Mastering Autodesk Revit 2018

Mastering Autodesk Revit 2018 for Architecture is packed with focused discussions, detailed exercises, and real-world examples to help you get up to speed quickly on the latest version of Autodesk Revit for Architecture. Organized according to how you learn and implement the software, this book provides expert guidance for all skill levels. Hands-on tutorials allow you to dive right in and start accomplishing vital tasks, while compelling examples illustrate how Revit for Architecture is used in every project. Available online downloads include before-and-after tutorial files and additional advanced content to help you quickly master this powerful software. From basic interface topics to advanced visualization techniques and documentation, this invaluable guide is your ideal companion through the Revit Architecture workflow.

Whether you're preparing for Autodesk certification exams or just want to become more productive with the architectural design software, practical exercises and expert instruction will get you where you need to be.

• Understand key BIM and Revit concepts and master the Revit interface
• Delve into templates, work-sharing, and managing Revit projects
• Master modeling and massing, the Family Editor, and visualization techniques
• Explore documentation, including annotation, detailing, and complex structures

BIM software has become a mandatory asset in today's architecture field; automated documentation updates reduce errors while saving time and money, and Autodesk's Revit is the industry leader in the BIM software space.

Lance Kirby is a Customer Success Manager and Business Consultant Lead-AEC with Autodesk. He joined Revit Technologies in 2000, where he helped develop Revit. Lance has trained and mentored thousands of architects and engineers in the use of BIM.

Eddy Krygiel is an Autodesk Authorized Author, registered architect, and Principal Business Consultant with Autodesk Consulting. He implements BIM on large scale projects working to adapt new BIM Users and helping to drive BIM adoption.

Marcus Kim is a Business Consultant for Autodesk Consulting, where he provides enterprise-level BIM consulting and training. He has served as BIM Manager at the Chicago office of Skidmore Owings and Merrill as well as in lead roles at other AEC firms for competitions, design visualization, and design and technical architecture.

