Model In-Place

In-place components are a great way to add custom uniquely designed elements to your design models.  Through a series of solids and voids, they allow you to design unique forms that belong to quantifiable and parametrically similar categories.  Here's the catch: Don't use in-place components for any element that repeats more than once (maybe twice) in your model. For that, we'll be using component families that are modeled outside of the project environment. In-place components could be used for some millwork/casework, built-in furniture, reception desks, complex ceilings, etc. 

So here it goes!  The "Model In-place" tool can be found under the component tool in the Build panel of the Home tab (1).  After selecting this function, you'll be asked to choose a category for your in-place component (2). These categories make the component behave like other members of the group, for instance, if you choose "ceiling," the component will receive ceiling hosted lights.  These categories will also allow you to schedule the components and control their visibility in the "VV" menu.

1. Model In-place tool

2. Choose the appropriate category for your model

Activating the Model In-place tool changes the options available in the ribbon (3).  Because you are now working in this in-place modeling environment, the functions you can perform differ from the typical project modeling workspace. Most notably, you'll be able to create forms with solids and voids.
Creating an extrusion activates "sketch mode" who's pink lines should be familiar to you now (4), having worked with floors and ceilings. Most of the Forms tools require a profile that is created in sketch mode and must be an outline that forms a closed loop (no gaps or overlapping lines).

3. Model In-Place Ribbon - you'll be using the "forms" and "work place" tabs heavily

Once you've created your profile outline, you click the green check mark on the ribbon.

The depth of the extrusion is controlled by a field in the option bar.  In this case I'm modeling a piece of millwork that may be used as a reception desk, so I'll change the depth from 1'-0" to 3'-0" (5). You can also change the depth of an extrusion from the properties menu, but instead of indicating "depth" you'll be indicating where the extrusion starts and finishes in relation to the plane on which you drew the profile.

4. Drawing the extrusion profile in sketch mode.

5. Depth can be changed in the options bar.

 Void forms can be used to add further dimension to your In-place model (6).  You'll notice that you have the same options (extrusion, revolve, sweep, etc.) when working with voids as you do when working with solids.  The combination of solids and voids offer endless opportunities for modeling.

6. Add some voids

 In this example, I'm going to change the work plane from the floor level (which is the default) to the side of the desk to create an indentation. To do this I'll select the "Set" tool from the Work Plane panel (7).  This activates a dialogue box (8) which asks how I'd like to choose my new work plane.  In this case I am going to "Pick a Plane" which will be the easiest way for me to select the face of the desk. 

7. Set a new work plane

8. How do you want to set your plane?

9. Choosing the face of the desk as the work plane.

10. Drawing my profile directly onto the work plane

You are able to toggle the visibility of the active work plane with the "Show" tool also located in the Work Plane panel (7,9). With the work plane active on the face of the desk, select your extrusion tool and begin drawing the profile for the void extrusion (10).
Once complete, I set the depth of the void extrusion to 1' which provides a recessed area in the front of the desk (11). 

11. Void Extrusion with 1' depth.

If you want to add materials to your model (14), you can select individual forms and change their materials in the properties window (12).  Alternatively, you can paint materials onto forms by using the paint tool in the Geometry panel on the ribbon (13). Painting is a quick and dirty way to apply distinct materials to different faces of an object.  When finished editing your model, you'll click on the green check (15) to close the "In-Place Editor"

12. Adding materials to extrusions.

13. Paint tool

14. Desk with materials

15. Finish it up!

Your model will now show up in the Project Browser under the Families section (16). You can always return to the In-Place Editor to work on your model by selecting the model and then clicking "Edit In-Place" (17) on the contextual tab of the ribbon. Just remember, when you're editing the model, you'll also need to select and edit the individual extrusions located within.
In-place models will allow you to get some unique elements into your projects.  Just remember to not copy them -- they are for one-of-a-kind elements. The skills you develop modeling these components will help you tremendously when we move into working with the Family Editor.

16. Project Browser

17. Edit in-place

Design Options Tutorial

Here is a link to a post on the "Revit Zone" blog about design options.  Check it out if you need a refresher on the in-class demos.  I'll try and add some of my own steps, reminders, and screenshots in the near future.

Revit Zone Design Options

Phase Settings for Views

As requested, below are posted screen shots of the proper phase and phase filter settings for the Existing, Demo, and New Construction Floor plans you are required to create.  If you have all of the modeled elements set to the correct phase, then their graphic display properties should adjust correctly for the different plans using these settings.

1) Existing Plan -- in this view you want to see all of the existing modeled elements before any demo or new construction.

 

2) Demo Plan -- in this view we want to be able to tell the difference between what existing elements will stay and what will be demolished in the renovation.  Demolished elements should appear as dashed. 

 

 3) New Construction Plan -- this is what will become our working view for all new elements of the renovation, and may eventually end up on a sheet to be issued to the contractor. The demolished walls are no longer visible, but the existing walls to remain still appear. As we draw our new elements on this plan they will be created in the "New Construction" phase. 

 

 

 

Printing to 11x17

Here are screen shots of how I recommend setting your printing options to generate 11x17 prints to the classroom laser printer.

The print command can be found under the application button or by pressing CTRL+P.

1) Make sure that the correct printer is selected at the top of the print menu and then click "Settings" at the bottom right of the menu to determine the characteristics for your print.

 

2) Adjust the print setup menu to the options indicated in the screenshot below. Pay particular attention to the zoom option.  By clicking "Zoom: 100%" you are indicating that you want your drawing printed to the same scale that is indicated by the view which is being printed. If you select "Fit to Page," the printer will shrink or expand the view to fill the paper, creating a drawing that may or may not be easily measured with a scale ruler. 

