zhukoven ⁽⁵⁹⁾

Counting something in Revit seems pretty easy, right? You're able to extract lots of parameters from different element categories out of the box, and use them to create schedules or count quantities. This concept works great until you get to the system families. They usually make you scratch your head and turn your eyes towards Dynamo to get things done...

Say, we want to schedule the number of balusters by railing types. How are we supposed to count things like this?

The first thing that comes in mind - is to create a Railing schedule and check out available fields. And that's when the first obstacle comes in your way: there's no such thing as "Baluster" in the railing schedule:

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The next step is to check railing instance or type parameters. Still, nothing useful here but baluster placement, that obviously can't help us count the number of elements. Well, what if we check out available parameters in Dynamo?

An updated version of my Dynamo nodes package (rev.2017.6.2) is now live at Dynamopackages.com. This version contains the Dynamo node that builds a Navisworks search set XML from the input data:

Based on the original code by Luke Johnson from What Revit Wants (Bakery package), this node gives you the freedom in Navisworks XML file creation. You're able to specify the Navisworks Search Set name & group, and choose which Navisworks parameter you're going to use. This XML file stores data in the structured way that could be easily read by Navisworks. This means that you can use the power of Dynamo to automate your Navis searches, and even set the rules that couldn't be otherwise done without workarounds. Continue reading...

Scope Boxes in Revit are very handy when dividing building into separate blocks. You can set these scope boxes in view properties, or even in view templates, and get cropped views in a matter of seconds. Yet there's another handy thing that could be used to boost your productivity: the "Name" parameter, which by the way is the single available parameter of the scope box. So how can we use it?

Say, we'd like to divide our Revit model into blocks, using some distinctive names: "Block A", "Block B", etc. Using the named scope boxes, we can set this name to all desired elements that intersect the scope box:

Our architect asked me recently, if it's possible to add the level prefix to room numbers in Revit. Assuming that the building is relatively large, this is certainly the task that requires automation. However, this could also be done in a semi-automatic way via the Revit room schedule... So let's take a look at both Revit and Dynamo workflows, and see the difference between them.

Revit semi-automatic renumbering

• Create Room schedule with the following fields: Number, Name, Level, Shared parameter (RoomLevel in our case):

Yet another small Dynamo node that may be handy if you need to watch for an element orientation. There are different use cases for this - like placing wall openings by doors & windows, or placing elements with preset rotation (e.g. stadium seating). What it does…