Revit Technology Conference 2007 “Documentation in Revit” Chris Price Cadway Design
Revit Technology Conference 2007
“Documentation in Revit”
Chris PriceCadway Design
Introduction• Who am I?
Introductioncprice@cadway com au• Who am I?
• What do I do?• IT/CAD Manager/Senior Designer
IT/CAD Manager/Senior Designer• Documentation Services for other Architectural companies on
Government Projects, Mixed Use, High density Residential, Commerical & Fuel industry projects.
• What I hope you learn• Leverage and efficiencies
Tips and tricks traps best practice workarounds• Tips and tricks, traps, best practice, workarounds
• What I may expecty p• Learning and sharing your newly found knowledge with your
colleagues and others.
Chris Price - http://revitrants.blogspot.com/Cadway Design
Overview• Methods to keep your Model’s Happy
Overview☺• Methods to keep your Model s Happy
• The Power of the Massing Tool
• Forgotten tricks of the Roof Tool
☺
g
• Shape Editing of Floors/Roofs
• Using tools & thinking outside the box
• Site Tools
• Structural Tools
• Links & Groups
• Limitations of Revit
• Family Creation
Chris PriceCadway Design
How to keep your model
• What degree should I model to?
happy ☺• What degree should I model to?
• Ask yourself the following questions:
– Is this seen in more than one view?
– Is modelling this going to improve my documentation’s
buildability?
If I don’t model this is it going to cause co ordination issues
General
Massing
Roof Tool– If I don t model this is it going to cause co-ordination issues
between views that would benefit from being modelled in 3D?
– How large is the model I’m working on?
Shape Editing
Outside the Box
Site Tools
– Could I make use of this in future projects?
• Answering these questions should help you make the
correct judgement
Structural Tools
Links & Groups
Limitations
F ili correct judgement.Families
Chris PriceCadway Design
How to keep your model
• One hand should always be positioned over the “TAB”
happy ☺• One hand should always be positioned over the TAB
key.
• Take time to correctly set layer functions of Walls,
Ceilings & Roofs.
– Ignore the titles & concentrate on the numbers
General
Massing
Roof Tool
Shape Editing
Outside the Box
Site Tools
– Generally the most exterior finish layers I create as layer 5.
Thi l t f f t ti !
Structural Tools
Links & Groups
Limitations
F ili – This can save a lot of frustration!Families
Chris PriceCadway Design
How to keep your model
• Make Use of Stacked & Compound Walls where
happy ☺• Make Use of Stacked & Compound Walls where
appropriate:
– Compound walls are basic walls that have had their layers
unlocked.General
Massing
Roof Tool
Shape Editing
Outside the Box
Site Tools
Structural Tools
Links & Groups
Limitations
F iliFamilies
Chris PriceCadway Design
How to keep your model happy ☺
General
Massing
Roof Tool
Shape Editing
Outside the Box
Site Tools
Structural Tools
Links & Groups
Limitations
F iliFamilies
Chris PriceCadway Design
How to keep your model
• Make Use of Stacked & Compound Walls where
happy ☺• Make Use of Stacked & Compound Walls where
appropriate:
– Stacked walls are for more complex situations as shown
below:General
Massing
Roof Tool
Shape Editing
Outside the Box
Site Tools
Structural Tools
Links & Groups
Limitations
F iliFamilies
Chris PriceCadway Design
How to keep your model
• Make use of your Model for showing smart representations
happy ☺• Make use of your Model for showing smart representations
of Roof Overhangs, Foundations or even future phases in
Plan.
• There are two methods to do this:
• The Linework Tool.
General
Massing
Roof Tool
Shape Editing
Outside the Box
Site Tools• Limitations:
– New Roofs or new lines inStructural Tools
Links & Groups
Limitations
F ili
New Roofs or new lines in
roof sketches need to be
manually added again using
the linework toolFamilies the linework tool.
Chris PriceCadway Design
How to keep your model
• Overlaying Views
happy ☺• Overlaying Views
• Limitations:General
Massing
Roof Tool
– For roofs they need to be
set to wireframe so there
well be excess lineworkShape Editing
Outside the Box
Site Tools
well be excess linework.
– This can be removed using
the linework tool & Invisible
liStructural Tools
Links & Groups
Limitations
F ili
lines.
Families
Chris PriceCadway Design
How to keep your model
• In Revit you should place approximately and then
happy ☺• In Revit you should place approximately and then
refine positions using the temporary dimensions.
