Details

Exercise 17–Detailing

In Revit, you can create construction details directly from the model you already have or you can draw them as separate and independent drawings and diagrams. They can include both live 3D elements and overlaid two-dimensional components. You can even import and reuse standard details from AutoCAD to leverage libraries already in use in your firm’s workflow.

Catch-up file completed to this point: 17_Medical Center_Details.rvt

Create a Detail

Let’s create a simple “typical” construction detail. It starts with a view.

1. On the View tab, click the Drafting View button.
2. In the New Drafting View dialog, name it “Head Detail” accept the scale and click OK (see Figure 17–1).

Figure 17–1 Create a new Drafting View

A Drafting View is a simple blank 2D canvas where you can draw any detail or diagram you like. It is not linked to the 3D model.

3. On the Annotate tab, click the Detail Component tool (see Figure 17–2).
4. On the Modify tab that appears, click the Load Family button.

Figure 17–2 Create a Detail Component

5. Browse to the: Detail Items\Div 09-Finishes\092000-Plaster and Gypsum Board\092900-Gypsum Board folder.
6. Select the Gypsum Wallboard-Section.rfa family and then click the Open button.
7. On the Properties palette, open the Type Selector

Like 3D families, 2D detail item families have types. Notice the various sizes (types) of drywall that were imported with this family.

8. Choose the 5/8" size (see Figure 17–3).

Figure 17–3 Choose a predefined size from the Type Selector

9. Click two points onscreen to create a vertical piece of drywall about 12" tall.
10. Zoom in on the item (see Figure 17–4).

Figure 17–4 Draw a vertical piece of drywall

11. Cancel the command and then copy the first one about 4" away from the first (see Figure 17–5).

Figure 17–5 Copy the drywall component

12. Using the 2D Component tool again, load additional components:
13. From the Detail Items\Div 05-Metals\054100-Structural Metal Studs Framing folder, load the C Studs-Section family.
14. Place an instance of the 3 1/4″ type between the two pieces of drywall.
15. From the Detail Items\Div 08-Openings\081100-Metal Doors and Frames\ 081113-Hollow Metal Doors and Frames folder, load the Double Rabbet Door Frames-Section family and place an instance of the 5 3/4″ type.
16. From the Detail Items\Div 01-General folder, load and place an instance of the Break Line family.
17. Move and adjust the positions as indicated in Figure 17–6

All the standard Revit modification tools can help you compose your detail. Use Move, Align and any other tools as required. Note in the figure that the break line component has shape handles to adjust its size.

Figure 17–6 Adjust component placement

18. On the Annotate tab, click the Detail line button (see Figure 17–7).

Figure 17–7 The Detail Line tool

19. On the Modify tab, choose: Wide Lines from the drop-down list (see Figure 17–8).

Figure 17–8 Choose the Wide Lines line style

20. Draw a line in each side of the drywall to represent the ceiling.
21. On the Annotate tab, click the Insulation tool (see Figure 17–9).

Figure 17–9 The Insulation tool

22. On the Options Bar, adjust the Width to: 3".
23. Draw insulation inside the wall (see Figure 17–10).

Figure 17–10 Add insulation and lines to represent the ceiling

Notice that the insulation appears in front of the break line.

24. Select the insulation. On the ribbon, click the Send to Back button (see Figure 17–11).

Figure 17–11 Send the insulation to the back

Add Notes

To finish the detail, add some annotation.

25. On the Annotate tab, click the Text tool (see Figure 17–12).

Figure 17–12 The Text Notes tool

26. On the Modify ribbon, click the Two Segments Leader option.
27. From the Type Selector, choose: 3/32″ Arial.
28. Click first where you want the arrowhead, next click where the elbow of the leader should be, finally click to place the text.
29. Type in the note. Click away from the note (in empty space) to finish typing. (Do not press enter).
30. Repeat the process to add several notes (see Figure 17–13).

Figure 17–13 Run the text tool, configure options and begin typing

31. Repeat any of the previous steps to add any finishing touches (see Figure 17–14).

Figure 17–14 Add additional lines and text to finish the detail

Import a Detail

In addition to drawing details from scratch, you can also reuse them from other projects.

1. On the Insert tab, click the Insert from File drop-down button and choose: Insert Views from File (see Figure 17–15).

   

Figure 17–15 Insert a detail view from another file

2. Browse to the dataset folder and select the: Door - Jamb Detail.rvt file and then click Open.

This file contains only one detail. But you can include several details in a single file and then import them in a single step.

3. In the “Insert Views” dialog, accept the defaults and click OK (see Figure 17–16).

     

Figure 17–16 Select the detail(s) to import and then click OK

4. Click OK again to dismiss the “Duplicate Types” message. This simply indicates that some types already exist in the host file.

This process makes it easy to reuse views, but please note that this works with 2D views only.

Import a CAD Detail

1. Using the process above, create another Drafting view and name it: CAD Import.
2. On the Insert tab, click the Link CAD button (see ).

