AUTODESK REVIT 2015

REVIT FUNDAMENTALS

About Element Behavior in Revit

Revit uses 3 types of elements in projects: model elements, datum elements, and view-specific

elements. Elements in Revit are also referred to as families. The family contains the geometric

definition of the element and the parameters used by the element. Each instance of an element is

defined and controlled by the family.

1. Model elements represent the actual 3D geometry of the building. They display in relevant

views of the model.

Examples:

Walls, windows, doors, and roofs

Structural walls, slabs, and ramps

Sinks, boilers, ducts, sprinklers, and electrical panels

2. Datum elements help to define project context. For example, grids, levels, and reference

planes are datum elements.

3. View-specific elements display only in the views in which they are placed. They help to

describe or document the model. For example, dimensions are view-specific elements.

Elements for Revit

There are 2 types of model elements:

1. Hosts (or host elements) are generally built in place at the construction site.

Examples:

Walls and ceilings

Structural walls and roofs

2. Model components are all the other types of elements in the building model.

Examples:

Windows, doors, and cabinets

Beams, braces, and structural columns

Sinks, boilers, ducts, sprinklers, and electrical panels

There are 2 types of view-specific elements:

Annotation elements are 2D components that document the model and maintain scale on paper.

For example, dimensions, tags, and keynotes are annotation elements.

Details are 2D items that provide details about the building model in a particular view. Examples

include detail lines, filled regions, and 2D detail components.

This implementation provides flexibility for designers. Revit elements are designed to be created

and modified by you directly; programming is not required. If you can draw, you can define new

parametric elements in Revit.

In Revit, the elements determine their behavior largely from their context in the building. The

context is determined by how you draw the component and the constraint relationships that are

established with other components. Often, you do nothing to establish these relationships; they are

implied by what you do and how you draw. In other cases, you can explicitly control them, by

locking a dimension or aligning 2 walls, for example.

About Element Properties

Each element you place in a drawing is an instance of a family type. Elements have 2 sets of

properties that control their appearance and behavior: type properties and instance properties.

Type Properties

The same set of type properties is common to all elements in a family, and each property has the

same value for all instances of a particular family type.

For example, all elements that belong to the Desk family have a Width property, but its value varies

according to family type. Thus every instance of the 60 x 30-inch family type (1525 x 762 mm)

within the Desk family has a Width value of 60 inches (1525 mm), while every instance of the 72 x

36-inch family type (1830 x 915 mm) has a Width value of 72 inches (1830 mm).

Changing the value of a type property affects all current and future instances of that family type.

Instance Properties

A common set of instance properties also applies to all elements that belong to a particular family

type, but the values of these properties may vary according to the location of an element in a

building or project.

For example, the dimensions of a window are type properties, while its elevation from the level is

an instance property. Similarly, cross-sectional dimensions of a beam are type properties, while

beam length is an instance property.

Changing the value of an instance property affects only the elements in your selection set, or the

element that you are about to place. For example, if you select a beam, and change one of its

instance property values on the Properties palette, only that beam is affected. If you select a tool

for placing beams, and change one of its instance property values, the new value applies to all

beams you place with that tool.

BEGINNER WORKFLOWS

1. Beginner Workflows for Architecture

Start a New Project

Build the Model

Collaborate with Others

Document the Model

Present the Project

2. Beginner Workflows for MEP

Start a New MEP Project

HVAC Systems

Electrical Systems

Piping Systems

ESSENTIAL SKILLS

1. Modeling - Essential Skill

The Revit model is a virtual version of the building design. The model describes not only the

geometry of the model elements, but also captures the design intent and logical relationships

between the elements in the model. You can think of the 2D model views (plans, sections,

elevations, and so on) as slices of the 3D model. Changes made to one view are instantly visible in

all other views of the model, keeping the views in sync at all times. The 3D model is used to create

the 2D views that make up the printed document set.

