There isn't an easy button to just eliminate shared coordinates in a project. You can move the Survey Point back to the same spot as the Project Base Point and then use Specify Coordinates at Point to reset the coordinates the file is using. Sounds like I just countered my first statement?
I'm referring to the relationship between files when you use Acquire Coordinates or Publish Coordinates. Once two files are sharing coordinates you can't really remove this relationship. If you remove the link and import it again (Auto - Origin to Origin) the relationship survives. For example you can try to Acquire Coordinates from the file again to "reset" them and Revit will say that it is already sharing coordinates with the file.
To remove (really more like replace) the relationship I use a new (empty) file that is based on the stock Revit template default.rte. I import this file and Acquire Coordinates from it instead. Revit can only acquire coordinates from one source file so using a different file resets it to match this new file. Now it is possible to acquire them from the original file after removing the C/M relationship.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Layer Function Setting
System families have a Function setting. That's true for Walls, Floor, Roofs and Ceilings. I've written about this in the past. Here's what they look like now.
I think the wording of a couple of the functions ought to be revisited, to something like this instead.
Finish 1 [4] = Finish Exterior [4]
Finish 2 [5] = Finish Interior [5]
If changed I suspect people would have less trouble deciding which function is appropriate. I run into wall types quite often that have these wrong or inconsistently applied. If you didn't realize this is how it's meant to work then check out the earlier post.
I think the wording of a couple of the functions ought to be revisited, to something like this instead.
Finish 1 [4] = Finish Exterior [4]
Finish 2 [5] = Finish Interior [5]
If changed I suspect people would have less trouble deciding which function is appropriate. I run into wall types quite often that have these wrong or inconsistently applied. If you didn't realize this is how it's meant to work then check out the earlier post.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
How Many Worksets Do I Need?
I'll borrow a concept from "You May be a Redneck if..." comedian Jeff Foxworthy.
"You may have too many worksets if..."
Technically just one workset will suffice for Revit to function. Several will make it easier to define what your computer is loading into views and RAM. The whole model is still there, just not visible, that'll provide some relief for performance sake. How tangible or detectable that performance gain really is will depend greatly on the scope of your project. Recently I was working with a team, their building is a million square feet overall, and opening the whole file took considerably longer than selectively focusing on a single sector's workset.
This means each project should have its own workset structure based on its own conditions. There may be some worksets that many projects have in common, but it isn't the same thing as a Layer standard.
These are some examples of worksets. They might end up in your project or not.
You don't need a workset for something that is already assigned a category, like doors or windows. That's what the category is for. It is rare you don't want to see any doors. It is more common to think I don't really need to see the doors on the west side of the building. The exception would be levels and grids. There is a little known technique for managing these using worksets when dealing with linked files and their levels and grids.
Worksets aren't meant to be fixed or rigid. You can expand their number if necessary and you can collapse into fewer if the need no longer exists. I let Revit and a team "speak" to me. The conversations I hear help guide me into more or less.
Time to transition to the other thing that worksets get used for, Visibility. This purpose causes a fair number of worksets, even some of those in the list above are motivated by "seeing" elements or not. In my case I'm interested in closing their worksets, "hiding" their elements globally until I need them again which is still "seeing" but not from a documentation standpoint.
For Revit MEP users Filters are much more necessary because many disciplines share a few categories that each other don't wish to see in their views. A water heater for example is Mechanical Equipment. I may not want a water heater visible in my HVAC floor plan and the plumbing views probably don't want to see a condensing unit in them. Both are assigned the same category. Filters will let us deal with that reasonably well, assuming the content is organized well. A workset might be tempting but we've got to remember to assign every element to the correct workset for it to be reliable. I've been using Revit a long time and I still forget to do it.
The single advantage that a workset has over a Filter is the ability to affect an entire project with a single change either while you are opening a project or when you need to transition to completely different portion of the project. The effectiveness of worksets hinges on users remembering to correctly assign the Active Workset as they work. Easier said than done.
