to Figure 2.16, you will notice that any recently applied view templates will appear in the Temporary View Properties menu. This allows for rapid application of templates to increase your productivity when manipulating views for various working scenarios.
The other command selection is to Enable Temporary View Properties. This mode allows you to change any view properties manually. The result is the same as temporarily applying a view template, but you can tweak any setting to your needs. For example, you might want to temporarily hide all the furniture in a view.
To remove the temporary settings, you can simply wait until you close the project file because the temporary settings are not saved. Otherwise, click the Temporary View Properties icon again and select Restore View Properties.
The Graphic Display Options dialog box gives you access to some of the same settings you can select in the view control bar; however, more refinement options are available. From the Properties palette, click Edit in the Graphic Display Options property field, and explore the graphic settings you can customize for the current view (Figure 2.18). As an alternative, you can click the Visual Style icon (the small box) in the view control bar and choose Graphic Display Options from the pop-up menu.
Figure 2.18 Graphic Display Options dialog box
Many graphic options are available, including customized backgrounds, photographic exposure, and a transparency slider. Experiment with a variety of the settings to see which ones meet your presentation and documentation needs. You’ll learn much more about graphic styles in Chapter 11, “Visualization.”
Most modeling tools and commands require an active work plane on which to place geometry. When you are working in a plan view, the work plane is usually set to the current level associated with the view. In a 3D, section, or elevation view, the definition of an active work plane may be a bit more confusing. In addition to levels, work planes can be defined as reference planes, a structural grid, or a surface of another object. To help you visualize an active work plane, a work plane viewer is available in Revit.
The Viewer option is located on the Work Plane panel of the Architecture tab. This viewer is available from all model views when you’re in the project environment. By default, the work plane is based on the active work plane of the last active view. But when you enter Sketch mode (for example, when you are creating a floor or a roof), the active work plane is that of the sketch (Figure 2.19). So even if the project window shows a 3D view, the viewer shows the plane of the sketch – and you can sketch directly in the work plane viewer! This is useful for working on sloped surfaces such as roofs.
Figure 2.19 Sketch mode with active work plane
One of the challenges in any 3D modeling software is to create methods of navigation that are as intuitive as possible. If you have used more than one modeling application, such as Rhino or SketchUp or Digital Project, you will know that there is no standard 3D navigation functionality. Autodesk has created consistency across most of their industry-based applications such as AutoCAD,® 3ds Max,® Navisworks,® and Revit software. In addition to the consistency within the Autodesk applications, you have a variety of navigation methods to meet your personal preference, including the ViewCube® tool, the SteeringWheels® tool, and basic mouse controls.
A 3D navigation tool known as the ViewCube is available in most Autodesk design software. This tool will appear by default in the upper-right corner of any 3D view. Click any face of the cube to orient the view to that face, or click a corner of the cube to orient to an axonometric angle. Press and hold the left mouse button while moving the mouse pointer over the ViewCube to orbit the view freely. Press and hold the left mouse button while hovering over the compass, and the view will rotate as if it were on a turntable.
Hovering over the ViewCube with your mouse pointer reveals the Home option (the little house above the ViewCube) that you click to return to your home view. Right-clicking the ViewCube opens a menu that allows you to set, save, and orient your view (see Figure 2.20). Selecting Options from the context menu takes you directly to the ViewCube options in the Options dialog box, which you can also access from the Application menu. The ViewCube options allow you to customize the placement, transparency, and functional behavior of the tool.
Figure 2.20 ViewCube context menu
Another method of navigation that is unique to Autodesk software is the SteeringWheels tool. This tool can be activated by pressing the F8 key, by pressing Shift+W, or from the Navigation bar. The SteeringWheels will follow your mouse pointer as you move about a view and will stop when the mouse movement slows, allowing you to hover the mouse pointer over one of the command areas on the wheel. As you hover the mouse pointer over a navigation command, press and hold the left mouse button while moving the mouse to activate the corresponding navigation method. This is easier to demonstrate than explain in text, so feel free to try the various modes of the SteeringWheels tool as you continue through this book.
If you use a laptop or mobile workstation without the benefit of a mouse, the SteeringWheels tool can be a welcome substitute for traditional pointer-based navigation. The touchpads or pointing sticks on most laptops do a poor job of emulating the press-and-drag motions of a mouse along with simultaneous keyboard button combinations that drive native navigation in Revit. If you’re struggling without a mouse connected to your laptop, try the SteeringWheels tool and you might thank us!
Access to the most common navigating tools is also provided in the Navigation bar located at the right side of the drawing area. From here you can launch any of the SteeringWheels and all of the zoom commands from flyout buttons.
As with most modern design applications, the mouse can also be used to navigate in any view. You are not constrained to using the ViewCube, SteeringWheels, or Navigation bar. You might have already figured out that pressing the left mouse button selects objects and the right mouse button is used to access context menus. We discuss selection methods with greater detail in Chapter 3. For now, let’s review how you can use the mouse to navigate the views in Revit.
To pan in any view, press and hold the wheel button on your mouse while moving it around your mouse pad. Hold the Shift key and use the wheel button on the mouse to orbit a 3D view.
The mouse wheel can be used to zoom in and zoom out of any view, but the zooming may be somewhat choppy. Hold the Ctrl key and press the wheel button while moving the mouse forward to zoom out (pushing the model away) or backward to zoom in (pulling the model toward you). You will also notice that the views will zoom in and out with a focal point based on the location of the mouse pointer.
In camera views, zooming works a bit differently. Scrolling the mouse wheel zooms in and out but includes the view’s crop region. To adjust the view within the crop region, only the SteeringWheels and the ViewCube can be used.
In addition to a traditional mouse, you can use a 3D navigation device such as the Space Navigator from 3Dconnexion (www.3dconnexion.com), as shown in Figure 2.21. A 3D mouse allows you to
