Revit Architecture
product focus
2012
Figure 3: Select Open/New Project from the big purple R to choose to a specific template file.
Figure 2: Line tools are located under additional settings.
Create a legend for your general notes so that you can place them on multiple sheets (not a good idea); 3) Create a drafting view for your general notes and place them on one sheet (the best idea).
ficiency, bring the line styles and fonts that you just established into your title block family. You can do this by making samples of each directly on a sheet. With both the template and the family open, you can copy and paste between the template (sheet view) and the title block family.
In case you missed the hints, use option 3 because it allows you to easily move the notes to the final location and prevents you from accidently placing them on multiple sheets, a major (and common) infraction of the proper way to prepare drawings. I only mentioned the first two options so you don’t fall into these traps.
The default tags in Revit may or may not match your office standard. The choice is yours (or perhaps it belongs to your superior). Decide if you’re going to use the defaults or if you’re going to customize the tags.
I’m confident that your firm also has a certain look for schedules. It may take a lot of effort, but you can either achieve the same look or create a new (and improved) look that communicates the same information. This is the best example for why we should make templates. Go ahead and track the amount of time that it takes to customize your door schedule, room schedule, window schedule, ceiling schedule, wall schedule and all of the miscellaneous schedules your firm uses. You could end up with a few hours or a few days of work. By placing these schedules in the template, you’ve deducted that time from the production time for each project! According to Hakki’s Theory of Revitivity, “The shorter the amount of time spent with the mundane will directly impact the financial standing of your project and the size of your bonus.”
Customizing the tags also requires editing families. The best advice I can give is to make small changes and load the family into your template often. This lets you do quick evaluations and minimizes the potential for big screw-ups. For clues on the best way to edit families, use the Revit Families Guide.
Where is the template? Set the default template in Options (Big purple R, Options in the lower right corner). Under the Files tab, you can select the template you want to use every time. If you’re setting up a customized template for your office, make sure this is set on every Revit machine in your office. If you have multiple templates (perhaps one for each project type), you can manually select the template you want to use (see Figure 3).
Schedules “It’s time to schedule those general notes; or is it time to generally note the schedules? Let’s do both!” If your firm is like mine, you have a plethora of general notes that you’ve grown over the years. Heck, you may even have conflicting notes, just like I do. Well, let me tell you (as well as myself), “It’s time to sort this out.” Gather your general notes and place them in your template. Where do you put them? You have three choices: 1) Type the notes directly onto the sheets (bad idea); 2) October 2011
Adding Content “God is in the details!” – Ludwig Mies van der Rohe How many ways are there to build a stud wall? Not many. Chances are that you or your company has a standard set of preferred practices or materials. You may already have a library of details that go far and beyond stud walls. If you use them, then you should continue to use them! The difference is that they’re now going to be included in your template and you’ll no longer need to go looking for them. Import your CAD details as dictated below. Prepare your AutoCAD detail for importing. The line work will come in just fine. Hatching will not. If it’s a simple hatch that you’ll never need to use again, you can choose to explode it. If it’s a hatch you that you need to be modifiable (perhaps the detail scale will be changed), consider creating a region in Revit after
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