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Integrated BIM tools, including Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D
Professional CAD/CAM tools built on Inventor and AutoCAD
Control how levels and grids are displayed throughout your project and in specific views.
Type:
Tutorial
Length:
9 min.
Transcript
00:00
You can control the way datums such as grids and levels
00:07
are displayed throughout a project and in specific views.
00:11
You can also create view specific overrides to levels and grids.
00:16
For example, when grids are very close together, such as Grids D&E as shown here,
00:24
you can add an elbow to relocate the grid bubble.
00:28
To do this, select the grid that you want to modify, such as Grid E.
00:34
When you select the grid, you can see a small symbol near the grid bubble.
00:39
Hover the cursor over that symbol.
00:42
The tool tip says Add elbow.
00:45
When you click the symbol, an elbow is added and the bubble is relocated.
00:52
You can then click and drag the blue circular grips to adjust the elbow and the position of the grid bubble.
01:01
You can also adjust the length of the grid line.
01:04
For example, suppose you do not want grid D to extend across the entire width of the building.
01:11
When you select grid D, you see a padlock icon at each end.
01:17
If you drag the left end of grid D, all of the horizontal grid lines will change.
01:23
To only change the length of grid D, click to unlock the padlock at the left end of grid D,
01:31
and then click and drag the circular grip at the left end of the grid line so that it only crosses grid 3.
01:40
Then click in an empty spot in the drawing to deselect the grid line.
01:46
Select the West elevation symbol.
01:50
When you do, you see a dashed line indicating the clipping plane for that elevation view.
01:56
Notice that D no longer intersects this clipping plane.
02:01
In the Project browser, double click the West elevation to open that view
02:06
and note that grid D does not appear in this view.
02:11
The 3D model extents must pass through the elevation range in order to be displayed in the view.
02:17
You can also change the extents of a grid line or level in a single view.
02:24
Switch back to the Level One floor plan view and select grid line E.
02:30
When you select a grid, Revit displays a 3D symbol to indicate that it is using the 3D extents.
02:38
In other words, this grid will be visible whenever the plane of the grid intersects perpendicular to the current level.
02:46
When you hover the cursor over the 3D symbol, the tool tip says switch to 2D extents.
02:53
When you click the symbol, it changes to the 2D view specific extent control.
02:60
Drag the left end of the grid so that it only crosses grid three.
03:06
You have moved the end of the grid in this view independent of its 3D extents
03:11
and unconstrained by the neighboring grids.
03:15
A 2D extent, like an elbow, is a view specific override.
03:20
Switch to the level 2 plan view.
03:23
The elbow you previously applied to Grid D and the change you made to the 2D extent of Grid E
03:31
are not visible in this view because those were view specific overrides,
03:37
but the change you made to the 3D extent of Grid D is visible.
03:43
You can use the Propagate Extents tool to apply view specific changes to other views.
03:50
Switch back to the Level One floor plan view.
03:55
To make the changes to Grid E visible in other views, select Grid E,
04:01
then on the Modify Grids contextual ribbon in the Datum panel, click Propagate Extents to open the Propagate Extents dialog.
04:12
Here you see a list of all views that are parallel to the current view,
04:18
which in this case includes the level two floor plan, the site plan, and the reflected ceiling plan views.
04:26
When you select the option to only show views with the same scale as the current view,
04:32
the site plan disappears from the list.
04:35
To apply the view specific changes to the level two floor plan view, select it in the list and then click OK.
04:44
Now when you switch to the level two floor plan view,
04:48
you can see that the changes you made to the grid in the Level 1 view appear in the Level two floor plan view as well.
04:56
To set Grid E back to its 3D extents, select the grid,
05:01
right-click to display a shortcut menu, and then choose Reset to 3D extents.
05:09
In this view, the grid once again extends to the 3D extent and the elbow has been removed.
05:16
But when you switch to Level 1, the view specific changes remain.
05:23
Levels also have view specific graphic controls.
05:27
For example, open the South elevation view and zoom in and select Level 1.
