11/28/2005 - 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm Room:Americas Seminar [Lab] (Dolphin)

Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort

Orlando, Florida

A Quick Spin on Autodesk® Revit® Building

Amy Fietkau - Autodesk
and John Jansen; Scott Davis (Assistant); Brian Tuffin (Assistant)

BD14-1L Take a hands-on tour through some of the most productive features of Autodesk Revit Building.
Learn how building information modeling improves productivity and creates more accurate, better-
coordinated drawing sets. Explore the user interface, understand why Revit "Works Like an Architect
Thinks". Dive into a building information model and generate sections, elevations, and schedules on
the fly. Experience the power of automatic coordination throughout the entire building model -- right
through construction documents. This class is designed for architectural professionals who are
looking for ways to be more efficient and provide higher quality documents to clients and consultants.

About the Speaker:

Amy recently joined Autodesk with 9 years of CAD experience. She has degrees in Computer-Aided
Drafting and Industrial Design. Previous work experience includes teaching CAD at a local college,
CAD management for a large architectural firm, and technical support as an application engineer for a
reseller. Amy has provided training and implementation services for a variety of Autodesk products
including AutoCAD, Architectural Desktop, and Revit Building.
 A Quick Spin on Autodesk Revit Building

If you haven’t been living under a rock you’ve probably been hearing a lot of buzz about Revit Building. Maybe
you saw a smooth sales presentation, read a marketing brochure, or talked to someone with hands-on
experience. Just like getting a new car, you’ve done some research and its time to take it for a quick spin. The
intent of this class is for you to test drive the software, experiencing some of the more powerful tools, without
being technically trained.
This document is organized into five categories; each category has topics with written steps and tips for using the
feature. In italics next to some of the topics is a path to a file that can be opened for use during that particular
exercise or discussion.
This paper is meant to supplement and expand upon what we cover in the workshop. We will not have time to
cover each topic in each category.

INTRODUCTION TO REVIT BUILDING

Menus, Toolbars, and More…

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 A Quick Spin on Autodesk Revit Building

View Coordination and Control

When a project file is opened in Revit all views shown in the Project
Browser are part of the same file (.RVT). Views can be opened as
needed from the Project Browser by double clicking on the view
name in the list. The active View will always be shown with bold text
in the Project Browser. There are a few things to keep in mind when
working with Views:
• Each open View has its own View Control Bar.
• The Window menu can be used to tile multiple open views.
• When a single View is open and maximized, the window
menu can be used to Close Hidden Views.

Useful Tips
Watch the Status Bar and on screen Tool Tips; they help clarify what the steps are for the tool currently in use.
To cancel/finish a command or to deselect a component, press ESC on the keyboard or select the Modify tool
from the Design Bar
When looking at a view, or when an entity is selected, the Blue items are controls that can be used to link to
another view or manipulate the item that is selected.

EXPLORING THE BUILDING

Dynamic View Control (C:\BD14-1L\Urban_House.rvt)
The easiest way to Pan, Zoom and Spin Views in Revit is with the mouse (steps
below). If the mouse you are using does not have a middle scroll button use the
Dynamic View dialog box (F8) to Pan, Zoom, and Spin the Views.
Scroll (pan) - hold the middle-mouse button and drag the pointer
Zoom - hold CTRL, hold the middle-mouse button, and drag the pointer.
Spin 3D model - hold SHIFT, hold the middle-mouse button, drag the pointer.

Section Box (C:\BD14-1L\Urban_House.rvt)

Revit provides the ability to turn on or off a section box around a 3D
view. You can use the section box to clip the viewable portion of a
3D model. When the section box is visible, you can resize it and
rotate it with the handles.
Steps: Set the current view orientation to 3D
Type VP to access View Properties; scroll down and select
the check box for Section Box. Exit the dialog
Click and drag one of the handles to resize the box (blue
arrows). Click the rotation control symbol to rotate the
section

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 A Quick Spin on Autodesk Revit Building

Camera Views (C:\BD14-1L\Urban_House.rvt)

At any time you can place a camera and Revit Building creates a perspective 3D view and assigns a name to the
view: 3D View1, 3D View2, and so on. 3D Views can be very helpful in explaining building connections,
interferences, and design ideas.
Steps: Double Click First Floor from the View list to set it current
Select the Camera tool from the View tab of the Design Bar
Revit is now ready for two clicks; the first places the camera and second
sets the target location (Plan, section and elevation views can be used to
place cameras)
1 - Click in the design area to place the camera – near the back wall of
the Den works well
2 - Click in the design area to set the target – past the Den couch and
the curtain of windows works well
In the new perspective view (3D View 1), Drag the handles to vary the
field of view

