Revit 2010 - Edit/New = Edit Type

Another little change in language with the release of 2010.

When you open the Element Properties dialog you see this in previous releases, an Edit/New button. Edit for editing the Type Properties and New for the opportunity to make a new Type.


With 2010 the button just says Edit Type.


Once you are in the Type Properties the button for Duplicate is present.


The previous button implied you could Edit or create a New element. Or maybe I'm just used to that being possible so it makes sense now? With the 2010 language I just see Edit and no "clue" about how I'd make a "new" version or that it would even be possible. Only after the dialog opens does it become apparent. Maybe the average use won't be confused and they'll only care about how they make a new one later on?

I like the new Element Properties button. This permits us to open the instance properties dialog by clicking on the primary part of the so called Split Button or selecting the Type Properties from the two choices Instance or Type. Not less clicks on the "way in" but a little less mouse travel and one dialog to close instead so less clicks on the "way out".


I guess we'll see if anyone actually notices the difference and says one way or another?

Clicking and Clicks

There has been some rather strong criticism in various places about the new user interface for Revit 2010. With regard to the number of "clicks" it takes to do something I'm afraid it is difficult to find fault with the logic that the new UI is less efficient compared with the same task in the previous release. Of course that is focusing on a single task as opposed to overall but still users get frustrated at very subtle things when they keep "poking them in the eye".

One example is the Objects Styles Dialog. This is where we control the overall appearance of the elements in our projects. We don't have to visit this dialog endlessly but we do visit it at various times during a day/week/month.

Old UI - Settings menu > Objects Styles (click count 2)
New UI - Manage tab > Settings button > Object Styles (click count 3)

Another example is the Export Settings for a dwg file. Again not a frequent stop for every user but some users like a BIM manager will visit this very frequently.

Old UI - File menu > Import/Export Settings > Export Layers DWG/DXF (Click count 3)
New UI - Application menu > Export > CAD Formats > DWG > DWG Properties tab > Build Button (Click count 6)


Note that this build button has no tool tip or explanation for what it does, no label. The click count is technically (6) six, though you don't have to click if you just hover over the Application menu items and move your mouse over the other options as they eventually display. So you don't HAVE to click but you ARE waiting.

I'm sure that "metrics" said that the typical user opened this dialog once in a "blue moon". So that user isn't affected or annoyed. The data leader for a project, the one who has to export to cad every couple days or the BIM manager who is setting up office standards for ten (10) offices and has to revisit them much more often won't find this new process very efficient. Considering that you have to start the Export process to get to the file to edit it in the first place!

In my view everything we manage, like these two, should be under the Manage Ribbon tab. Object Styles is, but it is under a pull down menu style selection which reintroduces a concept that the ribbon was supposed to eliminate?

Compare with Office 2007 and Word. The Ribbon in Word continues to grow toward the right when panels exceed the available space and an arrow appears at the right end of the Ribbon to allow you to scroll for more. This means there is no reason for a pull down type UI on the ribbon (yes it takes a click to scroll though)...every tool that we need to "manage" Revit settings/rules could have its own button and place on a panel.

It is too easy to dissect the user interface, at this level, and find examples. It should have been hard to find such things. Inefficiencies ideally should have been the exception, not the rule.

Last, I'm not an icon guy. I don't remember what little picture is which tool. If you turn off the labels for the tool bars in 2009 I'm lost, for a bit. I still can't tell you which picture is for which tool unless I'm looking at it right now. The fact that the Ribbon tools have words too is, for me, a life saver.

RDB Link - Alive in the Labs

For those of you interested in connecting the Revit model to an external database Autodesk's It's Alive in the Lab blog announced today that they have such a feature available now, called "RDB Link".

Check it out? Maybe it will help!?!

Licensing Timeout Issue - Network Licensing 2010

James Vandezande at SOM posted this yesterday. I read a similar post at AUGI earlier this month as well.

