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The UI is based on the Windows ribbon framework that is also found in software applications such as Microsoft Office. Within Revit, you will find many commands and tools that use similar dialog boxes and workflows. For example, you won’t find disparate dialog boxes for door properties versus window properties. Persistence of tool location is another key to increased usability. Even though tools remain contextually exposed or hidden, the majority of them can be found in the same place relative to the overall UI.

You have the ability to access all three disciplines of the Revit software suite – Architecture, Structure, and MEP – provided you have licenses to use each. This functionality is addressed in the “Getting to Know the Ribbon” section of this chapter.

Figure 2.1 shows the Autodesk^® Revit^® Architecture 2016 UI. To illustrate some different project views, we’ve tiled four view types: plan, elevation, 3D, and sheet. In the following sections of this chapter, we will review the major components of the UI.

Figure 2.1 The Revit Architecture 2016 UI

Accessing and Using the Application Menu

Click the big R in the upper-left corner of the UI to open the Application menu and then access commonly used commands such as New, Open, Save, Print, and so on. You can also export your project to a number of 2D and 3D formats from this menu. This menu is also where you manage licensing information. The Publish option lets you upload exported formats (DWF, DWG, DXF, DGN, and SAT) to Autodesk^® Buzzsaw^® to share project documents with your team. Use the Close command to quickly close a project or family without closing every open view. When accessing some of the flyout commands in the Application menu, be aware that there may be additional commands or options on the flyout that are hidden. This is most evident on the Export command flyout, in which you must scroll to the bottom of the flyout to access exporting options for IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) and others.

Using the Quick Access Toolbar

The Quick Access toolbar (QAT) allows you to keep frequently used tools at your fingertips. Some commonly used commands are included by default in the QAT, but you can customize it to meet your own needs.

Right-click any button in one of the ribbon tabs, and you will find the command Add To Quick Access Toolbar. By clicking the small, down-facing arrow to the far right of the QAT, you’ll find that tools may be further customized, grouped, or removed from the toolbar (Figure 2.2). By default, the QAT bar is above the ribbon, but you also have the option to show the QAT below the ribbon.

Figure 2.2 Customizing the QAT

Using the InfoCenter

To the far right of the QAT is the InfoCenter (Figure 2.3).

Figure 2.3 The InfoCenter

From left to right, you have the ability to search for help solutions, access the Subscription Center, open the Communication Center, show Favorites (saved articles and solutions from the Communication Center), sign in to other Autodesk services (such as cloud rendering), launch the Autodesk Exchange for Revit (Exchange Apps), and open the help content.

Getting to Know the Ribbon

The ribbon is the primary location for accessing the commands and tools you will use in a project (Figure 2.4). You can launch commands and tools using the ribbon, or you can create customized keyboard shortcuts as an alternative. Refer to Chapter 3, “The Basics of the Toolbox,” for more information on keyboard shortcuts. Throughout this book, we will refer to the ribbon frequently, so you should be familiar with its basic parts: tabs and panels.

Figure 2.4 The ribbon

The organization and size of the icons within each panel on the ribbon will change slightly as you scale the size of your application window. As the application window gets smaller, the icons will decrease in size and will sometimes stack, or the descriptions will be hidden.

TOURING THE TABS

Tabs are the highest level of organization and are used to select from among the various groups of functionality. There are up to 11 tabs along the top of the ribbon. We’ll take a moment to briefly describe them:

Architecture, Structure, or Systems If you install Revit Architecture you will only have access to the Architecture and Structure tabs in the ribbon. If you install Revit with one of the Autodesk Building Design suites, you will have access to the tools for all three design disciplines, and you can control the visibility of these tabs (Architecture, Structure, and Systems) from the Options dialog box (accessed from the Application menu), as shown in Figure 2.5. These tabs contain tools you will use to create or place content specific to each design discipline.

Figure 2.5 Setting the UI options

Insert The Insert tab is used to link external files (2D, 3D, image, and other RVT files) as well as search for external content via Autodesk^® Seek. To insert content from family files, you can use the Load Family command from this tab; however, this same command is available with most modeling commands in the contextual tab of the ribbon. Learn more about linking Revit files in Chapter 6, “Working with Consultants,” and using other file formats in Chapter 7, “Interoperability: Working Multiplatform.”

