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76 Autodesk Revit Tips and Shortcuts

76 Autodesk Revit Tipsand Shortcuts

Autodesk Revit is an indispensable tool for architects, engineers, designers and contractors. Its use as a BuildingInformation Modeling (BIM) software is critical for those involved in Virtual Design and Construction (VDC). But, atool is only as good as its user, and the full power of Revit can only be unleashed with a better understanding of itsvarious functions.

Here are some important tips and shortcuts to help you make the most of Revit that are brought to you by the teamat VIATechnik.

01Pinning

If you are referencing or overlaying an external dwg, rvt, or other types of drawings files, make sure they are pinneddown to ensure that these reference files do not shift and cause inaccuracies in modeling. You can pin objects byselecting the pin object icon under the Modify Tab, or by typing PN while object is selected. Pinned objects can alsobe set to not select or highlight when the cursor highlights over the pinned object. This is helpful when an extremelylarge external Revit model is linked to the working Revit model. Revit tries to visually highlight any elements thatyour cursor hovers over, and may take up some processing time when highlighting an extremely detailed element.Simply toggle the “Select Pinned Element” button at the bottom right corner of your Revit model to disabled, andyour pinned element will no longer be selectable. Toggle it back on when you need to make adjustments to thepinned element.

Pinned objects will show a thumbtack when selected. Clicking the thumbtack will unpin the object.

02Use Splash Screen

Sometimes when experiencing a hard time opening a project, make iteasier by utilizing a splash screen. Go to Manage tab >> ManageProject panel >> Starting View Tool. The default view to be opened isthe Last Viewed. You can change this to a set view. To improve theboot up of Revit, create a new view or choose an existing view thatdoes not display a lot of detail. This reduces the processing time of theRevit file and lets you start working on the project much more quickly.

03Using Filters to Find Objects

Often times, you may need to find a specific object in the model, orselect multiple of a similar object in the model. Use the Filter functionto your advantage. Drag Select a region that will select all theelements you wish to select. Click the Filter button under the ModifyTab and uncheck all irrelevant objects. Click OK and the objects that were left checked will be selected.

This trick is especially useful in locating imported CAD Drawings that did not import to a correct scale. Simply typeZE to Frame all objects in the model space within the window and select all objects in the view. Filter and only checkthe box for the externally referenced CAD File. Click OK and your imported CAD File will be highlighted. Usually aline with a Pin will indicate the location of the CAD file. Zoom in closer and you’ll find an underscaled CAD plan thatyou can rescale.

04Understanding Sheets & Views

Sheets are used for printing, while views are actual workspaces thatcan be placed onto sheets for printing. A view can only be placed onone sheet, and cannot be used in multiple sheets at one time. In orderto have a similar view placed in multiple sheets, you must duplicatethe Views as Dependents and place the new view onto the sheet:

Here is a break down of the differences within duplicating a view:

Duplicate ViewDuplicates a view, and all objects that are considered part of the“model”. Things that are detail items, such as detail lines,hatches, text annotations, and detail groups will now show up inthe new Duplicated View. Any new changes to the views won’taffect the other.

Duplicate View with DetailingDuplicates a view with all model items and detail items. Any newchanges to either the old or new view won’t affect the other.

Duplicate as DependentDuplicates a view exactly as seen. Any changes in one view willaffect the other.

05Snapping

Control where your line ends with greater precision by using the snap function. Often times, there will be lines thatdo not meet at corners, or over-extend due to the default auto-snap that Revit uses. When clicking certain points,input snap shortcuts such as SE (Snap to Endpoint), SI (Snap to Intersection), SP (Snap to Perpendicular), SN(Snap to Nearest), SM (Snap to Midpoint), before clicking the point to have it snap precisely to the point you need itto be in. If you are working in an area where a lot of linework is occurring, it is best to use the snapping feature and

the TAB key to cycle through the available snap points in the area that your cursor is hovering over. Revit willindicate which lines are being used as references to the snap by highlighting the lines.