If you are experiencing licensing problems be sure to contact support so they can track the problem down as quickly as possible.

Seems to me that during beta testing network licensing probably doesn't get tested adequately because we are encouraged to avoid using the software on any mission critical work which implies that there is little point in deploying the software. Perhaps this strategy is flawed and bound to wait to "fail" until the software is in the wild and too late?

Detail Level Icons - 2010

In the previous releases we've had the following icons for Detail Levels: Coarse, Medium and Fine.

With 2010 we now have these.


While I appreciate the more accurate portrayal I do find it "harder" to determine at a glance which detail level is used now. Since they all have the "same" kind of pattern I now have to actually stare at the icon longer. Perhaps it is just my aging eyes but with the previous empty white square it was easy to just glance and see that Coarse detail level was in use or not. It is still harder (for me) to determine whether medium or fine were being used with the older version too but then not a lot of views use Fine by comparison.

Remember that the Detail Level settings are also available in the View Properties dialog. I haven't used that route since the View Control Bar was added though. Well I have altered the setting in the dialog but only because I already happened to be there doing something else.

Line Weights - Plotting and Scales

Regarding the Line weight Settings in Revit, this was provided to "Archman" (member username), a member of AUGI, in July of 2006 at AUGI by Autodesk support and David Conant confirmed its accuracy.

The question had to do with the logic of defining line weights and the various scales present in the Lineweights dialog. Specifically, "What line weight(s) does Revit use when you use a scale that isn't defined there?"

Autodesk Support wrote:
In this case the line weights will be assigned to the last lineweight before it until the lineweight can be rounded to the next one. For example: between 1/16" = 1' and 1/32" = 1'. If you only have these two weights defined at scale and none of the increments inbetween then 1" -20' and 3/64"= 1' will default to the 1/16= 1' setting while 1" = 30' feet will round up to 1/32" =1' . Any of the line weights after the last defined scale will default to the last defined scale.

To add to this, when a scale is not defined, and a view is plotted that uses it, and it falls in between two that are, Revit will use the next largest scale.

To summarize, it uses the closest or larger scale depending on the proximity to the defined scales and it uses the corresponding lineweight settings.

Dept. of NfSCD - iPhone Tip

If you have an iPhone...

Tips
When the phone is off - Double Click the "Home" button - displays iTunes mini menu.

When the phone is on but "at home" - Double Click "Home" button - display Favorites (contacts)

When the phone is on - Press and hold the "Home" button then press Power button - Generates a screen capture of what is on screen and adds it to your camera roll.

Want more?

Applications I use:
Pandora - The Music Genome Project - Radio station that plays music you like based on the "type" of music based on artist or song selection. (free)

Yelp - location based recommendations for restaurants, bars etc. (free)

Shazam - Find out what that song is, hold you iPhone near the speaker and let it listen, pretty amazing.(free)

Clinometer - Cool level, yes as in a level to find out if something is "level", not tilted, "geek food". (not free)


NfSCD = "Now for Something Completely Different"

Revit Structure - Missing Columns - Graphical Column Schedule

Have you seen this message?


If so the solution is pretty simple. When was the last time you checked your elevation views? Notice the grids in the image? Just make them tall enough to encompass all the columns and "she'll be right"!

Bug - Structural Columns - Paste Aligned

When you work with Structural columns you have the option to define them according to their Height or Depth relative to the level you are working on. This is in response to the fact that Revit used to only place them according to Depth and that was frustrating for most users. Having the choice is good!

When you want to propagate a Level's columns to another Level or Levels by using the Copy to Clipboard followed by a Paste Aligned - Select Levels by Name technique...you don't get a choice. Revit's code places the new columns using Depth regardless of the fact that you placed the originals using Height.

If you aren't careful you'll likely end up with a warning like this one.

Now the programmer will take issue with the "bug" designation because it works as written. True or not...it doesn't work the way I'd expect it to work.

