Chapter 17 • Creating Families 794 FIGURE 17.29 Starting an In-Place family 7. On the Model panel of the Home tab, click the Opening button. 8. Pick the brick wall facing you. 9. Sketch an opening, as shown in Figure 17.30. 10. Click Finish Edit Mode. 11. Go to a 3D view. 12. On the Forms panel of the Home tab, click the Sweep button. FIGURE 17.30 The arched opening Creating an In-Place Family 795 13. On the Sweep panel, click the Pick Path button. 14. Pick the exterior corners of the opening forming the arc and the two straight lines to either side of the opening (see Figure 17.31). 15. Click Finish Edit Mode on the Mode tab. 16. In the Project Browser, go to the Level 1 West floor plan. 17. Click the Select Profile button on the Sweep panel. 18. On the Sweep panel, click the Edit Profile button (see Figure 17.32). 19. Sketch the profile, as shown in Figure 17.32. FIGURE 17.31 Picking the exterior edge for the sweep’s path 20. Click Finish Profile. 21. In the Properties dialog, make sure Sweep is current, and then click the little gray button to the left of the Materials row. 22. Add a parameter called Casing Material. 23. At the bottom of the dialog in the Other category, click the Trajectory Segmentation. 24. Set Maximum Segment Angle to 1. 25. Click OK. 26. Click Finish Sweep. 27. Click Finish Model. 28. Go to a 3D view; your opening should look like Figure 17.33. O When you are pick- ing the lines for the path, you will find that you cannot pick the entire line on either the two sides or the arc. All you need to do is pick any line on the three corners, and then trim them to meet at the corners. Chapter 17 • Creating Families 796 The moral of this story is this: when you have a custom situation within the model that cannot be created using the conventional Revit tools, create an in-place family. You should also make it as flexible as possible, and give the user some choices, such as materials, so anyone can manipulate the family as if Autodesk itself provided it. FIGURE 17.32 Sketching the profile FIGURE 17.33 The finished family Are You Experienced? 797 Are You Experienced? Now you can… create a cove sweep family identify the family template you need to use to start a family create a door family add symbolic lines to a family create an in-place family create sweeps and extrusions create parameters CHAPTER 18 Site and Topography You might be asking yourself if there is a fourth Revit. No. It would be nice if there was a “Revit Civil,” but there isn’t such a thing. So, we are left to our own devices when it comes to adding a site to our model. This is fine, because in many cases Revit is well equipped to take on the challenge. Unfortunately, also in many cases Revit is dependent on AutoCAD or MicroStation to provide a real-case scenario for a site that can be imported (similar to importing a plan or a detail). Fortunately, Revit provides tools to add a topographic sur- face to an imported CAD site. Adding a site within Revit Splitting the surface Creating subregions Adding site components Adding building pads to displace earth Adding a property line Creating a toposurface by instance Creating a graded region Orienting a site Chapter 18 • Site and Topography 800 Adding a Site within Revit To get started, let’s do something easy, and then migrate into the more difficult areas such as importing a CAD file. The first item we will tackle will be to start a site using datum points that you will manually pick using the Toposurface func- tion on the Ribbon’s Massing & Site tab. The first major function within Revit Architecture for adding a site is the topographic surface. Revit has a separate tab on the Ribbon called the Massing & Site tab that lets you access this feature. So, let’s get cracking. To get started, open the model you have been working on. If you missed the previous chapter, go to the book’s web page at www.sybex.com/ go/revit2011ner. From there you can browse to Chapter 18 and find the file called NER-35.rvt. The objective of the next procedure is to add a topographical surface by choos- ing datum points and elevations. 1. In the Project Browser, find the floor plan called Site and open it. 2. On the Massing & Site tab, click the Toposurface button, as shown in Figure 18.1. FIGURE 18.1 Click the Toposurface button on the Site tab of the Design bar. 3. On the Options bar, set the elevation to –6″ (that’s negative 6″). 4. Pick points in a circle around the footprint of the building, as shown in Figure 18.2. Adding a Site within Revit 801 NOTE Notice that after you clicked the Toposurface button, Revit launched the Sketch Mode. The button that is selected by default within the Toposurface Sketch Mode is the Points button. FIGURE 18.2 Adding the first contours 5. With the Points command still running, set Elevation on the Options bar to –1 ′–0″. 6. Pick a circle surrounding the inside contour lines, as shown in Figure 18.3. 7. With the Points command still running, set Elevation on the Options bar to –3 ′–0″. 8. Add a third contour line surrounding the second, as shown in Figure 18.4. 9. Click Finish Surface (the green checkmark). 10. Select the topographical surface; then, in the Properties dialog, click into the Material field, and click the […] button. 11. Choose Site - Grass from the Materials list and click OK. 12. Go to a 3D view and check out your site, as shown in Figure 18.5. Next let’s see how we can modify a site after we create it. We will have to deal with the fact that the ramps at the west entry are buried in our site now. Modifying a Toposurface Since you must always make modifications to a toposurface, you will need to learn how to do so. The method is basic. Select the site, click Edit, and away you go! Chapter 18 • Site and Topography 802 FIGURE 18.3 Adding the second contour to the site FIGURE 18.4 Adding the third set of contours The objective of the next procedure is to modify the toposurface to allow for the ramps to land on earth. 1. Go back to the Site plan. 2. Zoom in on the east entry area where the ramps are located, as shown in Figure 18.6. 3. Select the site (you may have to find an edge). Adding a Site within Revit 803 FIGURE 18.5 The toposurface 4. On the Modify | Topography tab, click Edit Surface. 5. On the Tools panel, click the Place Point button. 6. On the Options bar, set Elevation to –2 ′–6″ (negative 2′–6″). 7. Pick a series of points, as shown in Figure 18.6. 8. Click Finish Surface on the Surface panel. 9. Go to a 3D view to make sure the ramps are terminating at grade. 10. Save the model. FIGURE 18.6 Adding the –2′–6″ points . manipulate the family as if Autodesk itself provided it. FIGURE 17.32 Sketching the profile FIGURE 17.33 The finished family Are You Experienced? 797 Are You Experienced? Now you can… create a cove. using the Toposurface func- tion on the Ribbon’s Massing & Site tab. The first major function within Revit Architecture for adding a site is the topographic surface. Revit has a separate tab. www.sybex.com/ go /revit2 011ner. From there you can browse to Chapter 18 and find the file called NER-35.rvt. The objective of the next procedure is to add a topographical surface by choos- ing datum