Have you ever come across an issue where you try to rotate an element and the rotation symbol does not display?
This happens when the active workset is turned off in the view.
If you change the active workset to one that's visible or turn its display on in the view, the rotation symbol should reappear.
A new hotfix was released today for anyone running the Revit Architecture 2010 Subscription Advantage Build # 20090925_1815.
After applying the Subscription Advantage Pack for Revit Architecture 2010, the structural settings dialog is no longer accessible. The included hotfix will resolve this issue.
I have included both the technical solution with additional information as well as a link to the hotfix below:
Hotfix - Revit subscription advantage pack structural settings dialog
A new Wall hotfix has been posted. This hot fix applies to Revit Architecture, Structure, and MEP and addresses a issue that causes a crash when modifying or deleting walls.
Files are included to fix Update Release 2 or the Subscription Advantage Pack, so make sure you download and install the correct files.
Also, make sure to go over the readme files included.
Hotfix - Crash when modifying walls update 2 & subscription advantage pack release
At one point or another you may have found yourself troubleshooting light fixtures that were not casting light in a rendering. More often than not these may have been recessed can light fixtures.
Before we get into the 2 approaches for troubleshooting light fixtures, I want to pass along a technical solution which includes items to verify for rendering issues:
Rendering or material appears black
The most common cause for a recessed can rendering issue is a floor object directly above the ceiling object. Because the light fixtures are hosted on the ceiling, they will cut an opening in the ceiling. They will not cut an opening in the separate floor object.
If the floor object is close to the recessed can, and overlapping the geometry, the light source definition will be buried inside the floor. Because of this no light will be cast when the scene is rendered.
There are 2 approaches which I have created a quick video on below for this scenario:
1. Temporarily hide the floor object if it is not visible in the scene
The easiest approach would be to temporarily hide the floor object. If the ceiling object covers it in the view, simply turning it off would remove the obstruction.
2. Create voids in the floor around the recessed can light fixture
By creating an in-place component void extrusion, and cutting the void out of the floor object, we can create an opening around the recessed can fixture. This will ensure there is no obstruction for the light source and will render the scene as expected.
I have had some questions about controlling whether the symbolic brace representation is above or below the column grids. The location of the brace symbols not modifiable and is determined by whether the bracing meets the columns above or below the Level of the plan view in question. I have put together a couple of screen shots to help illustrate some bracing scenarios that have tended to cause confusion and what their resulting plan representation would be.
Click on images to enlarge:
When creating families containing nested families with varying family categories [for example the main family is a generic model category with a nested furniture category family] ensure that the nested family is set to shared under Category and Parameters > Family Parameters.
Shared families will allow for the following:
1. Visibility / Graphic Overrides
If the nested family is not set to shared, all instances of the family will be treated as the same category as the host family. As an example, if the main host family is a generic model and you turn off this category in V/G, all of the nested furniture families will turn off as well.
2. Scheduling
Families set to shared will appear in project schedules where non-shared families will not be included in schedule views.
3. TAB selection
Families set to shared will allow TAB selection through the main family once loaded into the project.
I briefly mentioned how to remove beam cutbacks in Medium/Fine in Tips for Beam Cutbacks in Medium/Fine Detail, but I thought the process could use its own posting to cover it in further detail.
I'll use the out-of-the-box Wide Flange as an example (click on images to enlarge).
The cutbacks should now be removed. Here's a quick video illustrating this process from my original Beam Cutback Tips post.
A known limitation, and often raised issue by Revit MEP users, is the inability to have individual MEP Systems end up on separate layers when exporting to CAD drawings. Instead, all elements of the same category, regardless of the system that they are part of, wind up on the same layer. This makes it more difficult for a CAD user to separate and control the visibility of separate MEP systems in AutoCAD.
As an example, a Revit MEP user may have a model consisting of several pipe systems (e.g. Domestic Cold Water, Hot Water, Hot Water Return). When exporting the information to CAD, all of the pipes, pipe accessories and pipe fittings are placed on a single layer in the AutoCAD drawing, M-PIPE (default specified in Revit MEP). Therefore, the user has to manually separate these items into layers to turn them on/off or change their appearance.
However, one workaround that I wanted to share may simplify this process somewhat for the AutoCAD user. The key is to create view filters to physically differentiate between systems in Revit, so that when exported, the items belonging to each system will have unique properties, such as color or linetype. This will then allow the AutoCAD user to use AutoCAD filters to quickly select and control the objects based on their properties. An advanced user can even create a macro or script to automate the separation of these elements.
In the video here (no sound), I have shown an example of a Revit model with the three piping systems referred to above. The view filters are rather simplistic, overriding the color and linetype of the pipes and fittings based on a unique comment (DCW, DHW, or DWHR). When exported, the objects maintain their color and linetype in AutoCAD. Once in AutoCAD, the user can use Qselect, filters, or some other function to select the objects that they want.
In short, it would be ideal to be able to export systems to individual layers. This is a wish request that development is looking at. For now, this may be an acceptable alternative.
If anyone else has come up with a workaround, please feel free to share.
Many of us have been in a situation where we create a new local file, and notice specific elements missing from the file. It might be tags, keynotes, text, etc... The question is how did these elements get deleted?
More often than not if a specific object type is missing throughout the entire project, “Select all Instances” may have been used to select them. Once selected they may have been deleted from all views.
The following journal excerpts will give you a better idea of what to look in a journal file to isolate this scenario. In this example let’s use “text” as the missing object type…
The user selects a portion of text:
"SEL RESULT: Text Notes : Text : 1/4"" Arial"
User then right-clicks, “Select all Instances”:
Jrn.Command "ContextMenu" , "Select all elements that have the same type as the selected element , ID_PRJBROWSER_SEL_ALL"
User then deletes them:
Jrn.Command "AccelKey" , "Delete the selection , ID_BUTTON_DELETE"
All matching instances of this text deleted from project:
Jrn.Data "Transaction Successful" , "Delete Selection"
If when rendering in Revit 2009 or 2010 products, you come across some materials appearing as black & red squares, I want to pass along what to look for in the project. This issue should look similar to the example image below:
This typically occurs with a light fixture family in the project or nested in other families. Keep in mind they do not have to be in use in the family, but simply loaded in.
Under some circumstances if the light source definition uses an IES shape definition that cannot be located, some of the final rendering materials will be distorted. This occurs even when no artificial lights are used in the rendered scene.
To resolve this issue:
1. Edit the light fixture families using the IES shape definition.
2. Highlight the light source definition, open Element Properties.
3. Remove the IES definition from the Photometric Web File.
Once loaded back into the project the scene should render as expected.