Table of Contents

Title Page

Dedication

Acknowledgments

About the Authors

Foreword

The Challenges
The Benefits
The Guru

Introduction

Who Should Read This Book
What Is Covered in This Book
The Essentials Series
Contacting the Authors

Chapter 1: Introducing the Autodesk Revit Architecture Interface

Understanding the User Interface
Creating a Simple Layout

Chapter 2: Walls and Curtain Walls

Understanding Wall Types and Parameters
Creating Wall Configurations
Modifying Wall Parameters
Editing and Resetting Wall Profiles
Cutting Openings
Creating Curtain Walls

Chapter 3: Floors, Roofs, and Ceilings

Creating Floors
Creating Roofs
Adding Ceilings

Chapter 4: Stairs, Ramps, and Railings

Creating a Generic Railing
Creating Stair Configurations
Designing Ramps

Chapter 5: Adding Families

Understanding the Model Hierarchy
Working with System Families
Working with Component Families
Working with In-Place Component Families

Chapter 6: Modifying Families

Modifying 3D Families
Family Categories
Modifying 2D Families
Family Tips and Best Practices

Chapter 7: Schematic Design

Importing a 2D Image
Designing with a 3D Sketch
Creating Revit Elements from a Mass

Chapter 8: Rooms and Color Fill Plans

Defining Rooms in Spaces
Generating Color Fill Room Plans

Chapter 9: Materials, Visualization, Rendering

Materials
Graphic Display Options
Rendering

Chapter 10: Worksharing

Worksharing Options
Configuring Worksharing
Saving to the Central Model
Worksharing Display Modes
Editing Requests
Worksharing Best Practices

Chapter 11: Details and Annotations

Creating Details
Annotating Your Details
Creating Legends

Chapter 12: Drawing Sets

Schedules
Placing Views on Sheets
Printing Documents

Chapter 13: Workflow and Site Modeling

Understanding a BIM Workflow
Staffing a BIM Project
Project Roles Using Revit Architecture
Modeling a Site
Performing Quality Control on Your Model: Keeping an Eye on File Size

Chapter 14: Repetition in Revit

Repeating Geometry
Utilize Tips and Shortcuts

Appendix: Autodesk Revit Architecture 2016 Certification

End User License Agreement

List of Illustrations

Chapter 1: Introducing the Autodesk Revit Architecture Interface

Figure 1.1 Revit Architecture user interface
Figure 1.2 Preview of docking the Properties palette to the left side
Figure 1.3 Project Browser search results for Kitchen
Figure 1.4 The View Control Bar for a 3D view
Figure 1.5 The Show Crop Region tool and the View Control Bar
Figure 1.6 Floor sketch lines before trimming
Figure 1.7 Floor sketch lines after the corners are trimmed
Figure 1.8 Walls placed inward from the floor edge
Figure 1.9 Highlighted walls of a chain selection
Figure 1.10 Tiled windows show the result of modifying the top constraints of the walls.
Figure 1.11 Use the Ctrl key to select multiple elements.
Figure 1.12 The interior walls
Figure 1.13 Results of using Trim/Extend Multiple Elements
Figure 1.14 Results of using the Align tool
Figure 1.15 The doors swing into the rooms
Figure 1.16 The windows for the rooms
Figure 1.17 The dimensions of the interior walls
Figure 1.18 Doors equally spaced relative to the walls
Figure 1.19 Windows equally spaced

