Tips for Revit Beginners | Revit Best Practices

8-useful-tips-for-Revit-beginners_by United-BIM

In this blog, you will learn about 8 useful tips for Revit beginners to help you get started with your Revit journey. Autodesk Revit is a high-end BIM software that is used by industry veterans and beginners alike. From architects to structural engineers, designers to contractors, Revit is preferred by AEC professionals all over the globe.
If you are starting with Autodesk Revit, things can get quite daunting at times. Despite having a simple user interface and easy-to-learn commands and tools, Revit can take years to master.

8 Tips for Revit Beginners 

1. Begin with small-scale pilot projects
2. Don’t just latch on to free components
3. Learn Keyboard Shortcuts
4. Ace Your Object Selection Skills
5. Avoid Accidental Double-Clicks
6. Enable Worksharing
7. Never Meddle with Backup Settings
8. Take Full Advantage of Model Linking & Cloud-based Worksharing System

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8 Useful Tips for Revit Beginners 

1. Begin with Small-Scale Pilot Projects

If you are used to using other BIM software and are trying to transition to Autodesk Revit or are beginning with BIM design, you need to sharpen your learning curve. Don’t focus on advanced tools from the beginning. Instead, start with small-scale projects and expand the scope, gradually.

Create a bundle of pilot projects and keep playing with your models to improve your success rates and handle issues and failures. Nurture your projects and create a standard template that would help you quickly learn the nuances of BIM modeling over the years.

Once you are acquainted with basic features and have set up your hands on your pilot templates, start leveraging advanced tools and features such as:

  • Data and image visualization
  • Virtual/Augmented reality technology
  • Cloud backups and cloud-based tools
  • Data sharing between different teams

2. Don’t Just Latch on Free Components

Several equipment manufacturers and independent resources have started providing Revit-compliant and ready-to-use components that can be embedded in your BIM drawings. Though this saves time, you should not depend on such components when you are starting. These components are created by unassuming manufacturers who might not understand your project and work scope.

Most often, these are not built using the same benchmarks you are used to. This can lead to inconsistencies in the BIM model. Also, many times these free resources are locked for customization, transforming your model into something that you don’t want. So, always beware of the free resources and think several times while adding a component in a BIM drawing, even when it seems simple.

3. Learn Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts can save you a lot of time. If you are thinking to build a long-term career in the BIM industry, you need to learn the default Revit shortcuts by heart. As these shortcuts help you execute many useful commands, keeping them on the tips of your hand will help you speed up things.

Also, use custom command and shortcut feature of Revit to build your own command. You can do so by heading over to User Interface Tab and finding a command to assign a shortcut to it. Here are some useful shortcuts to get you started:

  • Use SPACEBAR during placement to Flip/Rotate an object
  • Hold SHIFT key while executing a command to toggle orthogonal constraints
  • Press ENTER key to repeat the last command you executed

4. Ace Your Object Selection Skills

One of the biggest problems beginners face using Revit is to exercise control over the objects they select while working on a crossing selection or window with a mouse. Revit offers several selection methods to control the things you want to select. One of the most useful Revit tips for begineers can be to use dedicated tools available at the bottom-right of the screen.

  • Select Links: You can turn this off to ensure you don’t select a link mistakenly
  • Select Underlay: Turning this off would lock the underlay element in its position
  • Select Pinned Elements: Turn this off when you don’t want to unpin an element or investigate an element’s properties.
  • Filter: Use this button to avoid selecting elements by mistake.

5. Avoid Accidental Double-Clicks

Tackling the accidental double click issue on a component family is essential for a beginner as it takes the user to the family editor. To avoid this scenario, one should slow down the mouse click speed or adjust internal Revit settings to change the way double-click is treated. To do this, one can go to the User Interface Tab and change the preferred Double Click option for family out of the below-mentioned options:

  • Edit Type (Preferred for Beginners)
  • Do Nothing
  • Edit Family (Default but not Recommended)

6. Enable Worksharing

Revit® allows multiple individuals to work on a single model at the same time. You should make use of this feature to accelerate the pace of model development. To enable work sharing you need to head over to:

Collaborate -> Manage Collaboration -> Collaborate

This will save your model on the network server. When a user opens the model, it automatically gets saved to the local system and both local and networked models get synchronized every 30 minutes.

7. Never Meddle with Backup Settings

By default, Revit saves 20 backup copies of any model in case of any problem or data disaster. You should never lower the number of backups as this will help you restore data in case of an emergency.

8. Take Full Advantage of Model Linking & Cloud-based Worksharing System

Revit® allows linking models developed by third-party consultants to a central model. These models are updated whenever you receive a new version. You can also import and link models with different file formats such as .DWG i.e. used by Autodesk.

Also, if you don’t have a networked server for storing the central model, you can use Collaboration for Revit- a cloud-based system that uploads the central model on cloud. This can be used by anyone from anywhere and improves communication and collaboration for project success.

Revit Best Practices

  • Always keep your Revit software package updated. Quarterly minor updates and annual updates come with critical patches and fixes for better user experience.
  • Use the same version of Revit throughout your company/team. Revit is not backward compatible which can prove to be a hindrance for streamlined communication in case you are not using the same version.
  • Never work directly on the central model without creating a local copy. Always make sure to open any file from the File menu by checking ‘Create New Local’ option.

Wrapping Up

Autodesk Revit is a powerful package that can augment the BIM process. It is essential for developers to understand its potential by continuously evolving their skills as a Revit designer. Not only will it mean better models for the end clients, but also growth of the Revit community.

At United BIM, we are committed to augmenting the propagation of BIM as an advanced technology for AEC projects. By providing valuable tips from time to time, we are contributing to the development of a thriving community for a better future for BIM-based projects. Interested to know more about BIM modeling? Get in touch now. Contact Us