Drawing List - Consultant Drawings

Just want to know how to make a drawing list? Mike Hardy-Brown posted a tips & tricks article on HIS SITE.

If you need to include your consultant's drawings in your list there are two common methods and a slightly distant third: Dummy Sheets, Annotation text list and image file of an external list.

The dummy list means you create a sheet for each of the consultant's sheets, supplying only the number and name.

This list will clutter your project browser so you might consider putting this list in a separate empty project that you link back into your project.When you make the drawing list check the box to include linked files so you can schedule them too.
One bonus that comes from using this approach is that you can also create dummy detail or drafting views that correspond with details in your consultant's set. This will permit you to use the reference other view option to create callouts that refer to their details.

I have done this in the past to coordinate details with overlapping site information like concrete stairs and railings that approach a building.

The second method using text means you've got to copy and paste the data from another source into a text object in a Revit view. You could just type it all in yourself too.

Last some folks will just create a pdf of the list supplied by others and save in bmp or jpg format so it can be imported into Revit.

Survey Says...Got Rendering?

Autodesk has created another Revit survey to gather information about Rendering. If you are one of the group clamoring for Vizrender, Vray, Maya, Blender, Max, Artlantis, Maxwell, or just want Accurender 4...maybe something entirely different inside? Now is your chance to tell Autodesk what you really think about the rendering engine inside Revit. Take the

SURVEY HERE.

It stays live for the next 10 days "ish"...and it takes a little less than 10 minutes assuming you don't write an essay in the comments field 8-)

An Opening or an Opening?

There are several ways to create openings in walls. Imagine a corridor with alcoves leading to rooms...

You can create a wall based component family that cuts a hole in the wall.
If you want to maintain the area of each room on either side of the wall and have an opening then you need to consider the component route.

You can use the Modelling > Opening feature.
Using this approach breaks the ability of a wall to be room bounding (in that location). Room area leaks out right through, which is okay if that is what you need or want. This feature is a bit tedious to use because you have to select the wall and then sketch over the portion of the wall where the opening should be, but you can't snap to things to do so accurately at first. Using the Align tool makes it a bit easier to make sure the opening is flush with the alcove walls. Take care to define the height accordingly.

You can edit the profile of the wall.
Just the like the previous, using this approach breaks the ability of a wall to be room bounding, which is okay if that is what you need or want. Also a bit tedious to place because you need a section or elevation view of each wall to edit the profile, or be able to see the wall in a 3D view.

You can also use separate wall segments and put a wall above the opening using a Base Offset value. In this example I used the linework tool to make the outside edge visible as an overhead linetype.
This approach is pretty easy as long as the little segment doesn't rejoin the longer walls.

If you like one of the methods that also breaks the room bounding behavior of the wall you can use a room separation line to fix it.

Decisions Decisions...which one should you use? If you want room area to flood into the adjacent room then you can't use the component family approach. If you you don't then I prefer the component family. But...it's your call!!

Dimension Parallel Arc Grid Lines

Ever wanted to do this?


Probably have tried and found that Revit won't? Some folks resort to adding little detail lines and dimension to those instead. This tip is brought to you by Kevin Parks, a hard working HOK Revit user in Dallas. He showed it to me the other day and I warned him that I'd have to share it! Thanks Kevin!

So start off like this...follow the "bouncing ball"...




Wrap it all up by adjusting the object offset so the witness lines finish up as desired. Refer to the first image for the final product. This works assuming the grid lines are parallel. Yep...works for walls too!

Sorry...no bouncing ball, just me trying to be amusing...

Thumbnail Explorer Released into the Wild

Raizlabs has released Thumbnail Explorer. This is an interesting product, a graphical search engine for your PC and network, with interesting possibilities for viewing/finding Revit content not to mention other file types.

From the website:

Thumbnail Explorer is the perfect tool for anyone who deals with graphics, office files or CAD and has more then a handful of files.

The software allows you to quickly and easily find any file across multiple folders without browsing or using Windows search. As you type a part of file name Thumbnail Explorer will show a list of thumbnails and will enable you to work with corresponding files without resorting to Windows Explorer.

Search and thumbnail extraction done as background process that guarantees interactive responsiveness even when searching through hundreds of thousands of files.

The software features tight integration with Windows Explorer. Double click or drag and drop search results into their native applications. Or right click to see the same context menu as in Windows Explorer.

