Keynotes and Scheduling

[J-G]

How are you guys using the keynotes? My problem is with the way that Revit schedules them. We try to use the UDS standards so sheet keynotes refer to notes only on one sheet. The way Revit is set up it creates a schedule of all keynotes, so the only way that I can break these up is to create a keynote family for each sheet.

Example: for the Floor Plan you would use a family named "Keynote Sheet - Architectural Floor Plan" (or afp). Then for the Foundation plan you would be using a family named "Keynote Sheet - Structural Foundation". Basically I would need a keynote family for every sheet...but that seems repetative :( .

Is there a better solution out there? I want to be albe to schedule (create a note block) for only the keynotes on a specific sheet.

[beegee]

The only way that I know to do this at present is exactly the method you mentioned - a separate family for each sheet.

Noteblocks need upgrading by Revit to be far more flexible than they are currently :(

beegee

[khomburg]

I am having the same problem mentioned above. I found this thread and am wondering if anything has changed to makle this a little easier to do?

[ejburrell67787]

There have been quite a few (and quite detailed) threads on this topic before, I'm sure a search will find them for you!

We use a single keynote family for a project with a type catalogue for the different notes. We then place keynote type instances on the relevant sheets and use an instance parameter for the sheet number (this is not automated). We then schedule the keynotes and filter by the sheet number so we can place the schedule on the relevant sheet and it only shows the keynotes on that sheet.

hope this helps.

Elrond

[khomburg]

I read some other threads and tried a few things out but I have one more thing to figure out.

I created a keynote family that includes the following instance parameters:

Keynote Number
Description
Sheet

I added the keynotes and note blocks to the sheets and used the Sheet parameter to filter the correct keynotes per sheet. It all worked great until I needed to use the same keynote number on the sheet more than once (2 boilers to be removed instead of one).

To make it work I only included the description on the first instance and left the description in the rest of the keynotes of the same number blank. I then filtered all of the keynotes with blank descriptions out of the note block.

It seems this will work as long as I don't want to be able to change the keynote number for all the keynotes from the note block. I would have to change each instance of that keynote number. Would the only way to make this automatic be to have a separate family for each keynote number?

[rhys]

Not sure if I understand you right . But you can place two instances of the keynote on the same sheet. If you do not want the keynote scheduled twice then format the schedule to show only one instance.

[khomburg]

I do have it set up to only show only one instance. My question is though about changing the number of a keynote that has more than one instance. If I change the number in the note block it will only change the number of the one instance. I would have to go back to the view and find and change the rest of the keynotes manually.

[ejburrell67787]

I do have it set up to only show only one instance. My question is though about changing the number of a keynote that has more than one instance. If I change the number in the note block it will only change the number of the one instance. I would have to go back to the view and find and change the rest of the keynotes manually. The keynote number works best as a type parameter rather than instance parameter. After all the number of a keynote should be the same throughout the project, it is only things like the sheet number that are different for each instance.

Description also works best as a type parameter for the same reason.

If you have a variation on a keynote that occurs once I suggest you use simple text on the drawing to add to the keynote or edit the keynote description to include a note about the exception (eg "... remove 1 no boiler, except in room xyz, removed 2 No boilers...").

If you have a variation on a keynote that occurs more than once then I suggest you make another keynote type for it.

We add simple text to drawings and schedules where it seems appropriate - obviously its a pain if the schedule changes a lot and the text ends up in the wrong place, but it is a simple solution for 1-off situations.

I hope its getting clearer - keynotes do take a bit of getting your head around I think! :?

[Wes Macaulay]

You could try setting up separate note blocks and then use filters on certain fields to only get the keynotes you want on any given sheet. Karl's on the right track!

[mcuevas]

There have been quite a few (and quite detailed) threads on this topic before, I'm sure a search will find them for you!

This Thread (http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?t=14321&highlight=skisouth+keynote) is a good example of what you are talking about.

[mchaney]

Our office prefers to have one set of keynotes for each of our sheet types (ie. floor plan notes, site plan notes, roof plan notes etc.) They are shared between sheets of similar type (ie. floor plan notes are the same on all floor plans) however they are unique project to project.

