Revit: Tips, Tricks, and Troubleshooting

This Week's Tip

• Using working schedules

Introduction

• Welcome
• Using the exercise files

July 2024

• Customizing default previews in families
• New in 2025: Align Text, Create Similar, Wrapping
• Ceiling soffit revisited

June 2024

• Adding a new Revit user on Autodesk Construction Cloud
• New in 2025: Walls as finishes using Auto Join
• Setting up sheet collections
• Using display filters with sheet collections

May 2024

• Working with placeholder sheets
• Understanding work plane for ceiling element creation
• Build a brick jack arch
• New in 2025: Small arrays in families

April 2024

• Controlling rotation in a family: Part one
• Controlling rotation in a family: Part two
• Controlling rotation in a family: Part three

March 2024

• Curtain panels from Basic Walls
• Make a list of schedules
• Converting a file to metric
• Using combined fields in schedules

February 2024

• Scope Boxes: View visible and other properties
• Excluding certain doors from a schedule
• Highlight a row in a schedule
• When to use in-place families

January 2024

• RPC families
• Export a legend
• Naming of exported CAD files
• Cleanup duplicate types after pasting a railing

December 2023

• Create a custom awning family, part 1
• Create a custom awning family, part 2
• Adjusting plan display of windows

November 2023

• Tagging and scheduling curtain walls
• Using a point cloud in Revit LT
• Slanted walls don't miter in section
• Curtain wall with an irregular edge

October 2023

• Understanding room tag behavior
• Create a title block family with detail grid
• Filtering plumbing fixture schedules, part 1
• Filtering plumbing fixture schedules, part 2
• Filtering plumbing fixture schedules, part 3

September 2023

• Creating a lighting group
• Displaying skylights above in plan
• Tagging groups
• Vertically compound walls

August 2023

• New in 2024: Dark mode
• New features in 2024
• New in 2024: Pattern and texture alignment
• Creating a flexible rotating box family
• Creating a divided ellipse

July 2023

• Light fixture with adaptive mounting plate
• Refining a light fixture with adaptive mounting plate
• Reporting host information in a schedule with Dynamo
• New in 2024: Snowdon Towers; A new sample project

June 2023

• Changing default elevator families to vertical circulation
• Changing height behavior of default elevator families
• Changing height behavior of default elevator families, part 2
• Ceiling-based light fixture issues

May 2023

• Shafts and phasing
• Creating and using saved selections
• Using corner mullions on sloped glazing
• Using curtain wall grids
• Using custom profiles for mullions on sloped glazing

April 2023

• Make a room span multiple floors
• Follow-up to parking with railings
• Calculating averages in schedules update
• Basic sketching tips

December 2022

• Understanding cutable families
• Revisiting the Options Bar
• Visibility/graphics of electrical symbols in plan views

November 2022

• Railings as road striping
• Customizing the per-view display of parts
• Access earlier saved versions in Autodesk Construction Cloud projects
• Cloud-based shared parameters service
• Dynamo to add room numbers

October 2022

• Level heads displaying more than one elevation
• Using different fill patterns for wall layers in section and plan
• Custom loft "stair" with custom-shaped treads: Railing
• Custom loft "stair" with custom-shaped treads: Family

September 2022

• Calculating averages in schedules, part 1
• Calculating averages in schedules, part 2
• Attaching top and base for columns
• Adding detail elements to sweeps
• Colorizing ceiling elements in a view