Figure 17–17The Link CAD tool

7. Browse to and select the: Detail.dwg file and then click Open (see Figure 17–18).

Figure 17–18 Link in a CAD file to use as a detail

8. Zoom to Fit (or press zf).

This is a simple storefront detail downloaded from the Internet. Notice that the results are not that great. There are many options available to help Revit correctly interpret the CAD data being imported.

9. On the Import panel title bar, click the small dialog launcher icon (see Figure 17–19).

Figure 17–19 We can customize the way that colors from a CAD file match to Revit line weights

10. In the “Import Line Weights” dialog, make the following edits: Color 3 – Line Weight: 4, Color 4 – Line Weight: 2, Color 6 – Line Weight: 3, Color 7 – Line Weight: 4 (see Figure 17–20).

If you prefer, you can use the Load button and load the saved version of this file instead: Lineweights.txt.

Figure 17–20 Edit the Color to Line Weight mapping table

11. Select the CAD link instance onscreen. Unpin it using the icon in the middle of the link or press up. Delete the link.
12. Click the Link CAD button again.
13. Select the same file, but this time change Colors to: Black and White and set the Import Units to: Millimeter (see Figure 17–21).

Figure 17–21 Change the color and units settings before linking

14. Click Open to complete the link. Then Zoom to Fit again.

Notice that this time the file’s lines are all black and they are also using line weights. This detail is very small however, so the line weights look too heavy. Let’s adjust the scale to fix this.

15. Change the scale of the view to: 6"=1'-0".

Figure 17–22Change the view scale to make the line weights display better

Note that the line weights adjust with the change in scale.

Exercise 18–Schedules

Revit has many kinds of views: 2D views, 3D views, graphical and non-graphical views. Schedules are non-graphical views that list a collection of related elements and their various properties. They are presented in a form that is similar to a spreadsheet. Schedules can be used for reporting and for editing the model.

Catch-up file completed to this point: 18_Medical Center_Schedules.rvt

Create a Schedule View

Schedules can be created from nearly any category. Let’s make a simple Door Schedule.

1. On the View tab, click the Schedules drop down and choose: Schedules/Quantities (see Figure 18–1).

Figure 18–1 Create a new schedule view

2. In the “New Schedule” dialog, choose the Doors category, accept the other defaults and then click OK (see Figure 18–2).

Figure 18–2 Create a Door Schedule

The next dialog will display a list of properties that are available for the Doors category. You can add one or several to the schedule. Select the one(s) you wish to add and either double-click them or use the small green arrow in the middle to add them to the schedule.

3. Add the following fields: Mark, Family and Type, Width, Height, Thickness, Fire Rating, Comments (see Figure 18–3).

Figure 18–3 Choose the fields that you want to include in the schedule

4. Click OK to create the schedule (see Figure 18–4).

Figure 18–4 The schedule view as it appears onscreen

You can click and drag between columns to resize them. Use the ctrl key and the mouse wheel to zoom in or out.

Notice that all doors in the model are listed in this table. They each display their respective sizes and mark values (number).

5. Tile the plan and schedule side by side. Close any other views.
6. Select any door in the schedule, notice that the corresponding element also highlights in plan (see Figure 18–5).

 

Figure 18–5 Selections made in schedule also highlihgt in other views

7. Change the Mark value of the selected Door (see Figure 18–6).

Figure 18–6 Changing a value in the schedule updates in other views as well

This works both ways. If you select a door in the plan and make an edit, it will be reflected in the schedule as well.

8. Select a door in the plan and change it to a different size or type on the Properties palette (see Figure 18–7).

Figure 18–7 Changes made in the model immediately appear in the schedule as well

Schedules can be a great way to query your model to explore quantities and other useful project-wide insights.

9. Scroll down on the Project Browser, expand the Schedules/Quantities branch and then right-click the Door Schedule.
10. Choose: Duplicate>Duplicate and name the new duplicate: Door Type Schedule (see Figure 18–8).

Figure 18–8 Create a duplicate of the door schedule

11. Select Column A, on the ribbon, on the Columns panel, click the Delete button.
12. Also on the Columns panel, click the Insert button.
13. In the “Select Fields” dialog, choose Type Mark and add it to the schedule. Use the move up button to put Type Mark first on the list.
14. Repeat and add the Count column to the end (see Figure 18–9).

Figure 18–9 Add the type Mark field

15. On the Properties palette, click the Edit button next to Sorting/Grouping.
16. For Sort by, choose: Type Mark. Check Grand Totals and uncheck Itemize every instance and the click OK (see Figure 18–10).

Figure 18–10 Add a sort criterion, totals and disable itemizing

This version of the schedule shows the same collection of doors, but since we adjusted the sorting and grouping, it is telling a very different story. The first schedule tells us useful information about each individual door. This version tells us how many kinds of doors we are using and how many of each type we have (see Figure 18–11).

Figure 18–11 Each schedule can sort group and summarize the information it displays differently from other views

Working with Others

While working in Revit it is common for you to have to access information from other programs such as AutoCAD. We saw an example of this in the previous exercise. But standard details are not the only time that it is useful to work with CAD files in Revit. There are many scenarios where other you might be collaborating with will be using a program other than Revit. Revit both reads and writes DWG files and other common formats as well. So this make collaboration with other disciplines much easier.