Introducing Revit Architecture 2009 E-Book

Greg Demchak

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 614

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2009

Beschreibung

You don't have to be a high-tech wizard to understand the Revit software using Introducing Revit Architecture 2009: BIM for Beginners, the perfect guide for architects of any generation. Start with an overview of BIM concepts before tackling the Revit interface, then move on to use Revit's suite of editing tools. Learn how to use Revit with other applications, document the model for construction, integrate annotations into the model, utilize worksets, and collaborate in a team environment from straightforward explanations, real-world examples, and practical tutorials. For Instructors: Teaching supplements are available for this title.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Acknowledgements

About the Authors

Table of Figures

Introduction

CHAPTER 1 - Understanding BIM

A Brief History of Architectural Documentation

Advantages of a BIM Approach

How BIM Is Different from CAD

Why Revit?

Revit Concepts

Types of Elements in Revit

Tips for Getting Started in Revit

CHAPTER 2 - Getting Acquainted with the Revit Interface and File Types

Overview of the Revit User Interface

Modifying and Personalizing the Interface

Selection and View Navigation

Using Keyboard Shortcuts

Setting Up Your Project Environment

Revit File Formats

CHAPTER 3 - Views

Visualizing a Revit Model

Creating Views

Working with Views

Schedules

CHAPTER 4 - Modeling Basics

Levels and Grids

Basic Walls

Floors, Roofs, and Ceilings

Doors and Windows

Components

Stairs and Railings

Getting Started with a Project

CHAPTER 5 - Modifying Elements

Standard Editing Tools

Additional Editing Tools

Graphic and Visual Overrides

CHAPTER 6 - Extended Modeling

Walls: Advanced Modeling Features

Curtain Walls: Advanced Design Techniques

Roofs and Slabs: Advanced Shape Editing

CHAPTER 7 - Working with Other Applications

Exporting Your Data

Exporting DWG Drawings

Importing and Linking

Working with Imported Files

Working with Civil Engineering DWG Files

Converting 2D Drawings into a 3D Model

Starting a New Project

Starting a Model from a Scanned Drawing

CHAPTER 8 - Preparing Documents for Clients

Color-Coded Drawings

Creating Presentation Graphics

Shadows and Solar Studies

Rendering a Perspective

CHAPTER 9 - Sheets

Documentation Trends

Preparing Views

The Sheet

CHAPTER 10 - Annotations

Annotating Your Project

Dimensions

Text and Keynotes

CHAPTER 11 - Construction Documentation

Formatting Your Documents

Schedules

Drafting Views

Drafting Tools

Importing CAD Details

Reusing Details from Other Projects

CHAPTER 12 - Printing

Printing Your Documents

Revit Printing Tips

Publishing Your BIM Data

CHAPTER 13 - Advanced Topics

Understanding Families

Using Design Options

Worksharing—the Multi-User Environment

CHAPTER 14 - Tips and Troubleshooting

Optimizing Performance

Best Practices

File Corruption

Index

GALLERY

Table of Figures

Figure 1.1

Figure 1.2

Figure 1.3

Figure 1.4

Figure 1.5

Figure 1.6

Figure 1.7

Figure 1.8

Figure 1.9

Figure 1.10

Figure 1.11

Figure 1.12

Figure 1.13

Figure 2.1

Figure 2.2

Figure 2.3

Figure 2.4

Figure 2.5 Default toolbar settings

Figure 2.6 The Type Selector

Figure 2.7 Context menu that appears when you right-click elements

Figure 2.8 The Options bar changes for (top) walls, (center) doors, and (bottom) rooms.

Figure 2.9 The status bar when (top) selecting or hovering over a wall, (center) drawing a wall, and (bottom) using the Rotate command

Figure 2.10

Figure 2.11

Figure 2.12

Figure 2.13

Figure 2.14 Links appear in the Project Browser.

Figure 2.15 Using the Type Selector

Figure 2.16 Cascaded views

Figure 2.17 Tiled views

Figure 2.18 The View Control bar

Figure 2.19 Custom scale options

Figure 2.20

Figure 2.21

Figure 2.22

Figure 2.23

Figure 2.24 Advanced Model Graphics in the View Control bar

Figure 2.25 Advanced Model Graphics Settings dialog box

Figure 2.26 Sun studies

Figure 2.27 Shadow view with silhouette edges

Figure 2.28 Crop Region options in the View Control bar

Figure 2.29 Crop region examples

Figure 2.30 Hide/Isolate options in the View Control bar

Figure 2.31 Hide/Isolate context menu options

Figure 2.32 Reveal mode options in the View Control bar

Figure 2.33 Floor plan

Figure 2.34 Button display with text turned on and off

Figure 2.35 Undocking the ProjectBrowser

Figure 2.36 Project Browser undocked

Figure 2.37 Keyboard shortcuts indicated

Figure 2.38 Windows mouse with a scroll wheel

Figure 2.39 A context menu with view-specific information and options

Figure 2.40 SteeringWheel tool in 2D view allows for zoom, pan, and rewind.

Figure 2.41 Rewind allows a one-click access to different previous camera states of the model.

Figure 2.42 SteeringWheel tool in Rewind

Figure 2.43 Use the on-screen controls to move camera.

Figure 2.44 Use the Try Me buttons to get familiar with SteeringWheels controls.

Figure 2.45 SteeringWheel tool in the preview window

Figure 2.46 ViewCube tool

Figure 2.47 A 3D view oriented to Top using the ViewCube

Figure 2.48 The ViewCube in perspective view—dragging the corners of the ViewCube you can easily orient the view in a direction of your choice.

Figure 2.49 Left-to-right window selection

Figure 2.50 Right-to-left window selection

Figure 2.51 Dragging a grip enables a preview of the movement’s outcome.

Figure 2.52 Wall grips and shape handles

Figure 2.53

Figure 2.54 Wall grip when multiple walls are selected

Figure 2.55 Manipulating multiple walls using the grips

Figure 2.56 Manipulating the wall constrained to a plane

Figure 2.57 Referencing similar elements

Figure 2.58 A new element is constrained when created near a similar one.

Figure 2.59 Use the spacebar to rotate elements during placement.

Figure 2.60

Figure 2.61 Door flip controls

Figure 2.62

Figure 2.63

Figure 2.64

Figure 2.65

Figure 2.66

Figure 2.67

Figure 2.68

Figure 2.69

Figure 2.70

Figure 2.71

Figure 2.72 The Project Units dialog box

Figure 2.73 Slope settings in the Project Units dialog box

Figure 2.74 All major currency symbols are provided for the new currency settings.

Figure 2.75 The Snaps dialog box

Figure 2.76 Snap Overrides appears in the context menu.

Figure 2.77

Figure 2.78

Figure 2.79 The Options dialog box

Figure 2.80 The new SteeringWheels tab allows you to control various aspects of the visibility of the wheels as well as additional Zoom and Orbit settings.

Figure 2.81 The new ViewCube tab lets you specify appearance and behavioral settings of the ViewCube.