• Use generic elements to begin with and then use
“Select all Instances” to easily swap out elements
at a later stage.
General
Massing
Roof Tool
• You can also use the Reload family in the project
browser and actually select the family you wish to
replace it with to swap the family out in one step…
Shape Editing
Outside the Box
Site Toolsp p y p
Structural Tools
Links & Groups
Limitations
F iliFamilies
Chris PriceCadway Design
How to keep your model
• Use Generic Massing families in pre design/conceptual
happy ☺• Use Generic Massing families in pre-design/conceptual
studies.
General
Massing
Roof Tool
Shape Editing
Outside the Box
Site Tools
Structural Tools
Links & Groups
Limitations
F iliFamilies
Chris PriceCadway Design
How to keep your model
• Use grids and levels to establish and maintain
happy ☺• Use grids and levels to establish and maintain
relationships.
• Remember most of the modelling tools in Revit are
dynamic. Always check your options bar…General
Massing
Roof Tool
• Minimise locked relationships in a project. Only do so
when there is a specific reason
Shape Editing
Outside the Box
Site Toolswhen there is a specific reason.
• Pin reference information to avoid accidental bumps…
• Attach walls, columns to roofs, floors and beams. Let
Structural Tools
Links & Groups
Limitations
F ili Attach walls, columns to roofs, floors and beams. Let
Revit maintain these relationships for you.Families
Chris PriceCadway Design
How to keep your model
• Create a line based family to model egress paths as
happy ☺• Create a line based family to model egress paths as
suggest by Steve Stafford.
http://revitoped.blogspot.com/2007/01/egress-path.htmlGeneral
Massing
Roof Tool
Shape Editing
Outside the Box
Site Tools
Structural Tools
Links & Groups
Limitations
F iliFamilies
Chris PriceCadway Design
How to keep your model
• Try using floors and walls for joinery doors for cupboards
happy ☺• Try using floors and walls for joinery, doors for cupboards
etc…
General
Massing
Roof Tool
Shape Editing
Outside the Box
Site Tools
Structural Tools
Links & Groups
Limitations
F iliFamilies
Chris PriceCadway Design
How to keep your model
• Leverage Data from previous projects
happy ☺• Leverage Data from previous projects…
– If you’ve done a detailed amenities layout with
fixtures, why not save that data out for later use.General
Massing
Roof Tool
Shape Editing
Outside the Box
Site Tools
We utilise numerous cut & paste projects for pre setup
Structural Tools
Links & Groups
Limitations
F ili – We utilise numerous cut & paste projects for pre-setup
stairs, railings, walls and typically layouts.
Families
Chris PriceCadway Design
The power of the Mass• Utilise massing for complex forms by using the “by face”
The power of the Mass• Utilise massing for complex forms by using the by face
options for walls, roofs and floors.
General
Massing
Roof Tool
Shape Editing
Outside the Box
Site Tools
Structural Tools
Links & Groups
Limitations
F ili
• Check this out http://aec.cadalyst.com/aec/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=402757
Families
Chris PriceCadway Design
The power of the Mass• How about using the Mass tool to define a complex
The power of the Mass• How about using the Mass tool to define a complex
building envelope and set back requirements.
– Use the co-ordination monitor to check for conflicts!General
Massing
Roof Tool
Shape Editing
Outside the Box
Site Tools
Structural Tools
Links & Groups
Limitations
F iliFamilies
Chris PriceCadway Design
Forgotten tricks of the
• People often forget that you have an option for
Roof Tool• People often forget that you have an option for
segmentation on curved segments in Roof Sketches.
General
Massing
Roof Tool
• You can use multiple slope arrows combined with slope
d fi i li !
Shape Editing
Outside the Box
Site Tools
defining lines!Structural Tools
Links & Groups
Limitations
F iliFamilies
Chris PriceCadway Design
Shape Editing, Not quite
• In Revit 2008 we saw the release of this fantastic new
like Mystique from X-Men• In Revit 2008 we saw the release of this fantastic new
function of roofs and floors. What we’ve used it for so far:
– Tiling with a topping slab with falls to wastes.General
Massing
Roof Tool
Shape Editing
Outside the Box
Site Tools
Structural Tools
Links & Groups
Limitations
F iliFamilies
Chris PriceCadway Design
Shape Editing, Not quite
• In Revit 2008 we saw the release of this fantastic new
like Mystique from X-Men• In Revit 2008 we saw the release of this fantastic new
function of roofs and floors. What we’ve used it for so far:
– Sloping Structural Falls that need to match street levels.General
Massing
Roof Tool
Shape Editing
Outside the Box
Site Tools
Structural Tools
Links & Groups
Limitations
F iliFamilies
Chris PriceCadway Design
Shape Editing, Not quite
• In Revit 2008 we saw the release of this fantastic new
like Mystique from X-Men• In Revit 2008 we saw the release of this fantastic new
function of roofs and floors. What we’ve used it for so far:
– Site Works
– Just to name a few possible uses for this tool…
– Get to know it!
