Creating Intelligent Details in Revit

BRIAN MACKEY: All right. Good afternoon. Everybody is still here. I saw some people sleeping during the introduction, so it looks like you're all having a long day. So this classes in creative intelligent details in Revit. I'm Brian Mackey. I've been working with Revit since 2004, so it's been a while I've been working with Revit. I think last year I officially started working with Revit longer than I been using AutoCAD. So that's a good thing.

So this session, we're going to get into creating intelligent details. And by that I actually mean we're going to using detail components. So we're going to talk about how to create intelligent detail components and make them usable for everyday. And I will not be offended. This session is not going to be talking about 3D modeling, flashing, etc. Or things like that. So if that's what you guys were here for, feel free to get up and walk away, go hopefully find a class where the fire marshals aren't letting you stand in the back.

Another thing about my sessions is I really like to make these interactive. So if you guys have questions, feel free to ask them along the way. There are microphones in the middle, especially since I really can't see if hands come up or anything. But feel free to jump in. I'd like to make this interactive, ask questions along the way. Plus, I'm probably not going to remember what I said at the end of the sessions. So if you asked the questions at the end, I'll be like wait, what did I say? So we'll just jump ahead with that.

Also, if you like this kind of theory, I do have two classes tomorrow on talking about linking details, into like a campus type project. So if you're interested in either of those sessions, I do have those tomorrow, too. So there's my shameless plug for the day.

All right. So I'm going to start off with a survey. How many people in here are architects? Engineers? All right. Engineers, let me bounce that back. Structural engineers? Mechanical, electrical, plumbing? All right. So this does work for anything, but just for the examples of mine, we don't really have too many MEP details, I'm going to be talking about, but the concepts are going to be true. I did try to join this with architectural and structural. So the topics of discussion, and my examples, are mostly going to be structural and architectural. So, sorry, MEP guys. I don't detail in MEP. Never have. So I didn't want to look like a complete idiot by attempting to put something up there I know nothing about. So.

All right. So, next thing. When everybody in here is detailing. How many people in here, are you doing details, and the majority are using text in their details, when they're doing details. OK. Very common. So it's not a big thing. How many people are actually using Keynote tagging? So you're doing the detail, you're keynote tagging. Anybody in here using like element tags, type comments, comments, etc? OK, so looks like we're split between text and keynoting in here.

So another thing about that, that I always like to find out is, how many people are using detail lines and filled regions for the majority of it? Of their details? OK. How many people are using kind of like a mix, mostly detail items, but still a lot of lines and text, things like that? OK. So, for me, the last example, how many people are importing AutoCAD and exploding it? OK, you're really in the right session, so do not leave.

So, for me, I have a theory on best practices for doing details, and a lot of people look at me going I'm a little bit crazy when I start this. And it's funny, I showed this to a client about, I think about 2006, they were making this great effort switching from AutoCAD. Look, we've created all of our AutoCAD details in Revit. And there wasn't a single Detail Component. It was all lines, it was all filled regions, masking regions, and text. And I was like, that's great, how long you've been working on this? Like four months. And I'm like, you did it all wrong. So my theory on this is when I'm creating details, the biggest thing for me, and the best practices of a detail, is to use all Revit detail components, with tagging.

So by that, what I actually mean, is since we said most people are using Keynoting, I'm going to open up this sample file here. And when you start looking at this detail here, there is not a single piece of text. There is not a single line. For me, when I talk about intelligent details, I'm going to be starting income theory, and doing things like detail components. So this start occurs through here, you'll see that yes, this is a Detail Component. This is strictly a drafting view I'm displaying right here. But detail components for the objects, including even the fact that I've got a Detail Component that looks like a line to be whatever I want that to be.

There's two reasons why I do this. One, how many people get in their details where it's a line, and Joe uses pin 5, and Fred uses pin 7, and Jennifer just uses an invisible line, we have no idea why? And that's what we're drawing these details out of. So we start looking at that, it's more to gain the consistency in there, as well as the fact that now when I start coming down here, and I get into a project, and somebody is like, you know, in this project, I really wanted you to come through here and change all the text from building wrap, to be 20 lb felt paper, or whatever it might be. I'm dating that detail there. So it's building wrap.