06Constraining Models

When building models, there are often times that changes to a model require one to shift multiple objects at once.Constraining certain elements of a model can aid in adjustments quickly. Simply dimension two elements you wantconstrained and input the dimension you want to lock in. In the example below, I want the center of the door toalways be 2 feet away from the wall to the right. Lock in the dimension string and the object is now constrained. Ifyou want the object to remain constrained but to not show any dimension strings, simply delete the dimension stringand click “OK” on the alert message. Clicking “Unconstrain” will remove the constraint along with the dimensionstring. Now, every time the right wall shifts, the door will shift along with it to maintain the 2 feet distance.

*Note: Over-constraining elements will cause the model to create error messages, which will require you to removecertain constraints.

07Override Graphics in View

If you want a temporary override of lineweights or surface texture in a view, simply click the element, click “OverrideGraphics in View”, then also click “By Element”. This is useful when overlaying CAD drawings to a floor plan view to

draft as a reference. When linking CAD files with different colored layers, it may be visually difficult to draft overthese drawings. Override projection lines to a dull gray or even a single easily recognizeable color to differentiatewhat a CAD drawing is and what a Revit model is.

*Note: Override Graphics only works on the view in which it was turned on in. If you want to change an elementthroughout the Revit model, change the Visibility Settings instead. Additionally, be aware as to what elements arebeing overridden. All overrides take precedence over visibility settings, so you will need to turn off the override tohave it take on the Visibility Setting’s characteristics again.

08Room Areas vs Area

It is important to differentiate between Room Area tags and Area tags. Use Area tags to calculate overall footage of abuilding, or areas that are not distinguished as a “space”. Utilize Room Area tags when defining rooms, such as anyspace enclosed by walls. Use the walls to frame the area, and use Room Separation lines to divide spaces withopenings. Do NOT use Area to calculate areas of rooms, as it will not populate in room schedules correctly.

09Understanding Families & Types

Knowing when to create new Families and when to create new Types can make a world of a difference to how longmodeling will take. You can view Families and Types to that of animal kingdoms. Families are similar to a species ofAnimal (Dog, Cat, Parrot, etc.) and there are specific Family Types (Mammals, Amphibians, etc.). Types are similarto the breed of an animal (Golden Retriever, Chihuahua, Bulldog). If you are going to model an object that willchange in dimensions, or have certain elements that are visible and not visible in certain instances, then this shouldbe differentiated by Type. If the Family is going to be two completely different models (i.e. a model of a table & amodel of a chair), they should be two different Furniture Families.

01.

Families are broken down into certain sub-categories of Families.

02.

Within these sub-categories rests individual Families. I.E. Basic Wall Family.

03.

Within an individual Family rests Types, which are different configurations of aFamily. I.E. Brick on CMU is a Family Type within a basic wall Family.

Example: If I need a box in Revit with the dimensions (2’x2’, 4’x4’, and 8’x8’), simplymake a Family with a rectangular extrusion. Set the Length, Width, and Height asdimension parameters in the Family. Load the Family into the model and create 3different Types. Within the Type settings, input the necessary dimensions and click“OK”. Create another Family Type by clicking “Duplicate” and renaming the Type tosomething else.

10Pick Lines

If you are converting line work from a CAD file, instead of drawing the linesindividually, you can use “Pick Lines” to automatically copy the CAD lines onto Revit.If the line is drawn as a Polyline in CAD, you can press “Tab” while hovering over theline to potentially select an entire Polyline versus a single segment. There is thepossibility that you can convert an entire CAD drawing into Revit linework byexploding the imported CAD file, but this is not recommended for drawings containinglarge amounts of linework, 3D elements, hatches, etc.

By choosing Pick Line and hovering over a specific line and tabbing through theselections, you can draw single Polylines from existing CAD drawings quickly.

11Customize Double Clicking Family Shortcut

If you are modelling a space with alot of families in the model space, often times you may accidentally double clickfamilies and enter the edit family window. This can take up some of your time, especially when this mistake happensoften during modelling. To avoid this issue, customize your double click shortcut key by clicking on the Revit icon onthe top left and clicking on Options. Under the User Interface tab, Click Customize under the Double Click Optionssection. You can change the option from Edit Family to “Do Nothing”. Hit OK and Apply these settings. Nowwhenever you double click a Family, it won’t automatically open up the Edit Family window. Instead you’ll have toclick the Edit Family button at the top toolbar ribbon.

