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Class Description
Lets admit it; modeling complex geometry in Revit has always been
difficult. With the introduction of the new mass modeling tools in Revit
2010; this has changed. However, what happens when you want to
model complex walls, floors, roofs and beams? This course will show you
how by teaching you how to think outside of the box and teach you how
to use unconventional modeling elements to guide the creation of
complex geometry.
This class covers exciting new methods of modeling in Revit that draw
upon everyday commands and elements within the project environment
to create complex walls, floors, roofs and beams that support and follow
the contours of complex forms from curved undulating roofs to site
topography to extremely complex organic animal shapes. At the end of
the course, you will have the knowledge to model any extremely complex
wall, floor, roof and beam.
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Summary
Lets admit it; modeling complex geometry in Revit has always been
difficult. This is because Revit has lacked modeling tools and commands
that have been the staple for other 3D modeling programs, such as 3DS
MAX. With the introduction of the new mass modeling tools in Revit 2010
this has changed somewhat. However, modeling complex geometry on
real non-mass elements such as walls, floors and beams is still difficult in
Revituntil now. This handout will describe how to model complex roofs,
walls, beams, and floors by using the pick by face command and by
finding the intersections of their surfaces.
ROOF SURFACES
Creating by face
Lets start with something simple, pick by face. This is the simplest way to
create complex geometry because all you have to do is simply pick a
surface and apply a roof or wall element to it as shown in Figures 1 and 2.
Some of the most complex of all roofs and walls are created by the pick
by face command. Lets illustrate this by using an example of a complex
roof surface. Let us consider the following in-place mass surface shown in
Figure 3. This surface consists of four planar reference lines. The spline by
points command was used to create the reference line and the surface
was created by creating a form over those reference lines. This in-place
mass surface will be used throughout this handout.
Once the mass surface is created, simply activate the roof command by
face and pick the mass surface. The resulting roof geometry is shown in
Figure 4.
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Note: Some complex roof surfaces, will not allow the roof to be placed on
its face because the geometry is too complicated. In this case, use a wall
by face instead of a roof and follow the same procedure described
above.
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The top of the profile of the wall will need to be defined. How is this
done? How could the top of the wall be found? Create a wall and create
an elevation view of the as shown in Figure7.
Next try picking the profile line using the pick line command. However,
you cannot pick the bottom of the roof surface in the elevation view as
shown in Figure 7.
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Not being able to pick this line in elevation is a very big limitation in Revit.
However, we do not want to wait for the developers of Revit to add this
feature. I am happy to say there is a solution. This is a very useful method
that will allow you to be able to pick that line at the bottom of the roof
surface. It is so useful that we will show how it could be applied to other
elements including beams. For now, lets take a step back and examine
what that line at the bottom of the roof surface really is.
The bottom of the roof surface/top of the wall is simply the intersection of
the roof surface and the vertical wall surface. All we have to do then is
find the intersection of those surfaces as shown in Figure 8.
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NOTE: I dont recommend using the spline command to find the top of the
wall profile because it is only an estimate of the location of the bottom
of the roof surface.
profile line is located. Select the wall you want to apply the profile to.
Select edit profile. Select pick line and select the new edge of the
bottom of the roof. The result is the same as shown in Figure 5. As
mentioned above, this method, I call the intersection method, is
extremely powerful. Lets now apply it to beam framing on the roof
surface.
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Figure 10 (Roof Solid With all Wall joins before beams are placed)
Before a beam is placed the work plane has to be defined. Simply set the
work plane to the face of the wall solid.
To place the beam, activate the beam > pick command and pick the
intersection of the vertical wall and the roof surface as shown in Figure 9.
Repeat these steps until all the beams are placed. The final roof framing
should look similar to Figure 11.
Note: If the mass surface changed the wall by face will change to match
the change, just click on the modify by face command. However, the
beam hosted onto the wall element will not change.
If you wanted to make the beam change you would have to place the
beam on the mass surface edge using the pick command. If you would
rather place the beam on the wall then you would have to use an
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Note: Sometimes the roof surface is too complex and a structural beam
family cannot be created when using the pick command. In these rare
cases use an in-place mass and create a beam cross section/profile.
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Note: Revit does not simply allow you to assign a beam profile to the inplace mass. A profile of the wide flange beam has to be built in the mass
family editor and then nested into the in-place mass, then extruded along
an extrusion line.
3.
4.
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5.
6.
Note: In-place mass families are very limited because they are essentially
only good for 3D modelling. They do not have any analytical lines, they do
not schedule easily and they do not show up correctly in plan views. See
the next section on how to correct this last issue. I would recommend that
you only use in-place masses as beams if the use of a structural beam
family is not possible due to the complexity of the geometry.
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TOPOGRAPHY
Creating Walls That Follow Site Topography Contours
Lets use a modified version of the intersection method principles, shown
earlier, to create a planar wall in Revit whose bottom follows the contours
of a site topography element as shown in Figure 12. There are many ways
to do this; however I found that this method below is the fastest way to
create a wall that follows the contours without leaving the Revit program.
First I have to state that the site topography modelling tools in Revit are
clunky compared to other Revit modelling tools. If anyone has worked
with site topography in knows that they are not very user friendly in
regards to interacting with other elements. With the shortfalls of site
topography in mind, take the following steps below to create a wall
whose profile will follow the site topography contours.
Even though a walls profile is used in this example, this principle could be
applied to a number of other elements including, curbs, pipes, etc..
1. Add a building pad where the edge is at the centerline of wall
shown in Figure 16. Make sure that the building pad is lower in
elevation than the site topography.
a. Note that no elements will join with the site topography so a
modified intersection method will have to be used.
b. Note that a building pad will cut a site topography element
and therefore a building pad will be used as the sacrificial
element.
c. Notice that a new site topography element that just contains
the boundary of the cut made from the building pad is
created. It is this phenomenon that we will take advantage
of.
2. Simply select the new topography element that contains the
boundary and export it as a Dwg and save as a new name.
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3. Add an in-place mass and insert the newly exported Dwg as origin
to origin level 1 orient to view
a. This will place the new site topography element as a dwg
and will allow its edge to be pickable.
4. Add a wall by picking the edge of original building pad and extend
the top limits to any desired height. In the case shown in Figure 15, it
is shown stepped.
5. Edit the wall profile and pick the edge of the inserted Dwg/in place
mass and trim the edges as shown in Figure 17.
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I built this cow out of surfaces in the mass family editor that consists of
hundreds of reference lines and thousands of reference points. I chose this
cow family to represent an extreme example of complex geometry.
Hopefully, this is nothing that you would ever encounter in your projects.
However, if you are able to apply the methods described above to
something as complicated as the Revit Cow than I am confidant you will
be able to apply these methods to any complex surface that anyone
could throw at you in the future. Lets get started.
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location of the floor and make that floor location the current work plane.
In this case it will be about halfway up the cows body. Join the cow wall
and floor. The result is shown in Figure 20.
With the floor active as the work plan, create a new floor and click on the
pick line tool. Select the edge of the newly created joined wall.
Complete the sketch so the floor boundary creates a closed loop. Click
finish. The final product should look like Figure 21.
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CONCLUSION
Hopefully, after reading this handout you are able to take away some tips
on how to model complex roofs, walls, floors and beams. Apply these
methods to your projects at the office, especially the intersection method,
and I am sure you will be ready to tackle any complicated geometry the
client could throw at you. Tell them to hit you with their best shot. Good
luck.
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