So rather than coming in here and changing the text in five hundred different locations, I could do a Select All instances in this view in the entire project, change it from building wrap-- I should have opened this earlier-- to something different like grade D building paper. And the second I change that line, I now get it called Grade D building paper. So being able to change those components to get the text update.

How many people in here for the architectural side of things can't spell gypsum board the same way consistently in their office? No one? I'm the only one? All right? How many structural engineers can't spell cast in place concrete the same way? CIP, C.I. Right. So the other thing about doing this, too, is it's really to gain that consistency, not only in line weight, but the way we're either going to be tagging these, or the way we're going to be annotating them. So that's kind of the big thing for me.

Now, personally, I notice most people in here raise their hands saying, hey, they use keynoting. I'm not as big of a fan. Tagging using the keynote values. I'm more of a fan tagging these using the type comments. And I'll show you why here.

So this one is example using keynotes. Now you can switch your keynote tag out if you don't like the numbers, and I know a lot of people, like, oh I don't like the numbers. You can get rid of your keynote to have text only. I have several clients that do that. You can have it have both, or I have some clients who do only the keynote numbers. But the problem I have is Autodesk has keynoting locked down. So if I wanted to come in here and add additional piece of text to this, I can not. So the bigger thing for me, my personal opinion. I'm not saying there's a right or wrong here. But my personal opinion on that same type of component, is I really like to tag it with a comment, type comments. Because then I can come in here and says this is building wrap, and then in this place as a terrible example, I could say as weep screed or something like that. I can come in here and add additional text to it. That is something you don't get from keynoting. So my personal opinion is, I like doing type comments, because I can add additional types of tags, or you can do custom tagging parameters, whatever. But if keynoting is kind of locked down to a number and then text.

So I have had some clients that are like, yeah, we want to do keynoting. And then they start working in their detail file, then they start adding text at the end of their keynotes. Which in my mind is almost as bad as just doing text in the first place. So that's kind of a thing for me. So when I talk about creating consistent, intelligent details, or doing these detailing with best practices, that's kind of what I start meaning. Is using mostly intelligent detail components, if not all, and then getting into things like tagging those objects.

The other thing that I like to do inside of there, and this project isn't set up that way, but a lot of times I'll want to use the same Detail Component. But I'll want that Detail Component possible be halftone, because I might be saying like beyond or something like that. So a lot of times I'll have filters built into my visibility to say, hey, any time any of these components has the beyond and the comments, halftone it. So building some more intelligence like that, so when it's something beyond, again, I don't have everybody right click over on graphics and views. I want to use color 250 whatever. I want to use color white. I want to use color purple. So getting that consistency with filters based on maybe a property somebody puts in there as well.

So those kind of some of the things that I intend to be best practices when I start looking at it.

So lets talk about starting to set a detail. In my mind what a good drafting view is. Sort of this black square come from? I was playing around yesterday. So when I start looking at this file, you'll also notice that I've got this nice little box going around it. Anybody use some sort of detailing guide? Like this? Yeah, a few people? So for those of you who don't know what this is, this detailing guide is a generic annotation family. In the hand out it's got, I think in this hand out, it's got to plug into my web site. You can download this if you want. But when I go to start doing a detail-- or heck if I'm doing a wall section, or even a floor plan-- how big is this view going to be when I place it on the sheet? This is kind of my biggest thing.

So you'll see that I actually have this detail guide set up where I can say, hey, if I'm using four columns and three rows, or two columns and three rows, or four columns and two rows, how much space do I have when this view is drug onto a sheet? And all this is, is a very simple generic annotation family, that if I go to the type properties, gives me properties for sheet width, height, and how big the borders are on the four sides of my page. And then I go up there and tell it how many columns are going to be there. Two, four, et cetera. On those types of scenarios. So in my mind, this is one of the really great things, is if you start with a little detail guide I call it, it lets you know how large that needs to be on the sheet.

I use these for everything in Revit, not just detail views. I'll have one on a real project that's one column by one row. So therefore when I'm working on a floor plan or something, I just drop this on the floor plan, and it shows me how big my floor plan needs to be, so I'm not doing that back and forth, let me drag it onto a sheet, change a crop region, switch back and forth between the view, de-activate view, ah, it doesn't fit. Move it around. I use this little guide just to show me how big this layout is going to be.

