REVIT PURE PRESENTS

PAMPHLETS

ISSUE #4 / SPRING 2017

CAD

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 PAMPHLETS
ISSUE #4 / SPRING 2017 / CAD

WHAT IS THIS “PAMPHLET” ?

Revit Pure Pamphlets are published 4 times a year by email. Each edition
covers a very specific Revit theme.

We like to pick themes that are complex and confusing. Our job is to make
these topics simple for you.

Here are all pamphlets published so far:

Pamphlet #1 - Summer 2016 - Worksets

Pamphlet #2 - Fall 2016 - Schedules
Pamphlet #3 - Winter 2017 - Phases
Pamphlet #4 - Spring 2017 - CAD

Go to revitpure.com to subscribe and receive all pamphlets.

WHY TALK ABOUT CAD?

In an ideal world, no one would use CAD, ever. Sadly, we don’t live in
that world yet so we have to deal with consultants and friends that send
us CAD files we have to integrate in Revit. These people also want us to
convert Revit to CAD and send the files back.

A lot of people don’t really know what they are doing when they import
CAD into Revit, resulting in pure chaos and sadness. Don’t worry: we got
you covered. The following pages will guide you to make sure you use CAD
files in a simple, clean and efficient way.

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PREPARING CAD FILES

Any CAD files linked into Revit must follow a careful process.

1- BIND XREFS: Xrefs can cause problems. Open the Xref dialog box and
Bind them all, preventing duplicate layers.

2- RUN “PURGE”: This removes unused layers, linetypes, blocks, etc.

3- RUN “SETBYLAYER”: All lines settings should be set to layers,

ignoring any color, linetype or lineweight overrides. Use the Setbylayer
command to quickly resolve this problem.

4- FREEZE USELESS LAYERS: Freeze all layers not required in Revit.

5- SAVE A COPY: Keep the original DWG file just in case. Save the
modified file in a Revit “CAD Links” subfolder.

USE LINK CAD, NOT IMPORT CAD

Now that your DWG file is ready, you can bring it to Revit.
You will notice that there is two options to bring the DWG
file: Import and Link.

Avoid using Import CAD. It makes your model heavier, causing

performance issues. Link CAD is better: it loads the latest version of the
DWG each time you open Revit and is more efficient to manage the files.

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9 TIPS FOR EFFICIENT CAD USE IN REVIT

1- USE THESE LINKED CAD FILES SETTINGS

You have many settings to adjust when linking a DWG file. Follow the tips
below for the best results.

ACTIVATE CURRENT VIEW ONLY: If left unchecked, the DWG file

will appear in all views of the model. In most cases it is better to import to a
single view only.

COLORS: BLACK AND WHITE: The default setting is Colors, but you
should change that to Black and White. It provides better visibility.

LAYERS: VISIBLE: By default, all CAD layers will be imported. Set

the option to Visible, which means layers that are hidden or frozen in
AutoCAD won’t be imported.

POSITIONING: The best way to position DWG file is usually to use

Manual - Center option.

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2- USE QUERY TOOL TO HIDE CAD LAYERS

Select a DWG file inside your Revit Model. In the contextual tab,
you will find the Query tool. Click a line inside the DWG, then use
Hide or Delete to make the layer invisible.

3- SET BACKGROUND OR FOREGROUND

Set the instance properties of the CAD file to Background or Foreground.

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4- RELOAD OR ADJUST DWG FILE IN “MANAGE LINKS”

Go to the Insert tab and click Manage Links. Go to the Cad Formats
tab in the menu. Click Reload to refresh to the latest version of the
CAD file, or Reload From... to replace the DWG by a different file.

5- USE COLORED OVERRIDE ON DWG

Need to use information from a DWG to create a Revit model? Set

a colored override to distinguish the CAD from the model. Use the
tool in the contextual tab.

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6- NEVER EXPLODE A CAD FILE INSIDE REVIT

Exploding a DWG file inside your model will create a linetype

for each CAD layer. That means you will create complete
chaos inside your model. Don’t do it. Ever.

7- IMPORT CAD DETAIL INSIDE FAMILY

If you plan to use CAD for Revit detailing, the best way is to import the
CAD inside a family and use the Pick Lines tool to recreate it with Revit
Lines.

If you are short on time, you can also keep the DWG intact inside the
family. In the image, we import a DWG file to a Mullion Profile family.
Using the Visibility Settings, we set it to be visible only in Fine settings.

Whatever technique you use, avoid using DWG detail files directly on the
model, always insert them in a family first.

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8- ADJUST LINKED CAD FILES LINEWEIGHT

Go to the Insert tab and click on the little diagonal arrow below the
Manage Images icon. This will open a menu containing Lineweight option
for DWG. You can either load a file containing settings or manually adjust
them. The numbers in the left column are associated with CAD colors,
while the column on the right are associated to Revit weight styles.

9- CREATE Z-CAD WORKSETS

For easy control of DWG files visibility, create a Z-CAD workset and put
all the linked CAD files inside it. Set the workset to “not visible” by default
and manually activate it for the required views.

If you are an advanced user, you can avoid using worksets for this purpose
and instead use filters and View Templates to control CAD visibility.

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10- CONTROL CAD LAYERS IN VISIBILITY GRAPHICS

All layers from a CAD files can be controlled in the Visibility Graphics
menu for each view. Collapse the menu for the required DWG file. Then
check and uncheck layers you want to see. Add overrides for each layers if
required.

To control the visibility for a CAD file in all views, go to Object Styles.

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HOW TO EXPORT TO DWG

Want to create CAD files from your model? Click the big R on the upper
left of the screen, then select CAD format and DWG.

You might want to adjust export settings. To do that, click ... in the export
setup.

Select Units & Coordinates and the specific CAD version you want to
export to. Also select if you want to export using XRefs or not.

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ASSIGN SPECIFIC LAYERS

In the export settings layers submenu, you can set a custom layer name to
be assigned to each category. Also select an AutoCAD color.

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LIKED THIS PAMPHLET? BASICS IS FOR YOU.

Do you like the simple, fun and efficient ways of this pamphlet? We
created a complete beginner/intermediate series to learn Revit with the
exact same style. To thank you for reading this pamphlet, we offer 15% off
to get the BASICS package. Go to revitpure.com/basics and enter promo
code learn.

Let us know what you thought about the pamphlet at this email address:
nick@revitpure.com

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