Easy Revit Cabinet Crown Molding

Placing crown molding at the top of cabinetry is very common in residential design and can be easy to do in Revit.  Ideally, I would like to use a sweep with a crown molding profile, but Revit utilizes sweeps only for walls when not in the family editor.  The trick to making this an easy process for the user is to create a specialty wall that has the desired sweep profile built into it.  This allows you draw the “wall” to follow the front edge of the cabinetry at the desired elevation for the crown molding.

The following image shows the resultant crown molding.

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Revit 2020 Family Offset Parameter

With each release of software, there seems to be little things that change, but are either not documented as a change or the documentation on being a change is buried and difficult to locate.  In Revit 2020, there are some changes in the built-in parameters for families when they are placed in a project file.  These changes can come into play when using automation, such as Dynamo.  While they may or may not have much impact on your particular usage of Revit, it is important information of which to be aware.

Space Name Update to Room Name

Within Revit, it is standard procedure for architects to use “Rooms” and engineers to use “Spaces” to delineate areas of the building.  This is due to how Revit utilizes each of these 2 categories of items, so each have their place.  An issue with this procedure is that Spaces and Rooms for the same area should have the same name, but this does not happen automatically.  This can cause problems with consistency between the architect’s plans and the engineer’s plans.

Since the 2017 version, Revit has given us a tool to help keep Room names and Space names consistent.  Prior to 2017, we had to rely on either naming the Spaces manually or utilizing one of the 3rd party tools on the market.  With this command, we can update all of the Spaces in the entire model to be the same as a Room that is in the same bounded area (if there is a Room element there.)  Autodesk slipped this command into the menu system and I don’t remember them promoting it, but it is a fantastic tool for engineers!  It can save hours of work trying to get Room and Space Names consistent.

Revit Electrical Panel Load Calculation Issues

I was recently exposed to an issue with electrical panel loads that illustrated what I feel are unique characteristics of how Revit circuit loads and Load Classifications affect the values that you see on the electrical panel schedule.  If everything is utilized in Revit exactly as Revit is designed and intended, everything works fine.  However, that rarely happens.  Engineering firms create and customize families, and change or set Load Classifications which can impact the proper loading calculations.

Many companies have electrical panel schedules which display the Loads Summary at the bottom of the panel.  This summary section separates each Load Classification into its own line so that you can see how much Connected Load exists for each different type of Load Classification and the Estimated Demand for each Load Classification.  Those load values are then displayed as the Total Connected Load and the Total Demand Load that should include everything on the panel.  The Total Connected Load is then displayed on a Switchboard panel schedule from which that panel is served.  There are many different variations of how this information is displayed, but the general process is the same.  Subpanels may also be involved, but the same issues exist with those loads.

In reviewing the issue, there were 2 different problems that were manifested in the panel loading.  This article is an attempt to describe those 2 problems to help others understand what may be happening when load numbers don’t add up.  I recommend everyone read the Autodesk Knowledge Network’s explanation of how Load Calculations are supposed to work.  Read it at About Load Calculations.

Components for AutoCAD Details

As a consultant and trainer, I work with many people that are currently working with AutoCAD or transitioning to Revit.  I am constantly amazed at the number of architectural users of AutoCAD that are not aware of detail components within AutoCAD Architecture.  These components can be an important part of drafting the many details that are part of an architectural design office.  Over the years, I have spent many hours drafting details for construction documents and I think of the advantages of having pre-made components available to me for detailing.

Stick a Pin in It

When a project team collaborates on a building project using Revit, it is very important that all team members maintain consistency between the different models.  One of the important aspects of consistency is to ensure that everyone is designing their building components to the same coordinate relationship as the other team members.  Team members will link Revit project files from other team members into their file via various positioning methods.  Correct positioning is important and maintaining that positioning is even more important.  It can create havoc in a project when a linked model file gets moved and building components start getting placed in positions not consistent with the linked model’s original location.

The first thing to do after linking a Revit project file into another file is to:  PIN IT.

New vs Existing Display in Revit

In the building design process, remodels and additions are more common than just constructing a new building.  Therefore, you will commonly have existing modeled graphical objects shown in the same view as objects that are constructed new during in the project.  When this occurs in an Autodesk Revit project, you have choices on how the new and existing information is graphically represented.

There are two primary methods for showing both existing and new objects in the same view.  Both methods show the same information, but show them different graphically.

Understanding the Autodesk Content Browser – Part 6

This is Part 6 and is the final part of a multi-part series on the Autodesk Content Browser.  This article will address how to update palettes that have been shared from the Content Browser.

Part 1 of the series addresses why you would want to use the Content Browser and how to get to it. Read it here.

Part 2 of the series addresses how the Content Browser is organized. Read it here.

Part 3 of the series addresses the library to which the Content Browser will look.  Read it here.

Part 4 of the series addresses adding a catalog to the library and how to make catalogs available to users.  Read it here.

Part 5 of the series addresses how to add tools and tool palettes to the Content Browser.  Read it here.

As changes are made to tools or tool palettes in the Content Browser, you want the users to see those changes on the tool palettes inside their AutoCAD Architecture on their computer.

Understanding the Autodesk Content Browser – Part 5

This is Part 5 of a multi-part series on the Autodesk Content Browser.  This article will address how to add tools and tool palettes to the Content Browser.

Part 1 of the series addresses why you would want to use the Content Browser and how to get to it. Read it here.

Part 2 of the series addresses how the Content Browser is organized. Read it here.

Part 3 of the series addresses the library to which the Content Browser will look.  Read it here.

Part 4 of the series addresses adding a catalog to the library and how to make catalogs available to users.  Read it here.

The most important part of using the Content Browser is having appropriate tools and tool palettes contained within it.  That is where the true power of the content browser comes into play as it gives accessibility to those tools deemed important to be shared with others.

Understanding the Autodesk Content Browser – Part 4

This is Part 4 of a multi-part series on the Autodesk Content Browser.  This article will address adding a Catalog to the Library and how to make Catalogs available to users.

Part 1 of the series addresses why you would want to use the Content Browser and how to get to it. Read it here.

Part 2 of the series addresses how the Content Browser is organized. Read it here.

Part 3 of the series addresses the library to which the Content Browser will look.  Read it here.

Understanding the Autodesk Content Browser – Part 3

This is Part 3 of a multi-part series on the Autodesk Content Browser.  This article will address establishing the library to which the Content Browser will look.

Part 1 of the series addresses why you would want to use the Content Browser and how to get to it. Read it here.

Part 2 of the series addresses how the Content Browser is organized. Read it here.

Understanding the Autodesk Content Browser – Part 2

This is Part 2 of a multi-part series on the Autodesk Content Browser.  This article will address how it is organized.

Part 1 of the series addresses why you would want to use the Content Browser and how to get to it. Read it here.