Customize our tabbed interface to your work environment and files

Easy to use interface requires no training

Do you recognize the name Raiz? Leonid Raiz is one of the two founders of Revit, Irwin Jungreis being the other. Leonid's son Gregory founded Raizlabs 1997. Leonid has been working, in his spare time, on Thumbnail Explorer since retiring from Autodesk about two and half years after selling Revit to Autodesk. He recently released it to a small beta group and is now pleased to release it to the general public as a Raizlabs product.

Revit in Portugal x 2

André Cardoso has joined Fernando in providing blog based Revit information. If you like or need your Revit data in Portuguese...now you've got yet another option! Be sure to check it out! His blog is called Up to Work. Happy reading!

Walking on Thin Ice

Another post about shared parameters. Here's the warning you'll find in a shared parameter file.
If you've dabbled or dug in seriously with shared parameters you've most likely made a mistake naming or choosing the type for a parameter. The interface Revit provides doesn't allow you to change a parameter once you've entered the data and finished. The only route is to delete and redo....or is it?

It is just a text file technically so you can open it with Windows application, Notepad. Best not to open it in Word or similar since you could inadvertently save formatting data in the file rendering it useless to Revit.

Required Disclaimer: In light of the above image doing anything I suggest will not be supported by anyone if something goes wrong, you venture out on "Thin Ice" at your own peril. If you have used the shared parameter in a project and have data associated with it don't go here...walk away. You'll lose data. Scared yet? No...okay carry on...

If you examine a shared parameter file, each value has a role.

If you need to rename the parameter, rename it here >

If you need to redefine the type, do it here >

Keep in mind that you have to enter the type value exactly as Revit expects it to be written otherwise it isn't going to work.

If you want to get a parameter from one file into another, just copy the entire string from one to the other.

I don't know how many people will care about this or perhaps run away but during a discussion about this recently I tried it to fix something and found it helpful.

This is only really useful if you are in the process of creating parameters and make a mistake. If you've already implemented a project or content using the parameters it may be more "costly" to change than it is worth. You be the judge.

New Build of Revit 9 Posted!

Attention! New build has been posted. Build 20060426_2300 is now available at the Autodesk Revit Building web site. Start your downloading HERE NOW!

P.S. This applies to Revit Structure 3 as well. Download it HERE!

Cropped and Nowhere to Go!

A subtle twist of the new Rooms in Revit Building 9 is that the tags for rooms will not show up when the crop region of a view does not intersect the room.

If you recall in the past a room tag would linger off in space outside a crop region when you set up a partial plan etc. Then you'd have to delete those orphans. Now they just disappear from view automatically. The exception to this is irregular shaped rooms that still cross over the crop region's boundary.

BEFORE CROPPING:

AFTER CROPPING:

Need an Excuse to go to Australia?

Any Revit user/fan that needs an excuse to visit Australia now has a great one. To mix Revit and travel you just need to attend the Revit User Conference. It runs from October 26, 2006 through October 29, 2006. Check it out!!

Here's a reprint of the schedule as it appears on the conference web site.

Day 1 Thursday, October 26
9:00am Setup
1:00pm Introduction to Revit Building 9
2:50pm Introduction to Revit Systems 1
4:40pm Introduction to Revit Structure 3
7:30pm BBQ - meet and greet

Day 2 Friday, October 27
7:00am Breakfast
9:30am Welcome and Intro
10:30am Morning Tea
11:00am Keynote
12:30pm Lunch
1:30pm Modelling - Basics - Modelling - Advanced
3:00pm Afternoon Tea
3:30pm Families - Basics - Families - Advanced
7:30pm Dinner

Day 3 Saturday, October 28
7:00am Breakfast
9:00am Documentation - Basics -Documentation - Advanced
10:30am Morning Tea
11:00am Classroom 1 - Linking, Worksets, Shared co-ordinates
Classroom 2 - Phasing, Massing
Classroom 3 - Design Options, Scheduling, Workplanes
12:30pm Lunch
1:30pm Rendering - 3rd Party rendering
3:00pm Afternoon Tea
3:30pm Best Practices
5:00pm Gala Dinner

Day 4 Sunday, October 29
7:00am Breakfast

Units Units Units! Unit Plans?

Autodesk Revit is inquiring about unit plan requirements. What do we do? Why do we do it? They have posted a short survey to respond to. You can supply your comments at the end of the survey.

Take the SURVEY if you care about UNIT PLANS!! Can you say improvements to Groups? Let's hope they come up with something great!

A Flat Slope?

