Using Acad details - "Best Practices"

[Steve_Stafford]

I was preparing a short discussion for our local Revit user group meeting (LUG) to cover detailing with Revit. While not an expert at detailing as an architectural person by any means I have spent a fair amount of time working with acad details and microstation too...the following applies to AutoCAD detail files specifically but most will apply to Microstation as well.

This list was also assembled assuming that "you" are not abandoning the acad files in favor of Revit only based details. These tips will help you keep the details portable and useable in either application.

First, stay focused on your goals and choose common ground that helps you achieve them. Avoid statements that start with; "I can't..." We can't..." "I won't...."

Font and Dimension Tips:

• DON'T use a width factor other than (1) in AutoCAD text styles (Revit now supports width factors in text and dimension styles but may not import them initially)
• DON'T use custom symbols that aren't also present in the TTF font.
• DON'T use a custom leader routine and/or custom arrows/terminators

• DO use a TTF font in AutoCAD OR
• DO use Revit's shxfontmap.txt to map shx fonts to a TTF font in Revit)
• DO use the dimension leader object in AutoCAD
• DO use a standard arrow or dimension terminator
• DO make sure that blocks with attributes follow these rules too

Project Mgmt and General:

• DO put details in a project specific location and don't move them
• DO Import and link details and check the "current view" option
• DO consider a separate detail project if you are dealing with a large multi-building project
• DO manage them in "one" place, for consistency (AutoCAD since that's what were talking about here)
• DO use a detail specific layer structure to manage lineweights more easily if required
• DO make sure your details are located near 0,0 (origin)
• DO use custom programming routines to automate changes these tips require
• DO make sure drafting views use the same scale as the imported detail

• DON'T move the details once linked
• DON'T explode details (change them in Acad, if you want to keep them useable for both)
• DON'T put multiple details on one AutoCAD file. One detail per dwg file (added per Brenehan)
• DON'T have temporary details and sketches off to the side of your AutoCAD detail file (added per Brenehan)
• DON'T import cad Details that have attached xrefs (added per Brenehan)
  

If you follow these "rules" you will find that you can, nearly always, import a detail "as is" and minimize rework on libraries that will likely remain available for both applications. (stay dwg that is)

All for now...

[Scott Hopkins]

Thanks Steve - Good Tips!

[Wes Macaulay]

Yeah - super stuff, Steve. Very handy and good to know...

[Phil Read]

• DO link (and import) "Current View Only"
• DON'T explode

.02

-Phil

[Steve_Stafford]

Originally Posted by Phil Read

DO link (and import) "Current View Only"
DON'T explode

Well said and I've amended the list accordingly...thanks for "proofing", Phil!

[jontramos]

Hi Steve,
Any Do's / Dont's for hatching? Sharing .pat files between Revit & ACAD?

- Jon

[Steve_Stafford]

Originally Posted by jontramos

Hi Steve,
Any Do's / Dont's for hatching? Sharing .pat files between Revit & ACAD?

- Jon

Wow, this is an old thread! Um...avoid really dense patterns or really large patterns, they seem to annoy Revit when importing them as part of a dwg detail file. Revit also doesn't really like those really short lines so if a boundary of a hatch has a really short line segment it may also object to the hatch as being "unbounded".

[eric-bowman]

Hi Steve,

I've heard that placing AUtocad details in Detail Component Families will improve performance.

Since this is a more cumbersome workflow that does not allow linking of the detail I'm wondering if you can confirm or deny the rumor?

Thanks

Eric

[brenehan]

DON'T put multiple details on one AutoCAD file. One detail per dwg file and view to allow full view cross referencing if required.
DON'T have temporary details and sketches out to the side of your AutoCAD detail file.
DO import all your AutoCAD files on a specific Autocad drawing workset.
Avoid importing cad files with attached xrefs.

[Steve_Stafford]

Originally Posted by eric-bowman

Hi Steve,

I've heard that placing AUtocad details in Detail Component Families will improve performance.

Since this is a more cumbersome workflow that does not allow linking of the detail I'm wondering if you can confirm or deny the rumor?

Thanks

Eric

Hey Eric...how's Dallas?

I've put cad details in Detail Components as a way to deal with a good many "line as inaccurate direction..." errors and such. One cad detail per detail component and the detail component is placed in a drafting view. The annotation won't come across so it will have to be added to the detail inside Revit. It isn't a pretty solution but it avoids having to spend time resolving mess lines that generate errors when you try to sketch over them with Revit linework or worse...explode the detail. Isolating the cad detail in a detail component traps the errors there...or at least they don't show up in the Review Warnings report in the project. I think the Baylor team did this to remove a good many warnings at one point as a stop gap measure until the details could be "Revitized".