About the Author

Eric Wing lives in Syracuse, New York, with his family. He is the BIM services manager for C&S Companies, which is a full service engineering/architectural firm headquartered in Syracuse. Eric’s degree is in construction; he earned it from Delhi University. In addition to writing this book, Eric has written Autodesk® Revit® Architecture: No Experienced Required 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 and Revit Structure Fundamentals 2010, and he co-wrote Mastering Revit Structure 2009. Eric is also the author of the Learning Revit video tutorial, the Custom Stairs video tutorial, and the Revit Families video tutorial. Eric is an adjunct instructor at Clarkson University, teaching BIM and IPD. In addition to his writing, Eric is a globally recognized speaker, consultant, and trainer. He is also a bass player in a Syracuse band called Jemba when time permits.

Introduction

Why do you need a big, thick technical book? Well, it’s true that the best way to learn is to just do it. But do you ever just do it and not fully get it? Books can serve either as the basis for learning or as supplements for your learning. No one book will teach you everything you need to know about a specific application, but you may never learn everything you need to know about an application without a book. When written appropriately, the book you purchase is there to start you off using good practices. If you have already begun, the book serves as a desktop reference. And last, a book can serve as confirmation that you’re approaching an application in the correct manner.

The Autodesk® Revit® Architecture tool is no exception. Although this application has proven to be easy to learn and easy to get a feel for, it’s still a deep, sometimes complicated application with many procedures that require step-by-step instructions to fully understand. And to be honest, some of these features just don’t work in the real world.

This book has been written by an author who is “in the trenches” using Revit Architecture, Revit Structure, and Revit MEP simultaneously every day. So, yes, you could figure out all this information on your own, but sometimes it’s nice to let someone else figure it out for you and pass that knowledge along to you in the form of a book.

Instead of lengthy paragraphs of text that ultimately lead to non-tangible information, this book addresses each subject in a step-by-step approach with more than 1,000 pictures and screenshots to make sure you’re on track.

Also, this book also uses an actual project and relates to real-world scenarios. As you’re following the step-by-step procedures in the book, you’ll be encouraged to try many techniques on your own and also to embellish the procedure to fit your own needs. If you would rather stick to the instructions, this book allows you to do so as well. The book’s project uses a five-story office building with a link (corridor) to a three-story multiuse building. The book’s website provides the model (plus additional families) you’ll need for each chapter so that you can open the book, jump to your chapter of interest, and learn something! In addition, this book is flexible enough that you can substitute your own project if you don’t want to follow the book’s examples.

Although it has around 1,000 pages, this book doesn’t waste time and space with examples of other people’s triumphs, but is designed for you to open it to any random page and learn something.

Who Should Read This Book

Revit Architecture 2014: No Experience Required. Does that mean that if you’ve used Revit, you won’t find this book advanced enough? No. This book is designed for anyone who wishes to learn more about Revit Architecture. The book is also intended for architects, architectural designers, and anyone who is using a CAD-based platform to produce architectural-based drawings.

What You Need

BIM can be tough on hardware. This book recommends that you have 8 GB of RAM with a 4 GHz processor. You should also be running at least 1 GB for your graphics. If you’re under these specifications (within reason), in some cases you’ll be fine. Just realize, however, that when your model is loaded, your system may start slowing down and crashing.

All Revit applications are intended to run on a PC-based system. Windows 7 is recommended.

What Is Covered in This Book

Revit Architecture 2014: No Experience Required covers the full gamut of using the software and is organized as follows:

Included with the book are Revit Architecture project files that follow along with the instructions. Each chapter has one or more actual Revit models that have been completed up to the point of the instruction in that specific chapter—or even that specific section of the chapter—to allow you to jump in at any moment. Also included with the book are custom families that accompany the lessons as well as additional families and projects that you can download as a bonus. You can download the accompanying files at www.sybex.com/go/revit2014ner.

Contacting the Author

As you’re reading along, please feel free to contact me at ewing@cscos.com, and I will be glad to answer any question you have. In addition, if you would like me to come speak or train at your firm, feel free to give me a shout. You can visit my company’s website at www.cscos.com and click the BIM link. You can also go directly to www.bimnation.com

Sybex strives to keep you supplied with the latest tools and information you need for your work. Please check the website at www.sybex.com/go/revit2014ner, where we’ll post additional content and updates that supplement this book if the need arises. Enter Revit architecture in the Search box (or type the book’s ISBN—9781118542743), and click Go to get to the book’s update page.

Chapter 1

The Autodesk Revit World

I’m sure you’ve seen plenty of presentations on how wonderful and versatile this 3D Autodesk® Revit® Architecture revolution is. You may be thinking, “This all seems too complicated for what I do. Why do I need 3D anyway?”

