Revisions #2

It’s been a while since I posted about the topic so it’s time for an update. Some of the following will echo previous comments but I’ll do my best to add some more substance.

Over the past few releases, managing revisions has become somewhat more…manageable. In pre-Revit 2008 versions, if you needed to create new sheet “sketches” with the updated views, you had to tear the original document set apart by moving views over to new sheets. This made it impossible to then print a “construction set” incorporating all the changes. The introduction of dependant views was a great addition, especially for elevation and section views. Now you could finally keep your main document set intact by placing the dependent views on the new smaller sheets. Any clouding placed in one of the dependent views showed up in the other view, making it possible to reprint the original updated document set.

This brings me to one of the golden rules of revisions in Revit: always cloud in the view, not the sheet! I consider this as a best-practice. Sure you can cloud within the sheet and the revision schedule will pick these up just the same, but if you open a revised view you wouldn’t be able to tell what changed unless you opened the sheet view.

Unfortunately this recommendation does not work for schedules as you have to cloud directly on the sheet. This topic comes up in discussions all the time on the AUGI forums. Just last week I had an encounter with this very issue when new rows were added to some door schedules that already had clouded revisions. Since these clouds have to be on sheets and are independent of the rows themselves, they can easily end up marking the wrong elements as a schedule grows or shrinks in length. This is clearly an area that the developers need to address in the future.

When tagging clouds, I prefer to use an abbreviation that is easy to remember rather than using the sequence number. For example instead of having a tag with a value of “2” which then forces you to look at the revision schedule to find what it corresponds to, I prefer to see “AD1” instead for “Addendum #1”. I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in having this preference, however Revit doesn’t give us a dedicated parameter. As a workaround I tend to use the “Issued To” parameter for the abbreviation and then modify the revision tag to report that parameter instead.

In the image above you can also see a revision called “README”. I like to use this to mark areas that require attention or to communicate changes with consultants during design. One can get rid of this at some point but I like to keep it there and use it as a “holding tank” so to speak.

Another thing I find lacking is being able to create a view or drawing (sheet) list and report all revisions per view/sheet. I understand why this isn’t possible as currently Revit doesn’t support multi-value parameters, however it would be a very valuable feature. For example during design, you could have a unique revision for each team member and use clouds to mark up areas of work for each member. It would then be easy to create a view list and sort by revision, thus giving each member a list of views they need to work on.

We can get close to achieving this by using the Current Revision parameter. Obviously this is only possible for a drawing list (sheets) as views don’t have any revision parameters. The Current Revision parameter will report the last placed revision in the sequence on each sheet (assuming numbering is Per Project). So referring to the image above, the Current Revision for that sheet would be Addendum 3. But what if I want to filter for all sheets that have Addendum 1 clouds? The trick is to temporarily shuffle the order of the rows in the above dialog to get the revision you want to filter for at the bottom of the list. So in the above example if you want to list all views that have Addendum 1 clouds, you would move that revision to the bottom of the list and filter for it.

Do I have time for a final wish? Sure, why not! Ok here we go…I want the ability to select a row in the drawing list and click a button to open the relevant sheet, similar to the “Highlight in Model” button available for showing other scheduled elements in the model.

Revisions #2

Revit Families: To Split or Not to Split…

Materials can be applied many different ways in Revit families, directly to the geometry, by category and even with a parameter but that is not all. One of my favorites is combining multiple tools to create an inlay effect without additional geometry. The key to accomplishing this is using the split face tool along with the paint tool.

In the family editor:

1. First select the Split Face tool and then select the face you want to split.
2. Next Revit will go into sketch mode allowing you to draw whatever shape you want within certain rules, faces may be split either by a single closed loop that is contained within the face or by one or more open loops whose ends lie on the boundary of the face.
3. Finish the sketch.
4. Make sure you have the material created be for moving on to the next step.
5. Select the Paint tool.
6. In the elements drop down select the material you want to apply, then move the cursor over the edge of the face you want to apply the material to making sure just the face you want to be painted is highlighted.
7. Hit “Esc” to end the command.

Additional you can apply a parameter (only in a family) to the face and drive the material by type or instance. To do this, create the parameter first before using the Paint tool. Then the parameter will be listed in the material drop down of the paint tool.

Enjoy…

Steve

Revit Families: To Split or Not to Split…

(St)even more Trouble

I’m just having some fun playing with words and trying (hopelessly) to be witty. With no further ado, it is my pleasure to introduce a new co-author on this blog: Steven Campbell.

Steven is the Project Manager responsible for the Revit platform content, and has been working on this task since the pre-acquisition days. When you’re having a discussion with him, you have to make a fundamental assumption: everything is phrased in the context of the Family Editor. This is how I picture him constrained in said context:

He will undoubtedly bring a lot of tips, tricks and expertise through informative posts. I’m sure you won’t be the only ones learning a new thing or two from him. I suspect Families will not be the only topic of discussion either, but that remains to be unconstrained. Oh stop it!

The (2D) extent of our discussion has been limited to the simple fact that Steve is very busy, yet he wants to contribute and share with the Revit community. I’m very excited to hear what he has to say and in the process, this blog will surely continue to solidify its position as one of your favorite Revit resources. The (in-place) floor is all yours, my friend :)

(St)even more Trouble

T for Trouble

I was made aware of a new blog last week called BIM Troublemaker, authored by a mysterious troublemaker under the same name. For kicks, I looked up the definition of “troublemaker”:

a person who causes difficulties, distress, worry, etc., for others, esp. one who does so habitually as a matter of malice.

Now that is way too harsh! I don’t think this person’s intent is to cause any harm. I would say this troublemaker is a source of inspiration, so keep a watchful eye for future posts. The work already posted on stadium sightlines using the massing families is truly remarkable.

Funny thing…turns out this person attended the class that my friend Steven Campbell and I taught back in AU2008. If this person was “jolted” and inspired a little bit through that class to learn how to master Revit’s parametric abilities, then all the hard work that went into pulling the class together was well worth it!

T for Trouble