Walkthroughs (C:\BD14-1L\Townhouse.rvt)
In a very simple, easily controlled manner Revit provides the
ability for a camera to follow a path and create an animation.
Walkthrough animations can be used to navigate the exterior
of a building model or to create a virtual walk though of a
space in the building.
Steps: Double Click 1st Floor from the View list to set it
current
Click Walkthrough from the View tab of the Design Bar.
Click in the view to place a key frame – this is the starting point of the camera path
Place another Key Frame and continue to create a path – each pick is a new camera location that can be
controlled (You can place key frames anywhere you want, but you cannot change their position during
creation of the path. You can edit the key frames after finishing the path)
Press ESC to finish the walkthrough path
Select the path and Edit Walkthrough from the Options Bar (You can move the position of the camera's
target point at a key frame, for example, to create the effect that the camera is looking side to side)
Click Open from the Options Bar to Open the Camera View (By default, there is a uniform speed at which
the camera travels along the entire walkthrough path. You can change the speed by increasing or
decreasing the total number of frames or by increasing or decreasing the number of frames per second)
Click Play to view the Walkthrough

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 A Quick Spin on Autodesk Revit Building

VIEWS AND SHEETS

Elevations (C:\BD14-1L\Townhouse.rvt)
In the default Revit Building project template there are four elevation views already created;
North, South, East and West. It is in these views that we add, remove and adjust levels
markers. Additional interior and exterior elevations can be added as needed.
Steps: Double Click First Floor from the View list to set it current
Click Elevation from the View tab of the Design Bar.
Place the pointer near a wall and click the left-mouse button to place the elevation
symbol (To set different interior elevation views, highlight the round shape of the
elevation symbol and select the check box for creating additional views)
Double Click the New elevation from the View list to set it current
Sections (C:\BD14-1L\Townhouse.rvt)
Sections are views used to cut through the model. You can draw them in plan, section,
elevation, and detail views, and they display as section representations in intersecting
views.
Steps: Double Click 2nd Floor from the View list to set it current
Click Section from the View tab of the Design Bar – notice in the options bar that
you can set the scale of the section before it is created, but don’t worry if you forget
to set the scale we can easily change it later.
Pick the Start and End points for the section - pick two points outside the building
to create a building section.
If desired, resize the crop region by dragging the blue controls; the depth of the
section view changes accordingly
ESC to cancel the Section command
To open the section view, double-click the section header (The section view
changes when the design changes or the section line is moved)

Details (C:\BD14-1L\Townhouse.rvt)
There are multiple ways to create details with Revit. The modeled geometry can be leveraged when creating the
detail or a blank drafting view allows the user to work from scratch. Drafting views can also be used for importing
CAD (DWG, DXF, DGN) files from existing details libraries. Below are the steps for beginning a drafting view
detail and for importing a CAD file.
Steps: Double Click Section 1 from the View list to open it up
From the View Design Bar select the Callout tool - don’t place the callout yet, you need to change a few
settings in the options bar:

Set the Type to Detail View: Detail View 1

Set the Scale to 1-1/2” = 1’-0”
Check the Reference Other View box and set New Drafting View (this box
allows you to link multiple detail callouts to more than one detail view)
Draw a window around the desired detail area - in Section 1 window the top of
the wall
Once the symbol is drawn you can select the rectangle and use the blue grips
to edit the boundary and the callout bubble location

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 A Quick Spin on Autodesk Revit Building

Double click the callout bubble to open the New Drafting View
To draft from scratch in Revit use the tools on the Drafting tab of the Design Bar
To import a CAD file select Import/LinkÆDWG, DXF, DGN, SAT… from the File menu
Browse and select the Parapet.dwg – Set the Layer/Level Colors to Black and White and press Open
(you may have to Zoom All ZA to see the detail in the drafting view)

Enlarged Views (C:\BD14-1L\Townhouse.rvt)

Enlarged Views are created very similarly to Detail Callouts that reference the building model. Revit does an
excellent job of setting up a cropped view of a plan that can be annotated at a different scale but still updates with
changes made to the drawing set.
Steps: Open the 1st Floor View
Zoom into the Toilet room near the Kitchen
From the View Design Bar select the Callout tool - don’t place the callout yet, you need to change a few
settings in the options bar:

Set the Type to Floor Plan

Set the Scale to 1/4” = 1’-0”
Place a window around the desired area for an enlarged
view of the restroom (Once the symbol is drawn you can
select the rectangle and use the blue grips to edit the
boundary and the callout bubble location)
Double Click the callout bubble to open the New
Enlarged View – It’s probably listed as Callout of 1st Floor
in the View list of the Project Browser
The enlarged view of the restroom can be flushed out
with more content and annotated at a different scale.
To turn off the Crop Region around the enlarged view
type VP, scroll through the list of view options and
uncheck the Crop Region Visible box

