How to Check Revit Line Weights????

[USMCBody]

-The history (with a bit of something completely different thrown in...)-

Where I was burned, is that a drafting annotation symbol was not showing up like the others. So I started at the annotation family and it was drafted with the right line objects with the correct line weights, Looked in the family the annotation family was nested in and it all looked ok, but maybe I missed something in there. Looked in my project's object styles setup and again the line objects I set up to originally draft the annotative symbol was ok... No overrides in the view..

And then I thought of something... I went back to the Object Styles in my project and looked at the overall category my line object was in (Generic Annotations)... I thought to myself.. Self, the Generic Annotations category is smaller than the line object, In the view the linework seems smaller than it should be... So I changed the Generic Annotation's line weight and it seemed to fix the problem... Which made me say... Bleeeeeeeppp... bleep, bleep, bleep. Highest tower bleeping throw you off to your bleeping fall etc... At lest I said that in my head...... And I found this out after someone kept saying that my line weights were wrong for a 3rd time... And the cussing ensued... to this day...

But I'm much better now... B-)


-The question-

Is there an easy way to tell when looking at an object in the view what the lineweight it is? Obviously Revit knows, but is there a way for Revit to tell me what is controlling it.. And I'm talking about anything. Like in AutoCAD I can tell it to color by lineweight.... So much easier to tell... Basically I don't want the whole drafting annotation to be the same lineweight. Some lines will be thicker than others and such. Also, I never know if it is really on the right lineweight unless it is way off like my example above...

[cdatechguy]

And now you understand why a lot of folk are using colored lines and black backgrounds....

[USMCBody]

Funny, but I always knew the 'higher knowledge' of color to control lineweight. Humans are just set up to distinguish colors better than just about anything else. It is just in our basic programming if you will. Don't believe me???? then why do guys generally have a problem with the color pink.... Why is red basically linked with danger and other related war type things..

All anger aside, why doesn't Revit get the core principles that AutoCAD gets... yes it may have taken AutoCAD a while to get there, but sill it got there. Don't get me wrong Revit is a great coordination tool, BIM tool, 3D deign intent tool, but it just doesn't get some basic things right that AutoCAD does and in some cased did... I could say allot more, but I'm stopping there....

Hay the only thing constant is change....

[USMCBody]

I guess what I'm saying is I know how to make plans that really look good and pop in AutoCAD. I get line weights and how people perceive them. I can Make that blueprint that you want to hang on the wall because it looks great...

I also know how to control lineweights through categories in Revit. So I thought... until something like what I mentioned above comes along and there is some default override somewhere that says (silly, don't use the sub category you made me with, use the overall category for the looks....) It just seems backwards now. I doesn't seem to matter how you draw the family, the project settings and in some cases maybe the programmers will override what the line work is to look like. I know there is something like that in AutoCAD.. Layer 0 , but either I'm missing something like the layer 0 equivalent in Revit or Revit can't so far make a blueprint that really looks impressive to the point where you can hang it on the wall... Like art.

I guess I don't know how to definitely look at an item, anything in Revit, and know without a doubt what is controlling the visual aspects of said selected item. What category, subcategory is it in for sure. What can I change and what is hardcoded? So bleeping confusing... If there was a control to see lineweights by color just so I can check the lineweight I would be happier than... I would just be very happy...

[DaveP]

Is there an easy way to tell when looking at an object in the view what the lineweight it is?.

Ummm... Look at it?
If two lines have different lineweights, one is going to be thicker than the other.
I know I'm being a smart @$$ here, but I really don't understand the problem people seem to have with Revit graphics.
When we first started using Revit around here, people were complaining that they needed more lineweights because the drawings were "too flat". So I go back and look at the AutoCAD standards, expecting to see dozens of colors and lineweights.
We used exactly 3 lineweights in AutoCAD.
You can make as many lineweights as you want in Revit, and you'll see what they look like right on the screen. I have honestly never quite understood why it's easier to look at a red line and think "hey that's heavier than a yellow line". I know that after many years you get used to thinking that way, but it's kind of like AutoCAD Layers. Just because you draft a line on A-WALL doesn't make it a wall, but in Revit it IS a Wall - Revit doesn't use the abstraction of A-WALL means wall, and it doesn't use the abstraction of Red means thin line.

I understand your initial point of trying to figure out WHY a line is on a certain lineweight, but I don't see how colors would help with that.

