Announcements
Welcome to the Revit Ideas Board! Before posting, please read the helpful tips here. Thank you for your Ideas!
cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Customization: allow us to customize the UI

Customization: allow us to customize the UI

Hello.

 

Already discussed many times, but since nothing ever changes:

Half the buttons are useless to me (and others), take up space unnecessarily, and most importantly, we accidentally click on them. For example, "Duct Placeholder" is completely pointless — nobody uses it in construction, and even on design projects engineers use real ducts. The right-click shortcut is too easily accessible; I click it unintentionally one time out of three, which is very frustrating.

Level creation is in the Architecture tab. Why? Architects are not the only ones who need to create levels. Let me move it and delete the architect tab.

In the Modify/Geometry tab, the tools available only work on walls. Let me remove them — they are useless to me.

When starting a new project, it systematically asks whether you want to use imperial or metric (international) units. Only one country in the world uses inches, so why impose it on everyone? Let us set this once and for all in the general options, since we will never use those outdated units. And while we're at it, if an international version could be developed, it would benefit the majority of users and greatly improve performance — which is already quite questionable — by eliminating the systematic unit conversion calculations (yes, Revit processes everything in imperial units internally).

The same goes for the options used to manage units. Being forced to click on each line, one by one, to switch from imperial to metric on projects or families defined that way... As if we had nothing better to do. It is so tedious and painful! Just add a main button to switch from one to another.

12 Comments
Anonymous
Not applicable

Revit needs a function which allow users to customize the user interface. 

it should be possible to sort/arrange, group/combine all the tabs, ribbon bars etc. to your own liking.

it would make the revit interface more streamlined, user friendly and would result in a better work flow.

Tags (1)
JavadHamidi
Enthusiast

it would be great to have more control on UI like logo sizes or text sizes

the image is for Tekla software I wish we had them in Revit too

 

Tags (1)
Ric_Weber
Advisor

@fruity101079, you said, "When starting a new project, it systematically asks whether you want to use imperial or metric (international) units."... um, are you not using a template of some sort where units are already set up?  If not, why not?  

 

I did give this idea my vote, but only because I have already voted for two of the three ideas.  

 

@kimberly_fuhrman-jones I'm not sure where it should go.  On the point of UI customization I think it should go under https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-ideas/user-interface-ribbon-customization/idi-p/10413829.  On the point of underlying Units change to Metric, it should go under https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-ideas/unit-system/idi-p/10235045, but on the point of ease of  change of Units method, it should go under https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-ideas/add-some-presets-to-the-project-units-window/idi-p/140501...

dfoth
Advocate

I find this a bit funny. As Ric mentioned why aren't you using a template that has all your units setup so that you never need to do it again? As for the nit picky UI stuff, you can already change everything in the Revit ribbon, just ask Claude how and create your own add-in with Visual studio. Although I would use all the built it stuff to set up your project template better first and learn all the keyboard shortcuts so you never have to interact with the ribbon in the first place. Then you can just hide it. Oh and duct placeholder does in fact get used. 

angelorosanelli
Explorer

Revit is used by architects, structural engineers, MEP engineers, BIM coordinators... but everyone sees the same ribbon packed with tools that have nothing to do with what they're actually working on. That's exactly the frustration described here.

The solution seems obvious: native discipline-specific workspaces (Architecture, Structure, MEP, Construction, etc.), where the interface reorganizes itself and shows only what you actually need. And of course, switching between workspaces whenever needed would still be available for those working across disciplines.

AutoCAD has been doing this for decades and it works great. In Revit, which is a much more complex platform with a much wider audience, this need is even greater. The customization options that exist today do help, but they're way too tedious for everyday use and practically unworkable when you need to standardize setups across a team.

Discipline-specific workspaces would take care of a big chunk of the accidental clicks, make life easier for people who are still learning, and bring the interface in line with how BIM actually works in the real world.

dfoth
Advocate

I politely disagree. I use all the discipline buttons. THIS IS NOT CAD. You'll have to buck up and learn Revit. Learning keyboard shortcuts is such an essential skill that is overlooked because people seem to like looking for buttons to click. Sorry but I don't get it.

fruity101079
Advisor

@dfoth @Ric_Weber 

You never know how the families you download were created. And when they are made in imperial units, it's a pain to change every unit when you want to modify something.

