Revit 2020 for Architecture: No Experience Required

The updated 2020 edition of the popular step-by-step tutorial for Revit Architecture

Shortly after its first publication, Autodesk Revit for Architecture: No Experience Required quickly became the market-leading, real-world guide for learning and building with Revit—the powerful and sophisticated Building Information Modeling (BIM) software used by professionals the world over. Fully updated for Revit 2020, this popular, user-friendly book helps you learn the Revit interface, understand the fundamental concepts and features of the software, and design, document, and present a 3D BIM project. A continuous, step-by-step tutorial guides you through every phase of the project: from placing walls, doors, windows, structural elements, dimensions, and text, to generating documentation, advanced detailing, site grading, construction scheduling, material takeoffs, and much more.

Updated and revised to include new content, this invaluable guide covers all the fundamental skills every Revit user needs. Whether used as a complete, start-to-finish lesson or as a quick-reference for unfamiliar tasks, this book will help you:

• Learn each phase of designing, documenting, and presenting a four-story office building using a simple yet engaging continuous tutorial
• Follow the tutorial sequentially or jump to any chapter by downloading the project files from the Sybex website
• Use the start-to-finish tutorial project as a reference for your own real-world projects and to develop a powerful Revit skillset
• Gain thorough knowledge of Revit’s essential concepts and features to make the move from 2D drafting to 3D building information modeling
• Get up to speed with advanced features, including new coverage of advanced walls, families, sites, topography, and more

Autodesk Revit 2020 for Architecture No Experience Required is the go-to guide for both professionals and students seeking to learn Revit's essential functions quickly and effectively, to understand real workplace projects, processes, and workflows, and to set the stage for continuing on to more advanced skills.