Sheets (C:\BD14-1L\Townhouse.rvt)
Drawing Sheets can be set up at the beginning of a project, as a template for new projects or whenever you like.
The Revit interface for creating, organizing and manipulating content on Sheets is quite simple once you know the
basics. A couple things to keep in mind when working with sheets:
• The drawing sheet is the view to which you add model views. You
print the sheets to create a drawing set
• A view can only be placed on a sheet once. But a view can be
copied for multiple placements on sheets.
Steps: Click the Sheet tool from the View tab of the Design Bar and select a
title block
Zoom into the lower right corner of the title block and rename the
sheet to Floor Plans - change the number to A-101 – zoom out
With the sheet active drag and drop the 1st Floor from the View list
and place it on the sheet

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 A Quick Spin on Autodesk Revit Building

Drag and drop the enlarged view we created earlier next to the floor plan (notice that the callout on the
floor plan updates to show the sheet location of the enlarged view)
To modify the view on the sheet select the view, right click and choose Activate View from the menu
With the view active you can modify graphics or change the view settings by typing VP

DOCUMENTATION
Dimensions (C:\BD14-1L\Office_Building.rvt)
With the Revit Building automatic linear dimensions, you can place a dimension on a wall with one click,
eliminating the need to pick all references. You can dimension an entire wall, a wall with intersecting walls, or a
wall with openings
Steps: Double Click Level 1 from the View list to set it current
Select the Dimension tool from the Drafting or Basics tabs of the Design Bar – don’t forget to set up your
dimension string on the Options Bar before creating dimensions

Use the Options Button to set what is being dimensioned

Place the cursor on a wall so that the wall highlights and click. Place the dimension string (repeat this
step and change the options to create more than one dimension string for a wall)

Tags (C:\BD14-1L\Office_Building.rvt)
You have two basic options with Revit, tag all at once or one at a time. Revit tags are smart enough to know what
is being tagged and will automatically create the correct symbol. Below are steps for placing room tags, but feel
free to try tagging doors and windows, the tag tool can be found in the drafting Design Bar
Steps: Double Click Level 1 from the View list to set it current
Select Room Tag from the Drafting tab of the
Design Bar
Drag the cursor to an enclosed area of the plan
view to place the Room Tag (Revit Building will
highlight the enclosed area to indicate it is valid for
placing the tag)
Continue placing the Room Tags – notice you can
line them up using the green tracking lines on
screen
You can divide spaces using the Room Separation
tool on the Drafting tab
Once all of the rooms have labeled, rename the
rooms by double clicking on the room tag

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 A Quick Spin on Autodesk Revit Building

Schedules (C:\BD14-1L\Office_Building.rvt)
A schedule is a type of view in Revit Building. It is a tabular display of information from the project. This
information is contained in the properties of certain components. You can create a schedule at any point of the
design process. As you make changes to the project that affect the schedule, the schedule updates automatically
to reflect the changes.
Steps: Click Schedule/Quantities from the View tab of the Design Bar.
In the New Schedule dialog box, select Rooms from the category pane, click OK
From the Schedule Properties dialog, select the
parameters in the Available fields: pane you
wish to set and then click Add to add them to the
Scheduled fields: pane
Click OK when finished - You can add a
schedule to a drawing sheet, just like elevation and plan views

Color Fills (C:\BD14-1L\Office_Building.rvt)

Creating floor plan color fills is an excellent method for visually explaining how a space is being used and Revit
provides an intuitive process for creating them. Give it try using the steps below:
Steps: Set the 1st Floor View current
Click Color Fill from the Drafting tab of the Design Bar. A legend appears next to the pointer.
Place the legend in the plan near your rooms.
To set the color scheme, select the legend. Click Edit Color Scheme from the Options Bar
In the Edit Color Scheme dialog box, click Name from the Color: menu to assign colors (If
you want Revit to choose colors, select Assign colors automatically)
When finished, click OK.
If anything changes on the
room schedule or floor
plan, the color fills will
update automatically

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 A Quick Spin on Autodesk Revit Building

QUALITY OUTPUT
A great way to share views created in Revit in a read only format is with DWF files. DWF files are small in size
and can be easily viewed with the free DWF viewer. In a 3D DWF users can rotate the model, make components
transparent or turn them off completely. In a 2D DWF all of the sheets from a project can be exported to one file
and the callout links are maintained, making it easy to navigate from one page to the next.
2D DWF (C:\BD14-1L\Office_Building.rvt)
Steps: Set the A101-Level 1 sheet current
Select Export DWFÆ 2D DWF from the File menu (Exporting to a 2D DWF is similar to printing)
Set the export path to C:\BD14-1L\Office_Building.dwf
Select Setup from the Print dialog box, set the paper size to Arch E and the Zoom to 100%
Press Ok to finish
Locate the Office_Building.dwf in Windows Explorer, Double click to open.

3D DWF (C:\BD14-1L\Townhouse.rvt)
Steps: Set the 3D view current
Select Export DWFÆ 3D DWF from the File menu
Save the DWF to C:\BD14-1L\Townhouse.dwf
Locate the Townhouse.dwf in Windows Explorer, Double click to open