Terms and Concepts

Term/Concept Definition

Model Creates a 3D virtual representation of the design. The views of the project are slices of

the model at a particular position. Every view of the model is a live view of the elements.

If an element is moved in one view, then the position of that element in all of the views

is instantly changed. The model also encodes design intent with constraints.

Constraint Establishes relationships between elements, so when an element is altered, the

elements it is constrained to will also be changed to maintain the design intent of the

model. For example, the tops of the walls may be constrained to the roof. When the roof

is raised or lowered, or changes slope, the walls respond and stay connected to the roof

element because of the constraint.

Sketch Defines the boundary of an element, such as a roof or a floor. In most cases, a sketch for

an element must form a closed loop of lines for it to be valid. Sketch lines can be

constrained to other elements to ensure that the boundary of the element will retain

important relationships to other elements in the model.

View Shows the model from a specific viewpoint, such as a floor plan or section of the model.

All views are live and changes to an element in one view will be instantly propagated to

the other views of the model, keeping all views in sync. Views also establish where

model elements are positioned when they are placed. For example, a roof plan view

establishes the workplane for placing a roof, so that it is positioned at the correct height.

2. Navigate - Essential Skill

A Revit file is a 3D model of your building. The 2D views are slices of the model showing a floor plan,

elevation, section, or detail view. The Project Browser lists and provides navigation to the different

views. To better understand the spatial relationships between the elements, work with multiple

open views of the model by tiling the view windows.

Within a view, use the middle mouse button to zoom, pan, and orbit. The Navigation Bar at the

right side of the drawing area, and the ViewCube in 3D views, offer alternate methods of navigating

in the view.

Terms and Concepts

Term/Concept Definition

View Isolates a specific portion of the model so it can be more easily worked on. For

example:

A floor plan cuts a model a specified distance above a level datum.

A section view cuts the model where the section line crosses model elements.

An elevation view does not cut the model, but provides a plane where model elements

are projected.

A 3D view shows the model elements in an isometric or perspective view.

Project Browser Lists all of the views contained in the model. Double-clicking a view title opens the view

in the drawing area. The Project Browser also lists all of the family content currently

loaded in the project.

Tiled Views Displays multiple views at once, allowing you to see elements from different angles

simultaneously. Using tiled views can help when designing in 3D space because the

relationship can be more easily understood without the need to change from one view

to another.

Navigation Bar Provides access to navigation tools based on the currently active view (2D or 3D).

ViewCube Provides a quick way to orient a 3D view to a particular viewing angle.

3. Families - Essential Skill

All of the elements you use in Revit are families. Some families, such as walls or level datums, are

included in the model environment. Other families, such as specific doors, or fixtures, need to be

loaded into the model from an external library. You can't create anything in Revit without using a family.

Terms and Concepts

Term/Concept Definition

System Families Part of the Revit environment used to create basic building elements, such as

walls, roofs, and floors.

Loadable Families Families that are:

created independently of the model, and loaded into the model as needed.

used to create installed building components like doors and fixtures, as well as

annotation elements.

often hosted by system families. For example, doors and windows are hosted by

a wall.

In-place Families Custom elements that you create in the context of a model. Create an in-place

family when your model needs unique geometry that you do not expect to

reuse or geometry that must maintain relationships to other model geometry.

Because in-place elements are intended for limited use in a model, each in-

place family contains only a single type.

Modeling Families Loadable families that represent real objects, such as doors, floors, or furniture.

Term/Concept Definition

These families display in all views.

Annotation Families Loadable families that are for annotation purposes, such as text, dimensions, or

tags. These families do not have a 3D purpose and display only in the view in

which you place them.

Category Classification for families, for example doors, curtain walls, furniture, lighting

fixtures, and so on. Families are grouped and sorted by category in the content

libraries and in the Project Browser.

Family Types Variations of the family element. For example, a family could be a door with a

vision lite, and the types are 3 different sizes of that style door.