The answer is: you don’t need 3D. What do you do to get a job out—that is, after the presentation when you’re awarded the project? First, you redraw the plans. Next comes the detail round-up game we have all come to love: pull the specs together and then plot. This is a simple process that works.

Well, it worked until 3D showed up. Now we have no real clue where things come from, drawings don’t look very good, and getting a drawing out the door takes three times as long.

That’s the perception, anyway. I’ve certainly seen all of the above, but I’ve also seen some incredibly coordinated sets of drawings with almost textbook adherence to standards and graphics. Revit can go both ways—it depends on you to make it go the right way.

One other buzzword I’m sure you’ve heard about is Building Information Modeling (BIM). Although they say BIM is a process, not an application, I don’t fully buy into that position. Right now, you’re on the first page of BIM. BIM starts with Revit. If you understand Revit, you’ll understand Building Information Modeling.

This chapter will dive into the Revit graphical user interface (GUI) and tackle the three topics that make Revit … well, Revit.

• The Revit interface
• The Project Browser
• File types and families

The Revit Interface

Toto, we aren’t in CAD anymore!

If you just bought this book, then welcome to the Revit world. In Revit, the vast majority of the processes you encounter are in a flat 2D platform. Instead of drafting, you’re placing components into a model. Yes, these components have a so-called third dimension to them, but a logical methodology drives the process. If you need to see the model in 3D, it’s simply a click away. That being said, remember this: there is a big difference between 3D drafting and modeling.

With that preamble behind us, let’s get on with it.

First of all, Revit has no command prompt and no crosshairs. Stop! Don’t go away just yet. You’ll get used to it, I promise. Unlike most CAD applications, Revit is heavily pared down, so to speak. It’s this way for a reason. Revit was designed for architects and engineers. You don’t need every command that a mechanical engineer would need. An electrical engineer wouldn’t need the functionality that an architect would require. In the new Revit 2014 interface, the functionality I just mentioned is available, but it’s tucked away so as not to interfere with your architectural pursuits.

NOTE The preceding paragraph is the longest one of the book. This book is designed to cut to the chase and show you how to use Revit Architecture in a step-by-step fashion without having to read through paragraph after paragraph just to find the answer you’re seeking. Datasets are provided on the book’s accompanying website (www.sybex.com/go/revit2014ner), but you can also use your own model as you go through the book. If you don’t wish to read this book cover to cover, don’t! Although I recommend going from front to back, you can use the book as a desk reference by jumping to a desired topic. The datasets will be added in phases to accommodate this type of usage. Either way, get ready to learn Revit!

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You’ll find that, as you get comfortable with Revit, there are many, many choices and options behind each command.

Let’s get started:

Figure 1-1: You can launch Revit Architecture from the desktop icon.

Figure 1-2: You can also launch Revit Architecture using the Windows Start menu (this illustration shows the Windows 7 operating system).

Figure 1-3: The Recent Files window lists any recent projects or families on which you’ve worked.

Figure 1-4: You can create a new model or browse for an existing one.

Figure 1-5: The New Project dialog allows you to start a new project using a preexisting template file, or you can create a new template file.

Now that the task of physically opening the application is out of the way, we can delve into Revit. Revit has a certain feel that Autodesk® AutoCAD® converts, or MicroStation converts, will need to grasp. At first, if you’re already a CAD user, you’ll notice many differences between Revit and CAD. Some of these differences may be off-putting, while others will make you say, “I wish CAD did that.” Either way, you’ll have to adjust to a new workflow.

The Revit Workflow

This new workflow may be easy for some to adopt, whereas others will find it excruciatingly foreign. (To be honest, I found the latter to be the case at first.) Either way, it’s a simple concept. You just need to slow down a bit from your CAD habits. If you’re new to the entire modeling/drafting notion, and you feel you’re going too slowly, don’t worry. You do a lot with each click of the mouse.

Executing a command in Revit is a three-step process:

Figure 1-6: The Ribbon is the backbone of Revit.

Figure 1-7: The Options bar allows you to have additional choices for the current command.

Using Revit isn’t always as easy as this, but just keep this basic three-step process in mind and you’ll be OK:

Thus, on the surface Revit appears to offer a fraction of the choices and functionality that are offered by AutoCAD (or any drafting program, for that matter). This is true in a way. Revit does offer fewer choices to start a command, but the choices that Revit does offer are much more robust and powerful.

Revit keeps its functionality focused on designing and constructing buildings. Revit gets its robust performance from the dynamic capabilities of the application during the placement of the items and the functionality of the objects after you place them in the model. You know what they say: never judge a book by its cover—unless, of course, it’s the book you’re reading right now.

Let’s keep going with the main focus of the Revit interface: the Ribbon. You’ll be leaning on the Ribbon extensively in Revit.

Using the Ribbon

You’ll use the Ribbon for the majority of the commands you execute in Revit. As you can see, you have little choice but to do so. However, this is good because it narrows your attention to what is right in front of you.