Annotate The Annotate tab contains many of the tools necessary to annotate, tag, dimension, or otherwise graphically document your project. Learn more about these tools in Chapter 16, “Detailing Your Design,” and Chapter 18, “Annotating Your Design.”

Analyze The Analyze tab contains the tools necessary to modify energy analysis settings and to run an energy simulation via Green Building Studio^®. This feature requires an Autodesk Subscription account to access the online analysis engine. Learn more about conceptual energy analysis in Chapter 9, “Conceptual Design and Design Analysis.”

Massing & Site The Massing & Site tab contains the tools necessary to add massing- and site-related elements such as toposurfaces and property lines. Learn more about modeling site context in Chapter 3, “The Basics of the Toolbox,” and conceptual design massing in Chapter 9.

Collaborate The Collaborate tab contains the tools that you’ll use to coordinate and manage the project within your own team as well as across other teams and their linked files. Learn more about worksharing in Chapter 5, “Working in a Team,” and interdisciplinary coordination in Chapter 6.

View The View tab contains the tools that you’ll use to create all your project views, 2D and 3D, as well as schedules, legends, and sheets. You can also modify your UI from this tab, including your keyboard shortcuts. Learn more about creating multiple project views and sheets in Chapter 17, “Documenting Your Design.”

Manage The Manage tab contains tools to access all your project standards and other settings. You will also find the Design Options and Phasing tools on this tab. Additional tools such as Review Warnings and Select By ID are found in the Manage tab and will help keep your project running smoothly.

One of the most important settings that you’ll use during your project is Object Styles on the Manage tab. Selecting this option will allow you to manage the global visibility settings for just about everything in your project: how it projects, how it cuts, and its associated color and pen weight. Learn more about this and other project settings in Chapter 4, “Configuring Templates and Standards.”

Modify The Modify tab contains the tools used to manipulate the content that you’re creating in your project. You’ll find tools like Cut, Join, Move, Copy, and Rotate, among many others. Learn more about common editing tools in Chapter 3.

Contextual Tabs Contextual tabs are revealed when specific elements are selected or element creation commands are launched. For example, the Modify | Walls contextual tab (Figure 2.6) is displayed when a wall is selected. These unique tabs are usually colored green to help you distinguish them from other static tabs in the ribbon.

Figure 2.6 Example of a contextual tab

A simple, yet important, setting that may be exposed on the contextual tab when placing model content is Tag On Placement. Modeling commands like Door, Window, and Component allow you to enable automatic tagging to reduce overall documentation time. If you are working in an early design phase, you may wish to disable the Tag On Placement setting.

PLACING PANELS

Within each tab in the ribbon are groups of tools and commands referred to as panels. If you want to make any panel consistently available, you can pull it out of its tab and arrange it anywhere on your computer screen. To relocate a panel, drag the panel out of the ribbon using your mouse pointer on the panel title bar (Figure 2.7). The panel will snap to alignment with other panels you have previously dragged from the ribbon if you hover over other floating panels while dragging.

Figure 2.7 Panels can be relocated anywhere in the UI.

To return a panel to the ribbon, hover the mouse pointer over a floating panel and the panel’s border will appear. Click the arrow in the upper portion of the gray bar at the right of the floating panel.

On some panels, you will find special features that can be accessed from the panel’s title bar. An example of these features can be seen in the Annotate tab of the ribbon. In Figure 2.8, the small arrow on the Text panel is known as a dialog launcher and will open the Type Properties dialog box for Text (not shown in the figure). Clicking the down arrow on the Tag panel exposes an expanded panel that displays the Loaded Tags and Symbols command.

Figure 2.8 Special panel features

Using Other Aspects of the UI

Now that we’ve covered the fundamental elements contained in the ribbon, let’s look at other important aspects of the UI.

OPTIONS BAR

The Options bar is located directly below the ribbon and is a contextually sensitive area that gives you feedback as you create and modify content. In Figure 2.9, you see the options available below the ribbon when the Wall tool is active. You can also use the Options bar when an object already placed in a project or family is selected.