Instance Properties Contain information related to a specific placed instance of the family element

in a model. For example, instance properties for a door could include the sill

height and the frame material. Changes made to instance properties affect only

that instance of the family.

Type Properties Contain information that applies to all instances of the same family type in the

model. For example, type properties for a door could include the thickness and

the width. Changes made to type properties affect all instances of the family

created from that type.

4. Levels - Essential Skill

Levels establish a framework for the model. All elements in the model are assigned and constrained

to levels in order to establish their position in 3D space. Levels are used to create the plan views of

a model, which facilitate modeling and navigating in the model.

Terms and Concepts

Term/Concept Definition

Level Datum used in a model to establish the elevations of important features of the

model. for example, the first and second floor of a building, the top of the

parapet, or the top of footings. You can define any important vertical datum

line in a model as a level.

Snaps and Guides Aid in positioning and aligning elements as you place them in the model. As

levels are placed, guides display so you can easily align the endpoints of the

levels.

Level Properties Describe aspects of the level and how it is defined in the model. The level name

and elevation are examples of level properties.

Level Constraint Controls properties of elements in the model that are assigned to a level. When

the position of the level is changed, the positions of the elements assigned to

the level are also changed. For example, walls in the model have a top and

bottom constraint which can be associated with a level.

5. Selection - Essential Skill

The Modify tool enables selection. You can create selection sets by picking one element at a time or

by drawing a window to select several elements. When elements are selected, a contextual tab of

tools displays on the ribbon, and related options display on the Options Bar. Properties of the

selected elements are displayed and can be changed on the Properties palette. The Modify tool can

also be used to end the active command, for example, if the Wall tool is selected, clicking Modify

ends the Wall command makes the Modify tool active.

Terms and Concepts

Term/Concept Definition

Modify The default active tool. When the cursor displays as a typical mouse pointer

(arrow), the Modify tool is active. The Modify tool must be active to select

elements in the model. Access the Modify tool from the first tab of the ribbon,

by clicking a blank space in the drawing area, or by pressing Esc. You can also

use the Modify tool to end the active command.

Edge/Face Selection Choose whether you want to be able to select elements by clicking the face of

the element. If the "Select elements by face" option for the Modify tool is not

selected, you must place the cursor over an element edge, and click to select

the element. The faces of elements are not selectable. For example, a wall

cannot be selected by picking the face of the wall. The cursor must be at the top

or bottom edge or one of the end edges of the wall for it to be selected.

If the option "Select elements by face" is selected for the Modify tool, move the

cursor over the face of an element in the project, and click to select it.

Tab Selection When selecting elements, you can press Tab to cycle through the possible

selection candidates near the cursor. (As you click Tab, the status bar updates

to indicate the current selection.) If any chains of connected elements are near

the cursor, they will be included as candidates, allowing you to select all of the

elements in the chain at once.

Shift and Ctrl Hold down the Ctrl key while selecting elements to add to the selection set, and

hold down the shift key while selecting to remove items from the selection set.

Window Selection When the Modify tool is active, click and drag the mouse to window-select

elements. Window selection boxes drawn from left to right have solid borders

and select elements completely contained in the window. Window selection

boxes drawn from right to left have dashed borders, and select elements

contained within the window and elements crossing the border of the window.

6. Sketching - Essential Skill

You create some building elements, such as floors, roofs, and ceilings, by drawing the boundary

(also referred to as creating a sketch). Usually, you must draw the boundary as a closed loop

without any gaps or overlapping lines. The sketch can also be constrained to other elements, such

as a wall. If the wall moves, then the element created from the sketch adjusts accordingly.

Sketching is also used to define other types of geometry, such as extrusions and openings.

Terms and Concepts

Term/Concept Definition

Sketch Mode An environment that allows you to sketch elements whose size or shape cannot

be determined automatically, for example, a roof or a floor. When you enter

sketch mode, the ribbon displays the tools needed for the type of sketch you

are creating or editing, and other elements display in halftone.

