Ok Now I have another question about colors and such in Revit

[tcrawford1978]

One of our customers has standards as far as linetype's lineweights and colors on which layers in autocad. Ex. Layer A-EQPM-PLRK is for equipment pallet rack layout plan. Its color is 160 Linetype is continuous and lineweight is default. I have imported the dwg into revit to find what revit brought it in at. In Revit it has a line weight of 1 a line color of RGB000-063-255 a line pattern or type of solid and a render material which i dont really need. This is an example, I may or may not use this exact item but my question is how would i create this item with these colors and types that the customer wants to see? Not having layers it works differently. I can make things one color or another but how do I transfer these items as a group or something Instead of changing colors of each item i draw through the vg element overrides?

[Dimitri Harvalias]

Revit has import and export settings to ACAD. The default import setup has everything set to a lineweight of 1 (presumably to 'standardize' lineweights and avoid the 'really fat line syndrome' that is so common when importing without proper pen settings).
Once you set it up as needed you can save the set up for future use and any content you create in Revit should export consistently.

86316

[jsteinhauer]

Its color is 160 Linetype is continuous and lineweight is default.
You need to check your client's CTB file for that color to see what the true Print Properties are. Revit is WYSIWYG, AutoCad is not.


Not having layers it works differently. I can make things one color or another but how do I transfer these items as a group or something Instead of changing colors of each item i draw through the vg element overrides?
This is one of the shortfalls of the export function. You may have multiple trades using the same Revit Category for content. But in AutoCad these may need to be broken up on separate layers. As far as I've been able to tell, there is no way to do this, unless you're very diligent about subcategories.

Cheers,
Jeff S.

[MikeJarosz]

WYSIWYG = what you see is what you get

One of the great joys of Revit is just that. What you see on the screen is what you will get on paper. On the other hand, Autocad uses implicit entity attributes. A line has no intrinsic properties. It acquires them from the layer it is in. The same line can be moved to a different layer and it will change from red to blue, solid to dashed. Without the correct PCP file, you can spend a whole day trying to get a drawing to plot right. Swapping pcp files in and out can totally change a drawing without ever touching the data. This behavior is ingrained in long time Acad users. This is what I meant the other day when I suggested knowing Acad doesn't help much when using Revit.

BTW, Acad pcp files multiply like rabbits. In my time, I have seen more than one Acad project reach total paralysis over layers, colors. lineweight etc. It is possible to completely lose control of an Acad drawing over these issues. I was an Acad forensic investigator for many years. This is why I am in love with Revit. I have yet to see a case of drawing paralysis in Revit.

[tedg]

WYSIWYG = what you see is what you get

One of the great joys of Revit is just that. What you see on the screen is what you will get on paper. On the other hand, Autocad uses implicit entity attributes. A line has no intrinsic properties. It acquires them from the layer it is in. The same line can be moved to a different layer and it will change from red to blue, solid to dashed. Without the correct PCP file, you can spend a whole day trying to get a drawing to plot right. Swapping pcp files in and out can totally change a drawing without ever touching the data. This behavior is ingrained in long time Acad users. This is what I meant the other day when I suggested knowing Acad doesn't help much when using Revit.

BTW, Acad pcp files multiply like rabbits. In my time, I have seen more than one Acad project reach total paralysis over layers, colors. lineweight etc. It is possible to completely lose control of an Acad drawing over these issues. I was an Acad forensic investigator for many years. This is why I am in love with Revit. I have yet to see a case of drawing paralysis in Revit.
Aren't PCP files what we used for plotting in AutoCAD R14 and lower, and were replaced with CTB/STB for ACAD 2000+?

[jsteinhauer]

Ted,
I first started using ACAD in version 2000, so I can't speak to the PCP files.

Mike,
CTB/STB files are the current standard for AutoCad. My firm uses CTB as their standard, as do most of our clients. I believe we have over 200 ctb files available for project teams. As long as users don't change a line from 'By Layer' your statements are correct. Someone could change a line's color, thickness and/or line style by instance (drives me nuts), and have the printing look horrible.

Cheers,
Jeff S.

[tcrawford1978]

Dimitri. Thank You for the added Picture description. I would not have found or been able to do any of that had you tried explaining it to me lol. wow that process is extremely tedious. Its hard to know how and what to change just because of how differently revit works than autocad. I hope that our clients will understand the differences and allow for some changes to their strict ways of doing things. However, I see myself in the future, creating something in revit and transfering to CAD only to recreate it with all the changes needed with line type, weights, colors, etc lol this is going to be fun.

[sbrown]

You need to educate your clients and your co-workers that revit is not autocad, even though autodesk bought it. You don't want to go down the road you are describing. From the start set up your exports to work for consultant backgrounds only. Export sheets to dwg as bound files for your clients records. don't try or think you will make acad files from revit to work on. You will waste so much valuable time that you and your firm could use designing and documenting projects. Add some 3d views to your cd sets, give away some perspectives, whatever it takes. But let them know from the start that you will NOT be delievering cad files the way they were used to in the past. If you are required to give dwg delieverables, use autocad. if you are required to design and document a building and get it built use Revit. Autocad and Revit are like oil and water. Don't mix them unless you know exactly what you are doing.

[MikeJarosz]

You're right - PCP files were replaced by CTB. I haven't done a project in ACAD since early 2009. I honestly am forgetting details. The possibility that I might have to pick it up again horrifies me.

I stand corrected. CTB files multiply like rabbits.

[jsteinhauer]

Autocad and Revit are like oil and water. Don't mix them unless you know exactly what you are doing.

Thinking of the BP oil spill of 2010. 5,000 feet under water, with extreme pressure, and no daylight.

[antman]

I completely agree with Scott, and will just add a few of the many reasons behind this stance. To accommodate the client's precise CAD standards, you have to *massively* rework your subcategories, not only in your overall project, but in and through all (hundreds? thousands?) of the families that are (or might be) associated with that project. Not only is it backwards to set Revit standards that heavily based on AutoCAD standards, but following another company's standards will almost certainly not be what is ideal for your company (even if you were using the same program). Because of this, you will run into standards confusion among the team, and will need to be serious about training to keep everyone on the right page (I mean, really, how often are standards properly adhered to by everyone even within a company?). Besides, numerous other unforeseen issues are bound to arise. For example, what if they need floor plan dimensions to go to a certain layer, but detail dimensions to another? What if text needs to be a different layer than the leader? And on, and on...

Now, that said, work is work and having a revenue stream is not something to lightly dismiss. It is *possible* to do what you are asking, but as I hope you can tell from the replies here it will be a LOT of work. My prognosis is as follows:
1.) Have the diplomat of your company negotiate with the client to relieve you of the requirement to match their CAD standards
OR
2.)Make sure the fee is appropriately increased cover all that extra work.
OR
3.) Pain

[MikeJarosz]

And what happens when the next project wants THEIR standards? Do you retrain every time you start a new project?

Better still, what would you do if you should happen to have two projects that want different standards simultaneously? Maybe your firm is large enough to have one team assigned to project A and a separate team on project B, but many firms have staff splitting their time over multiple projects. Think of all the Revit objects that can't be translated into Acad. Did you ever draw a floor slab in Acad (in plan)?

It's getting to be time that the Acad people start to realize that Acad is in decline, overshadowed by a superior competitor. It's ironic that Autodesk owns them both.

[Dimitri Harvalias]

For example, what if they need floor plan dimensions to go to a certain layer, but detail dimensions to another? What if text needs to be a different layer than the leader? And on, and on...


Ahh... fond memories of the good old days :roll:
And they wonder why we don't want to go back to the dark side :lol: