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CHAPTER 1 Understanding BiM: FroM the Basics to advanced realities
Revit Encourages Creativity
Revit’s tools are clustered in easy-to-access groups such as modeling, drafting, rendering,
site, and so on. Most of these tools will get you where you need to go with minimal effort. For
more complicated conditions, be prepared to put your creativity to use. Remember, Revit is a
3D modeling application that will let you build almost anything you want. For example, if you
can’t create the wall or roof you want with the explicit Wall or Roof tool, you can create your
own custom-shaped walls or roofs using 3D solid geometry that, however, can be assigned
to the wall category and will behave and schedule as walls. Figure 1.3 shows an example of
custom-designed railings, curtain walls, and structural elements—all possible for a creative and
engaged designer. These custom elements participate in the underlying data structure of Revit,
making them schedulable and quantifiable.
Every Element in Revit Has Properties
Throughout the design process of a project, you’ll often need to adjust elements and change
the model. Get used to the idea of clicking the Element Properties button to make interac-
tive changes to the model. A member of the Basic Wall family, for example, has properties
like width, height, bearing or nonbearing, demolished or new, interior or exterior, fire rating,
and material. You can even define how layers wrap when inserts are placed in the wall, add
integrated wall sweeps, and build stacked walls. Figure 1.4 shows the assembly options embed-
ded in the type properties of a Revit wall.
Figure 1.3
Be creative, and
work out your
design solutions
in 3D.
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