What’s New in Revit
I met a genius on the train
today
about 6 years old,
he sat beside me
and as the train
ran down along the coast
we came to the ocean
and then he looked at me
and said,
it's not pretty.
it was the first time I'd
realized
that.
© Charles Bukowski
Revitdamus, seer-of-seers, sees a new feature or two in Revit 2015. Add in a typical amount of tool fixes. Fade to black. Thus, Revitdamus will dispense with editorializing and just list them out...until l'extrémité. The following content ( up to “Final Notes”) is © and written by Autodesk.
Image 1: Sketchy Lines in action
Architectural Enhancements
Sketchy Lines
Apply a hand-sketched graphic style to the current view, or define the settings in a view template to apply the style to multiple views.
Platform Enhancements
The following enhancements would apply to all editions of the Revit software.
Anti-Aliasing
In the Options dialog, the Use Anti-Aliasing option has been changed to Smooth lines with anti-aliasing, and the functionality has been enhanced to support the Sketchy Lines feature. You now have the ability to enable anti-aliasing for all views in the project or for selected views. Corresponding settings in Revit.ini allow you to predefine these options for users.
Formulas
exp(x)
In formulas, in prior releases the software evaluated exp(x) as 10^x. Starting with this release, the software evaluates exp(x) as e^x.
ln(x)
Starting with this release, you can represent natural logarithm (Logarithm base e) in formulas as ln(x).
Family Browser
The Families node of the Project Browser has been moved to its own dockable window. Use the new Family Browser to explore families loaded in the current project.
Revision Clouds
Use standard draw tools, such as a line or rectangle, to sketch the revision cloud shape. Spacebar flips the arc direction in the cloud shape. Specify the minimum arc length for revisions clouds in a project on the Sheet Issues/Revisions dialog.
Schedules/Material Takeoffs
The following parameters can now be included in a wall schedule or material takeoff:
- Base constraint
- Base offset
- Top constraint
- Top offset
- Unconnected height
You can specify custom text to display for the Grand totals title in the Custom grand total title field on the Sorting/Grouping tab of the Schedule Properties dialog.
Duplicate View Default Name Enhancement
When you duplicate a view, the default name for the copy is <view name> Copy 1. When you duplicate a view as a dependent, the default name for the copy is <view name> - Dependent 1. The copied view has focus in the Project Browser (so you can easily rename the view) and the copy of the view is open in the drawing area.
View References
You can now change the referenced view after a view reference has been created. You can also change the view reference in reference callouts, reference sections, and reference elevations after the reference has been created, as needed.
Trim/Extend Multiple Elements
You can now use a selection box to select multiple elements to trim or extend to a boundary defined by another element. You can also still click to select individual elements to trim or extend.
Add Link from Manage Links Dialog
Using the Add button on the Manage Links dialog, you can now link Revit models and CAD files to the project without having to exit the dialog and select another tool.
Keynoting Settings
This tool is now available on the Annotate tab directly from the Keynote drop-down, rather than from the Tag panel drop-down. The keynote file can be located on a local or remote server. Icons display in the Keynoting Settings dialog to indicate whether the keynote table is loaded or needs to be reloaded.
Family Parameter Order Adjustment
When creating or modifying a family you can now control the order of the family parameters in the Family Types dialog. In the family editor, open a family, and open the Family Types dialog. Select a parameter and use the Move Up and Move Down buttons to change the order of the parameters within a group. This parameter order will be maintained in the Properties palette (instance parameters) and Type Properties dialog (type parameters) for the family when it is loaded into a project.
Tag Leader Elbow Behavior
When you move a tagged element or drag the tag head, the tag leader and elbow adjustment behavior is now consistent with that of text leaders. When you move or adjust the tag, the portion of the leader from the element to the elbow is flexible, while the portion from the elbow to the tag remains fixed.
Temporary View Properties
In temporary view mode (a temporary view template is applied), you can now modify any instance property for the view, not only the properties included in templates and visibility/graphics overrides.
