Creating multiple levels with same name

[sdoran]

Is it possible to have multiple levels with the same name by using scope boxes? I have a very complex site with many buildings all at different elevations. I tried breaking up the files by building, but there are just too many links and my computer was crashing. So I have the site broken into block files that are linked into a master site plan. However, in each block, there are 6-8 buildings all with "Level 1" at different elevations.

I figured out how to assign levels to scope boxes, but they are still requiring unique names. I want to be able to schedule level dependent data and therefore want them all to have the name "Level 1", etc. Is this possible?

Thanks!

[mruehr]

you can switch of levels selective in links and schedule data of links filtered through project data or link data.
But why so many links are they all having their own Documentation set?

[david.fannon]

Levels need unique names within in single revit project. You could consider using the elevation as a prefix: "134.9 Level One" or the builidng designation "BLD 3 - Level 1." if you are determined to continue in this way.

Not knowing the details of your project I cannot say for sure, but I would strongly encourage documenting each individual building it it's own project file. Then create a single "master file" containing the site geometry and link all the buildings into it. We are doing seval large campus projects this way with good results.

Some topics you should look into:
Use worksets so each linked building is in it's own workset. Then you can selectively open worksets to improve processor time.
Use shared coordinates to identify locations. This is particularly valuable if some of your buildings are reallly the same building, because you can position the same link in several locations on site.

[patricks]

David, when you do campuses with multiple buildings in a single site, do you have separate documentation for the site and then for each building? If not, and it's all in one document set, how do you set up the sheets and in what file?

[david.fannon]

David, when you do campuses with multiple buildings in a single site, do you have separate documentation for the site and then for each building? If not, and it's all in one document set, how do you set up the sheets and in what file?

Ah, you've put your finger on the thorny issue. Typically yes, we end up with at least some separation of documentation (inasmuch as civil and landscape are not typically producing their documentation in Revit). Architecturally, it depends. On projects where each building is it's own set, we just build a set for each building it it's own Revit project file and produces a complete set.

On projects where we are producing a single package documenting all the buildings, we've done it two ways. In one scheme you ocument each building in its local file, and then we produce the title sheets, drawing list and other "common" elements in the "master" file. This works fairly well, except that you cannot reference views accross links, so you end up with a lot of dummy sheets (frequent wishlist item.) We also do a lot of transfer project standards to keep things consistant, and a fair amount of "schedule linked files" to do things like quantity take off and drawing lists in the master file.

The other alternative, documenting everything in the host file, is nice because you can reference common things (typical wall sections, detail sheets, etc). Generally we do this by creating scope boxes around each building to crop and rotate the floor plans, and create a couple parameters on each view to use in sorting the browser in a way that makes sense. However the obvious problem here is model performance, since you all have to be in this monster file.

Selective opening of worksets is a good idea in either situation (one workset per building) but particularly when all documentation comes out of one file. Another wishlist item tis a way to have a common set of families and settings loaded in multiple files and automatically updating. Transfer project standards helps, but I'd really like to be able to have everything in the "Project Settings" and "Families" worksets stay consistant.

So how do we choose? Mostly by size, number of buildings and complexity. That's pretty subjective but I hope it helps.