detailing in REVIT

[pdickman]

We are midstream of switching from AutoCAD to REVIT. So far ,I like REVIT very much...but I haven't done any details (other than one in a tutorial).

My main question is: is it better to keep unique details in the project file or in a seperate file (say you were working on a large project, a stadium or something like that).

I am experimenting with details, but find it to be torturously slow. Maybe my computer isn't fast enough? (I keep asking for a new one..)

Also- is there a book or document available that explains best practices for details?

thanks,

[Teresa.Martin]

Hi! In regards to the detailing/speed issue. It could be a number of things that affect the speed.
1) Your available RAM
2) Your processor speed
3) The speed of your network.

Are your details linked or are they created in place in Revit? Having a lot of linked Autocad files can slow things down.

Typically most firms keep the unique details within the project. If you are looking at a campus site and want multiple projects to refer to one set of details, you are probably looking at creating them in a master file of sorts. This has its own plus(s) and minus(s).

You will need to decide what works the best with your firm.
Best regards,

[pdickman]

I have a Pentium(R) D CPU 2.80GHz 2.79 GHz, 3.50 GB RAM

[cphubb]

Explain your philosophy of details. Are you "Drafting" details or getting details from the Model. Each approach has a slightly different approach. The most forward thinking approach is to use the model where possible, and to enhance the details with Detail Components. However if you are new to Revit this may slow the project schedule too. In this case use the model in underlay to layout and draft or link your details from 2D CAD. Use detail components as much as possible as they will really speed your detailing. Send me a PM if you need specific tips.

[pdickman]

At this point, we are still doing detail sheets in autocad. We have linked a few details, but this seems to make the model very slow to process. I would like to start detailing in REVIT, ideally with the model and components as nessesary. What I am finding is that I am waiting for several seconds (to get control of placing) with each component I add. This just seems too slow. Our model is 14,420K. It has three linked models- 40,272K 32,900K and 15,590K. Is this wait to be expected?

(What does PM stand for?)

[dgreen.49364]

PM = Private Message. Click on the posters name and send him a message.

A good method to use, to get your Autocad details into Revit, is to use Drafting Views for details. Create a Drafting View. Import the Autocad detail into the Drafting View. Explode it and clean it up.

[abarrette]

PM = Private Message. Click a person name and you can send them one.

Unique details are usually best done in the model rather than recreating the geometry elsewhere.

Typical details (to start with) can be linked into the model into drafting views to maintain coordination. I recommend converting these to Revit entities as you are seeing the project slow down as you add more and more CAD files into the mix.

Some suggestions to improve performance with your current hardware:

* Shut off links you don't need for your details (I'm not sure how your models are linked together. Visiblity/Graphics --> Revit Links (i.e. Shut off interiors, site, mechanical, and structure if you are only working on a sill detail on the shell). You can also Unload link through the Manage Links interface. File --> Manage Links. Do Not Remove them... just unload. You will need to reload them prior to printing.

* Shut off or unload CAD files that are already linked in that you don't need in Each particular view. Visibility/Graphics --> Imported Categories

What are you hardware specs? jus tthe basics... prcessor speed, Ram, graphics card will do.

[pdickman]

What are you hardware specs? jus tthe basics... prcessor speed, Ram, graphics card will do.

I have a Pentium(R) D CPU 2.80GHz 2.79 GHz, 3.50 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 6800.

[cphubb]

Your specs seem fine except for the RAM. AD now recommends 4gb, but that should be OK till your model gets big.

Sounds like the size of the linked models could be causing the slowdown. What type of component are you placing that seems slow? Are you using copy/monitor with those models? Have you purged and compacted the linked models? Also are these stand-alone or central file models?

If you are using central files look at your network for the bottleneck. Revit needs to check all the worksets for editability before allowing placement of objects. This mostly affects speed when placing model objects not view based 2D stuff. Most people go and buy the fastest workstation they can find and then place the central file on an old server with one network card. That creates a pretty good bottleneck.

[abarrette]

Sorry missed your earlier post...

I don't think it's your hardware... It seems pretty solid.