And again this is set up. This was mostly set up for my structural engineers in mind, where you can actually just plug down what the architect has for their borders on the top, right, left, bottom, etc.

So that's kind of my theory, and that's where I start. So, you'll also see that for me, in my project template, I have a drafting View Template. So I always have one little view inside of the overdrafting, that basically just gives everybody a starting point of, hey, here's a detail guide for you.

I also, behind the scenes, have reference planes in that drafting view, to match the size of the detail guide. Now, this is a drafting view, this works great. And the reason why I do this, is I can take this, and use those reference planes, to align things on the sheet. Right, we all like the holy grail line things on the sheet. Yay.

So, if you embed reference planes into your views like this, if I were to just go ahead and open up one of the sheets here. I can then take that view, drag it onto the sheet, and since there's reference planes hiding inside of there, I can just move those, snap to the reference plane, snap to the reference planes of my other one, and really start to line these things up on the sheet a little bit easier.

So, for me, my template already has-- my drafting View Template-- has that inside of there with those reference planes kind of hiding behind the scenes. The other reason is, for anybody who's ever been in one of my sessions, I kind of have a type A personality. I also set that up to come into 00. So this is the 0 plane and the Y and this is the 0 plane in the X. So if I ever were to export this out to AutoCAD or any other utility, I'd know it's going out to 0 0. So, there's another reason why I'm saying more, is because it's my type A personality. But it is nice to have it snap on the sheets as well. OK?

So, that's where I start in a view. If I get over to a view, I kind of start with what that's going to be. I start with this detail. Now when I start then going to detail, it again, like I said, is going to be 100% on detail components. So we start talking about those detail components. Naming conventions become key.

All right. How many people have been in their project, and realized they had five different detail components, that were all one thing, they were just six different names? Yes. I had five components with six different names. All right, so you have that. So to me, one of the things when you're getting into the best practices too, is really starting to come up with some sort of naming convention. Most of my clients like to use CSI. If you are using CSI, always suggest using the first three characters. I know a lot of people just like division 5, like 0.05. But if you add that third character for CSI it'll start grouping the things together. They become a little bit closer. Like all cold for metal is 054. All structural metal is 0 5 whatever. So it just really starts to come through. That's my personal opinion.

The other thing about this, I know people are like it's not a big deal. You do have the search. And that is true, but I just really like to have this stuff grouped together and grouped together accordingly. So that's kind of one of those things for me.

So then when I get starting. Like I said, if this is going to be completely a drafting view, when I come in here, you'll start see I have detail components for everything, including in the example you saw. I had brick. I have an airspace Detail Component. The Detail Component has invisible lines inside of it, but the reason why I have this airspace Detail component is because I want to be able to tag out the airspace. So it looks kind of weird. There's nothing there, but it is a Detail Component still to be able to tag something out. So really getting into those detail components, those views, what do you need to start doing in there?

All of this is also true if I'm placing it over the model. So I got this highly advanced 3D model here. This took me weeks to create. And what about this detail model, is I tend to model in a pretty high level of detail, but I'm still going to have to embellish those views anyway. So if I were to go cut a section through that view, you can see that, even in this view, I still have the-- I'm still going to have to come back and annotate over it. Right? So you can see, yeah, I even modeled my brick going down where it needed to be, but I can't get the sheathing and the air gap to stop independent of where the brick is. So this is kind of one of those things to me where I was saying, where I would be coming here and saying, oh gee, I know I'm going to have a two inch air space.

If you guys didn't-- does everybody know you can actually drag and drop from the project browser to place a component? OK, I did this in one session last year. I was like, what did you just do to have that happen? It's like, oh, I just dragged and dropped from that component. So I drag and drop from there. I can come in here. You can see I'm placing this object. I also do a lot of line based detail components. So you'll start to see, like, my little air gap as a line based component. If I wanted to come in here and do some sort of like gypsum wallboard.