Pinned Element Behavior
To avoid cases where you could accidentally delete elements without realizing they are pinned, the warning messages when you attempt to delete pinned elements have been updated. Instead of permitting the deletion and providing a warning, Revit will now warn you that the element is pinned and instruct you to unpin the element before using Delete. If you select multiple elements (some pinned and some not pinned) for deletion, Revit deletes the elements that are not pinned and warns that you must unpin the pinned elements before deleting them.
Pinned Objects’ Pin Visibility
To support a simplified view, Revit will display only up to 250 pins in a view. If more than 250 pins would be visible, then no pins display for that view. Even when the pins do not display, the commands related to pinning still function as expected.
View Title Family Enhancement
When creating a label for a view title family, you can now use any parameters from the View category; you are not limited to parameters in the Viewport category. You can also add shared parameters to the label if you want to display custom information.
Attached Detail Groups
Attached detail groups now behave as clipped instead of pinned. When you select an attached detail group, a paper clip icon displays. Because these groups are not pinned, they can be deleted and they can be selected even if the "Select pinned elements" option is turned off. The only case where the attached group cannot be selected when "Select pinned elements" is turned off is if the model group that the detail group is attached to is pinned.
Performance Enhancements
Faster Drawing of Elements in Views
Revit now consolidates the drawing process such that many elements are drawn in larger batches to improve performance. For example, when drawing 100 walls, Revit would previously require 200 drawing calls. In this release, Revit can now draw the same walls using only two drawing calls. As a result, views are redrawn more quickly, making view navigation faster.
Faster Selection Graphics
When you select a large number of elements in the model, Revit uses a new process for displaying the selected elements so that software performance is improved.
Structural Engineering Enhancements
The following enhancements apply to Autodesk® Revit® Structure and Autodesk® Revit®.
Reinforcement
You can now add rebar to concrete parts generated from surface elements such as walls and floors. Like whole concrete elements, concrete parts possess rebar cover and will host rebar, rebar sets, area reinforcement, path reinforcement, and fabric reinforcement.
You can now place single fabric reinforcement sheets to foundation slabs, structural walls, and structural floors. The sheet will respect and snap to cover, host openings, and existing lap-splicing. You can now reduce a structural fabric area to individual fabric reinforcement sheets.
Rebar and fabric reinforcement now have number sequencing that match like types, size, and shapes. The numbers can be scheduled and applied to tags in documentation.
You can now assign rebar, rebar sets, and fabric sheets into different numbering partitions to better facilitate logical design, fabrication, delivery, and placement at a site. Rebar numbering and partitioning modifications are available for specific presentation and documentation needs.
Structural Analytical Model
Improvements to the analytical model including the Local Coordinate System (LCS) for Columns is now consistent with the LCS for beams and braces, where:
x = longitudinal axis
y = transversal, section - horizontal, strong axis
z = transversal, section - vertical, weak axis
Analytical Link Improvements
Analytical links will now be created in any direction, including vertically. The tolerance for analytical links only calculates between analytical elements. The physical model is disregarded. The tolerance for analytical links is calculated as a distance in 3D space, not along a global axis.
Hosted loads can now be oriented to the Project or the Host Local Coordinate System.
Boundary Conditions can now be oriented to the Project or the Host Local Coordinate System.
Mechanical, Electrical, and Piping Engineering Enhancements
Improved Performance in MEP Views
The underlying technologies used to display MEP elements in views have been enhanced, improving performance when opening and manipulating views that involve large numbers of MEP elements.
Improved Behavior
When a duct or pipe has multiple sections, tags on the element will show the actual values for parameters that display as Multiple Values.
When you copy an MEP element that is assigned to a system, the system type of the copied element is set to Undefined.
When you import point clouds into a project and open an MEP discipline view, the point clouds now display as model elements instead of underlay elements. As a result, the point cloud-based elements do not obscure the MEP elements in the view.
Final Notes
Neither Revitdamus, AUGIWORLD, nor Autodesk can at this time promise that these features will be implemented or that there won’t be more or even less of them...that’s the nature of seeing the future.
There is much looking forward in the early spring by many, beyond the usual fare. In BIM many of us ponder what’s new in Revit. This year those expectations are no different...
But oh, dear reader, I fear there is a genius on the train and they are pondering this year’s What’s New in Revit.
