Elevation clip plane missing

Keeps happening to me - the elevation tags are showing in plan but mysteriously the clip plane lines and drag arrows disappear.
Revit Help 2014 http://bit.ly/18vmCzT solves this.

This is what it should look like with the green dashed clip plane marker and drag arrows.

In props palette under "Extents" below crops "Far Clipping" should be set to clip with line. No idea how this keeps getting turned off - possibly its a vew template

Rendering glass with realisticly non-flat appearance

Good post by The Revit Kid http://bit.ly/1eZHy1t - glass sheets in curtain wall are never truly flat and often distorted by differential exterior - interior pressure so that whats reflected in the real world is often slightly distorted. Hers his solution which involves changing the material used from glass to glass block (material > appearance cube and change to a bump map (research needed to find suitable) follow YouTube http://bit.ly/1eZLgb8

Plan views of phases and shading

How to simply differentiate between new and existing using shading and hatches. I want to acheive this

Existing phase shaded grey, new phase shown as hatched layers.






METHOD:- starting with an existing plan showing just existing:

Revit and corner curtain wall joins

I am quite mystified why a simple angle junction between CurtainWall or Storefront is so difficult to get to work cleanly- these methods seem to be common but flawed:

This is what I want!

• Embed ought to be the easiest method as allows simple parameter control of cill and head height. But it doesnt work properly: the intersects don't join as a wall should and you invevitably get a silly stub of parent wall overhanging the "join". And how do you join in a way that Revit doesnt throw up an error?
• Divide and delete the wall corner and then add back parent wall below cill and above head. The curtain wall does join properly but why should you: windows and doors dont require 2 operation cut hole then add in a hosted component!
• There are lots of methods posted but none seemed to satisfactorily do it in one. 

REVIT overriding with view templates

In this example, a schematic electrical layout I wanted to grey out everything other than the electrical content. Also I want to make sure none of the over-rides permeate into other views

I have already set up a number of view templates and then copied one to adapt to the current electrical view. It must all be done with V/G overrides AND NOT Object Styles. Event you this option is within a View Template it is effective over other view templates UNLESS Object Style overrides are made in these which override the override! Why include this in View Templates if it is global and not view specific?

Some complex objects such as doors quite allot of trila and error to be effective across all components of the family

ALSO override Graphics in View - these override view templates SO wherever possible make view overrides using a template otherwise undoing requires manual selecting overriden objects and changing.

Shared parameters on sheets etc

In this example I am setting up a simple parameter on a sheet so that a revision number or scale can be edited as a property. The outofthebox parameters associated with text tags aren't very adaptable to  UK practice and terminology.

Here I want to set up REV No and DATE so that they respond differently to the outofthebox nearest tags.

Revit Browser organisation

Understanding how browser folder categories and filters work - see
http://revitscratchpad.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/custom-view-sheet-folders.html
Also Paul Aubins blog post  http://bit.ly/1dBn7Ev

Quick procedure

Set PROJECT PARAMETER "folder" -

Wordpress privacy settings

Wordpress v3.5.1 doesnt have privacy settings of previous versions (but the worpress site hosted version does. Only option is to turn off search engine indexing (Settings>reading).





Easy fix - get the plugin More privacy options from Wordpress (http://wordpress.org/plugins/more-privacy-options/). Upload by FTP to WP-content/plugins then activate from the Worpress dashboard

REVIT wall layer wrapping at ends

How to achieve this :

image  

Instead of this. image

Simply set in Edit Type  (properties) so that Core Boundary is inside of both brick layers and then set to wrap to exterior                                                                   

Planning jungle on new permitted development consultation scheme

Fairly comprehensive guide - rather more informed than DCLG release!

http://planningjungle.com/householder-permitted-development/part-1-of-the-gpdo-potential-future-amendments/

REVIT quick cutaway 3D

This method relates the cutting plane of the 3D cutaway to the Section line in plan view.