Let me scroll down. I don't have too many families in here. Normally I'm using search, but since inside of here I don't have a ton of detail components in a real-- Drives you crazy scrolling through the detail components. Who else wanted to applaud Autodesk when they gave us the search tool up here. Did you guys all know you have the search tool? And of course, it's there, so did everybody know you can just search? In here? Does everybody also know that where are you right click in the project browser is where the search starts? So I just wanted to point that out, because I always see people like going to the project browser, and right clicking at the very top and saying, oh, I want to search, and then they're searching through annotation tags. And you're getting all the 15 annotation tags for rooms or whatever you want to do. So for me, I'm always right click where I need to, hit the Search at my little gyp. And then it comes down here and tells me, hey gee here's my gypsum board section.

So, once I come down here, you know, you can see I've got this inside here. I like to embed into those objects a little bit more intelligence. So what you'll see inside of here was, I started building on top of this. So I've got this gypsum board detail component. I like to add additional components. So this is kind of where we're getting to the other intelligent level of detail. Right?

Architects in the room. You like the fat line on the outside? Yes? Again how many times do you have people consistently putting the same fat line in your object? So inside of here, I have a little check box. I went that exterior face line, or the fat line on that gypsum board. But if I were to have two pieces of gypsum board, I don't really want the fat line on that first piece of gypsum board. So I can come in here and turn that that line on and off. So again, embedding some of that intelligence to make this stuff a little bit better.

Well what if I wanted to come in here? And I was like at an inside corner with the same piece of gypsum board? Spacebar to rotate. Or to flip, I should say. I'm coming in here, going, oh my god. That just looks terrible. I want the fat line but I didn't want this to happen. I also like to embed angles at the beginning of all my line based detail components. So I can start coming in, and saying, well, gee, I know it's not going to be mitered here, but graphically I don't like the little nub here. Graphically over there I want it to look a little bit-- oops, that would be a negative. I want this to be set up a little bit different.

But I also embed into some of these components, things like, gee, is there going to be a start line inside of there? Do I want to see the little line on those objects? So now using that same Detail Component, I can get that consistent fat line. I can also turn that stuff off, just to get that graphic look I'm looking for. So trying to embed in bed some of those things that you're looking for inside of there.

The other thing on that, is if I go back into this view here, I also like to, for my structural engineers in the room, start embedding a little bit more information. I like to create a lot of detail components that automatically have an array add to them. Does anybody here use the repeating Detail Component Revit? It's a really great tool. But you can't tag it. You can't keynote it. You can't tab select to get to the Detail Component to tag that or Keynote that.

There is an Autodesk wish list item on that. So if you go to the Revit ideas, there is one. I put it in the hand out on PowerPoint I think. Because I really want that one voted up. A couple. About 200 people here, and people online, vote that one up!

So things like that, as I rarely use the repeating Detail Component, because of that reason. So for me, unlike structural engineers here, I got tired of trying to place this an inch and a half from the edge. So if I were to go start placing this Detail Component, I just click on the edge. I'm going to do it at the bottom here again. I click on the edge, and I go through there, and it's putting that in there automatically for me. It will also then, I added cover distance. Well, gee, that should have been three inches, not inch and a half. I can change the cover distance to move that around. So not trying to place the component and move it in nudge and shift it around to get it close. I am embedding that information inside of there.

You'll also see that I've got a spacing parameter in here. So if I were to go change the spacing, I can actually get it to just change the repeating what I want it to be. I have one that has quantity, and one that has spacing, depending on what you're looking for.

The other the thing about that, is I like to take-- those parameters are also shared parameters. Because I want to be able to tag that intelligence. Right? So, I can come in here, and say I've got this number six at 1 foot 6 on center. Oh, no, that should have been 12 inches on center. I'll type in my 12 inches, say OK, and now boom, my components updated as well. So linking that data to the objects so I can start going through manipulating and back and forth.

The other thing I always like to show people here is like I do have. This is my nice little like dashed line sitting here. This one I did not create a separate component for. Because it's a little tip that a lot of people don't know that you can do. If you have a Detail Component like this one, you can actually override the graphics in the view, and make changes to the line weights on the elements. Usually I take that. For this particular client they were architects, they didn't want it. Instructional [INAUDIBLE] I wouldn't suggest. But they wanted to do this. So I usually in my other reinforcing bar, I have alternate sides. So it would automatically add the dashes to the other side. But in this case, I literally just came here and said override graphics, and view on this element. And then you can make it halftone, you can make the projection lines, dash, etc.

