The Revit Blog

The Invsible Grid Dilemma

2011-05-08T21:16:00.000-07:00

Rarely do I miss a feature from Autocad, but having the ability to create things that you want to see, but not print, has for some reason eluded the Revit wizards at Autodesk. In Autocad if you wanted to create a simple invisible grid it was a snap, you just used a no plot layer. In Revit it's not so easy, but I have come up with at least 4 systems that work I've tried each of them, except method 4, which is my latest idea to solve the issue, the first 2 ideas were devised before the new "Guide Grid" tool was added in Revit 2011, but the new tool does has it's disadvantages which has lead me to the 4th method. Each have their pluses and minuses, so if an invisible grid is something you need you should try all of them and decide which method works best for you, if you have any other techniques feel free to share!

Method 1: Build your grid system into your titleblock using invisible lines.

This method is exactly what it sounds like, you simply draw whatever size grid you'd like using invisible lines right inside your titleblock family.

One downfall is that either you live with the grid on all of your sheets or create a new titleblock just for detail sheets. This can get messy when someone tweaks one titleblock (because the project name doesn't fit or something) and forgets to make the tweak to the detail sheet titleblock. It's also cumbersome in that it's only visible when the titleblock is actually selected or hovered over. What this means is that you have to select a view or view title, then hover over your titleblock with your cursor to visually reveal the grid and then nudge your view or view title into the correct place with your keyboard's arrow keys. It's not very accurate but you can set up any complex grid system your firm's CAD standards require and you can generally get everything looking fairly neat.

Method 2: Build your detail grid as an annotation symbol using invisible lines and load it in as a family.

In essence this is the same as building a layout grid into a titleblock with invisible lines but now it's completely independent of the titleblock. You can keep this giant annotation symbol in your project and drop it on new detail sheets as needed but it will require some manual nudging into place and you'll probably want to pin it down so no one can move it later. You still have to hover over it to see it and you can still create a complex grid system if you want.

Method 3: Use the new Guide Grid tool in Revit.

Revit 2011 gave us a nifty new grid tool, mostly it was designed to align views across sheets using building grids that exist in the model but it can also be used to create an invisible grid system for your detail sheets. It's purely for reference however since only certain model objects can be aligned with it. It's also fairly simplistic and won't allow you create complex grids to help you align view titles or the leader shoulders of text or keynotes (assuming your firm does this). This method is pretty simple, you just go to the View tab and create a new "Guide Grid" that you can place on detail sheets. You'll notice that when you create your grid it will rarely align nicely with your titleblock, but this is an easy fix, just move the whole grid element and re-adjust the outer boundaries as needed. This option will work best if your sheet's drawing area can be broken down into a perfect number of grid boxes (you can't specify x and y grid axis independently) you can however place this grid on your sheets fairly accurately and it's always visible without any annoying hovering and nudging.

Method 4: Build a grid system out of reference planes in a legend view

This is probably the most esoteric method. It exploits the odd fact that you can create reference planes inside of legend views and the fact that legend views can be placed on multiple sheets. In a nutshell, you create a new legend view and set the scale to 12"=1' and create any complex or simple grid you'd like out of reference planes, then you drop this legend onto all of your detail sheets. Unlike the annotation symbol method you can actually place this grid onto your sheets accurately because you can select reference planes without actually activating the view in order to move the legend view around on the sheet. This method also carries the added benefit of always being visible, you don't need to hover over the symbol or titleblock in order to see if you're placing details or view titles in the correct location on the sheet. This method combines all of the benefits of the other methods, accuracy, customization, and visibility. This last method is pretty easy to set up but I haven't actually tried it on a project so I'm curious to see how well it actually works.

Like anything in Revit, there are a million ways to skin any given problem, I'd like to know what your office has done to solve the invisible grid dilemma, feel free to share in the comments! :)

The 4 Methods in action:
Top Left: The invisible grid is a part of the titleblock and thus not visible because the cursor isn't over it
Top Right: The cursor is over the annotation family of a detail grid
Lower Right: The Built in Grid Guide tool, useful but simple
Lower Left: A Legend view is placed on the sheet with Reference planes to create the grid.