The solution? When you use Paste Aligned, remember that the Level you are pasting from and the one above it should not be selected because the next set of columns above will be starting at a level and using a Depth placement logic instead of Height. Here's an image of the Paste Aligned Result when I select Level 3 for destination even though I selected the columns on Level 1 as the originals.
It is interesting that skipping Level 2 in the selection process produces a column whose Instance parameters end up "correct" though.

Unfortunately this image is from 2010 and that means it isn't "fixed" yet...and yes this is an "oldy" but not "goody".

Dept. of Moved Cheese: Orient > By Plane

In Revit 2009 the View Cube and Steering Wheel were added to our "tool chest". After all this time I admit that I still barely use the Steering Wheel. I also tend to forget about the View Cube because I'm so used to using the Shift key combined with the mouse scroll wheel button to orbit. However, I definitely use the View Cube for the view Orientation options because I really like the view separation in the Orient to View tools.

Even though they added the "Cube and Wheel" to Revit 2009 it still had the View menu which offered us the following menu items, including the topic of this post, Orient > By Plane.


They also added this to the Steering Wheel, calling it "Orient to a Plane", but not to the View Cube. Confused? Me too, add to both maybe, but just the Steering Wheel? Okay?? I'm just as likely to want to have access to the tool via the View Cube because it's already visible and I have to turn on the Steering Wheel to access it there.


In 2010 they've got a View Ribbon tab but the view orientation options are gone, my cheese wasn't "moved" it was "eaten". My first instinct was that I'd find it on the View tab. Then I thought it might be on the Home tab since the Work Plane panel is there for Set and Show Work Plane, Reference Plane and Line etc. Nope the cheese is just gone...

I also thought maybe I'd find them on the new Navigation Bar which if I could just remember is there I'd use more too! But no, not there either!


I'm still not sure that this "sense of loss" or "sadness" is borne of knowing where my "cheese" was and not finding it there or that it is because I don't find it where my instincts tell me it ought to be? My instincts are either wrong or strongly biased by what I've been doing in Revit for a long time now.

I see some logic for putting it on the navigation tools but I really don't understand why it isn't on the View Cube too. I'd like a 3D Orientation panel on the View Ribbon that offers all the "old" tools from the View menu show earlier. This way they'd be discoverable on the Ribbon and we could have Keyboard Shortcuts for them again too.

I miss my "cheese"!

Echo - IE8 and Revit = Not Good

David posted this on his blog after bumping into the issue himself and discussing it with support.

“Thank you for choosing Autodesk Support.

Internet Explorer 8 is not recommended to be installed when used with Revit 2009 64 bit. There is a known issue with the recent files screen. The Recent Files menu is an HTML based window and uses Internet Explorer and has not been designed to be used with IE8.

IE8 is also not recommended to be used with Revit 2010 as it has not been designed or tested with it. The same problem does not exist with the recent files screen in the same way but it is apparent that if you have the recent files window up and TAB+CTRL between your windows while using 64 bit and IE8, it will crash. You can use IE8 if you do not have the recent files window open.”

I know that I really don't care what IE is doing because I've been using either Google Chrome or Firefox for quite some time. The only time I have to use IE these days is when some embedded IE/Autodesk feature doesn't work in them. I hope that it doesn't become an installation requirement at some point to use it in order to use Revit etc.

Save Interval - Who Keeps Changing It?

You do! You do so by accident though, with your innocent mouse and scroll wheel.

Here's what happens. Let's imagine you are starting a new floor, or roof or wall, something, and Revit pops up a Save Reminder. It always does when are starting something time consuming doesn't it? You also happen to decide to zoom in or out using the scroll wheel on your mouse.

Timing is everything!!

At the same time you do this, the save reminder shows up. The focus shifts to the Drop Down list of time intervals. Since you are spinning your wheel expecting to zoom you don't notice that you momentarily altered the interval!