The other thing that you can do, if you didn't want to do that, is I am going to send this to the back. Because I can actually send that to the back. And then I'm going to come down here and go into wireframe. Be a little crazy here. But how many people in here actually use, on the View tab, they show hidden. People use this? This is like a very underutilized tool. I only see about 10 hands going up, here.

So this show hidden lines allows you to say, hey, and if we're looking at the status bar down there, pick the element you want to see the hidden lines through. I want to see hidden lines through this element, and this is the element I wanted to be hidden. Then if I go back to hidden lines, it'll show that object as dashed. So you can use it for modeled objects, where I use it a lot for. But you can also use that for detail components, too. So I don't usually do a whole lot of the right click overwriting. If I need to see something dashed like this, I just put the same component in, and in that component I just use the show hidden.

So it's just really getting in here and starting to think about how can we build those into those detail components, how can we embed intelligence to them. How can we make them, in my mind-- I have a lot of clients who disagree with this, but how can we also make them very universal? So if we start looking at this detail as well, like this little QA, this is a separate family. But on top of everything else. And the only reason why of that keyways is a separate family is because this piece of concrete, and this piece of concrete, and this piece of concrete, all the same component. So I try to use very vague terms, personally for me, because I don't want to load 600 families. I try to use very generic families that will allow me to do this. So if I start coming in here and looking at this 030 concrete, it's very generic. I don't have it specific to sidewalks or slabs. And then it's just editing, duplicating the type, and generating different sizes for it.

And then in a case like this, again, since I have the capability to turn like the end line and start line off, I literally just put a 12 inch wall here, or in this case a 10 inch wall, and then a six inch wall on top of it to generate my little step. So I don't go through and try to create one that has a step, one that doesn't have a step. I also a lot of times don't embed chamfers where I need to occasionally see them. It's just another component like this keyway component, I just simply put over the top.

So a lot of people disagree with me in that. They want very specific families, but you can go either route on that, starting again and then start looking at it. OK. Then the other thing I like to do for my intelligent details, is you can actually nest components into components. So who here does family nesting? OK.

So when I start looking at this scenario here, this little piece of brick has a checkbox for mortar-- not mortar visibility. Weep vent. So every single one of my bricks, if I decided that I didn't want it in this brick, I want it in this brick, or this brick, or whatever, have that capability to hit the check the weep vent. Now that little weep vent family is a nested family, that has also been shared, so that way I can still come up here and grab my tag command, and then when I tag, I might have to use the Tab key to get to the weep vent. So nesting components into other components becomes very beneficial, especially the fact that if you're going to use that component in multiple locations. So I use that weep vent on my CMU and my notched brick component, etc. to be able to do that. So creating those components, to get them nested in for that same tagging scenario as well. So, just a lot of things that you can really start building in to make these intelligent.

And I didn't put this one in the handout. I actually forgot about putting this in the handout, which I can't believe, because I actually taught a session on this. I'm going to do a little tile V here. So the one way you can take these details and make one step more intelligent-- I'm just going to come back up here to this 3-D view real quick. Let me tile these up-- is you can also start associating global parameters, possibly from the 3D model, as well as to the 2D components. And I thought a whole session at this at different conference earlier this year. Where I can come up here and go manage my global parameters, go into them, and I only have one in here, but hey, I want that slab edge to be 2 inches. And then when I go ahead and hit OK, I'm taking that 3D model object and moving it. Now I'm probably in the one view I didn't get that associated to. I'm going to go back to this one. And getting this one, which went the wrong direction. So I screw that up. But I'm getting this one to update with it as well.

So the thing about global parameters, is a lot of people have been talking about linking those to 3D objects, which is great, but think about linking those global parameters to the 3D object as well as your detail to really start adding some intelligence between your 2D and your 3D information also.

So that's something else to be thinking about. I didn't put that one in a handout. It actually dawned on me last night, like, why didn't I do that? So that's kind of a little impromptu thing I threw in here. So associating global parameters to your components can make those intelligent as well.

And then last but not least, like I did say, I talked about placing on sheets to talk about like then annotating the details. I personally like to detail a lot. I can't stand annotating details. But what it comes to be a really, really nice about is stuff, like I said, is now since it's all based on intelligent tagging, I'm going to come down here and just start tagging these objects. Go into a free end leader here. So now I can just come in here start saying, gee, here my unit masonry, am going to do the drafting nightmare of crisscrossing my detail lines here again. Don't do that. But just being able to come through here now and start tagging this information, going through that information, and now it's just a tag. I'm getting consistency naming, and I've got the tag there.

