Adjusting dormer openings in Revit 2011

[ws]

Am I missing something or is the only way to create or adjust a dormer opening sketch in a roof is to add temporary walls so that you can pick their faces to create lines on the roofplane?

I can pick roof edges or wall faces where the wall touches the roof, but haven't found anything else.

I just keep thinking that it can't be this difficult and I must be missing something obvious?

[cliff collins]

Try using reference planes.

cheers

[ws]

thanks Cliff,

I wondered about that but you can't pick reference planes in a 3D view... or any view, when using the dormer opening tool.

I can't see any way to manually create dormer opening sketch lines apart from picking wall and roof edges (as attached).

Thus in tricky situations I have to drop in odd walls to intersect the roof just so that I can pick their faces to create the sketch lines on the roof plane.

Just seems very awkward.

[hai.k.le]

Model lines work too.

Set your work plane to the face of the roof to be cut and draw model lines where you want the dormer to cut.

[ws]

Thanks very much - yes, that works,

although you have to pick the model lines once drawn on the roof, with the pick tool to be able to trim the opening sketch lines to each other.

cheers

[patricks]

I have to ask though... why do you have a dormer without walls?

[ws]

Better ventilation?

That's just something I threw together to illustrate the issue.

Most of my dormers I like to do as the attached examples where the slate roof overlaps the wall front either side of the dormer cheeks more than the structural roof but until this suggestion I could only manage it by using the inner and outer faces of the dormer cheek walls to pick for the two roof layers.