Figure 2.82 Revit library-object library

Figure 2.83 Autodesk content website

Figure 3.1

Figure 3.2

Figure 3.3 Where to click

Figure 3.4 Choose the Level command from the Drafting (or Basics) tab in the Design bar.

Figure 3.5 New Plan dialog box

Figure 3.6 Duplicate View submenu

Figure 3.7 Accessing the View Range dialog box

Figure 3.8 View Range dialog box

Figure 3.9 Cut plane functionality

Figure 3.10 Cut plane and bottomplane shown at the upper floor level

Figure 3.11 Cut plane and bottomplane shown at the lower floor level

Figure 3.12 Cut plane and bottomplane shown at 1 meter above the lower floor level

Figure 3.13 Cut plane and bottomplane shown below the lower floor level

Figure 3.14 Some Revit Family Categories are not cuttable.

Figure 3.15 A highlighted elevation tag. Note that the active elevations’ associated boxes are checked.

Figure 3.16 Elevation width and depth

Figure 3.17 Elevation tag with its corresponding sheet marker

Figure 3.18

Figure 3.19 Selecting Reference Other View

Figure 3.20 Legend with plan notes

Figure 3.21 Door Legend notes

Figure 3.22 Click the 3D button on the toolbar to create a 3D view of the model.

Figure 3.23 View Cube facilitates easy orbiting and viewing of the model.

Figure 3.24 Axonometric view of a house

Figure 3.25 Perspective view of a house

Figure 3.26 A camera view placed within the model

Figure 3.27 New Schedule dialog box

Figure 3.28 Schedule in table form

Figure 4.1 Levels drive floor-to-floor heights.

Figure 4.2 Base and top constraints of a wall

Figure 4.3 Level parameter for a desk

Figure 4.4 Symbol visibility

Figure 4.5 A selected grid symbol

Figure 4.6 Wall representations

Figure 4.7 Wall properties

Figure 4.8 Wall layers and materials

Figure 4.9 A stud wall joining to a brick wall in plan

Figure 4.10 A customized curtainwall

Figure 4.11 Walls join with floors and roofs.

Figure 4.12 The flat roof is by footprint on the left, and arc roof by extrusion on the right.

Figure 4.13 Example showing a window hosted by a wall

Figure 4.14 Door representations

Figure 4.15 Wall-mounted light fixture

Figure 4.16 A stair

Figure 4.17 The Multistory parameter

Figure 4.18

Figure 4.19

Figure 4.20

Figure 4.21

Figure 4.22

Figure 4.23

Figure 4.24

Figure 4.25 View-display modes can be changed using the View Controlbar.

Figure 4.26 Connected walls can be selected by using the Tab key prior to selecting.

Figure 4.27 Swapping wall types

Figure 4.28 Selecting walls

Figure 4.29 Walls’ type changed

Figure 4.30 Extending walls

Figure 4.31 Choosing Create Similar using the context menu and the toolbar

Figure 4.32 Flipping a wall

Figure 4.33

Figure 4.34

Figure 4.35

Figure 4.36

Figure 4.37

Figure 4.38 Adding walls to Level 2

Figure 4.39 Adding closet walls

Figure 4.40 Modifying wall height

Figure 4.41 Creating interior walls

Figure 4.42 An example of a bad wall join

Figure 4.43 Modifying the wall join

Figure 4.44 Aligning the wall

Figure 4.45 Finished walls

Figure 4.46 Interior walls extending to T.O. Roof 3

Figure 4.47 Clean up this join condition also.

Figure 4.48 Align the finished faces of these walls.

Figure 4.49 Change the wall height.

Figure 4.50 The walls of the house

Figure 4.51 Sketch tab for floors

Figure 4.52 Walls used to generate sketch lines

Figure 4.53 The warning if lines don’t form closed loops

Figure 4.54 Pick the remaining exterior walls.

Figure 4.55 Trim lines

Figure 4.56 A closed-loop sketch

Figure 4.57 The 2D sketch generates a 3D floor.

Figure 4.58 Pasting Level 2 in a 3D view

Figure 4.59 Use these walls to define the floor for the Level 2 floor plate.

Figure 4.60 Error message

Figure 4.61 Before the lines are trimmed

Figure 4.62 Split the lines, and then trim.

Figure 4.63 Dialog box asking if you want to attach the walls to levels

Figure 4.64 Joining floor and wall geometry

Figure 4.65 Use the Tab key to select sketch lines.

Figure 4.66 Initial lines created from a Tab-selection of the exterior walls

Figure 4.67 The final sketch should look like this.

Figure 4.68 Roof properties

Figure 4.69 Changing the roof pitch

Figure 4.70 Modifying the roof type

Figure 4.71 Walls before being attached to the roof

Figure 4.72 Warning message

Figure 4.73 Walls are now attached to the roof.

Figure 4.74 Adding a roof with no slope

Figure 4.75 Adding more roofs

Figure 4.76 Select the roof with the Match Properties tool.

Figure 4.77 The remaining roofs modified

Figure 4.78 Attach the walls to the roof.

Figure 4.79 Detach Target(s) error message

Figure 4.80 Model with the roof made transparent and surface patterns turned off

Figure 4.81 Resetting the Hide command

Figure 4.82 The Hide Element option for the roof

Figure 4.83 Draw the curtain wall as shown.

Figure 4.84 Clerestory curtain walls

Figure 4.85 Warning dialog box with option to delete elements message

Figure 4.86 Draw a curtain wall from the chimney to the wall midpoint.

Figure 4.87 Adding the second curtain wall

Figure 4.88 The north elevation

Figure 4.89

Figure 4.90

Figure 4.91

Figure 4.92

Figure 4.93

Figure 4.94

Figure 4.95

Figure 4.96

Figure 4.97

Figure 4.98

Figure 4.99

Figure 4.100

Figure 4.101 Additional door locations

Figure 4.102

Figure 4.103

Figure 4.104

Figure 4.105

Figure 4.106

Figure 4.107 Autodesk online families

Figure 4.108 Content in the Type Selector

Figure 4.109 Inserting a dining-roomtable

Figure 4.110 Furniture placement

Figure 4.111 Fixtures under the Families node

Figure 4.112 The finished bathroom layout

Figure 4.113 The finished bathroom layout on Level 2

Figure 4.114 Stairs in Sketch mode and in 3D view

Figure 4.115 Stair levels

Figure 4.116 Stair properties

Figure 4.117 Stair design tools

Figure 4.118 Starting the stair

Figure 4.119 Start the return run; at right, the completed command.

Figure 4.120 Extending the run line and the resulting lines after adjusting the risers and treads

Figure 4.121 Align the stair boundary to the wall.

Figure 4.122 Center the stair.