Just to clarify... the slow down is after you've selected your detail component and are trying to line it up on screen? you may want to go to Settings --> Options --> Graphics Tab and see what your settings are for OpenGL and Overlay planes are. Occasionally fiddling with those settings can improve performance while working with object attached to the cursor.

I run with both of them on, but some find other combinations work better for them...

You will need to restart Revit for some of the changes to take effect.

[pdickman]

The options-->graphics card seems to help. I will continue to try to detail in revit. Any other hints, pitfalls or opinions from all of you better versed than me would be appreciated.

Thanks

ps. also good to know that my computer is acceptable. our IT guy is happy too. (i will quit pestering him)

[Jay Zallan]

PM = Private Message. Click on the posters name and send him a message.

A good method to use, to get your Autocad details into Revit, is to use Drafting Views for details. Create a Drafting View. Import the Autocad detail into the Drafting View. Explode it and clean it up.

That's a good method IF you really heed the "clean it up" portion of the advice. always explode OUTSIDE of any project environment (a working file for instance)...Se the following, if you'd like more on this... http://cad-vs-bim.blogspot.com/2007/07/converting-cad-details-to-revit-details.html

[Calvn_Swing]

Or, to make things simpler, do some clean up in CAD first. We have an 18 step (I'm not kidding) process to clean up a CAD detail to import and explode in Revit. (Purge, Audit, Purge, Delete Layers, Purge, etc...)

This way you can import them into the project without uneeded clutter. If you do it right it only imports the Layer0 linestyle and you just delete it when you're done importing things.

As for you computer specs, a PentiumD is a crummy processor. I'd use a much nastier word if I could. A 2.8 Ghz PD is equivalent to a 1.8 Ghz (or lower) Core2Duo. Plus, Revit is single threaded so your second core doesn't do jack for you in Revit aside from let other programs run on the other processor. Oh, and don't worry about upgrading RAM unless you're running a 64bit OS. All operating systems of the 32bit variety can't allocate more than 3 Gigs of RAM anyway. If you right click on the My Computer Icon it will say 3 Gigs even if you have 64 Gigs installed. You've got to have a 64bit OS to access all that RAM! If you are running 64bits, then get the 4 Gigs. But, we're doing just fine with 120Mb files and several linked ones together of that size on our measly 3 Gigs. We just have a better processor...(2.66 core2quad - don't ask me about the quad part, I wish we'd gotten a 3.0 Ghz Core2duo.)

[Jay Zallan]

Or, to make things simpler, do some clean up in CAD first. We have an 18 step (I'm not kidding) process to clean up a CAD detail to import and explode in Revit. (Purge, Audit, Purge, Delete Layers, Purge, etc...)...

Touche!!! But I'll suggest a simpler method than all of those (and you never have to open AutoCAD)!!!

Outsource your detail creation!!! (Yes I mean to the '3rd World' too...No disrespect...there are some fantastic resources out there!!!) Then you can get all revit details, all the time (fast and accurate too)...

Send prints, sketches, cad files, whatever!!! Inexpensive too compared to most billable rates for us here on-shore...

[patricks]

hmm I run Revit on my home PC just fine on a Pentium D 3.2 GHz w/ 2GB RAM. I built the system right when the Core2 Duos were coming out and were much more expensive than a PD.

Something to keep in mind, though, is that even exploding and cleaning up AutoCAD details in Revit will take up more space then simply creating the detail with mostly components in Revit. That's because the detail ends up being completely made of individual lines and filled regions.

For example, our sheetrock line-based detail component is made of a filled region, 2 lines, and a length parameter. To create that with lines would need 6 lines, and a filled region. Every line requires information to be stored for a start point, and end point, line weight, etc. A detail component can be placed many times, and the program only has to store information about that component once, and then where it's placed, and a length if it's a detail component.

My office was already on Revit when I started working here in 2004, so I have always done 100% of all projects in Revit.

If you have a library of standard details, you can create a detail library Revit project containing only drafting views, and then you can select and copy details from that project into your other projects when you need them. That's really the best way, unfortunately we just haven't had the time to create such a detail library project file.