Users of Revit MEP have changed their selected pipe or duct for a similar reason. I mentioned this in another POST.

Backups: Save As is a Local File

With Worksets and Central/Local Files there are two options to restore from a Backup; Save As and Roll Back. I'm focusing on the first. To use it you have to open the backups folder of the project you are working on via the File menu > Backups...


Now you select the previous version and choose Save As: (yeah this image only has one previous version...I was lazy)


When you use Save As you are NOT creating a NEW Central File as might be expected. You are actually creating a NEW LOCAL FILE according to the conditions of the project at the time of that Saved Back Up. This means using Save to Central is NOT a good idea!

In order to protect the integrity of the current project file you should immediately use the File menu > Save As, provide a new name and folder location, Click Options and check the "Make this a Central file after Save" option, Click OK, Click OK.


Regarding 2010 there are some subtle changes. First there is a new location for the newly renamed "Restore Backup" feature.


There is a slightly different File Save Options dialog too:

The result of choosing the Specify option means that when a user makes a Local File the Specify Worksets dialog will appear, which enhances the new procedure available for making local files. Whichever selection is made is the one that Local file each user creates will exhibit.

Oh and Save to Central (STC) is now called Synchronize with Central (SWC).

Where Did Render Go? - Can I offer you some Tea?

The 2010 release is a bloggers dream or curse. There are so many things that one can write about. In previous releases there was a Render tab on design bar. with Revit 2009 this design bar got really simple, just one button (it is also a Teapot on the View Control Shortcut bar as mentioned in a comment, forgot to say that here before).

With 2010 there is no Design Bar and Render does not appear on any Ribbon tab or panel. If you want to render you can only render in 3D views so the single button that appeared on the Design Bar tab that is no longer...it still appears on the View Control Bar instead, just in a revised icon in the form of a little Teapot. Max users might find this one quicker than others since their icon for Render has been a Teapot for a number of years.

Here's where you'll find it now!

Central File Naming

I've always recommended appending the word "Central" to the file name of a project that is using Worksets. I've done this because I want to make the file "special" or distinctive to users. With the new Local File process I described in yesterday's post I find myself rethinking this habit.

Revit will append the username to the Local File for us so we don't have to worry about the Central and Local files having the same name (technically Revit doesn't care about this though). We do have to acknowledge that putting "Central" in the file name will remain in the file name plus the username, for Local Files.

A couple examples would help?

Using my established recommendation:
Our Big Project-central.rvt [Central File on server]
Our Big Project-central_username.rvt [Local File on local pc]
Our Big Project-central_username_ddmmyyyy_hhmmss.rvt [additional files]

Abandoning my recommendation:
Our Big Project.rvt [Central File on server]
Our Big Project_username.rvt [Local File on local pc]
Our Big Project_username_ddmmyyyy_hhmmss.rvt [additional files]

I offer this as something to consider. If most of your projects have Worksets enabled anyway then perhaps making the file name "distinctive" isn't as important as it might seem?

Revit 2010 - Local Files

I've been writing about Worksets for a long time now. Revit 2010 provides a new process for creating Local Files (for projects using Worksets). When you attempt to open a project in 2010 Revit detects whether it is a central, local or stand-alone project file.

Central File - Option to create a local file is checked
Local File - Option to create a local file is disabled
Stand-alone File - Option to create a local file is disabled


Revit will place the local file in the location defined here, Default Path for User Files

Revit will append the username to the file initially. If you attempt to create another local file and Revit finds another with the same name it offers this dialog.
As you can see it gives you an opportunity to either overwrite the existing or append a time stamp to the file instead.

For what it is worth...a grain of salt perhaps...a little background, from my perspective.

The formal recommendation from Autodesk has always been to create local files by using File menu > Open, open the the Central File followed by using File menu > Save As to save your Local File (literally a copy of the Central File) on your local PC. This was both time consuming (two open sequences essentially) and "dangerous" (user's routinely/habitually opening the Central File).