Figure 4.123 The located staircase

Figure 4.124 Cutting a section through the stair

Figure 4.125 The completed section view

Figure 4.126 Resulting 3D image

Figure 4.127 Railing elements

Figure 4.128 Baluster pattern

Figure 4.129 The railing path

Figure 4.130 Cable railing

Figure 4.131 Modified stair stringers

Figure 4.132 The stair without the railing hosted

Figure 5.1 The Paste Aligned submenu

Figure 5.2 Using the Move tool

Figure 5.3 The Rotate command

Figure 5.4 The array Options bar

Figure 5.5 Top: Array by number;bottom: an array between two points

Figure 5.6 Mirroring chairs using the middle of the table as an axis

Figure 5.7 Mirroring the table using a chosen axis

Figure 5.8 Resize an image using the Resize tool

Figure 5.9 Alignment of a room tag during placement

Figure 5.10 Alignment of a room tag during editing

Figure 5.11 Manual alignment

Figure 5.12 Aligning windows and patterns

Figure 5.13 Splitting the wall where the two perpendicular walls intersect will produce the following image with just two clicks when the Delete Inner Segment option is checked.

Figure 5.14 Trim/Extend to Corner

Figure 5.15 Trimming a single element

Figure 5.16 Trim/Extending multiple elements

Figure 5.17 The Offset tool (above) on the Edit toolbar and (below) on the Options bar

Figure 5.18 Using the Offset tool

Figure 5.19 Offsetting a roof sketch

Figure 5.20 Object Styles dialog box

Figure 5.21 When an element is selected, you can access the Visibility/Graphics setting from the right-click menu.

Figure 5.22 Overriding an element

Figure 5.23 Controlling visibility

Figure 5.24 Visibility examples

Figure 5.25 Line and pattern overrides

Figure 5.26 Element choices

Figure 5.27 Line Graphics and Fill Pattern overrides dialog boxes

Figure 5.28 Halftone and Transparent overrides

Figure 5.29 Element overrides

Figure 5.30 Hiding elements in a view

Figure 5.31 View-Specific Element Graphics

Figure 5.32 Projection Lines override group expanded

Figure 5.33 Use case for graphic overrides

Figure 5.34 Graphic overrides using transparency

Figure 5.35 Graphic overrides for walls

Figure 5.36 Hidden elements and categories

Figure 6.1 Wall assembly materials

Figure 6.2 Create brick walls in this configuration.

Figure 6.3

Figure 6.4

Figure 6.42 Floor with offset from the wall-core boundary

Figure 6.6 Wall functions

Figure 6.7 A miter join

Figure 6.8 Disallow Join

Figure 6.9 Stacked walls

Figure 6.10 Modifying a stacked wall

Figure 6.11 A finished stacked wall

Figure 6.12 Variable instance in a stacked wall

Figure 6.13 Compound wall types

Figure 6.14 Wall-section preview

Figure 6.15 Layers in the wall

Figure 6.16 Wall in section view

Figure 6.17 Wall sweeps

Figure 6.18 Load these wall profiles.

Figure 6.19 Adding the profiles to the wall

Figure 6.20 The profiles on the wall

Figure 6.21 Finishing the wall

Figure 6.22 Extending wall materials

Figure 6.24 Host Sweep

Figure 6.25 Wall with a sweep and opening, prior to applying the Change Sweep Return functionality

Figure 6.26 Modifying a sweep return

Figure 6.27 Create in Place showing a series of connected blends

Figure 6.28 The Solid Form toolbar showing the new Solid Swept Blend tool

Figure 6.29 An example of a solid swept blend

Figure 6.30 Examples of in-place walls created using sweep, blend, or extrusion technique

Figure 6.31 Taxonomy of a curtain wall

Figure 6.32 Curtain wall examples

Figure 6.33

Figure 6.34

Figure 6.35

Figure 6.36

Figure 6.37

Figure 6.38

Figure 6.39

Figure 6.40

Figure 6.41

Figure 6.42 Curtain wall conforming to roof changes

Figure 6.43 A complex curtain wall designed in Revit

Figure 6.44 A spider-clamp curtain wall

Figure 6.45 Flat roof with sloped insulation

Figure 6.46 The Shape Edit modifying tools

Figure 6.47 A roof plan showinga roof divided in segments with drainage points

Figure 6.48 Using the Draw Split tool, you create ridges and valleys.

Figure 6.49 Edit points to change the height.

Figure 6.50 Drainage point moved to a new position

Figure 6.51 Section through roof showing the slope

Figure 6.52 Editing the Roof assembly

Figure 6.53 Section of the roof with variable thickness

Figure 6.54 Roofs with curved sketches are not a problem in Revit 2009.

Figure 6.55 Edit the edge point to warp a flat roof.

Figure 6.56 Axonometric view of a warped roof

Figure 7.1 Room area report example

Figure 7.2 The Export CAD Formats dialog box

Figure 7.3 Export options

Figure 7.4 Export Options dialog box

Figure 7.5 Export Layers

Figure 7.6 Export Layer Standards

Figure 7.7 Export Image dialog box

Figure 7.8 Browsable website page

Figure 7.9 Exported Image

Figure 7.10 Import/Link

Figure 7.11 Managing links

Figure 7.12 Import/Link Revit Files dialog box

Figure 7.13 Positioning options

Figure 7.14 Reported coordinates

Figure 7.15 Import/Link dialog box

Figure 7.16 Inserted image

Figure 7.17 Image properties, and the image placed in the background

Figure 7.18

Figure 7.19 DWG Options bar

Figure 7.20 Select layers/levels to delete.

Figure 7.21 Query selection

Figure 7.22

Figure 7.23 Importing the site DWG

Figure 7.24 Error message: file imported into the wrong view

Figure 7.25 Select only the layers with contours when converting DWG to toposurface.

Figure 7.26 Highlighted topographypoints

Figure 7.27

Figure 7.28

Figure 7.29 Object styles for topography

Figure 7.30

Figure 7.31

Figure 7.32

Figure 7.34

Figure 7.35

Figure 7.36

Figure 7.37

Figure 7.38

Figure 7.39

Figure 7.40

Figure 7.41

Figure 7.42

Figure 7.43 There’s a long way to go from toposurfacecreation to finished site.

Figure 7.44

Figure 7.45

Figure 7.46

Figure 7.47

Figure 7.48

Figure 7.49

Figure 7.50 Beginning the conversion process

Figure 7.51 Adding floors

Figure 7.52 i-drop examples

Figure 7.53 Sample SketchUp content

Figure 7.54

Figure 7.55

Figure 7.56

Figure 7.57

Figure 7.58

Figure 8.1

Figure 8.2

Figure 8.3

Figure 8.4 Color by Range

Figure 8.5 Color scheme definition

Figure 8.6 Displaying color fill

Figure 8.7

Figure 8.8 Finished color-fill view

Figure 8.9

Figure 8.10 Area Schemes tab

Figure 8.11 New Area Plan dialog box

Figure 8.12 Area boundary with closed loops

Figure 8.13

Figure 8.14

Figure 8.15

Figure 8.16

Figure 8.17

Figure 8.18

Figure 8.19

Figure 8.20

Figure 8.21

Figure 8.22

Figure 8.23

Figure 8.24

Figure 8.25

Figure 8.26

Figure 8.27

Figure 8.28

Figure 8.29

Figure 8.30

Figure 8.31

Figure 8.32

Figure 8.33

Figure 8.34

Figure 8.35 Quality options

Figure 8.36 Output options

Figure 8.37 Scheme options

Figure 8.39

Figure 8.40

Figure 8.41

Figure 8.42 Positioning a sky

Figure 8.43

Figure 8.44

Figure 8.45

Figure 8.46 Glass material options include color, reflectance, and sheets of glass.