General
Massing
Roof Tool
Shape Editing
Outside the Box
Site Tools
Structural Tools
Links & Groups
Limitations
F iliFamilies
Chris PriceCadway Design
Curtain Walls/Glazing & Railings and their hidden skills (thinking outside
• Try creating wall mounted railings for sunscreens (Great
their hidden skills (thinking outside the box)
• Try creating wall mounted railings for sunscreens. (Great
when curved walls are involved).
• Using embedded curtain walls for strip glazing and finding
at corners the wall isn’t cut correctly?
– Use a wall hosted generic model void to cutout the unwanted
part
General
Massing
Roof Toolpart.Shape Editing
Outside the Box
Site Tools
Structural Tools
Links & Groups
Limitations
F iliFamilies
Chris PriceCadway Design
Curtain Walls/Glazing & Railings and their hidden skills (thinking outside
• For quick highly customisable screens battens use
their hidden skills (thinking outside the box)
• For quick, highly customisable screens, battens use
curtain walls…
General
Massing
Roof Tool
Shape Editing
Outside the Box
Site Tools
Structural Tools
Links & Groups
Limitations
F iliFamilies
Chris PriceCadway Design
Curtain Walls/Glazing & Railings and their hidden skills (thinking outside
• For Smaller Projects which can afford to be more detailed:
their hidden skills (thinking outside the box)
• For Smaller Projects which can afford to be more detailed:
– Use the sloped glazing system to model the ceiling grid
system with modelled T sections or a standing seam metal
roof.
– Or use curtain walls for pre-cast concrete construction
showing joints etc.
General
Massing
Roof Tool
Shape Editing
Outside the Box
Site Tools
Structural Tools
Links & Groups
Limitations
F iliFamilies
Chris PriceCadway Design
Site Tools – What Site
• Understanding their limitations:
tools?• Understanding their limitations:
– You cannot have sloping pads.
– You cannot have vertical faces on your topography for retaining
walls.
– Paths/Driveways with complex falls can now be created using
point edits. However, you must use the linework tool to remove
General
Massing
Roof Tool p , y
the vertices from each view.
• Refer to this post on AUGI for a
Shape Editing
Outside the Box
Site Tools
great workflow given by Jerry (jetisart)Structural Tools
Links & Groups
Limitations
F ili
– http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?t=63962&page=2&pp=10
Families
Chris PriceCadway Design
So what’s holding up your building? Time to add some
• Remember the trim tool works on beams!
building? Time to add some structure…
• Remember the trim tool works on beams!
• Always host roof framing (ie: rafters) to the roof and give it
an offset to allow for purlins and cleans.
• Columns can attach to beams.
• Modelling purlins, girts or joists? Use the structural
General
Massing
Roof Tool
framing system tool.Shape Editing
Outside the Box
Site Tools
Structural Tools
Links & Groups
Limitations
F iliFamilies
Chris PriceCadway Design
So what’s holding up your building? Time to add some
• Accept that for the moment Revit Architecture leaves a
building? Time to add some structure…
• Accept that for the moment Revit Architecture leaves a
gap between beams. Fix this with detailing.
General
Massing
Roof Tool
Shape Editing
Outside the Box
Site Tools
Structural Tools
Links & Groups
Limitations
F iliFamilies
Chris PriceCadway Design
To link or group, that is
• In Revit 2008 groups and links are now interchangeable
the question• In Revit 2008 groups and links are now interchangeable.
• This makes this decision less critical
• Use the following outlines of benefits and limitations to g
decide on per project basis what’s most appropriate to
you:
General
Massing
Roof Tool
• Groups
– Can be tagged and quickly manipulated in the host file.
– Can interact (to an extent) with surrounding geometry not part
Shape Editing
Outside the Box
Site Tools– Can interact (to an extent) with surrounding geometry not part
of the group.
