Part 1 PY RI GH TE D MA Chapter 1: Inside Revit Structure Chapter 2: Setting the Project Environment Chapter 3: Starting to Model Your Project CO ◆ ◆ ◆ TE RI AL Basics of the Modelling Environment
Chapter 1 Inside Revit Structure The Revit Structure interface is designed to be an easy-to-use, organized presentation of commands and drawing areas. The basic interface is highly configurable and can be adapted to fit most working needs that may arise as you interact with the computer in order to create a model. Multiple model views can be open at once so that you can see plan, section, elevation, and model views of an element side by side in the drawing area at one time.
| Chapter 1 Inside Revit Structure Using the Graphical User Interface (GUI) When you double-click the Revit Structure 2009 icon on your desktop, you open the preview dialog box. This dialog box shows projects and families on which you have recently been working. Click one of the existing file icons to open them, or click New to begin a new project (see Figure 1.1). Figure 1.1 Opening dialog box with graphical file display If you click New, the New Project dialog box will appear.
Using the Graphical User Interface (GUI) Figure 1.2 Default GUI with its intuitive display of commands Menu Bar The standard Microsoft Windows-based menu bar (see Figure 1.3) is located at the top of the GUI and provides direct access to all of the commands and settings available in Revit Structure. Commands with defined shortcuts will have the shortcut key shown to the right of the command name in the menu. Figure 1.3 The menu bar is an easy-to-use pull-down arrangement of most commands.
| Chapter 1 Inside Revit Structure Figure 1.4 The toolbars contains many frequently used commands. You can rearrange toolbars by left-click-dragging the divider located at the beginning of each toolbar. While toolbar and text label display is stored, the arrangement of the toolbars is not. All toolbars set to display will be reset to their default positions when you restart Revit. Options Bar The Options bar (see Figure 1.
Using the Graphical User Interface (GUI) Type Selector The Type Selector (see Figure 1.6) is located on the left end of the Options bar and lists all of the types available for a given element that are loaded into your project file. Generally you should only load in the types you need to use in order to keep the computer performance from slowing. The Load button is located conveniently close to the Type Selector so you can load in more types as they are needed.
| Chapter 1 Inside Revit Structure Figure 1.7 The Design bar houses tabs that organize your commands. Project Browser The Project Browser displays all of the views, families, groups, and Revit Structure links in a Windows Explorer–style format, and is located to the right of the Design bar (see Figure 1.8). The views in the Project Browser can be sorted, grouped, and filtered in a variety of ways depending on how you want to organize your project.
Using the Graphical User Interface (GUI) Figure 1.8 Project Browser Exercise: Create a New Browser View Type: On Sheets This exercise will step you through the process of creating a new browser view type. The new browser view type will be called On Sheets, and as the name suggests you will only be able to see views in the project that are placed on a sheet.
| Chapter 1 Inside Revit Structure 3. Click the Element Properties button to the right of the Type Selector, as shown here: 4. From the Type drop-down menu in the Type Properties dialog box, select the Not On Sheets type. 5. Click Duplicate, then type on sheets, as shown below, for the name and click OK to close the Name dialog box: 6. Click the Edit button next to the Filter parameter. 7.
Using the Graphical User Interface (GUI) | 9. Finish by clicking OK to close the Type Properties dialog box. Note that your browser is now sorted by your new browser view type as illustrated below: You can change your browser view type at any time by selecting the Views heading in the Project Browser and selecting a different type from the Type Selector. The Revit default browser view type is All. Drawing Area The drawing area (see Figure 1.9) is where all open views are displayed.
| Chapter 1 Inside Revit Structure Having many views open at once, though, can lead to a slower program response. The Close Hidden Windows command is quite important in managing the performance of Revit, especially when you are working on large or complex projects. With one view maximized in the drawing area, this command will close all but the last active view of each project, project template, and family that is currently open.
Using the Graphical User Interface (GUI) Nice Postage Stamp Collection I got a new PC recently and was working on a rather complex healthcare project. Impressed with the improvement in performance compared to my previous PC, I had not been paying attention to how many views I actually had open. The PC slowed considerably (a several-second pause instead of the expected near instantaneous response) while I was attempting a rather routine procedure.
| Chapter 1 Inside Revit Structure Figure 1.10 The View Control bar makes it easy to control the view display. Working views can change from minute to minute, for instance as you change between coarse and medium detail modes, so it is very convenient to have the View Control bar nearby for easy access to the controls. Status Bar The status bar is located at the very bottom of the GUI. The text on the left of the status bar will do the following: •u Display the name of a highlighted element.
Using the Graphical User Interface (GUI) Figure 1.11 View context menu Figure 1.12 Framing element context menu Figure 1.13 Wall element context menu Now that you have had a good look at the basic Revit Structure interface and command layout, let us explore the various elements that these commands create and manage in the creation of your building project.
| Chapter 1 Inside Revit Structure Elements One of the important things to understand about Revit Structure in its approach to modeling is that it is object oriented, rather than line based as in traditional 2D drafting. Instead of drawing a series of lines on a flat sheet to represent a column, you go to a virtual library, load a column element, and then place it in your virtual working space. That column displays in every view.
Elements | project they will become fixed to the datum elements. These basic modeling constraints then become anchors for objects so that if you need to change a bay width or the story-to-story height of a level those elements will also move correspondingly. For example: beam elements placed in a third floor plan view are associated with that datum. Changing the elevation of the level will take the beams along for the ride as they are defined as belonging to that level.
| Chapter 1 Inside Revit Structure Figure 1.14 The gray line work consists of model elements. Figure 1.15 The gray line work consists of detail and datum components.
