Navigating the Digital Blueprint: MEPF Revit Tips and Tricks for Daily Use
In the dynamic world of MEPF engineering, professionals are continually seeking ways to optimize workflows, expedite project delivery, and unlock the full potential of Revit's formidable toolset. Whether you are a seasoned MEPF expert looking to elevate your proficiency or a newcomer navigating the digital landscape of building services, this article serves as your compass to navigate the intricacies of Revit, offering 10 tips and tricks that you can seamlessly integrate into your daily practice.
Keyboard Shortcuts / Mouse
Learning keyboard shortcuts in Revit is straightforward and can significantly enhance your efficiency and speed in design tasks. These shortcuts are also customizable. To access the Keyboard Shortcuts Dialog for customization, simply type "KS" when no commands are active, and the following dialog will promptly appear for you to make your adjustments.
Autodesk has also developed a great Keyboard Shortcuts Guide with a lot of commonly used shortcuts already compiled for you. Just simply search for Autodesk Revit Keyboard Shortcuts using your favorite search engine. The first link you find should take you to a website that contains the following:
Just click on Revit Keyboard Shortcuts PDF to download, open, and print if desired.
To take things a step further if you had a mouse with multiple buttons, you could program those buttons to specific commands/keyboard shortcuts in Revit from manufacturers like Logitech, Razer, Corsair, HyperX and ASUS to name a few.
Revit Tool Tips
Revit Tool Tips are a feature in Autodesk Revit, a Building Information Modeling (BIM) software. These Tool Tips provide quick, contextual information about tools and features within the Revit interface. When you hover your mouse over a tool or option in Revit, a small window appears, displaying a brief description of that tool or feature. This is designed to help users understand the function of various commands, buttons, and settings without having to leave the workspace or refer to external help resources.
The information in a Tool Tip usually includes:
- Name of the Tool: The official name of the tool or feature.
- Brief Description: A concise explanation of what the tool does.
- Shortcut Keys: If applicable, the keyboard shortcut for quick access to the tool.
- Additional Instructions or Tips: Sometimes extra hints or best practices are included.
Tool Tips are especially helpful for new users or those learning to navigate the complex interface of Revit, as they provide immediate guidance and reduce the learning curve associated with the software. They can also be a quick reminder for experienced users who might need a refresher on less frequently used tools. If you go to File --> Options and select User Interface, you can change the Tool Tip frequency from Default setting of Normal to None, Minimal or High. With it set to High, you immediately get the full “flyout” as seen in the screenshot for Air Terminals otherwise the default is a brief description first. Right next to this setting is another way to access your Keyboard Shortcuts and Double Click Options that I will be discussing below.
Placeholder Links
Placeholder Links in Autodesk Revit are a feature used to manage and streamline the workflow in large or complex projects, especially when working in a collaborative environment. They serve as temporary stand-ins for external Revit models (such as those created by other team members or for different disciplines like architectural or structural) expected to be linked into the current project later. Placeholder links work best when used with various View Templates assigned to your views. I suggest that you name these files in a way that makes sense to you and that you have as many placeholder links as needed to accommodate most of your projects. Key points include:
- Creation: Created through the 'Manage Links' dialog, specifying the path for future external model linking.
- Lightweight: They do not load actual models, keeping file sizes and performance impact minimal.
- Collaboration: Facilitate coordination in a multi-disciplinary team, allowing separate work on various parts of a project.
- Easy Replacement: When ready, Placeholder Links are easily replaced with the actual external models by simply selecting the link and then clicking on “Reload From”.
- Consistency and Coordination: Help in maintaining project structure and ensuring alignment of various project components.
By using Placeholder Links, Revit users can effectively plan and coordinate large projects, maintaining a clear structure and workflow while awaiting the completion of all parts of the project. What I like to do with the Placeholder Links is to have Gridlines, Matchlines, and Reference Planes/Lines turned off in all my views. I also use them to override some graphics and add filled regions to Plumbing Fixtures.
Placeholder Sheets
Similarly, to Placeholder Links, Placeholder Sheets can be created within your template/starter project. You can create these sheets in your Master Sheet List using “Insert Data Row” to add as many rows (sheets) as needed while you group and name them however you like knowing they may change from project to project. For MEPF, this is always the case because we match our sheet numbering and naming to what the Architect on any project is using. One Architect might use a A1.1 scheme, while another might use A101 scheme. I know there are several tools/add-ins out there that will let you create sheets very easily, but if you are creating the same sheets for every project, why create them each time when you can have them ready for you when the project begins.
Selection Box
The Selection Box command in Autodesk Revit is a useful tool for focusing on specific elements of your building model. When you select an element or a group of elements in your model and activate the Selection Box command, Revit automatically creates a 3D view that isolates and displays just those selected elements. This feature is particularly handy for closely examining a specific part of your project, such as a section of piping, a piece of furniture, or a structural component, by removing all other distractions from the view. It's like zooming in on a small, detailed part of a large puzzle, making it easier to inspect, modify, or present just that area without the clutter of the surrounding environment. You can find this button on the Modify tab after your elements are selected. That 3D view can in turn be duplicated, renamed, and placed on a sheet for a more detailed view of that area.
View References
View References are a painstaking process in Revit especially if plans are broken up into different sections and views have been created. These would then need to be placed and mapped to each section manually. I am here to let you know there is a simple way to get View References wherever you need them. To do this you would create dependent views for all the sections you need using whatever method works best for you for a single parent view. I recommend creating Scope Boxes for those different sections as well. After your matchlines are placed, place your view references, and map them to each section. All you need to do now is to right click that parent view and select Apply Dependent Views. This brings up another dialogue where you can select all the views you wish to create the dependent views for.