To counter this process what we started doing with local files (essentially some version of copy/paste/rename) a long long time ago now has turned into a "cottage industry" of local file creation/management techniques and tools/software. Autodesk has distilled it into a "simple" and better process than what was before, which wasn't really an appropriate process at all.

I use three fundamental criteria for local files and process.

Use methods that ensure users do NOT...

...develop a habit of opening central files
...store their local files anywhere they please
...use the same local file endlessly

As far as the software is concerned where the local file is located is technically immaterial. In my opinion, as long as it is on the local pc and in a folder that isn't only accessible to one user then it's "good".

I completely understand and can relate to the motivation to define where they go and how they go but we don't have to keep these files for the long term so in a sense some of us are getting a bit carried away.

This new Autodesk solution meets each of my long standing criteria more reliably than before, though honestly, anything would since it didn't at all before. It will be easier to teach users what to do. I'd prefer that they didn't have to browse to "touch" the central file at all but as long as they don't un-check the option Create new local they'll be fine.

Ideally Worksets and all its sundry baggage of language and rules should continue to become less intrusive, less confusing and as efficient as possible. This is a good step in this direction. For the next release the developers would do well to provide a few more options for folder locations and file naming rules.

Options Dialog - Alternative Path

One of the first items people are struggling to find is the Options dialog. We used to find it using the Settings menu > Options. With Ribbonized software it is lurking under the Application Menu, the big "R" button in the upper left corner.

It just so happens that you can also get to this dialog if you use the Manage Ribbon tab. Look at the Macros panel and click Macro Security...Options dialog opens with the focus on the Macros tab, just click a different tab. Not a "better" way to get there just another if you happen to think "Manage" when you think of "Options" and have already clicked to open the Manage Ribbon tab.


Similarly you can Right Click on the View Cube in a 3D view and choose Options, change to the Tab you want.

Hope these help you get comfortable during the transition?

Autodesk Revit Utilities from Biggest Brains

If you are interested in:

* Comparing Shared Parameter files
* Merging Shared Parameter files
* Deleting backup files (optionally recursively)
* Copying CSV files created for Type Catalog usage for easy change testing
* Reporting the versions of Revit used to create family files

If yes, then you will be interested in visiting this SITE. This is the personal (off hours)work of David VanSlyke who happens to work for McQuay, which has been providing Revit MEP content for awhile now too. This is a screen capture of the application, focus on the Delete Backup Files tab, note the others.


Check it out!

[Added: 4/24/09 - David wrote to me mentioning that he is waffling about the name because he hadn't noticed the other "Utilities" offerings from Avatech at the time. If you have some ideas for naming you can post a comment here.]

Keynote Editor = New Cool Application

I must have been sleeping under a rock when this one surfaced back on March 13, 2009 in a POST at AUGI. Steve Faust with emc2 has made a Keynote Manager application whose goal is improving the lot of the person(s) who deals with Revit's keynote feature. Here's a screen capture.


You can download the FILE HERE!

Local File Generator - Another Option

Paul Kirill, a Revit MEP user with HCYU and Associates created a new tool to create local files and the firm has decided to make it available to anyone else that is interested. I tried it out this morning and it is pretty slick. Here's a screen shot.

It is "branded" by including their firm name but that is a small price to get the work for free? If you want your own branding I'm sure they'd be open to some arrangement. Just give them a shout.

You're probably interested in getting a look at it by now? They've shared it on the Richmond AutoCAD Manifest user group website (RAM). DOWNLOAD IT HERE! or visit the WEB PAGE.

Paul also posted an announcement at AUGI in THIS THREAD.

What I find compelling about this solution is its small "footprint"...it doesn't require much from the user other than installing it and making a few setting choices. The other solutions, I've mentioned before or this ONE, using Auto Hot Key are cool too but they do require a bit more "effort" from us.

Here's the Local File Options dialog:

A dialog to define Revit versions.