With Revit 2013, and the changes to View Templates, Filters get sharper teeth because of the greater integration between Views and their Templates. Aaron Maller describes a method for controlling linked files with filters that begins with putting placeholder linked files in your project template (really just a project file to get started with).
"You may have too many worksets if..."
- You have to scroll the Workset Dialog
- You have a regular Tuesday morning Workset meeting
- You have a workset for Sheet A101, A102 and so on
- You have a workset for Doors
- You have no idea what Workset "XXLLR21LRX" is for
- You don't know the difference between Owner and Borrower
Technically just one workset will suffice for Revit to function. Several will make it easier to define what your computer is loading into views and RAM. The whole model is still there, just not visible, that'll provide some relief for performance sake. How tangible or detectable that performance gain really is will depend greatly on the scope of your project. Recently I was working with a team, their building is a million square feet overall, and opening the whole file took considerably longer than selectively focusing on a single sector's workset.
This means each project should have its own workset structure based on its own conditions. There may be some worksets that many projects have in common, but it isn't the same thing as a Layer standard.
These are some examples of worksets. They might end up in your project or not.
- Building Shell or Envelope
- Vertical Circulation
- Grids - Structure
- Grids - Architecture
- Wing West
- Wing East
- Wing South
- Wing North
- Floors Retail
- Floors Condos
- Floors Rental
- Floors Residential
- Floors Examination Rooms
- Floors Laboratories
- FFE (Fixtures, Furniture and Equipment)
- FFE NIC (by owner that may be easier to manage alone)
- Mechanical AHU1 (all connected equipment related to AHU1)
- Mechanical AHU2 (all connected equipment related to AHU2)
- Telecom
- Security (this scope usually has "need to know" restrictions)
- Linked Files - Architecture (Revit)
- Linked Files - Structure (Revit)
- Linked Files - Mechanical (Revit)
- Linked Files - Plumbing (Revit)
- Linked Files - Electrical (Revit)
- Linked Files - Telecom (Revit)
- Linked CAD - Architecture
- Linked CAD - Mechanical Contractor
- Linked CAD (etc... a separate workset for each intrisically related DWG file may be advisable)
You don't need a workset for something that is already assigned a category, like doors or windows. That's what the category is for. It is rare you don't want to see any doors. It is more common to think I don't really need to see the doors on the west side of the building. The exception would be levels and grids. There is a little known technique for managing these using worksets when dealing with linked files and their levels and grids.
Worksets aren't meant to be fixed or rigid. You can expand their number if necessary and you can collapse into fewer if the need no longer exists. I let Revit and a team "speak" to me. The conversations I hear help guide me into more or less.
Time to transition to the other thing that worksets get used for, Visibility. This purpose causes a fair number of worksets, even some of those in the list above are motivated by "seeing" elements or not. In my case I'm interested in closing their worksets, "hiding" their elements globally until I need them again which is still "seeing" but not from a documentation standpoint.
- The visibility control over elements that Worksets provide is really a collateral benefit. It is not their purpose. Their purpose is to allow multiple users to concurrently work on the same project.
For Revit MEP users Filters are much more necessary because many disciplines share a few categories that each other don't wish to see in their views. A water heater for example is Mechanical Equipment. I may not want a water heater visible in my HVAC floor plan and the plumbing views probably don't want to see a condensing unit in them. Both are assigned the same category. Filters will let us deal with that reasonably well, assuming the content is organized well. A workset might be tempting but we've got to remember to assign every element to the correct workset for it to be reliable. I've been using Revit a long time and I still forget to do it.
The single advantage that a workset has over a Filter is the ability to affect an entire project with a single change either while you are opening a project or when you need to transition to completely different portion of the project. The effectiveness of worksets hinges on users remembering to correctly assign the Active Workset as they work. Easier said than done.
With Revit 2013, and the changes to View Templates, Filters get sharper teeth because of the greater integration between Views and their Templates. Aaron Maller describes a method for controlling linked files with filters that begins with putting placeholder linked files in your project template (really just a project file to get started with).
