Chapter 12 • Detailing 594 FIGURE 12.15 Placing the Bricks-Top : Standard - 3/8″ joint detail component Well, the soldier course is in place, but that fat line weight is horrendous! It would be nice if everything that came out of the Revit box looked nice and met our specifications, but alas, that is not the case. It is time to modify this compo- nent to make it look presentable. Modifying a Detail Component Right about now is when every CAD/BIM manager around the globe raises an eyebrow—for good reason. Revit allows you to modify a component by actually opening the file! But don’t worry; you have to issue a Save As to save the detail. If even this is a concern, we will address proven BIM management methods in the last chapter (Chapter 23) of this book. For now, just follow along, and we will talk about management later. The objective of the following procedure is to create a texture on the brick detail and to use a line weight that the user can control in the model. 1. If you still have a command running, click the Modify button to the left of the Ribbon, or press the Esc key. 2. Select the Bricks-Top family that you just placed. Drafting on Top of the Detail 595 3. On the Modify | Detail Items tab, click the Edit Family button, as shown near the top of Figure 12.16. 4. The next dialog may ask you if you want to open this file to edit it. Click Yes if you get the message. FIGURE 12.16 Click Yes to open Bricks-Top for editing after selecting the Bricks-Top family. The detail component family is now open. It is time to operate, Doctor. The next set of procedures will focus on modifying the linework of the brick and adding what is called a filled region. Modifying Filled Regions A filled region is similar in nature to a masking region in that you proceed in apply- ing both in the same manner. A filled region, however, contains a hatch pattern that is visible when the region is completed. This is how we hatch in Revit. It takes the place of the conventional hatch command found in AutoCAD and MicroStation. The objective of the next procedure is to modify the filled region that comprises the brick. We will also use the region’s outline to define the perimeter and the tex- ture of the brick itself. 1. Select one of the heavy lines that comprise the outline of the brick, as shown in Figure 12.17. Revit will indicate that this is a filled region, Chapter 12 • Detailing 596 as revealed in the tooltip that appears when you hover your pointer over one of the boundaries. 2. On the Mode panel of the Modify | Detail Items tab, click the Edit Boundary button, as shown in Figure 12.17. FIGURE 12.17 Click the Edit Boundary button on the Mode panel after selecting the filled region. 3. Select all four lines that make up the brick (the long horizontal lines) and delete them, as shown in Figure 12.18. FIGURE 12.18 Deleting the four lines NOTE As you may notice, manipulating lines is almost identical to AutoCAD in terms of the process in changing a line’s layer. You select the line, then change that line’s line type in the Type Selector. Drafting on Top of the Detail 597 4. On the Draw panel, select the Line button, as shown near the top of Figure 12.19. 5. In the Properties dialog, select Detail Items from the Type Selector. 6. Draw a series of jagged lines, as shown in Figure 12.19. 7. Do the same for the bottom. 8. Draw the right and the left straight lines back in. FIGURE 12.19 Adding a texture to the brick family 9. After you finish sketching the texture in, click the Edit Type button in the Properties dialog. 10. Change the background from Opaque to Transparent, as shown in Figure 12.20. 11. Click OK. 12. Click Finish Edit Mode. 13. Select the mortar joint to the left of the brick, as shown in Figure 12.21. 14. On the Mode panel, click the Edit Boundary button. 15. Select the arced lines. Chapter 12 • Detailing 598 16. Place them on Detail Items, as shown in Figure 12.21. 17. On the Mode panel, click Finish Edit Mode, and your brick should look like Figure 12.22. FIGURE 12.20 Changing the background to Transparent NOTE By putting all of the lines on the Detail Items line type, you are telling Revit that you do not want to specify a line weight here, but rather let the user specify the line weight by changing the Detail Items in the Object Properties dialog after you load the detail back into the model. FIGURE 12.21 Editing the mortar joint filled region and then placing the lines on Detail Items Drafting on Top of the Detail 599 FIGURE 12.22 The brick is looking the way you want it to. The next step is to add shading underneath the brick pattern. To do this, we will create an entirely new filled region and add it to the brick by tracing over the existing filled region. 