Another example of a resourceful Revit user/firm sharing "wot they dun". Thanks!!

What's with the Year in the Name??

Revit 2010 released in 2009, Revit 2009 released in 2008 and so on. It boils down to this, Autodesk's fiscal year is currently 2010 so therefore is the software it makes. I guess it is kind-a-sort-a like the car industry, selling a 2009 model in the fall of 2008??

At least it is better than trying to make sense of the Revit compatibility between the previous naming scheme; Revit Building 9.0, Revit Structure 3.0 and Revit Systems 2.

Revit 2010 - Unresolved References

When Revit opens a project and can't find files it has always told us so. The dialog that it presented in the past and now are different. With 2010 we get this instead.

The language used is better and provides a bit more information. If you click on the Show Details button you get a much more readable listing of the offending files (refrained from that screen capture to protect the "guilty"). The addition of the option to immediately deal with them is also welcome though I suspect most users will just defer that to someone else?

[Added: 4/23/09] For more discussion on the subject of this Task Dialog you can visit a post that was apparently inspired by this post.

Form Follows Function

Walls, floors, ceilings and roofs all permit us to define multiple layers to represent a system of parts that define the whole. One part of this is the Function of a layer. I'm referring to these as shown in this image of the layers in a wall type.


There are Five numbered/bracketed functions and a placeholder that doesn't really contribute to the wall (or other elements) thickness...yet. I can be hopeful can't I?

What do they mean and what do they do?

First...notice the numbers? Why are they numbered? The number represents a pecking order, the order that they occur during construction.

[1] Structure - last time I checked the structure of a building comes first so it is numero uno!

[2] Substrate - Yes plywood gets applied to the exterior side of a wood framed house next, similar for other substrates.

[3] Thermal/Air Layer - Insulation goes in now, on the face of CMU and in the stud cavities.

[4] Finish 1 - This is EXTERIOR, yes exterior so make your wall types with this and only use it for the exterior side of EXTERIOR wall types. Don't use it for your interior walls types.

[5] Finish 2 - This must be for INTERIOR finishes, YES, use it for interior partitions. Yes it is okay to use this function both on the "exterior" side and the "interior" side of INTERIOR partitions. It IS important to define which side is "exterior" on your partitions.

For example a shaft wall that has two layers of finish material on one side and a single layer of another on the inside. Which side should get the double layer? Exterior...interior? You decide and then stick to it, don't waffle, waver, equivocate or prevaricate!

[ ] Membrane - Poor membrane, doesn't rate a number but this is for Tyvek and others. In many cases it goes on both sides, vapor barrier on one side and air barrier on the other. I can never remember which so I'm sure somewhere a house is sweating when it should be breathing!?!?

[1] Structural Deck - It shares the number one with Structure because it is special. Floors have this one which is just teasing Revit Architecture (RAC) users, more on that in a bit. For Revit Structure (RST) users it is no tease. This allows you to have a pretty accurate representation of concrete over metal deck. You know, the profile is "real" and actually has "flutes" and the concrete fills the "flutes" and doesn't involve adding repeating details to sections and details.


They also play a role in how these layers in various walls relate to one another when they meet at an intersection. We don't really want a finish layer to punch through a structural layer. It ought to stop and respect the boundary of the structure, sorry...you cannot pass GO, do not collect $200. If you are careless with these you may end up with some interesting wall cleanup conditions.

As for Roofs I don't typically encourage people to build up multiple layer families for these. I've come to realize that most of these are better as individual elements so they can have different extents, imagine a Spanish tile roof for example. The tile nearly always finishes a bit forward of the roof rafter tails and substrate below. Separate elements means I can create a better representation of the roof.


No, these images are not the same roof. The first is from a project I was involved in a long time ago now and the second is just quick mock-up of two roofs with a separate offset for the upper "layer". I used join geometry to "blend" them together.