Closed-loop Sketch A sketch for a building object, such as a floor or ceiling, that is draw with

continuous, connected lines. The sketch lines cannot overlap and there cannot

be any gaps in the sketch.

Draw Panel Area on the ribbon where tools display to allow you to draw sketch lines, such

as Line and Rectangle.

Pick Tools (Walls,

Lines, Edges)

While sketching, select existing walls, lines, or edges. When you use Pick Lines,

you can use a Lock option (for some elements) on the Options Bar to lock the

sketch line to the picked element.

Chain Option Selection on the Options Bar to connect line segments when you are sketching.

When Chain is selected, the last point on the previous line is automatically the

first point for the next line.

Edit Boundary Tool used to enter sketch mode to modify the shape of the sketch for an

element. To edit a sketch, click to select the element, and on the contextual tab,

click Edit Boundary.

7. Visibility and Graphics - Essential Skill

The visibility and graphics settings of a view define whether elements and categories are visible in

the view and their graphical appearance (color, lineweight, and linestyle). The Visibility/Graphics

Overrides dialog lists all categories in the model. Some examples of categories are furniture, doors,

and window tags. The visibility status and appearance of each category can be modified for each

view in the model. Use the context menu (right-click an element in the drawing area) to modify the

appearance and visibility of individual elements.

Terms and Concepts

Term/Concept Definition

Categories Classifications or groupings of elements. Some examples of categories are

doors, walls, and window tags. You can change the visibility and graphics for

each category of element, in each view, in the Visibility/Graphics Overrides

dialog. The changes made to the visibility and graphics settings in a view apply

to the currently-active view. A view template can be used to make visibility and

graphic changes to more than one view, or the object styles of the model can be

modified if change is required in all views.

Visibility/Graphics

Overrides Dialog

Used to control how each category in the view will display. The dialog has tabs

to organize the categories into logical groupings: Model Categories, Annotation

Categories, Analytical Categories, Imported Categories, and Filters. The lists of

categories under each tab can be further filtered by discipline: Architecture,

Term/Concept Definition

Structure, Mechanical, Electrical, and Piping.

Reveal Hidden

Elements Tool

Enables a mode where all of the hidden elements in the view are visible and

highlighted. The Reveal Hidden Elements tool ( ) is accessed from the View

Control Bar. In this mode, you can select hidden elements and specify to

"unhide" them to make them visible in the view. Click Reveal Hidden Elements

to turn this mode on and off for the current view.

Visibility Override Method used to change the visibility status and graphic appearance of

individual elements. Select the element in the drawing area, right-click, and

apply a visibility override from the context menu. The visibility override has

priority over the visibility settings applied to the category in the view. This

override allows you to display individual elements as needed in a view. For

example, a single door could be set to display as "halftone" while all other doors

are displayed as normal.

8. Model Versus Annotation Elements - Essential Skill

Model elements:

Represent physical elements such as walls, windows, and doors.

When placed in a model, are visible in all views.

Annotation and detail elements:

Are used to add dimensions, notes, and tags to a view, as well as to add details to the

graphics generated by the model geometry.

Are view-specific, they appear only in the view in which you placed them.

Can be copied from view to view, but any changes made to them in one view will not be

transferred to any other views.

Terms and Concepts

Term/Concept Definition

Model Elements Used to define the geometry of the model. Once placed, model elements

display instantly in all views. In most cases the model elements represent

physical elements such as walls, windows, and doors. All of the categories for

model elements are found on the Model tab of the Visibility/Graphic Overrides

dialog and the Object Styles dialog.

Annotation Elements View-specific elements that are used to

document the model, for example, dimensions, tags, or notes.

add details to a view not generated by model geometry, for example, lines and

detail components.

Large-scale details such as a wall foundation or parapet will use annotation and

detail elements to fully illustrate the condition.