Element Organization As the name implies, View-Specific elements only exist in the view in which they are placed, with dependent views the exception to the rule. Dependent views are child views to a single parent view and share all view-specific elements with the parent and its other children. An example of a dependent view is a large framing plan that needs to be divided into several sections so it will fit onto your title sheet.
| Chapter 1 Inside Revit Structure Figure 1.16 The Object Styles dialog box provides display controls for element categories. Families The object categories are divided into families. Families can be system, in-place, or external. System families are built into templates and projects, and in most cases cannot be completely removed.
Element Organization | Use the Built-In Libraries TO Your Advantage Copying and modifying the built-in library families is a great way to learn how families are created, and to begin experimenting with your own adaptations. Learning to adapt and create families will prove to be a big benefit for you. External families can be: •u Model elements (columns and beams) •u View-specific elements (tags and detail components) In-place families are primarily used for custom project-specific applications.
| Chapter 1 Inside Revit Structure Figure 1.18 Element Properties dialog box This dialog box contains the parameters that define the element, and is broken into two main areas: instance and type parameters. It can be used to change their values in the following ways: •u Changes made to the instance parameters will only affect the element(s) that you have selected.
Project Views and Display | these views, and those modifications will be instantaneously propagated to all other relevant views (as you will recall, this is called bidirectional associativity). •u Drafting views are somewhat detached from the model itself, but they play a valuable role in the development of construction documents. •u Sheet views are a specialized view that typically contains one or more other view types and your title block.
| Chapter 1 Inside Revit Structure You can duplicate plans by right-clicking a plan view name in the Project Browser and selecting Duplicate View from the context menu. A fly-out menu (see Figure 1.20) will appear with three options: •u Duplicate •u Duplicate with Detailing •u Duplicate as a Dependent These three ways to duplicate views work like this: •u Duplicate will create a new plan view that is an exact copy, displaying all datum and model elements.
Project Views and Display | The primary range is defined by three horizontal planes: top, cut, and bottom. A fourth plane that can exist outside the primary range is the view depth. The cut plane is always defined as an offset of the view’s associated level. The other three planes may be defined relative to any level in the model or set to Unlimited.
| Chapter 1 Inside Revit Structure Callouts Callout views are used to produce a blow-up of an area for clarification and can be accessed on the Design bar on the View tab. This usually larger-scale view is used to show a higher level of detail and additional annotation that may not be legible at the original scale. Three distinct types of callouts are available: reference, detail, and view.
Project Views and Display | Elevations Two types of elevations are available in Revit Structure: building and framing. You create building elevations by selecting the Elevation command from the View tab of the Design bar and placing the view tag in a plan view. Building elevations are similar to section views but are located under a separate heading in the Project Browser. Each instance is capable of generating the four directional views.
| Chapter 1 Inside Revit Structure Sheets Sheet views contain your title blocks, and they are the assembly point for all the different views you create: plans, sections, elevations, and so forth. You drag the different views you have created onto the title sheet and position them as necessary. When you add a sheet view to your project, you will be prompted to select a title block to use for the new sheet. The title block itself is a separate file that you load into your project.
Graphic Standards | The Importance of Display Control Remember that display control is half the effort that must be expended toward the goal of getting a good-looking set of construction documents from your model, like the sheet of plans in the graphic below. It is easy to get caught up with building the model and neglect setting up and creating the documents that must be derived from it.
| Chapter 1 Inside Revit Structure Object Styles One of the most important of these dialog boxes is the Object Styes dialog box. In the Object Styles dialog box, you assign and control the following: •u Line weights (both projection and cut) •u Line colors •u Line patterns •u Material styles This dialog box controls the display of all categories and subcategories of elements in the project model. You organize and modify these styles using the Object Styles dialog box (see Figure 1.
Graphic Standards •u The Identity tab contains parameters that can be specified for each material that can be leveraged by tags and schedules. •u The Physical tab contains structural information that can be leveraged for the structural analysis of the model. Figure 1.24 Materials dialog box Line Styles Line Styles are used mostly for 2D drafting and for using the Linework tool. There are many default styles. Nine of those cannot be deleted. Beyond that you can create your own line styles.
| Chapter 1 Inside Revit Structure Figure 1.25 Line Styles dialog box Figure 1.26 Line Weights dialog box Line Weight Adjustments Different plotters may require adjustment of the default line weights in order to get a better print. In some cases, the thinnest pen weights will not display well on certain plotters, so you should experiment with different values to see which are best for your particular output device.
Graphic Standards | Line Patterns Line patterns are a sequence of dots, dashes, and spaces of various lengths that create distinct lines. The Line Patterns dialog box (see Figure 1.27) can be accessed from the menu bar; simply choose Settings Line Patterns. Figure 1.27 Line Patterns dialog box Clicking the New or Edit button in this dialog box will take you to the Line Pattern Properties dialog box (see Figure 1.28).
| Chapter 1 Inside Revit Structure Figure 1.29 Fill Patterns dialog box Clicking the New or Edit button in this dialog box which will take you to the Modify Pattern Properties dialog box (see Figure 1.30). Here you can develop new patterns or modify existing ones. Figure 1.30 Modify Pattern Properties dialog box That completes your first look at the Revit Structure interface and its basic set of commands.
The Bottom Line The Bottom Line Use the graphical user interface. The Revit Structure GUI is an easy way to interact with your computer in order to efficiently create your project model and documents. Master It There are several ways to launch a single command in Revit Structure. List the various ways in which the Beam command can be invoked. Which method is the quickest? Understand the types of elements in the modeling environment.
