Did You Know That Revit Windows Can Have Transparent Glass In Elevation Views?

Amended on March 8, 2016 - Special thanks to José for contacting our technical support team on the workflow steps and Ron Palma and Sash Kazeminejad for researching the steps while I was teaching class. IX

Hi folks, IX here. One of the Senior Application Specialist here at Ideate, Inc.

Have you ever been in an elevation view and thought WHY CAN’T I SEE THROUGH THE WINDOW! I CAN IN A 3D VIEW!!!! Well okay maybe you’re not yelling it… J

Well you’re in luck: you can! Nope I’m not joking, teasing you or pulling your leg. You really can… Come on, you should know me by now.

So, you’ve gone to Visibility Graphics in your elevation view, unchecked the Glass subcategory under the Window category and you can still see through the glass.

You’ve also played with the transparency of the glass material. And you STILL can’t see through the glass in elevation views.

The reason why you’re unable to see through a window in an elevation view has nothing to do with the material assigned to the glass. You can change the glass material to different levels of transparency and you’re still not going to see through the window glazing in an elevation view.

What’s happening is the window family “Opening cut” option for “Transparency” is not checked for “Elevation” views. Yep that’s it.

Here are the steps to get windows in Elevation to be transparent:

1. From your Revit Project file, select the windows family that is not appearing transparent in an elevation view and select the “Edit Family” button on the Ribbon.
2. In the Family Editor, in a 3D view, “cross a window” over the family model elements.
3. Select the “Filter” button from the Ribbon --> Selection panel.
4. Uncheck all Categories except the “Opening cut” category, then hit the OK button.
5. On the Options Bar place a check in the “Elevation” options.
6. Save your Window family.
7. From the Ribbon select the “Load into Project” button OR the new to Revit 2015r2 “Load into Project and Close” button.
8. If you are still unable to see through the window. Go to Visibility Graphics for your elevation view and make sure that the Glass subcategory under the Window category is unchecked.

Your Window Family will now be transparent… it’ll be 100% transparent, but now you can see through your window.

Check out this short video on the above steps.

Enjoy workflow tips and tricks.  
Cheers,
IX

For more information on training and consulting for the various products Ideate services, visit our website.

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Eugene O'Day
AEC Senior Application Specialist
Eugene A. O’Day, IX, with more than 25 years of architectural and mechanical experience, offers a trained focus on all things Revit and BIM. Teaching is a passion of his. Eugene has been an instructor in undergraduate degree programs, has traveled worldwide teaching Autodesk solutions to major corporations, has taught at accredited ATCs throughout the Northwestern region, and is a frequent and popular instructor, speaker, and presenter for AUGI® CAD Camps, Revit – and related product user groups. He has also been a trusted public school district advisor on new drafting instructor hires. At Ideate, Eugene provides training and support for Revit Architecture, Revit Structure and AutoCAD. Eugene is also a Revit Architecture Autodesk Certified Professional.

Have You Ever Wanted to Add a Tolerance to a Revit Dimension?

Hi folks IX here.  One of the Senior Application Specialist here at Ideate, Inc.

Have you ever wanted to add a Tolerance (±) to a dimension in Revit?  Well you can and here are a couple workflows for you…

Workflow 1 using Microsoft Character Map:

I’m using Windows 7 and found the character map program in the flowing location

• “Start > All Programs >> Accessories >>> System Tools >>>> Character Map

Once in the Character Map program I took the following step to copy the character

1. Select the Font: drop-down and select the font that you are using in your Revit project for your dimensions
2. Locate the Plus or Minus Symbol (±).  Double-click on the character to add it to the characters to copy section
3. Select the Copy button

Your tolerance symbol has now been added to the windows clipboard for pasting. 

Back in Revit follow these easy steps to add your copied tolerance symbol to a Revit dimension

1. Double-click on the dimension that you wish to add the Plus or Minus (±) symbol to
2. Select into the Suffix: field and right-click to get the menu
3. Select Paste from the menu
4. Add additional content to the field to finish your tolerance
5. Select the OK button to finish add the tolerance to the dimension

          

Workflow 2 using the Keystroke equivalent:

If you know the keystroke equivalent you can type it in into the Suffix: field.  In my example above for the Arial font you can insert the Plus or Minus (±) symbol by holding down the Alt key and typing the number 0177.

I hope that you enjoyed this Dimensioning Tolerance workflow tips and tricks.

Cheers
IX
 

Thank you for reading. For more information on other Autodesk products, and information on training and consulting for the various products Ideate services, visit our website at www.ideateinc.com.

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Eugene O'Day, IX

ENI Application Specialist 

Eugene A. O’Day, IX, with more than 25 years of architectural and mechanical experience, offers a trained focus on all things Revit and BIM. Teaching is a passion of his. Eugene has been an instructor in undergraduate degree programs, has traveled worldwide teaching Autodesk solutions to major corporations, has taught at accredited ATCs throughout the Northwestern region, and is a frequent and popular instructor, speaker, and presenter for AUGI® CAD Camps, Revit – and related product user groups. He has also been a trusted public school district advisor on new drafting instructor hires. At Ideate, Eugene provides training and support for Revit Architecture, Revit Structure and AutoCAD. Eugene is also a Revit Architecture Autodesk Certified Professional.

Did You Know That You Can Add Equality Formula’s To A String Of Dimensions?

Hi folks IX  here.  One of the Senior Application Specialist here at Ideate, Inc. 

