Getting Better and Faster at Revit – Part 1

May 26, 2017 Luke Johnson

There is a big difference between a Revit user, and someone who has really mastered the software. The more you learn, the faster you get, the more you can learn! In this blog series, we will cover topics like:

• • Productivity Improvement through User interface tips and Keyboard shortcuts

  • View filters and View templates

  • Free addins

  • Some Dynamo

  • And More…

There are plenty of ways to do things in Revit… but we are looking for the fastest and best way. We want to maximise productivity and quality.

Targeting ‘Expert’ users so we will move quickly in general.

A lot of productivity gains come from user interface and shortcuts. Save 2 seconds every time, it all adds up quickly.

Try to take a few things away with you from this series that will save you time each and every day.

We will separate our tips and workflows into these major categories:

• • Productivity – faster ways of doing things

  • Workflows – better or alternative ways of doing things

  • Management – ways to better manage the Revit model

These tips were put together for a recent lab session using Revit 2018, and they are basically in note form along with steps to take in Revit.

The first post in this series is focused on setting up the Revit UI.

Setting Up Revit UI for Maximum Productivity

Note:

Please open Revit, and open the rac_advanced_sample_project.rvt

Please download and import the supplied KeyboardShortcuts.xml

KeyboardShortcuts

Productivity -> Double-click

In Revit Options, change default for Family to Edit Type:

Workset Chooser can also be added to QAT:

Productivity ->UI – Ribbon

Ribbon

Re arranging ribbon menus…

Hold down Ctrl and set it up like this:

Panels:

• • Undocking

  • Possible to set up tool palette on other monitor?

  • Re-docking back in place

Management -> Content Locations

Changing the home of your Revit content with NotePad++ and revit.ini

Management-> Renaming Places List in Open / Save Dialog

You need to find the PlacesOrderxDisplay value for a given entry…

In this Registry key:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\Revit\Autodesk Revit 2016\Profiles\AllAnavDialogs]

Easiest way is to export that AllAnavDialogs to .reg file, edit in Notepad, then Merge back.

Effect will be immediate in Revit.

Link

Note:

Please close and re-open Revit to commit the changes to UI (in case of a crash later)

Open the rac_advanced_sample_project.rvt

Navigate to 01 – Entry Level – Furniture Layout

Place some Furniture in the Lounge

UI Shortcuts -> Productivity

Right-click- Repeat

Right-click- Recent Commands !

Recent commands will also help ‘teach’ you the Keyboard Shortcuts:

Right-click Create Similar

I use this a lot – you usually have a similar object floating around and it makes sense to start the creation tool directly from that element

Right-click to get to Properties and Browsers – You can turn System and Project Browsers on and off quickly

• • Try turning PB and Properties on and off with right-click

  • Even inside the PB, you can switch Properties on and off

  • Good for minimal screen real estate