Chapter 2: Walls and Curtain Walls

Figure 2.1 Masonry structural region of a basic wall
Figure 2.2 Compound walls consist of several layers of functional materials.
Figure 2.3 Wall sweep as part of a wall
Figure 2.4 Type properties of a stacked wall
Figure 2.5 Curtain wall type definitions
Figure 2.6 Generic configurations for walls
Figure 2.7 Results of the Tangent-Fillet Walls steps
Figure 2.8 Result of Pick Lines
Figure 2.9 Hosting doors in a wall
Figure 2.10 Modifying the wall length
Figure 2.11 Shape handles and instance parameters displayed in the Properties palette
Figure 2.12 Adding new sketch lines
Figure 2.13 Pasted updated wall type
Figure 2.14 Attach Top/Base result
Figure 2.15 Creating wall openings
Figure 2.16 Splitting walls, before and after
Figure 2.17 Swapping wall types, before and after
Figure 2.18 Completed curtain grid lines
Figure 2.19 Mullions and selecting the grid line
Figure 2.20 Final instance-based curtain wall
Figure 2.21 Curtain wall grids added
Figure 2.22 Curtain wall panels and mullions specified
Figure 2.23 Mullions selected on grid line
Figure 2.24 Curtain wall corner condition
Figure 2.25 Editing the wall profile
Figure 2.26 Curtain wall selected in wall
Figure 2.27 Curtain wall elevation view complete
Figure 2.28 Removed curtain wall grids and mullions
Figure 2.29 New grids and mullions
Figure 2.30 Finished mullions
Figure 2.31 Curtain wall door condition
Figure 2.32 Final curtain wall

Chapter 3: Floors, Roofs, and Ceilings

Figure 3.1 The finished floor by sketching
Figure 3.2 The finished floor created by picking walls
Figure 3.3 Modifying the floor sketch
Figure 3.4 The modified floor
Figure 3.5 New floor 1′-0′′ (300 mm) above Level 1
Figure 3.6 New floor at Level 1
Figure 3.7 Slope arrow parameters
Figure 3.8 Completed sloped floor
Figure 3.9 Adding split lines
Figure 3.10 Editing the shape handle
Figure 3.11 The finished depression
Figure 3.12 The finished opening
Figure 3.13 Completed openings of the same size and dimensions
Figure 3.14 Pasted geometry
Figure 3.15 Creating a multistory shaft
Figure 3.16 The finished multistory shaft
Figure 3.17 Roof sketch and slope properties
Figure 3.18 Adjusting the wall height
Figure 3.19 Exterior wall to revise
Figure 3.20 Completed roof by footprint
Figure 3.21 Selecting the roof face
Figure 3.22 Creating the arc
Figure 3.23 Attaching the roof
Figure 3.24 Extrusion roof too high
Figure 3.25 Completed roof by extrusion
Figure 3.26 Sloping the roof
Figure 3.27 Roof created from two slope arrows
Figure 3.28 Offsetting the roof sketch and defining slopes
Figure 3.29 Attaching the walls to the roof
Figure 3.30 Adjusting roof edges at tower
Figure 3.31 Completed tower roof
Figure 3.32 Completed roof
Figure 3.33 Revit Architecture outlines the boundary
Figure 3.34 Resulting automatic placed ceilings
Figure 3.35 Sketching the ceiling
Figure 3.36 A 2′ × 4′ (600 mm × 1200 mm) ceiling
Figure 3.37 Creating a GWB On Mtl. Stud ceiling
Figure 3.38 Assigning materials to a ceiling
Figure 3.39 Creating a bulkhead
Figure 3.40 Editing the boundary
Figure 3.41 Final section box location in 3D view
Figure 3.42 Placing lights
Figure 3.43 Rotated ceiling grid
Figure 3.44 Adding a slope arrow to the ceiling

Chapter 4: Stairs, Ramps, and Railings

Figure 4.1 The default railing: Handrail - Design
Figure 4.2 Railing type properties
Figure 4.3 Edit Rails dialog box
Figure 4.4 Baluster settings and completed railing
Figure 4.5 Risers remaining to finish stair
Figure 4.6 Component stair run with landing
Figure 4.7 Specifying the railing type
Figure 4.8 The resulting stair with railing
Figure 4.9 Second stair along wall
Figure 4.10 Completed second stair with landing
Figure 4.11 Sketch-based stair boundary line
Figure 4.12 New boundary and riser sketch lines
Figure 4.13 Updated boundary line location
Figure 4.14 Completed sketch-based stair
Figure 4.15 Revised landing sketch
Figure 4.16 Revised landing sketch
Figure 4.17 Complete stair with new landings
Figure 4.18 Multistory stair up to Level 5
Figure 4.19 Landing adjustment
Figure 4.20 Complete multistory stair
Figure 4.21 Complete multistory stair
Figure 4.22 Remove end with riser
Figure 4.23 Completed stair
Figure 4.24 First sketch and Tread/Stringer Offset
Figure 4.25 Second sketch and Tread/Stringer Offset
Figure 4.26 Railing before and after new host
Figure 4.27 Select the top rail
Figure 4.28 Updated top rail path
Figure 4.29 Split railing path sketch
Figure 4.30 Completed railing
Figure 4.31 Straight runs of ramps
Figure 4.32 Ramp runs with associated railings
Figure 4.33 The modified ramp in plan view with removed exterior boundary edges
Figure 4.34 Modified ramp with curved boundary
Figure 4.35 Completed ramp in 3D

