Revision Clouds

[MikeJarosz]

This post will start with a revolutionary proclamation. Acad isn't always bad!

The issue here is the Revit revision cloud. Acad polylines had a strange line width property that allowed them to start at one width and end with another, creating a tapered line. This was used in later versions of Acad to great effect in revision clouds that had the appearance of woodcut strokes. One of our users (a recovering CADaholic) asked if he could get that effect in Revit. I admit it. I don't know.

Do you????

[dhurtubise]

No you can't. Revision clouds are just a linetype

[TerribleTim]

Let's expand on this a bit. In AutoCAD you could control the length of the arch, basically being able to create RevClouds with smaller or larger archs. Is that possible in Revit somewhere to change the arch length? Currently I get these stupid RevClouds that have huge archs and end up with maybe one arch per side of a rectangle. Make sense?

[dhurtubise]

The tool is pretty straight forward. First you always get 2 arcs per click and theyre size depends on the distance from the previous click :)

[DaveP]

I'll admit that Polylines are one of the few thing I miss in Acad.
But I'd MUCH rather have an ugly Revision Cloud that's smart, knows where it is, and can automatically update my sheet than a pretty, but dumb series of lines.

Tim; If you don't like how big the arcs are, as dhurtubise says, you can click more often while you're drawing them.
After the fact, if an arc is too big, you can use the Split tool to break it into two smaller arcs. That does not split the Revision Cloud itself, jut the Arc segment

[MikeJarosz]

I'd MUCH rather have an ugly Revision Cloud that's smart, knows where it is, and can automatically update my sheet than a pretty, but dumb series of lines.

I agree with you on this and go one further.....

I'd much rather have an BEAUTIFUL Revision Cloud that's smart, knows where it is, and can automatically update my sheet than a pretty, but dumb series of lines

[damon.sidel]

I'd much rather have an BEAUTIFUL Revision Cloud that's smart, knows where it is, and can automatically update my sheet than a pretty, but dumb series of lines[/COLOR]

And even further: all that Mike wants PLUS sketch tools so I don't have to click a bazillion times but could just draw a rectangle, circle, or whatever.

[TerribleTim]

Ok sweet. I think that's what I was missing. I was still in "AutoCAD Mode" where you just click the corners of the "box". I'll have to remember to click more often. Thanks guys!

[david_peterson]

I'll go one further. "Hey factory Guy, the revision cloud tools sucks in revit. The only thing that's worse is the text editor."
But I'm not sure about that last part.
Working on a very large fast track project. Currently at 4600+ rev clouds. If I got 25 cents per click per rev cloud, I think I'd be able to retire.

[dhurtubise]

David if you have 4600+ revision clouds you have a bigger problem then mouse click if you ask me ;)

[Mike L Sealander]

In the "ACAD was not always that bad" department, I'd like to admit that when I started using Revit, I pretty much never used detail lines in plan or section. Now, however, I've started to use detail lines to sketch, and then snap to the detail lines with walls or whatever. The quick and easy detail line sketch is often much faster to create organizational structure in a working view than trying to get system families to behave without them. This comes in really handy when doing measured drawings.

[david_peterson]

David if you have 4600+ revision clouds you have a bigger problem then mouse click if you ask me ;)
It's a 1.1 million sqft pharma production facility. All in one model. Fast tracked to the point where concrete foundations and most of the steel erection was done before they ever got Arch plans. Many Owner driven changes. And as we tend to say, it all pays the same.

[MikeJarosz]

That's just over 25 acres!

I can picture it: slab on grade, CMU exterior, open web joists, a/c units on the roof. Did I leave anything out?

[david_peterson]

you left out lots of stuff. 1500' long "Spine" (it's a glorified hallway) with skylights. Curtain walls, cantilevers, and really big steel. One portion of the buildings average beams are 24x55's with W40 girders. 60,000+cu yd's on concrete and I think we were over 8000 tons of steel. No block exterior, it's precast, metal panel and glass. Pipe hangers, pick points, trolly beams, all kinds of stuff hanging from every piece of steel. And most of it was erected before the MEP and Process packages were issued. So now the fun begins.

[MikeJarosz]

I guess I should give up my attempts at humor. No one ever gets it. I was spoofing the great American warehouse.

Actually, I believe that any building type can be well designed if the architect cares. A smoke belching factory doesn't sound promising until you see what Jacques Ely Kahn could do with one. Or a schoolhouse stuck in neogothic style until E. Saarinen broke the mold at Crow Island.

Actually, my firm specializes in Justice Architecture. The courthouses provide great opportunity for design, but prisons are more of a challenge. Yet, with every prison commission we try our best to make it an outstanding addition to the community, alongside the library, town hall and schoolhouse that are already there and receive far more care and attention.