1. On the Detail panel of the Home tab, click the Filled Region button, as shown in Figure 12.23. FIGURE 12.23 Click the Filled Region button on the Detail panel. 2. In the Properties dialog, click the Edit Type button and change the Type to Solid Fill - Black, as shown in Figure 12.24. FIGURE 12.24 Changing the region to Solid Fill - Black 3. Click Duplicate. 4. Call the new region Light Shade. 5. Click OK. 6. In the Fill Pattern row, click into the Solid Fill [Drafting] field. You will see a […] button in the right corner. Click it. Chapter 12 • Detailing 600 7. Notice that you can select any hatch pattern you wish. Make sure Solid Fill is selected, as shown in Figure 12.25, and click OK. FIGURE 12.25 Select the Solid Fill pattern and click OK. 8. In the Color row, you will see a button that is labeled Black. It also has a little black box icon included. Pick the black box. 9. In the Color dialog, click the Gray tile, as shown in Figure 12.26. (The color is actually RGB 192-192-192.) FIGURE 12.26 Selecting the gray color (RGB 192-192-192) 10. Click OK twice. 11. On the Draw panel, click the Pick Lines button, as shown in Figure 12.27. Drafting on Top of the Detail 601 12. Hover your cursor over one of the jagged lines of the brick face, and press the Tab key. 13. When you press Tab, all of the lines you are trying to trace are high- lighted. After the lines are all highlighted, pick any one of the lines, as shown in Figure 12.27. Revit will draw the region based on these points. 14. On the Mode panel, click Finish Edit Mode, and then press Esc. Your brick should look like Figure 12.28. 15. When the Filled Region is in place, select it by clicking on the boundary. 16. On the Arrange panel, click the Send To Back button, as shown near the top of Figure 12.29. FIGURE 12.27 Press Tab to select the chain of lines, as shown here. FIGURE 12.28 The solid pattern will cover the previous pattern. We will fix this in a moment. O You may find that nothing happens when you press Tab. If this is the case, click into the view in any location. Revit just needs to focus on the view. You can also hold down the wheel button on your mouse to pan a little. This will also switch the focus from the Options bar to the view window. Chapter 12 • Detailing 602 FIGURE 12.29 Sending the light shade to the back FIGURE 12.30 The finished brick 17. Press Esc. Your brick should now look like Figure 12.30. 18. Click the Save icon. 19. Save the file to a separate location other than the root folder. The file is also available at the book’s web page: www.sybex.com/go/ revit2011ner. From there you can browse to Chapter 12 and find the file called Bricks-Top.rfa. 20. On the Family Editor panel on the Create tab, click the Load Into Project button, as shown in Figure 12.31. 21. Click to overwrite the family, but do not check Overwrite Parameter Values Of Existing Types. Drafting on Top of the Detail 603 Wh e r e do i Wan t t o sa v e th i s ? Notice that when you clicked the Save icon, Revit did not just save over the origi- nal file. You are forced to do a Save As. You have one of three choices here: If the file is not write-protected and you have administrative access to the original folder, you can simply save over the original file. (Do I need to mention that you had better make sure this is what you want to do?) Save the file as a different file altogether in either the same directory or somewhere else. Do not save the file at all and load it into your project. Revit will still update the project with the changes even if you did not save the family file. You can even close out of the family file and not save any changes. Your model will still hold the changes. If you choose to edit the file at a later date, you can select the family in the model and click Edit Family. Revit will open a copy of the modified family. 22. Go back to your model to verify that your detail looks like Figure 12.32. 23. Save the model. FIGURE 12.31 The Load Into Project button The next group of procedures focuses on editing the bricks used in the repeat- ing detail. We certainly want the same face texture, and it would be nice if there was a mortar joint between them. . Gray tile, as shown in Figure 12.26. (The color is actually RGB 19 2-1 9 2-1 92.) FIGURE 12.26 Selecting the gray color (RGB 19 2-1 9 2-1 92) 10. Click OK twice. 11. On the Draw panel, click the Pick. do not check Overwrite Parameter Values Of Existing Types. Drafting on Top of the Detail 603 Wh e r e do i Wan t t o sa v e th i s ? Notice that when you clicked the Save icon, Revit did not. the message. FIGURE 12.16 Click Yes to open Bricks-Top for editing after selecting the Bricks-Top family. The detail component family is now open. It is time to operate, Doctor. The next set