure 1 18 bew E AD Yws OD Bewions ja Bi r Es Click te selert TAR for aBrrnabe CTRL adh SHIFT unseberia se Prenn Bi Dray Ta FIGURE 1 18 The view window collects the results of your actions To continue placing some walls in the model keep going with the exercise If you have not been following along you can start by clicking the Wall button on the Home tab In the Change Element Type menu select Exterior Brick and CMU on MTL Stud Make sure that th
6. and CMU on MTL Stud Element FIGURE 1 25 There are options you will have to choose for every command in Revit Modify Walls F Copy NER OL rvt Project browser E P Cl a fon E E Views all Level 1 a Floor Flans Make sure the Copy checkbox is selected see Figure 1 25 Hover your cursor over the inside face of the 80 0 long vertical wall until you get to the midpoint Revit will display a triangular icon indi cating that you have found the midpoint of the wall See Figure 1 26 FIGURE 1 26 Revit has snaps similar to most CAD applications In Revit you will only get snaps if you choose the draw icon from the Options bar during a command Once the triangular midpoint snap appears pick this point Once you pick the point where the triangle appears you can move your cursor directly to the right of the wall You will see an alignment The Revit Architecture Interface 19 line appear as illustrated in Figure 1 27 Once the alignment line appears you can pick another point along the path Once you pick the second point the walls are mirrored and joined with the south wall Again refer to Figure 1 27 FIGURE 1 27 Mirroring these walls will involve first picking the midpoint of the vertical wall then second picking a horizontal point along the plane Now that you have some experience mirroring items it is time to start adding components to your model by utilizing the ite
7. immediately notice is that there is a picture of the item you are placing in the model in this case it s a wall Below that picture is a menu that says Change Element Type Once you click this menu you will see that there is an entire list of additional walls to choose from as shown in Figure 1 9 eS E A A 2 Revit Architecture Preview Alpha Place Wall Home Insert Annotate Modify Massing amp Site Collaborate View Manage hy Basic Wall AEO i Exterior Brick and CMU on MTL Stud CCO hkk Element Recent a Change Element Type k le Properties 7 Select A Extenor Brick and CMU on MTL Stud Place Wall Level Levelt es Exterior J Extenor Brick and CMU on Mi PE Exterior Brick and Stone on Exterior Brick on CMU Cc i Brick and CMU on M Exterior Brick and CMU on MTL Stud PS Exterior Brick on Mel Stud Extenor CMU Insulated Extenor CMU on Mtl Stud FIGURE 1 9 The Change Element Type Menu The objective of the next exercise is to start placing walls into the model 1 Open Revit Architecture using the default template 2 On the Home tab click the Wall button 3 In the Change Element Type menu select Exterior Brick and CMU on MTL Stud 4 On the far left side of the Element panel is the Element Properties button shown in Figure 1 10 Click this button The Revit Architecture Interface Y E a A A k Sa
8. is now selected in the 3D view to the side These views you have open are mere representations of the model from that perspective Each view of the model can have its own independent view settings You are at a good point now to save the file And this brings the book to a good point to discuss the different file types and their association to the BIM model File Types and Families Revit Architecture has a somewhat unique way in which it saves files and uti lizes different file types to build a BIM model To learn how and why Revit has chosen these methods follow along with these steps 1 Click the save icon see Figure 1 50 aoe p FIGURE 1 50 The traditional save icon will bring up the Save As dialog if the file has never been saved 2 In the Save As dialog click the Options button in the lower right cor ner see Figure 1 51 FIGURE 1 51 The Options button in the Save As dialog will allow you to make some choices in how the file is saved 3 In the File Save Options dialog you will see at the top a place where you can specify the number of backups as shown in Figure 1 52 Set this value to 1 The reason Revit does this is because when you click the save icon Revit actually duplicates the file It will simply add a suffix of 001 to the end of the filename Each time you click the save icon Revit will record this save and add another file called 002 leaving the 001 intact The default is
9. ning as shown in Figure 1 7 This allows you to make different choices based on the placement of a wall You may also notice that Revit places an additional Options bar below the ribbon for more choices You will hear this throughout the book always remember to look at your options With no command prompt the Options bar will be one of your few guides Chapter 1 The Revit World Ho ge Revit Architecture Pre Insert Annotate Modify Massing amp Site Collaborate View Manage P Ly Roof F Curtain System Ab Model Text qa Ceiling FA Curtain Grid J Model Line D Component Column z Ed Floor ii 2 Mullion k l Model Group Build Model FIGURE 1 6 The Design bar is the backbone of Revit Structure Euleran Prick and CL on MTL Sd Chunge Bement Type gt Clement FIGURE 1 7 The Options bar replaces the command prompt from AutoCAD MicroStation users will be more familiar with this method 3 Once you have made your choices from the Ribbon and the Options bar you can place the object into the view window This is the large drawing area that takes up two thirds of the Revit interface To place the wall simply pick a point in the window and move your pointer The wall starts to form You can press the Esc key to exit the command Using Revit is not generally as easy as this but keep in mind this basic three step process 1 Start a command 2 Choose an option fr