Materials enhancements

• New in Revit 2023
View filter enhancements
• New in Revit 2023
Mesh improvements
• New in Revit 2023
Interactive solar studies
• New in Revit 2023
Fix chaotic slab pattern direction
• New in Revit 2023
July 2022
• Using vertical opening elements to eliminate undesired folding lines
Group properties and tagging
• New in Revit 2023
June 2022
• Group a room area schedule by function
• Copying group data to rooms and calculating percentages
• Controlling the sheets that appear on a sheet list
• Controlling the output order to print or PDF
May 2022
• Modifying the height property displayed in level heads
• Assigning materials to CAD imports
• Using Copy and Paste to modify crop regions
• Managing view templates
• Curtain wall mullion quantities
April 2022
• Using and deleting a guide grid
• An introduction to the Revit.ini file
• Using Edit Path to customize a railing
• Wall Closure for doors and windows
March 2022
• Using reporting parameters to query design data
• Reporting design data in project views
• Colored labels and symbols in tags
• The relationship between the IsReference setting and dimensions
• Slanted and tapered walls
February 2022
• Controlling the display of callout views
• Error mitigation
• Model layout cleanup techniques
• Family creation inspired by TV
January 2022
• New features in Revit 2022.1
• Using the sun path tool
• Understanding the location of leaders in tags
• Understanding architectural column join behavior
December 2021
• Positioning texture maps within custom materials
• Troubleshooting rooms or spaces that disappear in the model
• Add circles around the number values in a note schedule
November 2021
• Using the Soffit tool
• Creating Soffits with the Fascia tool
• Make a model family scalable by leveraging the planting category
• Using a cutout map in a custom material
• Create a custom render appearance path in Revit options
October 2021
• Creating roof crickets with shape editing tools
• Working with user keynotes
• Perspective views from views other than floor plans
• Using the Steering Wheel to manipulate camera views
September 2021
• Create a north arrow symbol with a rotation parameter, part 2
• Create a north arrow symbol with a rotation parameter, part 3
• Create a custom install (in Autodesk account)
• New in 2022: Modify tools remember options
August 2021
• Make a lollipop tree family, part 1
• Make a lollipop tree family, part 2
• Randomize family parameter values with Dynamo
• Section heads with built-in masking region
• Create a north arrow symbol with a rotation parameter, part 1
July 2021
• New in Revit 2022: Display filters now support phasing
• Removing all family types from a saved RFA ramily file
• New in 2022: Multicategory tags and groups
June 2021
• Use Dynamo to write view scale to bar scale symbols
• Adjust roof sketch line plate heights
• Unrolling a wall in elevation
• Route analysis
• Scope box properties and copying
May 2021
• New in Revit 2022: Tagging multiple elements—curtain wall mullions and more
• New in Revit 2022: Understanding tapered wall type and instance properties
• New in Revit 2022: Filter schedules by family and type and other enhancements
• New in Revit 2022: Preserve callouts when deleting parent views
April 2021
• Understanding Revit line weight settings
• New in Revit 2022: Using shared parameters in key schedules
• New in Revit 2022: Resizable dialog boxes
March 2021
• Revisiting the Attach Top/Base command
• Controlling void cut behavior in the Family Editor
• Tips for working with topography
• Creating an export setup for exporting to CAD
• Understanding CAD import settings
February 2021
• Make a material and fill pattern follow a curve
• Leverage the out-of-the-box window, trim and muntin pattern libraries
• Reset your shared coordinates
• Discover the built-in Interference Check tool
January 2021
• Troubleshooting troublesome nested families and parameters
• Configuring linear dimension types
• Configuring nonlinear dimension types
• Batch process text type modifications
December 2020
• How to map CAD layers to Revit line weights
• Create a wall takeoff
• Create a signage data sheet
• Publish a shared view
November 2020
• Schedule enhancements
• Disable display filters in visibility and graphics
• Selecting multiple walls with Entire Walls dimensioning
• Customizing artificial lighting
• Using a schedule as a legend
October 2020
• Enhanced realistic visual style
• Using formulas and trigonometry to edit slanted walls
• Using global parameters to control slanted wall parameters
September 2020
• Exposing some legacy behavior lingering in Revit
• Design option alternative using global parameters
• Understanding symbolic lines and masking regions in families
• Setting up shared coordinates on BIM 360
• Using pin position with pick new host
August 2020
• Calculating occupancy code values with Dynamo
• Troubleshooting discrepancies in your Dynamo graph
• Convert In-Place Families to component loadable families
