How to Reference Multiple Detail Views from a Single Revit Callout

One of the great things about Revit is that annotation is linked to the objects it annotates, whether that is a component, view, etc. The Callout tool allows us to draw a boundary and directly reference the view, or detail, that this refers to.

Sometimes, however, you might have more than one detail that is pertinent to that callout area. This often happens when keynoting, but can happen for detailing purposes as well. So, how can you add multiple Revit callout symbols to a single callout?

This seems like a pretty straightforward request, but the problem is that Revit doesn’t allow you to simply place an annotation symbol that links to a detail view without actually drawing the rectangle that defines the callout area. In this case, we don’t want multiple boundaries — just one. What we want is to have multiple callout symbols to allow us to point to different details.

Some firms have created a separate annotation symbol that contains a parameter that can be manually set to reference the detail number. I don’t care for this method as it’s very non-BIM. If the detail view ever gets moved or assigned a different number, the callout does not automatically update, but has to be adjusted manually.

The trick — albeit a fairly kludgy hack, is to draw the boundary, which Revit forces us to do, but make the rectangle as small as humanly (should I say, Revitly) possible. You then have to adjust the leader to shrink that down as well. It still leaves behind a trace of itself, but this generally doesn’t show up on plots.

Yes, it’s a hack, but it works, and the great thing is that it keeps its hyperlinked association with the view that it references. All go for BIM.

Check out the video for the step by step:

Multiple Detail Callout Symbols on a Revit Callout Boundary from Patrick Villella on Vimeo.

Sometimes, when trying to get Revit to do something we want it to do but it really isn’t designed for, you have to wonder that maybe the designers imagined a different workflow than we are hoping to achieve. This is one of those examples. While explaining this method to a good Project Architect friend of mine, he brought up the point that maybe you shouldn’t ever be referring to more than one detail with a callout to begin with. His point, which I think is well founded, is that if you need to reference the info in both of those details for one part of the building, why not just make sure that all the needed info is in one detail to begin with. I know that builders don’t appreciate having to jump from sheet to sheet, trying to piece together the complete info they need to construct something. This might be what the Revit development team had in mind to begin with.

That being said, I think there are still times when it would be useful to reference multiple details or views and I like the flexibility of deciding for myself what is the best method to take. Maybe future releases of Revit will give us a simple Option Bar control that lets us easily choose whether we want the boundary or not — rather than resorting to a bit of a hack.

Showing elements from a ceiling plan in a floor plan

From time to time it’s nice to see overhead items in a Revit floor plan. Dropped ceilings, soffits, light fixtures, etc. are all useful to see in plan view, especially when arranging furniture and such.

Here’s a great and incredibly simple technique to show these items in plan using whatever line style you choose, while still maintaining the connection to the actual ceiling elements. I’ve found some designers simply using drafting lines to create these items in plan, but this is a non-BIM way of doing things, since there is no real connection between the items in plan and the elements in the RCP. Sure, you could constrain and lock them, but the following method is much simpler.

What’s the trick? Well, it makes use of Underlay, setting the orientation to Reflected Ceiling Plan, then using the Linework tool. The slick thing is that once you’ve overridden the line style, you can shut off the underlay and the lines you’ve modified are still visible. Nice, right?

I’m sure that’s enough to get a lot of you going, but here are the step by step details in a quick Revit tutorial.

Revit Tutorial – Show Elements from a Ceiling Plan in a Floor Plan View

Revit - Standard Reflected Ceiling Plan View

Here is a standard Revit reflected ceiling plan. We’ve got an acoustic tile ceiling with an overhead lighting fixture in the conference room.

Revit - Standard Floor Plan

As you know, by default in a Revit floor plan view, no ceiling items are shown.

Revit - Turn on Underlay with RCP Orientation

Set Underlay to Level 1 (same level) and make sure the Underlay Orientation is set to Reflected Ceiling Plan

Revit - Linework Tool

Use the Line Work tool from the Modify panel of the Ribbon to change the appearance of the edge of elements you’d like to be visible in the floor plan. You’ll notice that there is an Overhead style that exists for this very purpose.

Revit - Overhead Line Style

Piece of cake, right? Simple choose ‘Overhead’ from the Line Style drop down (or whatever line style you prefer) then click the edge of the element you want to be visible. You’ll see the line change from halftone (underlay style) to a dark line with whatever line style you choose.

Revit - Ceiling Elements in Floor Plan

Here’s the finishing touch! Turn off Underlay in the View Properties. Presto! The lines that we modified with the Line Work tool are still visible. Sweet, right?

Getting informed and up to date on Revit 2012 Extensions

Don’t forget your extensions!

I am not talking about tax extensions here, I am referring to additional tools under your subscription benefits that leverage the functionality of the Revit platform beyond what is shipped.

I want to point out 6 extensions for the Revit 2012 Platform.

First off, if you have never done this before download and install the platform specific Revit Extensions for Autodesk Revit Architecture 2012 from this link. Revit Architecture 2012 Extensions. Revit EMP 2012 from this link. Revit MEP 2012 Extensions or Revit Structural 2012 from this link: Revit Structural 2012 Extensions. Each Revit product has its own discipline specific extensions and the following 7 are covered below.

1. Autodesk Revit DB Link 2012
Import and export data between all Autodesk Revit 2012 products any external database, to maintain relationships of linked data with Autodesk® Revit® DB Link. There are 4 ways this tool aids in changes bi-directionally.

• In Revit users will have a grid view of the data to let users make changes to the data prior to importing and exporting.
• The results in databases begin modified after changes internally or externally .
• The grid control enables you to create Revit shared parameters to add new fields to related tables in the database.
• Changes to new fields within the database automatically update Revit shared parameters upon future imports.

