Mirroring a building wing

[Bryan Thatcher]

Were doing a building that has an exact mirror image on the other side of the lobby. I would like to set it up with the lobby as the main model and the 'wing' as a linked model that can be mirrored. What challenges to I face in regards to annotation? Thanks.

[wmullett]

Linked model elements can not be tagged. That includes rooms.

Are there column lines? Those could be problems.

[chris_3302]

From my experience, I think it would be easier to group the wing instead of linking it. I have had trouble in the past with tagging and scheduling. Also, any changes needed on the wings would have to be done by opening another revit session, which could put a load on your computer.

I feel linking should only be used if the file size is getting to high and is effecting your computer's performance. How large is your file?

With grouping and mirroring it, you will still have the capabilities to edit the group which would change both sides (which is what I think your looking for). Having it a grouped would assure that any tagging, scheduling, etc. would not give you trouble.

Hope this helps... :)

[twiceroadsfool]

You can tag, and schedule. You just do it IN the Linked File, and then you set your view templates VG: RVT Link to By Linked View. Its not without effort, but once youve got the workflow down, its not bad at all.

Up til this year, you could open locals of both centrals, and work in one session. Hopefully they FIX that next year. I said fix, because yes... Its broken.

Having said that, when you mirror a link, it keeps the dimensions and the text readable, so it works... But the justifications "creep" a little, which gets somewhat unruly. Plus, if its done through By Linked View, you have much less flexibility to adjust those wonky justifications, since adjusting it for one location is adjusting it for both.

But yep. Its doable, i used to do it all the time. :)

[Bryan Thatcher]

@twiceroadsfool: How do I combine the schedules from the linked file and the one from the master? Thanks.

[eric.piotrowicz]

In the Fields tab of the schedule properties there is a check box in the lower left corner to Include elements in linked files.

[twiceroadsfool]

Yep. You fill in the data in each Linked File, then set the Documentation (or main) model to Include Elements in Linked Files.

[Bryan Thatcher]

How about door tags? I can tag each room separately in the master file. But I'm running into trouble with the doors. They need to be unique like the rooms, because of door swing direction and hardware. How can I handle this? Thanks.

[twiceroadsfool]

I keep them with the same Mark value (you have to) and then i include Link: Name in the schedule. Its available as a filed under File Links instead of Doors. Dont use Link: Type Name, since both of them are the same. But each instance of the Link will have a name (probably a single digit integer, but you can rename it).

That wont help you with different HW, etc... But: if theyre actually different, its going to be interesting. You may have to put them all in a Design option in the link file. (Main, and opposite side).

If you do that, keep in mind that in the parent file you need to specify which Link has which Design option, for every view AND every schedule. (View template it...)