Figure 9.1

Figure 9.2

Figure 9.3

Figure 9.4

Figure 9.5

Figure 9.6

Figure 9.7

Figure 9.8

Figure 9.9

Figure 9.10 A bottom-up schedule for revisions

Figure 9.11

Figure 9.12

Figure 9.13

Figure 9.14

Figure 9.15

Figure 9.16

Figure 9.17

Figure 9.18 The Dependent view functionality allows you to split views and place them on separate sheets.

Figure 9.19 The plan does not fit on one sheet.

Figure 9.21

Figure 9.22

Figure 9.23

Figure 9.24 The plan now fits the sheet.

Figure 9.25 Tags have been smartly rotated to be legible.

Figure 9.26

Figure 9.27

Figure 10.1

Figure 10.2 The Drafting tab

Figure 10.3

Figure 10.04 Tags change with the view scale.

Figure 10.05

Figure 10.6 Changing the wall type

Figure 10.07

Figure 10.8 Tag All Not Tagged dialog box

Figure 10.9 Finished floor plan

Figure 10.10

Figure 10.11 Examples of dimensions with text

Figure 10.12

Figure 10.13

Figure 10.14 Replacing a dimension value with numeric values is not allowed.

Figure 10.15

Figure 10.16 Aligned and linear dimensions

Figure 10.17 Prefer wall dimension locations

Figure 10.18

Figure 10.19 Points can be dimensioned to, as shown in this enlarged door jamb.

Figure 10.20 The finished dimension

Figure 10.21 Baseline dimensions

Figure 10.22 Changing the Dimension String Type property

Figure 10.23 Flipping baseline dimensions

Figure 10.24 Drag control for baseline dimension

Figure 10.25 Ordinate dimension type

Figure 10.26

Figure 10.27 Tick mark

Figure 10.28

Figure 10.29 Centerline symbol

Figure 10.30

Figure 10.31

Figure 10.32

Figure 10.33 The dimensioned first-floor plan

Figure 10.34 Text format tools

Figure 10.35

Figure 10.36

Figure 10.37

Figure 10.38

Figure 10.39

Figure 10.40

Figure 10.41 Selecting a work plane

Figure 10.42 Keynotes

Figure 10.43 The Keynoting Settings dialog box

Figure 10.44 Selecting a keynote

Figure 10.45 Keynotes preview prior to placement

Figure 10.46 A keynote legend

Figure 10.47 Filter options for keynote legends

Figure 10.48 Keynote legends can be accessed from the Project Browser.

Figure 10.49 Note styles available in the default Revit keynote tag

Figure 10.50 Detail components are 2D elements that can be embedded in 3D families.

Figure 10.51

Figure 10.52 A question mark shows up if the material has not been linked to the keynote table.

Figure 10.53 Choose a keynote value from the list.

Figure 10.54 List of arrowhead styles

Figure 10.55 Fully material keynotedwall section

Figure 10.56 Wall annotated with element keynotes

Figure 10.57 Type Properties of wall showing keynotevalue predefined

Figure 10.58 Defining keynotes for materials

Figure 11.1 Adding sections

Figure 11.2 Adding callouts to the section view

Figure 11.3 Modifying the sheet name within the view

Figure 11.4 Plans initially don’t fit on the sheet.

Figure 11.5 Floor plans arranged

Figure 11.6 A200

Figure 11.7 A300

Figure 11.8

Figure 11.9 The completed schedule

Figure 11.10 Starting a schedule

Figure 11.11 Fields tab

Figure 11.12 Adding a calculated value

Figure 11.13 Filter tab

Figure 11.14 Sorting/ Grouping tab

Figure 11.15 Formatting tab

Figure 11.16 Appearance tab

Figure 11.17

Figure 11.18

Figure 11.19 Adding a schedule to a sheet

Figure 11.20 Splitting a schedule

Figure 11.21 The schedule on a sheet

Figure 11.22 New Drafting View dialog box

Figure 11.23

Figure 11.24

Figure 11.25

Figure 11.26

Figure 11.27 Pick Line options

Figure 11.28 Choosing a work plane

Figure 11.29 Groups in the Project Browser

Figure 11.30

Figure 11.31 Adding a gutter

Figure 11.32 Adding a fascia board

Figure 11.33 Finishing the detail

Figure 11.34 Grouping common elements

Figure 11.35 Repeating detail properties

Figure 11.36

Figure 11.37

Figure 11.38 Type Properties for a repeating detail

Figure 11.39 Making a custom repeating detail

Figure 11.40 The insulation Options bar

Figure 11.41 Adding insulation to the detail

Figure 11.42

Figure 11.43

Figure 11.44

Figure 11.45 Type Properties for a filled region

Figure 11.46 Show Hidden Lines tool

Figure 11.47 Using the Show Hidden Lines tool

Figure 11.48 Exporting a view from Revit

Figure 11.49 Streamlined Project Browser of saved Revit views

Figure 11.50 Multiple views can be saved as separate Revit files.

Figure 11.51 Inserting a view into a different project

Figure 11.52 The imported view merged into a new project

Figure 11.53 Inserting 2D content from another Revit file

Figure 12.1 Print dialog box

Figure 12.2 Multiple sheets and views can be printed at once.

Figure 12.3 3D view zoomed out for printing

Figure 12.4 Output when Current Window is selected

Figure 12.5 3D view zoomed in for larger printed image

Figure 12.6 Output when Visible Portion of Current Window is selected

Figure 12.7 The View/Sheet Set dialog box

Figure 12.8 The Print Setup dialog box

Figure 12.9 Raster print example

Figure 12.10 Vector print example

Figure 12.11

Figure 12.12

Figure 12.13 Publish DWF options

Figure 12.14 The Publish dialog box and DWF Export Options dialog box

Figure 12.15 A 2D DWF

Figure 12.16 COURTESY OF SIMONE CAPPOCHIN A 3D DWF

Figure 12.17 DWF element properties

Figure 12.18 A marked-up DWF

Figure 12.19

Figure 12.20 Element Properties dialog box for a markup

Figure 12.21 With Design Review, markups can even be added to 3D views.

Figure 13.1 Modifying wall types

Figure 13.2 Family Category and Parameters dialog box

Figure 13.3 Sample in-place wall

Figure 13.4 Component family examples

Figure 13.5 The Family Editor

Figure 13.6

Figure 13.7 Floor-based and wall-based lighting fixtures

Figure 13.8 A parametric family

Figure 13.9 Example of a nonparametric family

Figure 13.10 Example of a nonparametric family

Figure 13.11 Family Element Visibility Settings dialog box

Figure 13.12 Top to bottom: Coarse, Medium, and Fine levels of detail

Figure 13.13 A family using a type catalog

Figure 13.14 Formulas in families allow for smart behavior.

