Now you see it now you don't

I was importing an AutoCAD dwg file into Revit 2009 for some project for my client. It looks OK on floor plan.


However, in 3D view, the screen just go blank with no Revit entities nor AutoCAD entities on sight. No amount of setting changes will make the drawing appear.

The mystery was finally revealed when I open up the AutoCAD file in AutoCAD. It appears that some part of the CAD drawing are having unusually high and low points. Even in AutoCAD the iso view does not display the drawing entities as well. After I edit the elevation of all the lines and blocks, then the drawing appear as per normal.

This apparently is only a problem in AutoCAD and Revit 2009. Seems that the display would not work properly when there are irregular Z points in version 2009 but other version will display the drawing with the irregular points. So, if your 3D view in Revit suddenly goes blank, please check your imported CAD drawing for a ny irregular points.

Problem with Host Sweep-Roof Fasia in Revit 2009

I was trying to model the ridge tile and hip tile on roof and realise that the Host Sweep on Roof Facsia do not allow you pick on the ridge or hip anymore in Revit 2009.

This is because of a bug in Revit 2009 Build: 20080321_1900. What you need to do is to update your RAC to Build 20080602_1900 and you will be OK. It's not a Hotfix or Service Pack / Patch it's just in the latest build. The Host Sweep > Roof Fascia now works on roof ridges again.

How to override graphics on screen

There are many a times that we need to show the graphics differently for same object in different situation. For eg. the wall outline are normally plot in black, but let's say for fire safety department, you need to show all the wall with fire ratings in certain color (as above).

To do this, you may use Filter which is a very useful tool to override graphics consistently for diffrent situations.

1. Setup Filter - pick Filters from Setting pull down menu.














1. Create a New Filter.
2. Give a Filter Name.
3. Choose from appropriate category. In this case, it is Wall.
4. Specify the Filter Rules.
5. Click OK.

2. Specify the properties for your object. In this case, it is Wall.

Notice that I have specified the Fire Rating.

















3. Select the object to apply the filter for graphics override and right click.

Choose Override Graphics in View - By Filter











4. When the Visibility/Graphics Override dialog appear, specify the line color accordingly.
















5. There you have it.

Problem with 3D View in Revit 2009

In Revit Architecture 2009, you may find a problem with 3D view (non perspective view). It would appear as half shaded and half wire frame (as attached).

This is because of a bug within the display of Revit Archietcture 2009. This also happens with AutoCAD 2009 as well. However, there is any easy way to solve this problem. Just delete the 3D View and goto View menu and choose New then Default 3D View. Voila! The 3D view appear as normal now.

Revit Fill Patterns

Revit Fill Pattern is more powerful then what a lot of people think. Sometimes you may tried to arranged the tile pattern on that wall or floor so that they will not appear as half tile or quarter tile. For those who have used AutoCAD hatch pattern will realise that it is impossible to do so in AutoCAD. They end up drawing the exploding the pattern and tried to rearranged the tile pattern manually.

Now in Revit, you just have to put a surface pattern on the wall or floor. Then use ALIGN command to align the tile. You will see the tile pattern aligned to the edge selected. COOL.....

There are also not many Revit Fill Pattern inside Revit. What you may do is to import AutoCAD acad.pat or similar file. However, any pattern from AutoCAD can only be brought in as a Drafting Pattern. To convert them to Model Pattern simply add ;%TYPE=MODEL to the line between the name and the text for the pattern itself for it to be used as a Model Pattern in Revit.

Eg;

*Block 8x16, 8 x 16 Blocks Runing Bond
;%TYPE=MODEL
0, 0, 0, 0,
90, 0, 0, 8

If you open up the revit.pat file (located at C:\Program Files\Revit Architecture 2008\Data) there is a pretty decent description on what needs to be added for the pattern types.

CADclip - REVIT MEP 2008 - HVAC DEMO

Thanks to CADclip for contributing this Clip for HVAC Demo

Changing material properties of Revit Family created thru imported 3DS model

Sometimes, we may create a new family by importing 3DS Max file into Revit. But how do we change the material property of the created family?

Eventhough we cannot access the material property through the properties dialog of Revit, we can access the material setting of the imported object through Object Styles setting.

Go to "Settings", "Object Styles", then the "Imported Objects" tab. Here we will tell Revit to assign materials to those AutoCAD layers we created earlier. To do this, simply select the layer name under the "category" heading, then select the adjacent material under the "material" tab. Now you should be in the material editor and the final straight.