Category Archives: Platform

Revit Basics – The Spacebar

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This is an excerpt from an article that I wrote for AUGIWorld.

In my article I called this section “The Magical Spacebar”. No, inserting spaces between words in text is not the magical function of the spacebar.  When inserting a component, new users tend to place the component somewhere in their workspace and then will alter said component to their liking.  These alterations often include rotating the element.  What the beginner doesn’t know – and often takes a long time to learn – is that hitting the spacebar before placing the component will rotate it.  Furthermore, if hovering over another element in the view, the spacebar will cause the component to orient to the same direction. Pressing the spacebar again will then rotate the component 90 degrees from that direction.  Finally, if hovering over an intersection, the element will only rotate 45 degrees instead of 90.

In addition to rotating a component prior to placement, the spacebar can also be used to rotate or to flip elements (or multiple elements) that are already placed.  Using the spacebar to rotate after placing a component can be a little troublesome because the base of the rotation is the insertion point of the component, so rotating in this manner may require more moving and aligning.  The flipping works with any element that has a flip control (the two little blue arrows that appear when an element is selected).  For example, select a wall, or several walls, and use the spacebar to toggle the walls interior/exterior sides.

Another application of the spacebar is to use it in conjunction with elements that use the offset option.  While sketching an element with an offset option, the spacebar will toggle the direction of the offset.

Finally, when doing anything – from drawing a line to changing a dimension – the spacebar can also be used in place of the feet and inches symbol.  So, instead of typing 5’4”, for example, simply type 5 4 and the result will be the same.  Using the dash key also works in the same manner as the space bar (5-4), which is useful because the dash is one of the keys on the number pad.  Please note, however, that the dash approach only works between feet and inches; a space is still required between whole and fractional inches, i.e. 5-4 ½ works, but 5-4-1/2 does not.

Revit Basics – Snaps

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This is an excerpt from an article that I wrote for AUGIWorld.

If a new Revit user is an AutoCAD veteran, one piece of good news is that the object snaps are greatly similar from one program to the other; it is just a matter learning what snap options are available in Revit, where to find all of them, and when they are particularly useful.  Tutorial literature likely points out the snaps options dialog box, found on the Manage Tab, which provides much useful information.  What a newer user might not know, or might forget to use, are the two-key shortcuts for snaps and the snaps overrides.  To use a particular snap, type its two-key shortcut while drawing an element (the shortcuts are shown in parentheses in the aforementioned dialog box).  For a particularly useful application of the two-key snap shortcuts, try using the snap centers shortcut to rotate about the base point of an element with a very large radius.  To temporarily turn snaps on or off, right click while drawing an element to find the snaps override options.  These tools are well known for users of other programs, but are forgotten when working in Revit.

Revit Database Link

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For those of you out there who have been using the Revit Data Base Link from the subscription site will be happy to know they have posted a new version for Revit 2012. Please log on to YOUR subscription site and download the new version.

The new release is intended to address the following issues:
  1. The following error when attempting to export:    Error: Attempted to read or write protected memory. This is often an indication that other memory is corrupt. 
  2. A blank RoomFromToAssociations table caused by project phasing.

 

 

Revit Basics – The Filter Button

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This is an excerpt from an article that I wrote for AUGIWorld.

When multiple items are selected, it is a common practice to use the Filter option that appears on the Ribbon’s Modify/Multi-Select Contextual Tab only when multiple items are selected.

Alternately, one might use a keyboard shortcut such as “FF” to activate the filter.  One may have even noticed that there is a tiny filter symbol at the bottom right of the screen, on the Status Bar.  What is lesser known is that clicking on this symbol will activate the filter command.

Linework Tool and Underlay

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This is a tip that I have been showing for years and I was reminded of it today while training a student.  The tip involves the use of the Linework tool along with underlay while in plan views.  This student was asking how to display the roof overhang in plan and wondered if it could be displayed as hidden lines.  The first, most CAD-like, response was to simply draw hidden lines where these elements were.   I explained how that is an option, but what happens when the roof changes or moves?  Now someone would have to go back and adjust the lines to match the changes.  If Revit could do that automatically, that would be a better solution.  My suggestion was to turn on the underlay so that the elements in question could be seen.

To do this, set the underlay to the current level, and the set the plan orientation to Reflected Ceiling Plan.  Then, on the Modify tab in the View panel, select the Linework command and set the line style to <Overhead>.  Now select the lines that need to be displayed in the plan.  Once that is done go back and change the Underlay to None and the lines that had been changed via the Linework tool will still be displayed.

 

 

If you decide later that the lines are no longer needed DO NOT DELETE the lines, this will delete the physical element.  Instead, again use the Linework took and with the linestyle <By Category> and select the lines.  The lines will go back to their default display, or not displayed if the were changed as an underlay.