Scaling

[leon.r]

How do you scale in revit? i'm setting up a new title sheet and need to scale the text down otherwise i have to re type all the text that i did for the A0 page to fit in the A3 title sheet. is there anyway around this.

[beegee]

You make different size text in Revit by editing and duplicating the properties of existing text.

So if you have 5mm Arial, you duplicate that and change the size to say 3mm or 10mm and if you wish the font to something else, rename it and use that.

When you use that text in a view, place that view on a sheet at 1:100 , it will be 3 mm high. If you place that text in another view and place that view on a sheet at 1:500, the text will still be 3 mm high. You do not need to make different size text for that. Revit does the scaling for you.

I suggest you run through a tutorial on making a sheet before going further. Revits concepts are a bit different to "traditional" CAD.

[DaveP]

Scaling is one thing I miss from that other product that starts with an A...

I'm actually surprised at how often I can get along without it, but when you need to make something, say, twice as big, or half the size, it's a pain to have to redraw the whole thing.

I know what you're going to say, but not everything can (or should) be made parametrically.

[PeterJ]

When you need to make something, say, twice as big, or half the size, it's a pain to have to redraw the whole thing.

I don't want to sound too much like I have seen the light and enjoyed some kind of Damascene conversion, but what do you need to make twice as big or half the size that can't be handled parametrically. I ask this becasue I used to feel the need for a scale command from time to time but don't now.

[SkiSouth]

II used to feel the need for a scale command from time to time but don't now.


The only recent occurrence I've come across is when importing 3d Autocad files (such as cars) that have been improperly setup as a family. I know to go and edit, but a simple scale this times 2.54 (those metric units again) would help. That being said, it is not a big a deal as I used to think, but it can help productivity when time is a factor..

[DaveP]

Two examples I've had recently:
1.) I want my Room Tags on a 1/16" plan smaller than on the 1/8" plan. The 1/8" Tag wipes out an entire Toilet room at 1/16".
2.) I'm putzing with Key Plans. The best way I've found so far is to Export a plan to (shudder) AutoCAD, scale it down so it fits in the Title Block and then Import it onto a Sheet. That's the only way I've found that I can copy it to other sheets. Can't put a Drafting View on more that one sheet.

[Dimitri Harvalias]

Dave,
Duplicate the room tag family and create a smaller version for use on smaller scale plans. Since room tags are view specific when you duplicate the view at the smaller scale you can re-insert the room tags and they will display the same information but at an appropriate size. To save time you can select all the tags in one view and paste aligned to the new view than change the tags in the new view.
There have been several threads about key plans. You can also save it as a jpeg and insert it on multiple sheets.

[gregcashen]

I don't want to sound too much like I have seen the light and enjoyed some kind of Damascene conversion, but what do you need to make twice as big or half the size that can't be handled parametrically. I ask this becasue I used to feel the need for a scale command from time to time but don't now.

Let me get this straight...say I draw a shape, a detail component that has 12 different dimensional characteristics, we'll take a sheet-pile segment for instance...now I want to be able to have different sizes available, so normally I would use a parametric family that drove the geometry based on the relationship of the ref planes and dimensions, etc. But what if I know that for every sheetpile size or type, the whole thing scales uniformly? I have to create a family that has 12 parameters...in this case, there would be enough complexity to the overall flexing of the shape that i bet most of the people on this forum would spend over an hour trying to get it to work right, and many would not be able to get it to work at all!
Instead, what if there was a parameter called "Scale Factor" that scaled the whole shape by a certain factor? Then, if I needed a different size, I could just give it a different overall scale factor? 1 parameter versus 12...you decide. For my money, I have run across this enough times that I think it is well past time we got a scale command, even if it only worked on detail components.

[J. Grouchy]

I don't necessarily buy the whole "draw-everything-parametrically-don't-need-scale-command" argument. Sometimes it's just a matter of getting it done quickly. Sometimes it isn't detail objects/families that need scaling but plans or elements in elevation, filled regions, etc. Instead of moving each individual piece or line, I could scale it to assure it is the same object, just smaller (or larger) in size.
Plus...if I create a complex detail I KNOW I will never use again, why should I go to the trouble of assigning parameters to everything?

[Steve_Stafford]

Instead, what if there was a parameter called "Scale Factor" that scaled the whole shape by a certain factor?How closely does this family match your description?

(Don't beat me up on the sheet pile actual size and shape...just an experiment to see how closely the behaviour matches your ideal)

[sfaust]

what if there was a parameter called "Scale Factor" that scaled the whole shape by a certain factor? Then, if I needed a different size, I could just give it a different overall scale factor? 1 parameter versus 12...you decide. For my money, I have run across this enough times that I think it is well past time we got a scale command, even if it only worked on detail components.
I agree that this should be available. IMHO, though, it should be a parameter that you have to put into a family manually, not one that is there automatically. For most families it would just introduce an extra possibility for error. Just my .02

[gregcashen]

Not very! ;) I actually needed it for a detail, so it included the connection points, etc. It was much more complex than what you are showing in your detail...let's take this down a step though. Everyone is trying to fight this whole scale concept on the basis that the parametrics of Revit make them unnecessary. I would say that anytime the setup required to make the family fully parametric exceeds the setup required to simply scale the thing, we are wasting time.

Let's look at a simple octagon shape...it takes a lot more time to set up a parametric octagon family than it would to simply be able to scale the octagon.

[J. Grouchy]

Let's look at a simple octagon shape...it takes a lot more time to set up a parametric octagon family than it would to simply be able to scale the octagon.

Precisely the type of thing I was thinking of as an example. A polygon with an odd number of sides or with sides of unequal length would take even longer to set up.

[Scott Hopkins]

Precisely the type of thing I was thinking of as an example. A polygon with an odd number of sides or with sides of unequal length would take even longer to set up.
Given the possibility of a new polygon tool in Revit 7.0 this may not be a problem in the future.

[David Conant]

Try this on for size (or resize). Resize allows graphical and numeric scaling of multiple elements in a single plane. It supports lines, walls (length only), AutoCAD imports, images, ref planes and position of dimensions

[J. Grouchy]

Well now...isn't that nice....

:D

[Steve_Stafford]

Apparently they've been listening eh?

[J. Grouchy]

Apparently they've been listening eh?

Also shows that the "new features" list does not include certain items. Now I'm excited again at the prospect of discovering surprises and bonus-features not previously mentioned...

[beegee]

You didn't really think they would tell us everything before the release did you ? ;-)

[tatlin]

Apparently they've been listening eh?
Steve,

We just kinda whipped that one up in the last few days for you. ;-)

[tatlin]

You didn't really think they would tell us everything before the release did you ? ;-)
There are way too many to list... 8) and what fun would that be if we did it all at once? Wouldn't be very sporting, now would it?

[gregcashen]

A W E S O M E !