When you click an icon on the Ribbon, Revit will react to that icon with a new tab, giving you the specific additional commands and options you need. Revit also keeps the existing tabs that can help you in the current command, as shown in Figure 1-8. Again, the focus is on keeping your eyes in one place.

In this book, I’ll throw quite a few new terms at you, but you’ll get familiar with them quickly. We just discussed the Ribbon, but mostly you’ll be directed to choose a tab in the Ribbon and to find a panel on that tab.

To keep the example familiar, when you select the Wall button, your instructions will read: “On the Build panel of the Architecture tab, click the Wall button.”

Figure 1-8: The Ribbon breakdown showing the panels

What’s That Toolbar above the Ribbon?

This toolbar is called the Quick Access toolbar. I’m sure you’ve seen a similar toolbar in other applications. It comes filled with some popular commands. If you want to add commands to this toolbar, simply right-click any icon and select Add To Quick Access Toolbar. To the left of this toolbar is the Revit Application Icon. Clicking this icon gives you access to more Revit functions that will be covered later in the book. One great icon that I like to have docked on the Quick Access toolbar is the Select Objects (or Modify) icon. I like to add this icon as shown in the following graphic.

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Now that you can see how the Ribbon and the tabs flow together, let’s look at another feature in the Ribbon panels that allows you to reach beyond the immediate Revit interface.

The Properties Interface

When you click the Wall button, a new set of commands appears on the Ribbon. This new set of commands combines the basic Modify commands with a tab specific to your immediate process. In this case, that process is adding a wall.

You’ll also notice that the Properties dialog near the left of the screen changes, as shown in Figure 1-9. The Properties dialog shows a picture of the wall you’re about to place. If you click this picture, Revit displays all the walls that are available in the model. This display is called the Type Selector drop-down (see Figure 1-10).

Figure 1-9: Click the Properties button to display the Properties dialog. Typically, the dialog is shown by default.

The objective of the next exercise is to start placing walls into the model:

Figure 1-10: The Properties dialog gives you access to many variables associated with the item you’re adding to the model.

Element Properties

There are two different sets of properties in Revit: instance properties and type properties. Instance properties are available immediately in the Properties dialog when you place or select an item. If you make a change to an element property, the only items that are affected in the model are the items you’ve selected.

The Properties Dialog

As just mentioned, the Properties dialog displays the instance properties of the item you’ve selected. If no item is selected, this dialog displays the properties of the current view in which you happen to be.

New to Revit 2014, you have the ability to combine the Properties dialog with the adjacent dialog, which is called the Project Browser (we’ll examine the Project Browser shortly). Simply click the top of the Properties dialog, as shown in Figure 1-11, and drag it onto the Project Browser. Once you do this, you’ll see a tab that contains the properties and a tab that contains the Project Browser (also shown in Figure 1-11).

Figure 1-11: Dragging the Properties dialog onto the Project Browser

Let’s take a closer look at the two categories of element properties in Revit.

Instance Properties

The items that you can edit immediately are called parameters or instance properties. These parameters change only the object being added to the model at this time. Also, if you select an item that has already been placed in the model, the parameters you see immediately in the Instance Properties dialog change only that item you’ve selected. This makes sense—not all items are built equally in the real world. Figure 1-12 illustrates the instance properties of a typical wall.

Type Properties

Typeproperties (see Figure 1-13), when edited, alter every item of that type in the entire model. To access the type properties, click the Edit Type button in the Properties dialog, as Figure 1-14 shows.

Figure 1-12: The instance properties change only the currently placed item or the currently selected item.

Figure 1-13: The type properties, when modified, alter every occurrence of this specific wall in the entire model.

Figure 1-14: The Edit Type button allows you to access the type properties.

At this point, you have two choices. You can either make a new wall type (leaving this specific wall unmodified) by clicking the Duplicate button at upper right in the dialog, or you can start editing the wall’s type properties, as shown in Figure 1-15.

Figure 1-15: The type properties modify the wall system’s global settings. Click the Preview button at the bottom of the dialog to see the image that is displayed.

WARNING I can’t stress enough that, if you start modifying type properties without duplicating the type, you need to do so in a very deliberate manner. You can easily affect the model in unintended ways. We’ll discuss the specifics of all the wall’s type properties in Chapter 16, “Advanced Wall Topics.”

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Now that you’ve gained experience with the Type Properties dialog, it’s time to go back and study the Options bar as it pertains to placing a wall:

Figure 1-16: By selecting Finish Face: Exterior, you know the wall will be dimensioned from the outside finish.

Figure 1-17: You can draw any shape you need.

Get used to studying the Ribbon and the Options bar—they will be your crutch as you start using Revit! Of course, at some point you need to begin placing items physically in the model. This is where the view window comes into play.

