Default material for connections

[Dylan]

When creating connections in Revit 2020 (and previous versions) the default material for the member/plates is metal deck!!!? Why for a start but also how do you change that default material?
I am aware you can change the material by selection cycling though to highlight element and then changing the material in the properties but you shouldn't have to do that every time....

[Alan.johnson1970]

Apparently this is a bug, and I have been told that Autodesk are aware off it.

You will have to tab through the connection and manually change the material.

[sampie · Accepted solution]

Hi @Dylan 

As @Alan.johnson1970 said, Autodesk is aware of this. I created an Idea to fix it and believe it or not I got contacted by the Autodesk Development Team working on the Steel Connections. So hopefully they will fix it soon! For now, you can also select the whole model and filter out the plates and change the material that way.

You can vote for the idea here: https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-ideas/steel-connection-material/idi-p/9181608

[Dylan]

Thanks

[t.shiels]

This is still the case in Revit 2021. 

An easy work around is to edit the Metal deck material. You can change the name and all associated properties, this will update any existing connections where the material is still Metal Deck and will still be used as the default for new connections.

Obviously if you need a metal deck material you'll need to create a new one or take a copy first.  

Is this really a bug? The option to define materials is completely non-existent. With the way connections now work with types, it seems that materials should really be included as part of the connection properties to allow for easy changing of materials across all materials of the same type.

[NinovSM]

Are there any changes on this issue in Revit 2022 version?

[Dylan]

I've not tried 2022 yet unfortunately

[carldupreez]

Issue persists in Revit 2023.

[matthew_taylor]

A possible workaround:

I'm not sure how this would work in a live model, but here is a (hideous) workflow that works in a test model.

(The workaround won't work if the plate created in the first step doesn't have a material assigned.)

1. Create a plate.
2. Select the plate.
3. Delete the material that the plate is on.
4. The plate will now have a new material assigned to it.
5. If the new material is not the correct material, then repeat steps 3-4 again (and again...and again...).
6. Once it's on the correct layer, create a new plate.
7. The new plate should be on the correct layer.
8. Now the crazy bit. Undo all of the delete materials.
9. Create a new plate.
10. The new plate should still be on the correct layer. (Why? Who knows. I imagine that the settings do not reside in a place that works with undo/redo.)

[apjones]

Have you tried to move that plate to a different project? Does it retain the correct material? (Cut & Paste or Transfer Project Standards?)

[AhmedDri]

I've been using revit for 7 or 8 yeras now
I think they are the laziest team ever, the features added in 5 yeras, they can just add them in on year !

REVIT TEAM get to work, its unbelievable how much the progress is so slow