Chapter 5: Adding Families

Figure 5.1 Object Styles Walls Line Color
Figure 5.2 Completed project, view, and element overrides
Figure 5.3 Selecting Wall Types to transfer between projects
Figure 5.4 Using Create Similar to place walls
Figure 5.5 Defining a profile's function
Figure 5.6 Selecting a family template
Figure 5.7 Viewing the family category and parameters
Figure 5.9 Saving a specific family out
Figure 5.10 Swapping to the new family type
Figure 5.11 Placing hosted components and deleting the wall
Figure 5.12 Placing unhosted components in a model
Figure 5.13 Adjusting an object's Level property
Figure 5.14 Face-based family on the roof
Figure 5.15 Face-based family after host deletion
Figure 5.16 Work stations and schedule
Figure 5.17 Family Already Exists dialog
Figure 5.18 Updated selection and schedule
Figure 5.19 Editing the Casework in-place family
Figure 5.20 Completing the in-place family
Figure 5.21 Content search results in Autodesk Seek

Chapter 6: Modifying Families

Figure 6.1 Using the Zoom In Region option
Figure 6.2 Using the Zoom Sheet Size option
Figure 6.3 Elevation at different scales
Figure 6.4 View Scale-To-Detail Level Correspondence settings
Figure 6.5 Coarse and Medium detail levels
Figure 6.6 Medium and Fine detail levels
Figure 6.7 Editing levels of detail for hardware
Figure 6.8 Set Detail Levels to Fine only.
Figure 6.9 Using Filter for selection
Figure 6.10 Window selection and filter
Figure 6.11 Cabinet appearances for detail levels
Figure 6.12 Editing the face-based family
Figure 6.13 Changing the family category
Figure 6.14 Chair location in project
Figure 6.15 Editing the origin of a family
Figure 6.16 Different-size desks
Figure 6.17 Reference Planes Defines Origin parameter
Figure 6.18 Elevation parameter available in project
Figure 6.19 Single versus two calculation points
Figure 6.20 Room calculation point
Figure 6.21 : Updated room calculation point
Figure 6.22 Flipping the door direction
Figure 6.23 Window plan and 3D view in the Family Editor
Figure 6.24 Visibility/Graphic Overrides for the view
Figure 6.25 Reference planes and dimension parameters
Figure 6.26 Adding a new reference plane and keeping it equally spaced
Figure 6.27 Completed frame/mullion extrusion
Figure 6.28 Editing the existing window frame
Figure 6.29 Modifying the window glazing
Figure 6.30 Initial nested family placement
Figure 6.31 Flip Work Plane, before and after
Figure 6.32 Lock door handle dimensions
Figure 6.33 Existing furniture tag
Figure 6.34 New furniture tag shape
Figure 6.35 Completed furniture tag
Figure 6.36 Adjusting the Visibility/Graphic Overrides properties of the view
Figure 6.37 The profile with parameters visible
Figure 6.38 New handrail profile
Figure 6.39 Selecting the profile for the railing
Figure 6.40 Selecting the new railing
Figure 6.41 Selecting and editing the break line
Figure 6.42 The masking region with all constraints displayed
Figure 6.43 Delete the existing jag lines in the masking region
Figure 6.44 Sketch new jag lines in the masking region boundary
Figure 6.45 Adding a new subcategory
Figure 6.46 Adding and dimensioning grid lines
Figure 6.47 Creating a visibility parameter
Figure 6.48 The Grid Visibility parameter in the Type Properties dialog box
Figure 6.49 Wall Closure options