05:34
When you do, you see a similar add elbow control.
05:39
When you click this control, the program adds an elbow and you can use the circular grips to adjust the label
05:48
and datum symbol position.
05:50
Zoom and pan over to the left end of the level.
05:54
The 3D symbol indicates that any changes you make to the level will be applied to the 3D extents.
06:01
When you click the symbol, it changes to the 2D view specific extent control,
06:07
to indicate that any changes you make will only affect this view.
06:12
Click and drag the left end of the level, then switch to the north elevation view.
06:20
The changes you made to the South elevation do not appear in this view.
06:26
To apply the view specific changes to other views, switch back to the South Elevation view and select Level 1.
06:35
Then on the Modify Levels contextual ribbon in the Datum panel,
06:41
click Propagate Extents to open the Propagate Datum Extents dialog.
06:46
Again, the dialog only lists the views parallel to the current view,
06:52
so it only includes the north elevation.
06:55
Choose that view and then click OK.
07:00
Now when you switch back to the north elevation,
07:04
the changes you made to the 2D extents of Level 1 in the South elevation
07:09
also appear in the north elevation.
07:13
Suppose you want the level lines to always appear to the right of the building.
07:17
If you were to do this by changing their 3D extents, you would not get the desired results.
07:24
To see this, open the east elevation view,
07:28
select Level 1 and drag the left grip so that the level line ends to the right of grid A.
07:37
Since you changed the 3D extents, both level lines moved.
07:42
Although the level lines look fine in this view, when you switch to the West elevation,
07:49
the level lines are positioned to the left of the building,
07:52
the opposite of the change you made in the east elevation view.
07:57
On the Quick Access toolbar, click Undo to reverse that change.
08:03
To position the level lines to the right of the building in all of the elevation views,
08:08
you must first set their extents to 2D and then change their length.
08:14
Select Level 1 and switch to its 2D extent.
08:19
Then repeat this for Level 2.
08:23
Now you can drag the grip to change both levels.
08:29
Next, switch to the east elevation view and repeat this process.
08:36
When you adjust the 2D extents, you must repeat this for each view that you wish to override.
Video transcript
00:00
You can control the way datums such as grids and levels
00:07
are displayed throughout a project and in specific views.
00:11
You can also create view specific overrides to levels and grids.
00:16
For example, when grids are very close together, such as Grids D&E as shown here,
00:24
you can add an elbow to relocate the grid bubble.
00:28
To do this, select the grid that you want to modify, such as Grid E.
00:34
When you select the grid, you can see a small symbol near the grid bubble.
00:39
Hover the cursor over that symbol.
00:42
The tool tip says Add elbow.
00:45
When you click the symbol, an elbow is added and the bubble is relocated.
00:52
You can then click and drag the blue circular grips to adjust the elbow and the position of the grid bubble.
01:01
You can also adjust the length of the grid line.
01:04
For example, suppose you do not want grid D to extend across the entire width of the building.
01:11
When you select grid D, you see a padlock icon at each end.
01:17
If you drag the left end of grid D, all of the horizontal grid lines will change.
01:23
To only change the length of grid D, click to unlock the padlock at the left end of grid D,
01:31
and then click and drag the circular grip at the left end of the grid line so that it only crosses grid 3.
01:40
Then click in an empty spot in the drawing to deselect the grid line.
01:46
Select the West elevation symbol.
01:50
When you do, you see a dashed line indicating the clipping plane for that elevation view.
01:56
Notice that D no longer intersects this clipping plane.
02:01
In the Project browser, double click the West elevation to open that view
02:06
and note that grid D does not appear in this view.
02:11
The 3D model extents must pass through the elevation range in order to be displayed in the view.
02:17
You can also change the extents of a grid line or level in a single view.
02:24
Switch back to the Level One floor plan view and select grid line E.
02:30
When you select a grid, Revit displays a 3D symbol to indicate that it is using the 3D extents.
02:38
In other words, this grid will be visible whenever the plane of the grid intersects perpendicular to the current level.
