Hello everybody!
I'm new to this forum. I came here to ask for your help.
I was wandering while doing a project of some construction elements if there is any way in Revit that I can change the numerical value of an dimension not with the text but with different value ? and at the same time I don't want Revit to rescale my elements. Something like in AutoCAD that I can type in any number I want and Revit won't rescale i or change the distace between them.
I know that I could simply use AutoCAD instead of Revit but I find it easier in general and I really want to learn it since I'm a student.
Thanks for your help!
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no worries - hopefully you never run into an instance where you need it, like many of us have. i'm happy for you that you've never needed it though! very cool.
the most frequent one that I think I run into is that you can't create actual view breaks in drafting or legend views in Revit like you can in other view types. So if you need to add a view break to those views you have to do it the old fashioned way, by manually shortening the linework and adding break lines. So I may want to detail two points along a 8'-0" member in one detail... it's only 6" of linework but i want to have a dimension reading 8'-0". just one of many examples where I need to manually edit a dimension value, and i would have no problem doing so in AutoCAD.
@zacharyRGVFB wrote:no worries - hopefully you never run into an instance where you need it, like many of us have.
I won't ever need to do it because it is misleading and can cause problems. Kind of like fake news.
@zacharyRGVFB wrote:the most frequent one that I think I run into is that you can't create actual view breaks in drafting or legend views in Revit like you can in other view types. So if you need to add a view break to those views you have to do it the old fashioned way, by manually shortening the linework and adding break lines. So I may want to detail two points along a 8'-0" member in one detail... it's only 6" of linework but i want to have a dimension reading 8'-0". just one of many examples where I need to manually edit a dimension value, and i would have no problem doing so in AutoCAD.
Haven't you considered not using a dimension to indicate the length? There are a number of ways to do it.
Like I said, I've personally seen fake dimensions cause problems with the people reading prints. Some were minor but some could have caused major issues if they weren't caught.
i don't think you're familiar with what i'm talking about, or you may not be able to visualize it... it has nothing to do with "faking it" or misleading people. look into "view breaks"... they're a drawing standard across all of graphic communication, AutoCAD or revit. I would expect anyone with even a little bit of experience to be familiar with them.
What you should be using is a jogged dimension which is available in AutoCAD, not Revit. That break mark in the dimension is the graphical standard for what you are describing. You could probably make your own family for jogged dimensions or just draw it out if you only need them once in a while.
Don't forget. Standards allow for flexibility. There are other ways to convey that information and stay within traditional graphic standards.
It's not that Revit can't do it. It is a deliberate limitation and Revit makes it clear with the error message that it gives you when you attempt to do it. It's obviously a design decision and, IMVHO, a good one. If you aren't happy with it, try Product Feedback or submit it as a request for a new feature in the IDEAS forum.
If you are interested in making your own family for jogged dimensions, I'm sure you can get help with that here but it seems you are only here to complain.
I'm out.
@RSomppi - the post has been edited to remove the quoted material.
@RSomppi wrote:
If you are interested in making your own family for jogged dimensions, I'm sure you can get help with that here but it seems you are only here to complain.
we're not though. you can tell we're not here to complain because, in a roundabout way, you eventually got to my point anyway. we're here to address a shortcoming of Revit functionality. You're talking about a method (the jogged dimensions method) of using some contrived roundabout method of achieving the same result as a base AutoCAD function, which is what we're all here for.
@zacharyRGVFB - this post has been edited due to Community Rules & Etiquette violation.
Where? Are you talking about my references to this practice causing problems?
@zacharyRGVFB wrote:
You're talking about a method (the jogged dimensions method) of using some contrived roundabout method of achieving the same result as a base AutoCAD function,
Making a family to get what you want seems more like a solution than a roundabout method. There are many things that Revit doesn't supply and we have to create.
Sorry if you thought I was being personal or aggressive in suggesting alternative, more correct, ways to get what you want.
@RSomppi - the post has been edited to remove the quoted material.
Manual adjusting dimension values is fairly common in my experience. For example, standard details are often not drawn to scale. To do so would waste valuable time, provides no value, and would make somethings harder to understand.
Revit does modeling, yes, but it's not modeling all elements precisely. TBF, that'd be nigh impossible for a large building. And in MEP, at least, the deliverables generated are primarily 2D plans very similar to those drawn by hand and then in vanilla CAD, but with the added ability to include a lot of info. There was an intent - i presume - at one point to facilitate increased efficiency in this endevour. I've yet to see where that is possible. It does make for better, more efficient coordination at a roughly defined scale - say 1 to 10 cm. Not 0.1 to 1 mm, like Inventor.
Otherwise it wouldn't automatically connect copper fittings to plastic pipes without an error notifying users they need to transition.
Besides, MEP is in nature. you draw pipes side by side that will be almost touching, or even configured over-under.
Modeling mm accuracy is not revit. modeling to mimic real world is constraint-based modeling like Inventor.
Can you change dimension in inventor with ease? Yes.
We often work on renovations. It's impossible (aside from 3D scans) to replicate and entire building in a model. 3D scans require cost-prohibitive hardware that most firms simply cannot afford or justify.
That means the occasional dimensional bust, wehre the model doesn't match IRL hence the need for manual dim's.
@DZimmerKVJT2 - this post has been edited due to Community Rules & Etiquette violation.
1) I think the current means to add a manual dimension are adequately tedious. Its not something that should be done frequently, but there are rare cases in which its needed. If you could just manually select any dimension and change the number without it changing the model, people would do it far more often, which is bad practice. Models should be accurate whenever possible.
2) The main problem being discussed here isn't the process to put in manual dimensions, its that drafting views don't have view breaks (or cropping for that matter). We HAVE to use false dimensions because of this. Add view breaks and we wouldn't need to.
@mhiserZFHXS wrote:We HAVE to use false dimensions because of this.
I think you hit the nail on the head. Not real dimensions but false ones with an assigned instance value rather than an actual measured one.
@RobRocks wrote:
@mhiserZFHXS wrote:We HAVE to use false dimensions because of this.
I think you hit the nail on the head. Not real dimensions but false ones with an assigned instance value rather than an actual measured one.
Huh? That's what you took from my post? I think I made it pretty clear that we should NOT be able easily do that.
Well, yeah. As opposed to doing it with true dimensions and overrides, which is bad practice. The false dimensions should not look like the true ones, though.
I think you wildly misinterpreted the point of my post...
If you insist on doing that... which is absolutely not what I was advocating for in my initial post... then make a custom line-based family. And overriding a dimension with a unicode character isn't bad practice because of the specific workflow. Its bad practice because you're faking dimensions, doesn't matter how you do it.
I can count the number of times I've faked a dimension over the past year on one hand. All but one of those times were in detail views. The other was because we had a very quick turnaround on an addenda and I didn't want to risk screwing up a bunch of views for a small dimension change.
In my opinion, if you feel like it should be easier to fake dimensions, you are probably doing it too much.
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