Chapter 7: Schematic Design

Figure 7.1 A 2D sketch from Autodesk SketchBook Pro for iPad
Figure 7.2 The imported image. Note the location of the levels relative to the ground plane in the image.
Figure 7.3 The scaled image
Figure 7.4 A FormIt 3D sketch in FormIt Web
Figure 7.5 The FormIt group as a loaded mass family in Revit
Figure 7.6 Your Revit model with mass floors
Figure 7.7 The updated mass in the Conceptual Mass Editor
Figure 7.8 Mass floors are used to make real Revit floors
Figure 7.9 Place the solid walls by face
Figure 7.10 Create solid walls using the Wall By Face tool
Figure 7.11 Curtain systems added to the mass
Figure 7.12 Finished schematic design

Chapter 8: Rooms and Color Fill Plans

Figure 8.1 Customizing area and volume computations
Figure 8.2 Room references and interior fill in the Visibility/Graphics settings
Figure 8.3 Adding a room and a room tag
Figure 8.4 Room tag
Figure 8.5 Room tag with area
Figure 8.6 Moving the wall
Figure 8.7 Updated room space and tag
Figure 8.8 Adding rooms and tags
Figure 8.9 Tagging a large space
Figure 8.10 Adding room separation lines
Figure 8.11 Place rooms with unplaced room definitions.
Figure 8.12 Renaming rooms in a room schedule
Figure 8.13 Defining the color fill legend
Figure 8.14 Edit Color Scheme dialog
Figure 8.15 Resulting color fill
Figure 8.16 Updated color fill
Figure 8.17 Creating the building section
Figure 8.18 Resulting building section
Figure 8.19 Adding room tags with the Tag All Not Tagged tool
Figure 8.20 Room tags shown in section
Figure 8.21 Room colors in the section view match the plan colors

Chapter 9: Materials, Visualization, Rendering

Figure 9.1 Search results for Brick and the Graphics tab
Figure 9.2 The Appearance tab and the swap icon
Figure 9.3 The Asset Browser
Figure 9.4 The Graphics tab after step 6
Figure 9.5 Select the gray wall.
Figure 9.6 Duplicate a view from the Project Browser.
Figure 9.7 Hide the category in the view.
Figure 9.8 Elevation presentation view and GDO settings
Figure 9.9 3D Isometric with GDO effects
Figure 9.10 Selected wall and element overrides
Figure 9.11 Finished exploded view
Figure 9.12 Sun Settings dialog box
Figure 9.13 The finished rendering
Figure 9.14 A Ray Trace rendering after 15 seconds
Figure 9.15 Render In Cloud options

Chapter 10: Worksharing

Figure 10.1 Username setting in Options
Figure 10.2 The initial Worksharing dialog box
Figure 10.3 Worksets dialog box
Figure 10.4 File Save Options dialog
Figure 10.5 Save the central model
Figure 10.6 Creating the local file
Figure 10.7 Creating additional worksets
Figure 10.8 Workset Visibility setting
Figure 10.9 Element selection and filter
Figure 10.10 Selecting and assigning the Interior workset
Figure 10.11 Resetting the Visibility settings
Figure 10.12 Synchronize And Modify Settings
Figure 10.13 Relinquishing elements and worksets
Figure 10.14 Relinquished elements and worksets
Figure 10.15 UserB local file changes
Figure 10.16 UserA local file changes
Figure 10.17 Latest version of the central model
Figure 10.18 Closing worksets in the model
Figure 10.19 Worksets open and closed
Figure 10.20 Showing borrowed elements in the Worksets dialog box
Figure 10.21 Worksharing Display Settings options
Figure 10.22 Checkout Status tab
Figure 10.23 Owners tab
Figure 10.24 Worksets tab
Figure 10.25 Placing a request
Figure 10.26 Granting a request
Figure 10.27 Granted confirmation

