Detail Line

The Detail Line tool is the first tool located on the Detail panel of the Annotate tab. This tool is the closest thing you’ll find to traditional drafting in the Revit Architecture software. It lets you create view-specific linework using different lineweights and tones, draw different line shapes, and use many of the same manipulation commands you would find in a CAD program, such as offset, copy, move, and so on.

Using the Detail Line tool is fairly easy. Selecting the tool changes your ribbon tab to look like Figure 11.2. This tab has several panels that allow you to add and manipulate linework.

This tab primarily contains three panels: Modify, Draw, and Line Style. You’ve seen the Modify panel before. It contains the host of tools you’ve used so far for walls, doors, and other elements. Here you can copy, offset, move, and perform other tasks. The Draw panel lets you create new content and define shapes, and the Line Style drop-down allows you to choose the line style you’d like to use.

Region

The next tool on the Detail panel of the Annotate tab is the Region tool. Regions are areas of any shape or size that you can fill with a pattern. This pattern (much like a hatch in AutoCAD) dynamically resizes with the region boundary. Regions layer just like detail lines do and can be placed on top of, or behind, other 2D linework and components. Regions also have opacity and can be completely opaque (covering what they are placed on) or transparent (letting elements show through).

There are two types of regions: filled regions and masking regions.

Filled Regions Filled regions allow you to choose from a variety of hatch patterns to fill the region. They are commonly used in details to show things such as rigid insulation, concrete, plywood, and other material types defined by a specific pattern.

Masking Regions Masking regions, on the other hand, come in only one flavor. They are white boxes with or without discernible border lines. Masking regions are typically used to hide, or mask, from a view certain content that you don’t want shown or printed.

Component

The Component drop-down menu lets you insert a wide array of component types into your model. These are 2D detail components, or collections of detail components in the case of a repeating detail. Detail components are schedulable, taggable, keynotable 2D families that allow an additional level of standardization in your model.

Detail components are 2D families that can be made into parametric content. In other words, a full range of shapes can be available in a single detail component. Because they are families, they can also be stored in your office library and shared easily across projects.

To add a detail component to your drawing, follow these steps:

1. Select Detail Component from the Component drop-down list located on the Annotate tab.
2. Use the Type Selector to choose from detail components that are already inserted into the model.

If you don’t see a detail component you want to insert in the Type Selector, try this:

1. Click the Load Family button on the Modify | Place Detail Component tab.
2. Insert one from the default library or your office library.

Arranging Elements in the View

Knowing how to change arrangement is an important part of detailing so you don’t have to draw everything in exact sequence. Arrangement allows you to change the position of an element, such as a line or a detail component, relative to another element. Much like layers in Adobe Photoshop or arrangement in Microsoft PowerPoint, Revit Architecture allows you to place some elements visually in front of or behind others. Once an element or group of elements is selected and the Modify menu appears, on the far right you’ll see the Arrange panel.

From here, you can choose among four options of arrangement:

• Bring to Front
• Bring Forward
• Send to Back
• Send Backward

Bring Forward and Send Backward are available selections using the drop-down arrows next to Bring to Front and Send to Back, respectively. Using these tools will help you get your layers in the proper order.

Repeating Detail Component

Repeating elements are common in architectural projects. Masonry, metal decking, and wall studs are some common elements that repeat at a regular interval. The Revit Architecture tool you use to create and manage these types of elements is called the repeating detail component, and it’s located in the Component flyout on the Annotate tab.

This tool lets you place a detail component in a linear configuration in which the detail component repeats at a set interval; you draw a line that then becomes your repeating component. The default Revit Architecture repeating detail is common brick repeating in section. Creating elements like this not only lets you later tag and keynote the materials but also allows you some easy flexibility over arraying these elements manually.

Before you create a repeating detail component, let’s examine one such component’s properties. Select Repeating Detail Component and choose Edit Type from the Properties palette to open the Type Properties dialog box shown in Figure 11.3.