Figure 2.9 Options appear in a bar below the ribbon.

An especially important and frequently used option is included with any annotation symbol – the ability to include or exclude a leader. This will help you place tags in the clearest location within your documentation while maintaining a parametric relationship to the associated model element. Look for this option when you use the Tag By Category command from the Annotate tab in the ribbon.

PROPERTIES PALETTE, PROJECT BROWSER

The Properties palette contains the instance parameters of whatever you’re currently working on. In this palette, you will find the Type Selector, a selection filter, and the Edit Type button (Figure 2.10). You’ll learn more about filtering selected objects in Chapter 3, as well as much more about parameters in Chapter 14, “Designing with the Family Editor.”

Figure 2.10 Properties palette

The Project Browser (Figure 2.11) is a hierarchical listing of all the views, legends, schedules, sheets, families, groups, and links in your project. You can expand and collapse the project tree by selecting the + and – icons.

Figure 2.11 Project Browser

You can search for elements by right-clicking on any item in the Project Browser and selecting Search from the context menu. The simple search function will highlight any view, sheet, family, or type with the matching text in its name.

The Project Browser can also be filtered and grouped into folders based on a number of user-defined parameters (see Figure 2.12). To access the Browser Organization Properties dialog box, right-click the Views portion at the top of the palette. You can also access this tool in the View tab under the User Interface flyout button. Learn more about Project Browser customization in Chapter 4.

Figure 2.12 Browser Organization Properties dialog box

The Properties palette and Project Browser can be undocked from the main UI and can also be placed on a secondary monitor simply by dragging or double-clicking the top border of either palette. You can also drag these UI elements onto each other to use them in a unified tabbed or stacked palette, as shown in Figure 2.13. Dragging one palette onto the top border of the other will create a tabbed palette, whereas dragging it just below the top border will result in a stacked palette.

Figure 2.13 Properties palette and Project Browser combined in a tabbed or stacked palette

STATUS BAR

The status bar at the bottom of the UI provides useful information about selected objects and active tools. When you start a tool, the status bar will display prompts about the next step required of the tool. For example, select an object and start the Rotate command; the status bar will read “Click to enter rotate start ray or drag or click the rotation center control.” It is also useful when you are using the Tab key to toggle between object snap points or when selecting chains of elements.

Toward the middle of the status bar, you will find toolbars for worksets and design options. At the far right end, you will see a filter icon next to a number. When you select objects in a view window, the number of selected objects will be displayed here. Click the Filter icon to open the Filter dialog box and refine the selection set. The five icons next to the Filter icon determine which objects in your model are eligible for selection. We will discuss selecting elements in greater detail in Chapter 3.

DRAWING AREA

The drawing area is the window into your design space. As shown previously in Figure 2.1, you can tile several views from any number of open files or you can maximize the view windows. When the view windows in the drawing area are maximized, press Ctrl+Tab on the keyboard to cycle through the open views. To reverse the cycling, press Ctrl+Shift+Tab.

If you decide to use tiled views when you work in Revit, you should be aware of a subtle limitation. You’ll be able to zoom into only the extents that are defined by the drawing area. If you want to get around this limitation, here’s a helpful tip: Create a new sheet, but then delete the sheet border. This is your “working” space for any view of the project. Now you can create duplicate views of any of your project views and assemble them in this working space (Figure 2.14). Zooming in and out is much more fluid, and you’re not limited to the extents of one drawing area. You can create a keyboard shortcut to activate and deactivate views, which is helpful as well.

Figure 2.14 Working sheet view

VIEW CONTROL BAR

The view control bar is at the bottom of every view and changes slightly depending on the type of view (Figure 2.15). For example, sheet views have only four buttons and perspective views don’t have a scale option. In Figure 2.15, we have tiled three view windows to illustrate some of the differences in the view control bar. From top to bottom, you can see a drafting view, a plan view, and a 3D view.

Figure 2.15 View control bar examples

Some of the buttons in the view control bar are just shortcuts to view parameters that are also available from the Properties palette. Scale, Detail Level, Crop View, and Show/Hide Crop Region are found in both the view control bar and the Properties palette. The Visual Style button allows you to select from a short list of graphic display modes that can be customized in detail with the Graphic Display Options in the Properties palette.