12View Ranges

If your views are now displaying parts of a model, or models created are disappearing from the modelling view, it ismost likely because it is outside of your specified “View Range”. To fix this, simply go to the Project Properties anadjusting the View Range to a more wider range.

When viewing floor plans, you can change the view range under the Properties window and adjust it accordingly.Anything outside of this range will be clipped from the plan.

13Detail Levels to Optimize Workability

When building Revit Families, creating different models for different Levels of Details can help in how fast the RevitModel can function later on. When building a family, build a generic geometry such as a Box, Circle, or Linework torepresent the Object and have it sit on top of the Detailed Model. Select the Detailed Model and Group it as oneobject. Under the Properties window, click “Edit…” for Visibility and Graphics Overrides. Uncheck Coarse andMedium and click OK. Now the Family will only show the detailed model when the Revit View is set to Fine Detail.Similarly, select the Basic Geometric model mentioned earlier and edit its Visibility so that only Coarse and Mediumare checked. Now a simplified geometric model will be used in place of the detailed model when Revit Views are setto Coarse or Medium. This can allow users to work on the Model Space quickly without the need for the computer toprocess the detailed family model constantly.

14Aligning Plans on Revit Sheets

01.

Adding two reference lines that intersect can act as a point of reference when placing views on sheets.

02.

Draw detail lines on the sheets for the views to snap to when place on thesheet. In this instance, we are snapping the floor plan’s reference lineintersection point onto the detail line’s intersection. Detail lines can be copiedand pasted between sheets “aligned to current view”.

15Visibility Settings

You can specify representational colors for your models categoricallythrough your visibility settings. Under View>Visibility Graphics, you canspecify certain Revit families to be a certain color. Simply select thenecessary category and change the Lines/Patterns to your desired color.You can be more specific by opening the tree down further and only specifying certain parts of the Family be acertain color.

In the screenshot above, all ducts are set to show as red. This will only affect the view currently opened. If youchange views, this visibility needs to be set again. *Note: There is a difference between Projection & Cut Lines &Patterns. Any views that cut through an object such as a wall would show the Cut Lines and Cut Patterns. Anymodels that are visibly without being cut (such as in 3D views) will show the Projection/Surface Lines and Patterns.

16Linked Revit Files

Linking Revit Files are essential in using external models as references in order to detect clashes between models.Make sure these Linked Revit Files are placed in the correct locations and are pinned down to ensure correctreferencing.

The difference between Linking and Importing is the ability to update. Linking a CAD or Revit file will allow the Revitfile to check the file and update if the reference file is changed at all. Imported files will not update and will stay thesame as when it was imported.

17Keyboard Shortcuts

Make an effort to learn the keyboard shortcuts for common commands in Revit. You may customize the shortcuts toyour preference, but it is suggested you learn the existing shortcut layouts so you can work interchangeably withothers easily.

18Working Between Views

Often times, you may not be able to fully comprehend a model in just a single view. You can view the modelsectionally by creating a section cut on the floor plan, or in 3D by going to View> 3D View. Use View>SwitchWindows to swap between views and use View>Close Hidden to close all the views when you’re done. Note: Anysection cuts made will create a “view” under the Project Browser. Keep the Project Browser clean by deleting theseviews afterwards if you do not intend to use them in the future.

01.

When you create a section view, you can right click the section line and click Go To View to directly open up thecorresponding section view.

02.

Adjusting the depth of view for the section using the drag-bar can control what is being cropped out of the section.

03.

Adjusting the drag-bar on the left and right will adjust what is being cropped in the section view.

Creating sections (and 3D Views) will create these views under the ProjectBrowser. If you’re only doing this to view parts of the model and navigatearound, please delete these sections or 3D views afterwards to avoid clutter.If you are going to utilize this view in the future, do not delete it.

19Input Numbers; Do Not Drag & Estimate!