Foreword xxvii

Introduction xxxi

Part 1 • Fundamentals 1

Chapter 1 • Understanding the Principles of BIM 3

The Fundamentals of a BIM Approach 3

The Management People Inside a BIM Project Team 4

Staffi ng for BIM 5

Understanding Project Roles 6

Establishing a BIM Execution Plan 9

Optimizing BIM Processes 10

Identifying and Planning BIM Uses 12

Gather 13

Generate 14

Analyze 16

Communicate 17

Realize 20

Integrating Tools Inside a BIM Workfl ow 22

What Is Revit? 22

The Bottom Line 23

Chapter 2 • Exploring the UI and Organizing Projects 25

Understanding the User Interface 25

Accessing and Using the Application Menu 26

Using the Quick Access Toolbar 27

Using the InfoCenter 28

Getting to Know the Ribbon 28

Using Other Aspects of the UI 32

Navigation Methods 40

Defi ning Project Organization 42

Introducing Datum Objects 44

Using Content 54

Working with Views 56

Managing Your Project Model 70

The Bottom Line 71

Chapter 3 • Th e Basics of the Toolbox 73

Selecting, Modifying, and Replacing Elements 73

Selecting Elements 73

Selection Options 75

Filtering Your Selection 75

Using Selection-Based Filters 76

Selecting All Instances 76

Using the Properties Palette 77

Matching Properties 79

Using the Context Menu 79

Editing Elements Interactively 80

Moving Elements 80

Copying Elements 84

Rotating and Mirroring Elements 85

Arraying Elements 87

Scaling Elements 90

Aligning Elements 90

Trimming or Extending Lines and Walls 91

Splitting Lines and Walls 92

Offsetting Lines and Walls 93

Preventing Elements from Moving 94

Exploring Other Editing Tools 96

Using the Join Geometry Tool 96

Using the Split Face and Paint Tools 97

Copying and Pasting from the Clipboard 98

Using the Create Similar Tool 100

Using Keyboard Shortcuts (Accelerators) 100

Double-Click to Edit 101

Sharing Models with the Cloud 101

Modeling Site Context 105

Using a Toposurface 106

Creating a Toposurface from a Points File 109

Creating a Building Pad 113

Generating Property Lines 115

Cut/Fill Schedules 118

The Bottom Line 120

Chapter 4 • Confi guring Templates and Standards 121

Introducing Project Templates 121

Customizing Project Settings for Graphic Quality 122

Discovering Object Styles 123

Using Line Settings 125

Defining Materials 129

Defining Fill Patterns 137

Preconfiguring Color Schemes 144

Increasing Effi cient View Management 146

Organizing Views 146

Creating and Assigning Filters 149

Using View Templates 152

Creating Custom Annotations 155

Introducing Tag Family Fundamentals 156

Creating a Custom Door Tag 157

Customizing View Tags 159

Starting a Project with a Custom Template 165

Strategies for Managing Templates 166

Aggregating Template Data 166

The Bottom Line 171

Part 2 • Collaboration and Teamwork 173

Chapter 5 • Collaborating with a Team 175

Understanding Worksharing Basics 175

Enabling Worksharing on Your Project 177

Types of Worksets 179

Creating a Central File 179

Selecting a Starting View 182

Creating a Local File 183

Using Worksharing Usernames 186

Organizing Worksets 187

Moving Elements Between Worksets 189

Managing Workfl ow with Worksets 193

Saving Work 195

Saving at Intervals 196

Loading Work from Other Team Members 197

Using Worksharing Visualization 197

Managing Workset Visibility in View Templates 200

Closing Revit 200

Disabling Worksharing 201

Understanding Element Ownership in Worksets 202

Understanding Editing Requests 204

Placing an Editing Request 204

Granting an Editing Request 205

Relinquishing Permission 207

Using the Worksharing Monitor 207

Collaborating in the Cloud 208

Collaboration for Revit 209

The Bottom Line 211

Chapter 6 • Working with Consultants 213

Preparing for Collaboration 213

Managing the Coordination Process 214

Using Linked Models in Revit 218

Shared Positioning 219

Using Project Base Point and Survey Point 222

Attachment vs Overlay 225

Using Worksets to Organize Linked Models 229

Summarizing the Benefi ts and Limitations of Linked Models 230

Using Linked Models—Exercises 231

Using the Coordination Tools 234

Using the Copy/Monitor Command 235

Using the Coordination Review Tool 239

Using Interference Checking in 3D Coordination 242

The Bottom Line 246

Chapter 7 • Interoperability: Working Multiplatform 247

Examining Interoperability on a BIM Curve 247

Inserting CAD Data 248

Using Predefi ned Settings for Inserted CAD Data 248

Importing vs Linking 250

Using Options During Importing/Linking 251

Manipulating Inserted CAD Data 252

Using Inserted 2D Data 256

Setting Options for BIM Conversion 256

Using CAD Data for Coordination 257

Linking Details 258

Using Inserted 3D Data 260

Using CAD Data as a Mass 260

Using CAD Data as an Object 265

Working with Other Data Types 267

Working with Navisworks Files 267

Working with FormIt Files 269

Exporting CAD Data 270

Preparing a List of Views for Exporting 270

Settings for DWG Exports 272

Exporting 2D CAD Data 277

Exporting 3D Model Data 279

Exporting to SketchUp 279

Using IFC Interoperability 282

The Bottom Line 289

Chapter 8 • Managing Revit Projects 291

Understanding the Importance of Managing

Revit Projects 291

What’s in a Plan to Manage Revit Projects? 291

Understanding What’s Needed in a QA/QC Program 297

Revit Health Check 297