Like I said, for me, in this view, this is going to be using type comments, but I also like through here and do it that way, because if I needed to add additional information, my tag has type comments, slash comments, in the tag itself. So then I can come in here and say at what location is use gyp-- or excuse me, use cementuous-- sure you get. I'm probably spelling this wrong. Word. All right, so I can add a piece of comment where the type comment up at the top is still going to be there, but I can add additional information to it. So rather than having to constantly duplicate a Detail Component for one little additional piece of text, as long as I'm tagging it, I can add additional information via comments. You'll-- a lot of my clients, we've actually had parameters called prefix and suffix, because sometimes they want to add it before as opposed to after. So just getting that information set up that way as well isn't going to work-- work great.

So questions on any of these detailing? Yeah, question?

AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE]

BRIAN MACKEY: So the question is, have they fixed leader location on tags. Yes. They fixed them to be right in the middle. So they are fixed, location. I don't think that's what you meant on that question. No. Your tags still have fixed location on them. So, yeah, that is a-- I have a lot of people who do disagree with that. Like, oh I don't use tagging, because I want the tag to be here or there. My response to that has always been, have you ever been sued, because the leader location is in the wrong place? Or are you being sued because you had the wrong data? That's just my response to that question. I agree, I don't like it. Type A personality. But it is what it is. And I'd rather have correct information than a pretty leader.

Any other questions before I move on? OK. Yes, another one back there?

AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE]

BRIAN MACKEY: I do use elements from the model. So if come back here to this file, it depends on the team I'm working with. So your question was, do we use elements from the model? Well, depends on the team I'm working with. When I'm working by myself, I have actually recently done my in-laws house. I 3D modeled everything. My wife thought I was crazy. She's a structural engineer. She's right She thought I was crazy. I modeled everything. I modeled all the reinforcement in 3D, I did everything. Because for me, it's just as easy to do it in 3D, and tag it, as it is to just do a 2D Detail Component.

But if I were to do all that 3D stuff, and I had a not so savvy Revit user on my team, they will screw it up. So it's a given, they'll screw it up. So it depends on the team and the team you trust. But what you will see here is, yes, I will come in here. And in this case I like structural framing families. I added the x to it, as most people have done for their wood stuff. So for me, if that was the case, I would just use this, and my element tag. It might be a different tag from my element tag, and I don't think this file's got it set up. But my element tag would truly be pulling out, same thing, type comments for the 3D family, as well as that.

And this is also why a lot of my other clients go through and they start using custom parameters, call it tag 1, tag 2, tag 3. As opposed to type comments and comments. The only thing I will say too, if you use custom shared parameters, if they are nested, you can't tab select, and add a comment to it. And so this is a nuance. If I come back here, to this one. So the one that says like weep vent, I can still tabs select that, and comments comes up. Here. So I can tab select and get comments. But if it's a shared parameter, and you tab select it, that parameter's grayed out. So just do be aware of that, if you are going to be doing your own custom parameters for there. OK? But yes.

The other critical thing, that if you are doing this, is going through and verifying that your 3D model line weights match your detail item line weights. This becomes very, very critical when you're looking at it. So if I to come down here and grab, like, a two by four. Or 06. Nominal cut lumber, where am I? Sections. So if I come down here, put a two by six down here or something, you'll notice that my line weights are the same. That's not out of the box, that does not happen. So verifying that the things that you're cutting through in your model stuff match the line weights of your 2D stuff, makes this a much easier process. To where people really won't know what's 3-D and what's 2D.

The other tip on that, is again, wait. Now I got my line weights all cool. What the heck is 3-D and what's 2-D in this view? Does everybody know about this tool over here, for display model? Display model, you actually have an option to display the model halftoned. So now you can see as you're detailing what's truly part of the model, and what have I detailed. This is something that I usually set up in my View Templates, to be halftone when I start a project, so anytime somebody cuts a section or detail that's there, and then before I print it, I switch it from halftone to be back to display model normally. So, another a little tip there or two.