Introduction xxi

Chapter 1 The Autodesk Revit World 1

The Revit Interface 2

The Revit Workflow 4

Using the Ribbon 6

The View Window 12

Object Selection 16

Modifying and Mirroring 17

Building on Existing Geometry 20

View Control and Object Display 23

The Project Browser 30

Windows 33

File Types and Families 34

System and Hosted Families (.rfa) 37

Using Revit Template Files (.rte) 40

Using Revit Family Files (.rft) 42

Are You Experienced? 42

Chapter 2 Creating a Model 45

Placing Walls 45

Adding Exterior Walls 45

Using Reference Planes 46

Adding More Walls 49

Adding Interior Walls 59

Using Temporary Dimensions to Gain Control of Your Model 61

Editing Wall Joins 81

Displaying Wall Joins 84

Disallowing Wall Joins 85

Adding Doors and Windows 91

Adding Doors 91

Placing Openings in Your Walls 98

Adding Windows 101

Are You Experienced? 107

Chapter 3 Creating Views 109

Creating Levels 109

Adding Levels 112

Understanding the Composition of a Level 115

Making Other Level Adjustments 119

Creating and Modifying Building Sections 126

Adding a Building Section 126

Making Building Modifications in a Section 132

Adding Wall Sections 139

Creating Detail Sections 142

Using Crop Regions 143

Splitting a Section Segment 146

Creating Callouts 148

Creating and Modifying a Camera View 155

Adding a Camera View 155

Modifying the Camera 158

Creating an Elevation 159

Interior Elevations 163

Elevation Properties 165

Annotation Properties 168

Are You Experienced? 170

Chapter 4 Working with the Autodesk Revit Tools 171

The Basic Edit Commands 172

The Move Command 172

The Copy Command 174

The Rotate Command 177

The Array Command 181

Radial Array 182

Linear Array 185

The Mirror Command 191

The Align Tool 194

Locking an Alignment 200

The Split Element Command 201

The Trim Command 208

The Offset Command 210

Copy/Paste 212

Creating the Plans 215

Are You Experienced? 220

Chapter 5 Dimensioning and Annotating 223

Dimensioning 223

Aligned Dimensions 224

Linear Dimensions 235

Angular Dimensions 237

Radial Dimensions 239

Arc Length Dimensions 241

Using Dimensions as a Layout Tool 243

Constraining the Model 248

Using Dimensions to Move Objects 251

Using Dimension Text Overrides 254

Placing Text and Annotations 259

Adding Leader Text 262

Changing the Leader Type 263

Modifying the Text Placement 264

Are You Experienced? 266

Chapter 6 Floors 267

Placing a Floor Slab 267

Creating the Slab 268

Sketching the Slab 273

Building a Floor by Layers 283

Adding Materials 283

Adding a Layer 284

Splitting the Floor Materials 296

Adding an Alternate Material 297

Splitting and Painting 301

Pitching a Floor to a Floor Drain 306

Creating Shaft Openings 311

Are You Experienced? 318

Chapter 7 Roof s 321

Placing Roofs by Footprint 321

Flat Roofs by Footprint 322

Pitched Roofs by Footprint 335

Creating a Sloping Roof 347

Creating Roofs by Extrusion 354

Adding a Roof Dormer 363

Are You Experienced? 369

Chapter 8 Structural Items 371

Adding Structural Grids 371

Placing a Grid 372

Adding Structural Columns 386

Using Structural Framing 390

Adding a Beam System 397

Adding Bracing 400

Understanding Foundation Systems 406

Adding Structural Footings 409

Structural Slabs 412

Piers and Spread Footings 416

Using Structural Views 420

Are You Experienced? 424

Chapter 9 Ceilings and Interiors 425

Creating Ceilings 425

Modifying Ceiling Grids 430

Setting Ceiling Element Properties 432

Creating a Plan Region 436

Creating a Custom Ceiling 438

Creating Ceiling Openings and Soffits 443

Creating a Ceiling Opening 443

Creating a Soffit 446

Adding Light Fixtures to Ceilings 454

Adding Interior Design 457

Adding Plumbing Fixtures and Furniture 458

Adding Parabolic Troffers 464

Adding Casework and Furniture 468

Adding Alternate Floor Materials 478

Separating the Floor 479

Creating a Tile Material 481

Are You Experienced? 483

Chapter 10 Stairs, Ramps, and Railings 485

Creating Stairs by Using the Rise/Run Function 485

Modifying Boundaries 490

Configuring Railings 493

Creating a Winding Staircase 509

Stair and Railing Families 524

Creating a Custom Railing System 527

Creating Custom Stairs 532

Adding a Custom Landing 537

Adding a Gooseneck 539

Adding Ramps 548

Are You Experienced? 555

Chapter 11 Detailing 557

Working with Line Weights 557

Drafting on Top of the Detail 561

Using Predefined Detail Components 561

Materials 563

Repeating Details 565

Modifying a Detail Component 569

Modifying Filled Regions 570

Specifying Drafting Line Weights 587

Adding Notes 590

Adding Textual Notations 590

Creating Blank Drafting Views 592

Creating a Detail Group 601

Adding a Section to Another View 607

Importing AutoCAD Files into a Drafting View 609

Adding 2D and 3D Lines to the Model 610

Are You Experienced? 612

Chapter 12 Creating Specif ic Views and Match Lines 615

Duplicating Views 615

Creating Dependent Views 618

Adjusting the Crop Regions 620

Adjusting the Annotation Crop Region 622

Adding Match Lines 624

Match-Line Appearance 625

Adding View References to a Match Line 626

Using View Templates 628

Are You Experienced? 630

Chapter 13 Creating Sheets and Printing 631

Creating and Populating Sheets 631

Sheet Organization 634

Modifying a Viewport 639

Viewport Properties 645

Adding Revisions to a Sheet 646

Addressing Project Information 651

Generating a Cover Sheet 652

Printing from Revit Architecture 659

Are You Experienced? 664

Chapter 14 Creating Rooms and Area Plans 665

Creating Rooms 665

Configuring Properties 671

Placing and Manipulating Room Tags 674

Adding a Room Schedule 676

Adding a Color-Fill Plan 680

Adding Room Separators 681

Creating an Area Plan 684

Are You Experienced? 689

Chapter 15 Advanced Wall Topics 691

Creating Compound Walls 691

Adding Layers to the Compound Wall 692

Adding Wall Sweeps 700

Modifying a Wall’s Profile in Place 706

Manually Adding Host Sweeps 709

Creating Stacked Walls 715

Creating Curtain Walls 719

Adding a Predefined Curtain Wall 720

Adding a Blank Curtain Wall 723

Creating Curtain Grids 726

Are You Experienced? 734

Chapter 16 Schedules and Tags 735

Creating Schedules 735

Adding Fields to a Schedule 736

Sorting and Grouping 739

Controlling Headers 741

Modifying Elements in a Schedule 743

Modifying the Schedule’s Appearance 745

Creating Material Takeoffs 749

Creating a Calculated Value Field 752

Creating Key Legends 759

Adding Legend Components 759

Adding Tags 764

Adding Tags Individually 764

Using the Tag All Command 765

Tagging by Material 768

Using Multi-Category Tags 770

Keynoting 773

Keynoting by Element 774

Are You Experienced? 777

Chapter 17 Rendering and Presentation 779

Creating an Interior Rendering 779

Creating Lighting Groups 787

Creating Walkthroughs 791

Exporting an Animation 796

Creating a Solar Study 798

Are You Experienced? 801

Index 803

Eric Wing lives in Syracuse NY where he is the Director of BIM Services for C&S Companies. Eric is a popular speaker at national events around the country speaking on many BIM-related topics.

Eric has authored several books including Autodesk's official training guide for their BIM solution "Revit" called Revit for Architecture No Experience Required. Eric is also an author for LinkedIn Learning where he has authored around 50 courses on BIM, Revit, AutoCAD MEP and Navisworks.

Eric has truly been a leader in the architecture and engineering industry since the conception of BIM and 3D design, and has specialty skills in BIM coordination, training and development of technical staff along with daily application of these tools on multi-disciplinary projects.

Eric has also taught courses at the Rochester Institute of Technology and Clarkson University on the subjects of Analytical tools for Facility Management, BIM, and Integrated Project Delivery.

Eric is currently an Adjunct Professor at Syracuse University teaching BIM and Advanced BIM at the School of Architecture, and at the school of Engineering.