Chapter 11: Details and Annotations

Figure 11.1 The Detail panel of the Annotate tab
Figure 11.2 The Detail Line toolset
Figure 11.3 Type Properties dialog box for a repeating detail
Figure 11.4 Modifying the insulation width in the Options Bar
Figure 11.5 The Edit Group panel
Figure 11.6 Before and after the Linework tool
Figure 11.7 The window sill detail before embellishment
Figure 11.8 Modifying the boundary of the filled region
Figure 11.9 The finished filled region
Figure 11.10 Adding a masking region
Figure 11.11 The completed sketch
Figure 11.12 Creating a blocking detail component
Figure 11.13 Inserting and placing the blocking
Figure 11.14 The sill detail with base
Figure 11.15 Adding flashing using detail lines
Figure 11.16 The grout detail component
Figure 11.17 The repeating detail's type properties
Figure 11.18 The finished window sill detail
Figure 11.19 The Revit Architecture annotation tools
Figure 11.20 Adding a dimension string
Figure 11.21 Modifying the text location
Figure 11.22 Dimensioning the wall location
Figure 11.23 Dimension type properties
Figure 11.24 Dimensioning the window sill
Figure 11.25 To change the dimension string value, change the location of the objects dimensioned by selecting the window.
Figure 11.26 Entering a value into a dimension string
Figure 11.27 The dimensioned detail
Figure 11.28 The tag fell outside of the crop window
Figure 11.29 Extending the annotation crop window
Figure 11.30 Removing the leader from the Window tag
Figure 11.31 Using the material tag
Figure 11.32 Adding an arrowhead to the tag
Figure 11.33 Adding text to the detail
Figure 11.34 Finishing the detail
Figure 11.35 Creating a legend
Figure 11.36 Select a legend component to access its properties in the Options Bar.
Figure 11.37 Add other annotations and detail components to embellish the wall-type section.

Chapter 12: Drawing Sets

Figure 12.1 The New Schedule dialog
Figure 12.2 Choosing the fields for the schedule
Figure 12.3 Filtering the window schedule
Figure 12.4 Setting the appearance for the schedule
Figure 12.5 The new window schedule
Figure 12.6 The new window schedule
Figure 12.7 Start a new schedule from the Project Browser
Figure 12.8 Filter out unnamed rooms
Figure 12.9 Room schedule
Figure 12.10 New row inserted
Figure 12.11 The finished room schedule
Figure 12.12 The updated room name in plan view
Figure 12.13 Create a filter for specific sheets
Figure 12.14 The filtered sheet list
Figure 12.15 Add sheets using a placeholder
Figure 12.16 The view placed on a sheet
Figure 12.17 Aligning views on a sheet
Figure 12.18 All three plan views on a sheet
Figure 12.19 The edited view tags
Figure 12.20 Adding lines to the sheet
Figure 12.21 Text to be adjusted in the sheet view
Figure 12.22 Activate the Basement view
Figure 12.23 Modifying the text box
Figure 12.24 Crop region grips
Figure 12.25 An L-shaped crop region
Figure 12.26 Finished enlarged plan
Figure 12.27 Place the schedules on sheet G000
Figure 12.28 The Print Range, Options, and Settings properties
Figure 12.29 Specify the sheet set
Figure 12.30 Print Setup dialog
Figure 12.31 Raster printing is required for some effects

Chapter 13: Workflow and Site Modeling

Figure 13.1 A CAD-based workflow
Figure 13.2 A BIM workflow
Figure 13.3 The integrated design model
Figure 13.4 Traditional and modern designs
Figure 13.5 A toposurface can host components such as trees, entourage, and vehicles.
Figure 13.6 A toposurface appears as a solid in a 3D view only if a section box is used.
Figure 13.7 Linked CAD file as seen in a 3D view
Figure 13.8 Select only the layers containing 3D contour information.
Figure 13.9 This section view illustrates how the building pad adjusts the extents of the topographic surface.
Figure 13.10 The Purge Unused dialog box
Figure 13.11 The Warnings dialog box
Figure 13.12 Exporting errors and warnings