When working with stairs or railings there is a parameter associated with the sketch lines that define them. It is called SLOPE. There are three settings: AUTO DETECT, FLAT and SLOPED. Keep in mind that only the BOUNDARY sketch linetype has this parameter. The others are RUN and RISER, they don't. There is no special name for railing sketch lines, just called LINES. They also have the parameter.


Typically the setting AUTO DETECT is sufficient. When you need to create stairs that are a little less than simple you will find these play a much larger role. Take a look at this image where we'd like to end the stair at the landing.

Now the trick to ending like this in the first place is to use a RISER not a BOUNDARY sketch line at the end.

This stair has been told not to end with a riser yet the stringer at the inside corner is desperately trying to slope, and SUCCEEDING! Also the stringer at the far end of the landing and its railing are both too high. The stair and railing sketches just need a little SLOPE attitude adjustment.

Setting them specifically to FLAT lets them behave. To apply this change you must be in SKETCH MODE to select each line segment. When one segment is selected you can alter the parameter. You cannot apply this change to multiple segments, it would be nice if we could.


So this is the result!

I should also mention that when you make a stair Revit will automatically create a railing, if you let it. As long as you never edit the sketch of the railing Revit will keep track of it. As soon as you edit the sketch for the railing Revit hands over the responsibility for the integrity of the railing sketch to you, preferring to avoid making a change to it that you may not have wanted.

Till next time here's a few parting images! Cheers!





I recently recorded a VIDEO to describe this too. You can listen and sort of watch here.

Revit on the Rocks!

Rather...Revit Rocks!! Yet another Revit blog joins the fray. Daryl, the man who brings you DGCad and Revit tutorial videos has started a blog. Check it out!

Text Settings

One thing I've always wondered about...why isn't there a Settings menu selection for Text Styles?? Nearly every other project setting does yet text doesn't...seems unfair to me.

To manage text styles without this you have to either start the Text command or edit existing text objects to modify or create a new text style. I guess we don't have to make text styles very often? Is that the assumption perhaps? Still seems unfair!!

If I were elected President I'd make sure Text gets a fair shake!!

(that and fix the elevation TAG!)

Workset Visibility in Linked Files

We don't have discreet control over workset visibility in linked files on a view by view basis yet (not in RB9 either). We DO have the option to specify what worksets shall be linked in when we import the file initially, project wide mind you. When you use File > Import/Link > Rvt choose Specify.

Revit will offer you the Workset dialog to choose which worksets to open or close.

When we need to change these settings we have to use File > Manage Links > then choose Reload From

Now specify which worksets you need again.

Rooms in Revit Building 9

One of the first things you may stumble a bit with Revit Building 9 is Rooms. They are now an actual element like a Wall, Door or Window, you place a Room and tag them. The tags no longer define a room. They are just like a door tag, displaying important information only.

The Area Analysis tab on the design bar has become the Room and Area Tab.
You'll find separate commands for Room and Room Tag under the Drafting menu. On the Basics design bar tab you'll find the Room command. The Room Tag command is found on the Drafting design bar tab.

You can now tag a room in section views. You cannot place a room in section nor select it however. You CAN select a room in a schedule, then choose Show from the options bar now.

There is a new Room Model Object category in Visibility/Graphic Overrides and three sub-categories. The Room category is off by default in section and elevation views.
Color Fill governs the display of any color fill applied to the view. It doesn't affect the legend. Interior Fill turns on the system controlled light blue fill that you see when you are placing rooms, tagging or selecting them. Reference displays the crosshair and drag grip that you see when you place, tag or select Rooms.

More about Rooms later. Be sure to take a look at the help topics for Rooms, they have been updated to describe their new behavior and features.

Revit Building 9 is Released and Shipping

Finally!!! Revit Building 9 has been officially released to the Web and is now shipping to subscription customers. Download it HERE. The main site for Revit Building is HERE.

Revit Structure 3 is also available for download now.

In the near future we also will see the release of the brand new Revit Systems 1, stay tuned.

Revit Em Portugal?

I've neglected to mention that there is a blog dedicated to those Revit users who speak Portuguese, Revit Em Portugal. Fernando hails from Leiria, Portugal and has been using Revit for quite some time now, perhaps longer than anyone in Portugal. He'd have to confirm that bit of speculation though. He started the blog in January and fortunately for me there are quite a few images to help me figure out what is going on. Yet another Revit blog to highlight my single language liability!

In addition to the blog he is host to a user bulletin board community similar to those listed on my links sidebar. It is called RevitPT. If Portuguese is your native tongue or your favorite second/third language do check it out.