Figure 13.15 A nested family

Figure 13.16 Nested families change together.

Figure 13.17 Another example of nested families—interchangeable lamellas are nested in the brise soleil.

Figure 13.18

Figure 13.19 Historical content can be easily created in Revit.

Figure 13.20

Figure 13.21

Figure 13.22

Figure 13.23 Design Options dialog box

Figure 13.24 The Visibility/ Graphic Overrides dialog box controls option visibility.

Figure 13.25 Activating a design option

Figure 13.26 Adding elements to a design option

Figure 13.27 Make Primary and Accept Primary

Figure 13.28 The Worksets toolbar

Figure 13.29

Figure 13.30

Figure 13.31

Figure 13.32

Figure 13.33

Figure 14.1

Figure 14.2

Figure 14.3

Figure 14.4

Figure 14.5

Figure 14.6

Figure 14.7

Figure 14.8

Figure 14.9

Figure 14.10

Figure 14.11

Acquisitions Editor: WILLEM KNIBBE

Development Editor: DICK MARGULIS

Technical Editor: PHIL READ

Production Editor: DASSI ZEIDEL

Copy Editor: LIZ WELCH

Production Manager: TIM TATE

Vice President and Executive Group Publisher: RICHARD SWADLEY

Vice President and Executive Publisher: JOSEPH B. WIKERT

Vice President and Publisher: NEIL EDDE

Book Designer: CARYL GORSKA

Compositor: KATE KAMINSKI, HAPPENSTANCE TYPE-O-R AMA

Proofreader: NANCY BELL

Indexer: NANCY GUENTHER

Cover Designer: RYAN SNEED

Front Cover Images: ANDREA SADER AND INES MAGRI, UNIVERSIDAD ORT, URUGUAY (TOP IMAGE), KUBIK+NEMETH+VLKOVIC (FAR LEFT AND FAR RIGHT IMAGES), GREG DEMCHAK (MIDDLE IMAGE)

Back Cover Images: GENSLER (LEFT IMAGE), KUBIK+NEMETH+VLKOVIC (MIDDLE IMAGE), HOK (RIGHT IMAGE)

Copyright © 2008 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

eISBN : 978-0-470-59597-8

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Demchak, Greg.

1. Architectural drawing—Computer-aided design. 2. Architectural design—Data processing. I. Krygiel, Eddy, 1972- II. Dzambazova, Tatjana. III. Title.

NA2728.D45 2008

720’.285—dc22

2008012003

TRADEMARKS: Wiley, the Wiley logo, and the Sybex logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates, in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. Revit is a registered trademark of Autodesk, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.

Dear Reader,

Thank you for choosing Introducing Revit® Architecture 2009: BIM for Beginners. This book is part of a family of premium quality Sybex books, all written by outstanding authors who combine practical experience with a gift for teaching.

Sybex was founded in 1976. More than thirty years later, we’re still committed to producing consistently exceptional books. With each of our titles we’re working hard to set a new standard for the industry. From the authors we work with to the paper we print on, our goal is to bring you the best books available.

I hope you see all that reflected in these pages. I’d be very interested to hear your comments and get your feedback on how we’re doing. Feel free to let me know what you think about this or any other Sybex book by sending me an e-mail at [email protected], or if you think you’ve found a technical error in this book, please visit http://sybex.custhelp.com. Customer feedback is critical to our efforts at Sybex.

Best regards,

Neil Edde Vice President and Publisher Sybex, an Imprint of Wiley

Dedication

For Gage

—Greg

For Thea and Michael, who brought love and laughter in my life

—Tanja

For my beautiful daughters, Zoë and Maya

—Eddy

Acknowledgments

Hats off to the innovators who conceptualized, designed, and made Revit happen. You have changed the world! • Huge thanks to all the faithful followers! Without you, Revit wouldn’t be what it is today. • Personal thanks to the grand masters Philippe Drouant and Phil Read for their heroic dedication and help; to Simone Cappochin and Kubik+Nemeth+Vlkovic, who keep on doing beautiful architecture with Revit and are willing to share it with us; and to our friends, Martin Taurer, Paul Woddy, and Emmanuel Di Giacommo, for their contributions A final thank-you to BNIM Architects, who continue to let us use their Revit models to help raise the knowledge base of the design community. • To Tsvetan Tsvetanov, whose dedication and hard work was essential to providing Revit with its great new rendering capabilities. • Sincere thanks to all the hardworking developers, product designers, and quality assurance testers from the development team of Revit, for their dedication, passion, and love of Revit. • And finally, thanks are due to our excellent support team at Sybex, who helped us develop and focus the content; Dick Margulis, for making a philosopher, nonnative English speaker, and a dyslexic look good in print; Liz Welch for making it grammatically correct; Dassi Zeidel for keeping tabs on all the parts and pieces; Eric Charbonneau for keeping things on track; and a special thanks to Willem Knibbe, for his willingness to go to bat for us and deal with our high-maintenance attitudes.

About the Authors

Greg Demchak is a designer, a technology advocate, urban explorer, and post-apocalyptic film producer. He holds architectural degrees from the University of Oregon and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a product designer for Autodesk and has been working with Revit since 2000. He has been teaching at the Boston Architectural College since 2003 and is currently the principal investigator for the 2009 Solar Decathlon competition. He resides in Massachusetts.

Tatjana Dzambazova was the product manager for Revit Architecture between 2005 and 2007, after which she moved into global sales development management for the AEC industry. Before joining Autodesk in 2000, she practiced architecture for 12 years in Vienna and London. At Autodesk, she has focused on evangelizing technology and established herself as an internationally renowned speaker who has fostered relationships with architects and industry leaders from all around the globe. Powered with seemingly unlimited sources of energy and passion, Tanja manages to make three days out of one, always on the hunt of what’s new and exciting in the world of architecture and technology; and when she is not working or coauthoring technology books, she is advocating wildlife conservation, reading books like a maniac, getting inspired in the theaters, and playing Scrabble and Texas Hold ’Em.

Eddy Krygiel is a registered architect, a LEED Accredited Professional, and an Autodesk Authorized Author at BNIM Architects headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. He has been using Revit since version 5.1 to complete projects ranging from single-family residences and historic remodels to 1.12-million-square-foot office buildings. Eddy is responsible for implementing BIM at his firm and also consults for other architecture and contracting firms around the country looking to implement BIM. For the last four years, he has been teaching Revit to practicing architects and architectural students in the Kansas City area and has lectured around the nation on the use of BIM in the construction industry. Eddy also coauthored Green BIM: Successful Sustainable Design with Building Information Modeling, a book on sustainability and BIM, with Bradley Nies (Sybex, 2008).

Introduction

Welcome to the Second edition of Introducing Revit Architecture, which was written based on the 2009 release of the software.

