Ceilings & Ceiling Plans

Bellow are some notes/instructions sent to our Revt Arch 2010 users. I thought I'd post for the benefit of others.

Ceilings:

Revit MEP is able to attach fixtures to our ceiling elements. They are hosted families so this means if the ceiling moves up or down the fixtures go with it. It also means if the ceiling moves enough that the tolerances in the settings for the duct work and any other attaching elements in Revit MEP, that the engineer would be warned that modifications to the system were needed. This underscores the importance of ensuring that the files we deliver maintain the same file name so it does not require re-linking or reloading on their end. It also means we should have ceilings in place even as placeholders before sharing the model so that engineers have something to which to attach. I would be concerned that if we deleted a ceiling that on their end the fixture may disappear if there is nothing to attach to (equivalent to our doors and windows disappearing if the hosted wall is removed). Although I have been informed that this has been fixed and the hosted elements simply become orphaned now in Revit MEP.  Best practice would be to edit ceilings whenever possible instead of deleting and creating new ones to maintain that relationship when linked into Revit MEP.  One thingto keep in mind, MEP's fixtures do not cut the ceilings, therefore there will be no "lights" when rendering.

Ceiling Plans:

When inserting a 2D CAD Link into ceiling plan (i.e. an electrical DWG to verify location of light fixtures), choosing the "current view only" checkbox will ensure the CAD file is visible in the ceiling plan. Otherwise it places it at a zero elevation on the current level (i.e. First Floor for First Floor Ceiling Plan) or of any level of your choosing below the current level (worthless for ceiling views unless of course the CAD file is 3D and the fixtures are at the correct location). The problem is that for ceiling plans the cut plane is typically up at 7'6 and looking in the other direction so you will get warnings notifying you that the element you have just created (the CAD link) is not visible. In order to see the CAD file you just linked into the project, you will have to go to another view, select the CAD link, and change its elevation (to something higher that the cut plane - e.g. 8'). Or you could tinker around with the view range to see it, move it and/or make verifications/modification, and then fix the view range back but this is more complex. Easiest to insert into "current view only" giving the CAD link no "Z" axis elevation but rather causing it to be visible in the view despite any changes to the view range.

Revit's Warning System

If you have used Revit for any length of time, no doubt you have experienced its "Error Handling" features.  Revit has several built-in tools built that help ensure quality models. These tools are becoming increasingly important as we are seeing more and more BIM deliverable requirements that include "written reports" from the model.  One of those tools is the ever present Warning System in Revit’s Error Handling. If your modeling procedures break Revit’s basic rules, you will receive errors or warnings.

Revit Yeilds two types of errors: Those that can be ignored (doesn’t mean they should) and those that cannot.

Revit also issues warning for things that can cause coordination problems in the model (i.e. placing a wall that intersects a door or room numbers with duplicate values). The warning message displays instantly in the bottom right hand corner of the application.

In the Warning dialog box, you can select the “expand warning dialog” button for more information about the warning. You can just keep on working (typically not recommended) and the warning disappears from screen (although it is still in the project). It is important that as you are modeling you understand what is happening in the model to avoid frustration later. Also long lists of warnings in the project are only going to slow down performance of the model.

When expanding the warning, from the warning popup, the dialog box will only display the associated elements. From this dialog box, you can select one of the offending elements to highlight it in the model.

You can also review the warning later by selecting the element and choosing “Show Related Warnings”. This displays the same dialog box as choosing “expand warning dialog” from above.

You can also View any warnings in the project at any time by selecting “warnings” in the “Inquiry” section from the Modify tab.

Once again it produces a very familiar dialog box but this time includes all warnings in the model.

Clicking “show” helps you locate and view the element in the model. Clicking the show button will yield the following message (until you select “Do not show me this message again”):

Continuing to click “show” will cause in Revit to cycle through open views and attempt to display the element. When all open views have been displayed, Revit will offer to open additional views.

Occasionally you may have a warning that doesn’t display in any view. You may even receive a message stating “No good view can be found”.

If the “more info” button is enabled it is always a good idea to review the information. Note that the “Delete Checked” button will delete the actual element from the model (not just the warning). But this is an handy tool for the error that you have sought to resolve only to receive the “no good view can be found” message.

And finally the export button can be used to create and HTML report as part of the Quality Control measures for each project.

Split Face & Paint Tools

See below for some of my notes from a recent training session I held regarding using Split face in combination with the Paint tool. I have found these tools to be very handy once you learn the rules of engagement.
________________________________________________________________________

Split Face and Paint Tools are available from the edit face section on the Modify tab. The Split face tool enables you to separate a region of a model elements face. While the Paint tool enables material overrides to be applied to a model element face or split region.

Best practice is to use these tools as embellishments to model elements. When possible, the family type should be modified to use the correct material. The Split Face and Paint tools may be used when it is not logical workflow to create additional types.

Examples:
• Applying a different paint color for an interior rendering.
• Changes in floor pattern. Instead of creating two floors for carpeted and tiled areas you can define each area as a split face with different materials applied to them.
• To show hip/ridge flashing for a roof.
• In the preliminary design phase, you can also experiment by painting materials on different areas.

Split Face Tool:
1. Launching the Split Face tool and selecting a face will enter you into sketch mode on that face and allow you to sketch linework to define the split faces.
2. When you are finished completing a valid sketh simply click “Finish Split Face”.

3. A split face needs to completely divide the face or define a closed loop on the face (general rule: the sketch must create 2 separate regions). If the sketch is not valid, Revit will yield various frustrating warnings that cannot be ignored.

Paint Tool:
1. The Paint tool will apply an override on model elements. This will allow you to override the material on a model element's face.
2. It does not change the structure or finish components of the element, it only overrides the surface.
3. When you launch the Paint tool, you select the material to apply in the Selector pull down, and then you select the face on a model element to apply it to.

4. The face will highlight before selecting. You can apply it to walls, roofs, masses, families, and floors.
5. You cannot apply the Paint tool to instances of a family but you can use it within the family editor.
6. You can reset the face to the default material by setting the type of material to By Category in the Type Selector.

Note: The Paint and Split Face tools are not active in perspective views.

Blog Launch

Announcing the BIM Stuff blog launch. I am a BIM/CAD Manager for an Architectural Firm. Much of my time is spent working through real world problems with Revit (and other) BIM software. Some solutions are simply odd little tidbits of information. I'll post the lessons learned through painstaking troubleshooting and hopefully it will help others when they struggle with the same problems/issues.

Why name the blog "Stuff"? Well, one day when troublehooting and attempting to locate project files a user reports to me that another user had named a folder "Old Stuff" - - - Classic. Despite all the training, standard operating procedures, etc. etc. someone decided to create a folder named "Old Stuff". And you guessed it - files were just dumped there and no one could truly differentiate the stuff from current, old, or really old. Well my friends, in like fashion - I intend to dump a bunch of stuff here (mainly BIM but likely IT and other software as well) and like a yard sale on a Saturday morning - you're are welcome to pick through it and take what you like - but it won't cost you anything. However, feel free to click on any ads that you may see on this site. It might just equate to some pennies earned at a yard sale.