The way we accomplish this is by creating a Keynote Family for each of the sheet types. Each Keynote Family has 2 sets of numbered instances inside of it - one for leaders with arrows - one for leaders with dots. (This is a HUGE NUISANCE and we certainly hope Autodesk will simplify this in 9.0)

Setting this up for each project was tedious and inconsistant - so we have created a master_keynotes.rvt file which contains all Keynote Families and 80 pre numbered instances for each. This allows us to Copy/Paste the Keynote Families (with as many instances as required) into new projects. This was a pain to set up - and in the hopes of sparing others this same tedium - i have attached the .RVT file.

It contains a unique Keynote Family for ::

Demo Site Plan
Demo Floor Plan
Demo Roof Plan
Site Plan
Floor Plan
Roof Plan
Reflected Ceiling
Elevations
Sections
Wall Sections
Interior Elevations
Toilet Room Plans

If you need additional families, just copy the instances to your clipboard and paste into a new blank revit project. You can rename the family to a unique name in the family tree - then copy and paste either back into keynotes_master.rvt or directly into your project.


For those new to keynotes (like me) the way the keynotes_master.rvt file is meant to be used is like this ::

Open both the keynotes_master.rvt and your actual Revit project file you need to set up keynotes in. Bring keynotes_master.rvt to the foreground. Go to the sheet named 'XXX-KEYNOTES'. Drag a crossing window to select as many keynotes of whatever type your project will require. (for example, copy Instances 1-20 of FLOOR PLAN KEYNOTES ((family name: Key_2_FLOOR)) Copy them to your clipboard. Now bring your Revit project file to the foreground. Open one of your floor plan sheets. Paste the keynotes from your clipboard.

The paste will automatically load the Family into your project along with all the instances. See your keynotes appear. Just paste them anywhere for now. You will either move them around later on the sheet, or just delete the whole mess of them and insert individual 'Symbols' from the Drafting Pallet later as needed. Note that there are two different instances of each. one for dots, one for arrows. (Arrow - 12 and Dot -12 for example). They are configured to use closed 15 degree arrows and 1/16" dots.

Now go to the menu bar - select :: View>New>Note Block. The Keynote Family (Key_2_FLOOR) will appear in the family list. Select it and create your Note Block as normal.


Hope this helps - and if anyone has any suggestions on how to improve our approach to keynoting - i would love to hear it.

Cheers -

Mathew Chaney
Designer

Steven Ehrlich Architects
10865 Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232
T 310 838 9700
F 310 838 9737
Direct 310 838 9743 x 47
www.s-ehrlich.com

[Scott D Davis]

Hope this helps - and if anyone has any suggestions on how to improve our approach to keynoting - i would love to hear it. Oh man, you guys already have a "system" set up. Revit 9.0 has a keynoting system built in that may change everything you've done!

[christo4robin]

Scott,

NDA acknowledged, is there anything you can tell us/suggest re: keynoting in general in 9.0, porting keynote information (i.e., type catalogs w/ keynote information ala Ski's tutorial) into 9.0?

[johnf.77896]

I dont know if this is what you are looking for but SkiSouth has a great tutorial that he created and you put in a sheet number so you only schedule the keynotes on that sheet. It is in the tutorial forum. I have only created the tag and txt file so far but it seems to be what I need. The only down side I can see is that you need to create a note block for each sheet.

AUGI Forums > AEC > Revit > Revit General Support > Revit - Tutorials
Using Keynotes with Condoc Example

[Wes Macaulay]

Scott,

NDA acknowledged, is there anything you can tell us/suggest re: keynoting in general in 9.0, porting keynote information (i.e., type catalogs w/ keynote information ala Ski's tutorial) into 9.0?In R9 keynotes are based on a text file that has generic keynotes for all CSI categories. Almost everyone will either edit this file, or use type catalogs though I haven't tried editing the type catalog to enter in the keynote data.

The family looks for the main keynote text file, but you have to dig through the CSI categories for yourself -- it doesn't automatically match the family to its keynote. Which is tragic.

Alternatively your family and/or type catalog could contain the value of the keynote data. But like I said, I haven't tried the type catalog method yet.