Model Views Used to see the model from different viewpoints. Each view is controlled

independently. When a model element is placed in a view, this element will be

visible in all other views, according to the visibility and graphics settings for

Term/Concept Definition

each view. Annotation elements placed in a view will only be visible in the view

they are placed in.

Visibility Override Method used to change the visibility status and graphic appearance of

individual elements. Select the element in the drawing area, right-click, and

apply a visibility override from the context menu. The visibility override has

priority over the visibility settings applied to the category in the view. This

override allows you to display individual elements as needed in a view. For

example, a single door could be set to display as "halftone" while all other doors

are displayed as normal.

9. MEP Systems - Essential Skill

When you assign MEP elements to a system, you can:

Automatically generate a duct or pipe layout.

Perform calculations for pressure loss and static pressure.

Size duct and pipe.

Perform analysis on the design.

Improve performance as you work in an MEP model.

Terms and Concepts

Term/Concept Definition

System A set of logically connected elements. For example, a supply air system might

include duct, fittings, diffusers, and mechanical equipment.

System Classification A parameter that defines the system for the connectors that are located on air

terminals, equipment, and fixtures. For example, an air terminal could have a

system classification of Supply Air, Return Air, or Exhaust Air. These values are

pre-defined classifications within Revit.

System Type A parameter that defines the systems for an MEP system. For example, a duct

system could have a system type of Supply Air, Return Air, or Exhaust Air. You

can duplicate an existing system type to create additional system types as

needed for the model. For example, if you need a system type for high pressure

supply air, duplicate the Supply Air system type, rename it, and change the

properties as needed.

System Name A string that uniquely identifies a system. It may be user-defined or

automatically generated.

System Browser A tool to display a hierarchical list of all the system components in each

discipline in a model.

System Inspector A tool to modify, inspect, and view the instance properties for a selected duct or

pipe system.

Generate Layout A tool to specify slope and routing parameters for ductwork and piping, to view

different layout solutions, and to manually modify layout solutions for a duct or

pipe system.

10. Analytical Model - Essential Skill

The analytical model, created automatically by Revit as you build the physical model, is used to

perform the structural analysis and design. You export the analytical model to the analysis and

design software.

Terms and Concepts

Term/Concept Definition

Analytical Model A representation of the structural physical model consisting of analytical

elements, geometry, material properties, and loads. It is created automatically

while creating the physical model. You export the analytical model to the

structural analysis and design software.

Analytical Element

Properties

Instance parameters of an analytical element. They also display some properties

directly from the physical element related to the selected analytical element.

Analytical Edit Mode An environment that allows you to adjust analytical elements by direct

manipulation. When you enter this mode, the ribbon displays the tools needed

to make adjustments to a selected analytical element.

Analytical Alignment

Properties

The instance parameters that you can use to adjust the location of an analytical

element. If the Alignment Method is set to Auto-Detect, the analytical model is

adjusted based on the tolerance settings. If the Alignment Method is set to

Projection, you can select the location of the analytical model from the available

projection options.

Auto-Detect The mechanism ensuring consistency of the analytical model; it connects

analytical elements based on their proximity. You can specify Auto-Detect

tolerance settings.

Structural Settings The dialog where you can add load cases and load combinations, and define

settings for boundary conditions (supports) and analytical model settings.

Analytical Model

Settings

The tab in the Structural Settings dialog where you can define the tolerances for

Auto-Detect and Analytical/Physical Model Consistency Check, and a list of

Consistency Check criteria.

USER INTERFACE

1 Application Menu

2 Quick Access Toolbar

3 InfoCenter

4 Options Bar

5 Type Selector

6 Properties Palette

7 Project Browser

8 Status Bar

9 View Control Bar

10 Drawing Area

11 Ribbon

12 Tabs on the ribbon

13 A contextual tab on the ribbon,

providing tools relevant to the selected

object or current action

14 Tools on the current tab of the ribbon

15 Panels on the ribbon