10. shown in Figure 1 55 Once your pointer is directly on top of the wall you will see the out line of the door Once you see this pick a point in the wall The door is inserted We will cover this in depth in the next chapter FIGURE 1 55 Inserting a hosted family rfa 38 Chapter 1 The Revit World You will be using this method quite a bit in this book and on a daily basis when you use Revit One thing to note is the fact that when a family is loaded into Revit Architecture there is no live path back to the file that was loaded Once it is added to the Revit model it becomes part of that model To view a list of the families that are within the Revit model go to the Project Browser and look for the Families category Within the Families category you will see a list of the families and their types as Figure 1 56 shows NER O1 nvt Project browser fel LA Sheets all jf Families a Annotation Symbols Ceilings Columns Curtain Panels Curtain Systems Curtain Wall Mulbons Detail tems Doors Single Flush i B Single Raised Panel with Sidelights i a x BO A y a m RB 3 x BO WH 56 x BO 36 x H Hs i i E FIGURE 1 56 All of the families as listed in the Project Browser The two main Revit files have been addressed Two others are still crucial to the development of a Revit model Using Revit Template File rte The rte extension pertains to a Revit template file Your company
11. surely has developed a template for your own standards or will soon An RTE file is simply the default template that has all of your companies standards built into it When you start a project you will use this file To see how an RTE file is used follow these steps 1 Click the Revit Home button and select New gt Project 2 In the resulting dialog as shown in Figure 1 57 click the Browse button 3 This will throw you into a category with several other templates You can now choose to use a different one 4 Click Cancel twice File Types and Families 39 New Project ee Template file i None esk RAC 2009 mperial Templates default rte Browse Create new i Project gt Project template co O e FIGURE 1 57 A new Revit model is based on an RTE template file Whenever you start a project this is the type of template you are going to use When you are starting a new family however you will want to use an RFA Using Revit Family Files rft The rft extension is another type of template only this one pertains to a fam ily template It would be nice if Revit had every family fully developed to suit your needs Alas it does not You will have to develop your own families You will start with a family template To see how to access a family template per form these steps 1 Click the Revit Home button and select New gt Family to open the browse dialog shown in Figure 1 58 J
12. these parameters will change only the object being added to the model at this time Also if you select an item that has already been placed in the model and click the Element Properties button the instance parameters will change only that item you have selected This makes sense not all items are built equally in the real world Figure 1 12 illustrates the instance parameters of a typical wall Type Parameters The type parameters see Figure 1 13 when edited will alter every item of that type in the entire model To access the type parameters click the Edit Type but ton while still in the Element Properties dialog as Figure 11 14 shows 10 Chapter 1 The Revit World Structure Edit p E hese a A E Wrapping at Ends Nom enna Do not wrap ar mm Location Line Base Constraint i r e r e ee E T ey o Fe nn Room Bounding unum MAL nnn Related to Mass FIGURE 1 11 The element properties hold a wealth of parameters and control over families in Revit Instance Parameters Control selected or to be created instance Location Line Finish Face Exterior arg erat Base Constraint eee al Base Offset i eoa a et Tey eile r e ti gooo Top Constraint i Unconnected i garanean ham a 7 ae Top Extension Distance ig Room Bounding Related to Mass FIGURE 1 12 The instance parameters will change only the currently placed item or the currently selected item Type Paramete
13. CHAPTER I The Revit World Getting comfortable with the Revit Architecture interface Learning to use the Design ribbon Navigating through the Project Browser Learning about file types and families Chapter 1 The Revit World efore we get started I think we should set the record straight I m sure you have seen plenty of presentations on how wonderful and versatile this 3D Revit revolution thing is And I m sure you may be thinking This all seems way too complicated for what I do Why do I need 3D anyway The answer to that question is you don t If you think about it what do you do to get a job out that is after the presentation has run its course and you are awarded the project Your first step is to redraw the plans Next comes the detail round up game we all have come to love we pull the specs together and then we plot This is quite a simple process and guess what It works Well it has worked up until this 3D thing showed up Now it seems to have turned into this convoluted process in which we have no real clue as to where things are coming from drawings are not looking very good and it is taking three times as long to get a drawing out the door Well if you just bought this book welcome to the Revit world In Revit you will find that the vast majority of the processes you will encounter are in a flat 2D platform Instead of drafting you are placing components into the model Yes these components do ha
14. Imperial Templates ME ves Name a Date taken Tags e a L Annotations i Titleblocks i lg Baluster rft hen Baluster Panel rft Baluster Post rft Casework ft Casework wall based rit gt jan Column tft FE Curtain Wall Panel rft Detail Component rft Detail Component line based rft han Door rft m Door Curtain Wall rft Electrical Equipment rft Electrical Frture rft ee t File name Fies of type Family Template Fies rft Open ma FIGURE 1 58 The creation of a family starts with these templates 40 Chapter 1 The Revit World 3 Tempting I know We will thoroughly cover creating in Chapter 17 Families Browse through these templates You will most certainly use many of them Click the Cancel button As mentioned earlier you are only going to get to a certain point before you run out of Revit provided content If you are feeling brave go ahead and play around in one of the templates You have nothing to lose except time Are You Experienced Now You Can K vj S navigate the Revit Architecture interface and actually start a model find commands on the Design bar and understand how this controls your options find where to change a keyboard shortcut to be similar to what you had in CAD navigate through the Project Browser understand how the Revit interface is broken down into views tell the difference between the two differ