First make sure this section line is named something identifiable.
Then create a new 3D

Mr Pickles, Permitted Development and his Larger Homes Neighbour consulation scheme

 

We all know a little about the relaxed Permitted Development consultation scheme, particularly the headline figure of  8m house extensions.

However the detail has been absent from press releases and DCLG's Guide was out this week with  and more to come in revision of the Technical Guide

• So detached houses its 8m

• Semi's and terraces 6m

So how does it work: this is what the DCLG guide says (and take note of the last para "must be completed by 30 May 2016  and the local authority notified in writing". Also the local authority ONLY decide, where neighbours object, only impact on the amenity of adjoining properties.

Blogger posts show as only one post on home page= base64 error ARGGGGH!!!!

Dont drag and drop images! It throws a Base64 error and forces all except the latest to reside  off the page as archived. Dropping pictures in makes the post code too large to handle.

http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2011/10/auto-pagination-being-triggered-by-post.html

Revit window "cant make type" error

I missed the "bleedin' obvious" trying to insert a window into a particular wall type and whatever type I tried kept hitting the "can't make type" error.



I even tried making up a quick window family out of door family template which inserted OK. I posted on the Autodesk DG and got a suggestion that this would be a parameter issue. Then after changing the wall type it became obvious what I had overlooked - cumulative parameters in the window family exceeding wall core thickness

REVIT Options the quick way

Take a project where we want to show two options which are minor variations

TO BE CONTINUED...

Revit: Down to the Details: Rubik's Cube: Part 1

Revit: Down to the Details: Rubik's Cube: Part 1: How many times have you thought to yourself "Man, I can't believe nobody has used Revit to model a workable Rubik's Cube,...

Align project to true north

Quick guide to setting to true north with views aligned project north.

Starting in Site view, set in props > orientation > project north (blue arrow)

DETAIL SYMBOLIC LINE based on detail item line based template

Creating a line as a DETAIL line which will follow the path of a series of picks like this:

It can be any sort of symbol or detail object following the path of a line based on the Detail line Line Based template detail. The object is a nested family and arrayed along the line so that the array is driven by a formula relating to the dragged line length
Should work with all sorts of nested symbols provided params in the nested part relate to params in the main part.

Revit simple line based detail

For detailing in elevation for studs  and framing etc to achieve this without having to sketch :

Starting with a Detail line based template in the family editor




Draw simple trapezoidal geometry locked to the template line length parameter and also give it a width parameter. Load to check it inserts in a view following the line defined by two picks.

Repeating detail customisation

Editing a Tile LHS into Slate LHS

To create a new repeating detail the only way I can find to create new is to use one of the existing ones (which I think are system families) and edit it. The repeating detail uses an existing detail family so start by editing and renaming something close. In this example I am starting with Roof tile LHS - just pick in the family browser and "edit". There are no ref planes or different views - its just 2D so just change lines to represent something like and take a note of the insert point from where it inserts in a project. You can load in other detail families such as timber battens. Then save-as and load into the project.

Revit plan views show overhead (eg stair parts, walkways)

IN floor plan view > VIEW PROPERTIES > turn on underlay for the level where the feature is set (say an intermediate landing or gantry)

In VIEW PROPS  set underlay orientation to RCP

Then use the underlay RCP outline to trace around in underlay line style (its a model line so not view specific) using pickline tool. Not sure whether needs locking to the feature to move with any changes.

Then switch back to plan and turn off the underlay. The model lines then display as symbolic to the feature in the floor plan.

Use for roof overhangs or anything overhead that is to display in plan view. Its a lot easier to do by this method than setting a PLAN REGION 

Thanks again to Alfredo Medina for highlighting this method.