The Bottom Line 302

Part 3 • Modeling and Massing for Design 303

Chapter 9 • Advanced Modeling and Massing 305

The Massing User Interface and Functionality 305

Creating Mass Geometry 308

Creating an In-Place Mass 309

Placing a Mass 314

Creating Mass Floors 315

Scheduling Masses 316

Massing Surfaces 319

Using Free-Form Building Massing 324

Dissolving and Rebuilding 330

Creating Formula-Driven Massing 338

Creating a Generic Model Mass Family 338

Creating a Complex Mass Family 349

The Bottom Line 357

Chapter 10 • Conceptual Design 359

Getting Started with Dynamo 359

Downloading Dynamo 359

Installing Dynamo 359

Opening Dynamo 361

Understanding the Dynamo UI 361

Connecting Nodes Makes Data Flow 364

Node Structure 364

Using Nodes 365

Organizing a Defi nition 367

Using Visual Programming 367

Additional Dynamo Tools 372

Code Blocks 372

Managing Data 373

Geometric Manipulation and Analysis 376

Revit to Dynamo to Revit 378

Category, Type, and Element Selections 378

Interoperability 380

Package Manager 382

Additional Resources 382

Getting Started with FormIt 383

Understanding the FormIt UI 383

Using FormIt for Massing 392

Converting FormIt to Revit 397

Importing to Revit 397

Advanced Modeling in FormIt 399

Moving from a Mass to a Model 400

Applying Materials 403

The Bottom Line 405

Chapter 11 • Working with Phasing, Groups, and Design Options 407

Using Phasing 407

What Can You Phase? 409

Implementing Phase Settings 411

Illustrating the Geometry Phase 416

Using the View Phase 419

Creating and Using Groups 425

Creating Groups 425

Modifying Groups 427

Creating New Groups 429

Excluding Elements within Groups 431

Saving and Loading Groups 433

Creating Groups from Links 434

Using Best Practices for Groups 436

Making Design Options for Design Iteration 437

Creating Design Options 438

Editing Design Options 440

Viewing and Scheduling Design Options 441

Removing Design Options and Option Sets 442

Combining Phasing, Groups, and Design Options 445

Phase 1: Demolition 446

Phase 1: Proposed 448

Phase 2: Demolition 449

Phase 2: Proposed 451

Scheduling 452

Using the Design Option Tool 456

The Bottom Line 458

Chapter 12 • Visualization 459

Explaining the Role of Visualization 459

Understanding View Controls 460

Setting the Detail Level 461

Working with Graphic Display Options 462

Working with the Section Box 475

Understanding Analytic Visualization 477

Project Parameters 477

Setting User-Defi ned Parameters 481

Identifying Design Elements 484

Setting Solar and Shadow Studies 485

Understanding Photorealistic Visualization 487

Rendering Sequence and Workfl ow 488

Creating Perspective Views 488

Locking Your View 492

Creating a Walkthrough 493

Exporting a Walkthrough 496

Rendering Settings 498

Using Monochromatic Views to Examine Context and Lighting 501

Adjusting Lighting and Interior Renderings 505

Placing Artifi cial Lighting 507

Manipulating Light Groups 508

Assigning Materials 514

Rendering in the Cloud 515

The Future of Visualization: Virtual Reality 516

Use Cases for Virtual Reality 517

Available Virtual Reality Tools 517

The Bottom Line 522

Part 4 • Extended Modeling Techniques 525

Chapter 13 • Creating Walls and Curtain Walls 527

Using Extended Modeling Techniques for Basic Walls 527

Creating Basic Wall Types 528

Adding Wall Articulation 537

Modeling Techniques for Basic Walls 545

Creating Custom In-Place Walls 552

Creating Stacked Walls 553

Creating Simple Curtain Walls 556

Designing a Curtain Wall 558

Customizing Curtain Wall Types 567

Creating Complex Curtain Walls 571

Dividing the Surface 572

Dividing the Surface with Intersects 575

Applying Patterns 576

Editing the Pattern Surface 577

Editing a Surface Representation 578

Adding Defi nition 579

Creating Custom Patterns 587

Limiting the Size of Pattern-Based Families 588

Using the Adaptive Component Family 590

Scheduling Pattern-Based Panels 592

The Bottom Line 593

Chapter 14 • Modeling Floors, Ceilings, and Roofs 595

Understanding Floor Types 595

Modeling a Floor 595

Creating a Structural Floor 598

Modeling Floor by Face 602

Defi ning a Pad 602

Sketching for Floors, Ceilings, and Roofs 603

Modeling Slab Edges 605

Creating a Custom Floor Edge 606

Modeling Floor Finishes 609

Using a Split Face for Thin Finishes 609

Modeling Thick Finishes 611

Creating Ceilings 612

Understanding Roof Modeling Methods 613

Constructing a Roof by Footprint 616

Applying a Roof by Extrusion 619

Roof In-Place 621

Creating a Roof by Face 622

Creating a Sloped Glazing 622

Using Slope Arrows 623

Using Additional Roof Tools 624

Using Advanced Shape Editing with Floors and Roofs 627

Creating a Roof with a Sloped Topping 628

Applying a Variable Thickness to a Roof Layer 629

The Bottom Line 630

Chapter 15 • Designing with the Family Editor 633

Getting Started with a Family 633

Understanding In-Place Families 634

Choosing the Right Family Template and Category 635

Choosing Between Hosted and Nonhosted Family Types 637

Creating Other Types of Families in the Family Editor 639

Understanding the Family Editor 641

Developing the Framework for a Family Component 643

Creating the Necessary Reference Planes, Lines, and Points 643

Using Dimensions to Control Geometric Parameters 648