15. click the Change Element Type menu as shown in Figure 1 54 Notice that not only did you bring in the raised panel door family but you also have seven different types of the same door These types are simply variations of the same door You no longer have to explode a block and modify it to fit in your wall File Types and Families 37 T e a ee ee e Revit Architecture Previe Home Insert Annotate Modify Massing amp Site Collaborate View Place Door i rs K Oa Single Ralsed Panel with Sidelights a Lek cee 36 x84 Les oe oll Modify Element Change Element Type Model Load Properties In place Family Select illic Model 34 BA Place Door 36 x 80 NER Ol rt Project browser 36 x 84 lt lhl a ttst lt CS St s Cr E E Views all El Hoor Plans Ay Single Raised Panel with Sidelights Leva 2 E SSC i Sie j i 30 x 84 B Ceiling Plans a I Level 1 23 y Bi 30 x 80 i be Level 2 34 x B B 3D Views E E Blevations Building Ele 36 x 8 North South L West z Legends J a Schedules Quantiies FIGURE 1 54 Each family rfa file will contain multiple types associated with that family 8 Zoom in on the upper left corner of the building as illustrated in Figure 1 55 9 To insert the door into the model you must place it in the wall Notice that before you hover your cursor over the actual wall Revit will not allow you to add it to the model as
16. d families Hosted Families All other families in Revit Architecture hosted in some way by either a system family or a level For example a wall sconce is a hosted family in that when you Chapter 1 The Revit World insert it it will be appended to a wall Hosted families carry a file extension of rfa To insert a hosted family into a model follow these steps 1 Open the NER rvt file or your own file 2 Go to Level 1 3 On the Home tab select the Door button 4 On the Place Door tab click the Load family button as shown in Figure 1 53 T ne 7 g Revit Architecture Previes Home Insert Annotate Modify Massing amp Site Collaborate View Single Raised Panel with Sidelights 36 84 DEUE EE Place Door Element Properties Place Door NER Ol rvt Project browser E El 6 Views al E Floor Plans B Sie B Cling Plans Level 1 Level 2 B 3D Views SD Elevations Building El Eaal North South West FIGURE 1 53 You can load an RFA file during the placement of a hosted family 5 Browse to the Doors directory Note that if you are on a network your directories may not be the same as in this book Contact your CAD BIM manager or whoever loaded Revit on your computer to find exactly where they may have mapped Revit 6 Notice there is a list of doors Select Single Raised Panel with Sidelights rfa and click Open 7 On the Place Door tab
17. e Revits share the same rvt file extension You can open a Revit file produced in any of these three applications directly You do not need object enablers to read items that do not pertain to that discipline File Types and Families 35 System and Hosted Families rfa As mentioned earlier a Revit model is based on a compilation of items called families There are two types of families system families and hosted families A system family can only be found within a Revit model and cannot be stored in a separate location A hosted family is inserted similar to a block or cell and is stored in an external directory The file extension for a hosted family is rfa System Families System families are inherent to the current model and are not inserted in the traditional sense You can only modify a system family through its element prop erties within the model The walls you ve put in up to this point are system fami lies for example You did not have to insert a separate file in order to find the wall type The system families in a Revit Architecture model are as follows Walls Floors Roofs Ceilings Stairs Ramps Shafts Rooms Schedules quantity takeoffs Annotation items Views System families define your model As you can see the list pretty much cov ers most building elements There are however plenty more components not included within this list These items which can be loaded into your model are called hoste
18. e wall is justified to the finish face exte rior You may now proceed 1 With the Wall command still running and the correct wall type selected position your cursor in a similar location to the illustration in Figure 1 19 Now pick a point in the view window 2 With the first point picked move your cursor to the left You will notice that a few things are happening One is that the wall seems to be snapping in a horizontal plane and there is a blue dashed line that apparently locks the horizontal position In Revit there is no Ortho Revit will align the typical compass increments 0 90 180 270 and 45 degrees 14 Chapter 1 The Revit World eee ir 0 FIGURE 1 19 The procedure for drawing a wall in Revit Architecture 3 Another thing you will notice is a blue dimension extending from the first point to the last point Although dimensions cannot be typed over this type of dimension is a temporary dimension and is there for just that Type 100 and press the Enter key Notice you did not need to type the foot mark Revit thinks in terms of feet The wall is now 100 long See Figure 1 19 4 With the Wall command still running move your cursor straight up from the endpoint of the 100 long wall you just drew Look at Figure 1 20 FIGURE 1 20 How Revit Architecture works is evident in this procedure 5 Type 80 and hit Enter You now have two walls 6 Move your cursor to the right until y
