Bizarre message re: work plane

[freelancette]

Hello,

I have been working on this project for months (in Revit Arch. 2012) and never had a problem.  All of a sudden, I got this message -- "The work plane of this view cannot be used for this operation.  This operation should be performed in another view or the work plane of this view should be set to a Level by using the Work Plane command."

I am in the "proposed" phase, main level, and am attempting to add a concrete slab.  The project is almost done now (a house renovation) and all has worked until now.  (The other floors have been in place for some time.)  I even tried to set it to a different plane, but am getting the same message.

Does anyone have any idea what has happened?  Thanks in advance.

[freelancette]

UPDATE! ... I re-set the work plane to Level 1 and also tried setting the view template to Arch. Plan.   I don't know which of these things worked, but I am able to add my slab now.  Very weird.

Does anyone have feedback as to what may have gone wrong?  I have been using Revit for 2 years and this is the first time I have seen this.  Thanks.

[rosskirby · Accepted solution]

While in the floor plan view, someone most likely set the workplane to a different level, or the face of some object, so that they could draw some model lines in the plane of that face/level, and they just forgot to reset the workplane to the referenced level for that view.  Floor slabs (and ceilings, for future reference) require a level to be the workplane when you're creating them, unless you are doing floor or ceiling (or roof) "by face".

[freelancette]

Hi Ross,

I'm here all by my lonesome, so it would have had to be me.  After getting the message, I repeatedly checked the workplane and it was on Level 1.  I'm thinking that somehow switching it to another plane and then back again may have done the trick.  Is it possible for Revit to hiccup that way?  I must admit that there have been some slight slow-downs lately in this file ... nothing major, but some delays in orbiting/panning in some views, etc.   Are you aware of any known issues regarding error messages?

Thank you for your suggestion!

[Anonymous]

you might have changed the work plane in that Floor plan for some use. Now since you have set it back to respective level, it'll work fine.

You also mentioned that your file is slowing down, To avoid this you should follow the Audit, Purge Unused, Remove unnecessary CAD and other links, delete extra views, always use Close hidden views command on regular basis and keep the geometry clean (avoid in place families wherever possible). these steps should help in increasing the speed of your machine/model.

[Anonymous]

Hi I am having the same issue...

can you explain how did you re-set the work plan.. (I dont even know how to find the workplan in plan view 😞

I tried the other thing you said, but it did not work... Please help!!

[chrisplyler]

mbaen003,

Please play around with Architectural tab > Work Plane palette > Set and Architectural tab > Work Plane palette > Show. I'm sure you will get the hang of it quickly.

[freelancette · Accepted solution]

Hi,

This page from Autodesk Help explains setting the work plane and the links in it explain more about it.  The work plane is just the 3D plane you are working on ... i.e. 1st level, 2nd level ... but it can also be the plane (surface) of an object, etc., if you want to draw on or place an object or something else on that particular surface.  It takes only a little practice to get the hang of setting it if it is not a level.  Go to the view you were working in and click the tabs as described below.  Hope this helps.

http://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/revit-products/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2015/ENU...

[vishapillai93]

HEY THANX A LOT.!!