More topics on this tool are found here: Revit DB Link on Autodesk WiKiHelp and download it here: Revit 2012 DB Link

2. Autodesk Revit Model Review 2012

Automate the process of reviewing and auditing building information modeling (BIM) projects in all Autodesk Revit 2012 products software with the Autodesk® Revit® Model Review plug-in:

• Check the accuracy and consistency of a Project or Family against standards set by your firm, your clients, or industry best practices.
• Correct inconsistencies with a single click or with instructions provided when manual fixes are required.

More topics on this tool are found here: Revit Model Review on Autodesk WiKiHelp and  download it here: Revit Model Review 2012

3. Worksharing Monitor for Autodesk Revit 2012

Worksharing Monitor facilitates the use of all Autodesk Revit 2012 products in a worksharing environment, in which multiple people work on one project from a workshared central file. For workshared projects, Worksharing Monitor answers questions such as:

• Who is currently working on this project?
• Is my local copy of the project up-to-date?
• When will my Save to Central operation finish?
• Has my request to borrow elements been granted?
• Are any issues interfering with my work on a Revit software project?

More topics on this tool are found here: Revit Worksharing Monitor on Autodesk WiKiHelp download it here: Work Sharing Monitor for Revit 2012

4. Space Naming Utility for Autodesk Revit MEP 2012
The Space Naming Utility for Autodesk® Revit® MEP 2012 software is an intuitive tool that automatically assigns the names and numbers from architectural rooms to Revit MEP spaces. By downloading the Space Naming Utility for Revit MEP 2012 software, you can eliminate the need to manually assign names to the spaces, helping save time and simplifying your workflow.

Download it here: Space Naming Utility for Revit MEP 2012

5. Globe Link for Autodesk Revit 2012

With Globe Link, users can publish 3D building information models directly from Autodesk Revit 2012 products into Google Earth™ mapping service. Users can also acquire site information from Google Earth mapping service and import it into Revit 2012 software applications for building and site layout purposes.

More topics on this tool are found here: Revit Globe Link on Autodesk WiKiHelp download it here: Globe Link for Revit 2012

6. Batch Print for Autodesk Revit 2012

Batch Print provides an easy way to print a large number of drawings (views and sheets) from any Autodesk Revit 2012 product based project. After preparing the default printer and the Revit software project, use Batch Print to:

• Send any number of drawings to the printer
• Control the order in which they print.
• When you start the print job, Batch Print manages the printing of the drawings, requiring no further interaction from you. If desired, you can monitor the progress of the print job using a status dialog.

More topics on this tool are found here: Revit Batch Print on Autodesk WiKiHelp and download it here: Revit 2012 Batch Print

7.  Roombook Extension for Revit Architecture 2012

The Roombook Extension for Autodesk® Revit® Architecture 2012 software helps calculate the surface area of walls, floors and ceiling elements, room circumferences and the total number of furnishing elements within a project. In addition to the automated detection of room areas and surfaces, this extension helps users configure these elements manually to local requirements, as well as achieve more accurate model take-offs. Quantified results can be exported to Microsoft® Excel® software and Autodesk® Quantity Takeoff (QTO) software.

Updates to 2012 are:

• Each calculated element is listed with all its single faces.
• Enhancements to prepare Roombook data for further editing in Autodesk Quantity Takeoff 2012.
• Export to DWF/DWFx via native Revit command.
• Roombook data in Revit schedule views.
• Consider material when “by element” is used.

More topics on this tool are found here: RoomBook Extension on YouTube and download it here: Roombook Extension download

Now head off to your subscription login, get them all and install them to your current installation. No extra cost when signed up a a subscription seat.

Tales from the Helpdesk Crypt – Why are my materials on walls rotating?

What the heck? How's that rotated?

There was a recent case of materials of a stacked wall rotating, it looked like this.

After taking a closer look, I found that the brick material was rotated only on the walls with edited profiles. The stacked wall at the bottom had no surface pattern when the edited profiles were applied. To solve the issue, I added a surface pattern to the stacked wall family for the material to the proper orientation when the wall profile was edited. The mystery of the rotating materials is now solved.

Control visibility of masking region linework in Revit

While creating a custom office furniture family set for a client a while back, I had the need to control the appearance of boundary lines in a Revit masking region.

On the surface, it seemed like something pretty easy to do. While in Sketch Mode for the masking region, you can select the boundary line you want to paramaterize to control its visibility and add a Yes/No field to it. You can check out the accompanying image to see how I attempted this. Seems like it would do the trick, right?

The problem is that it just flat doesn’t work. For some reason, the Visibility parameter doesn’t apply to masking region boundaries. I fought with the masking region a bit before eventually, I figured out a pretty easy work around. It was one of those things I figured out while deep in the middle of a family creation project that saved the day, but I didn’t take the time to put together a blog post or video to share it with my fellow Reviteers.

Well, Jose over at Andekan has created a great (while lengthy) video showing the problem and the work around. Check it out, after this brief description of the solution. Here’s the trick:

You can’t control the visibility of a Revit masking region boundary with a parameter.

Instead, change the linework of the boundary lines that you need to control to ‘Invisible’. Now they will never be seen. Exit sketch mode for the masking region.

Next, draw new Symbolic Lines over the top of them. Guess what? Symbolic Lines CAN have a parameter that controls their visibility!

You should be able to take it from there. If you want to see a great step by step, check out the video from Andekan. Also, be sure to check out their high quality custom Revit families. These guys do a great job of creating powerful and parametric Revit content.