– Can exclude elements from specific instances of a group.
Structural Tools
Links & Groups
Limitations
F iliFamilies
Chris PriceCadway Design
To link or group, that is
• Links
the question• Links
– Better for file size as all information is stored in the other file.
– Tags have to be applied in the other file and the views linked
across (not possible for sections & elevations)
– Somewhat more reliable as they do not interact with elements
in the host file.
General
Massing
Roof Tool
• It is best practice to use non-hosted families when
grouping elements.
Shape Editing
Outside the Box
Site Tools
Structural Tools
Links & Groups
Limitations
F iliFamilies
Chris PriceCadway Design
What? Revit has
• Unfortunately no software is perfect and it does have its
limitations!• Unfortunately, no software is perfect and it does have its
limitations. Getting to understand what these are makes
your working relationship with Revit much more relaxed.
• Maintain efficiency. Give yourself a time limit on each
modelling task.
General
Massing
Roof Tool
• Stair & Ramp tools have a number of limitations:
– Curved Monolithic Stairs with smooth underside anomolies.
– They do not join to floors.
Shape Editing
Outside the Box
Site Toolsy j
– The sketches have issues when overlapping themselves.
– Stairs going down from the current level don’t display
tl
Structural Tools
Links & Groups
Limitations
F ili correctly.Families
Chris PriceCadway Design
What? Revit has
• Railing Tool
limitations!• Railing Tool
– Baluster/support locations sometimes are just too varied to
position with this tool.
General
Massing
Roof Tool
Shape Editing
Outside the Box
Site Tools
Structural Tools
Links & Groups
Limitations
F iliFamilies
Chris PriceCadway Design
Let’s go raise a library of
• Family creation should be about leveraging as much data
happy families ☺• Family creation should be about leveraging as much data
as possible. Quality not quantity.
• If it repeats it should be a family (Not In-place)
• Nested sub-components setup with swappable parameters
allow for the maximum flexibility.
General
Massing
Roof Tool
Shape Editing
Outside the Box
Site Tools
Structural Tools
Links & Groups
Limitations
F iliFamilies
Chris PriceCadway Design
Let’s go raise a library of
• Nest detail components for highly detailed view specific
happy families ☺• Nest detail components for highly detailed view specific
elements.
• Add control arrows to all directional families.
• Constrain all geometry in families via reference planes
• Flex Flex Flex
General
Massing
Roof Tool
• Give reference planes strengths & labels
• Use Transfer Project Standards to copy materials between
f ili
Shape Editing
Outside the Box
Site Tools
families.
• Arraying elements? Use nested families and constrain
them by their origin point in all 3 vertices for both the two
Structural Tools
Links & Groups
Limitations
F ili them by their origin point in all 3 vertices for both the two
defining elements of the array. Check out my blog for a
detailed explanation on this.
Families
Chris PriceCadway Design
Let’s go raise a library of
• It’s more efficient to create families as non hosted first
happy families ☺• It s more efficient to create families as non-hosted first.
• Avoid in-place families.
• Set your origin (placement point) to a logical locations.y g (p p ) g
• Use line based families for complex linear objects.General
Massing
Roof Tool
Shape Editing
Outside the Box
Site Tools
Structural Tools
Links & Groups
Limitations
F iliFamilies
Chris PriceCadway Design
Let’s go raise a library of
• Modelled something in place and now discovering you
happy families ☺• Modelled something in-place and now discovering you
need it to repeat around your model?
– Edit the in-place family, select all the geometry, copy to the
clipboard and paste into a new family of the same or
appropriate category.
General
Massing
Roof Tool
Shape Editing
Outside the Box
Site Tools
Structural Tools
Links & Groups
Limitations
F iliFamilies
Chris PriceCadway Design
Conclusion & Questions?• The most important thing I think I can leave you with is:
Conclusion & Questions?• The most important thing I think I can leave you with is:
• MODEL TO A DEGREE THAT ALLOWS YOU TO CO-
ORDINATE EFFECTIVELY AND EFFICIENTLY.
• Sometimes its great to have a play and test Revit’s limits
by modelling to minute detail. However, you’ll soon find
that your computer will slow to a halt and the model will
become very frustrating.
• ENJOY IT!!! I DO ☺ENJOY IT!!! I DO ☺
• Any Questions?y
Chris PriceCadway Design