A Little Help From My Revit

Okay...poor attempt to reuse a Beatles song title, or if you prefer Joe Cocker's cover of it...nevertheless here we go.

When you are browsing the help documentation using the search function, have you ever wondered where the subject you are interested in is actually located?

Next time you are using HELP (I need somebody!...sorry), check out the Index Tab

Typing your query will usually yield nearly the same results as the Search Tab. When you double click on an offering in the list a dialog box is offered if there are sub-topics.

After choosing the information to display, now click the Contents tab.

Notice the table of contents has expanded to show exactly where your subject of choice is located? Makes it a bit easier to study related information as well?

Have fun searching!

Automatic Sketch Dimensions

Did you know these are lurking in every family that you build? As soon as you add a parameter to a dimension Revit starts using them. Take a look at this simple sketch, just a Model Line drawn over the vertical Reference Plane called Center(Left/Right).

Nothing special to see eh? Just notice the direction of the line for later okay?

Now take a look at the same family with a parameter added to the angular dimension between the Model Line and the horizontal Reference Plane.Never seen them you say? Well you have to know when to look! Or at least how to turn them on! They are off by default typically. When you are editing a family, click the View menu, choose Visibility/Graphics and click the Annotation Categories tab to see where they are hiding.

So what are they doing? Revit uses them to infer intent once we start using parameters and labeled dimensions. If Revit does well, we get automatic behavior from our family with a minimum of effort. When it doesn't we get less predictable behavior. It is important to tell Revit what we want when this happens. Reviewing these Automatic Sketch Dimensions can help us decide what parameters we really need to add to eliminate any confusion.

A short search of Revit's help documentation will yield a nice graphical example of how these work. Try here>>

A subtle related issue is sketching lines directly on a Reference Plane. The first image showed the line drawn from the intersection of Reference Planes, up. This image shows the results of the parameter driven change.Reversing the direction of this line, drawing it from the top down toward the intersection yields better results perhaps?It is more reliable, or at least more predictable, to sketch lines, that are intended to be flexed with labeled angular dimension, away from Reference Planes entirely. Sketch them at an angle instead.

Revit Inside?

Recently an architectural firm interested in finding a structural firm using Revit Structure asked if there is a resource to connect with such firms. My reply, I don't think so. I talked with my friendly neighborhood Autodesk sales rep and he said that there isn't such a "list" as far as he knows.

So...I'm curious if anyone reading this might be interested in sharing such information so that other firms could find each other? I'm proposing that I could host a neutral web-based listing of firms that use one or more of the Revit applications. The list could be as simple as a firm name and web address or include more detailed information. A listed firm would be part of the Revit Inside list.

I've reserved the web address REVIT INSIDE just in case there is interest in making such a list happen.

Let me know via email address: staffordconsultingatcoxdotnet (replace the written at and dot accordingly)

Who Wins? A Battle of Constraints

Using multiple constraints Revit can find itself caught in the middle. As a result some constraints will take precedence over others. Objects that are aligned will override length constraints.

If you apply both an alignment and length constraint Revit will complain that it cannot maintain both kinds of constraints. You can choose to remove the constraints. Revit will remove the length constraint and try to keep the alignment constraint.

This image portrays windows that are aligned and locked to each other and the first window has a locked dimension to position it near the wall.

Next we try to move the last window on the top right.

...and Revit complains...

Choosing Remove Constraints...the result...

Revit removes the length constraint and honors the alignment of the windows.

Similarly, equality constraints lose to length constraints. Do both of these on elements and Revit will offer the same warning. When you choose to remove constraints Revit will try to keep the length constraint and remove the equality constraint.

Mastering Autodesk Revit Building

Paul Aubin has been working hard on finishing his book about Revit Building and he is pleased to announce that it is done and nearly shipping. You can check Amazon for availability and check his site for more information.

Well done! Another Revit resource for all the new Revit users to use!

Hey...while I'm plugging a new book don't forget that Christopher Lay Fox and Jim Balding's book has been updated. Check it at Amazon.

Do you Revit in French?

Then another Revit blog may come in handy? Daniel Hurtubise has started a blog and he's posting in French. He's the cadd manager for Lemay Michaud Architecture and they have offices in Quebec and Poland. He's also a frequent contributor to the Revit forums at AUGI.

I can even make out the basic content of his article's even though I do not know the language. I guess enough Revitese is present to give me a clue? Check out his BLOG when you get a chance.

