Design Changes late in the game...

[cgrover]

I've just completed (well sort of) a fast-track/design-build project. So the building is designed and under construction. The foundations are in, the underslab plumbing is going in and we are prepping to pour the slab.

In Revit I used both worksets and phasing for this office building. The building has 54 windows and some storefronts. After discussing in depth with the Aluminum supplier I want to consider some design changes to my windows and storefronts. I do not want to loose my original design but would like to study some other options. Is this a case for using design options or should I try to tackle the changes in another way. One thing which will be important is to keep the width and location of all windows and storefronts where they are. I may change the height and divided-lite patterns. If I change the height I will need to adjust all my trim and siding, which I have modeled. Standing back it appears to be a lot of work so I'm trying to determine the most efficient way before I dive in.

Thanks for any advice you all may have.

grover

[aggockel50321]

I'd do design options.

After setting up the options, be sure to select everything, including walls, windows, trim, etc. that's going to be affected, and use the + button on the design toolbar to bring them into each (all) of your options.

Also set one option of the option set to be "original" and don't do any changes in it. That way if you don't take any of the others, you can always go back to your original design.

You can still use phasing & worksets within the options. You just have to think a little about some of the consequences.

[cgrover]

Andrew,

Thank you for the reply. I haven't tried using design options yet so this could be interesting. I think I'll go through the tutorials and see what else I can find before beginning. Thanks again.

grover

[cgrover]

Ok, I setup one "Option Set" with two subcategories: "Original model" and "Window Change". Then I went into the 3D view and selected the whole model and went to "Add to design Options" and selected both options. When I did this I got over 400 errors. So I'm not sure what to do now.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
grover

[irwin]

Ok, I setup one "Option Set" with two subcategories: "Original model" and "Window Change". Then I went into the 3D view and selected the whole model and went to "Add to design Options" and selected both options. When I did this I got over 400 errors. So I'm not sure what to do now.
If you specify what some of the errors are then it might be possible to give suggestions about how to address them.

On the other hand, if you are planning to have the whole building be different in the two options then wouldn't it be easier just to have two different models? Design Options are intended for when you want to have multiple versions of a subset of the building and keep the rest the same. Only the elements that will be different should be added to the Option Set.

[cgrover]

Irwin,

Thanks for the reply. Acutally what I want to study is the windows and aluminum storefronts. But with these changes it will affect my trim boards, siding, canopies, walls, etc... So you are right that I don't need the whole model, but it seemed quicker to highlight the complete model rather than selecting each individual item. In fact I noticed that some items had to be selected in order, for example walls had to be selected before the windows.

The error I'm getting is this: "An insert in the main model cannot be hosted by an element in a Design Option." (Error 1 or 414) Error 1 expanded reads: (Option Set 1: Option 1): Phase III - Above grade work: Walls: Basic Wall: Exterior - Mtl. Stud w/Siding: id 253965. The second part of Error 1 reads as follows: Phase III - Above grade work: Windows: 0301 Aluminum Window 1: 0301 Aluminum Window 1 - Mark 366: id 371655.

Error 2 - 15 are similar.

Then is says 399 Warnings (may be ignored) and it goes on to list Warning 1 -399.

Any help would be appreciated. Also, I thought about a save as and just creating a second model but the project is being done in Worksets. So I guess I would have to do a Save as of the Central File and then create a second local file connected to the new Central file...sounds confusing.

Thanks for looking into this.

Sincerely,
grover

[adegnan]

Grover,

I ran into a similar situation "late in the game" with my house plan. I wanted to explore an alternate great room layout, so I tried to add the walls, roof, windows, etc into a design option. However, I have sets of wall sweeps that continue around the entire building, both the Great Room and the Main House. I got the same error you did because the objects were continous between the main model and the design option part. I would have had to delete the wall sweeps, or the portion of them that goes into the design option, in order to add the walls to the design option. I ended up just doing a save-as in this case.

I don't know if this helps but I wanted to share the experience.

[cgrover]

Abe,

Thats what I was figuring. Thanks for sharing your experience. Do you know if I will have to create a new central file before trying this?

Thanks,
grover

[adegnan]

Design Options and Worksets are two different things, in case you are confused on that point. I actually don't use worksets myself. So I don't know if you need a new central file, sorry! Help files indicate anything??

[cgrover]

Abe,

I understand there is a difference between worksets and design options. I actually use worksets quite a bit. I'll have to dig into how to accomplish this a little further.

Thanks for looking at this.
grover

[sbrown]

It is very difficult as you have found to add items to a design option after the fact, its much easier to create them in a design option. The work around is to highlight all the objects you want in the design option, then ctrl-x them. Activate the design option and paste align them into the same place.

[irwin]

The error I'm getting is this: "An insert in the main model cannot be hosted by an element in a Design Option." (Error 1 or 414) Error 1 expanded reads: (Option Set 1: Option 1): Phase III - Above grade work: Walls: Basic Wall: Exterior - Mtl. Stud w/Siding: id 253965. The second part of Error 1 reads as follows: Phase III - Above grade work: Windows: 0301 Aluminum Window 1: 0301 Aluminum Window 1 - Mark 366: id 371655.


You can't add a wall to a design option unless you add all of the windows in that wall as well. (It wouldn't make sense to vary the windows without also varying the wall because the hole in the wall would be in the wrong place.) This message indicates that the wall with id 253965 was being added to the option set but the window with id 371655 in that wall was not. This is actually kind of strange because if you select a wall to add to the option set the windows in that wall automatically get added as well. It must be that the wall wasn't directly selected but was getting sucked in to the option set anyway. In any case, the solution is to include window 371655 in the selection when adding to the option set. To find that window, you can use Tools | Element Ids | Select by Id.

[cgrover]

Irwin,

But this is strange since I was selecting the whole model in a 3-D view. All the items of the whole model should have been selected.

Moving forward should I select all the walls and add them to the design option and then piece by piece add the other components?

Scott,

Should one activate design options at the beginning of a project even if you don't think they'll be needed just in case they are? I didn't think they would be used in this situation, but now I've found I need them.

Thanks all for your help.
grover