A close up of the reference plane grid (method 4), the multiple reference planes are being used to line up the view titles for a neat, clean consistent look that can be standard across multiple projects:

Spot Elevation Target Size

2011-04-25T20:06:00.000-07:00

Here's a little Freebie, something I'm sure I've made a half dozen times because I keep forgetting where I put it (what safer place than the web, right?) It's a an annotation symbol, a simple modification of the "Spot Elevation - Target Filled" object that ships with Revit. I increased the size slightly so that when you use this one in your projects your spot elevation targets are the same size as the default target symbols for Levels in Revit.

Spot Elevation - Target Filled - Level Size

To use it, just save it somewhere safe (where you won't forget it) and load it into your project. Next create a spot elevation in an elevation view and go to the spot elevation's type properties (you may want to duplicate the spot elevation type and give it a new name) and change the Symbol that is being used to the attached "Spot Elevation - Target Filled - Level Size" that you loaded in (See Image), and viola, equal sized targets. If this is something you know that you want to make an office standard, just add the symbol to your template. I'm still trying to figure out why Autodesk decided to make these two symbols a different size, anyone?

Simple Windows-Revit tip

2011-04-13T18:15:00.000-07:00

This is such a simple tip it's hardly worthy of a blog post, but it did take me a couple of years before it dawned on me that I could use it to speed up drafting in Revit, even if it's just by a hair. It's actually a pretty general Windows tip, (most of the shortcuts and secret tips associated with Microsoft's operating system apply to Revit ie: ctrl-c to copy or ctrl-v to paste) but this one is a slightly under-noticed trick you can use when selecting just about anything in a Revit pull down menu. Here's the scenario, you're drafting away details feverishly and feel that it's an utter waste of time to have to select which detail line style you want to use from that horrible pull down menu.

Ideally your firm will have settled on using just a few line styles; I like augmenting the standard line styles that come out of the box with a series of line styles that have numbers for names, where the name of the line equals the lineweight (linetype "1" prints at whatever lineweight you have set for "1") easy, simple and similar to a lot of CAD standards. Sometimes people like to add in other line styles for things like "vapor barriers" or "Egress routes" and sometimes, unwitting project saboteurs will explode an Autocad detail and create a billion new line types, each based on a layer in the CAD file (Ugh).

In any event, here's the simple tip: after hitting the pulldown arrow, type in the first letter of the line's name and you'll jump to that area in the pull down. In the attached example, I've hit the pull down arrow with my mouse then hit "M" on the keyboard to jump to "Medium Lines" Once you get it down you'll find it's also a handy way to skip through other long pulldown menus, like for detail or family components. Long post, simple tip.

Super Delete

2011-03-30T16:11:00.000-07:00

Ever been in Revit and just hit the delete key on accident when there's nothing selected? Well hopefully you're not hitting delete on accident, but if you were to, you'd notice a large X that appears next to your curser, and you may wonder "what the heck is that all about" then you'll probably hit delete again, it'll go away and you'll continue detailing and forget the whole incident ever happened. But that large X actually shows up for a reason and you can use it to your advantage.

Basically, if you hit the delete key on your keyboard once, with nothing selected, the next time you do select something (yup, you guessed it) it gets deleted (after hitting enter to complete the command). Handy right?! Not really?? Yeah, I don't really use this that often, but what I do use is Super-Delete! (I need a better name for this, suggestions are welcome). To Super Delete just hold down the delete key, and now you can go crazy deleting anything that stands in your way! It's pretty fun, reminds me of the eraser key in Sketchup and can totally screw a project up, so Super Delete with caution and don't blame me :) Of course my general rule of thumb is is that one should never delete anything unless they're 100% positive exactly what it is, (you can always hide it in the view if you aren't sure, which confuses other people but I attribute a lot of missing roofs to over-zealous deleting in reflected ceiling plans) Happy deleting!

PS Super Deleting is also a great way to reduce stress, give it a shot, but don't overstep your undo's!

Autodesk Officially Supports Mac Support

2009-07-22T10:16:00.000-07:00

In case you hadn't heard, or noticed, Autodesk recently announced that it officially supports running Revit 2010 (and some other programs) on Mac's via Windows via bootcamp. I mean, we've been able to do this for quite a while, but for all of you hesitating to get a mac because you worried Revit won't work well on it... what's better than a full-on sanctioned thumbs up from Autodesk.

