Export to AutoCAD

Are those downstream from you complaining about the Revit pollution in your exported AutoCAD files? Here are the settings that will make them happy.



Use the File name box in conjunction with the Automatic and Long File Naming options to have Revit prefix all your exported drawings with the project name or number. You could add the project name and/or number in the name of the Revit views themselves, but that makes the view names longer and harder to read in the Project Browser.

Make sure the Save as type box is set to the version the AutoCADers like.

Definitely check the Export each view or sheet as a single file if you don't want Revit to make those goofy xrefs in your sheet files.


Now the real important step is to click that Options button and make sure the dialog box looks like this:


"All properties BYLAYER, no overrides" is very important for those getting your AutoCAD files, especially if you have links to other Revit project files. But this setting is not the default. This option makes sure all entities are BYLAYER so those downstream from you can override your colors, lineweights, etc. Many use colors in AutoCAD to control gray-scaling and need all your entity colors to be BYLAYER.


At the bottom, check "Export rooms and areas as polylines". This could be very helpful for those poor people still using outdated technology to count up room square footages across multiple CAD files. This setting is also required for many government projects.


The other setting you want to pay attention to is the Coordinate system basis. For Revit projects that are just 1 file without links to other Revit files, Project Internal may be fine. If your project is multiple Revit files all linked together using Shared Coordinates, you may want to set this to Shared Coordinates, but that's a whole other discussion.

Don't forget to click on the Layer Settings button to choose an appropriate layer export file that matches Revit entities with the correct AutoCAD layers. In the dialog box that pops up you will need to select the Load button and choose our RTKL export file which is:

V:\Revit_Architecture_2008\exportlayers-dwg-RTKL 06a.txt

Here's what those dialog boxes look like:



The bad news is that Revit may not remember your settings the next time you open it up and you will need to double check them every time you export.

Callouts and Callouts

What is the difference between a 'Detail Callout' and a 'Floor Plan Callout'?
When you start creating a Callout View, you have some options; Detail View and Floor Plan.

If you create a floor plan callout of a plan view, the callout view displays in the Project Browser under plan views. Alternatively, if you make a detail view of a floor plan, the callout displays as a detail view in the Project Browser.

Other differences include:
.Room Tags cannot be visible in detail callouts.
.Detail callouts can be shown in all floor plans that the callout intersects, whereas floor plan callouts can only be visible in the view they were created in.

.Detail callouts cannot have a color scheme assigned to it.

Remember, once you choose the type of callout, that's it. There is no toggling between the 2 so choose wisely. Use common sense, if you are creating a construction detail, use a detail callout, if you need just a enlarged floor plan...you got it! You have been warned.

Object Visibility

Why can't I see the object I just placed?
The object you just placed isn't visible because either, your active workset
or the category that object belongs to, is turned off. Check your 'Visibility/Override Graphics' (VV) to make sure:

the category (under the the Model Categories tab)

...and...

the current active workset (under the Worksets tab) are checked.

Fill Patterns

How do I get that AutoCAD pattern into Revit?
Both AutoCAD and Revit derive their patterns from *.PAT files. You will need to know that name of the pattern you want to use (i.e. find it in AutoCAD) then browse out to open ACAD.pat in notepad. Do a document search (Ctrl+F) to find the name of the pattern and copy all of the lines associated with that pattern (it's all jibberish).

Start a brand new notepad file and paste that info in. Before you continue, make sure you add the line ;%TYPE=MODEL (or DRAFTING) right under the *pattern-name. Save the file as a *.pat file.





Now in Revit, go to Settings>Fill Patterns and choose either a Drafting or Model fill pattern and go to NEW.









Choose Custom then Import. Browse out to our *.pat file and click 'Open'. Set the scale of the pattern that hit 'OK'.





MORE TO COME...