It was great fun re-visiting our first book—we worked hard to polish it up, and capture the new features in the 2009 release of Revit Architecture. We enjoyed the synergy of three friends, three architects, three authors collaborating to bring this project into reality. But mostly, we were all driven by the feeling that we’re doing something great: introducing Revit to those who have not been acquainted with its incredible power and its ability to put some fun back into using software and designing architecture.

This book is written for beginners who have never seen or may have just heard about Revit. It’s for architects of any generation—you don’t need to be a high-tech wizard to get into Revit. Toward that end, we wanted to make a book that is as much about architecture as it is about software. We’ve added many timesaving and inspiring concepts to the book to get you motivated and to help you on your journey into the new era of building information modeling (BIM). We think we’ve succeeded, because the book is full of real-world examples that show how to use Revit practically and creatively based on all of our experiences out there in professional practice.

This book will help you learn Revit and BIM basics easily and efficiently via straightforward explanations, real-world examples, and practical tutorials that focus squarely on accomplishing vital Revit tasks.

Our book begins with an overview of BIM concepts before introducing the Revit interface. You’ll start working with basic modeling features, learning how to create walls, floors, roofs, and stairs. The book then explains how to use components and provides descriptions and examples of Revit’s suite of editing tools.

The book continues by looking deeper into the capabilities of core modeling elements. We explain how Revit works with other applications, show you how to document the model for construction, and explore how you can integrate annotations into the model.

After we discuss printing to paper and files, we explore worksets and team collaboration, followed by a look at some of Revit’s more advanced options. The book concludes with a chapter on troubleshooting and best practices; that’s where we try to share our practical experience with you so you can avoid some of the common beginner pitfalls (and enjoy beginner’s luck). Also featured is a new full-color gallery containing inspirational Revit projects from around the globe.

The book’s companion web page, at www.wiley.com/go/introducingrevit2009, features all the tutorial files necessary to complete the book’s exercises, plus sample families and a trial version of the Revit software.

Enjoy! Revit has changed our lives. Maybe it will change yours as well.

We welcome your feedback! Please feel free to e-mail us at [email protected].

Greg Demchak

Tatjana Dzambazova

Eddy Krygiel

CHAPTER 1

Understanding BIM

A great building must begin with the unmeasurable, must go through measurable means when it is being designed and in the end must be unmeasurable.

—LOUIS KAHN

Building information modeling (BIM) is an emerging approach to the design, analysis, and documentation of buildings. At its core, BIM is about the management of information throughout the entire lifecycle of a design process, from early conceptual design through construction administration, and even into facilities management. By information we mean all the inputs that go into a building design: the number of windows, the cost of materials, the size of heating and cooling equipment, the total energy footprint of the building, and so on. This information is captured in a digital model that can then be presented as coordinated documents, be shared across disciplines, and serve as a centralized design management tool. With a tool like Revit, you will reap the benefits of fully coordinated documents, but this represents just the tip of the BIM iceberg.

In this chapter, we’ll present the basics of BIM and summarize how BIM differs from traditional 2D drafting-based methodologies. We will explain the key characteristics of Revit and how Revit is truly designed to deliver the benefits of building information modeling.

Topics we’ll cover include:

• A brief history of architectural documentation

• Advantages of a BIM approach

• How BIM is different from CAD

• Why Revit?

• Revit concepts

• Types of elements in Revit

• Tips for getting started in Revit

A Brief History of Architectural Documentation

The production of design documents has traditionally been an exercise in making drawings to represent a building. These drawings become instruction document sets: an annotated booklet that describes how the building is to be built. The plan, section, and elevation—all skillfully drafted, line by line, drawing by drawing. Whether physical or digital, these traditional drawing sets are composed of graphics where each line is part of a larger abstraction meant to convey design intent so that a building can eventually be constructed. When Filippo Brunelleschi drew the plans for Santa Maria del Fiore (Figure 1.1) in Renaissance Italy, the drawings represented ideas of what the building would look like. They were simplified representations of a completed project, used to convey ideas to the patron. In those days, the architect also played the role of builder, so there was no risk of losing information between the documentation of the building and the actual building of it. This was the age of the master builder, where architect and builder shared the same responsibility and roles. Even so, Brunelleschi still needed to communicate his vision to his patrons and his workers, and he not only produced beautiful drawings but also built elaborate scale models so that others could easily visualize the project.

Figure 1.1

Santa Maria del Fiore;image courtesy of Laura Lesniewski

As buildings became increasingly complex, specialization in the design and construction process emerged. In turn, this led to the need for more elaborate forms of information exchange. One person was no longer responsible for both the design and construction phases, so it became necessary for designers to convey design intent with richer amounts of information and instructions.

Jump ahead in time to the twentieth century. The use of steel had been fully embraced, thus allowing buildings to reach higher than ever before; the age of the skyscraper and modern construction was in full force. The Power and Light Building (Figure 1.2) was erected in Kansas City, Missouri, in only 19 months. An Art Deco testament to the boldness of the times, the building was built without the use of modern earthmoving machinery or other heavy equipment. The drawing set for a building of this size in the 1930s would have been about 35 pages long. The Power and Light Building was more complex than its predecessors but far simpler than today’s large commercial projects. There were no data or telecom systems, no air conditioning other than operable windows, and no security systems other than locks on the doors.

Figure 1.2

Power and Light Building, Kansas City, MO

Fast-forward to late twentieth century buildings. Buildings are more complex than ever before. Documentation sets span all disciplines and are hundreds of pages long. The number of people who will touch a set of drawings—to produce them, evaluate them, or use them to build the building—has become huge. Integrated building systems continue to expand with the growth of technology. Today, we have more security, electrical, data, telecom, HVAC, and energy requirements than ever before (see Figure 1.3). The quality and quantity of information that goes into a documentation set can no longer be thought of as abstract approximations—the cost of error is far too high, and fully coordinated drawings are expected. The use of computer-based technology has replaced pen and paper, yet documents are still largely generated in 2D. Drawing and editing lines has become faster and more efficient, but in the end, they are still collections of manually created, nonintelligent lines and text.

Figure 1.3

Layers of design

The year 1998—dawn of the Internet boom. Technology companies are flourishing, and start-ups are a dime a dozen. In the suburbs of Boston, a new approach to architectural documentation is about to be launched. The premise is simple: model the building once, and let architects view, edit, and annotate the model from any point of view, at any time. A change to the model from any view simultaneously updates all other views. Drawings cease to be separate, uncoordinated collections of lines and become by-products of a model-based design approach. Revit is born, and with it the foundation for a new approach to how buildings are designed, evaluated, represented, and documented (see Figure 1.4). In 2002, Revit Technology is acquired by Autodesk and continues to be developed. Welcome to the world of building information modeling.

