There’s no doubt that the 2011 UI has been a positive improvement over the 2010 Ribbon. But there’s one thing that has been really annoying me in this iteration of the Properties Palette: selecting a type when in sketch mode for system families such as floors, ceilings, stairs, etc.
In 2010, you had a button on the ribbon to change the properties of the element you were sketching:
This would open the Instance Properties dialog, from where you could change the Type as desired.
In 2011 things get confusing in my opinion. There is no Properties button anymore, so you might think that it’s just a matter of picking the correct type from the Properties Palette’s Type Selector. Wrong. You have to use the Edit Type button.
This will open the Type Properties dialog where you can then change the Type as before.
One could argue that the terminology got better in 2011 as you go to the Type Properties to change the Type. The number of clicks has remained the same. However I’m expecting to be able to change the type in the palette’s Type Selector rather than having to click Edit Type. After all I’m just selecting a type in most cases without actually doing any editing. Maybe I’m splitting hairs here, but I guess it bothered me enough to say something about it! What’s your take?
EDIT: This was fixed in Revit 2012. Thanks for listening Factory!
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13 comments:
You're absolutly right! I don't understand it either, why you have to choose Edit Type.
Patricia
I agree. This annoys me to no end every single day.
Absolutely dead on.
I feel like you do, it has been very annoying to me too. It doesn't make sense to me so it's hard to get used to doing.
It's more ok to hit the blind spot above then looking for that tiny little activator that does all the work. wishlist!!!
I'm sure it will be taken care of in the Beta stages for Revit 2012 :)
I was definitely bothered by this at first, but have grown accustomed to it, as it is semantically correct. the real problem I have is that it's not in line with the PP when you're selecting a type for a family, so they need to decide on one method, and be consistent with its use throughout.
I thought I was alone on this. I agree with anonymous "consistency"
Especially when we might be refering or using all 3, AEC Struc MEP
The reason the type selector does not list the type in sketch mode is during creation items being drawn are sketch lines which have no type. Revit editors are very picky about these things. When the pp went modeless we did a lot to consolidate the hundreds of specialized property access points to simplify. I'll concede it makes a lot of sense to display the parent type in sketch mode and factory workers had this same thought - unfortunately too late to make the 2011 release. Cesar is an optimist though!
Thanks for your comments Erik. I fully understand the logic you guys employed. Unfortunately software correctness (like "political correctness" I guess), sometimes still does not match users' expectations in their workflow. And to be honest, selecting from the type selector while sketching, even though that seems to be a natural intuitive response, might no be the best place to do it because as you explained, you are in sketch mode editing lines after all. So maybe something like a type selector on the ribbon to pick from might be a better solution. But then your goal was to get rid of type selectors from the ribbon....ahhh when will this madness end! :)
very strange that most revit experts agreed that the ribbon concept for revit was wrong. and with 2011 nothing really changed with the ribbon- except all those expert quit talking about the ribbon.. (i guess they got tired to telling the truth- with autodesk ignoring every word of it)..
but it's still true- the ribbon for revit is wrong..
the "classic" UI has worked great all along for me with 2011 and if 2012 doesn't have it i will never upgrade.. it's possible 2011 is all revit ever wanted to be anyway.. although i only do residential projects- on my own- i realize most others are stuck with what autodesk wants them to use.. lucky for me too- and i love revit..
The ribbon in the current state is much improved over the first version. I personally like it better than the old UI. There were good things in the old UI, but overall to me it's a wash in terms of productivity, but it looks a heck of a lot better. The properties palette is great and just like everything else, needs improved further. Shortcuts are king for me and that's where productivity is gained IMO.
i agreed from day one that the ribbon LOOKED much better- and THAT in itself is some kind of plus..
but i can't have a "productivity wash"- i need to make money..
revit starts up WAY faster in native UI mode- (classic mode).. commands are MUCH faster in the native UI mode- and more comfortable with the mouse..
in native UI mode you don't HAVE to use keyboard shortcuts just to get that "productivity wash"..
but again- i could easily stay with 2011 for another 10 years if i need to..
but i have been following the factor very close and i highly doubt they will cut of the
classic.. more likely for 2012 they will do like they did with
AutoCAD and have both UIs.. THEN i might get excited about 2012..
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