Once Upon a Reference Plane

[Updated to reflect current version options - 09/20/08]

Once upon a time King Solid and his Voids prepared to journey across their great land, alas they weren't sure which vessel to use, Reference Planes or Reference Lines...abrupt end to segway...

Reference Planes have slightly different roles when you are making a family versus working in a project.

In a project they act as a construction line, a guide to layout your design. They do not have a real endpoint even though there is a grip at each end to adjust how much of the Reference Plane we see. Since there is no real endpoint you can’t snap to the midpoint of a Reference Plane. Just to confuse you though, you can snap to the endpoint of a Reference Plane, yes, the endpoint that doesn’t really exist.

They have the same 3D/2D toggle that Grids and Levels have. This gives you global or view specific control over how much Reference Plane you want to see. When you don’t want to see any of it you can choose the Right Click option Hide in View > Elements (or Category if you want to hide them all).


Change your mind later and want it back, click on the little light bulb on the View Control Shortcut Bar to turn on the Reveal Hidden Elements tool.


Find the reference plane or planes you want to restore, select them and then click the Unhide Element button on the options bar or via Right Click.


Related to their role in families they can also provide a work plane for elements like roofs created with Roof by Extrusion, model lines, In-Place Families and Massing. To act as a workplane they must be named first, just edit its properties and supply a name.


In the Family Editor their role is similar though with some additional responsibilities. Each Reference Plane has a parameter called IsReference. This is crucial to use properly so families behave themselves when exchanged for other families of the same category. It is also the key to making adjustable families that can be grip edited to change sizes when combined with instance parameters.

The 3D/2D behavior of Reference Planes in a project does not extend to the family editor environment (not entirely true since Revit 2010). They are invisible in a project except for how the IsReference parameter permits them to be used.

In both a project and the Family Editor the orientation of a Reference Plane determines which direction is positive. Huh? When you create a solid or void on a named Reference Plane the direction or depth of that solid/void that is a positive value is derived by the orientation of the Reference Plane. Still confused? Okay here’s an image.


When you sketch a Reference Plane the first point you place is the tail, the second the Head. When you name the Reference Plane the head is where the name appears. In the image above you should notice that the positive direction is to the left of the Head when the tail is “beneath” the Head. Try turning the image so the Head is at the top and the tail beneath (just try tipping your head to the right instead of trying to turn your monitor).

The positive direction is always to the left of the head when oriented this way. Or is it? The existing Reference Planes in the stock Revit family templates behave exactly opposite. If you sketch your own they will abide by the rule above. Just these existing Reference Planes do not. I do not know why…hmmm.

When you drag the grip endpoint of a Reference Plane across the other end, to flip the orientation, you’ll find that Revit will flip any objects that were using the Reference Plane.

Reference Lines
Since a Reference Plane has no real endpoint it can’t be relied upon to define angular constraints. In some cases you’ll get reliable behavior and you’ll flex a family and suddenly the angle seems to lose its bearings. Reference Lines were created to resolve this issue. So what about them, Reference Lines, that is?

Well first of all, Reference Lines have real endpoints. This is important to maintain angular constraints. They have no counter part in the project environment except that they look and behave more like model lines (Revit 2010 has changed this a bit, update to follow) family editor. Despite this similarity they are a separate annotation category and the option to Hide Ref/work Planes when printing, within the family editor, controls their visibility as well as Reference Planes.

They are associated with the workplane they were created on. This means you can add Reference Lines to the workplanes of other Reference Lines and/or Reference Planes allowing you to create complex nested relationships.

Straight Reference Lines contain four work planes, one flat/parallel to the view/workplane the line is sketched in and the second vertical, perpendicular to the first, as pictured here.


You’ll have to use the TAB key to select the second plane. These workplanes cannot be named nor can the Reference Line itself, you can only select them by using the Pick a Plane option when setting a work plane.

Arc Reference Lines do not define any workplanes.

Reference Lines only have three IsReference options, Not a Reference, Weak and Strong. Accordingly, they will behave the same as Reference Planes when loaded into a project. In the family editor, Reference Lines are also visible in a 3D view where Reference Planes are not.

When you need to define workplanes that will flex according to angular constraints reliably, think Reference Lines. Possible uses for Reference Lines might be parametric trusses, 3D panel door swings or the “Pixar” articulated lamp example David Conant has posted at AUGI.


When you place nested components or create solids/voids using the workplane of a Reference Line they will maintain their position according to their relationship to the Reference Line.