NEW TO REVIT 2016!!!  Well okay how about NEW to Revit 2013.  Did you know that you have the ability to add equality formula’s to a dimension string giving you the ability to take your dimension to the next level? 

To add an equality formula to a dimension string you’ll first have to setup the equality formula in the dimension family and assign the instance of the dimension string to display the equality formula.  It’s very straightforward.  But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.
  
Let’s start off with the equality formula options.  You have the ability to report back 4 separate parameters within a formula.  Length of Segment, Number of Segments, Number of Witness Lines, & Total Length.  Users also have the ability to set spaces, a prefix, as well as a suffix.

Equality Formula (Dimension Parameters)

• Length of Segment = Reports the equality length
• Number of Segments = Reports the number of dimension in a string
• Number of Witness Lines = Reports the number of dimension witness lines in a string
• Total Length = Reports the total length of the dimension string

 

 Once you have setup your equality formula you’ll need to assign the dimension string to report the display of the formula.  Each dimension string has the ability to report the string in 3 separate ways Value, Equality Text or Equality Formula.
  
Equality Display:

• Value = Reports the dimension value regardless if equality is on
• Equality Text = Reports the Equality Text parameter set in the dimension family found in the “Other” group parameter category area
• Equality Formula = Reports the Equality Formula parameter set in the dimension family found in the “Other” group parameter category area
 



 

 

Putting it all together…  All you need to do is create a dimension family that has a Dimension Equality Formula setup to your desired look and a dimension string instance parameter reporting the Equality Formula set in the dimension family.

 

 

Enjoy this Dimensioning String Equality Formula workflow tips and tricks.  Look for my next month’s BLOG where I’ll be covering adding tolerances to a dimension string.

 

Cheers
IX
 

Thank you for reading. For more information on AutoCAD and other Autodesk products, and information on training and consulting for the various products Ideate services, visit our website at www.ideateinc.com.

 

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Eugene O'day

 

AEC Senior Application Specialist

Eugene A. O’Day, IX, with more than 25 years of architectural and mechanical experience, offers a trained focus on all things Revit and BIM. Teaching is a passion of his. Eugene has been an instructor in undergraduate degree programs, has traveled worldwide teaching Autodesk solutions to major corporations, has taught at accredited ATCs throughout the Northwestern region, and is a frequent and popular instructor, speaker, and presenter for AUGI® CAD Camps, Revit – and related product user groups. He has also been a trusted public school district advisor on new drafting instructor hires. At Ideate, Eugene provides training and support for Revit Architecture, Revit Structure and AutoCAD. Eugene is also a Revit Architecture Autodesk Certified Professional.

Did You Know That You Can Add, Combine Or Remove Dimensions From A String Of Dimensions?

Hi folks IX  here.  One of the Senior Application Specialist here at Ideate, Inc.

Have you ever wanted to add or remove a dimension at the end of a string of Revit dimensions?  Or even better yet add, combine or remove dimensions from the middle of a string?

Well you’re in luck you can! Nope I’m not joking, teasing you or pulling your leg.  You really can…  Come on you should know me by now.

When working with existing Revit dimensioning strings you have three different workflows (options) to add, combine or remove dimensions from a dimension string.

Edit Witness Lines Option:

• The Edit Witness Lines tool allows users to add additional dimension(s) to end of dimension a string.

1. Select the dimension string
2. Select the Edit Witness Lines button from the ribbon
3. Select an element to add a dimension to
4. Pick in space to end command

 

 

• The Edit Witness Lines tool allows users to remove (combined) dimension(s) in a dimension string.

1. Select the dimension string
2. Select the Edit Witness Lines button from the ribbon
3. Select on the element that you wish to remove the extension line from
4. Pick in space to end command
 

 

 

Grip Edit Option:

• Selecting the middle Grip Dot on a dimension string extension line allows users to remove a dimension at the end of a dimension string.

1. Select on the dimension string
2. Select on the middle Grip Dot on the extension line (and Hold pick button down)
3. Move extension line to element that second extension is on and let go of pick button (it’s a simply drag and drop)

 

 

• Selecting the middle Grip Dot on a dimension string extension line allows users to combine dimensions in the middle of a dimension string.

1. Select on the dimension string
2. Select on the middle Grip Dot
3. Drag dot to the element extension you line to combine

One of my favorite tools (Tab Key):

• The Tab key allows you to pre-select a dimension that you then can select to delete.

1. Move your curser (mouse) to the dimension line you wish to delete from the string
2. Press the tab key to pre-select the dimension
3. Select the dimension and delete

 

 

 

Enjoy these Dimensioning String Editing workflow tips and tricks. Look for my next month’s BLOG where I’ll be covering adding equality formula to a dimension string.

 

Cheers,

IX

For more information on training and consulting for the various products Ideate services, visit our website at www.ideateinc.com

 

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Eugene O'Day

AEC Senior Application Specialist

Eugene A. O’Day, IX, with more than 25 years of architectural and mechanical experience, offers a trained focus on all things Revit and BIM. Teaching is a passion of his. Eugene has been an instructor in undergraduate degree programs, has traveled worldwide teaching Autodesk solutions to major corporations, has taught at accredited ATCs throughout the Northwestern region, and is a frequent and popular instructor, speaker, and presenter for AUGI® CAD Camps, Revit – and related product user groups. He has also been a trusted public school district advisor on new drafting instructor hires. At Ideate, Eugene provides training and support for Revit Architecture, Revit Structure and AutoCAD. Eugene is also a Revit Architecture Autodesk Certified Professional.

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