• Customize the default visibility of new 3D views
July 2020
• Using Dynamo to place wall hosted elements like windows
• Add randomization to your Dynamo window placement
• Rediscover the Activate Dimensions feature
June 2020
• Installing and using packages in Dynamo
• Using Dynamo to create many family types
• Warning for insert conflicts with wall
• Revisiting Dynamo and Excel line-style mapping
• Create a manual color fill legend for categories other than rooms
May 2020
• Face-based and work-plane-based family placement orientation options
• An inventory of opening elements
• Using a lookup table to report values from a predefined CSV list
• Using scope boxes to set the extents of views
April 2020
• Using filters in visibility graphics to indicate wall fire ratings
• Understanding architectural columns and pilasters
• Creating a custom angled pilaster family
• Hiding the edges of an imported 3D mesh in a Revit family
March 2020
• Customizing stair runs and landings
• Quickly create cutaway 3D views with the Selection Box tool
• Create a custom parameter in a view reference tag
• Wrapping titles in schedule headers
• Using Dynamo to indicate wall fire ratings
February 2020
• Partially applying view templates
• Modifying the sketch of automatically created railings
• Controlling the wrapping of text in long view titles
• Creating a stair with custom treads and risers
January 2020
• Understanding the differences between detail and floor plan callouts
• Orientation issues with face-based content and basic ceilings
• When to use basic ceilings
• Using nested families to show consultant firms on your title block
December 2019
• New in 2020.1: Path of travel improvements
• New in 2020.1: Visualize coordinate points for links
• Using dictionaries in Dynamo
November 2019
• REWIND: Calculate minimum and maximum values on a schedule
• REWIND: Drag a view to move it from one sheet to another
• New in 2020.1: UI improvements
• New in 2020.1: Attach top and base improvements
October 2019
• Leveraging existing model groups in arrays
• Why Revit renames that family to avoid inconsistencies
• Turn off the double-click to rename feature
• Understanding and customizing 3D poche cut
• Using parts to demolish part of a wall
September 2019
• Lock dimensions in the Family Editor
• Using the Grading tool to modify a toposurface
• Revit from your vacation photos
• Understanding and hacking the display properties of grids and datum elements
August 2019
• Incorporating generic annotation elements into face-based families
• Embedded curtain walls not cleaning up properly at corners
• Split walls vertically
• Copy legend views to multiple sheets
July 2019
• Using eTransmit to upgrade files
• Preventing errors when stretching unlocked wall layers
• Adjusting inserts that do not adjust to wall thickness correctly
• Make a tiled roof with sloped glazing
June 2019
• Using Transfer Project Standards to copy settings from one project to another
• Using model review to audit projects for compliance with standards
• REWIND: How to build a roof dormer
May 2019
• New in Revit 2020: Using path of travel
• Troubleshooting Scope Box setting in view properties
• Controlling the length of view titles consistently
• Resolving an error when trying to move viewports
April 2019
• Using Excel and Dynamo to batch process line styles
• REWIND: Layering viewports on a sheet
• New in BIM 360: Upgrade cloud models
• New in Revit 2020: Linking a PDF file to a Revit project
• New in Revit 2020: Creating elliptical walls
March 2019
• Worksharing display
• Force relinquish another user in cloud-based worksharing
• Drag a view to move it from one sheet to another
• Swap line styles with Dynamo
February 2019
• Shared coordinate simple setup
• Calculate minimum and maximum values in a schedule
• Using Dynamo to selectively place views on sheets
• Schedule links and groups
January 2019
• Troubleshoting missing annotation elements
• Changing a built-in parameter from type to instance
• Update the Desktop Connector app
• Exploring the Revit program options
December 2018
• Create fillet arcs with a predefined radius
• Using point clouds in Revit families
• Preserve open views when closing Revit files
November 2018
• Applying hatching to the edges of system families
• Using the Align tool to change the orientation of sections
• Leveraging support for imported AutoCAD hatches
• Understanding the family reload options
October 2018
• Using embedded images to show typ wall types
• Apply a new finish to a wall using join geometry.
• Create vaulted roofs and ceilings
• Exploring the new Recent Files screen
September 2018
• Use reference planes to line up viewports
• Rotate a section line
• Use reference plane subcategories as a detail grid
• Aligning dimensions to reference planes
August 2018
• Modify lighting families to make them easy to center
• Change the default viewport type for sheets
• Sorting a sheet list
• Editing sheets with a sheet list
July 2018
• Adding a progress set stamp to sheets