19. ect only specific items while passing through larger objects that you may not want in the selection set A box always starts from the left and works to the right The line type is a continuous line see Figure 1 23 FIGURE 1 23 To select only objects that are surrounded by the window select a box This will leave out any item that may only be partially within the box Now that you have experience selecting items you can execute some basic modify commands Let s begin with mirroring one of the most popular modify commands Modifying and Mirroring You will find that Revit Architecture requires that you select items first and then execute a command This is true for most action items and is certainly true for every command on the Modify toolbar 1 Make sure only the two 16 0 walls are selected 2 Once the walls are selected you will see the Modify Walls tab appear On the Modify panel click Mirror gt Draw Mirror Axis as shown in Figure 1 24 3 Your cursor will change to a cross hair with the mirror icon illustrat ing that you are ready to draw a mirror plane as shown in Figure 1 25 18 Chapter 1 The Revit World Revit Architecture Preview Alpha NER O1 n4 Floor Plan Level 1 i Ek Cut Hide ii Copy Override 7 Clipboard View Graphics FIGURE 1 24 The Ribbon adds the appropriate commands Home Insert Annotate Modify Massing amp 5 ay Basic Wall PEN exterior Brick
20. ent types of families and understand how to build a model using them
21. ere will be a few terms thrown at you that you will become familiar with Of course we just discussed the Ribbon but mostly you will be directed to choose a tab and to find a panel on that tab To keep the example familiar when you selected the wall button your instruc tions will read On the Build panel of the Home tab click the Wall button Insert Annotate Modify Massing amp Site Collaborate V Ly Roof Fil Curtain System amp Ceiling FA Curtain Grid ft Floor 7 EB Mullion Wal Door Windgw Component Column Build The Build panel The Home tab FIGURE 1 8 The Ribbon breakdown WHAT S THAT TOOLBAR ABOVE THE RIBBON This toolbar is called the Quick Access toolbar It is filled with some popular commands One special function of this toolbar is the cursor icon You are to use this button when you wish to terminate a command To the left of this toolbar is what we are calling the Revit Home button By clicking this button you have access to more Revit functions that will be covered later in the book pE e746 DeF Home Insert A Motate Chapter 1 The Revit World Now that you are starting to see how the ribbons and the tabs flow together let s take a look at another feature within the Ribbon panels that allows you to reach beyond the immediate Revit interface The Change Element Type Menu When you pick the wall button an entirely new set of commands appears What you will
22. es Element Properties FIGURE 1 29 You can select any item in Revit and create a similar object by right clicking and selecting Create Similar 6 On the Place Wall tab click the Start End Midpoint Arc button as shown in Figure 1 30 The Revit Architecture Interface 21 11 Revit Architecture Preview Alpha NER 0 ee ee le Place Wall 720G0 iU on MTL Stud E iline Finish Face Exte V Chain Offset o Radius 1 0 FIGURE 1 30 Just because you started the command from the view window does not mean you do not have to look at your options Again with the Options Yes Make sure your Location Line is set to Finish Face Exterior With your wheel button on your mouse zoom into the upper corner of the building and select the top endpoint of the wall as shown in Figure 1 31 The point you are picking is the corner of the heavy lines The topmost thinner line actually represents a concrete belt course below FIGURE 1 31 Select the top corner of the wall to start your new radial wall Select the opposite outside corner of the bottom wall 10 Move your cursor to the right until you see the curved wall pause You will also see an alignment line and a tangent snap icon appear as well Revit understands that perhaps you want an arc tangent upon the two lines you have already placed in your model Once you see this pick the third point Your walls should look like Figu
23. et Home Insert Annotate Modify Massing amp Site Collaborate x EE ixterior Brick and CMU on MTL Stud 2 Modify Elef Rent R Properties t select Place Wall Height Unconr 20 O Location Line Finish Ete T Change Element Type Element FIGURE 1 10 The Element Properties button gives you access to many variables associated with the item you are adding to the model Clicking the Element Properties button provides you with a new world of choices and options You will soon see that the power of Revit is hiding just below the surface Element Properties Hidden within the Options bar is a single button that will gain you access to a multitude of choices and parameters Although this dialog will contain different information for each item the format will stay the same One of the many won ders of Revit Architecture is the fact that most procedures dialogs and processes are virtually the same as the next Master how to build a wall and you have mastered how to build a roof and a floor Within the element properties you will see two categories as shown in Figure 1 11 In this figure the first category Type Parameters is grayed out and you cannot select anything In the other category Instance Parameters you can edit settings directly There is a huge difference between the two Instance Parameters The items that can be immediately edited are called instance parameters This means that