For projects, yes of course, we use a template, but sometimes you just want to open an empty project to test things

@angelorosanelli thank you, someone who understand.

 

 

angelorosanelli
Explorer

@dfoth 

Respectfully, the reference to AutoCAD was not made because we think Revit is AutoCAD. Obviously it is not, and that distinction is very clear to anyone who has been working with BIM for years. The mention was simply to illustrate that the idea of discipline-specific workspaces has already been implemented with great effectiveness in other software, and that it works.

It is not just AutoCAD. Inventor and SolidWorks do this exemplarily: distinct environments for part modeling, assembly, and detailing, each displaying exactly the tools needed for that specific stage of work. Here in Brazil, QiBuilder, a software dedicated to building systems design, also follows this principle, with separate environments for electrical and plumbing. It has a lot of room for improvement in other areas, but on this point it is a good example of practicality.

As for keyboard shortcuts: I agree they are important and that every serious user should master them. But it is unrealistic to expect anyone to know or customize every shortcut for everything they use on a daily basis. That is not a lack of dedication, it is simply the reality of working with software as broad as Revit.

I have been a Revit user since 2009 and an AutoCAD user since 1998. I have a clear understanding of the goals and differences between them. Within its limitations, AutoCAD still offers more complete 3D element modeling than Revit. What gave Revit its name was the instant update of views across the project, not 3D modeling itself.

I often say that Revit is like a duck: it swims, flies, and walks, but does none of the three things with excellence. We can do everything in it and produce detailed, high-quality drawings, but the process from project start to completion is still very costly in many stages. This is not empty criticism. It is an acknowledgment that we still have a long way to go before we have software that is truly efficient across all the disciplines it encompasses.

Native discipline-specific workspaces are not a request for simplification. They are a step toward the maturity of a platform that already has more than enough complexity to justify them.

dfoth
Advocate

@angelorosanelli I take the time every year to go through and setup keyboard shortcuts that I share with my whole firm. I'll PM you. As for your detailed explanation, I now understand where you are coming from. I suppose a single button checkbox that allows customization for those who want it isn't such a bad idea.

Ric_Weber
Advisor

@dfoth, why are you rebuilding the keyboard shortcuts file each year?  It is located here by default:   C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\Revit\Autodesk Revit [Version]\KeyboardShortcuts.xml.   I put ours on a server and everyone can then Import those keyboard shortcuts from that server location.  Rarely changes, but if you have updates you can make due to updates to the system, make them and then that same keyboardshortcuts.xml file can be used for every Revit version.  It will just ignore newer commands that may be in there.  If you want to copy that file into the correct folders for each user, you can do that too.  

dfoth
Advocate

@Ric_Weber Yes I know that. I'm not rebuilding them every year. In 2022 I looked at every command that could have a keyboard shortcut, kept most of the OOTB ones, and added over 200 shortcuts that don't exist. I mapped most of them to be easy to type with one hand. I added easier ones to common commands like Move as MM (changed mirror to WW).  Every year I look at the OOTB ones and see if there's new keyboard shortcuts and whether they conflict with any of the custom ones I made then if I have to I change mine to not conflict with OOTB ones. I did a really deep dive into everything keyboard shortcut related. Here's a quote from my announcement to my firm: "29 different Cancel “Red X” commands were consolidated into one shortcut. 39 different Finish “Green Check” commands were consolidated into a single key shortcut. 111 other new and very useful keyboard shortcuts were created." I believe those numbers are actually higher now. 

Ric_Weber
Advisor

@dfoth  Wow!  OK, so you have all these shortcuts (over a hundred)...  how do you remember them all?  I use about a dozen and use them regularly, but even if I were to double that amount, I'd never memorize shortcuts that I'd rarely use.  Consolidating all the "Red X" and "Green Check" items into two consistent keyboard shortcuts definitely seems like a good idea and one I will definitely check out (pun intended).  I would have never even thought to look for shortcuts for those items.  I am serious when I say, you should write an article or blog on your keyboard shortcut methodologies!  

  

Can't find what you're looking for? Ask the community or share your knowledge.

Submit Idea