When working with such familys as ducts, it is important to make sure thesedimensions are as precise as possible. If they are estimations, they shouldstill be set to a whole integer.

In the case seen to the left, the initial duct was set with dimensions that arenot rounded. Change these numbers to whole integets by selection the duct,then clicking on the dimension number. This will allow you to change thedimension to a set number. Press enter and this dimension will be adjusted.

20Create a Wall

Creating a wall or beam you can use the pick line if there’s a given 2D CADdwg’s instead of drawing/dragging it up to the length required. Prior toselecting the line for the wall, set the location line to either exterior or interiorto ensure the walls created line up to the edge of the linework.Create the wall and trim, align, or extend accordingly.

21Check Your Room Heights

Rooms are essential for scheduling, especially in a multi-discipline team. Unfortunately, rooms created in Revit oftendon’t go full height. Make sure they are the correct height by turning on a cut section and looking for the room fill.Otherwise you can click on the room and set its height in the properties. This ensures all fixtures are correctlyassigned to the room and that the room is the right size for MEP calculations.

22Nudging Objects

If you need objects to move in a certain direction ever so slightly, but sacrifice precision, you can nudge them byusing the arrow keys with the object selected. The closer you zoom into the object, the finer the nudge will become.Vice versa, as you zoom out, the nudge is greater. Holding Shift while nudging will increase the amount of nudge aswell.

23Importing CAD & Revit files to the Right Location

There are a variety of ways to import or link a Revit or CAD Drawing to Revit Model. One purpose for this is tooverlay different models on top of one another as reference. You have to, however, import to the correct location, orelse models won’t overlay correctly. When importing a Revit or CAD file, it is best to use the “Link Revit/CAD” or“Import CAD” commands found under the Insert Category of the top ribbon. Avoid Dragging and dropping, as thiswill prompt you to manually specify the location where the referenced file will sit.

Once you have clicked one of these commands, you will be asked to select a reference file. Before actually

importing the file into the space, you will notice that there is a choice as to where to place this referenced file.

The selections do the following:

Auto-Center to CenterBased off the average centerpoint of everything in the referenced file, this point will be placed on the averagecenter point of the revit model space. The center point changes as models are changed, so it is not a reliablepositioning to use for overlaying files.

Auto-Origin to OriginThe referenced file will place its own origin point at the origin point of the revit file. This is useful in overlayingreferenced files if all of the models are located at the same location in relations to the origin point.

Auto-By Shared CoordinatesIf you assign a coordinate to each model, the model will be placed exactly within its specified coordinates.This is useful if the project has been set up initially to utilize a shared coordinate system.

ManualAll manual selection involved you manually specifying a point to place the referenced file. Manual-Origin willask you to manually place the referenced file’s origin point, while manual base point will ask you to manuallyplace the referenced file based off a selected based point. Manual-Center will ask you to manually place thereferenced file based off it’s center point.

In the end, it is best to use either Origin to Origin or By Shared Coordinates to overlay referenced files forcollaboration.

Revit Shortcuts

A

AA Align

AL Align

AP Group Objects

AS Align

C

CC Copy

CS Create Similar

D

DD Align Dimension

DE Delete

DI Dimension

DL Detail Line

DM Mirror From Drawn Line

DR Door

E

EL Spot Elevation

G

GP Group

L

LC Link CAD

LI Align

LR Line Model

M

MA Match Type Properties

MI Mirror

MM Mirror From Axis

MN Manage Link

MV Move

O

OF Offset

P

PB Project Browser

PI Align

PN Pin

R

RE Scale

RG Remove Object from Group

RM Room

RO Rotate

RP Reference Plane

S

SA Select All Instances

SC Snap Center

SE Snap End

SI Snap Intersection

SL Splits an Element

SM Snap Middle

SN Snap Nearest

SP Snap Perpendicular

SS Splice

T

TG Tag

TR Trim

TX Text

U

UG Ungroup

UP Unpin

V

VG Adjust Visibility Graphics

VP View Properties

VV View Manager

W

WA Wall

WN Window

Z

ZE Zoom Extents

ZO Zoom Out

ZX Zoom to Fit

ZZ Zoom in Region