Design inspiration comes from any source, at any time. Some designers like to sketch by hand; others use digital tools to create a 3D sketch. When design sketches are digital, the transitions between concept design, schematic design, and design development are simplified.

When you bring a 3D sketch into the Autodesk® Revit® Architecture platform, you start with 3D volumes, primal elements called masses, to make sure your form and square footage are correct before modeling walls and floors. Once you’ve confirmed that your building mass can contain the building program, you will use the mass as an armature on which to place building elements.

In this chapter, you’ll learn to:

• Import a 2D image
• Scale an imported image
• Create a 3D sketch
• Link a 3D sketch
• Add a new level
• Calculate mass floor area
• Reload a linked sketch
• Create floors from a mass
• Create walls from a mass
• Create a curtain system
• Create a roof from a mass

Importing a 2D Image

To create a 2D digital sketch, Autodesk released a tool for Apple’s iPad called SketchBook Pro, which allows you to sketch directly on a tablet using a stylus or your finger like you would use a pen or pencil. The sketch in Figure 7.1 was created on an iPad, but the following steps apply to any scanned image—from either a magazine or trace paper.

Exercise 7.1: Import and Scale a 2D Image

To begin, go to the book’s web page at www.sybex.com/go/revit2015essentials, and download the files for Chapter 7.

1. On the home screen, select Architecture Template to open one of the default Revit Architecture templates. Open the East elevation by double-clicking East in the Project Browser.
2. On the Insert tab, find the Import panel, and click the Image button. Select the Massing_Sketch.png file from the Chapter07 folder. Click the Open button.
3. You may need to zoom out to see the preview graphic consisting of blue grips and an X. This preview indicates the size of the image. Click the mouse to place the image. Use the arrow keys to nudge the image so that the ground plane of the building sketch roughly aligns with Level 1, as shown in Figure 7.2.
   

   

4. Zoom into the Level symbols. Select the level line for Level 2. From the Properties palette change the Elevation parameter from 10′-0″ (3.04 m) to 15′-0″ (4.57 m); this height is more consistent with commercial construction.
   
5. The image is a bit out of scale for the Revit model. Select the image and choose the Scale tool from the Modify panel. Refer to Figure 7.3 for the eventual goal.

   

6. Hover the mouse over Level 1 until it highlights blue and then click. This is the shared base point.
7. Move your mouse straight up so the cursor roughly aligns with the second floor of the sketch; then click. This is the image reference point.
8. Finally, move you mouse straight down so the cursor aligns with Level 2 of the model; then click. This is the model reference point. After this last click, the image scales to look similar to Figure 7.3.
9. Once the imported image is scaled and in the right place, it is best to pin the image so it doesn’t accidentally move. Select the image and click the Pin tool from the Modify panel.

This concludes Exercise 7.1. You can compare your results with the sample file c07-ex-07.1end.rvt available in the files you downloaded from the Sybex website.

Designing with a 3D Sketch

Autodesk has also released a 3D digital sketch tool for iPad and Android devices called FormIt. This is a conceptual design modeling tool that allows you to create building forms and then export the geometry to Revit for further development. The FormIt tablet apps are fun and intuitive, so I recommend you try them out. Figure 7.4 was created on an iPad in roughly 20 minutes. You can upload your 3D sketch to Autodesk 360, automatically convert it to an .sat file and a .rvt file, and then download it locally. We’ll go through the steps to link the .sat file into Revit and update the linked file when changes are made.

Exercise 7.2: Link a 3D Sketch

To begin, open the file c07-ex-07.2start.rvt from this chapter’s download.

1. To link the 3D sketch you need to insert the FormIt geometry into an In-Place Mass family. On the ribbon, find the Massing & Site tab, then find the Conceptual Mass panel, and click the In-Place Mass icon.
   
