Category Archives: Platform

Parameters for Sheet List

As many users know in Revit if there are multiple disciplines working in different models things can be scheduled from those linked models, sheets are no exception.  However most companies will have custom parameters to get the schedule to sort, group and filter a give way.  So I am asked a lot how can the consultant easily get this information?

The common answer I hear is to Transfer Project Information which will bring along the necessary project parameters needed to fill out for the prime to get their schedule set up accordingly.  The problem with this feature is that it will bring along all of the project parameters, most of which will not mean anything to a team outside the prime office.

My suggestion is to open the model of the project lead and find the schedule that is being utilized.  Simply Copy that schedule to the clipboard and paste it into your project.  This will bring only the project parameters utilized for the sheet index and leave all the unneeded values behind.

My personal favorite is an option where the project lead creates a blank project that only has the project parameters and has the appropriate schedule inside of it, along with instructions on how to use all of the values that are needed for the sheet index.  This way the consultants can use Transfer Project Information easily and only get what is needed and have a direction on how to utilize them.

 

Revit 2016 r2 Family Types Dialog

One thing that has changed in Revit 2016 R2 is the dialog box for Family Types while in the family editor.  It is following along with the rest of Revit and has allowed for Searching.  This is a welcomed feature for those families that have a bunch of parameters involved.  This dialog has also moved all of the buttons (i.e. New Type, Add Parameter) from the side of the dialog to the top and bottom.  Again a nice touch for viewing those long formula strings associated to parameters.

What has also changed is the fact that the dialog box doesn’t remember the size of the columns.  For instance if you make the formula column wider once the dialog is closed and reopened it goes back to the default column widths.  Not a good feature addition.

Revit 2016 R2 subtle change Sketch lines

While creating an extrusion in a family the other day I noticed a subtle change to the sketch lines.  In Revit 2016 or prior when a sketch line was selected there was a property “Visible” which could be turned ticked off, or a parameter could be added to the variable.  This did absolutely nothing for the sketch or the family.  In Revit 2016 R2 this property value has been removed.  Not a big deal but removing unnecessary values to objects does make things cleaner and less confusing.

Revit 2016 R2 reference planes

Currently I have been working on family editor training as well as creating content.  With the 2016 R2 update of the minor feature updates are the changes to reference planes inside the family editor.  The first and most noticeable update is the fact that the referenced plane when selected displays <click to name> on both ends of the reference plane.  Two things are new here, first you can select to rename, we no longer are forced to go into the properties to edit the name, second the name is displayed at both ends of the reference plane.

A subtle improvement that may go unnoticed is the fact the name displays differently depending on which view the reference plane has been drawn in.  For example if the reference plane in drawn in plan then the name will be parallel to reference plane in plan, if it had been drawn in an elevation then the name will be perpendicular to plane in plan.  Plus the names will be displayed on the back (or negative value) side of the reference plane depending on the direction they were drawn.

2016 R2 Reference Planes

Curved Grid Quirk

There have been numerous posts on curved grid lines and getting them to display as well as many forum responses, even Tim’s post on correcting the height of the curved grids.   I have known about this for years but today none of these tools were working for me to display one single curved grid in a project, this is where I had noticed a quirk with grids.  I was able to reproduce this situation in both Revit 2015 and 2014, I don’t have older versions installed so couldn’t test there.

If the 3D extents of a grid line is larger than 237° the grid will not display in any perpendicular section.

Grid_CurveQuirk

If the grid needs to be shown further in plan and still needs to be displayed in sections, then toggling the grid extents to 2D and rotating it around in a plan view is the answer.  However remember this doesn’t have to be done in all the different plan vies, using “Propagate Extents” will push this change into all the other plan views as well.