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Content or Content
Dave writes: "Does it seem to your readers that it's often more efficient to create separate families than try to make one that "flexes" correctly to make all the possible types we need? It seems that way to me at times."
So what do my readers think? Post a reply in a comment and let Dave know.
I do remember an interesting discussion at one of AU's Un-Conferences. A few of us remarked that we were seeing a trend away from trying to create super-families. I can relate to Dave's comment, which seems, to me, like voicing some specific frustration perhaps. I think that it is natural to be inclined toward building very parametric families. As soon as we see what is possible, why not?
However, as fast as some design solutions change a single solution family might get built quicker than the one we make trying to anticipate how it might change. If the family is rendered irrelevant as soon as the design changes then investing a lot of time in making it parametric may not make sense. This is where our intuition and experience make a big difference. These will help us decide when we know enough, are confident enough that it is worth putting the effort in.
Keep in mind that a family can evolve. It can start out simple, singular and then grow into a much more parametric version as the design evolves, settles down. I see designers focus on the big picture and then seconds later fret over the smallest detail. That's the nature of design, back and forth from macro to micro. It's hard to be general and at the same time be highly specific. That's the tension we are dealing with, transitioning to Revit.
So what do my readers think? Post a reply in a comment and let Dave know.
I do remember an interesting discussion at one of AU's Un-Conferences. A few of us remarked that we were seeing a trend away from trying to create super-families. I can relate to Dave's comment, which seems, to me, like voicing some specific frustration perhaps. I think that it is natural to be inclined toward building very parametric families. As soon as we see what is possible, why not?
However, as fast as some design solutions change a single solution family might get built quicker than the one we make trying to anticipate how it might change. If the family is rendered irrelevant as soon as the design changes then investing a lot of time in making it parametric may not make sense. This is where our intuition and experience make a big difference. These will help us decide when we know enough, are confident enough that it is worth putting the effort in.
Keep in mind that a family can evolve. It can start out simple, singular and then grow into a much more parametric version as the design evolves, settles down. I see designers focus on the big picture and then seconds later fret over the smallest detail. That's the nature of design, back and forth from macro to micro. It's hard to be general and at the same time be highly specific. That's the tension we are dealing with, transitioning to Revit.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Two Minutes with Beams and Columns
Brian Mackey recently wrote on his blog about a subtle feature that seems to have crept into the product without much fanfare. You can read his account. I decided to capture it in video format to pass along to a client who was asking about the concept (having beams aware of column ends) so I've posted it here too.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Workset Posts Summary
I've written about Worksets quite a bit over years. Here's a compiled list of those posts. The first group (44) is specifically about the feature and it's concepts. The second group (18) is related to worksets but not necessarily the primary focus.
Updated: 8/1/2013
Workset Focused: (44)