Figure 1.4

The founders and some original members of Revit technology, having a tug-of-war at a release party, circa 2000

Advantages of a BIM Approach

The ultimate benefits of BIM are still emerging in the market and will radically change the way buildings are designed and built. A shift in process and expectation is happening in the construction market, and architects are stepping up to the challenge. The focus is shifting from traditional 2D abstractions to on-demand simulations of building performance, usage, and cost. This is no longer a futuristic fantasy but a practical reality. In the age of information-rich digital models, we can now have all disciplines involved with a project sharing a single database. Architecture, structure, mechanical, infrastructure, and construction are tied together and able to coordinate in ways never before possible. Models can now be sent directly to fabrication machines, bypassing the need for traditional shop drawings. Energy analysis can be done at the outset of design, and construction costs are becoming more and more predictable. These are just a few of the exciting opportunities that a BIM approach offers.

BIM has shifted how designers and contractors look at the entire building process, from preliminary design through construction documentation, into actual construction, and even into postconstruction building management. With BIM, a parametric 3D model is used to generate traditional building abstractions such as plans, sections, elevations, details, and schedules. Drawings produced using BIM are not just discrete collections of manually coordinated lines but interactive representations of a model.

Working in a model-based framework guarantees that a change in one view will propagate to all other views of the model. As you shift elements in plan, they change in elevation and section. If you remove a door from your model, it simultaneously gets removed from all views, and your door schedule is updated. This enhanced document delivery system allows unprecedented control over the quality and coordination of the document set.

With the advent of BIM, designers and builders have a better way to create, control, and display information. Some of the advantages that first-time users can expect to realize are as follows:

• Three-dimensional design visualization improves understanding of the building and its spaces and gives you the ability to show a variety of design options to both the team and the client.

• Integrated design documents minimize errors in documentation cross-referencing and keynoting, allowing clearer, more precise documents.

• Interference checking permits you to immediately see conflicts between architectural, structural, and mechanical elements in 3D and to avoid costly errors on site.

• Automated, always up-to-date schedules of building components (like door and room-area schedules) are data-driven and can drive data and improve the visibility of costs and quantities.

• Material quantity take-offs allow better predictability and planning.

• Sustainable strategies are easier to explore, enabling you to design better buildings and make a better world.

How BIM Is Different from CAD

The key difference between BIM and computer-aided design (CAD) is that a traditional CAD system uses many separate (usually 2D) documents to explain a building. These documents are created separately and have little to no intelligent connection between them. A wall in a plan view is represented with two parallel lines, with no understanding that those lines represent the same wall in a section. The possibility of uncoordinated data is very high. BIM takes the opposite approach: it assembles all information into one location and cross-links that data among associated objects. (See Figures 1.5 and 1.6.)

By and large, CAD is strictly a 2D technology with a specific need to output a collection of lines and text on a page. These lines have no inherent meaning, whether inside the computer or on the printed sheet. CAD drafting has its efficiencies and advantages over pen and paper, but it is really just a simulation of the act of drafting. This form of drawing is how architects and other designers have worked for the last couple of hundred years. Historically, the designer drew a set of plans and then used those plans to manually derive sections, elevations, and details. During the development of a project, if any of those items changed, the designer had to modify each of the other drawings that were affected to take the change into account. For a long time, this meant getting out an eraser and an eraser shield and spending days picking up changes. Today, you can use the Delete key, but the goal is fundamentally the same. This is where BIM makes a significant departure from legacy CAD platforms.

Figure 1.5

Typical CAD outputs

The beauty of BIM is that it manages change for you. Unlike CAD, the intent of BIM is to let the computer take responsibility for interactions and calculations (something computers are good at), providing you—the designer—with more time to design and evaluate your decisions. A core feature of BIM is that it allows you to create and modify everything in one design context. When a change to a project is done by the user in one place, the system will propagate that change to all relevant views and documents of the project. As you model in plan, the elevations, sections, and details are also being generated. Where you make the change is up to you, and the system will take care of the rest. With a BIM tool such as Revit, if you change the size of a window opening in elevation, this change is made throughout the entire model: sections, floor plans, schedule tables, and quantity take-offs.

Figure 1.6

Typical BIM outputs

Here are a few other big differences between BIM and CAD:

BIM adopts a task-oriented rather than an object-oriented methodology. In 2D draf ting CAD, you draw two lines (objects) to represent a wall. In BIM, the task of creating a wall is presented in the form of an interactive tool named Create Wall. This wall has properties like width, height, bearing or nonbearing, demolished or new, interior or exterior, fire rating, and materials (such as boards or brick). The wall interacts with other walls to automatically join geometries and clean up connections, showing how the walls will be built. Similarly, if you add a door, it’s more than four lines and an arc; it’s a door in plan and elevation. Adding it to the wall automatically creates an opening in the wall in all views where the door is visible. As we will discover, the tools available for walls are specific to walls, allowing you to attach walls to roofs and floors, punch openings, and change the layered construction of the wall. Again, all of these interactions are not just properties; they are focused on specific tasks associated with architectural walls.

BIM keeps you honest. An additional advantage of a BIM methodology is that you can’t cheat your design. Because the elements have properties based on real-life properties, you’ll find it difficult to fake elements within the design. If you have a door in plan, it automatically appears in the other associated views such as elevation or section. In a CAD-based system this can be easy to overlook because the door has to be manually transcribed from plan to section and elevation and is easily forgotten or drawn at a wrong location. Because BIM is based on actual assemblies, it’s difficult to misrepresent dimensions or objects within the model.

BIM is more than a modeler. Other software packages, like SketchUp, Rhinoceros, and 3ds Max, are excellent modeling applications. However, these modeling applications don’t have the ability to document your design for construction or to be leveraged downstream. This is not to say these tools don’t play a part in a BIM workf low. Many architects use these tools to generate concept models, which can then be brought into a BIM application and progress through design, analysis, and documentation.

BIM is a data-driven design tool. BIM lets you create custom content and libraries throughout the course of your project. This content contains rich amount of data that will inform schedules, quantity take-offs, and analysis. Again, it’s not just 3D—it’s 3D with intelligent information (metadata).

BIM is based on an architectural classification system, not “layers.” Because a building model is an assembly of meaningful, to-be-built objects, you control visibility and graphics of objects using a rational list of well-understood categories. This is different from CAD, where every line belongs to a layer, and it is up the user to manage all these layers. For example, in Revit there is no way to accidentally place a window into the “wall” layer. In a BIM world, layers become obsolete; after all, in the real world buildings are not made of abstract color-coded layers.

Potential Hazards

One of the powers of Revit is the ability to work in a single-file environment where the design and documentation of the building happens on a holistic model. This can also be a disadvantage if you do not take it seriously and give it full consideration. Users who may be quick to make changes without thinking how such a change will ripple through the model can cause unintended problems if they’re not careful. Revit is a parametric modeler: it creates relationships between building elements in order to streamline the design process. For example, if you delete a level from your model, then all the walls, doors, and furniture on that level will also be deleted. Likewise, if you delete a wall, all the doors and windows in that wall will be deleted. If you underlay the roof in your second floor so that you can see the extents of the roof overhang, deleting the lines that represent the roof overhang actually means deleting the roof! These are basic mistakes that new users might encounter as they readjust their mental model and come to see the model as not just lines but actual building elements. A nice consequence of this is that Revit will not let you leave elements floating around in an abstract 3D vacuum. You will not have views cluttered with fragmented geometry from some other file, exploded blocks, or mysterious lines. At the same time, you must take care when making large-scale changes to a model, especially the further along in the design process you go.