Sweeps using profile families from copies linework

This post originates in a reply from Alfredo Medina  to one of my Revit Discussion group posts. The issue is about trying to make up profiles to sweep in families (particularly windows by copying and pasting into a profile family. It rarely works but Alfredo's workaround is this:

Copy the lines from the profile family, and paste them into the sketch of a new extrusion in a model family. Try to finish the extrusion. If the extrusion does not work, Revit will tell you what the problem is (overlapping lines, bad connections, etc...), and that will help you to fix the sketch. If you finish the extrusion, and it works, or if it works after correcting the issues, then edit the extrusion, so that you have acccess to the fixed sketch again. Copy that sketch, and paste it in the profile family, replacing the old one. Then load the fixed profile into the other family where you wanted to use the profile in a sweep. Now the sweep will work.

Roof edge with profile

Each time I do this I have to re-remember how to reset the profiles in the Project Browser so that each one works uniquely.  This one  

Starting with :

•     Pick any existing profile that is suitable and pick>edit to bring up the profile in family editor. First save-as,  in this case "new eaves". (project browser>family>profiles>pick a suitable type >EDIT - once saved creates new type)

•     Edit the profile with whatever instance params are needed - in this case a roof pitch angle which can then be = a roof pitch reporting param in the project 

Editing wall sweeps

Controlling the appearance and rendering of sweeps is carried out in the TYPE PROPERTIES of the wall that hosts the sweep.

Selecting the wall hosting the sweep and going into

Selecting the wall hosting the sweep, in TYPE PROPERTIES make sure preview is selected and set to VERTICAL SECTION

Revit 2014 release preview

David Light on Revit-blogspot has posted a fairly detailed preview
Picked these out as most welcome enhancements:-
Music to listen whilst reading: http://soundcloud.com/troyka/tax-return-live-from-vortex-06/

Looks like most useful is replacement of the terrible 2013
materials editor. This looks allot more logical

ROOF with varaible plate height

Thanks to Alfredo Medina for answer to previous post on Autodesk Revit discussion group. How to achieve this when attaching a roof by footprint:

Starting with roof by footprint pick walls:

As Autodesk Revit discussion group post - roof by footprint with differing plate heights 
<http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/Autodesk-Revit-Architecture/bd-p/133>

WALKER BAY RID305 (10ft) DINGHY FOR SALE NOW SOLD!

THANKS FOR LOOKING - NOW SOLD 
Walker Bay RID305 (10ft) dinghy for sale located in Pembrokeshire. Listed on Apollo Duck, BoatsandOutboards and several other sites. Its an American made molded polyprop multi-purpose dinghy for up to 6hp, rowing (it has proper oars) or convert to sailing with add on kit. Its yours for £850 -may remove tube kit and sell separately for lower price.

Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists getting on bit

Some of us from the Yorkshire Region attended a session by Prof Sam Allwinkle on what to do (or more accurately what the problem is) with the decline in numbers becoming associate and chartered members

VASARI and Zach Kron MIT students work

MIT students talking about how they recreated a Vasari model of the Gensler Shanghai Tower. Involved some complex parameter controlled geometry to recreate the spiraling tangentially connected curves of the outer form which taper upwards. 
http://buildz.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/register-for-vasari-talk-session-26-mit.html
The first part of the session covers the Olympic Birdsnest and how to model the the structural frame related to Rhino and analyze with parameters varying the overall vertical and horizontal radii. Skip this the Shanghai tower is mush more interesting

Nested door with opening angle parameter

Start with a door opening and frame from template door.rft

Make sure the door frame is driven by ref planes especially the hinging point

Add a ref line and end-point lock to two intersecting planes (align tool - then hover-tab until the ref line end point displays and then lock

Add an angle dim to the ref line  and make this the opening angle param.

Create the door panel as Generic Model face based so that it is vertical to the template face with simple params for width, height and thickness.

Load the nested panel in, SET tool, select the ref line and tab through until the horiz ref plane displays. Select place on ref plane.

Hover over the ref line, spacebar until the door aligns (the nested family face will be the origin) and then select and move along until the panel edge snaps to the ref line hinge end point. Also align-select the ref line and lock.

The door should then flex properly with the angle param