Chapter 14: Repetition in Revit

Figure 14.1 Family Types parameters
Figure 14.2 Type B family instances
Figure 14.3 Type C family instances
Figure 14.4 Table layout and spacing
Figure 14.5 Overall group layout
Figure 14.6 3D view of revised layout
Figure 14.7 Newly created group type
Figure 14.8 Excluded group instances
Figure 14.9 Restore group instances
Figure 14.10 New Assembly dialog
Figure 14.11 Assembly match dialog
Figure 14.12 New Assembly Properties and Assembly Types
Figure 14.13 Create Assembly Views dialog
Figure 14.14 Assembly views on sheet
Figure 14.15 Groups converted to Revit links
Figure 14.16 Mirror Revit links
Figure 14.17 Purge Unused dialog
Figure 14.18 Reveal Constraints
Figure 14.19 Selection box
Figure 14.20 Selection filters
Figure 14.21 Double-click settings
Figure 14.22 Adding elevators to a shaft
Figure 14.23 Editing your keyboard shortcuts
Figure 14.24 Join geometry
Figure 14.25 Copying from a link

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About the Authors

Ryan Duell is a principal quality assurance analyst for Revit at Autodesk. He holds a bachelor's degree in design computing from Boston Architectural College. He started his career with cbt Architects in Boston, Massachusetts, working on a variety of project teams ranging from single-family residential to large commercial projects. Ryan transitioned into the BIM manager role, focusing on Autodesk^® AutoCAD^® Architecture and Autodesk^® Revit^® Architecture standards along with contributing assistance to project teams. At Autodesk, he spent several years in the product support organization providing Revit support for end users and enterprise accounts. In addition to working at Autodesk, Ryan teaches Revit at the Boston Architectural College and contributes to the Revit Clinic blog.

Tobias Hathorn is a licensed architect and user experience designer for Autodesk. He holds a bachelor's degree in architecture from Kansas State University. He started his career at BNIM Architects in Kansas City, Missouri, working on a one-million-square-foot IRS paper-processing center in Revit Architecture. After working as a liaison between BNIM and Moshe Safdie and Associates on the Kansas City Performing Arts Center, Tobias moved to Boston to join the Revit product team in Waltham, Massachusetts. Tobias has honed his knowledge and experience with Revit, especially the graphics and rendering features, over the past seven years in the quality assurance and user experience groups. He is currently working on Autodesk^® FormIt^®, a conceptual design tool to aid in the early stages of a BIM workflow. In his free time, he likes to bicycle and play Tetris.

Tessa Reist Hathorn is a licensed architect and a LEED Accredited Professional with 10 years of experience in architecture using Autodesk^® Revit^®. After starting her career at BNIM Architects working on historic renovations and the renowned Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, she eventually moved to Boston, Massachusetts, to work with Moshe Safdie and Associates, working on high-profile international projects, and later worked with Austin Architects in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Tessa currently works as an architect in Boulder, Colorado, at Fänas Architecture, specializing in custom homes.

Foreword

Congratulations on choosing Autodesk^® Revit^® software to be your BIM authoring tool! To prepare you for the journey of learning Revit, there are three major phases you should be aware of: the challenges, the benefits, and the guru. Let's look at each.

The Challenges

Revit is hard, but don't let it scare you. Revit is a dialogue-heavy database with a graphic front end. If you have no idea what the last sentence means, don't worry; you don't need to understand it! My point is, you will not understand everything inside of Revit. I have been using Revit for over seven years and I still don't understand everything!

The first phase in your learning process will be the challenges. You will get stuck. You will break things. This is all part of the process. Don't let it stop you. Many of the little tips, tricks, and techniques I publish were discovered when I was stuck or broke something. Welcome the challenges with open arms instead of frustration.

The Benefits

Once you have accepted and conquered the aforementioned challenges, you will enter the benefits phase. In the benefits phase you will begin to understand the power of Revit. You will begin creating construction documents faster than ever, your callouts will be automatically coordinated, and you'll have a greater understanding of your buildings than ever before.

This phase will make you smile. You are now beginning to see the “BIM light” at the end of the tunnel and it excites you! But don't stop there!