02:46
When you hover the cursor over the 3D symbol, the tool tip says switch to 2D extents.
02:53
When you click the symbol, it changes to the 2D view specific extent control.
02:60
Drag the left end of the grid so that it only crosses grid three.
03:06
You have moved the end of the grid in this view independent of its 3D extents
03:11
and unconstrained by the neighboring grids.
03:15
A 2D extent, like an elbow, is a view specific override.
03:20
Switch to the level 2 plan view.
03:23
The elbow you previously applied to Grid D and the change you made to the 2D extent of Grid E
03:31
are not visible in this view because those were view specific overrides,
03:37
but the change you made to the 3D extent of Grid D is visible.
03:43
You can use the Propagate Extents tool to apply view specific changes to other views.
03:50
Switch back to the Level One floor plan view.
03:55
To make the changes to Grid E visible in other views, select Grid E,
04:01
then on the Modify Grids contextual ribbon in the Datum panel, click Propagate Extents to open the Propagate Extents dialog.
04:12
Here you see a list of all views that are parallel to the current view,
04:18
which in this case includes the level two floor plan, the site plan, and the reflected ceiling plan views.
04:26
When you select the option to only show views with the same scale as the current view,
04:32
the site plan disappears from the list.
04:35
To apply the view specific changes to the level two floor plan view, select it in the list and then click OK.
04:44
Now when you switch to the level two floor plan view,
04:48
you can see that the changes you made to the grid in the Level 1 view appear in the Level two floor plan view as well.
04:56
To set Grid E back to its 3D extents, select the grid,
05:01
right-click to display a shortcut menu, and then choose Reset to 3D extents.
05:09
In this view, the grid once again extends to the 3D extent and the elbow has been removed.
05:16
But when you switch to Level 1, the view specific changes remain.
05:23
Levels also have view specific graphic controls.
05:27
For example, open the South elevation view and zoom in and select Level 1.
05:34
When you do, you see a similar add elbow control.
05:39
When you click this control, the program adds an elbow and you can use the circular grips to adjust the label
05:48
and datum symbol position.
05:50
Zoom and pan over to the left end of the level.
05:54
The 3D symbol indicates that any changes you make to the level will be applied to the 3D extents.
06:01
When you click the symbol, it changes to the 2D view specific extent control,
06:07
to indicate that any changes you make will only affect this view.
06:12
Click and drag the left end of the level, then switch to the north elevation view.
06:20
The changes you made to the South elevation do not appear in this view.
06:26
To apply the view specific changes to other views, switch back to the South Elevation view and select Level 1.
06:35
Then on the Modify Levels contextual ribbon in the Datum panel,
06:41
click Propagate Extents to open the Propagate Datum Extents dialog.
06:46
Again, the dialog only lists the views parallel to the current view,
06:52
so it only includes the north elevation.
06:55
Choose that view and then click OK.
07:00
Now when you switch back to the north elevation,
07:04
the changes you made to the 2D extents of Level 1 in the South elevation
07:09
also appear in the north elevation.
07:13
Suppose you want the level lines to always appear to the right of the building.
07:17
If you were to do this by changing their 3D extents, you would not get the desired results.
07:24
To see this, open the east elevation view,
07:28
select Level 1 and drag the left grip so that the level line ends to the right of grid A.
07:37
Since you changed the 3D extents, both level lines moved.
07:42
Although the level lines look fine in this view, when you switch to the West elevation,
07:49
the level lines are positioned to the left of the building,
07:52
the opposite of the change you made in the east elevation view.
07:57
On the Quick Access toolbar, click Undo to reverse that change.
08:03
To position the level lines to the right of the building in all of the elevation views,
08:08
you must first set their extents to 2D and then change their length.
08:14
Select Level 1 and switch to its 2D extent.
08:19
Then repeat this for Level 2.
08:23
Now you can drag the grip to change both levels.
08:29
Next, switch to the east elevation view and repeat this process.
08:36
When you adjust the 2D extents, you must repeat this for each view that you wish to override.
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