Anticipate that tasks will take different amounts of time when compared to a CAD production environment. It isn’t an apples-to-apples equation. You’ll perform tasks in Revit that you never had in CAD; conversely, some of the CAD tasks that took weeks (chamfering and trimming thousands of lines to draw walls properly or making a door schedule) take almost no time using Revit.

If you’ve never worked in a 3D model-based environment, it can be frustrating at first to move from a strictly 2D world into the 3D BIM. At the same time, it’s really quite nice to have immediate access to perspective views at any time! The Revit world is one with a white screen, no layers, and no x-references. This often leads to generic comparisons and some growing pains—but just stick with it, be patient, and you’ll be hooked in no time at all. With any transition there is a learning curve; as you begin to use Revit, you’ll quickly see the benefits.

Why Revit?

Revit is the newest and most technologically advanced BIM application. Currently, a number of BIM applications are on the market, provided by a host of different software vendors. Although most other products in today’s market are based on technology that is 20-plus years old, Revit was designed from the ground up as a BIM platform to specifically address problem areas of the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry: communication, coordination, and change management. As you complete more projects with Revit, you’ll begin to understand some of its advanced functionality. Being able to go direct to fabrication with your designs, provide digital shop drawing submittals, and execute 4D construction planning are just a few of the possibilities.

Revit is a technological platform that currently supports architectural, structural, and mechanical disciplines, but the possibilities for extending these are immense. It’s supported by a patented parametric change engine that is unmatched in sophistication within the AEC world of applications. It’s also the leading software package in the international market.

Revit Concepts

The name Revit comes from “Revise Instantly”; Revit is built for managing change, something that we architects have to do in our practice all the time.

Parametric Objects and Parametric Relationships

We all hear about parametric objects, but what makes an object parametric? A parametric object is a smart object that can change its size, materials, and graphic look but is consistently the same object. For example, think of a door. A single flush door can be 32˝, 34˝, or 36˝ (70, 75, 80, 85, or 90cm). It can also be painted or solid wood. All of these sizes and colors can be part of the same door family, with different parametric values applied.

Or consider a table: it can be the same shape but made out of wood or metal, with a glass or wood top, and with the top extending over the legs or flush with them. Again, they’re all in the same table family; only the parametric values are different. The parameters are meaningful ways to create variations of an element. And most importantly, this information is always accessible, reversible, editable, and schedulable.

In most CAD systems, to accommodate all the types of doors mentioned previously, you need to make not only a separate block for each representation (thus, plan, elevation, and section typically comprise 7 or 8 blocks) but also as many blocks as sizes you need. If you then wish to make a table that is 4’-0˝ square (50/50) to 5’-0˝ square (70/70), you use the Scale command, which unfortunately makes the table legs bigger than needed because they resize along with the table top! A parametric object allows you to effect a change on each parameter without affecting the others unless desired. So, you can change the size of the table legs independent from the table top, and so on.

Bidirectional Associativity

Objects with parameters that can be edited are nothing new in the world of software. But what makes Revit unique is its ability to create relationships within objects and between objects. This ability has been referred to as the parametric change engine, and is a core technological advantage built into Revit. Walls, for example, can be attached to roofs, so when the roof changes to a new shape or size, all walls attached to the roof automatically adapt to the new roof shape. Walls, floors, roofs, and components all have explicit relationships to levels. If a level changes height, all elements associated with that level will update automatically: the walls below the level will extend to the new height of the level above, and so forth. When you change the size of a room by moving a wall, you are changing not only the wall, but everything that wall affects in the model as well: the size of the room, color-fill diagrams, ceilings, floors, the doors and windows in the wall, and any dimensions to that wall, area, volume.

The parametric relationships are extended to annotations and sheet management as well. Tags are not simple graphics with a text notation; they are interactive graphical parameters that read the information directly from the characteristics and parameters of the element being tagged. To edit a tag is to edit the element, and vice versa. When you’re laying out sheets and a section view is placed onto a sheet, the section key automatically references the sheet number and detail number on the sheet. Change the sheet number, and the section tag updates instantly. This is what a real parametric engine is and what ensures total coordination of your documentation. This parametric engine guarantees that a “change anywhere is a change everywhere.”

Embedded Relationships

Revit has embedded logical relationships among elements, so that when one is modified, all related objects follow the change. To illustrate this, let’s try a smart move. Look at Figures 1.7 and 1.8. To make one of the rooms smaller and move the south wall 3’-0˝ (1m), you select the wall and drag it. The four walls perpendicular to and intersecting this wall adapt themselves, and the room area updates automatically. All you do is move the one wall. There is no need to create a complex series of selections; no need to use trim and extend tools, and no need to recompute room areas. Revit does all of this for you with a few mouse clicks.

Figure 1.7

The floor plan before the change

Figure 1.8

The same floor plan after moving the wall

If for some reason this automatic behavior is not to your liking—for example, when you are dealing with a renovation project and do not want to have existing conditions be affected by new construction—this is not a problem. Revit will not force you to do something you don’t intend to: it allows you to break the “smart” relationships if needed by disallowing the joins between the walls. Hover the mouse over the end of a selected wall, right-click, and choose Disallow Join from the context menu. Only that one wall will be modified, and the others will not be affected.

You can also lock elements in place to prevent unintended consequences. You’ll notice locks when aligning elements or selecting dimensions; these locks allow you to create hard constraints between elements in the model. For the most part, you’ll find the default embedded behaviors make sense, and you’ll not have to lock everything with explicit dimensions.

User-Defined Rules

During the design phase, you may want to maintain some dimensional rules and make sure these are not violated. Requirements like keeping the structural gridlines fixed (pin) or keeping a hallway a fixed width (lock) are some typical examples. You want to lock this rule down and keep it persistent as the design evolves. Such design rules are used all the time, but not many software applications let you capture this design intent and apply it in the model. For instance, you may want your door jamb always positioned 4˝ (25cm) from the wall corner, or you may want three windows in a room to be always positioned at equal distances and the sill height for your windows to always be 4’-0˝ (1.20m) above the floor. You want the rules and relationships to be remembered regardless of how many changes occur in the design process. Revit allows you to define and lock these relationships with constraints: explicit dimensional rules that keep elements locked to one another.

Types of Elements in Revit

Every parametric object in Revit is considered a family. In this section, we’ll discuss how Revit organizes all these families and the data associated with them. Then we’ll explain the available types of families, the principles of their behavior, how to create them, and where to find them. The categories are divided into two primary buckets: model categories and annotation categories.

How Revit Organizes Data

Revit organizes all the data in the model using building-industry-specific classifications. This system of organization manages relationships among classes of elements as well as their graphical display. At the top of this organization is a fixed list of categories into which all elements ultimately belong and a generic category to which unusual, nonstandard elements can be assigned. Every element you select in Revit belongs to one of these fixed categories.

Model Categories