Hello there, and welcome to this video! Let's see quickly and easily all
you need to know to start using Autodesk Revit 2018 for the first time!
Please leave us suggestions and feedback in the video description to
improve our next video guides for Autodesk Revit!
Revit is a professional software used in a business environment, in order
to design and represent 3D buildings, architectural projects and also 2D
plans and maps. Here we will see the very basic features to start as a
beginner, but you may need practice and experience to start designing
professional projects.
When opening Revit, a start-up interface opens. On the left, you can
manage Revit Projects and Families. The first ones are general projects
containing several objects and templates, such as a whole house;
Families are single objects that can be used as templates, such as single
doors or windows. On the right, under Resources, you can check the latest
information and updates from Autodesk and its community.
In order to understand how to use Revit, let's design a very simple house.
To start with a Revit project, go to New..., and let's choose a default
Construction Template and a general Revit project by choosing Project
under Create new.
When you go to OK below, the whole Revit workspace opens. On top, you
have the Menu bar, with all the main drawing and editing tools inside
Revit; on the left we will see some important panels; and on the right
the main visualization tools to check and preview your project.
To start drawing, you have to use the several tabs under the Menu bar.
Architecture is used to drop fundamental objects, Structure to draw
load-bearing objects; and Systems to drop conductors and tubes. In this
video, we will just see the Architecture section.
Inside the Build section, you have several tools to draw specific objects,
such as walls, doors or windows. These may also show a black arrow, which
is used to show all the tools correlated to the main one. Hover over one
tool to get additional information and help on it.
To design a simple house, it is better to draw from bottom to top, from
the floor to the roof.
To draw floors, you can use the Floor tool, for example the Architectural
one. When the tool is enabled, the Modify section appears, used to change
the way to draw the floor.
For example, choose Line to drop straight floor sides by clicking on your
workspace. Choose Arc or Spline to drop curved sides instead. If you
choose these tools, make sure to create closed paths to realize the floor
successfully. Choose Rectangle, Polygon, Circle or Ellipse to draw a
closed shape that will be directly used to realize the floor, by fixing
two or more points on your workspace.
While drawing, Revit helps you by showing side length and angle
measurements with respect to the horizontal direction; and by also
allowing snappings to object endpoints, midpoints and guide lines
parallel to points and directions. You can also fix your pointer for some
time to get help.
If you make a mistake, you can undo your current drawing by using the
Escape key.
The current pink drawings (or sketches) made represent the current floor
being in progress. In this case Revit is in Edit Mode. When you finish
drawing, you can decide whether to apply the creation of the floor with
the current sketch by using Finish Edit Mode, or remove any sketch by
using Cancel Edit Mode.
Once the sketches are applied, these will be dropped as a floor with
filling and volume, according to the tool used. You can see it from a
Top view, and check it by zooming in and out with your mouse wheel.
In case you do not see your floors, go to the View tab, and then to
Visibility/Graphics, and make sure to enable Floors in the list.
Remember to save your project often. Go to File, Save As..., and then
choose Project. Revit projects are saved with a .rvt format file, saving
the complete status of your project.
Now, let's see how to edit your objects.
First of all, enable the Modify tool in the top left corner, and select
the object to edit by clicking on it. This will be highlighted in blue.
Use CTRL+X, CTRL+C and CTRL+V to cut, copy and paste the selected object.
Use the Delete key to remove the object from your project. In case you
make a mistake, remember to use CTRL+Z to undo.
Furthermore, you can use the editing tools under the Modify tab. Use the
Move tool to move a selected object by fixing two points on your
workspace.
The Copy tool works in the same way, with the difference that you create
a new copy of the selected object.
Use the Rotate tool to rotate an object by fixing the rotation angle.
You can also choose a different rotation point by clicking and dragging
it.
The Mirror tool is used to flip the object according to an axis that you
can pick or draw. If you choose Mirror - Draw Axis, fix two points to
draw the axis and mirror the object according to it.
All the tools applied on objects do not change their original shape. To
edit it, you have to come back to the object sketch, by enabling the Edit
Mode with the Edit Boundary button.
On the object sketches, you can apply the editing tools on the single
sides of the floor, and not on the whole object only. So, by moving and
rotating its sides, you will also edit the overall shape of the object.
Furthermore, you can also edit the shape by clicking and dragging each
of its sides and vertices (indicated by blue nodes) and moving them, or
by using the drawing tools again. Just remember to realize closed paths
before exiting from the Edit Mode.