The Guru

The benefits phase has such a positive effect on you that you just have to expand your knowledge. If you can double your productivity with the essentials put forth in this book, imagine what you can do beyond the essentials!

The guru phase is the final phase on your journey. You'll know you are in the guru phase because you are no longer afraid of the program and it has become part of your workflow. You are reaping the benefits of BIM and forgot what life was like before it. Now, you want to push the program to its limits and become an elite user. Embrace this phase. You've earned it.

I began my Revit journey reading a book just like this one. Let this book be your guide and help you through the challenges. Keep it on your desk for reference as you reap the benefits. Finally, pass it on to a new user when you are a guru. Who knows, maybe you will be asked to write the foreword one day…

Jeffrey A. Pinheiro, AIA
“The Revit Kid”

BIM After Dark.com
@TheRevitKid

Introduction

Welcome to Autodesk Revit Architecture 2016 Essentials, based on the Autodesk^® Revit^® Architecture 2016 software release.

We continually shape the focus and content of our book from our diverse experience as Revit teachers, writers, users, support specialists, designers, and testers. We have tailored the content to what we think is the most valuable combination of topics and generated exercise files that target these topics. Because we teach Revit Architecture to first-time users, we feel this book's content is of most value to our students learning the program for the first time. This book should benefit new Revit Architecture users as well as long-term users who may not use every aspect of the program on a daily basis and could benefit from revisiting exercises as needed.

Revit Architecture 2016 includes several new valuable tools. While each tool may not be considered “essential,” we have made an effort to mix new tools, tips, and tricks, along with established features, into the context of the text and supporting exercises. For this book, many of the existing exercises have been revisited, and we've included new exercises meant to further your knowledge of Revit. The book follows real-life workflows and scenarios and is full of practical examples that explain how to leverage the tools within Revit Architecture. We hope you find that the topics in this book are beneficial and contribute to your continual Revit development.

Who Should Read This Book

This book is written for architects, designers, students, and anyone else who needs their first exposure to Revit Architecture or has had an initial introduction and wants a refresher on the program's core features and functionality. We've designed the book to follow real project workflows and processes to help make the tools easy to learn, and the chapters are full of handy tips to make it easy to leverage Revit Architecture. This book can also be used to help prepare for Autodesk's Certified User and Certified Professional exams. For more information on certification, please visit www.autodesk.com/certification.

What You Will Learn

This book is designed to help you grasp the basics of Revit Architecture using real-world examples and techniques you'll use in everyday design and documentation. We'll explain the Revit Architecture interface and help you find the tools you need as well as help you understand how the application is structured. From there we'll show you how to create and modify the primary components in a building design. We'll show you how to take a preliminary model and add layers of intelligence to help analyze and augment your designs. We'll demonstrate how to create robust and accurate documentation and then guide you through the construction process. Whenever possible, we will both teach you how to use Revit and show you how to put those newfound skills to use in focused exercises.

As you are already aware, building information modeling (BIM) involves more than just a change in software; it also represents a change in architectural workflow and culture. To take full advantage of both BIM and Revit Architecture in your office, you'll have to make some changes to how you work. We've designed the book around an ideal, integrated workflow to aid in this transition.

What You Will See

The screen captures and other graphics in this book are based on Revit 2016, which combines the architectural, structural, and MEP disciplines and tools into a single application. If you notice small differences based on the exact version of Revit you have installed, we apologize, but it would be very confusing to base the book on all versions of the application, noting all the small differences along the way. However, whichever version you have, you'll be able to follow the lessons and chapter exercises of this book with ease.

What You Need

To leverage the full capacity of this book, we highly recommend you have a copy of Revit installed on a computer strong enough to handle it. To download the trial version of Revit (offered as Revit 2016), go to www.autodesk.com/ revitarchitecture, where you'll also find complete system requirements for running the application.

From a software standpoint, the exercises in this book are designed to be lightweight and not computationally intensive. This way, you avoid long wait times to open and save files and perform certain tasks. That said, keep in mind that the Autodesk-recommended computer specs for Revit Architecture are far more than what you need to do the exercises in this book but are exactly what you need to work on a project using Revit Architecture.

