We know that working with Revit has its tricks. Luckily, we have a strong BIM Coordination department that has all the tips and troubleshooting for daily Revit users. And we want to share them with the AEC community.
At CorbisStudio we are 3D BIM services professionals. We are constantly working to improve our performance on BIM projects, Revit model management and construction projects to save time and get quality results.
That is the main reason why our BIM coordination department is always researching and preparing guides to make working revit more efficient. We believe in sharing what we know as much as we can to help improve the AEC industry’s working processes.
Here are some Revit tips, tricks, and troubleshooting for Revit daily users that will help to save some project real time when working with 3D BIM models.
#01 Cut profile tool
The Cut Profile tool is used to change the shape of elements that are cut in a view, such as roofs, floors, walls, and the layers of compound structures.
1. Open the 3D View where the detail is modeled. Select the Cut Profile tool.
2. Sketch the required lines. Bear in mind they should touch at least one boundary line (orange). The blue arrow indicates the center of the added area.
#02 Assembly tool
The Assemblies category of Revit elements supports construction workflows by letting you identify, classify, quantify, and document unique element combinations in the model.
You can combine any number of model elements to create an assembly, which can then be edited, tagged, scheduled, and filtered.
Each unique assembly is listed as a type in the Project Browser, from where instances of that type can be placed in the drawing either by dragging or by using the Create Instance option on the context menu.
1. Select the element from which you wish to create the assembly and click Create Assembly. Name it accordingly!
2. Select “Create Views” and click the views you need.
3. Choose the scale, views and create a sheet with the corresponding “title block”.
Please note: all views and sheets created will be located in Assemblies.
#03 In place families to .RFA
There is a workaround to turn a family in place to a .rfa one.
1. Select the “in place” family you want to modify and click Modify.
2. Select all the elements in the family and group all of them using the Create Group tool. Give the group a name.
3. Select the group you have just created without exiting the Edit mode. Go to the 'R' button - Save As - Library – Group. The file will be saved as a revit family (.rfa).
#04 Loading linked files
When opening a file, Revit triggers a warning stating it "can't load linked file due to errors".
Causes: A linked .dwg in the linked file was updated, but not updated or reloaded in the linked file. So when the host file goes to access it, it sees the linked file in a non-updated state and triggers the warning.
Solution: Open the linked Revit files and reload any linked .dwgs, save and close.
#05 Filters by series
They can be used in cases where we have a drawing series that shows only view references of one series. This is the case of Stairs drawings, Wet areas, Joinery Details, etc.
Changing the direction
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Go to the View Tab - Manage and select all view categories.
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Add the filter rule using a negative statement.
For example:
Does not begin with…
Does not contain…
Does not end with…
The idea is to hide all view references (also the ones from views that are not on sheets) except the ones that should be displayed in those drawings. In this way, if new references are added in the area, we won’t need to go back to all views to hide them manually or add any other filter.
#06 Section tag with an opaque background
This workaround will allow you to have an element into the section mark family that can be rotated automatically when the section reference is rotated.
A line will not be rotated and will be in the background (below masking region) and marking regions will not be automatically rotated.
The element that has both properties is text. For this reason, the line will be made for text characters.
1. Open the section head tag family in the family’s editor. Then go to the Annotate tab and select Text.
2. Write consecutive low dashes.
3. Adjust the text size to match the required line weight.
#07 Walls: clockwise convention
Walls are frequently asymmetrical: they have a “direction” and that does make a difference as to how you define them in your model.
The convention is that you should place walls in a clockwise direction. This will ensure that the outside layers of our walls are indeed on the outsides of the building.
Changing the direction
If it happens that the walls were drawn in the wrong direction, wall layers will be shown in the wrong order.
The way to fix it is to select the wall elements in question and click on the double blue arrow.
Keep in touch with us to get our latest updates and Revit tips. We can also provide support in Revit add-in solutions created by our Software Solutions department. As a small proof, you can download our Revit add-in to automate data extraction when working on 3D modeling.
Try CorbisSniffer for free. It is available for Autodesk Revit 2017, 2018 and 2019 version. 2020 version is on its way and will ve available for a small fee.
For any other BIM modeling services inquiry, please contact us at hello@corbisstudio.com or leave us a message here.
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