I have the same opinion for floors. I really like to encourage the RST team (everyone has a structural consultant using RST now right?!) to create the structural slab because the poor RAC user can't create the metal deck profile themselves, only the RST software can. RAC can show it however if it was built in RST. This way the RST firm "owns" the structural slab and I model the finishes with RAC. Now we can do material schedules for floor finishes easily and not worry about the extra layers in the floors. I do have to communicate with the RST firm about openings/depressions and the like but I should have been doing that all along anyway. Now I have a bit more motivation?

Having written this I have no objection to compound roofs and floors during schematic design. They actually shine then because you can create basic sections of the building and these preliminary roofs and floors define that "untouchable" space for structure and plenum which helps us plan our floor to floor relationships better.

Where did my Mass go?

More than one Revit user has started a project with massing, saved and closed the file, moved on to something else for awhile only to return and suffer a brief scary moment when they see nothing in their model!! No mass!! Did I forget to save my work? Did Revit kill my work? Panic begins to set in...oh wait!! Show Mass!! Aaahhh...calm begins to return.


You can also find it under the View menu > Show Mass.

When you first use the massing tools Revit displays this message.


It boils down to this, Revit is saying, "Steve, the massing category is not on, you can't see it!! So I'll turn massing on for you globally (all views) without you having to manually turn massing on in every view using visibility/Graphics overrides. Okay?"

The alternative is to use Visibility/Graphic overrides in each view to turn on the mass category. By default it is off in each view.


The message also tells that you'll have to do this in order to print/export your massing work.

Now...in Revit 2010 you'll find things the same only different. Instead of a menu or toolbar button you'll find a "Menoolbar"...I'm sorry I meant Ribbon tab called Massing & Site.

Instead of the little message I got earlier from Revit I get this one.

Says the "same" thing only differently. Of course the massing capabilities have changed significantly with 2010 but that's a different post...or many posts.

Next time...don't panic!!...and remember your towel!

Where to Start? Revit 2010

Since Revit 2010 has been formally released and began shipping over the last couple days it makes sense to begin addressing it formally here too. I've held off doing so to honor the disclosure requirements I agreed to with Autodesk even though numerous others have managed to skirt them for sometime now.

The first thing that will "hit you" obviously is the new graphical user interface (GUI). You'll want to visit the Help documentation and there are several items of interest there.


Skipping over the first item, Help, check out the "User Interface Overview".


It is a "mouse over" document where you move your cursor over the numbered portions of the interface and a description appears. It lacks descriptions for a couple contextual items that appear from time to time. For instance there is a Draw/Pick Gallery that appears when you are working with a feature that permits sketching, like walls, lines etc.


Subtle yes but it is useful to learn their terminology too.

I also highlighted a document you'll definitely want to get familiar with too. It is called, not surprisingly, "Where is my Command?".


This is organized around the original menu structure and provides a description that explains where this "missing" command can now be found. Here's an example that will cause a little stress initially unless you are already quite indoctrinated by other "wibbonized" applications. Where did they hide Settings menu > Options? Sorry, that was a trick question, they don't tell you where it is!! It is found here.


Initially I expected to find it on the Manage Ribbon tab however I soon remembered that in other applications the Options or User Settings are configured under the Application menu. This is the BIG round button in the upper left corner of the application. In Revit's case, the BIG "R".

If you are interested in some background on the rationale for the new interface design you can check out the new Autodesk blog "Inside the Factory". There are also quite a few videos posted on youtube and other sites. Some critical of it and others just a demonstration. It's amazing how much stuff "we" create on the "internets".

Just be sure to check out the available information lurking under Help!

Key Tips - Revit 2010

A few people have commented on a "new" feature in Revit 2010, called Key Tips. They display when you press the ALT key on the keyboard. They make it possible to use the keyboard to access Ribbon tabs and panel items while working feverishly.