Reviewing the Differences Between Type and Instance Parameters 651

Organizing Solids and Lines in a Family Editor 655

Modeling Techniques in the Family Editor 660

Creating an Extrusion 660

Creating a Sweep 662

Creating a Revolve 666

Creating a Blend and Swept Blend 667

Nesting Families 671

Troubleshooting Techniques 674

Doing a Visibility Check 674

Applying Parametric Arrays and Family Type Parameters 675

The Bottom Line 678

Chapter 16 • Creating Stairs and Railings 679

Designing Stairs and Railings 679

Reviewing the Key Components of Stairs and Railings 681

Reviewing the Basic Rules of Stairs 681

Working with Stair Components 683

Reviewing the Components of Railings 683

Creating Stairs 690

Understanding the Stair Tools 691

Using the Components for Customizing Stairs 696

Creating Stairs with Other Tools 710

Creating Multistory Stairs 712

Annotating Stairs 714

Creating Railings 716

Creating a Custom Railing 719

Creating Glass Railings with the Curtain Wall Tool 722

Using the Railing Tool for Other Objects 725

The Bottom Line 729

Part 5 • Documentation 731

Chapter 17 • Detailing Your Design 733

Creating Details 733

Using View Types for Detailing 733

Working with the Detailing Process 736

Detailing Tools 737

Using the Detail Line Tool 737

Using the Linework Tool 738

Using Filled Regions and Masking Regions 740

Adding Detail Components 745

Repeating Detail Component 750

Using Line-Based Detail Components 753

Drafting Insulation 753

Creating Detail Groups 755

Adding Detail Components to Families 756

Reusing Details from Other Files 759

Using CAD Details 759

Using Details from Other Revit Projects 760

The Bottom Line 764

Chapter 18 • Documenting Your Design 767

Documenting Plans 767

Calculating Space Using Room Objects 767

Creating Area Plans 770

Adding Area Objects 775

Modifying Area Plans 777

Creating Schedules and Legends 778

Creating Schedules 779

Using Legends 791

Laying Out Sheets 793

Adding the Area Plan 793

Activating a View 794

Using Guide Grids 795

Adding the Schedule 797

Finishing the Sheet 798

The Bottom Line 799

Chapter 19 • Annotating Your Design 801

Annotating with Text and Keynotes 801

Using Text 801

Using Keynotes 806

Annotating with Tags 819

Inserting Tags 820

Using the Tag Toolset 821

Adding Dimensions 825

Using Dimension Equality 827

Customizing Dimension Text 828

Editing Dimension Strings 830

Using Alternate Units 832

Annotating with Project and Shared Parameters 833

Creating Project Parameters 834

Creating Shared Parameters 838

The Bottom Line 846

Part 6 • Construction and Beyond 849

Chapter 20 • Working in the Construction Phase 851

Using Revisions in Your Project 851

Creating a Revision Cloud 851

Placing Revision Clouds 855

Tagging a Revision Cloud 857

Disabling the Leader 857

Using Digital Markups 858

Publishing to Design Review 858

Modeling for Construction 864

Creating Parts 864

Modifying Parts 866

Scheduling Parts 873

Creating Assemblies 873

Creating Assembly Views 875

The Bottom Line 877

Chapter 21 • Presenting Your Design 879

Understanding Color Fill Legends 879

Making a Color Fill Legend for Rooms 880

Customizing a Color Fill Legend 884

Modifying Other Settings 886

Using Numerical Ranges for Color Schemes 887

Presenting with 3D Views 890

Orienting to Other Views 890

Annotating 3D Views 893

Editing Viewport Types 894

Creating “Exploded” Axonometric Views 895

The Bottom Line 901

Chapter 22 • Design Analysis 903

Analyzing for Sustainability 903

Understanding Energy Modeling 904

Using Revit for Energy Simulations 905

Using the Conceptual Energy Analysis Tool 907

Setting Up an Energy Analysis 908

Running Energy Analysis Simulations 913

Understanding the Energy Analysis 918

Using Architecture 2030 926

Understanding Lighting Analysis 928

The Bottom Line 935

Part 7 • Appendixes 937

Appendix A • Th e Bottom Line 939

Chapter 1: Understanding the Principles of BIM 939

Chapter 2: Exploring the UI and Organizing Projects 940

Chapter 3: The Basics of the Toolbox 940

Chapter 4: Confi guring Templates and Standards 942

Chapter 5: Collaborating with a Team 943

Chapter 6: Working with Consultants 945

Chapter 7: Interoperability: Working Multiplatform 946

Chapter 8: Managing Revit Projects 947

Chapter 9: Advanced Modeling and Massing 947

Chapter 10: Conceptual Design 948

Chapter 11: Working with Phasing, Groups, and Design Options 949

Chapter 12: Visualization 950

Chapter 13: Creating Walls and Curtain Walls 951

Chapter 14: Modeling Floors, Ceilings, and Roofs 952

Chapter 15: Designing with the Family Editor 953

Chapter 16: Creating Stairs and Railings 954

Chapter 17: Detailing Your Design 955

Chapter 18: Documenting Your Design 956

Chapter 19: Annotating Your Design 957

Chapter 20: Working in the Construction Phase 958

Chapter 21: Presenting Your Design 959

Chapter 22: Design Analysis 960

Appendix B • Tips, Tricks, and Troubleshooting .961

Optimizing Performance 961

Using Best Practices 964

Quality Control 969

Keeping an Eye on File Size 970

Using Schedules 975

Reviewing Warnings 978

Other Tips and Shortcuts 980

Additional Resources 983

Appendix C • Autodesk Revit Certifi cation 985

Index 987

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