Forums >> Revit Structure >> Technical Support >> Revit newbie - Few questions

xXSuperDaveXx

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Hi Everyone,

I have recently changed jobs from Steel Detailing with Tekla Structures to Structural Draughtsman drawing full structural and sometimes architectural plans in Revit and have come across a few things I require help with.

1. When I use 'model in place' to model a connection into the model and then create a view of this detail I do not see hidden lines if the model in place connection is behind a beam/wall etc. Is there a way to make these lines/bolts etc visible as hidden detail?

2. I have attempted to export a basic model into google earth but I am having some problems in doing so, I can get solids to export from Revit into a .KMZ file but the placment in both elevation and orientation to north are not correct, Is this something I have to set up in the model prior to export? I have seen a few tutorials but they are all out of date, are there any good tutorials on the web I can use?

3. I have been using components inside 'model in place' components with good results and can move components and copy them around around much more freely, Is this good or bad practice? Will I run into problems later by doing this?  

4. Does anyone have any good tips for a newbie?,  I have been using revit for about 7 weeks now and am adjusting well but somene might have some good generic drawing advice that could save time in the future.

Any help offered would be greatly appreciated.

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teafoe5

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1) I wouldn't model connections unless you need to see them in 3D for some reason.  I would just use detail items to accomplish screws, hidden lines etc.

3) Model-in-place is really ment for an item that you are only going to use once in the project.  If you have multiple counts of them you should be creating a family.

4) There is a lot to learn with revit.  There are a lot of ways to do different things so you will need to see what works best for you.  There are a ton of tutorial out there on youtube.com and cadclips.com.  I suggest watching as much as you can as it will only help you in the long run.  You your HELP often when you get stuck.  Just because you can model something doen't mean you should or its necessary to do so, over modeling is bad practice.

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xXSuperDaveXx

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@teafoe5

Hi, Thanks for the quick reply, see replies below

RE 1. Coming from steel detailing where I modeled literally everything I would like to model everything in the model in Revit too instead of the traditional 2d lines over 3d elements that way you model it once and if anything moves the detail is realtime and tags can be created for the various connections, also if I can export parts in a readable format the steel detailer can import the entire model and make the nescessary adjustments speeding up thier role in construction, The first model I have drawn in revit is drawn pretty much 'as built' with literally every bolt in the model this is the direction the company I work for is looking at heading, the main problem is that using this method I cannot see hidden lines in 2d details, does anyone know a way to make them visible?

RE 3. Families put straight into the model I have found are very difficult to move and minipulate as they need to be hosted to a face etc, if they are in a model in place there is a lot more freedom to move and adjust the family. I use families embedded in model in place so the connectinos are intelligent but not annoyingly bound to everything around them.

RE 4. Thanks for the tips, have been using help often but there are some answers I cannot find in there, I am not worried about making the models too detailed I have a beast of a machine here and it doesnt slow it down much

Also do you know anything about google earth export?

Thanks again for your time.

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xXSuperDaveXx

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Bumping this thread, hoping to get more input.

One thing I want to sort the most is getting hidden lines from model in place connectrions coming through in 2d views.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

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WWHub

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Start by reading this: http://wikihelp.autodesk.com/Revit/enu/2012/Help/Revit_User's_Guide/1394-Document1394/1549-Use_and_1549/1616-View_Set1616/1622-Showing_1622

It will not solve all of your problems.

I would limit my in-place families.  Much better to use maybe work-plane based.... or at least face based.

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xXSuperDaveXx

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Hi Thanks for the reply, I did read this page however this did not solve my problem, the extrusions and bolt componets I use that are modeled using model in place cannot be selected on prompt to show/hide hidden lines, maybe theres a setting somewhere specifically for model in place structural connections? There must be a way to get the hidden lines showing through

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xXSuperDaveXx

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Bumping again,

Seems strange that you wouldnt be able to see hidden lines in a 2d section if the parts are an extrusion inside a model in place component.

Anyone else have any ideas?

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teafoe5

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"Seems strange that you wouldnt be able to see hidden lines in a 2d section if the parts are an extrusion inside a model in place component"

If Revit showed every line as hidden that is behind an object the project would get VERY messy with hidden lines showing everywhere and there is no way Revit would know what lines to show hidden and what not to show.  I believe your only option is to show the hidden lines in a 2D section as detail lines or set your view to wireframe and use the linework tool to change the line type to hidden.

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xXSuperDaveXx

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Here are some screen shots from a 2d detail, if I select the conneciton it shows through in blue, I want these lines to show as hidden lines and not be completely blocked out by objects in front. In the image "manually drawn cleat" I have traced around the bracing cleat to show how I would like to see the rest of the lines/bolts that are hidden.

If something in the model changes I do not want to have to redraw and move manually drawn lines in details and if the connections are already modeled why would I want to draw over them again manually? There must be a way to show these lines....

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teafoe5

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The only thing that I can think of would be to set the visual style to wireframe and use the linework tool to change the linetypes to what you want.

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xXSuperDaveXx

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Hi, I managed to get it to work by changing the in-place category to generic model instead of structural connections now the show hidden line tool works for the in-place component. Thanks for your contributions.

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