What Is Covered in This Book

Revit Architecture is a building information modeling (BIM) application that has emerged as the forerunner in the design industry. In this book, we'll focus on using real-world workflows and examples to guide you through learning the basics of Revit Architecture 2016—the essentials.

Autodesk Revit Architecture 2016 Essentials is organized to provide you with the knowledge needed to gain experience in many different facets of the software. The book is broken down into the following 14 chapters, which also contain numerous exercise files:

Chapter 1, “Introducing the Autodesk Revit Architecture Interface,” introduces you to the user interface and gets you acquainted with the tools and technology—the workflow—behind the software.
Chapter 2, “Walls and Curtain Walls,” helps you build on that initial knowledge by establishing some of the basic building blocks in architecture: walls.
Chapter 3, “Floors, Roofs, and Ceilings,” introduces you to the other basic building blocks: floors, roofs, and ceilings. By the end of the first three chapters you will begin to see how easy it is to create the core elements of your building.
Chapter 4, “Stairs, Ramps, and Railings,” explains the basics of stairs, ramps, and railings. These core components are versatile, and using them can be a bit tricky, so we'll guide you through the process of creating several types of stairs and railings.
Chapter 5, “Adding Families,” shows you how to add a core element to your project: families. You use families to create most of your content, and Revit Architecture by default comes with a robust supply.
Chapter 6, “Modifying Families,” shows you how to take these families and modify them or create your own, making the library of your content limitless.
Chapter 7, “Schematic Design,” introduces you to conceptual design workflows using Autodesk^® FormIt^TM software and Autodesk^® Sketchbook^® Pro software to generate design sketches. Using those sketches, you can take the building design and model it in Revit Architecture.
Chapter 8, “Rooms and Color Fill Plans,” shows you how to add room elements to your spaces, assign information to them, and create colorful diagrams based on space, department, or any other variable you need.
Chapter 9, “Materials, Visualization, Rendering,” introduces you to visualization tools and techniques. You prepare presentation-quality views of your design in elevation, axonometric, and perspective views.
Chapter 10, “Worksharing,” discusses how to take your Revit Architecture file into a multiperson working environment. Worksharing allows several people within your office or project team to work on the same Revit Architecture file simultaneously.
Chapter 11, “Details and Annotations,” focuses on adding annotation to explain your designs. You'll learn how to add detail to your model in the form of dimensions, text, keynotes, and tags and how to embellish your 3D model with additional detailing.
Chapter 12, “Drawing Sets,” shows you how to take all this information and place those drawings and views onto sheets so they can be printed and distributed to your project stakeholders.
Chapter 13, “Workflow and Site Modeling,” provides the basics on how to take your office from a CAD environment to one that works with BIM. This chapter explores tools for every level of the project team—from the new staff to project managers. Understanding the process and workflow will be key to the success of your first Revit Architecture project.
Chapter 14, “Repetition in Revit,” covers the primary methods to repeat geometry in Revit. This chapter explores several approaches, focusing on the primary benefits of each tool. Wrapping up the chapter are some tips and shortcuts to utilize on your own projects.

The Essentials Series

The Essentials series from Sybex provides outstanding instruction for readers who are just beginning to develop their professional skills. Every Essentials book includes these features:

Skill-based instruction with chapters organized around projects rather than abstract concepts or subjects.
Digital files (via download) so you can work through the project tutorials yourself. Please check the book's web page at www.sybex.com/go/revit2016essentials for the companion downloads.

At the book's web page, you'll also find a special bonus file full of suggestions for additional exercises related to each chapter, so you can practice and extend your skills.

Contacting the Authors

We welcome your feedback and comments. You can find the three of us on Facebook at Mastering Revit. We hope you enjoy the book.

AUTODESK^® REVIT^® ARCHITECTURE 2016

ESSENTIALS

Acknowledgments

About the Authors

Foreword

The Challenges

The Benefits

The Guru

Introduction

Who Should Read This Book

What You Will Learn

What You Will See

What You Need

What Is Covered in This Book

The Essentials Series

Contacting the Authors