While they are displayed differently are they really "new"? Windows has always supported this technique to access menu items. The premise for them was, "what if your mouse stopped working or worse, you don't have a mouse?". These gave us a way to save and gracefully get out of an application without a pointing device. Literally a hold over from DOS pre-mouse computing.

Yes Key Tips are a good thing...but "new"? What is the saying? "Everything old is new again"?

Conditional Formatting - was unfair!

Too good to wait to till tomorrow to share!

In the past I commented about the fact that Revit MEP has conditional formatting while Revit Architecture and Structure do not. That is still technically true but... fast forward to now...

David Baldacchino and I were exchanging some emails about work arounds and I was lamenting about the conditional formatting again. He remembered that he discovered a real good trick!

When you are creating/editing a schedule and select a value that can be formatted, like Area or a Number value for example, are you listening? Press the ALT & N keys at the same time and this dialog appears. Yes in Revit Architecture and Structure!

Conditional Formatting in schedules regardless of the version of Revit still does not show up when a schedule is added to a sheet however. This means the tool is useful primarily for internal checking or as an analysis tool but fails to deliver for presenting the information to others. Always leave us wanting more do they?

P.S. This works in Revit 2009 and 2010. Keep in mind that undocumented finds like these may mean that the factory didn't know it was possible and therefore it is technically unsupported. Use it at your own peril?

Revit 2010 Fixes Floor Void Issue

I'm happy to report that an earlier post that I made about floors and void elements is no longer an issue with the new release of Revit Architecture 2010 and the other versions too.

In the new release a floor will show a reduction in volume when an in-place void, a face based void family or a floor based void family is used. An undocumented fix that is welcome! Thanks!

The Family Editor: Bones, Muscle & Skin

I have heard the term "bones" and phrase "build the bones" used in the context of the family editor in the past. In fact some of the earlier Revit Technology Corporation (RTC) and Autodesk Family Editor documents have used the term too, perhaps for the first time even. Lately over the last year or two I've been expanding on the metaphor.

Bones = Reference Planes
Muscle = Dimensions, Labels/Parameters, Automatic Sketch Dimensions
Skin = Solids/Voids and Symbolic Linework

If you properly define the "bones" first and then connect the "muscle(s)" to them you'll find that your "skin", once anchored to the bones, will go wherever the muscle tell the bones to go. I just picture my arm and in fact I usually hold it up and move it at the elbow while I mention it in classes. A properly defined family will behave as consistently as your arm does, unless you manage to do it harm skiing?

Too clinical? Squeamish? Sorry!

H E "double hockey sticks" Freezes Over

According to Gregory Arkin's blog, Bim Boom Autodesk has just announced the end of ADT/ACA. Autodesk will no longer continue to produce it as a stand-alone product.

I remember distinctly fearing exactly the opposite when Autodesk bought my "beloved" Revit back in 2002, worried instead that it would vanish. Times change, though I guess we could say that the writing was "on the wall".

Not good news to ADT/ACA fans worldwide and I can empathize with their concerns. I'm glad I bet on the "correct horse", for once.

P.S. Did you notice the date...again? A mean but good one, Greg!

Mr. OpEd Retires

This is Freddy Latherdon, Mr. OpEd's ace reporter. I have received word today, that in a sudden decision, he has elected to stop consulting and writing Revit OpEd. Yes I know, very sudden!!

While working in Abu Dhabi he received an offer to purchase several franchise locations of Subway, the sandwich shop familiar to many people, a frequent lunch stop for him. In addition to that he met a few folks who run a ballooning operation and he now intends to plan and train for a round the world balloon adventure to begin sometime next September.

This came as shock to me, not to mention his wife and children, as I'm sure it does for some of his readers. I know that I'll miss his contributions here and perhaps, with his permission I can try to keep it running somehow though I really don't know Revit that well myself. Perhaps with some help from others I can do it.

Effective today - no more Revit OpEd, unless I can ressurect it somehow! Sorry folks!

P.S. What day is today? gotcha?