Live Sections and Workflow - Best Practice?

[mzabritski]

What is the best practice for working with wall sections and callouts? If we create wall sections and do a bit of work in them (minor linework, repeating details for bricks, misc detail components for lintels, etc..) and the section moves even slightly during the course of design, then everything done is lost or mis-aligned. This area seems a bit hazy. Even a slight change in wall makeup or position could cause a lot of damage to a wall section with linework and detailing over it.

I see 2 options.
1. Plan your sections and dont move them at all during the project, or
2. Don't do any additional linework or detailing on them until later in the project.

How does everyone else handle trying to detail up live sections in a project?

[Calvn_Swing]

Well,

A couple of ways. We don't add "too" much to the wall sections or building sections for instance. We also avoid constraining detail items to modeled geometry, because often, if the geometry goes, so does the detail. So, we have a few ways of working around this.

1. Heavy use of reference planes. We like locking detail items (regions, line work, detail components) to reference planes (which we never delete!) and then aligning those to modeled geometry. For whatever reason, Revit won't delete a reference plane that is locked to an object, but it may delete a detail component or line that is locked to an object. So, if we delete a wall, the reference plane remains and so does all the geometry associated with it. Then, we can move the reference plane to the correct place once, and all the stuff locked to it moves as well. If we just move the wall, the reference plane usually moves with it, as do the details. Works fabulously.

2. Detail Groups. When we have a typical section, we either group the detail components and lines/regions together to create a detail group. If it is common enough in multiple projects, we may create a single detail family that has multiple detail components in it. This means we have one object to move, not 50, when a wall or other element shifts around.

3. Callouts. Since the process of making and keeping callouts coordinated is so simple in Revit, we usually don't detail the overall sections very heavily. So, we do most of our detailing in Callouts instead. We use the same principles in callouts as in sections in terms of what and how to detail.

4. Reference drafting views. We still make heavy use of drafted views for typical details. Callouts, Sections, and other view types can all reference drafting views. Whether it is a typical tilt-wall wall section, or a detail of the foundation condition along the grade beam, we use typical drafted sections anytime we want a repeating element more than a few times. The kind of representations we have at the wall section detail level are easy to handle using the first two methods. Once you get to the up-close-and-personal level of a 3" to a 1' detail section, we don't bother with the model in the background of the detail. We'd love to, but since we can't embed these things into walls and other system families easily, it just isn't worth the trouble for now...

[Chirag Mistry]

Well I think live sections are a great way of keeping your documents coordinated. Some people feel that one should turn of all the model elements and use the view to draft 2D. I like to keep the main elements say walls and floor as model and draw on top of it, this way if things move in the model it shows in the detail and hence coordinated.

I have been aligning repeating details, detail components even locking them at some instance to the floors or walls, this way they move with the model.

[twiceroadsfool]

We do several things to try and aide ourselves in this process:

If we have a wall sweep that is a typical cornice, and it will require the physical sweep AND some detail component / linework, we will detail it in a typical callout from the wall section. This way, we dont have to copy around the details in to all of the wall sections.

I also work at trying to put as much in as possible, in a fashion that wont make it a liability (linework). If there is a metal coping on the wall, i will add it in to the wall type. If there is a foundation and im not doing the structural work, instead of linework and filled region ill make it a detail component, so i only have to constrain one item.

Repeating details / linework, detail components, ill lock/align to the modeled elements, in case of changes as you mentioned.

I also try to make sure people make good use of Edit Cut Profile, and of unlocking the top constraints of regions in the walls, instead of using Filled Regions for everything. It makes life easier downstream, for sure.


I look at it like this: I want as little as possible to just be "line elements." If its not modeled, can i make it a detail component? Or a detail group? And i constrain it based on whatever relationship it holds in the actual building. Detail components of Stl go to column lines, etc...

[mzabritski]

Thanks for the tips. I didn't even know about the edit cut profile command. That solves many of the problems that I was trying to do with linework.

Since this is our first project that we are attempting to do completely in Revit, I've just taken the attitude to draw what we need. If it changes or we need to revise the way we are doing something, at least we're no worse off than we would be if it had been done in AutoCad and we'll be that much better on the next go around.