Copy Monitor - A Different Way?

Morning musing...

It's my observation that there is a prevailing mostly ambivalent attitude toward the Copy/Monitor (C/M) features. I've said before that I think the order of the tabs in the Options dialog are based on the likelihood that we'll use them. Specifically they are listed left to right: Levels, Grids, Columns, Walls and Floors.

C/M isn't hard to use but once it is in play we've got some new rules and warnings to contend with. The process depends on us identifying the elements we want to live in the C/M system. I understand the logic of that choice. Revit asks us to tell it what is important enough to us to engage the system.

Perhaps we need a completely different way to attack the problem? One that doesn't require the advance work. One that is more a reaction to work as it is created and shared, that merely exists.

I wonder if it would be more betterer if we could run a Level or Grid check as a process. The application would compare elements and compile a report, observations and differences. It could be something we read afterward or presented in a dialog for immediate action.

For example, it could just start with: "Hey Steve, there are 27 grids in your model and 30 in theirs. You should look at them." Take it slightly deeper, "Hey Steve, there are three grids that share the same name but are not in the same location."

Does it matter that they used to be in the same location and they aren't now? The application would have to start storing records for past results to do that but it could be useful to determine when or how things got off track. The rules or conditions that are interesting need to be defined.

This sort of element review and comparison doesn't have to be limited to the five that Copy/Monitor were designed for originally (overlooking the MEP elements that have been added in some fashion). It still requires two or more elements though; mine, yours and theirs. The redundancy is annoying but it does provide us with flexibility within our own models.

I imagine much of what I'm describing (and more) is possible via the API and Dynamo. It just needs someone to decide it is an interesting enough thing to do.

Levels and Story Above

Listening to Bill's BIM Thoughts podcast with Carla Edwards and Paul Aubin (Session 29), Carla reminded me of a parameter associated with levels I wrote about in 2013 but it was buried within a post of a different title. So I decided to clip it out of that post and give it some air again.

Levels have a parameter called Story Above; and a related parameter called Building Story.

This is the current description for the Story Above parameter from Autodesk.

"From Revit Help"

Used in conjunction with the Building Story parameter when exporting to IFC with the export option Split walls and columns by story, this parameter indicates the next building story for the level.

By default, Story Above is the next highest level for which Building Story is enabled. To access a list of all building stories above the current one, click in the field. The Story Above does not need to be the next higher level or building story. If the selected level is deleted later or if Building Story is disabled, any levels with this level as their Story Above will revert to default behavior.

Unfortunately what Carla described about how it is used isn't entirely on track, sorry Carla. The first sentence in the help documentation description didn't include the information about IFC initially. It was revised at some point after the feature was introduced. The two parameters Building Story and Story Above only factor in if we export to IFC. They don't influence anything else. It might be useful if they did.

Deleting All Levels

I have been telling people for years that Revit needs at least one level to function. As proof, if you only have one level you'll find that Revit won't let you delete it, the last one. The Delete button is disabled and it ignores you if you tap the Delete key.

I find it disturbing and interesting that it IS possible to delete all the levels as long as you select all of them and delete them together, at the same time. No complaint from Revit at all.

That seems like more like a bug than a feature to me. It works this way as far back as v2013, as far back as I've tested it.

What if you've done that, deleted all of them? You'll probably be a bit disappointed at the condition of what was your model...but just open an elevation view and create a new level(s).

Filter Linked Grids and Levels

As soon as we rely on or need to use linked files we are confronted with the presence of their grids and levels. Some people use Visibility/Graphics to interact with the linked files and override them so they can shut them off. I like using a Filter for each instead.

Since I have control over the naming of my grid and level types I can make them unique enough that it is unlikely to compete with the naming used for those that are in any of the linked files. Naturally, the last thing I want to attempt is to get the other trades to align their grid/level names. It's a lot easier to just deal with my own naming.

For example let say there are four linked files; Structure, HVAC, Plumbing and Electrical. They all have grids and levels that use different names. As long as mine are distinctly different from theirs I can filter them all off with one filter for grids and another for levels...since I may want to restore one or the other at times, separately.

Here's the Filter dialog configured to filter out all Grids but mine; I called it Not Local Grids. My Grids have a type name prefixed with AEC, but a firm's own acronym or something else that makes it unique works too. This can change from project to project easily too...if necessary.

Now I just add the filters to my View Templates and all the views that are going to get put on sheets and printed will behave with minimal input from me here on out. For coordination I'll use working views that don't have the filter applied or temporarily override the view template so I can toggle either of them on if necessary.

Here's a bonus Filtering tip that was shared at RTC (sorry I don't recall whose session it was). If you are filtering with a specific criteria but can't recall if the first letter is capitalized or not just leave that letter out. For example if you aren't sure if it is Concrete or concrete just enter oncrete as your critera. Pretty subtle and clever!

