View Alignment Improvements

[Steve_Stafford]

I need an align tool that works on views!!! Let me pick the column line and align them...something PLEASE!!

Rant mode on:

Take a floor plan (demo, new and RCP)...all on the same sheet, you'd think I could put one right above one another and line up the column lines. No...doesn't do it. Want's to line up the view titles and what appears to be the center of the view but the "obvious" column grids that are the "same" no snappeee!!! So I have to resort to "games" to get these things to line up. There is some alignment working on side by side but I always seem to need the opposite. A long floor plan that fits better across the page and stacking them up the page.

This is so very annoying (to me) because what's the first complaint I get when the big boss sees the drawings...why don't these line up?? I'm hypersensitive to this stuff and it goes beyond to all the annotation objects. The first words out of the mouths of flat earth folks is, "We don't have that problem..." This is fundamental sheet layout stuff, should be a slam dunk!

Rant mode off:

[beegee]

I need an align tool that works on views!!! Let me pick the column line and align them...something PLEASE!!



Steve, I totally agree. When I was a young architecture student ( was that only last year ? ) I was told that architecture was all about making things line up. That's as maybe, but it certainly applies to sheet layouts and I don't think that's being too anal.

There was some thread about this in the other NG a while back. I think " Head Office" is aware of the problem, but the more of us who ask for a fix the better.

beegee

[beegee]

I found the following on a Google search :-
"
Allen,

Viewports will try to snap to each other in several different ways. The
most common snap is to align the view titles along the same horizontal line.
Two elevations should also snap to each other so that they are correctly
aligned (vertically) in model space. Even if they are cropped. The two
viewports must be the same scale, though.

If they both your elevations are the same scale, try moving them around to
find all the possible places they will snap. If none of those places
correctly line up your floors, you might want to send your file to your CSA
(or to me directly if you prefer.)

Michael Dewberry Revit Technology "

Not really a great help, but interesting.

beegee

[aggockel50321]

Steve,

They will align, but it's hard to see, and if the view titles are close, thy'll try to dominate as the snap & you won't see the alignment.

What I'll do to overcome the problem is place the view on a sheet, drag the view title over so it's not close to the view I'm aligning to. Then drag the view slowly left to right or up & down. When they align, you'll see a faint & short green dotted line pop up in the middle of the view your dragging. Once set, reposition the view title.

This also works for aligning views sheet to sheet. Try it, you'll like it.

[Steve_Stafford]

I've used Revit on a half dozen PC's or more perhaps. I have never been able to "see" that holy grail green line show up for anything other than viewport centroid and view title.

I've done what you describe many times. The only way a view lines up correctly for me is side by side. Either I've got really ****** display components or I'm color blind and can't see the green line when it appears. I do see the two different instances I mentioned before.

Even if it boils down to me being a wanker, it still doesn't happen as automatically and easily as it ought.

Time passes.......

Okay, I AM doing something that affects this behavior but I couldn't tell you what yet. I just opened a blank project, added walls, grids etc. Then I popped the floor plan and RCP on a sheet. They align like I expect them too. But in my "real" projects I have never seen it do this...so something is rotten in Bumblyville. I tried importing a dwg like the other projects have had...no difference. Tried rotating the viewports like in one project, my current whine...no change. What's "worse", the viewports stayed put when I rotated them, they always whip of the view when I've done it before...?

Guess I'll talk with support and see if they want a "looksee" at a project or two. Perhaps it's related to the upgrade process, each project started out life in earlier versions, he says looking for someone else to blame... :oops:

[Dean Camlin]

It's not just you, Steve. Most of the time my adjacent elevation or plan views will align on the sheet, but sometimes I just can't get them to do that. It may be related to the view titles being a stronger element, as Andrew says. When that happens, I just use a detail line drawn on the sheet from one view to the other, then zoom in close & approximate the alignment, and delete the detail line.

BTW, your avatar looks like you're about to be swallowed by a big Revit octopus. It's nice you can still smile when that's about to happen.

[Steve_Stafford]

I try not to look behind me...but he's a bit "fishy" smelling. I have to thank Scott Davis for the Zoog "look" avatar. He was only three weeks late and 1K overbudget... :lol: (j/k!)

The alignment thing is just frustrating...so "ugly" in a very elegant application. There is some "catalyst" that is causing this failure to correctly align, other than my presence at the keys I hope...

It will take some more time but hopefully I can track it down. I'm going to start something with a stock Revit template and see where/when it stops behaving.

[Steve_Stafford]

Revit will align viewports as long as they are the "same". Once you change the size (cropped boundary) of the view things get fouled. They are ON IT...

My paraphrasing of what I was told.

[JohnCAVogt]

This also works for aligning views sheet to sheet.
Umm, I don't understand the details of aligning sheet to sheet - what will it align to, the same view center? (Not that I seem to be able to get it to do that either...) And from which sheet? The only time I see the short green dashed lines is when the move is to exactly the same point, ie it doesn't actually move.

[cadkiller]

I can't believe this was requested almost 3 years ago and you still can't use the align tool to line up objects within different views. You still can't even snap to objects within a view when using the move tool.

Can we have a poll for this wish and bring it back to life?

[Fred Blome]

Another example: we are trying to compose sheets of 3/4" scale sections. The sections are reduced in height by dividing the section using the crop border's cut feature. But, we would like to align the various parts of the sections horizontally across the section so that levels align. There is no way except by eye & nudging. And it is more difficult since you must activate the various sections views to massage each section part.

[cadkiller]

Another example: we are trying to compose sheets of 3/4" scale sections. The sections are reduced in height by dividing the section using the crop border's cut feature. But, we would like to align the various parts of the sections horizontally across the section so that levels align. There is no way except by eye & nudging. And it is more difficult since you must activate the various sections views to massage each section part.
This can be a royal pain!

Someone mentioned about using the workplane grid in the sheet drawing to use as an aid in lining things up; but you still have to fudge it.