Temp dim witness line snaps

[tim.olson661742]

I'm new to Revit and trying very hard to like it. I can see its elegance and power, and realize it will eventually be a good friend...but right now it doesn't appear to be designed to work like architects think (according to adverts and literature).

Maybe what I'm looking for is buried deep in a dialog box, but I can't find it and Help is no "help". If the toggle is there I'll apologize in advance, but why can I not move a temporary dimension witness line to a core face of a wall. All I can manage is exterior face, center, or interior face...and those snaps are pretty much useless. I'd like to move the witness line to the face of the 2x4 or 2x6 stud so I can place walls and later dimension them in a manner that contractors and framers can use. I realize I could use the centerline and do the quick mental math..."let's see...add 2.75" to get to the outside face and add 1.75" to that side of the interior 2x4". No thanks; framers do that and it gets screwed up.

Please tell me it's in here.

Tim Olson

[Scott D Davis]

Settings>Temporary Dimensions>Faces of Core

That what you are looking for?

Also, clicking the temp dim 'grips' will toggle through the different dim locations. Switch View Properties to medium or fine to see the faces of the core in compound walls.


but right now it doesn't appear to be designed to work like architects think
I have to disagree...it was designed by architects for architects, and time and time again I find it very intuitve to working like architects think.

[tim.olson661742]

Scott,

Thanks for the quick reply. The frustration was probably evident in my tone. Sorry for that...I hope some day to contribute here like so many of you.

I've come to realize quite a bit of my angst is due to a less that helpful "Help" menu. I looked up Snaps in "Help", since we're talking about snapping to specific locations on an object. Nope. I figured tabbing through the rotation of snapable options would do it. Seems intuitive since that works with sketching and laying down walls and floors and roofs ...Nope again. Apparently temporary dimensions are unique and don't work like other similar things in Revit. In addition, no where does "Help">Temporary Dimensions mention the need to switch to Medium or Fine to see the core snaps. Why not be able to tab through temp dim snaps, each verified in the status bar, regardless of the Med/Fine setting, or how far out I'm zoomed. It may not be completely intuitive...but at least more consistent.

While I'm at it...is there a way to control the location of the temp dimension line? When I start clicking the blue witness line box to cycle through the core snaps, and can't tell which one I'm looking at...I zoom in and lose the blue box! Even more reason to have verification in the status bar.

Thanks again,
Tim Olson

[Nic M.]

Tim,
you can also drag the blue box of the temp dim lines to any reference. Just drag the blue square over the reference you like if it doesn't select it from the first time hit the TAB key to cycle trough the possibility's
On the attach my default setting for wall is faces but I can drag the blue square to the inside face of the core.

[Scott D Davis]

I would agree that the Help is not always the 'best' resource for technical questions. With that in mind, several of the Revit Techinical staff (the ones who write the help files) read these forums regularly. Hopefully with our input, the help files will get better! Let's let them know in a constructive way which areas might need improvement.

[SCShell]

I've come to realize quite a bit of my angst is due to a less that helpful "Help" menu.
Tim Olson
Hi Tim,

Personally, I am much happier making a quick phone call to Revit and speaking to an "expert" about something that is giving me problems. I am not able to find nor understand help files in a lot of cases, but, a quick conversation is worth a ton of written documentation.

In addition, I know of very few programs where you can log on, write a question, and get an answer from some of the greatest users and even from the author or original founding fathers!

Revit Rox!
Steve
Good luck Tim