Downloading Fill Patterns

[kslover]

I have very few fill pattern right now and attempted to download some but had no luck. I know that it is a .pat file but how do I bring that in to a file. I know that I can bring them in from one project to the next but I don't know how to download new ones.

[luigi]

I will tell you a bit about the Fill Pattern subject and I hope that you will find an answer there, because I am not exactly sure what you need....There is a .pat file in the Revit program folder with the patterns that come with Revit. You then can import patterns from other .pat files. For example, if you have AutoCAD, you will have auto cad's .pat file. You also can go to www.revitcity.com (http://www.revitcity.com/) and download TONS of fill patterns, more than you will find use for.

Having said that, all you need to do to import fill patterns is to go to the fill pattern option under settings and add a new one, you will then click on custom which will ask you of the location of the .pat file, once chosen it will prompt you on which pattern you want to add (because you are creating a single fill pattern, giving it a name that you can use in Revit) Important is the scale of the import, because when you are not the creator of the fill pattern, you won't know how the code is written, so this might mean a "Trial and Error" and the process can be very annoying (at times, for one single pattern I would go through the process 4-5 times.....)

Having said this, fill patterns in Revit are more complicated than normal Autocad patterns (not too much complicated) because Revit distinguishes between Drafting and Model patterns. You might figure out the difference, in case you are not already aware, by their names. Drafting is what would be an exact scale of the print. Model is what belongs to the model dimensions. So if you have 2 drawings with patterns and they are shown graphically at a different scale, the 2 same model patterns will look to be a different scale (you can move and rotate the lines that are part of the model pattern and that is very nice). But if you have 2 drawings at a different scale with the same drafting fill pattern, these will look to be the same scale.

I hope this helps,

Peace,

[trombe]

thanks Luigi, that was a good post and helps me too.
trombe

[zanzibarbob7]

Excellent post Luigi. I too, have been struggling with these patterns. Very lucid explaination.

[bowlingbrad]

Wonderful explanation!

Thanks

[kslover]

Luigi, Thank you for taking the time to respond so well to my post. You definitely helped me to more thoroughly understand the fill patterns. Take care!

[luigi]

Thank you, it is nice to know that I can be helpful... ;)

[veronica.lamb]

Luigi,

How do you change the scale of the imported pattern? This maybe a simple answer ( I hope so), but I am not seeing it. I am using Revit 6.1 and when I select "custom" the scale factor is unavailable. Also I am finding that once the custom pattern is made it is unavailable for editing.

Appreciate your advice,

[Joef]

Once you have selected the .pat file you wish to import ( Settings - Fill Patterns - New -Custom) and have clicked on it, the name will appear in the box next to the import button. It will be highlighted but the scale box will be grayed out. Simply click on the name in the box and the name of the .pat file will appear in the box that previously read "new pattern name" and the scale box will no longer be greyed out.
If you want to edit a pattern you have to go through the importing process again. Somebody correct me if I am wrong on this part.

Joe

[veronica.lamb]

Could've swore I'd tried that, but I guess not. Thanks for the quick reply.
--V

[Mr Spot]

You can also simply change and drafting pattern to a model pattern by editing it with a text file editor such as notepad...

adding
;%TYPE=MODEL

to the file on a line of its own directly below the name, ie the second line...

[studioCJF]

Mr Spot

This is a great tip maybe it should be added to the tips/tricks forum

[luigi]

Hi Veronica, I guess you had quite of bit of help before I could read your message. I hope it was clear.

What Mr. Spot mentioned is very important if you are importing patterns from downloads, they are never exactly what you need it in, so changing the text in the beginning from Model to Drafting, or vice versa will help you a lot.

But what is a pain, is that once you have created the fill pattern, you need to recreate it to change the scale (Yes Joe, you are right)

Peace,

[jtobin.68416]

this has been a great thread to help me with hatch paterns. thansk to all.

I want to chime in my support for a smarter hatch editor in Revit, but this thread saved me today.

thanks again.

John Tobin