2. Revit displays a dialog telling you that it has now enabled Show Mass mode in the current view—but only for this Revit session. Click the Close button. Now Revit allows you to name the Mass; call it Trapelo Sketch and click OK.
3. Click the Insert tab of the ribbon and choose Link CAD. A file-navigation dialog appears. This dialog defaults to show .dwg files. Click the Files Of Type drop-down, and choose ACIS SAT files. Select the Trapelo_Sketch.sat file from the Chapter07 folder. Click Open.
   
4. The geometry should appear successfully on Level 1 of your model. Click the Finish Mass button from the ribbon. Then click the 3D View button on the View tab of the ribbon. Your geometry and view should look like Figure 7.5.
   

   

5. Click the View tab, and then click the Visibility/Graphics button from the Graphics tab (or type the keyboard shortcut VG). Find the Mass category in the list, and check the box next to it. This way your mass will be visible in this view in the next exercise.

This concludes Exercise 7.2. You can compare your results with the sample file c07-ex-07.2end.rvt available in the download from the Sybex website.

Exercise 7.3: Add a New Level

To begin this exercise, open the file c07-ex-07.3start.rvt.

1. Open the North elevation view from the Project Browser. The mass is visible because the category is checked in the Visibility/Graphic Overrides dialog.
   
2. Go to the Architecture tab of the ribbon, find the Datum panel, and click the Level tool.
3. In the Draw panel, choose the green Pick Lines tool.
4. On the Options Bar, set the offset value to 15′-0″ (4.57 m).
5. Hover your mouse over the Level 2 annotation element. Look for a dashed blue line to appear above Level 2. This dashed line indicates where the new level will be placed; see Figure 7.6.

   

6. Click to place the new level, called Level 3, at 30′-0″.

This concludes Exercise 7.3. You can compare your results with the sample file c07-ex-07.3end.rvt from the download for this chapter.

Exercise 7.4: Calculate Mass Floor Area

Open the file c07-ex-07.4start.rvt from the download to start this exercise.

1. The file should open in the 3D view. Select the Mass element, and click the Mass Floors button in the ribbon.
2. Check the box next to Levels 1, 2, and 3; then click OK. The Mass element has been divided at the level intersections.
   
3. Click the View tab; then click the Schedules button and choose Schedule/Quantities.
4. In the New Schedule dialog, review the list of categories on the left, find Mass, and expand it. Click Mass Floor, and click OK.
5. In the Schedule Properties dialog, in the Fields tab, choose the following parameters from the list on the left; then click the Add button. Add them in this order: Mass: Family, Level, Floor Area (see Figure 7.7).

   

6. Click the Formatting tab. Choose the Floor Area parameter from the list on the left. Check the Calculate Totals box from the options to the right.
7. Now click the Sorting/Grouping tab. Check the box for Grand Totals; then choose Totals Only from the drop-down list. Click OK.
8. You can see that the Floor Area total is roughly 51,500 SF (15,697.2 m), as shown in Figure 7.8. This is valuable information to have early on in schematic design.

   

This concludes Exercise 7.4. You can compare your results with the sample file c07-ex-07.4end.rvt that you downloaded earlier.

Exercise 7.5: Reload a Linked Sketch

To begin, open the file c07-ex-07.5start.rvt.

1. If the design changes, the 3D sketch changes, and you’ll need to update the linked building mass by reloading the .sat file. Open the 3D view.
2. Go to the Insert tab of the ribbon, and click the Manage Links button on the Links panel. Click the CAD Formats tab of the dialog.
   
3. Click the cell named Trapelo_Sketch.sat. Then click the Reload From button from the options below it.
4. The Find Link dialog appears. From the Chapter 7 folder, choose the file named Trapelo_Sketch_Update.sat and click Open.
5. Click OK to confirm the changes in the Manage Links dialog.
6. The building mass has updated slightly. Revit automatically recalculates the mass floors as well. Go to the Schedules/Quantities node of the Project Browser and open the Mass Floor Schedule. The Floor Area total is now 55,201 SF (16,825 m).

This concludes Exercise 7.5. You can compare your results with the sample file c07-ex-07.5end.rvt available in the download.