Here’s a brief description of what each of these settings does:

Detail This setting lets you select the detail component to be repeated.

Layout This option offers four modes:

1. Fixed Distance This represents the path drawn between the start and end points when the repeating detail is the length at which your component repeats at a distance of the value set for Spacing.
2. Fixed Number This mode sets the number of times a component repeats itself in the space between the start and end points (the length of the path).
3. Fill Available Space Regardless of the value you choose for Spacing, the detail component is repeated on the path using its actual width as the Spacing value.
4. Maximum Spacing The detail component is repeated using the set spacing, and the number of repeated components is set so that only complete components are drawn. Revit Architecture creates as many copies of the component as will fit on the path.

Inside This option adjusts the start point and end point of the detail components that make up the repeating detail. Deselecting this option puts only full components between start and end points rather than partial components. As an example, if you have a run of brick, selecting the Inside check box will make a partial brick at the end of the run. If you want to see only full bricks (none that would be cut), deselect the option.

1. Spacing This option is active only when Fixed Distance or Maximum Spacing is selected as the method of repetition. It represents the distance at which you want the repeating detail component to repeat. It doesn’t have to be the actual width of the detail component.
2. Detail Rotation This option allows you to rotate the detail component in the repeating detail.

Insulation

The best way to think of the Insulation tool is as a premade repeating detail. You’ll find this tool on the Detail panel of the Annotate tab.

Selecting this tool allows you to draw a line of batt insulation, much like a repeating detail. You can modify the width of the inserted insulation from the Options Bar (Figure 11.4). The insulation is inserted using the centerline of the line of batt, and you can shorten, lengthen, or modify the width either before or after inserting it into your view.

Detail Groups

Detail groups are similar to blocks in AutoCAD and are a quick alternative to creating detail component families. Like modeled groups, these are a collection of graphics though contain detail lines, detail components, or any collection of 2D elements. While you will probably want to use a detail component to create something like blocking, if you plan to have the same blocking and flashing conditions in multiple locations, you can then group the flashing and blocking together and quickly replicate these pieces in other details. Like blocks in AutoCAD, manipulating one of the detail groups changes all of them consistently throughout the model.

There are two ways to make a detail group. Probably the most common is to create the detail elements you’d like to group and then select all of them. When you do, the Modify context tab appears:

1. Click the Create Group button under the Create panel to make the group.
2. When you’re prompted for a group name, name the group something clear like Window Head Flashing or Office Layout 1 rather than accepting the default name Revit Architecture wants to give it (Group 1, Group 2, and so on).

The other way to create a detail group is as follows:

1. Go to the Annotate tab’s Detail Group flyout and click the Create Group button. You are prompted for the type of group (Model or Detail) as well as a group name.
   
   1. Model Model groups contain model elements (elements that are visible in more than one view). Choose Model if you want elements to be visible in more than one view or if they are 3D geometry.
   2. Detail Detail groups contain 2D detail elements and are visible only within the view you’re in (you can copy or use them in other views). Choose Detail if you’re creating a group containing detail lines or other annotations and 2D elements.
   3. When you select the elements, you’re taken into Edit Group mode. A yellow transparency is overlaid on top of the view, and elements in the view appear gray.
2. To add elements to the group, click Add and then choose your selected items (Figure 11.5).

   

   1. You can also remove unwanted elements.
3. When you’ve finished, click the green Finish check mark, and your group will be complete.

You can place any group you’ve already made using the Place Detail Group button on the Annotate tab’s Detail Group flyout. Groups insert like families, and you can choose the group you’d like to insert from the Type Selector on the Properties palette.

Linework

Although not part of the Annotate tab, the Linework tool is an important feature in creating good lineweights for your details. Revit Architecture does a lot to help manage your views and lineweights automatically, but it doesn’t cover all the requirements all the time. Sometimes the default Revit Architecture lines are heavier or thinner than you desire for your details. This is where the Linework tool comes in handy; it allows you to modify existing lines in a view-specific context.