Of course you have to bare in mind that bootcamp is not the same as running Windows through Virtualization software such as Parallels or VMware Fusion. These are not yet officially supported, but come on, it's basically the same thing, and Autodesk Okay'ed it.

You can read more about it, and see the other mac supported products here:
http://usa.autodesk.com/products/mac-compatible-products

Dangerous Revisions

2009-07-14T07:59:00.000-07:00

Really? I mean come on, who would actually think that they should put a hole like this in the floor? More importantly, it's so odd, why didn't the contractor just pick up the phone and call the architect, even just to say "hey, I think your an idiot"

New Software allows Architects to generate early cost estimation from Revit models powered by RS Means

2009-07-07T09:01:00.000-07:00

Similar to Beck Technologies DProfiler software, which allows designers and even contractors a way to link a 3D model to RS Means estimating data, A new product, developed by Reed Construction Data, called SmartBIM QTO, will allow architects the ability to link their Revit models to the popular estimating database, without the need to develop a model using third party proprietary software, as is the case with DProfiler.

Since we've been examining DProfiler for some time this is very exciting news! The biggest hurdle our company faced was having to learn to model in yet another software program, we'll be watching the development of SmartBIM QTO eagerly!

UPDATE: Just learned that SmartBIM QTO is only available for Revit 2009 at this time. It seems to work really well with 2009, but we can't unfortunately really put it to the test since the test project we wanted to try it with is modeled in 2010! Well they SAY they will have a 2010 version out in a few weeks, here's to hoping, probably means they'll have it out in time for Revit 2011. :(

Revit3D.com - BIMBoom Revitlution: Service Pack Update 1 - Autodesk® Revit® Architecture, Structure and MEP

2009-07-07T07:27:00.000-07:00

A new Service Pack Update is available for Revit 2010, Seems like some pretty important changes, none of the addressed issues have been a problem for me but they look serious! I'm installing it! Check out more info at Revit3d...

Revit3D.com - BIMBoom Revitlution: Service Pack Update 1 - Autodesk® Revit® Architecture, Structure and MEP

The Navisworks of BIM websites

2009-04-30T12:55:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you're all familiar with Autodesk Navisworks right, the software to collaborate all of your 3d models, despite original file format. Well now there's a website seeking to do the same thing, sort of. Come one come all, don't worry about your BIM affiliation, all are welcome, let the dialog begin...

BIMFusion is developed as an online community in which any professional in the AEC or related discipline can join to discuss, assist and encourage Building Information Modeling (BIM). This community is designed to be a collaborative environment in which all professionals can come together to assist each other. An online community that provides an environment where people can come together no matter what their discipline or the software they use to gather information and make useful contacts to assist in their effort of project documentation and delivery.

Currently, each different software has its own user group or forums to allow for dialog about procedures and methods of importing and exporting, however, the main problem is not between like software’s but the interconnectivity amongst different software’s. This site is designed as a software neutral site, where there is no emphasis on any one specific software.

BIMFusion.com

Cool new way to learn Revit! Check it out

2009-04-15T09:44:00.000-07:00

"Did you know that the experts are taught to demo without showing the software's flaws. A skillful demo-er will skim over or Jedi-mind-trick “that’s not the tool you’re looking for” the difficult questions and issues prevalent in a piece of software.

If so, I’m not saying you won’t see that during these hours, sometimes you will. The Rockstar Hour is not that type of Demo, it’s a shared learning experience. Often when explaining a difficult topic / tool the instructor takes the time to struggle with the software, just like you. You’ll think, you’ll laugh, you may even learn something. If nothing else, at least Revit’s on your screen, who’s to say it’s not you working?"

Via www.will2play.com

Here's the link to the Revit Rock Star Hour, Hey I'm going to sign up!

SmartBIM 3.2 to be released in February

2009-01-26T16:16:00.000-08:00

Reed Construction Data is planning to launch version 3.2 of its SmartBIM Library content management tool for Revit in February 2009.

I wasn't even aware this product existed. Unfortunately I work for a really small firm so I doubt that we'd ever seriously look at purchasing this product, but I might just have to try out the free demo some time. It looks like it would really clean up family file organization.

Apparently this product also gives you the ability to attach files, including text documents, spreadsheets and images, to SmartBIM Objects using the drag-and-drop feature. Which would be helpful in terms of attaching spec information or product PDF's and details etc.

