Project Units Matter - Specify Coordinates at Point

When we use the Specify Coordinates at Point (SPaC) it is possible that the units in use will affect your results. For example, this project is using Feet and Fractional Inches (FaFI) but for SPaC to match the available survey info it was changed to Decimal Inches (DI) with six decimal places. After using SPaC the units were returned to FaFI.

Some time later the elevation needed to be changed thus causing us to revisit using SPaC. The following image shows the original values used for SPaC.

Leaving the Project Units assigned to FaFI resulted is this subtle change to the coordinate values.

When the units were revised to match the earlier DI settings the SPaC coordinates are not altered.

Shorter story, be careful with your unit settings when using SPaC.

Edit Profile and Altering Base or Top Constraints

In this example I've got a veneer wall and I used the Edit Profile feature to alter its shape. I wanted it to go from the bottom of the building to the top but provide the overall opening it requires in the middle. As luck would have it the overall height has changed a little. The selected wall in the following image is one of several veneer wall segments. It needs to drop down by 6 inches.

All I need to do is edit the Top Offset parameter, changing it from 3'-6" to 3'-0". That was easy.

Unfortunately when I do that easy bit I notice the opening I created using Edit Profile has shifted down by the same 6 inches.

At this point I'd use Edit Profile and move that sketch segment back up to the proper location. Since I have several of these veneer walls to adjust; for one of them I accidentally used Edit Profile first. I decided to change the Top Offset parameter while I was there, noting that the sketch is still correct at the top of the window assembly.

When I finished Edit Profile I was pleasantly surprised to find that the sketch remained intact, the opening did not need to be altered. The Top Offset alteration took effect without changing the interior rectangle sketch like would have happened changing the parameter outside of the Edit Profile mode.

That was a pleasant thing to stumble into. For the remaining walls I just used Edit Profile first and changed the Top Offset parameter followed by finishing Edit Profile without having to adjust the sketch too.

Revit 2016 - IFC Observations

Autodesk recommends that we visit Autodesk Exchange|Apps to download the latest IFC application before starting to work with IFC data.

While testing these features I exported some walls and doors to IFC 2x3 so I could import them as IFC geometry. When I used Link IFC there were Generic Model openings filling the door openings to provide room bounding geometry.

There is a bit more going on behind the scenes when we import IFC. In the past we had to open an IFC which created a Revit project file we could then link. Those extra steps are done for us now as a background operation. There are three files that Revit creates based on the source IFC we link.

If I get obnoxious and delete these files and then open my active project file I get a warning message that Revit couldn’t find a linked file. When I use Reload From and select the IFC file I linked in the first place Revit creates those three files all over again. In the background it’s really just referencing the IFC file named "Linking.ifc.RVT".

I then opened the .RVT file that Revit created during the Link IFC process and deleted the openings and replaced them with Room Separator lines. Rather than doing that we can just leave the Generic Model elements but we need to use a Filter to turn them off. Revit creates a shared parameter file based on the IFC data. We can create a Project Parameter using one of its parameters (ObjectTypeOverrides) so we can create a Filter focused on the Generic Model category.

Once we understand that we can use the same approach to override the appearance of the existing walls, doors and windows so they look more like existing elements.

Always Unless - Interacting with Dimensions

It is fun to tell someone how to behave with elements and dimensions in a project and then the next day talk about the family editor and contradict that advice.

For example in a project we select an element like a wall and then interact with the dimension value (permanent or temporary) to move it. If we select the dimension first we end up in the Dimension Text dialog instead. Revit thinks we want to override the dimension with text or add a suffix/prefix.

In the family editor however we can select a dimension that has a parameter associated with it and interact with the dimension value directly to change a referenced element's position.

Just remember, It's the same only different or It's always like this except when it isn't.