To use the Linework tool, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Modify tab’s View panel and click the Linework button, or use the keyboard shortcut LW.
   1. You will see the familiar Line Style Type Selector panel on the right of the tab.
2. Select a line style from the list.
3. Simply choose the style you want a particular line to look like; then select that line in the view.

The lines you pick can be almost anything: cut lines of model elements, families, components, and so on. Selecting the line or boundary of an element changes the line style from whatever it was to whatever you have chosen from the Type Selector. Figure 11.6 shows a before and after of the sill detail with the linework touched up.

You can also choose to visually remove lines using this tool. Doing so leaves the line in the view or as a part of the 3D element but makes it effectively invisible for the sake of the view. Do this by selecting the <Invisible Lines> line type. This is a good alternative to covering unwanted linework with a masking region.

Exercise 11.1: Enhance a Detail with Regions

Enhancing your model with 2D linework and components is an efficient way to add more information to specific views without modeling everything. It is not necessary to model flashing, blocking, or other elements shown only in large-scale format detail drawings. Using detail lines, regions, and detail components, you can enhance your views to show additional design intent.

From the book’s web page (www.sybex.com/go/revit2015essentials), download the c11-ex11.1start.rvt file and open the view Exterior Detl, Typ, which you’ll find in the Sections (Building Section) node of the Project Browser. In the following exercise, you will create a detail and enhance the detail using filled and masking regions to accurately represent built conditions within a typical window detail:

1. Use the Callout tool on the View tab to create a new detail of the second-floor window sill: Create a new callout, and name it Exterior Window Sill, Typ. The starting view looks like Figure 11.7.

   

2. Click the Filled Region button under the Region flyout on the Annotate tab. Choose <Invisible lines> from the Line Style drop-down on the Modify tab, and create a box bounding the floor slab (Figure 11.8).
   

   

3. Select the top and bottom edges of the bounding box, which should align with the cut planes of the floor, and use the Line Style drop-down to change the lineweight to Medium Lines.
4. Click the Edit Type button in the Properties palette to open the Type Properties dialog box. Because there is no defined region type that is identical to existing materials, you need to make one. Click Duplicate, name the new region type 00 Existing, and click OK.
5. Check to make sure these settings are in the Properties palette:
   1. Fill Pattern: Set this field to Drafting, and choose ANSI31.
   2. Background: Set this to Opaque.
   3. Line Weight: Set this to 1.
   4. Color: Set this to Black
   5. Click OK when you’ve finished.
6. Click the green check mark to complete the sketch. Your finished filled region appears highlighted and slightly transparent.
7. Click off the region to see the finished product. The invisible line on the left doesn’t cover the cut of the wall, and a thinner line remains.
8. Highlight the filled region again and use the Nudge tool (the arrow keys on the keyboard) to move the region over slightly to cover the remainder of the finished wall. The finished region looks like Figure 11.9.

   

9. Choose the Masking Region tool from the Region flyout on the Annotate tab.
10. With Line Style set to Thin Lines, create a box 1″ (25 mm) deep under the window sill, creating a blank space where you will later add some other 2D components, such as blocking. (Figure 11.10).

    

11. Click the green check to complete the sketch. The finished sill looks like Figure 11.11.

    

Upon completion, your detail should resemble the c11-ex11.1end.rvt file, available in the download for this chapter. Save this detail; you’ll return to it again in the next exercise.

Exercise 11.2: Add Detail Components and Detail Lines

The next step is to add some detail components for blocking and trim. From the Chapter 11 downloadable files, open the c11-ex11.2start.rvt file, or continue with your opened file if you’ve completed the previous exercise. Choose Application New Family, and choose Detail Item.rft. When you’re creating detail components, as with any other family, you’ll start with two reference planes crossing in the center of the family. This crossing point is the default insertion point of the family.

The first family, Blocking, is straightforward. You’ll use Masking Region instead of the Lines tool so you have a clean, white box that you can use to layer over and mask other elements you might not want to see.