Editing tools can be applied on multiple selected objects or sketches as
well, in order to edit all of them in the same way. To make multiple
selections, just click on each object or sketch while holding CTRL down,
or click and hold on and include everything that has to be selected
within the rectangle. Then, apply the editing tools. To undo all
selections, just click on your workspace.
You can quickly enable the latest tool used by using the Enter key. If
you make any mistake, use CTRL+Z to undo your latest actions.
After defining a floor, you can go on with the house walls. Differently
from the floors, that lay on the ground plane or any plane parallel to
it, the walls lay on the ground plane only with their base, and spread
through the third dimension with their defined height.
Enable the Wall tool to start drawing walls. You should choose Wall:
Architectural to make general walls, and Wall: Structural for
load-bearing walls. Let's just see the first ones in this video.
Fix points on your workspace to draw the wall. The drawing tools on top,
and the way to manage the sketch are identical to the floors. Just
remember that are not obliged to make closed paths, and also walls merge
if they intersect.
The Top default view is good to fix the wall perimeter, but not to define
its height. You can switch to a direct 3D preview by going to the View
tab, and then to 3D View. In this way, you will get a complete preview
through all the three directions: length, width and height. You can also
change the point of view by using the 3D ViewCube in the top right corner,
or by using the Pan or the Orbit command inside the Full Navigation Wheel.
You can also use Project Browser panel on the far left. This lists all
the project content, from objects to view used. You can open any view
by double-clicking on it. The default Top view is called Level 1, under
Floor Plans, whereas the latest 3D view is under 3D.
You also have the Elevation views. By default, these preview your project
from East, North, South and West. One Elevation view per each marker you
see from the default Level 1 view.
You can also create your custom Elevation by going to View, Elevation,
and then clicking on your workspace. Use the Escape key to finish.
Each marker is composed by a square, that you can click and drag to move,
or rotate by using the Rotate button; and by an arrow, that represents
the direction of the Elevation. If you click on it, you can manage its
depth and side-view range. To apply, click outside.
Through an Elevation view, you can check and edit the objects height,
such as walls. By default, these go from the ground plane (or Level 1)
to the next floor plan (Level 2), but you can personalize it as you like.
You have multiple Floor Plan levels on your project, each representing
a preview from top to bottom, at a different height from the ground (or
zero) level. On Elevation views, these are represented as dashed lines
with their name and height level from the ground.
You can add custom levels by going to Level under the Architecture tab,
and then fixing two points to fix height and length. Use the Escape key
to apply.
Custom Levels and Elevations are all listed in the Project Browser.
Right-click and go to Rename... to rename these. Also, Level and
Elevation markers can be moved and edited as seen for drawings.
After floors and walls, you have to add doors and windows. Since these
lay on walls, you should choose either an Evaluation or a 3D full view.
To place doors, enable the Door tool, and place it on a wall. Their base
will automatically lay on a Floor Plan level. To place windows, enable
the Window tool, and place them on a wall freely.
To change and personalize the object appearance and size, select it and
check the Properties panel on the left. In the case of Revit families,
such as doors or windows, you can also select the right template to use
by going to Edit Family on top.
Check out the video description for more Revit templates!
To finish with the basic house, you have to drop its roof. This object
is very similar to the floors, with the difference that the roof should
be placed on top of the walls, so on a different height respect to the
ground plane. To do so, you have to change the Work Plane reference.
The Work Plane is the Floor Plan level taken as reference to drop objects
that do not spread in height, such as floors and roofs. By default, the
Level 1 (ground) is taken as reference, so the next roofs are all dropped
on the ground plane.
To change the reference, click on Set under the Architecture tab, and
change the level from Level 1 to Roof. If you enable the Show button,
you can see that the Work Plane moves from the ground plane to the roof
level. At this point, use the Roof level, or the 3D view to draw the
roof, in the same way as seen for the floors.
When applied, the roof looks like a simple flat block. You can customize
its basic shape by going to Edit Footprint, and add slope and depth by
using the tools inside the Shape Editing section. For example, use Add
Point to add points, and Add Split Line to add lines on the roof. When
points and lines are placed, click on Modify Sub Elements to click and
drag these, in order to shape the overall roof appearance. Use the Escape
key to finish with the tool. To reset the roof shape instead, use Reset
Shape on top.
You can also change the way to see your objects by changing the Visual
Style at the very bottom. To check a more realistic preview on your
project, try the Render button under the View tab!
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