Levels

Exercise 1–Edit Levels

If you understand Grids, you have the basics you need to work with Levels as well. Levels run parallel to the ground. You cannot see them in a plan view, so to edit them, open an elevation or section. Otherwise, they will have similar behaviors to grids: the same types of control points, locking and stretching behavior, etc.

Catch-up file completed to this point: 04_Medical Center_Levels.rvt

1. On the Project Browser, beneath Elevations, double-click South.
2. In an elevation view such as this, levels show as dashed lines running horizontally and notice that the grids also show in this view. The file currently includes two levels: Level 1 and Level 2.

For now, we will adjust the height of the existing Level 2 and add two new levels for the roofs of the various portions of the building.

3. Select Level 2 onscreen.
4. Click directly on the dimension beneath the Level 2 label. Edit the value to: 13'-4" and then press enter (see Figure 4–1).

Figure 4–1 Edit the height of Level 2

You can add levels using techniques similar to adding grids. The level tool is on the Architecture tab, on the Datum panel. Its keyboard shortcut is ll. When you click points, they will attempt to align and lock to other levels just like grids do. You can also copy levels as we did with grids.

There is a difference in the result with these two methods. When you add a new level, the default behavior also gives you one or more floor plan views associated to the new levels. When you copy, you do not get plans automatically and must add them later if desired. So for this example we’ll go with adding levels and plans together using the Level tool.

Let’s add levels with the Level tool and introduce the “Pick” option.

5. On the Architecture tab, on the Datum panel, click the Level tool (or type ll).
6. On the Modify | Place Level tab, on the Draw panel, notice there are two icons. Click the Pick Lines icon.

The Pick Lines option allows you to create levels from the edges of other geometry already in your model, in this case, we will offset from the existing levels.

7. On the Options Bar, notice that the “Make Plan View” box is checked. Click the Plan View Types button next to this.
8. In the “Plan View Types” dialog that appears, make sure that only “Floor Plan” is selected and then click OK. (Click on an item to select or deselect it in the list).
9. Also on the Options Bar, in the Offset field, type: 13'-4" and then press enter (see Figure 4–2).

Figure 4–2 Run the Level tool and configure the settings

10. Click once in an empty space in the view window. (This makes the view active instead of the text field).
11. Highlight Level 2 and wait for a dashed green line to appear above its location. (Move the mouse slightly if necessary to get it to appear).
12. Click to place the new level above (see Figure 4–3).

Figure 4–3 The Pick Lines option creates a new level offset above the one you click

13. Remain in the command, highlight the new Level 3 that was just created and click again to create a second level above it.
14. Click the Modify tool or esc twice to finish the command

Notice that the Level heads of the two new levels will change color to blue. This indicates that they have floor plans associated with them. Glance over at your Project Browser. Since we used the “Make Plan View” checkbox above, we now have a Level 3 and Level 4 floor plan on the Project Browser.

15. Select Level 4. Click directly on the dimension value on the level head (currently 40'-0") and change the value to: 35'-6".

The level will move down. We can rename the levels the same way.

16. Click directly on the Level 4 label. It will activate as editable text.
17. Type in: Atrium Roof and then press enter (see Figure 4–4).

Figure 4–4 Move and rename the Level, answer yes to also rename the floor plan

When you enter the new name, Revit will ask you to confirm the renaming of the floor plan as well. If you want the names of the floor plans to also change, click Yes. If you want to leave the floor plan names unchanged, click No.

18. In the alert dialog, click Yes.
19. Repeat the process to rename Level 3 to: Roof. Answer yes to change the plan name as well.

Take note of the new name on Project Browser as well (see Figure 4–5).

Figure 4–5 Rename both new levels and the corresponding floor plans on Project Browser follow suit

You are welcome to experiment more with the other controls on the levels. The checkboxes at either end hide and show the levels as they did with the grids. You can also stretch one level and the aligned and locked ones will follow. You may also want to adjust the height of the grids to make them go above the levels.

20. Select any grid. Drag the open circle control at the top to adjust the height (see Figure 4–6).
21. Open the West elevation view and repeat for the lettered grids.

Figure 4–6 Edit the height of the grids to stretch them above the levels

If you open either the North or East elevations, you will notice that the change is not necessary here. This is because once you adjust the extents of the grid or level, like other elements in your model, the change will be visible everywhere.

22. On the QAT (top of the screen), click the Default 3D View icon (small birdhouse) (see Figure 4–7).

Figure 4–7 Levels appear in 3D views. Grid do not

Notice that the levels appear here in our default 3D view. Grids however, do not. Despite their 3D visibility, you will usually find you gain more control over manipulating levels in elevation views instead.

Datum elements help you establish context in your project. Every model element you draw will be associated to a level or grid in your project. The best part is that later if you modify these datum elements, associated geometry will follow. We’ll see examples of this later.