1. Select the Masking Region tool on the Create tab, and draw a box with the lower-left corner at the origin. The box should be 1″ (25 mm) high and 3″ (75 mm) wide.
2. Click the green check mark to complete the region.
3. On the Create tab, click the Line tool, and draw a line diagonally across the box to denote blocking. The family should look like Figure 11.12.

   

4. Choose Application Save As Family, and name the family 06 Blocking. Place it in a folder with the model.
5. Click the Load Into Project button at the far right on the ribbon to add the family to the model.
   1. If you have more than one project open, make sure you choose either your continued exercise file or the example file for this exercise, c11-ex11.2start.rvt.
6. To add the blocking detail component to your view, return to the Exterior Window Sill, Typ. detail, and click the Detail Component button from the Component flyout button on the Annotate tab.
7. Insert pieces of blocking at the left, right, and center of the sill (Figure 11.13).

   

8. Create a new detail item using steps 1–3 for another detail component representing the baseboard (do not create a diagonal line to denote blocking), and use the dimensions 1″ (25 mm) wide by 6″ (150 mm) high.
9. Name the new family 06 Baseboard.
10. Save the baseboard, and click Load Into Project, selecting the accurate project file if more than one file is open.
11. Navigate to the view Exterior Window Sill, Typ. if it’s not already open, and place the baseboard at the corner of the gypsum board and finished floor. The detail looks like Figure 11.14.

    

    1. Sometimes, it is easier and more effective to simply use detail lines to create the necessary features in a detail. For these purposes, you want to create some flashing at the window sill.
12. Choose the Detail Line tool, and select Medium Lines from the Line Style drop-down menu.
13. Using the Detail Line tool, draw in some flashing for the window sill (Figure 11.15).

    

Compare your finished detail with the c11-ex11.2end.rvt file, available in the download from the book’s web page. You’ll return to this detail again for the next exercise.

Exercise 11.3: Create a Repeating Detail Component

In the following exercise, you will create a custom repeating detail for the sill detail you’ve been working on. The exterior of the building is terracotta brick and will have visible joint work every 8″ (200 mm). From the Chapter 11 downloadable files, open the c11-ex11.3start.rvt file, or continue with your opened file if you’ve completed the previous exercise. Follow these steps:

1. Select a new Detail Component family again. Choose Application New Family, and choose Detail Item.rft from the list.
2. Create a masonry joint 6″ (150 mm) long and 3⁄8″ (10 mm) high with a strike on one of the short ends (Figure 11.16) using a filled region with no hatch pattern.

   

3. Save the family as 04 Grout, and load it into the project, selecting the correct open project file if more than one file is open.
4. Click the Esc button to clear the active command. Back in the project file, go to the Annotate tab’s Detail panel, open the Component flyout, and choose the Repeating Detail Component tool.
5. Choose Edit Type from the Properties palette, and then click the Duplicate button in the Type Properties dialog.
6. Name the new type 04 Terracotta Grout, and click OK.
7. Change the properties of this new type to reflect the detail component you just created and its spacing. Change only the following fields:
   1. Detail: Set this field to 04 Grout, the family you just created.
   2. Spacing: Set this value to 8″ (200 mm).
8. The Type Properties dialog box looks like Figure 11.17. Click OK when you’ve finished.

   

9. With the Repeating Detail command still active, draw a line all the way up the left edge of the exterior wall, starting at the base of the view, placing the new joint over the terracotta exterior.
10. Place one of the joints directly below the window sill, by using the Nudge tool to shift the detail into the right location. This appears on top of the flashing you drew earlier, so you’ll want to move the flashing to the front.
11. Select the flashing detail line, and choose Bring To Front from the Arrange panel. The completed detail looks like Figure 11.18.

    

Although this detail needs annotations before you can think about placing it onto a sheet, you can begin to see how you have used the 3D geometry of the model and were able to quickly add embellishment to it in order to create a working project detail. Compare your finished detail with the c11-ex11.3end.rvt file, available in the download from the book’s web page. You’ll return to this detail again for the next exercise.