The View Window

To put it simply, “the big white area where the objects go” is the view window. As a result of your actions, this area will become populated with your model. Notice that the background is white—this is because the sheets you plot on are white. In Revit, what you see is what you get … literally. Line weights in Revit are driven by the object, not by the layer. In Revit, you aren’t counting on color #5, which is blue, for example, to be a specific line width when you plot. You can immediately see the thickness that all your “lines” will be before you plot (see Figure 1-18). What a novel idea.

Figure 1-18: The view window collects the results of your actions.

WARNING Metric users should not type in mm or other metric abbreviations when entering amounts suggested in the exercises. Revit won’t accept such abbreviations. Simply enter the number provided within the parentheses.

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To continue placing some walls in the model, keep going with the exercise. (If you haven’t been following along, you can start by clicking the Wall button on the Architecture tab. In the Properties dialog box, select Exterior - Brick and CMU on MTL. Stud. Make sure the wall is justified to the finish face exterior.) You may now proceed:

Figure 1-19: The procedure for drawing a wall in Revit Architecture

Figure 1-20: How Revit Architecture works is evident in this procedure.

Do your walls look like Figure 1-21? If not, try it again. You need to be comfortable with this procedure (as much as possible).

Figure 1-21: Working with Revit starts with the ability to work with the view window and learn the quirks and feel of the interface.

To get used to the Revit flow, always remember these three steps:

If you start a command and then focus immediately on the view, you’ll be sitting there wondering what to do next. Don’t forget to check your Options bar and the appropriate Ribbon tab.

Let’s keep going and close this building by using a few familiar commands. If you’ve never drafted on a computer before, don’t worry. These commands are simple. The easiest but most important topic is how to select an object.

Object Selection

Revit has a few similarities to AutoCAD and MicroStation. One of those similarities is the ability to perform simple object selection and to execute common modify commands. For this example, you’ll mirror the two 16′–0″ (4800mm) L-shaped walls to the bottom of the building:

Figure 1-22: Using a crossing window to select two walls

There are two ways to select an object: by using a crossing window or by using a box. Each approach plays an important role in how you select items in a model.

Crossing Windows

A crossing window is an object-selection method in which you select objects by placing a window that crosses through the objects. A crossing window always starts from the right and ends to the left. When you place a crossing window, it’s represented by a dashed-line composition (as you saw in Figure 1-22).

Boxes

With a box object-selection method, you select only items that are 100 percent inside the window you place. This method is useful when you want to select specific items while passing through larger objects that you may not want in the selection set. A box always starts from the left and works to the right. The line type for a selection window is a continuous line (see Figure 1-23).

Figure 1-23: To select only objects that are surrounded by the window, use a box. This will leave out any item that may be partially within the box.

Now that you have experience selecting items, you can execute some basic modify commands. Let’s begin with mirroring, one of the most popular modify commands.

Modifying and Mirroring

Revit Architecture allows you either to select the item first and then execute the command or to start the command and then select the objects to be modified. This is true for most action items and is certainly true for every command on the Modify toolbar. Try it:

Figure 1-24: The Ribbon adds the appropriate commands.

Figure 1-25: There are options you must choose for every command in Revit.

Figure 1-26: Revit has snaps similar to most CAD applications. In Revit, you’ll only get snaps if you choose the draw icon from the Options bar during a command.

Figure 1-27: Mirroring these walls involves: (1) picking the midpoint of the vertical wall, and (2) picking a horizontal point along the plane.

Figure 1-28: Your building should look like this illustration.

Now that you have some experience mirroring items, it’s time to start adding components to your model by utilizing the items that you placed earlier. If you’re having trouble following the process, retry these first few procedures. Rome wasn’t built in a day. (Well, perhaps if they’d had Revit, it would have sped things up!) You want your first few walls to look like Figure 1-28.

Building on Existing Geometry

You have some geometry with which to work, and you have some objects placed in your model. Now Revit starts to come alive. The benefits of using Building Information Modeling (BIM) will become apparent quickly, as explained later in this chapter. For example, because Revit knows that walls are walls, you can add identical geometry to the model by simply selecting an item and telling Revit to create a similar item.

Suppose you want a radial wall of the same exact type as the other walls in the model. Perform the following steps:

Figure 1-29: You can select any item in Revit and create a similar object by right-clicking and selecting Create Similar.

NOTE When you right-click an item, you can choose to repeat the last command. You can now also select all items that are only in the current view.

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Figure 1-30: Just because you started the command from the view window doesn’t mean you can ignore your options.

Figure 1-31: Select the top corner of the wall to start your new radial wall.

Figure 1-32: The completed exterior walls should look like this illustration.

Just because you’ve placed a wall in the model doesn’t mean the wall looks the way you would like it to appear. In Revit, you can do a lot with view control and how objects are displayed.

View Control and Object Display