KEYNOTE GUIDELINES

Key noting is when you have tags with a code pointing to something on a drawing, and a schedule or legend that puts a description against each code.

Typically used for presentation and Town Planning drawings. Generally keynotes are NOT used for documentation as more rigid control and more exact descriptions are required.

There are 4 methods to do keynoting in Revit.

1. KEYNOTE PARAMETERS

Revit has a parameter called Keynote, that when you go to fill it in lists a selection of values from a text file.

There are Element keynotes, Material keynotes and User keynotes. Element keynotes assign a value to individual elements (eg window mullion, door, etc), Material keynote assigns to materials and User keynote assigns to, well, nothing.

So if you use a User keynote to tag, say a curtain wall, and it gets changed to a brick wall, the description of the wall won’t change.

If you use Element or Material Keynotes the information is tied to the element or material, so if is changed the tag will change automatically.

The text that will appear in keynote legends comes from a text file. So to edit the text you need to edit the text file, and manually reload it to see changes.

You also can’t force multi-line text like you can in a parameter (by using shift+enter), or new in Revit 2016, use a multi-line parameter type.

2. ELEMENT PARAMETERS

Keynoting can be done by using element parameters. For example you might use Keynote for the code, and Description for the description. You can also add custom parameters (as Project Parameters) to do whatever you want.

Using element parameters avoids the need to maintain a separate text file.

The downside is you can’t create a single schedule as a keynote legend for everything. You can only do individual schedules for walls, floors, roofs, railings etc.

3. NOTE BLOCKS

A Note Block is a schedule of information that has been assigned to a tag. Normally in Revit a tag just displays underlying information. But Symbols, or Generic Annotation families, can contain data that can be scheduled.

Like User Keynotes these do not change if the model element they are tagging changes.

But because Note Blocks are schedules they will automatically add and remove tags as they are added or deleted.

4. LEGENDS

Legends are simply an empty view that can be placed on multiple sheets. Any annotation (2D stuff) can be put in a legend, and with some restrictions families in plan or elevation.

Legends can be used for notes that go on multiple sheets, which includes what we need here - legends for tags. You simply place text in the legend.

If not being used for anything else the Keynote parameter and a keynote tag can be used for tagging. Alternatively the same Symbol (Generic Annotation) tag used for Note Blocks can be used.

Of course this is the most manual of methods. There is no relationship between elements in the model or tags.

However you can make your legend look any way you like, and it is easier to edit than data in a parameter (i.e. Note Blocks) or in a separate text file (Keynotes).

WHICH ONE TO USE?

It comes down to how complex the task at hand is.

If it is a relatively simply building with only a few different system to describe and not too many drawings LEGENDS are probably adequate. Coordination is manual but changes are easy to make.

If the building is more complex, the design is changing a lot, and you are worried about things being badly or incorrectly described then use ELEMENT KEYNOTES. This method provides centralized control over descriptions and assigns them to elements, so if things change the tags and schedules change automatically.

It is best to avoid User Keynotes and Note Blocks. There is no relationship between elements and codes / descriptions so they are little better than manual legends, the extra effort to use them is simply not warranted.