Web Update 7 Killed Grid Level and Ref Plane Alignment

I was wrong, the update is innocent, sorry. The culprit is Snap to Remote Objects which was off.

Uh oh, I installed the recent Web Update 7 and now grids, levels and reference planes don't see each other like they used to. Existing grids and levels work normally. It seems to affect new elements when you attempt to place them in alignment with others. For example, try to sketch new parallel grids. Normally we see a green dashed graphic that indicates alignment with an adjacent grid end. I don't see this anymore. I also don't get the locked relationship between grids. Same for new levels.

If you copy them they'll recognize their alignment and behave normally unless you unlock that and alter them individually. Then they'll forget they can see (should see) each other. We can get around it, with grids for example, until they patch it by sketching a reference plane across the grid ends and dragging them so they touch the reference plane. The grids will start to behave normally as long as we don't separate them again.

Well at least a couple replies suggest I'm crazy but here's what's happening to me.

Gaps in Grids

Some people do not like grids that extend entirely through a model. I usually hear about this in building elevations. They want the grids to stop just above the model. That is easy to do when we toggle from 3D to 2D. We can drag the 2D extent of the grid above the building. If we turn on the crop boundary of the view and make sure it intersects the grids we can drag them all together faster than doing it one at time.

Some want similar behavior in plan views too. We can do the same thing unless they also want the grids to appear on both sides of the model. In this case we can use the Center Segment parameter that is part of grid types. The stock Revit templates provide three grid types: 1/4" Bubble, 1/4" Bubble Custom Gap, and 1/4" Bubble Gap. They look like this.

If we want to stop the grid from traveling all the way through a model we can use the 1/4" Bubble Gap type. The gap is created with the Center Segment parameter by using None instead of Continuous or Custom. Choosing Custom enables (turns on) three new parameters: Center Segment Weight, Center Segment Color and Center Segment Pattern (a Line Pattern).

People also ask to be able to adjust this gap differently in different plan views. At first it doesn't seem possible because adjusting one does affect other views, until you toggle the 3D status to 2D. Once the grid is using the 2D mode we can alter the gap differently in that view when compared with other views. This gap does affect elevations and sections. This means you'll have to adjust the extents of the gap in those views too, especially if you don't want the gap to show up in those views at all.

It's like Spiderman's Uncle said, "...with great power comes great responsibility". The more subtle features we engage the more work it is to manage them.

By the way, this isn't possible with Levels. There is no Center Segment parameter. There are occasions where it would be helpful if we could do this for Levels too.

Enable 2D Setting for Multiple Grid Lines

There are times when we'd like to alter the 2D (view specific) position of Grids. When you select a Grid you can click the 3D icon to toggle it to 2D. That's a one-at-a-time affair though. If you have many grids you won't look forward to doing that.

When a Grid crosses a crop boundary in a view (when the crop boundary is enabled) it switches from 3D to 2D automatically. If you want to enable the 2D setting for all the vertical grids at once turn on the view's crop boundary and make sure it crosses your grids.

Now you can adjust all the Grids end point position together just like they do automatically for the 3D setting. It will work for levels too. If you don't want the crop region long term you can just disable it afterward. The Grids or Levels will retain their alteration until (if) you elect to use the Reset to 3D Extents (right click context menu option).

How Many Levels

In Revit 2014 they added Levels to the list of things we can create a schedule for. Working in a project stuck in 2012 I found myself wishing I could use that feature. I really just wanted to know how many levels were actually in the project. I was pretty sure there were more levels than I could see in a section view. I still got my answer but not with a schedule.

I started the process to create a new floor plan view. Revit's dialog has an option to hide levels that already have views. I unchecked the option: Do not duplicate existing views. Now I was sure how many levels were really in the project, more than I suspected.

It really means don't create new views for levels that already have at least one view associated with them. Their phrasing is less wordy but I usually get furrowed brows at first when we discuss the purpose of the option.

Want to speed up creating views? Close all User Created worksets first. Revit will generate the views much quicker when there is nothing to display in them.

2014 Revit OpEd

Level Matching in Schedules

If you've used the Level parameter in a door or room schedule to sort and group them you may have also been surprised when you attempt to do the same thing including a linked file's elements. The Level parameter becomes unavailable in the filter tab of Schedule properties when it includes linked elements.

Behind the scenes Revit doesn't look at a Level the same way we do. We see a name like ground or second floor but Revit sees a unique ID instead. That means a linked project might have the same levels, the names we read, but they aren't the same ID. To a computer they couldn't be more different.

Revit reconciles this same situation with phases by providing a phase mapping tool in the properties of each linked model. When we use that dialog we are telling Revit that "this" is the same as "that". It seems pretty reasonable to me to do the same thing for levels. Provide a level mapping button right next to phase mapping, or combine them into a project mapping dialog. Maybe it doesn't have to be a mapping dialog. We could just interact with them in a view to map them to each other. We do this when we use Copy/Monitor.