2005 Take Me to Library
2012 Basic Worksharing Guidelines
2008 Central File in Four Easy Steps
2007 Workset Terminology - Quick Reference
2012 How Many Worksets do I Need?"
2011 Worksets Case of Person is No Longer
2012 Not Editable or Not Edible
2009 Revit 2010 Local Files
2006 Why a Local File?
2011 Don't Ever Work in a Central File
2008 Working in the Central File - Breaking the Rule
2006 Workset Visibility in Linked Files
2010 Workset Visibility in Linked Files
2012 Working from Home
2012 Working in the Central File
2012 Why Does my File Name Include the Word Central?
2013 Synchronize with Central and Referencing Elements in Linked Files
2013 Recent Files and Worksharing
2013 Reloading Linked Files and Worksets
2011 Local Files How Often
2010 Can't Create a Local File Clue
2009 Worksharing Monitor are You Using It
2009 Backups Save As Is a Local File
2009 Central File Naming
2006 But I didn't Do Anything, Yes You Did!
2006 Which One STC or STC
2012 Remember the Active Workset
2006 Detach from Central
2008 Workset Save to Central Key Message
2010 Worksets Tip Add Extension
2012 Linked Files have Instance and Type Parameters
2012 Working at Risk
2013 Closing Worksets with Specify
2012 Surprise You are Now the Borrower
2012 Improve Your Borrowing Experience
2012 Revit and Drop Box
2011 The Central File is Being Accessed
2010 Workset Post Updates
2008 Avoid Save to Central
2008 My Username in Revit
2013 Concealing Your Workset Username
2006 Stand Alone or Central File - How Can I Tell?
2012 Are you Red - Worksharing Monitor
2013 Worksharing Display Users
Workset Related: (18)
2012 Load Classifications and Worksets
2012 Ready Made Selection Sets for Navisworks
2007 Visibility of Grips
2007 Quirky Stair Sketch Issue
2008 Workset and Hardware Matching
2008 Worksets as a Security Guard
2008 Save and Save to Central Error Message
2011 Point Clouds and Worksets
2011 Delete Workset's Contents
2010 Dept. of Errors Action Caused Deletion
2008 Worksets and Purge Unused
2012 Undo History Gone
2008 Local Files and other Workset ThoughtsUpdated: 8/1/2013
Workset Focused: (44)
2005 Take Me to Library
2012 Basic Worksharing Guidelines
2008 Central File in Four Easy Steps
2007 Workset Terminology - Quick Reference
2012 How Many Worksets do I Need?"
2011 Worksets Case of Person is No Longer
2012 Not Editable or Not Edible
2009 Revit 2010 Local Files
2006 Why a Local File?
2011 Don't Ever Work in a Central File
2008 Working in the Central File - Breaking the Rule
2006 Workset Visibility in Linked Files
2010 Workset Visibility in Linked Files
2012 Working from Home
2012 Working in the Central File
2012 Why Does my File Name Include the Word Central?
2013 Synchronize with Central and Referencing Elements in Linked Files
2013 Recent Files and Worksharing
2013 Reloading Linked Files and Worksets
2011 Local Files How Often
2010 Can't Create a Local File Clue
2009 Worksharing Monitor are You Using It
2009 Backups Save As Is a Local File
2009 Central File Naming
2006 But I didn't Do Anything, Yes You Did!
2006 Which One STC or STC
2012 Remember the Active Workset
2006 Detach from Central
2008 Workset Save to Central Key Message
2010 Worksets Tip Add Extension
2012 Linked Files have Instance and Type Parameters
2012 Working at Risk
2013 Closing Worksets with Specify
2012 Surprise You are Now the Borrower
2012 Improve Your Borrowing Experience
2012 Revit and Drop Box
2011 The Central File is Being Accessed
2010 Workset Post Updates
2008 Avoid Save to Central
2008 My Username in Revit
2013 Concealing Your Workset Username
2006 Stand Alone or Central File - How Can I Tell?
2012 Are you Red - Worksharing Monitor
2013 Worksharing Display Users
Workset Related: (18)
2012 Load Classifications and Worksets
2012 Ready Made Selection Sets for Navisworks
2007 Visibility of Grips
2007 Quirky Stair Sketch Issue
2008 Workset and Hardware Matching
2008 Worksets as a Security Guard
2008 Save and Save to Central Error Message
2011 Point Clouds and Worksets
2011 Delete Workset's Contents
2010 Dept. of Errors Action Caused Deletion
2008 Worksets and Purge Unused
2012 Undo History Gone
2012 Viewer Mode and Worksharing
2013 Lock Down Shared Coordinates
2013 Show History
2013 Show History and Rogue User Name
2013 Hide Workset Backup Folders
Friday, April 13, 2012
Revit 2013 Downloads - Please Hold
Open the floodgates. People trying to download 2013 products are overwhelming the resources at Autodesk. A visit to the subscription site now offers this apology.
What's that over there? A bird? (clicking download while you are distracted...) no... I guess not.
What's that over there? A bird? (clicking download while you are distracted...) no... I guess not.
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