Hello, welcome to this short tutorial dedicated to Autodesk Revit 2021,
a Building Information Model software used to make 2D and 3D models like
floor plans, maps, houses and buildings.
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When opening Revit, this shows its Home page where you can start from
either a new Revit project or an existing one on the left and also find
several ready templates to use on the center. These include the Models,
which are complete project designs and Families, which are single object
designs that can be imported into several Model projects. These are
divided in architectural (for architectural environment, such as walls and
doors), structural (focused on materials and basic skeletons) and systemic
(dealing with tubes and conductors). In this beginner tutorial we will see
how to design a very simple architectural building starting from a new
Model project.
The Revit workspace is made by the main preview on the center, several
panels on the left side and the Ribbon bar on top, collecting several
drawing tools under the Architecture, the Structure and the Systems tabs.
In addition you can use the down arrow to show the full list of tools
collected, hovering over any if you need more help and information.
To start realizing a building we will use the tools inside the Build
Section of the Architecture tab, starting from the floor with the Floor
tool.
When you enable any drawing tool you enter inside the Edit Mode, with
the Modify tab in green color collecting several ways to draw the object
chosen, in this case the Floor. Use Line, Arc or Spline to draw straight
or curved sides by fixing points on the workspace, using the Escape key
to stop drawing. Use Rectangle, Polygon and Circle to drop regular shapes
instead, using the Escape key to undo. You can use your mouse wheel to
zoom in and out if you need.
Revit includes several drawing aids to help you, such as snappings to
object vertices, centers and intersections and also dashed guidelines
to directions and object extensions. It also shows length and angle
measurements during any drawing in progress for better precision. To
adjust snapping options and units to use, you can go to the Manage tab.
Once you draw the basic shape of the floor this remains in pink color,
indicating that it is still a sketch. On top, under Mode, you can choose
to approve the sketch with Finish or undo it with Cancel, exiting from the
current Edit Mode. Only if you approve the Floor this will be rendered on
the project with color and filling.
Once the floor is made, you can enable the Wall tool to create the walls
around its contours, using the same drawing tools under the Modify tab.
You can enable the Line tool to draw side per side or the Rectangle tool
to follow the rectangular contours of the floor. The walls will join
automatically if they intersect on the vertices.
These walls are all shown as simple 2D blocks, being the default preview
a top to bottom 2D view on the project called Level 1, as shown on the tab
on top. If you go to View, 3D View, you switch to a full 3D preview,
customizable with the visualization tools on the right, including the 3D
View Cube and the Full Navigation Wheel to Pan and 3D rotate with Orbit.
In these 3D views you can see the base of the walls laying on the ground
plane (or Level 1) spreading in height according to the value specified
on top.
From the Project Browser panel on the left you can find the full list of
2D and 3D views available inside your project, that you can open by
double-clicking on these and manage by right-clicking. Let's check these.
The Floor Plans (also called Levels) are 2D views that show the project
from top to bottom, starting from the ground plane with Level 1 up to the
other Levels at an increasing height from it. These are very useful to
draw objects laying on bases, like floors and walls.
The Elevations are 2D views showing the project from East, North, South and
West, useful to check each object height in respect to the same Levels
defined, shown as dashed lines with their height value. These elevations
are also placed on the Levels view as simple blocks with defined direction.
You can also create your own Levels and Elevations for extra height levels
and points of view. To create a new Level open any Elevation view and go
to Level under the Architecture tab. Whereas to create a new Elevation,
open any Level view and go to Elevation under the View tab. Then just
place the block and set its range and depth view.
Once the walls are in place you can add doors and windows on it by using
any 3D View or Elevation view. Use the Door tool to place any door with
its base on the ground plane or on any other Level; and enable the Window
tool to place any window on the walls. These doors and windows are examples
of Families, such as single object designs that can be ported into any
Revit model. If you click on any Family you can use the Properties panel
on the left to change its design and size in no time. You can find other
families by using the Component tool.
Once the walls are in place, you can use the Roof tool to drop any roof.
Also this tool takes as reference a Level height which is, by default,
the ground Level 1, which is not the right one for the roof. In this case
Revit will ask you to change the height Level to use directly. This
reference plane is called Work Plane and can be checked on the preview by
enabling Show under Work Plane. Whereas you can use Set to change the Level
to take as reference.
Once the Work Plane is correct, you can define the roof sketch in Edit
Mode and apply it to render it, as seen for the floor. In addition, if you
have Defines slope enabled, the roof slopes are managed automatically and
marked as pink triangles next to each side.
Whereas if you disable this option the roof will be completely flat but
you can fully customize it with the Shape Editing options above. First fix
points and lines on the roof, apply with the Escape key and then move
these as you like most with Modify Sub Elements enabled.
When no tools are enabled you can click on any object to select it in blue
color and start editing it. There are two main ways to edit an object.
If you select the object you can drag from its nodes and arrows to edit
its basic properties such as the height of a wall. You can also click and
drag the object itself to move it and use CTRL+X, C and V to cut, copy and
paste it. Use the Delete key to remove it. If you make any mistake you can
undo with CTRL+Z.
Inside the Modify tab you have several editing tools you can use on the
selected object, such as Rotate and Mirror. Make sure to hover over any
tool to get help and tips about these if you need.
Another way to edit the object is to change its basic shape. If you select
the object and use the Edit button under Mode you will enter again into
Edit Mode to modify the basic sketch of the object on each of its vertices
and sides composing it. Then use Cancel to undo or Finish to apply.
You can also change the Visual Style at the bottom to improve the raw
preview shown or check the result of a rendering by going to View and then
to Render.
Whereas to save your project use the Save button above or CTRL+S. All
Revit models are saved as .rvt files.
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