The current workaround is to filter a schedule based on some other data that is uniquely level related or worse, actually entering "level" information into each element so they can be filtered by it. Add to the un-Revityness is that we now have to encourage people to add the same info to their model so we can use it in our schedule. Especially frustrating when the "same" info is already in the model.

Change a Level Association for a Room

I read a wish at AUGI asking to be able to change the associated level of a room via the Properties Palette. My initial reaction was, "Yeah I can see that".

As I thought about it a bit more I believe that the process has been limited to using Delete and then placing the room again or using Cut to Clipboard and then using Paste elsewhere because simply changing the level relationship in properties does not ensure that Revit or the room will find boundaries.

If there are no boundaries to be found Revit would generate a warning and the room would have a record against it in Review Warnings. To resolve that the room would either have to be re-positioned or walls would need to be created to provide the boundaries. If we compare that effort with deleting the room from a plan view and placing it again on a different level it doesn't seem like much difference to me.

In general I think it would be nice to have more flexibility to alter element properties via the properties palette. The context we often need to appreciate how they work in the model may not be represented by a list in the palette though. Changing the value might be easier but it might not be less work overall.

Copy Then Paste a Level

Ever have someone want to use Copy to Clipboard and then Paste Aligned to create a new level? I haven't but it is technically possible to create a new level by doing it.

Example 1:
Open an Elevation view
Select Level 2
Use Copy to Clipboard
Open the floor plane for Level 2
Use Paste Aligned > Aligned to Same Place
Result - A new level but on top of Level 2.

Example 2:
Open an Elevation view
Select Level 2
Use Copy to Clipboard
Open the floor plan for Level 2
Use Paste Aligned > > Aligned to Current View
Result - A new level but using the same elevation offset (distance) as Level 2

Example 3:
Start with a new template
Create a new level with the Level tool
Adjust all three levels so they are each 12'-0" apart
Open an Elevation view
Select Level 3
Use Copy to Clipboard
Open the floor plan for Level 3
Use Paste Aligned > > Aligned to Current View
Result - A new level but using the same elevation offset (distance) as Level 3

You can also place a new one with Paste Aligned > Aligned to Selected Levels, choose the appropriate level in the dialog that appears.

It isn't the first thing I'd think of to create a new level, but it IS possible.

Revit 2014 - Schedule Grids and Levels

Revit 2014 has added grids and levels as valid elements that a schedule can be based on.

I've not personally needed to schedule them for documentation purposes but I have wanted to do so many times just so I could analyse a project's datum. For example when someone says their level has "gone missing" a schedule of levels will quickly tell me if it is still there. Now I know that it is an issue with the extents of the level as opposed to someone deleting it entirely or perhaps assigning it to a workset that isn't open or visible.

I've seen a few offices that provide a "Storey" summary of their project on their general sheets, along side code compliance information. A level schedule can help provide this without resorting to text and lines that are not tied to the model data at all.

Mentioning worksets, it is worth noting that is not an available schedule field for a level or grid, it would be if it could be part of their schedule too.

Filter Pesky Levels

Need another way to manage the Levels of linked files? Sure we can assign them to specific worksets and have matching worksets in our model. Sure we can edit the V/G settings of the link in views (and view templates). Here's another, use a Filter and the criteria "Structural" that is available for levels.

When you examine the properties of levels you should find the parameter Structural. If the engineer uses that for their levels and you don't, then this concept works.

Now build a Filter that hunts for levels with the Structural parameter.

This is before the filter is applied.

This is after the filter is applied.

They can do the reverse by reversing the logic of the filter, Structural = no.

Happy Filtering!

Revit Level Elevations Project and Shared

Revit levels can show a project elevation or a shared elevation. The project elevation is the possibly arbitrary height of the levels relative to zero elevation, like in the stock templates. If you change the elevation of the project via Relocate Project (sleight of hand) or via Shared Coordinates (actual change) you can alter the levels to show one or the other. Via email I got a question that I've been asked before, "I want to show both on the level, both project and shared. Is it possible?"

The first off the cuff answer is nope. The elevation base parameter is a Type Parameter and the labels used in the  assigned annotation symbol family responds to the level, not the other way around. So while I could show alternate units in the same level annotation I can't show alternate elevation base settings. Time for workarounds?

My normal suggestion is to place spot elevations that use reduced graphic options so they just show a value. Place them on the levels in the views you need them in...set and forget. Hopefully it's in the later stages of documentation?

Another possibility is to use a linked project that has its own levels that show the Shared elevation instead. It's tricky though because it may be difficult to get the annotation to sit still, stay in the same correct locations in all views...according to scale and orientation.

If levels could be assigned to Design Options it would be another way to approach it...no joy there.