After a small amount of time, depending on how many you are creating, all your dependent views have been created, all the view references have been placed and they are all mapped to the correct section. Now when those views are placed on a sheet, your view references will automatically update with that sheet information. This method saves you a ton of time and energy and minimizes frustration. The View Reference, like anything else in Revit, is also customizable to however you want it to look.
Special Characters
Engineering uses a lot of special characters, so I always include a short “cheat sheet” of commonly used special characters on our Projects Starting View. A user can also right click inside of the text window and select Symbols from the menu to access these and many other special characters.
Temporary View Properties
Using Temporary View Properties is like having a set of temporary glasses that let you see your model in diverse ways. A user can quickly activate these properties with a few clicks, allowing them to focus on specific aspects of their design. They can experiment with different looks and settings, such as lighting or colors, to see what works best. This is incredibly useful for reviewing various parts of a large project or making sure everything fits together perfectly, all without the risk of messing up the original design or a view template that may be assigned to the view you are in. Changing the View Template instead of using Temporary View Properties can have adverse effects on the overall design and layout of your project so please be mindful of what you are changing and where you are making those changes. For example, a user can temporarily hide certain walls or floors to get a clearer view of the interior or highlight only the mechanical equipment without permanently changing the whole model.
Worksharing Display
The Worksharing Display in Revit is a vital feature for teams collaborating on a project, enabling users to visually track and manage how different aspects of the model are shared and modified by team members. For instance, the BIM Manager or equivalent person in your office can easily see which parts of the building design are currently being worked on by any of the project team members, all through color-coded representations. This feature not only enhances coordination by clearly displaying ownership and work status of different model elements - like Electrical, Plumbing, or HVAC systems - but also aids in avoiding conflicts and overlaps in the project. With the Worksharing Display, users can also identify recently modified components, understand the distribution of work among team members, and efficiently manage updates and revisions, ensuring a smooth, collaborative workflow in complex, multi-disciplinary building projects.
Customize Double Click
Customizing double-click options in Autodesk Revit allows you to streamline your workflow by setting specific actions that occur when you double-click on different elements within the software. This customization can enhance efficiency and make the interface more intuitive based on your personal or project needs. This customization is particularly useful for frequently performed tasks. For example, setting a family to open in the family editor upon double-clicking can save time for users who regularly modify families. It is important to tailor these settings to your workflow to enhance productivity and reduce repetitive actions.
Bonus Tricks
Here is a bonus trick or two I learned a long time ago. In the MEPF world, we all know that the Architect uses Floor, Wall or Ceiling Based families. Families built with those hosts are not usable for MEPF projects because we do not model floors, walls, or ceilings so what are we supposed to do if we need to use what the Architect is using? The short of it is, you can copy/monitor a select group of families from the Architectural model into the MEPF model and the hosting does not matter at that point because a copy of those families are in your model. However, what do you do if you want to use those families on other projects? First, I would create a simple project with some walls, a floor, and a ceiling. Download those families and load them into the project. Make sure they are assigned to the appropriate Revit category. Those categories are Air Terminals, Communication Devices, Data Devices, Electrical Equipment, Electrical Fixtures, Fire Alarm Devices, Lighting Devices, Lighting Fixtures, Mechanical Equipment, Nurse Call Devices, Plumbing Fixtures, Security Devices, Sprinklers and Telephone Devices. Despite adding new categories in Revit 2022, those categories are not available within the copy/monitor function. In 2023 though, the new categories for Mechanical Control Devices and Plumbing Equipment can be copy/monitor from a linked model. Next you will need to place them where they should be, on the floor, the wall or on the ceiling. Save the file and close it. Create a new empty project and link the previous model into the new model. Open any 3D view and browse to the Collaborate tab to use the Copy/Monitor command. Select the link and copy those families into the new model. If you edit any of those families, they are now transformed into Face Based families. Save and rename as desired for future use. I would also recommend that you take the models you created and save them somewhere so that you can use them whenever you need to without having to recreate them.
How about I take the above trick to the next level. If you copy/monitor a wall-based family, not only will it be face based, but it will also change from being horizontal to being vertical. This is great way to convert wall-based Lighting Fixtures to face based families so that you can now utilize a nested generic annotation in the correct orientation without having to use Detail Items. In 2024 that has been fixed because Lighting Fixtures now have the maintain annotation orientation option built into them. If you are like me and the company I work for, the version we use for any given project is dependent on the Architect and what version they use. I currently have active projects in 2021 through 2024. All the content I build is currently in 2021 so every project uses the most up to date version of our families.
Ok one last trick, take that vertical family you just created, strip out all the modeled elements, add some reference plans constrained by dimensions/parameters and save it as a family template. Now you can create all the vertical face-based families you want.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the world of architecture and MEPF engineering is evolving at an unprecedented pace, and Autodesk's Revit stands as an invaluable ally in this ever-changing landscape. The Revit tips and tricks explored in this article are not just time-saving shortcuts or clever workarounds; they are keys to unlocking your full potential as a professional in these fields.
By incorporating these insights into your daily practice, you not only enhance your efficiency but also open doors to creativity and innovation. Revit becomes more than just software; it becomes a canvas on which your architectural and engineering visions come to life with greater precision and sophistication.
As you embark on your journey towards Revit mastery, remember that learning and exploration are ongoing processes. Keep experimenting, adapting, and refining your skills, and you'll find that Revit becomes a powerful instrument through which you can shape a brighter, more innovative future for architecture and MEPF engineering. So, embrace these tips and tricks, and let your designs and projects soar to new heights.