Also, note the option to hide unreferenced view tags which prevents printing of miscellaneous view tags for temporary or working views that have yet to make it onto sheets.

3) By clicking OK (you can save this print setting for a later point if you'd like) you will return to the print menu and can select the "Print Range" at the bottom left corner.  By selecting "current window," the entire extents of the view will be printed which includes any distant elevation tags or grids which extend far beyond the model itself.   This is important to consider, because if your view does not fit on the 11x17 sheet, you may need to adjust your visibility settings to crop or hide elements that make it too large for the paper size.

Note: To create a pdf, simply change the printer at the top of the print menu to "Adobe PDF."  If working from home, and you do not have Adobe Acrobat installed, you may have trouble creating pdfs from Revit.  When you are using the Adobe PDF printer, make sure you check the properties to ensure that the settings match your desired print output.

Floors

Floors and Ceilings behave very similarly in Revit.  Both utilize the sketch mode and require you to create boundary lines to form the extents of the ceiling or floor.  They are also "system families" in Revit, which means that you'll need to duplicate an existing type to create a new type.

The floors and ceilings tools are locating on the Build panel of the Home tab on the Ribbon.

Once you select the tool, your screen workspace will change to sketch mode, allowing you to create the boundaries for the floor (pink lines) using various line tools or the pick wall tool.  Lines must form closed loops and cannot intersect each other.

Once you've created your boundary lines, you exit sketch mode and "finish" the floor command by clicking the green check on the ribbon.

In order to edit a floor that is no longer in sketch mode, you'll need to select the floor and choose "edit boundary" from the ribbon.  Selecting floors can be somewhat tricky since you are required to select their boundary line which is often hidden by walls or other elements. Use your tab key or select multiple elements and use the filter tool to get just the floors.

 To create new floor types (ie. with different finishes and/or thicknesses) you'll need to perform an operation similar to creating new wall types.  From the properties menu select the "edit type" button of a floor, and duplicate the type.  With the new wall type created, select "edit" next to the structure tab and create the finish and structural layers as needed.

With the new floor type created, you can change out your previously drawn floor, or draw new floors using that type.

If you are not seeing the hatch patterns of your floor materials, you'll need to adjust their visibility in the Visibility and Graphics Override menu (VV). Often by default, the surface patterns are set to hidden.

Phasing

Many projects that you will encounter as an interior designer will involve some sort of renovation.  This could be as simple changing finishes, but frequently involves more significant demolition.  In order to create the "existing,"  "demo," and "new construction" plans required to communicate these changes to the contractor, you'll need to spend some time with the Phasing panel in the Manage tab (figure 1).

figure 1

 Phasing in Revit allows you to assign different project phases to components in your model.  Once you have assigned the correct phase, you can control the visibility of each view to show things from unique phases differently (i.e. Demolished walls can be shown as dashed in the demo plan while existing walls with a poche fill).  You also have the ability to customize your phases and their visibility settings to show components in a multitude of configurations.  This is very helpful when working with complex projects that are being delivered under multiple contracts and/or at different times.

As we explore new options for the level 1 studio space, we'll want to add phase information to our modeled components.  Currently everything in our space is "existing."  To assign this phase, simply select all of the modeled elements (you'll want to filter out elements like grids and elevation symbols since they cannon assume phase characteristics)  and view the Phasing section of the properties menu (figure 2). 

figure 2

At this point, simply change the drop down menu to the right of "Phase Created from the default, "New Construction" to "Existing."  You'll notice after applying that the walls appear differently than they had previously if viewing the Level 1 plan view (figure 3).

figure 3

Why the change?  If you return to the "Phases" button on the "Phasing" panel of the "Manage" tab, you'll find a menu (figure 4) which shows the default phases, filters, and graphic overrides for the phases.  The Graphics Overrides tab (figure 5) allows you to control how differently phased modeled objects will appear in views.

figure 4

figure 5

figure 6

 Now, let's say that I want to create demo plan, showing that all of the private office walls are to be removed.  An entertaining way to do this is to use the "Demolish" aka the Sledge Hammer and click the walls to be removed.  This will change their appearance from filled to dashed. (figure 6).   You can also change the phase of an object to demo (or any other phase) by returning to the Phasing section of the object's properties.  This occurs because the plan that we are demolishing them in was assigned to the New Construction phase (you can find this in the "Phasing" section of the view properties -- figure 7).  This means that the walls were created in the "Existing" phase of the project but demo'd in the "New Construction Phase.  If you change the view's "Phase" to something other than "New Construction"it will show the demo'd walls differently (or not at all). 

figure 7

By manipulating the "Phase Filter" and the "Phase" of the view.  You can change the visibility settings of components in your model to reflect their phase, thus creating the documents necessary to communicate your design intent.  For instance, if you choose "Show Complete" for the Phase Filter, the demolished walls will no longer be displayed,, showing how the project will look at delivery.

If you want to see how Revit is determining what is shown in the view's different phase filters, return to the "Phases" menu and look at the "Phase Filters" tab.

Phasing can sometimes be intimidating, and I find the biggest confusion to occur when setting the phase filter for the individual views.  Just remember that whatever phase your view is set to, that will be the phase that any new components are drawn on... and also... as with everything in Revit... "get it in and then get it right."  You can always change phases of components after they've been drawn from the properties menu.

Below you will find 3 examples of how Phasing is used to show a renovation of the curved private offices to a rectangular configuration.  Phasing is not just for plans... I've also included a 3D view showing the demolished walls.

New Construction

Existing Plan

Demolition Plan