You could create new level types for each level and use either text in the annotation family (separate multiple families) or assign a prefix/suffix to the label and literally type in the shared elevation values. Yuk...double yuk...but it would give you the result most people want to "see". Need to double/triple check that before every print cycle though.

Along the same lines of yuk, double yuk would be text placed in views directly, possibly as detail groups to manage the data entry.

Anything I'm forgetting??

It would be so simple if it were possible to assign the elevation base setting at the label formatting side of the equation. So close yet so far sometimes.

Dept. of Secret Sauce - Level Dragging Behavior

This is an echo of Ryan Duell's contribution to the The Revit Clinic this morning. Too subtle and tasty to pass up the echo...(extra credit/thanks to Steve Bianco for the background data to post the article)

Read the post

You try to drag a level and find that it "snaps" back to some preferred spot in the view, say an elevation. It boils down to this:

This occurs related to the shape and orientation of the specific Level. Because a Level in Revit is actually a rectangular plane, if a Level is added in a view [such as a section or elevation] not parallel to the N/S or E/W axis, Revit is essentially looking at a rotated rectangle in other views.

They provided this nice image to help explain what's happening. I've experienced this a couple times recently. I got past it by turning snaps off temporarily (keyboard shortcut "SO"). In my case there was a point cloud providing way too many things to snap to.

They also created a video to see it in action.

Tip - List of All Levels via Grid Generator Extension

This tip is courtesy of Daniel Stine, author of several Revit books (listed in previous post). If you are familiar with the Grid Generator extension for Revit you might have already seen this? If not...have a look!

This extension provides a nice summary of all the levels in your project AND their elevations. Also nice is that you don't really have to do anything, just launch the Grid Generator tool and then make sure the Levels option is selected.

It isn't always easy to see them all when some have been hidden or their extents are affecting what you see in sections and elevations. Thanks Daniel!

Workset Visibility in Linked Files

Warning: Worksets are not for visibility control purists need to walk away, put some ear plugs in and repeat after me, "Nah nah nah, I can't hear you Steve, I can't hear you".

When you work with linked project files a common issue people deal with is controlling the display of the linked levels and grids. The first person I recall discovering the technique I'm about to describe is Daniel Stine, the author of several Revit books.

If your project and the other project files use specific worksets for certain elements, like Levels and/or grids you can control their visibility quite easily. Here's the steps:

• For each linked project file - define a workset(s) name for the linked elements
• Have the source of each file make sure the elements are assigned to this workset(s)
• Create the same workset(s) using the same name in your own project
• Un-Check Visible by default in all views

When you import the other project file Revit will recognize the workset that uses the same name and respect the fact that your workset by the same name isn't supposed to be visible, rendering their workset "invisible" too. I've created a brief video that explains this too.

For the purist that prefers to use Filters for visibility control, Revit doesn't provide access to project file parameters like file name or project name. If Revit did then we could filter for the grids in the other file instead. If the grid family name chosen by the other project file creators was carefully assigned/selected we could control it with Filters.

Level Annotation - Elevation Units

Here's a quick video showing how to change the units of a Level annotation for elevation.

No time for a video, want to dash in and try to do it? Take these steps (added per Rusty's comment):

1. Select the Level
2. Examine it's Type Properties
3. Find the Symbol Family it is assigned to
4. Close the Type Dialog(s)
5. Scroll to the Families category in the Project Browser
6. Select the family the Level is using under the Annotation Symbols category
7. Right Click > Edit
8. Select the Elevation label, click Edit Label
9. Select the Elevation parameter in the list
10. Click the Format button, Un-Check Project Units
11. Choose another setting
12. Save the family and load it into your project

You should save this family as a new type in your office standards folder.

Rename Corresponding Level and Views? - Huh?

Have you or someone you know answered "yes" to that question? You can admit it, it's okay, we're among friends! Revit keeps a watchful parental eye on Levels and View names that match. It doesn't let them get out of sight until there are no more matching names. When you are renaming views or levels just make sure you really read the message that appears. Perhaps a video demonstrates this a bit better than writing out further explanation?

Views are Associated to Levels - Forever!

Need a new Level in your project? Don't just copy a view and rename it! All you get is a view with a "nice" name but it isn't related to the Level you think it is.

A new Level must be created with the Drafting menu > Level tool or via the Basics Design Bar Tab > Level (okay its in a couple more places too). You can also copy a Level but no new views are created when you do that. Which is probably how people end up copying views to make a new view for their Level in the first place.

This dialog shows the Associated Level parameter. Note that it is read only (gray and not editable). This view is forever associated with Level 1. A nice name like 15th Floor does nothing to change that.


Need a new View? View Menu > New > Floor Plan or Ceiling Plan or Basics Design Bar Tab > Floor Plan or Ceiling Plan.