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Thank you for choosing Autodesk Revit Architecture 2015 Essentials. This book is part of a family of premium-quality Sybex books, all of which are written by outstanding authors who combine practical experience with a gift for teaching.
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I hope you see all that reflected in these pages. I’d be very interested to hear your comments and get your feedback on how we’re doing. Feel free to let me know what you think about this or any other Sybex book by sending me an email at contactus@wiley.com. If you think you’ve found a technical error in this book, please visit http://sybex.custhelp.com. Customer feedback is critical to our efforts at Sybex.
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For Stacey, Lucely, and Nathaniel—can we take a vacation now please?
—Ryan
For Noelle, growing as I write!
—Tobias
For my family—for instilling in me the simple values of hard work and ambition.
—Tessa
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 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 FormIt. 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 FormIt, a conceptual design tool to aid in the early stages of a BIM workflow. In his free time, he likes to teach Revit Architecture, bicycle, paint, and play Tetris.
Tessa Reist Hathorn is a licensed architect and a LEED Accredited Professional with nine years of experience in architecture using 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 Austin Architects in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Tessa currently works as an architect in the Boulder, Colorado, area at Fänas Architecture and consults for local architecture firms.
Thank you to the countless individuals I had the opportunity to work with during my time at cbt Architects; I appreciate all the opportunities I had. A special thanks to Architexts, for the continual reminder as to what a unique environment an architecture firm can be. Next, I need to give a huge thankyou to Autodesk. I appreciate the inside view and access I have to Revit and the amazingly talented and dedicated people I have the opportunity to work with every day. I need to especially thank my supportive wife, Stacey, and children, who have always been there along the way of my often-demanding day and night activities. You give me the motivation to continuously push ahead. Next, Wiley, this book would never have been possible without your talented staff, editing, and support, so thank you. I can’t forget to thank Tobias and Tessa for their dedication to the last edition and showing fantastic teamwork again for 2015.
—Ryan
This has been an exciting year of transitions, changes, growth, and development. To that end I’d like to thank the people who helped me along the way: Rebecca Richkus for your three-dimensional mentorship. Steve Crotty and Trey Klein for your toasts, crawls, spikes, and darths. Erik Egbertson for the pre-class conversations and also for your darths. Erik Snell, for your inevitable pokes. Matt Campbell for your gnarly sketches and bright ideas. Tom Vollaro and Matt Jezyk for the right words at the right time. My parents and Tessa’s parents for the grand-parenting! Thanks to Wiley, for making this book happen. Thanks to Ryan, for the solid, ahead-of-schedule work. Thanks to Tessa, for everything still.
—Tobias
I’d first like to thank my daughter, Noelle, for teaching me the ability to multitask. I’m convinced being a working mom increases productivity at both work and home. Thank you to my co-writers: to Ryan, for always being one step ahead of the game, and Tobias, a continuous means of strength and support. Thanks also to our technical editor, Jon McFarland, for making us look better than we actually are. And an enormous thanks to our team at Wiley—Tom Cirtin, Pete Gaughan, Rebecca Anderson, and the rest of the editorial staff—for making everything behind the scenes happen.
—Tessa
It is an understatement to say that the AECO industry is going through the most profound transformation since Brunelleschi’s Dome of Santa Maria del Fiore, circa 1446.1 If we were a less risk-adverse group, we would call it a revolution. But alas, we are not. So we simply call it BIM—building information modeling.
BIM is our change initiative. As humans, we are hardwired to fight change; we are born with an instinct to defend ourselves...and our ideas. So change agents (including you, since you’ve picked up this book!) must think about practicing BIM holistically:
As a leadership member of the AGC/AIA BIMForum, I spend a lot of time thinking about the sociology and management science. As one of the Tocci Building Companies’ BIM champions since we formalized our implementation in 2006, I apply frameworks like Deming’s Cycle for continuous improvement (Plan, Do, Check, Act) and Tuckman’s Stages of Group Development (Forming, Storming, Norming).
I don’t spend enough time talking about the 10 percent that instigated the 90 percent and continues to fuel our shared change initiative. The technology is so foundational that it is simply assumed. Perhaps I continue to make the same mistake I did when I was first introduced to BIM. I started using Revit Architecture in 2004. The software was intuitive and logical. Being a novice, I thought that both BIM and Revit were the industry standard! But then and now, we still have work to do.
This is why I’m so grateful that Ryan, Tessa, and Tobias have authored Autodesk Revit Architecture 2015 Essentials. They are all dear partners in industry transformation. Yes, they are experienced, talented practitioners. But more than that, they are T-shaped2, thoughtful individuals who balance technology, process, and humans who need to master the picks and clicks.
Together, they have crafted a guide to Revit 2015 that takes new users from overwhelmed to informed and then project ready. Autodesk Revit Architecture 2015 Essentials isn’t just for beginners, though. I’ve been using Revit for a decade, and I’ll be diving into the pages that follow to refresh my skills. I’ve already flagged the section on conceptual massing; I’m not sure why I haven’t gotten the hang of which edge to grab!
Whether you’re just getting started or interested in polishing your Revit skills, I’m thrilled you’re embracing a practice of continuous learning with Autodesk Revit Architecture 2015 Essentials. Happy reading, clicking, and transforming!
@lhandler
www.lauraehandler.com
Welcome to Autodesk Revit Architecture 2015 Essentials, based on the Autodesk® Revit® Architecture 2015 release.
We have shaped the focus and content of this 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 the included 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 2015 includes a number of valuable new 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. 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’ll agree that we’ve succeeded.
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 follow, and the chapters are full of handy tips to make Revit Architecture easy to leverage. 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.
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 Revit and put those newfound skills to use in focused exercises.
As you are already aware, BIM is more than just a change in software; it’s a change in architectural workflow and culture. To take full advantage of both BIM and Revit Architecture in your office structure, you’ll have to make some changes to your practice. We’ve designed the book around an ideal, integrated workflow to aid in this transition.
For the 2015 version, Autodesk continues the two flavors of Revit: The first is a “one-box” solution that has Revit Architecture, Structure, and MEP inside the same application, referred to as Revit 2015. The second is the Revit Architecture software you may be used to using, referred to as Revit Architecture 2015. There are some small differences between the applications, but the majority of the user interface is the same.
We want you to be aware that we have based the book and the screen captures on Revit 2015. If you notice small differences, we apologize, but it would be very confusing to base the book on both applications noting all the small differences along the way. However, whichever version you have, you’ll still be able to follow the lessons and exercises in the chapters of this book with ease.
To leverage the full capacity of this book, we highly recommend you have a copy of Revit Architecture installed on a computer strong enough to handle it. To download the trial version of Revit (offered as Revit 2015), go to www.autodesk.com/revitarchitecture, where you’ll also find complete system requirements for running Revit Architecture.
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.
Revit Architecture is a building information modeling (BIM) application that has emerged as the forerunner in the design industry. Revit Architecture is as much a change in workflow (if you come from a 2D or CAD environment) as it is a change in software. In this book, we’ll focus on using real-world workflows and examples to guide you through learning the basics of Revit Architecture 2015—the essentials.
Autodesk Revit Architecture 2015 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, most of which 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 learning 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 software and Autodesk® SketchBook® Pro software to generate design sketches. Then 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, “Repeating Objects, Best Practices, and Quick Tips,” covers different approaches to repeat objects throughout your project along with optimizations, best practices, and tips to use along the way.
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:
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.
We welcome your feedback and comments. You can find the three of us on Facebook at Mastering Revit. We hope you enjoy the book.