Other buttons in the view control bar are unique commands. One example is the Temporary Hide/Isolate command. When you select an object in a view window, use this button to select from various tools to hide or isolate either the selected objects or the entire category of objects. Temporary visibility states do not affect printing, and the view window will display with a turquoise border until the temporary visibility is reset. Next to the Hide/Isolate button is the Reveal Hidden Elements button. Use this tool to highlight any elements that are hidden in the current view, either temporarily or through other methods.

The Worksharing Display button is available only on projects where worksharing is enabled. Worksharing Display can be enabled and configured in any view to illustrate Owners, Checkout Status, Model Updates, and Worksets. Refer to Chapter 5 for a detailed explanation of these visibility features.

The Show/Hide Analytical Model button allows you to quickly display analytical graphics that are commonly used by the Structural or MEP tools in Revit. Finally, the Reveal Constraints button temporarily displays all of the model-based constraints visible in the current view. This is useful for troubleshooting model elements that might not be behaving as expected.

TEMPORARY VIEW PROPERTIES

You may also temporarily modify view properties or apply a view template. When you click the Temporary View Properties icon in the view control bar, you will have a choice of Enable Temporary View Properties or Temporarily Apply Template Properties, as shown in Figure 2.16. Because these applied properties are only temporary, they will not affect printing and they will not be saved with the project.

Figure 2.16 Temporary View Properties command

If you select Temporarily Apply Template Properties, you can select from any view template established in your project. Once a view template is applied to the view with this tool, the view will be highlighted with a purple boundary, as shown in Figure 2.17. Refer to Chapter 4 for a detailed review of view templates.

Figure 2.17 Active view with Temporary View Properties applied

Referring to Figure 2.16, you will notice that any recently applied view templates will appear in the Temporary View Properties menu. This allows for rapid application of templates to increase your productivity when manipulating views for various working scenarios.

The other command selection is to Enable Temporary View Properties. This mode allows you to change any view properties manually. The result is the same as temporarily applying a view template, but you can tweak any setting to your needs. For example, you might want to temporarily hide all the furniture in a view.

To remove the temporary settings, you can simply wait until you close the project file because the temporary settings are not saved. Otherwise, click the Temporary View Properties icon again and select Restore View Properties.

GRAPHIC DISPLAY OPTIONS

The Graphic Display Options dialog box gives you access to some of the same settings you can select in the view control bar; however, more refinement options are available. From the Properties palette, click Edit in the Graphic Display Options property field, and explore the graphic settings you can customize for the current view (Figure 2.18). As an alternative, you can click the Visual Style icon (the small box) in the view control bar and choose Graphic Display Options from the pop-up menu.

Figure 2.18 Graphic Display Options dialog box

Many graphic options are available, including customized backgrounds, photographic exposure, and a transparency slider. Experiment with a variety of the settings to see which ones meet your presentation and documentation needs. You’ll learn much more about graphic styles in Chapter 11, “Visualization.”

WORK PLANE VIEWER

Most modeling tools and commands require an active work plane on which to place geometry. When you are working in a plan view, the work plane is usually set to the current level associated with the view. In a 3D, section, or elevation view, the definition of an active work plane may be a bit more confusing. In addition to levels, work planes can be defined as reference planes, a structural grid, or a surface of another object. To help you visualize an active work plane, a work plane viewer is available in Revit.

The Viewer option is located on the Work Plane panel of the Architecture tab. This viewer is available from all model views when you’re in the project environment. By default, the work plane is based on the active work plane of the last active view. But when you enter Sketch mode (for example, when you are creating a floor or a roof), the active work plane is that of the sketch (Figure 2.19). So even if the project window shows a 3D view, the viewer shows the plane of the sketch – and you can sketch directly in the work plane viewer! This is useful for working on sloped surfaces such as roofs.