And upon a Reference Plane/Line they lived happily ever after!

Where did he go?

Who? You! Me? Yeah you!

I'm sorry I've let the blog slide for so long this month. I could tell you how busy I've been, but that would seem like whining and I'm not because busy is great! Just sometimes busy means too busy to find enough to write another article. Fortunately other bloggers are keeping busy providing useful insight into Revit. So I may have been quiet but the information keeps flowing and I thank each of the others for that.

So what is new? Revit Building 9, Revit Structure 3 and Revit Systems 1!! That's what!! The release of these new versions of Revit draws near!

I attended three Revit user groups last week and saw presentations of each courtesy of Autodesk, LA CAD, South Coast Revit User Group, Inland Empire Revit User Group and LA Revit User Group.

Amy Fietkau, an application specialist for Autodesk (also "Ask Amy"), presented the beta software and we were released from the quiet period on Thursday night at the last show. She did a fine job of showing/explaining and fielding the myriad questions thrown her way. I hope she got some rest over the weekend because not only did she do a whirlwind tour of three user groups but she also visited a bunch of area firms in between with Chuck Keeley, Southern California Autodesk Sales Representative. Almost rock stars! Just missing the tour bus and the deli trays, actually there was food...so just the bus then. Next time if you want a bus, let me know, I know some places you can contact from my old roadie days...

The LA presentation drew the largest crowd of over 100 folks and John A. Martin & Associates provided the venue. The majority of those in attendance at each meeting were architects and primarily interested in Revit Building 9 with a few engineers in attendance in LA.

So what can I say about the new software? Too much to mention in this brief post unfortunately.

I can say the new room features are very nice. The ability of colums, in-place walls and curtain systems to be room bounding is great! Keynoting will be a very welcome addition for many. The very significant increase in control over the visibility of linked files is huge! Additional copy/monitor control for walls and slabs and additional API changes allowing creating views and sheets will be an asset too. Probably the biggest feature is the way we can save views from one project and use them in another. If you save a sheet view it will bring along all the related views on the sheet as well!!!

One of my favorites that Revit Building inherits from Revit Structure is the improved options for sloping steel making it much simpler to slope steel under a warping roof surface.

Revit Systems looks great! One feature, the creation of air flow analysis through a third party application like Trane Trace and the resulting color fill plan in Revit, drew the comment that it could save WEEKS in the engineering process alone.

We do need to keep in mind that it is release one software. As such the focus has been on providing engineering data and not on completing the documentation of the design. Therefore, Revit Systems will be sold only as a bundle with Autodesk Building Systems until the documentation features are filled out more completely. The intended workflow is to only use Revit Systems if you are working with an architect using Revit Building. There is no intended workflow for using it with an architect using AutoCAD or other 2d/3d cad software at this time. I surmise that it is possible, just not intended...

All for now!!

Department of Subtle - Chain Option

Sketching walls (or lines) every so often you want to sketch several sequentially and that is where the Chain option comes in.

No surprises there really, expected actually. The thing I find to be subtle and elegant is that when I sketch a wall that touches another the command ends there. It doesn't try to continue sketching another segment from that intersection. It just makes sense to me. It is one of those things that you don't necessarily notice because it just happens and you can take it for granted.

Subtle and elegant, NICE!

Active Workset

Anyone who spends significant time in a project using Worksharing has put things in the wrong workset...maybe once at least? There really isn't a fool proof way to make sure that you always put them in the right place either, except somehow training yourself to always check it. I'm trying...really...

So I had the pleasure of spending a couple hours with a pair of Revit afficionados in Minneapolis tonight. The first, Tom Dorner with Jafvert Mueller Architects and the proud owner of the blog Reviteer. The second, Rolly Stevens with Elness Swenson Graham Architects who I am embarrassed to say does not have a blog...YET! No worries Rolly...there are enough for now? I also met Dick Bates with Ryan Construction the night before. My thanks to Tom, Rolly and Dick for the chance to hang out with them while in town!

Where am I going with this? Oh, yes...while chatting we ended up talking about Revit believe it or not and I was reminded of this idea I had see...what if?

Let's say a scope box could be assigned a workset and any model object that landed inside could automatically belong to that workset? Well...after a couple of Newcastle's it seemed coherant. I'm sure something better is possible. This issue deserves some devoted thought since it remains one little chink in the armor of what is a really great feature of Revit.

Again I'm one week too early to catch a local Revit user's meeting!!! Drat!