Snap settings don't seem to work.

[sbrown]

Lets say I want to lay out a building with everything on a 4' increments and its an orthagonal.

So I edit my snap settings to say only 4' and only 90 but revit still draws at any angle and basically has no snap increment.

[patricks]

The snap settings do not dictate the ONLY length and angular increments that can be drawn, but rather only the increments where the cursor jumps to. You can still draw things in between those increments, but nothing will be exact between the snap increments unless you type in the value.

Also remember that Snap settings are not project specific. If you go to your settings and delete all the other values besides 4' and 90 degrees, you will either have to type them all back in or close and re-open Revit to get them back when you work on another project.

[ws]

If I set the snap increment to 100 mm (i.e. near enough 4") then temporary dimensions for new elements do increase/decrease in steps of 100.

The angle dimension, as you say, seems to ignore the angle snap setting - Shift of course can keep it orthoganol.

Strange.

[sbrown]

Its crazy. I've filled a support request. The whole point of snaps is to draw accurately to a specified spacing and or angle.

[c-hawk]

Yeah, snaps in their current state aren't really snaps per say. They would be better defined as zoom-factor snapping. They do work to a degree, but you have to be at the correct zoom factor in order for them to function like one would expect.

Not sure how to identify the zoom factor to know when the desired snap increment should kick in.

[Joef]

You can set your workplane to visible and adjust the grid on the options bar to the spacing you want. Your cursor will snap the to the workplane grid intersections. Not sure about angles.

[c-hawk]

Not sure how to identify the zoom factor to know when the desired snap increment should kick in.

DOH! I guess I should read the factory-placed notes located just above the snap settings. 2mm, huh ... now, if we can just have the ability to set this value on the user's end we might be on to something. Or the factory could simply turn off all listening dimensions except for when they equal the desired snap setting (or offer an option for something similar).

[comhasse]

Personally i think this part of the UI is great and well thought out. I have used cad packages before that really lock you down on your constraint settings and it's a terrible drafting experience: the mouse cursor moves smoothly over the screen while the end of the line/wall being drawn jumps and skips from snap point to snap point. It feels very much like your mouse keeps hanging.

I think there is a reason why Revit (and other Software) employs a more intelligent and flexible approach and I haven't used a CAD-Program that more successfully prevented hidden inaccuracies than Revit. By the way, Revit uses a somewhat similar approach to Sketchup in that the length snap is relative to a line's/wall's starting point, as opposed to a common coordinate system. The concept is explained fairly well here (http://sketchup.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=36234&query=snap&topic=&type=). I do think snap settings should be project-settings though.

One note about the workplane's grid. Unfortunately you'll have to adjust this for each workplane separately and you can't use the align tool with the workplane gridlines.

An additional way to assure accuracy that i use permanently: draw "freehand" then use the align tool and temporary dimensions liberally. I would bet there is no tool i use more often than "align". I use this even to extend walls and lines (works as long as they're perpendicular to each other) instead of the extend tool (because that sucker doesn't have a keyboard shortcut).

[Calvn_Swing]

There are times when I love Revit's snaps, but there are times when it won't bloody snap to something simple no matter how many times I hit tab. Although I agree that "over constrained" snaps can be a problem in some programs, they can also be very useful in certain situations. Personally, I'd like to be able to set up some snap profiles for different operations (placing walls, conceptual design, dimensioning, etc...) and switch between these using the tab key. That way I can quickly and easily shift between snaps that default to wall centerlines vs. faces, etc... I do think the default snap settings for Revit are by far the best out there (for BIM programs) though I think Sketchup blows it out of the water in terms of intuitive 3D snapping (which is completely lacking in Revit). But, I do wish I could exercise more control over the snaps for certain tasks which require a different methodology than the default "intelligent" snaps are designed to anticipate. In those cases, the "intelligent" snapping is anything but smart...

[comhasse]

Agreed, there is definitely room for improvement and Sketchup, which i haven't used in a while , is probably far ahead of Revit in this regard. My last resort when snaps don't work as expected in Revit has been using the keyboard shortcuts (most of the time SE for Endpoint and SI for Intersection) and usually that has done the trick for me.

[sbrown]

I too love the snaps and this is the first time since release 1.0 I've need to define them rigidly and allways thought I could only to find out I can't. Think Masonry construction, I want to snap to 8" intervals and the building is all 90 degree angles. This is a situation where being able to constrain the snaps would really help.

[Steve_Stafford]

As the earlier suggestion went, I'd turn on the workplane grid and set it to the increment I needed and sketch away after defining the wall location line...

[irwin]

As the earlier suggestion went, I'd turn on the workplane grid and set it to the increment I needed and sketch away after defining the wall location line...
After making the workplane grid visible and setting it to the spacing you want, I'd also zoom out. If you are zoomed out far enough it will always snap to the grid intersections.