The company claims that version 3.2 will come pre-loaded with over 16,000 high-quality Revit product types, including 200 new generic families, I wonder how many of these are the standard families you get with Revit?

Here are some of the highlights from the website:

Streamlines design workflow
Simplifies storage, organization and location of Revit objects
Facilitates the generation of libraries from Revit families
Enables manufacturers, architects, engineers and building owners to easily share libraries of objects

If you have experience with this product please leave some feedback in a comment to let us know what you think

For more information...
http://www.reedconstructiondata.com/bim/bim-library/

Save Locally - Save Time

2009-01-06T10:36:00.000-08:00

Wow! Here's a pretty major and very often overlooked issue with saving files in Revit that I recently realized many people aren't aware of...

If you work in an office (or even at home with a server of some sort) you have probably always saved your Revit files the way you always did with Autocad or any other program, in the project's file folder somewhere on a local server, right?

Well Stop!

Why? Because you've probably noticed that once a project gets relatively large, say upwards of 20 Megs it gets really slow to save, it can take mutilple minutes, wasting your time, you may have even just decided that this was just one of the downsides to working with Revit's large files, it doesn't have to be!

If you save your file locally, like on your desktop even large files save fast! At the end of the day just upload the file manually to it's proper location and your fine. (Of course this is what you're doing already if you use worksets and are saving to central.)

Selecting Items and Switching Windows in Revit

2008-12-23T23:01:00.001-08:00

Here's another quick tip that I suppose I've taken for granted for quite a while...

Today a colleague mentioned that he found it annoying that if you select something in one view and then want to switch to another view to work on said item(s) you have to reselect the item(s) all over again.
Well, actually you don't have to, just select in the new window, not with the left or right mouse buttons, but with the middle mouse button (your scroll wheel). Simple, most of you probably knew that right? I wonder how many people have overlooked that one though...

Pixel Vs. Pencil - The Animation

2008-12-23T22:59:00.000-08:00

Thought I'd post this for fun, it's a great little animation by a student named Aaron Lampert about digital versus traditional rendering - check it out, which is better the computer or the classic hand techniques?
Well who says we have to choose?

The Power of The Selection Filter

2008-12-23T22:56:00.000-08:00

There seems to be a bug in Revit 2009 which makes it pretty difficult to select a split face element on a floor, wall or ceiling for editing (a split face allows you to paint separate areas of a face with different materials, in case you didn't know).

No matter how much you tab around the area where you are certain you created it you just can't select it! It's times like these where the selection filter is incredible handy.

Just drag a box in the area in question and click the little filter button, de-select everything else and voila you can now edit your split face.

Rate Your Revit Skills

2008-12-23T22:44:00.001-08:00

CADsmart recently announced they've developed a fully integrated little skills assessment module for Revit which they plan to showcase during December’s Autodesk University convention in Las Vegas this month.

CADsmart has already created skill assessment tests for AutoCAD and MicroStation but this will be their first step into the world of BIM.

The first module will be for Revit Architecture but will be swiftly followed by assessments for Revit Structure and Revit MEP in early 2009.

The assessment covers 10 core areas of basic Revit skills; basic element creation, views & sheets, detailing, annotation & keynotes, component placement, dimensions & rules, importing DWG, families and parts, scheduling and coordinates & orientation.

Upon completion of their assessment, candidates receive a certificate with a full breakdown of stage scores and times, together with detailed training needs analysis. The software also has a live recording feature, so sessions can be replayed for training or support purposes afterward.

To request a free trial of the new Revit skills assessment software go to: http://www.cadsmart.net/revitskills

Simple Tweaking of Sketchup Materials

2008-12-23T22:03:00.000-08:00

One of the biggest mistakes a newbie to Sketchup can make is to just use the default material textures as-is. For some things they work great but you can vastly increase the value of Sketchup's built in materials by simply tweaking the settings just a little bit, for example:

The Metal_Corrugated_Shiny texture works great for corrugated metal but if you bump up the default size from 4" x 4" to 10' x 10' you now have some pretty realistic Aluminum or chrome.

Easy Tweak, great effect, try this with other materials as well. You can often times create very realistic materials right in Sketchup without ever opening an image editing program.