24. front of you To start using the Project Browser follow along 1 To the far left of the Revit dialog is the Project Browser see Figure 1 46 NER Ol nt Projectbrowser E El Bevations Building Hevatior North i South i i West i Legends AB Schedules Quantities CH Sheets ail Hj Families H H Groups LC Revit Links EE at b FIGURE 1 46 The Project Browser is your new Windows Explorer 2 The Project Browser is broken down into categories One category is Floor Plans In the Floor Plans category double click on Level 1 3 Double click on Level 2 Notice that your display level is set to Coarse This is because any change you make on the View Control 29 30 Chapter 1 The Revit World bar is for that view only When you went to Level 2 for the first time that change has not been made yet 4 In the view window you will see little icons that look like houses see Figure 1 47 These are elevation markers The elevation marker to the right might be in your building If this is the case you need to move it out of the way 5 Pick a box around the elevation marker Once both the small triangle and the small box are selected move your mouse over the selected objects 6 Your cursor will turn into a move icon Pick a point on the screen and move the elevation marker out of the way FIGURE 1 47 Elevation markers are shown in plan as these symbols If you are to move them it must be done by p
25. gained experience with the Element Properties dialog it is time to go back and study the rest of the Options bar as it pertains to plac ing a wall 1 Since we are only exploring the element properties click the Cancel button twice to return to the model 2 Back in the Options bar find the Location Line menu This will allow you to set the wall justification Select Finish Face Exterior see Figure 1 16 3 On the Options bar be sure the Chain checkbox is selected as Figure 1 16 shows This will allow you to draw the walls continuously is se e T Revit Architecture Preview Alp eLA i i a ees cen a e le ae Place Wall i my Basic Wall AEO _ PEEN exterior Brick and CMU on MTL Stud gt r COC RE Modify Element T gt Properties Change Element Type Select Element Draw Place Wall Height Unconr y 20 0 Location Line Finish Face Exte v Chain Offset 0 0 JR Wall Centerline EO COTTE NER 01 rvt Project browser Ecore jair edoa B 60 Views al 5 Acor Plans Finish Face Interior Level 1 Core Face Exterior Level 2 Core Face Interior FIGURE 1 16 By selecting Finish Face Exterior you know the wall will be dimensioned from the outside finish 4 In the Draw panel there is a series of sketch options Since this spe cific wall is straight make sure the Line button is selected as shown in Figure 1 17 Place Wall E EAG LOr kL e E Draw V Chain
26. hoose to use the default template or no template or you can even create a Chapter 1 The Revit World brand new template by clicking the Project Template radio button We will cover template creation later in the book For now just click OK to create a new project using the default template You do not need to alter anything in this dialog Windows Photo Gallery E Windows Update ge Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor SH Winzip L Accessories i AIM O Autodesk BB Autodesk Design Review 2009 S Autodesk DWF Viewer D AutoCAD Architecture 2008 D AutoCAD MEP 2009 p Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2009 32 b Backburner i Revit Architecture 2008 D Revit Architecture 2009 Portable License Utility Ry Revit Architecture 2009 D Revit MEP 2009 AutoCAD Suite D Revit Structure 2008 Revit Structure 2009 D Revit Structure 2009 Preview Beta AVG EO Broadcom Camtasia Studio 4 Back FIGURE 1 2 You can also launch Revit Architecture using the Windows Start menu this shows the Windows Vista operating system Rival An hie lure Preve Alpha Fever y Masing Bt Site Collaborste Meraqe Projects amp pen Mh ews NER 36 NER 37 Families FIGURE 1 3 The Recent Files window lists any recent projects or families you have worked on The Revit Architecture Interface Projects FIGURE 1 4 You can create a new model or browse for an existing one New Project feel Template file i None
27. icking a window There are two actual items in an elevation marker 1 WARNING Hey What happened to my elevation You are in Revit A now Items such as elevation markers section markers and callouts are no longer just dumb blocks They are linked to the actual view they are calling out If you delete one of these markers you will delete the view associated with it If it is a view that you and your design team has been working on you lost that view Also if you move an item it needs to be done deliberately and with caution This elevation marker you moved has two parts The little triangle is actually the elevation The little box is the part of the marker that records the sheet number the elevation will wind up on If you do not move both items by placing a window around them it will leave the elevation s origin where it was Once this happens your elevation will look like a sec tion and it will be hard to determine what happened The Project Browser 7 In the Project Browser find the Elevations Building Elevations cat egory Double click on South 8 Also in the Project Browser notice there is a 3D category Expand the 3D category and double click on the 3D choice This will bring you back to the 3D view you were looking at previous to this exercise Now that you can navigate through the Project Browser adding other compo nents to the model will be much easier To start with we can begin to add some windows
28. ity Graphics amp lt A B Drafting v Q rey z mh Filt _ C ilters as Thin Lines View T Plan Views x Create FIGURE 1 41 The default 3D icon will be heavily used 2 On the View Control bar click the Model Graphics Style button and choose Shaded with Edges as illustrated in Figure 1 42 g Wireframe G Hidden Line Shading E Shading with Edges FIGURE 1 42 The Model Graphics Style button enables you to view your model in color This is typical for a 3D view 3 Again on the View Control bar select Shadows Off and turn the shad ows on as illustrated in Figure 1 43 and again in 1 45 27 A word of caution if you do turn your shadows on do so with care This could be the single worst item in Revit in terms of performance deg radation Your model will slow down with shadows on 28 Chapter 1 The Revit World WB Graphic Display Options oe Shadows Off 4 ual w ir B gog ET R A Y FIGURE 1 43 Shadows create a nice effect but at the expense of RAM Within the 3D view is the ViewCube It is the cube in the upper right corner of the view window You can switch to different perspectives of the model by picking on the quadrants of the cube see Figure 1 44 FIGURE 1 44 The ViewCube lets you freely look at different sides of the building he TI P_ The best way to navigate a 3D view is to press and hold the Ctrl key f on the keyboard As y
