Dept. of Echo - Ceiling Tool Gets a Bit Smarter

In all previous releases Revit was a bit too accommodating because it would let users put multiple ceilings within the same boundary without complaining about the redundancy. Obviously some parts of a building use multiple ceilings so they need to be able to exist in the same room or space. However the Auto Ceiling function also made it too easy to put multiple ceilings in the same room or space because it didn't complain or mention the redundancy. I complained about this in an earlier post.

A quiet change in Revit 2011 exists now (documented thanks to Inside the Factory), a warning will occur if we use the Auto Ceiling function within the same boundary room or space.

It's nice to see issues like these get resolution even if they forget to take credit for them in the "What's New in XX" documentation. Little stuff can add up to annoying.

Dept. of Unfair - Rooms/Spaces Boundaries vs. Ceiling Boundaries

The ceiling tool cannot detect the room bounding capability of linked files or columns. When using Auto Ceiling the tool is oblivious to the boundaries that are defined by these elements.

Room tool seems fine:

Ceiling isn't fine:
I can't say that I was surprised since this issue has been with us all along but I had hoped with the release of 2009 that we'd see this fixed. Further I hoped that the linked file could also provide the same function. On the surface, to me, it seems like the "same" calculation for either tool.

The "fix" for the column condition is to let the walls trim "inside" the colums so they touch each other. The ceiling sketch will ignore the columns and be a bit bigger than need but the column will mask the ceiling. Not perfect but easier than sketching around the perimeter for each ceiling. If necessary you can still do that. For linked files you'll need to sketch the ceilings.