Drafting Role Even if this isn’t their ultimate role, having new team members help create views and lay out sheets will get them familiar with the architecture while still allowing the team to keep progressing on the document set.
Working on Detailing Every project can always use someone who knows how to put a building together. If you have someone new to the project and possibly even new to Revit software, let that individual embellish some of the views already created and laid out on sheets with 2D components, linework, and annotations.
The Bottom Line
Understand a BIM workflow. Understand how projects are completed in BIM and how the use of Revit software on a project can change how information within a project is created.
Master It Explain one of the primary differences between a more traditional 2D CAD-based workflow and producing documents using Revit.
Leverage BIM processes. Understanding the level of risk your firm is willing to take in new technologies will help you establish goals for your future use of BIM.
Master It Using the three areas of firm integration (visualization, analysis, and strategy), define how those areas overlap for your firm or project.
Focus your investment in BIM. Since using Revit software is a change in workflow, it is also important to understand the change in staffing and who is needed to perform what roles on a project.
Master It What are the three primary roles in a Revit project, and what are the responsibilities of those roles?
Chapter 2
Applying the Principles of the User Interface and Project Organization
After more than a decade in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry, Autodesk® Revit® software continues to be unique in its combination of powerful features and ease of use. Revit may not be the absolute best tool to design and document every imaginable building type, but its features and functions make the vast majority of production tasks much more efficient and accurate.
Revit is a completely bidirectional, multiuser working environment, so if you compare its functionality to other 2D computer-aided drafting (CAD) or 3D BIM tools, stop now. Instead of layers and vectors, you will be using terms such as projects, components, and parameters along with tools like Wall, Door, and Floor. The concepts and terminology should seem familiar if you have experience in the building industry; however, it can be a daunting task to learn a completely new software application. This chapter provides an overview of the Revit user interface (UI) as well as the key aspects of data organization within a project.
In this chapter, you’ll learn to:
● Understand the user interface
● Understand project organization
Understanding the User Interface
You have the ability to access all three disciplines of the Revit software suite – Architecture, Structure, and MEP – provided you have licenses to use each. This functionality is addressed in the “Getting to Know the Ribbon” section of this chapter.
Figure 2.1 shows the Autodesk® Revit® Architecture 2016 UI. To illustrate some different project views, we’ve tiled four view types: plan, elevation, 3D, and sheet. In the following sections of this chapter, we will review the major components of the UI.
Figure 2.1 The Revit Architecture 2016 UI
Click the big R in the upper-left corner of the UI to open the Application menu and then access commonly used commands such as New, Open, Save, Print, and so on. You can also export your project to a number of 2D and 3D formats from this menu. This menu is also where you manage licensing information. The Publish option lets you upload exported formats (DWF, DWG, DXF, DGN, and SAT) to Autodesk® Buzzsaw® to share project documents with your team. Use the Close command to quickly close a project or family without closing every open view. When accessing some of the flyout commands in the Application menu, be aware that there may be additional commands or options on the flyout that are hidden. This is most evident on the Export command flyout, in which you must scroll to the bottom of the flyout to access exporting options for IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) and others.
The Quick Access toolbar (QAT) allows you to keep frequently used tools at your fingertips. Some commonly used commands are included by default in the QAT, but you can customize it to meet your own needs.
Right-click any button in one of the ribbon tabs, and you will find the command Add To Quick Access Toolbar. By clicking the small, down-facing arrow to the far right of the QAT, you’ll find that tools may be further customized, grouped, or removed from the toolbar (Figure 2.2). By default, the QAT bar is above the ribbon, but you also have the option to show the QAT below the ribbon.
Figure 2.2 Customizing the QAT
To the far right of the QAT is the InfoCenter (Figure 2.3).
Figure 2.3 The InfoCenter
From left to right, you have the ability to search for help solutions, access the Subscription Center, open the Communication Center, show Favorites (saved articles and solutions from the Communication Center), sign in to other Autodesk services (such as cloud rendering), launch the Autodesk Exchange for Revit (Exchange Apps), and open the help content.
The ribbon is the primary location for accessing the commands and tools you will use in a project (Figure 2.4). You can launch commands and tools using the ribbon, or you can create customized keyboard shortcuts as an alternative. Refer to Chapter 3, “The Basics of the Toolbox,” for more information on keyboard shortcuts. Throughout this book, we will refer to the ribbon frequently, so you should be familiar with its basic parts: tabs and panels.
Figure 2.4 The ribbon
The organization and size of the icons within each panel on the ribbon will change slightly as you scale the size of your application window. As the application window gets smaller, the icons will decrease in size and will sometimes stack, or the descriptions will be hidden.
Tabs are the highest level of organization and are used to select from among