29. ms that have been placed previously If you are not getting it retry these first few procedures Rome was not built in a day Well perhaps if they had Revit it would have sped things up You want your first few walls to look like Figure 1 28 FIGURE 1 28 Your building should look like this illustration 20 Chapter 1 The Revit World Building on Existing Geometry Now that you have some geometry to work with and you have some objects placed in your model Revit starts to come alive The benefits of using building information modeling BIM will become apparent quickly as explained later in this chapter For example because of the fact that Revit knows that walls are walls you can add identical geometry to the model by simply selecting an item and telling Revit to create a similar item Suppose you wanted a radial wall of the same exact type of the other walls in the model Perform the following steps 1 Type ZA to zoom the entire screen 2 Press the Esc key 3 Select one of the walls in the model it does not matter which one 4 Right click on the wall 5 Select Create Similar as shown in Figure 1 29 Cancel Change wall s orientation Select Joined Elements Hide in view i Override Graphics in View j Create Similar Edit Family K select Previous Select All Instances Delete Find Referring Views Zoom In Region Zoom Out 2x Zoom To Fit Previous Fan Zoor Next Pan Zoom View Properti
30. n Level 1 Sheet Composition FIGURE 1 49 The Window menu lists all the current views that are open Go to the 3D view by selecting it from the Window menu by click ing the 3D icon at the top of the screen or by going to the 3D view in the Project Browser On the Windows panel click Close Hidden Windows Close this window by pressing Esc on the keyboard In the Project Browser open Level 1 Go to the Window Panel and select Tile BuT USED TO TYPE My COMMANDS Well you still can In the Revit menus you may have noticed that many items have a two or three letter abbreviation to the right This is the key board shortcut associated with the command If you want you can make your own or you can modify existing keyboard shortcuts In Windows Explorer go to C Program Files Revit Architecture 2010 Program KeyboardShortcuts txt Within this txt file you can find the shortcut you wish to add By removing the semicolon you can put your shortcut between the quotation marks For example change the string that looks like this menu Window Arrange Icons to this WA menu Window Arrange Icons Save the text file The setting will not take effect until you close Revit Architecture and open it back up again 8 With the windows tiled you can see the Level 1 floor plan along with the 3D view to the side Select one of the walls in the Level 1 floor plan File Types and Families 33 Notice it
31. ol FIGURE 1 38 Because of the fact that Revit does not include zoom commands in the Undo function you can rewind to find previous views 4 Do the same for the Pan choice The Pan function is found on the outer ring of the steering wheel Once you press and hold Pan you can navigate to other parts of the model 26 Chapter 1 The Revit World Although you can do all of this with your wheel button some users still prefer the icon method of panning and zooming For those of you who prefer the icons for the previous items you will also want to use the icons for the traditional zooms as well Traditional Zooms The next items on the Navigation bar are the good old zoom controls that you are used to The ability to zoom in zoom out and pan are all included in this function as shown in Figure 1 39 Zoom in Region Zoom Out 2x Zoom to Fit Zoom All to Fit Zoom Sheet Size Previous Pan Zoom Next Pan Zoom FIGURE 1 39 The standard zoom commands Of course if you have a mouse with a wheel you can zoom and pan by either holding down the wheel to pan or by wheeling the button to scroll in and out Thin Lines Back on the View tab you will see an icon called thin lines as shown in Figure 1 40 Let s talk about what this icon does In Revit Architecture there is no such thing as layers Line weights are con trolled by the actual objects they are representing In the view window you see these line weight
32. om the appropriate tab 3 Place the item in the view Revit appears to offer a fraction of the choices and functionality that AutoCAD or any drafting program offers This is true in a way Revit does offer much fewer choices to start a command but how many choices does an architect or an archi tectural designer need Revit keeps its functionality focused on architecture and construction It is the dynamic capabilities of the application during the place ment of the items as well as the functionality of the objects after they have been placed in the model that gives Revit its robust capabilities Never judge a book by its cover unless of course it is the book you are reading right now Let s keep going with the main focus of the Revit interface This is the Ribbon You will be using the Ribbon exclusively within Revit The Revit Architecture Interface The Ribbon You will be using the Ribbon for all of the commands you execute in Revit As you can see you don t have much of a choice to do otherwise However this is good because it narrows your attention to what is right in front of you When you pick an icon on the Ribbon Revit will react to that with a new tab giving you the spe cific additional commands and Options you need In addition Revit also keeps the existing tabs that can help you while you are in the current command as shown in Figure 1 8 Again the focus here is to keep your eyes in one place In this book th
