On the Manage tab, you can locate the Snaps. When we moved to Revit from other software, we might have been a little concerned that ALL the Snaps were turned on, ALL the time. We got used to it quickly. They just seem so much smarter in Revit.
So, was it during your training in Revit that was the last time you really looked at this dialog box?
Under the section on Dimension Snaps you find the Length and Angular increments that are used for snapping. You can add more or remove any you like. They are adjusted to the view as you zoom in or out. Further out, larger increments are used.
With the Object Snaps section, you find where you can use the shortcut keys to override all other snaps to get right to the one you want.
It is in the Temporary Overrides that you might be missing a little jewel or two. The Close, or (SZ), seems to be the same as using Nearest, or (SN). Using (SS) to stop snapping is easy to remember. The (TAB) key to cycle is easy, that key is used in other places in Revit. You may already have found that (SHIFT) forces horizontal and vertical movement. The (CTRL) to Force Perpendicular (Measure in 3D) may come in handy sometimes but I don’t do a lot of measurements in 3D.
It is that other one that I want to come back to. The Snap Mid Between 2 Points with the shortcut of (S2) may be the least known of all the snaps. Boy, can it be useful. How about placing a light fixture in the middle of an L-shaped room? That sounds like a wonderful example of this process, except you cannot place the light fixture using this. The fixture, usually, is face based and just wants to have an object to adhere to. You can however move it to the center once it is placed on the surface of the ceiling. Select the light, select Move, and select the center of the fixture as your move from location. Now, use the short-cut (S2) and pick the two outer corners of your L-shaped room. You will see the Midpoint symbol on the middle of the line being drawn between the two selected points. These could be midpoints, centers, or any snapping point as well as end points.
Now you can see how it pops right to the center.
You are going to be looking for reasons to use this one.
Donnia Tabor-Hanson aka CADMama
Revit Family Counselor
Twitter @DonniaTH
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