• When in doubt, right-click
• Using the Pick New Host tool
• Using fascia to model standing seam roofing
June 2018
• Performing routine maintenance
• Exporting all families
May 2018
• Custom mullion profiles
• Dealing with mullions at curtain wall corners
• Customizing curtain wall corner panels
• Reduce file size with purge unused
April 2018
• Make a curved window that matches its host wall
• Create a "dot" schedule
• Making curved curtain wall mullions
• Round window with spokes from a curtain wall
March 2018
• Join and cut geometry
• The new fill pattern dialog
• Creating a dedicated level for site
February 2018
• Control door swing angle with a sweep
• Use railings to create Life Safety egress paths
• Revisiting selection toggles
• Creating domes
January 2018
• Adding surface patterns to glazing
• Family save path locations
• Show nested families on schedules
December 2017
• Moves with Nearby Elements
• Understanding wall base and top attachments
November 2017
• Painting the surfaces of walls
• Duplicating materials
• Wall sweeps for moldings and trim
• Creating custom patterns
• Customizing room boundary calculations
October 2017
• Using shortcuts
• Select elements by ID
• Schedule Browser Organization customization
• Understanding and controlling double-click behavior
September 2017
• Create an ADA curb cut in a floor
• Create an ADA curb cut with a loadable family
• Export shared parameters from a file
• Workset unload by user
August 2017
• Create vaulted roofs and ceilings
• Manually Add Length and Width to a Room Tag
• Add length and width to a room tag using global parameters
• Add length and width to a room tag using Dynamo
• Custom labels in level heads
July 2017
• Convert a hosted family to face-based or non-hosted family
• Create a type catalog
• Make a material tailored to a 3D surface
June 2017
• Create a fence from a railing type
• Creating a key plan family
• Renaming families with Dynamo
• Display elements beyond with the Show Hidden Lines tools
May 2017
• Generate cloud renderings
• Get a behind the scenes look at Revit development
• Create manual tags with generic annotations
• Customize symbols using custom fonts
April 2017
• Swap out shared families and non-shared families
• Place multiple elements with Dynamo
• Understanding cutable families
• Link a point cloud to Revit
March 2017
• Custom wall openings
• Topography settings and graphics
• Using tangency locks
• Consider variations in design with groups
February 2017
• Using the Is Reference in families
• Precutting column families
• Sloped glazing
• Wall layer wrapping
January 2017
• How to create a canted wall
• Drive family parameters with a dropdown list
• Customize shared parameters
• Using the Autodesk desktop app
• Import CAD into a sketch
December 2016
• Using Railing Support members instead of Balusters
• Splitting section lines
• Understanding Revit warnings
November 2016
• Controlling the spacing of elements with global parameters
• Changing material selections globally
• Creating custom roof soffits
• How to build a roof dormer
• Creating a custom sloped ceiling
October 2016
• Using Dynamo to rename sheets
• Using Dynamo to rename views
• Using view templates to sort your project views
• Discovering the A360 online viewer
September 2016
• Customizing the schedule title
• Using the linework tool
• Creating hidden parameters in family content
• Custom detail module
August 2016
• Controlling nested families parametrically with the parameter
• Understanding shared families
• Managing family parameters
• Line-based families for complex linetypes
July 2016
• Making temporary Hide/Isolate permanent
• Using filters
• Seed families
• Viewing list schedule
June 2016
• Sharing materials libraries
• Adding a calculated value
• Adding conditional formatting
• Copying schedules between projects
May 2016
• Putting view templates in control of your views
• Overlooked options on the Option Bar
• Sheet management
• Sheet sorting
• Revisions on sheets
April 2016
• How to move a central file
• Locking a workset
• Using a schedule to edit the model
• Creating a custom schedule property
• Creating custom view types
March 2016
• Dimensioning alternate units
• Chase examples
• Importing CAD files lineweights
• Exploding and cleaning up a CAD file
February 2016
• Creating a custom browser organization
• Customizing grid appearance
• Customizing level appearance
• Managing dimension lines
January 2016
• Customizing Revit options
• Turning on design options in Revit LT
• Using a scope box to set datum extents
• Setting up dependent views
December 2015
• Duplicating and swapping groups
• Converting a group to a link
• Equality dimensions anchor point
• Dimension equality formulas
November 2015
• Cutaway 3D views
• Rotating True North
• Reveal Constraints
• Excluding group members
October 2015
• Underpinning walls to a ceiling
• Ceiling soffit tip
• Creating similar and matched type
• Array tips
• Using slope arrows
September 2015
• Layering viewports on a sheet