OK. So any other questions? Yes, another question.

AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE]

BRIAN MACKEY: So you can't-- question is, can you have multiple leaders. You cannot. That is one of the downsides to tagging, and that's-- I have a lot of structural engineers like, yeah, I'll never use that, because I tag multiple, multiple things. So if I am tagging something, I could not add-- terrible example here but maybe I wanted to call this one piece of insulation out three times. I cannot do that.

Personally, for me, all I do is I just copy this to the clipboard, and then I do pay same place. And then now I have a second one with the second leader that I can pull out over to there. So you can't get a tag doing both. I'm like thinking it should be-- the screen should it be up here, and I keep turning around. You can't do it to both, but you can put a tag on top of a tag. OK.

So then the last thing on this. When we talked about creating the detail. One thing that really becomes nice, is I get a lot of people saying, that's great, but what about the additional comment somebody added in there. You told me I could make this standard, so it always says gypsum board spelt the same way, et cetera. But what if somebody goes in and says, oh gee, on this I wanted to say each way. I am talking re-reinforcing, I wanted to say each way, or top and bottom. How can I manage the consistency of that?

So, for me, I have a working schedule in my project of detail items. I sort it by the family, the type, and then the comments. So if somebody came in here and spelt alternating and you're like, no, gee, I wanted that to be all in all upper case, I can come in here and you all alternating in uppercase, or spell it correctly if you misspelled it, and I can change out the reschedule. And if that was on 13 different detail components, I just updated on all the detail components. So for me, when they added I think it was Revit 15 the capability to schedule detail components, that made this process even that much easier and better. So now I've got this schedule here, going through and setting it up. And like I said with this, this schedule is set up by family type, type comments, and then just comments. So therefore I can check to see, hey, am I getting standard comments as people go through. I personally I always add count, so I can start to verify how many instances of this there is in there.

A downside to the schedules, the details schedules, is it will give you the masking regions as a blank line, and you can't filter them out. Unless you go out like a comment to every single masking region. So you won't probably have a blank line at the top, which is every single masking region in your project.

So that's kind of the last thing about the detailing that talking about this, really getting into that, is used then that schedule to verify what's going on. Also, this is my other tip, you cannot spell check comments or type comments in Revit. But you can export this out to Excel. If you have some sort of add on utility, if you're using Dynamo, you're using BIMlink, you're using Pro-Revit tools, whatever. Export it to Excel, spell check it in Excel. Re-import it back in. There's your spell check. So it's not the best solution. It's not the best scenario. But you actually can do spell checking if you're exporting information out. OK?

Let's talk about families. So who here has invested hours upon hours creating their own detail components? Besides me? Right, this is not a small task. This is something to get going on. On thing I'm going to talk about is, do start with the out of the box families. They're not terrible. They're not as customizable as I would think, but they actually have a lot of components for you to get started on, and a lot of the components that they have out of the box are really great for if you're talking about nominal cut lumber, nominal cut things like that. So you can start with the out of the box components, and then just go in and start adding your own type comments or comments as you're starting to go through.

The thing about doing those out of the box families, is they are going to be using the heavy, medium, and wide. So as you're getting started on this process, I say use those, but more than likely, you're going to be taking those and customizing those to match what you need. I personally think the out-of-the-box stuff has way too fat of line weights. I like them to be a little bit thinner, et cetera. So for me, I go in, and I start tweaking the objects styles. don't want it to say medium, thin, light. I say pen one, pen two, pen three, pen four, etc. That's my personal opinion. But a lot of them started with the out of the box families, so as you're going down this process, use those, get started with those, and start going into it.

Whoops. But if you want to get into it, let's really start talking about creating your own Detail Component families. So how many people in the audience have their own family templates? Came Quite a few. This is one of the things that I don't think enough people do, or get into when they start getting inside of there. You can actually create your own family templates in Revit. This is going to sound really bizarre, because there's no such thing in Revit as save as.

So when I do this for all my different types of family templates, I start a new Revit family. Just in Revit. And then I save that Revit family to a folder, once I make some settings I want. And I always save that under my templates folder, to a folder called original family. So I get my template folder, underneath there I have original families. And I save those is just the RFA. And then copy that RFA to another folder, and rename it, RFT.