RAC 2009 - Area Plans

[designviz]

Refer to the attached file for reference. I previously raised a question regarding Exterior Surface/Topo areas (http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?p=998421). This is similarly related to the same project and needs. I need to tabulate gross building areas as well as rentable areas and ideally I would like to show these in a single view. I do not want to have to show two different plans to present this info. However, I am not seeing that this is possible and it is very frustrating. I need to show a single plan that includes the site and topo/surfaces as well as the gross floor area and then the indidual rentable areas. Calculating and scheduling the areas themselves is fine and fairly straight forward what is annoying is graphically representing it. Right now it seems I will need to abandon this whole BIM thing and place dumb text on my floor plan, which though doable seems to defeat the whole purpose of BIM here. Any help, please?

[cliff collins]

It may be possible to produce a Gross Area Plan, and a Rentable Area Plan,
as separate Views, and then "overlay" them on top of each other on and place on a Sheet,
with the corresponding Area Schedules. I have not done precisely that, but have used
overlaying views ( and/or "underlays" ) to achieve those custom situations when you need
a special graphic representation that Revit does not do 'naturally'.

Does this help?

Just some real-world experience: Keep going with BIM--it's worth it, although
a bit frustrating at times!

cheers........

[designviz]

I thought of the underlay route, but the problem I ran into is it only allows me to underlay a main floor plan level, not other views. Ideally, I would want to place my Site view onto a sheet and then reference my gross and rentable plans. I wish Revit had real referencing capability and not just this single underlay thing which is very limiting.

I have been doing BIM in one form or another for 20+ years, just coming to grips with the nuances of this applications implementation of it, and how to work through and around them.

[cliff collins]

Instead of "underlay", I was meaning to actually set one view on top of the other view.

Perhaps give that a whirl?

cheers.....

[saeborne]

As far as I no, there is no "clean" way to do this. You can't have over-lapping Area objects within the same Area Scheme. There may be work arounds, but none of them are ideal.

Cliff already mentioned one trick... Putting two area views on top of each other on one sheet. I'm sure Cliff would agree that this is less than ideal.

Another work around would be to set up calculated values in your schedule. Now, this will only work if the rentable area is completely within the gross area (which is often the case, but not always).

Create Rentable area boundaries to face of glass (or where ever you deem appropriate). Create area boundaries to the gross building area. Create an area that exists between the Rentable and Gross Area boundaries and call it GrossInt, or what ever. The actual Gross area will be GrossInt + Rentable. Again, this is definitely a work around. It's going to take quite a bit of toying with the schedule to make it appear the way you want.

--

In all honesty, when I've had to do complex overlapping area calcs, say Boma Calcs, I end up making an individual view for Building Gross, Rentable, and Usable. May seem clunky, but it's the "cleanest" solution I've found.

[designviz]

OK, that works though extreamly klugey, and unfortunately I fear prone to error.

[designviz]

As I mentioned the schedule and calculation of areas is not my issue. It is the graphical representation of these areas.

You mention making an individual "view" with Building Gross, Rentable and Usable. How did you do that? Is it possible to do this within my regular floor plan view? As far as I can tell I can only define Gross Area Boundaries within my Gross Area Plan, and likewise with Rentable and Usable. I can not have Rentable Area Boundaries on my Gross Area Plan and vice-versa, unless I am missing something. I did just notice the Apply Area Rules Toggle in the options bar. If I uncheck that would that get me around this issue.

If you could post a small example file that would be very appreciated.

[Gadget Man]

How I would attack it would be to create three different area plans indeed, one for each scheme.

Then in two of them (say, Rentable and Usable) hide in view everything but the areas themself (or whatever you need there). Make these views as wireframe.

On your sheet put them on top of your Gross Area view - they should snap into position easy.

That way you have all three of them visible on one sheet with Gross Area in hidden lines at the bottom (showing all the required details, buildings, topo, etc.) then (say) Renatble area only (or whatever you need to show in it) turned to wireframe, so you can see through it the Gross Area under and, finally, the Usable (again wireframe) on the top...

[designviz]

OK, thanks, that is what I did.

I was just curious of saeborne's comment "I end up making an individual view for Building Gross, Rentable, and Usable," and was curious if they knew a trick to doing this within a single view rather than on a sheet. Saeborne, can you comment?

[cliff collins]

No--there is no way to generate Gross & Rentable Area Plans
in the same view, as they are produced using separate "commands"
in Revit.

jetisart explained it best--you make separate Area Plans and "stack" them on top of each other, hide certain items-- to produce a composite custom view showing exactly what you need in a single graphic representation. I agree, this is a "workaround" solution, which quite frankly is really not worth it.

We just show the Area Plans as individual exhibits, and have not had to combine them
as the OP requires. In our experience, 9 out of 10 times this would satisfy project requirements.

cheers...........

[designviz]

OK, thanks. What is OP?

So since I am new to the whole Adesk and Revit camps. How does something like this get bubbled up to actually be addresed by Adesk and added into the app. I realize there is a wish list, but that seems to get boiled down to the top 10 most high profile items among perhaps hundred or thousands, and Adesk prides itself on usually addressing these. That is all well and good, but what happens to some of these lesser but not insignificant ones, isn't there some mechanism, where I as a user can confidently feel these types of items don't fall into the cracks?

[cliff collins]

OP = Original Poster or Post

Wishlist on AUGI is one way to affect change. Some items linger,
some are implemented quickly, some have not yet happened.

Joining a Beta User group is another way--you can apply to be on the beta tester
list, and get a hands-on feel for new tools, comment on their usefulness, and ask for new/better tools.

It is, in reality, not easy to get a wishlist item into an immediate release--
it may take one or two releases, and some items ( like site tools and railings! )
have been "put on the back burner" for several releases, while things like the new Conceptual Massing Tools and Ribbon Interface have taken precedence--which to
alot of us long-time Revit users is a bit frustrating.

That said, it's still the best overall BIM tool on the market ( IMHO )

cheers.....

[designviz]

OK, thanks. I will look into the beta group options.