Figure 2.19 Sketch mode with active work plane

Navigation Methods

One of the challenges in any 3D modeling software is to create methods of navigation that are as intuitive as possible. If you have used more than one modeling application, such as Rhino or SketchUp or Digital Project, you will know that there is no standard 3D navigation functionality. Autodesk has created consistency across most of their industry-based applications such as AutoCAD,^® 3ds Max,^® Navisworks,^® and Revit software. In addition to the consistency within the Autodesk applications, you have a variety of navigation methods to meet your personal preference, including the ViewCube^® tool, the SteeringWheels^® tool, and basic mouse controls.

VIEWCUBE

A 3D navigation tool known as the ViewCube is available in most Autodesk design software. This tool will appear by default in the upper-right corner of any 3D view. Click any face of the cube to orient the view to that face, or click a corner of the cube to orient to an axonometric angle. Press and hold the left mouse button while moving the mouse pointer over the ViewCube to orbit the view freely. Press and hold the left mouse button while hovering over the compass, and the view will rotate as if it were on a turntable.

Hovering over the ViewCube with your mouse pointer reveals the Home option (the little house above the ViewCube) that you click to return to your home view. Right-clicking the ViewCube opens a menu that allows you to set, save, and orient your view (see Figure 2.20). Selecting Options from the context menu takes you directly to the ViewCube options in the Options dialog box, which you can also access from the Application menu. The ViewCube options allow you to customize the placement, transparency, and functional behavior of the tool.

Figure 2.20 ViewCube context menu

STEERINGWHEELS

Another method of navigation that is unique to Autodesk software is the SteeringWheels tool. This tool can be activated by pressing the F8 key, by pressing Shift+W, or from the Navigation bar. The SteeringWheels will follow your mouse pointer as you move about a view and will stop when the mouse movement slows, allowing you to hover the mouse pointer over one of the command areas on the wheel. As you hover the mouse pointer over a navigation command, press and hold the left mouse button while moving the mouse to activate the corresponding navigation method. This is easier to demonstrate than explain in text, so feel free to try the various modes of the SteeringWheels tool as you continue through this book.

If you use a laptop or mobile workstation without the benefit of a mouse, the SteeringWheels tool can be a welcome substitute for traditional pointer-based navigation. The touchpads or pointing sticks on most laptops do a poor job of emulating the press-and-drag motions of a mouse along with simultaneous keyboard button combinations that drive native navigation in Revit. If you’re struggling without a mouse connected to your laptop, try the SteeringWheels tool and you might thank us!

NAVIGATION BAR

Access to the most common navigating tools is also provided in the Navigation bar located at the right side of the drawing area. From here you can launch any of the SteeringWheels and all of the zoom commands from flyout buttons.

NAVIGATING WITH THE MOUSE

As with most modern design applications, the mouse can also be used to navigate in any view. You are not constrained to using the ViewCube, SteeringWheels, or Navigation bar. You might have already figured out that pressing the left mouse button selects objects and the right mouse button is used to access context menus. We discuss selection methods with greater detail in Chapter 3. For now, let’s review how you can use the mouse to navigate the views in Revit.

To pan in any view, press and hold the wheel button on your mouse while moving it around your mouse pad. Hold the Shift key and use the wheel button on the mouse to orbit a 3D view.

The mouse wheel can be used to zoom in and zoom out of any view, but the zooming may be somewhat choppy. Hold the Ctrl key and press the wheel button while moving the mouse forward to zoom out (pushing the model away) or backward to zoom in (pulling the model toward you). You will also notice that the views will zoom in and out with a focal point based on the location of the mouse pointer.

In camera views, zooming works a bit differently. Scrolling the mouse wheel zooms in and out but includes the view’s crop region. To adjust the view within the crop region, only the SteeringWheels and the ViewCube can be used.

In addition to a traditional mouse, you can use a 3D navigation device such as the Space Navigator from 3Dconnexion (www.3dconnexion.com), as shown in Figure 2.21. A 3D mouse allows you to navigate in multiple directions simultaneously using joystick-like motions. Simply attach the device to your computer and install the 3Dconnexion software, and a 3Dconnexion button will be displayed on the Navigation bar. The 3D mouse will automatically navigate in any 2D or 3D view, but the Navigation bar button allows you to toggle between modes.

Figure 2.21 The SpaceNavigator 3D mouse from 3Dconnexion