New on Revit with some thoughts

[johk]

Hi guys,

I have just finished the tutorials that came with Revit and started to re-do a smaller project we did at work. I reckon I need some practice before I go "live". Before I start I have some questions that crossed my mind while I did the tutorials and was hoping to get some clarification on them.

Steel Detailing - are you taking a section/detail where you want and then add the extra line work required i.e. plates,bolts, welds etc in similar fashion to the tutorial. Is this the best practice/most efficient way.

Reinforcement - Do you apply reo to all the walls etc or only where you take sections. Do you generally do all the slab reo in revit as well.

Precast Panel elevations - How would be the best way be to elevate/detail precast panel elevations? I found a intresting thread on this forum how to creat the precast panels but how do you do it with the detail tags?

PT - Would you draw the tendons and ducts in Revit or export the plan to autocad - xref it in as a background and the draw the tendons there. Then import it with a link to revit (only the tendons with tags etc) to a plan in Revit?

If the Arch already has drawn the slabs etc in Revit do you use his work and modify it. I.e change the columns to the "proper size", change levels on the slabs to get the proper falls etc?

Also, if the office is using both Autocad and revit do you still import all your standard details (steel and concrete) in to revit or do you only import the details that you would need for the current project as you need them.

I have been searching the web for standard Australian steel section families that can be used in Revit but could not find any. Does anyone now if there are any out there or do you create them from scratch, which will be a very tedious job.

Thank you

Jonas

[johk]

I forgot to add...
Revit is fun - you allmost get new "spark".

[Jshaver]

Congradulations on starting your journey,

We are not using live sections for any detailing and I would advise against it. Even utilizing constraints proves to be more of a hassle. Too often section marks need moved in plan or members move around throughout the desine. This will throw off any of your detail elements association with the model elements. Generally I use the live section as an underlay to create the detail entirely with 2d components. Then turnoff the underlay. Now the section can shift around on plan without destroying the detail.

Building sections and elevations still remain live.

I personally do not use the reinforcement tools in Revit as I do not find them entirely user friendly or visibily appealing. When I need to show reinf in plan, elevation, or detail I have been usingdetail components.

In regards to PT I have done it both in Autocad and linked in and entirely in Revit. I prefer the latter. I think its best if the project is entirely in Revit and does not rely on Autocad for anything. You can set up custom detail component families to use as tendons and a symbol family to create alignable text. Avoid splines always use a series of arcs and straight lines.

If the arch is already showing slabs I would recommend linking in their model and using the copy/monitor tool. It is up to the project team if they want to utilize the "monitor" function. Just be sure you are copying their elements into the correct system family in your project.

In regards to typical details (which exist in autocad format currently) we are trending towards linking them all in to seperate detail views. This enables the use of live ref sections. Be aware there is a lot of cleanup on the autocad side to get things to import accurately. Keeping them in autocad is an option but makes for difficult printing and can be confusing for new users to the project as to where things are stored. Ideally all the details should be converted into 100% Revit details but this task proves to be very daunting. I would like to see more accurate representation of cad files when they are linked in initially.

[Derek_SE]

Jonas,

Congrats on making the leap to Revit Structure!

As far as standard steel shapes goes, Autodesk does have a UK Imperial Library. I not sure if this would help you out or not?

http://revit.autodesk.com/library/html/index.html

It's under the Revit Architecture 2008 Library Link, I wish Autodesk would create a separate Revit Structure 2008 Library...

[johk]

Jshaver,
Thanks for your input re. the steel detailing. Yeah you are right that the section marks might be moved around a bit :) But you are still drawing the details in Revit?

With our standard details we actually put a "copy" of them on our drawings and are not having a "live" link to it and I envisage that it would be the same for us when we do details in revit. Would you import all standard details into revit and define a detail view for each standard detail?


Derek Gilbert
Thanks. There are actually a few sections etc that are the same.

Thanks

Jonas

[radu.grosu]

I see the most of you are content with using detail items for reinforcement or steel detailing. What happend to the BIM? How do you count reinforcement bars/ steel plates and bolts?

[amerleb]

I do the same as JShaver does. As far as BIM (Counting Bolts, Plates, Reinforcing,...)
I leave them to the contractor , anway they do not build 100% as we design, and since we do not gerenarte "As Built Drawings" so it is not that big of a deal.
if we have to do everything the Revit way, I assure you we will be over the project's budget.
Untill the project managers include more hours for Detailing, I will keep doing what I am doing ( Not using Live Sections).
Regarding the Slab Edges, Columns Grid Lines, I take control of that ,since they are structural items, and let the architects copy, or copy monitor those.