Exporting divided plan as one to dwg

[anders.hedman]

We have divided our 1/50 scale floor plans in three parts not to get too big sheets.
Still we should export dwg-files with all detailing correct to one single dwg . The alternatives are to manually move all detail line and tag information from the divided parts to a copy of the whole plan or to make a group of them which updates automatically or to export the part files to dwg and then paste them into one file. Are there perhaps any smarter work saving ideas?

[eldad]

It's a pain in the B%$,

I would not group your detail lines, you'll find that this will slow you down a lot. I have to do the same for my current project, the best way i see is to work on the whole plan, put your notes and detail lines and copy--> paste align--> view by name, though, when you change you will need to update your other views and this is where you have room for mistakes... :(
if you find a better way, let us know :)

[janunson]

Use Model lines instead of detial lines for plan details. you may need to put them on a level at +4'-0" (or wherever your cut plane is) so they show up on top of the walls. Then you can just make a new copy of the plan w/out crop regions and they'll all show up. Notes you just have to make groups, or what i do is every time i export.. go to each view, select all, filter to detailcomponents and notes, copy, go to export plan, paste aligned same place.. repeat for each plan segment and paste into master... then export.

[anders.hedman]

Thanks! I think this is one respect in which Revit is inferior to Autocad were working in paperspace kept the model file up to date and intact. Perhaps it could be helpful if the lines and tags had options for in which views they were supposed to be visible but this could of course cause disorder with similar objects with different visibility. Model lines are also said to be less heavy in the file so we will try that.

[eldad]

just thinking... why can't we do it as call plans?? have 4 call plans on one floor plan , you can hide the call plan in view and put on seperate sheet... :)

[anders.hedman]

Seems not a bad idea, at least the detail lines shows up well and changes also , tags are more easy to add to the callout with" tag all not tagged" command and then delete the unnecessary ones.We use diagonal detail-lines in plans to mark where there are ceilings and at which height (with a number) .These lines could of course be model lines but then they intend to disappear when crossing furniture and other families in the room.

[janunson]

...These lines could of course be model lines but then they intend to disappear when crossing furniture and other families in the room.
That is why you place them on a level above your floor plan level, preferably right at the cut plane. then they exist in all views and appear on top of any model elements. Doing plan callouts works as well as multiple copies of the plan with different crop regions, but you still have to duplicate any non-model markup/tags in each view.

[anders.hedman]

Yes, I was (optimistically) wrong with the detail lines copying into callouts, our problem is that model lines at cut plane doesn't work everywhere because we have standard closets and kitchen cupboards in every apartment, hight 2300 above floor. I have to think out something else.

Besides, is there a easy way to change detail lines into model ones, the match- tool wont work for that.

[janunson]

There is no easy way to convert lines (i have seen that on the wish list) the best method i know of is to use the pick tool and pick/duplicate lines, then select all, filter to detail lines and delete.

The raised level thing shoudl work, even if you families have elements above the cut plane, unless your families' solids are set to not cut in section and you have masking solid regions as detail components in the plan view.

[anders.hedman]

The solids in my closet family tells at visibility settings :

"Display in 3D-views and:

v plan RCP
v Front/Back
v Left/Right
When cut in Plan/RCP(if category permits)"

The category obviously do not permit since I am not able to choose the last option !

[eldad]

if i recall correctly casework does not cut...

[David Conant]

Casework will cut. To determine which categories can be cut go to Object Styles. Only those categories that can be cut will have a linewieght box in the Cut column. When cut in Plan/RCP(if category permits): this allows you to add graphics that are displayed only when the family is cut in plan/rcp and hidden if the family is visible but not cut. Typically used for swing lines.

[janunson]

There have been threads in here about grouping markup and placing it on multiple details so that your changes are automatically propagated to all instances of the detail type... you could do similarly here - group all your notes in each callout view, copy the groups to your overall view, then edit groups to add/alter notes and detail lines. That way all views that contain the group of markups will be kept in sync.

[anders.hedman]

The grouping will certainly work ok, unless if it makes the files to heavy. Grouping is a perfect tool, except for its influence on file performance.