[Misteracad]

Just remember this Jesse...AutoCAD is a G-R-E-A-T 2D documentation tool...and it's spoiled us to some extent. Revit on the other hand is a 3D engineering tool, and unfortunately, annotating and plotting almost seem like afterthoughts. Until ADSK spends some serious time improving those functions of the software, it is what it is. Quit thinking in AutoCAD terms...lose the AutoCAD mentality. Once that happens, things should flow better for YOU, although you'll probably never be able to satisfy management's expectations LOL We have to "unteach" them and get rid of their AutoCAD mentality as well. Ah, the trials and tribulations of Revit implementation!

[USMCBody]

Ya I know I have to work with what is there and I do, but if it is in colors it is just load's easier and quicker to check and that is all I want to do is quickly check to see if the right lineweights are there. I'll say I also love the ability to color code per 'trade' if you will. It helps some things along dramatically (which trade is asking for power, were they all coordinated) I just would love if I could quickly do the same with lineweights. It would dramitacally help the learning curve and speed up the process of troubleshooting / checking.

On the same note, it would be nice if I could also find out easier what groups & subgroups that are affecting the family in the project, rather than haveing to 'know by heart' what was done. Again it would just help speed up the troubleshooting process.

So I guess there is no realy easy answer here. I figured as much, but wanted to check and it turned into what it is.

Hay cussing at Revit is just part of the process...

[Bimmer]

Ya I know I have to work with what is there and I do, but if it is in colors it is just load's easier and quicker to check and that is all I want to do is quickly check to see if the right lineweights are there. I'll say I also love the ability to color code per 'trade' if you will. It helps some things along dramatically (which trade is asking for power, were they all coordinated) I just would love if I could quickly do the same with lineweights. It would dramitacally help the learning curve and speed up the process of troubleshooting / checking.

On the same note, it would be nice if I could also find out easier what groups & subgroups that are affecting the family in the project, rather than haveing to 'know by heart' what was done. Again it would just help speed up the troubleshooting process.

So I guess there is no realy easy answer here. I figured as much, but wanted to check and it turned into what it is.

Hay cussing at Revit is just part of the process...

You left out all the people who are color blind! Seriously, it like moving from a bicycle to a motor bike. I guess you can walk the bicycle better than a motor bike. We created some custom line styles with the name B1, B2, B3, and etc. where B is color Black and the number corresponds to the lineweight. For grey, we use G1, G2, G3, etc.

[USMCBody]

I'll say I'm a bit confused on what you're saying... Are you saying that you gained Revit or lost... I think your saying gained and I think some was lost... Both right in our own rights but....

I do know there is allot more info in colors than there is in line thicknesses. it is just the way people's eyes are setup. I'm not saying they go back to colors by line weight (but yes I think it is still a brilliant thing that people forgot the brilliance to it), but what I'm saying is that it would seem to me to be easy for them to create a 'visual checking style' so that you could quickly check 'drafting standards' A lot easier & quicker than being able to tell the difference between line thicknesses.

Think I'm crazy?? How far away do you need to be and how detailed in your look do you need to be to tell the difference between Colors. From the sun? From the Moon? from 32 miles away? from a mile away? From a football field away? From arms length? From right up next to your eyes?

From far away and you don't even have to think about it. Color (red, green, blue, yellow, etc...) is just part of the data stream info if you will, you just see the color.... You can even squint your eyes and tell the color.

What about how far away do you need to be and how detailed in your look do you need to be to tell the difference between Line weights. Remember we are talking about 0.0030 of an Inch. Sun, Moon, 32 Miles, 1 mile, a Football Field, Arms length? next to your eyeball?

So, close up and you have to think about each one individually. and you can't squint you eyes.

Yes, if it is drafted right you can tell the difference, but I'm sure we all have worked or will work with a standard that we don't approve of.... Line weights that are so close together... Or how about your Engineer / Architect used line weight 1 instead of line weight 2 in Revit... (for me and I bet allot of others just a 0.0030 of an inch difference) Think you can instantly spot that on a drawing?

How about this... Do you watch black and white TV or color TV. Big difference right? did you ever see live color pictures of what the actors were wearing? Prison Orange was white......

Anyways I' guess I'm officially and old hat at drafting now. Complaining about the new fangled contraption... B-)

[DaveP]

You make an excellent analogy with Color vs B&W.
I would much rather watch a good quality show in Black and White than some ****** reality show in color. I'm more concerned with the show itself than the format it's delivered in.

I totally agree with your argument that colors are extremely useful for distinguishing between systems. That's what Working VIews, View Templates and Filters are for.
I am puzzled though, about your focus on Lineweights. How much do you need to mess with them? We set up our office standard Lineweights and Object Styles while we were doing our first Revit project. We've since made a few tweaks here and there, but once you've got a good Template set up, you shouldn't need to keep messing with it on every project.

We are admittedly an Architectural office, although Architects tend to be pretty fussy about visuals.