33. ou run into another blue alignment line Notice that your temporary dimension says 100 0 The Revit Architecture Interface 15 Revit understands symmetry Once you see this alignment line and the temporary dimension says 100 0 pick this point 7 Move your cursor straight down and type 16 8 Move your cursor to the right and type 16 9 Hit the Esc key Do your walls look like Figure 1 21 If not try it again You need to be able to do this and to be comfortable with this procedure as much as possible FIGURE 1 21 Working with Revit starts with the ability to work with the view window and learning the quirks and the feel of the interface To get used to the Revit flow always remember these three steps 1 Start a command 2 Focus on your options 3 Move to the view window and add the elements to the model If you start a command then focus immediately on the view you will be sitting there wondering what to do next Do not forget to check your options and the appropriate ribbon tab Let s keep going and close this building by using a few familiar commands If you have never drafted on a computer before don t worry These commands are simple Starting with the easiest but most important is the topic of being able to simply select an object 16 Chapter 1 The Revit World Object Selection Revit has a few similarities to AutoCAD and MicroStation One of those similari ties is the ability to
34. ou are holding down the Ctrl key press and hold the zoom wheel on your mouse Now move the mouse around You will be able to dynamically view the model FIGURE 1 45 The 3D model with shading and shadows Go back to the floor plan Wait How This brings us to quite an important topic in Revit the Project Browser The Project Browser The Project Browser Revit is the frontrunner of BIM BIM is sweeping our industry for a reason One of the biggest reasons is the fact that you have a fully integrated model right in front of you What this means is that when you need to open a different floor plan eleva tion detail drawing sheet or 3D view you can find it all right here in the model Also this means our workflow is going to change In most cases it is going to change drastically When you think about all the external references and convo luted folder structures that comprise a typical job you can start to relate it to the way Revit uses the Project Browser Within Revit you are using the Project Browser instead of the folder structure previously used in CAD This changes the playing field With CAD the process of closing the file you are in and opening the files you need to work on is restructured in Revit to enable you to stay in the model You never have to leave one file to open another You also never need to rely on external referencing to complete a set of drawings Revit and the Project Browser will put it all right in
35. perform simple object selection and to be able to execute common modify commands For this example we are going to mirror the two 16 0 L shaped walls to the bottom of the building 1 Type ZA zoom all 2 Click the Modify button on the Design bar 3 Near the two 16 0 L shaped walls pick left click and hold down the pick button at a point to the right of the walls but below the long 100 0 horizontal wall 4 You will see a window start to form Run that window past the two walls Once they are highlighted as illustrated in Figure 1 22 let go of the pick button and the walls are selected FIGURE 1 22 Picking a crossing window to select two walls There are two ways to select an object by using a crossing window or by using a box Each plays an important role in how you select items in a model Crossing Windows In Revit you can select items in one of two ways A crossing window describes an object selection method in which the window being placed only needs to cross through the objects in order for them to become selected A crossing win dow will always start from the right and end to the left The crossing window when being placed is represented by a dashed line composition see Figure 1 22 The Revit Architecture Interface 17 Boxes A box is an object selection method that will only select the items that are 100 percent inside the window being placed This method is useful when you want to sel
36. re 1 32 Chapter 1 The Revit World FIGURE 1 32 The completed exterior walls should look like this illustration Just because you have placed a wall in the model that does not necessarily mean it looks the way you would like In Revit Architecture there is a lot you can do with view control and how objects are displayed View Control and Object Display Although this is a nice way to add walls to a drawing it does not reflect the detail you are going to need to produce construction documents Well the great thing about Revit is that you have already done everything you need to do You can now tell Revit to display the graphics the way you want to see them The View Control Bar At the bottom of the view window you will see a skinny toolbar as illustrated in Figure 1 33 This is the View Control bar It contains the following functions Fi w BORaRA we a FIGURE 1 33 The View Control bar controls the graphical view of your model Scale The first item on the View Control bar is the scale function It gets small mention here but it is a huge deal In Revit you change the scale of a view by selecting this menu Change the scale here and Revit will scale annotations and symbols accordingly See Figure 1 34 Detail Level The detail level allows you to view your model at different quali ties You have three to choose from Coarse Medium and Fine See Figure 1 35 The Revit Architecture Interface
37. rs Control all elements of this type Wrapping at Inserts i Do not wrap i Wrapping at Ends None i 21 oman FIGURE 1 13 The type parameters when modified will alter every occurrence of this specific wall in the entire model The Revit Architecture Interface 11 Family System Family Basic Wall Load Type Le FIGURE 1 14 The Edit Type button allows you to access the type parameters At this point you have one of two choices You can either make a new wall type leaving this specific wall unmodified by clicking the Duplicate button or you can start editing the wall s type properties as shown in Figure 1 15 T WARNING cannot stress enough that if you start modifying type A properties without duplicating the type you need to do so in a very deliber ate manner You can easily affect the model in an unintended manner We will discuss the specifics of all of the wall s type parameters in Chapter 16 Advanced Wall Topics Type Properties m pe Type Parameters Wrapping at Inserts i Do not wrap dae ee m aaa e T a al lalaaama Coarse Scale Fill Pattem i Coarse Scale Fill Color i gt a ENERE TEE fret vaste ante vases th Description i oats Dara seinen oo eee Aesembly Code ieaiaia BUF a m a eed aaa 3 m FIGURE 1 15 The type parameters are used to modify the wall system s global settings 12 Chapter 1 The Revit World Now that you have
38. s As mentioned before what you see is what you get Sometimes however these line weights may be too thick for smaller scale views By clicking the thin lines icon as shown in Figure 1 40 you can force the view to display only the thinnest lines possible to still see the objects gt eae Home Insert Annotate Modify Massing amp Site Collaborate ya A T Visibility Graphics os Ra B Drang Vie S LI eve 3D View View Properties Templates View T Plan Views Create FIGURE 1 40 Using the thin lines icon will allow you to operate on the finer items in a model The Revit Architecture Interface To practice using the thin lines function follow along 1 Pick the thin lines icon 2 Zoom in on the upper right corner of the building 3 Pick the thin lines icon again This toggles the mode back and forth 4 Notice the lines are very heavy The line weight should concern you As mentioned earlier there is no such thing as layers in Revit Architecture This topic is addressed in Chapter 13 The next icon on the View toolbar is the show mass icon This will be addressed in Chapter 16 Default 3D This icon actually brings us to a new discussion Complete the following steps that will move us into the discussion on how a Revit model actually comes together 1 Click the default 3D icon as illustrated in Figure 1 41 Ho e Annotate Modify Massing amp Site Collaborate BUG i Visibil
39. the Navigation bar To activate the Navigation bar first go to the view tab then click the User Interface button Make sure the Navigation bar is activated as shown in Figure 1 36 One item we need to look at on the Navigation bar is the steering wheel En eg Ce Replicate Ta Tal Cascade Switch Chose Windows Hidden Tile Windows lf ViewCube Navigation Bar Projet Browser T Status Bar E Recent Files E Browser Organization se 7 TRON jh T e f j i i 8 The Navigation bar gt FIGURE 1 36 The View tab produces the Navigation bar The Steering Wheel The steering wheel allows you to zoom rewind and pan When you pick the steering wheel icon a larger control panel will appear in the view window To choose one of the options you simply pick left click one of the options and hold the pick button as you execute the maneuver The Revit Architecture Interface 25 To use the steering wheel follow along 1 Pick the steering wheel icon from the Navigation bar as shown in Figure 1 37 2 Once the steering wheel is in the view window as illustrated in Figure 1 37 click left click and hold the Zoom choice You can now zoom in and out FIGURE 1 37 Youcanuse the steering wheel to navigate through a view 3 Now click and hold the Rewind choice in the steering wheel You can now find an older view as shown in Figure 1 38 E Rewind To
40. to do this three times before it starts replacing the 001 002 and 003 with the three most current files Chapter 1 The Revit World 4 Under the Preview section you can specify which view this file will be previewed in I like to keep it as the current view That way I can get an idea if the file is up to date based on the state of the view Click OK File Save Options ae Maximum backups Worksharing _ Make this a Central File after save Compact File Previews Source Active view sheet Regenerate if view sheet is not up to date FIGURE 1 52 The Options in the Save As function allow you to specify number of backups as well as the view it will use for the preview 5 Create a folder somewhere and save this file into the folder The name of the file used as an example in the book is called NER rvt NER stands for No Experience Required Of course you can name the file anything you wish or you can even just do your own project using the steps and examples from the book as a guideline Now that you have experience adding components to the model it is time to investigate exactly what it is we are adding here Each component is a member of what Revit calls a family UNDERSTANDING THE REVIT ARCHITECTURE FILE rvt The extension for a Revit Architecture file is rvt There are three separate Revit applications Revit Architecture Revit Structure and Revit MEP All thre
41. ve a so called third dimension to them but there is a logical methodology that drives the process If you need to see the model in 3D it is simply a click away That being said remember this there is a big difference between 3D drafting and modeling This book is designed to cut to the chase and show you how to use Revit Archi tecture in a step by step fashion without having to read through paragraph after paragraph just to find the answer you are looking for Datasets are provided at the book s accompanying website www sybex com go revit2010ner but if you choose to you can use your own model as you go through the book If you do not wish to read this book cover to cover don t Although recommend going from front to back you can use the book as a desk reference by jumping to a desired topic The datasets will be added in phases to accommodate this type of usage Either way get ready to learn Revit Architecture N OTE The paragraph you just read will be the longest one of the book With that preamble behind us let s get on with it The Revit Architecture Interface Toto we are not in AutoCAD anymore No we are not First of all there is no command prompt and no crosshairs Stop Don t go away just yet You will get used to it I promise Unlike most CAD applications Revit Architecture is heavily pared down so to speak It s this way for a reason It was designed for architects and architectural designers
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