REVIT PURE PRESENTS

PAMPHLETS

ISSUE #11 / WINTER 2019

FINISHES

revitpure.com
© Copyright 2019 - BIM Pure productions
by: Nicolas Catellier, Architect
THE PAMPHLETS COLLECTION

REVIT PURE - © Copyright 2019 - BIM Pure productions

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WHAT IS THIS “PAMPHLET” ?

Revit Pure Pamphlets are published 4 times a year by email. Each edition
covers a very specific Revit theme. We like to pick themes that are
complex and confusing. Our job is to make these topics simple for you.

WHY FINISHES?

There are many ways to create interior finishes drawings in Revit. Most
of them are terrible and inefficient. After years of experimentations and
trying different systems, we found the best way to create finishes plan. The
technique taught in this pamphlet aims to provide a consistent strategy
that can be used in plan views, elevations and even 3D views. The system
use thin model elements and material takeoff as legends. Read on.
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13 TIPS TO CREATE FINISH PLANS IN REVIT

1- MODEL ADDITIONAL THIN FLOORS AND WALLS

Create a new wall and floor type with a thickness of about 12mm (1/2”).
Call these elements INT-Finish Floor and INT-Finish Wall. You can adapt
the name to match your existing standards.

Model these elements where you want to indicate a specific finish in your
documents. In the case of a floor, make sure to set an offset equivalent to
the element thickness so it sits over the main floor element. Also, make
sure the main model elements don’t include a finish layer.

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2- JOIN THE MAIN WALL WITH THE FINISH WALL

By default, the additional finish wall will go over openings such as doors
and windows. The trick to fix this issue is quite simple: use the Join
feature in the Modify tab to join both walls together. The finish wall will
then automatically embed all the openings.

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3- ADD A FILTER TO HIDE FINISH ELEMENTS IN MOST

VIEWS

A benefit of this strategy is that it allows you to hide the floors and walls
finish pattern in most views. That way, the finishes can be seen in specific
finishes view but remain invisible in other construction documents.

Go to the Visibility/Graphics menu by using shortcut VG. Go to the filter

submenu. Click to add a new filter.

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Create a filter called Interior Finishes. Include the Floors and Walls
categories. Set the rules so the Type Comments equals FINISH.

Add this new filter to the view. Uncheck the visibility parameter.

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The final step to make the filter works is to add the FINISH parameter
value in the Type Comments of the finish wall and floor. You can adjust this
value by selecting the thin finish wall/floor and by clicking on Edit Type.
Scroll down to find the Type Comments parameter.

The views that include the Interior Finishes filter with visibility turned off
won’t show the finishes. The finishes will be visible in all other views. Make
sure to use view templates to quickly add this filter to multiple views at
once.

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4- USE THE PAINT TOOL TO ASSIGN MATERIAL FINISHES

Most projects have several interior finishes. Instead of creating multiple

types of finish wall/floor, use the Paint tool to save time and avoid
creating hundreds of wall types. You will find the paint tool in the modify
tab.

In the example below, we assign a wood boards material. The original

pattern is turned into a horizontal lines pattern that represents wood.

Make sure that the material you assign has been customized to display the
appropriate surface pattern.

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5- USE SPLIT FACE TO CREATE COMPLEX PATTERNS

If you need to assign multiple materials on a thin wall/floor, use the

Split Face tool. In the example below, we use the tool to split the wall
at 1000mm above the ground. This way, we can use two different kinds of
finishes without having to model multiple walls.

To use Split Face, select the tool and click on the face of the element you
want to split. Draw a line that doesn’t exceed the yellow boundary lines.

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6- CREATE A CUSTOM MATERIAL TAG

Create a new family by using the Material Tags template. It is good idea to
use a different tag shape than the exterior material tag. In this example, we
use some kind of extended hexagonal shape. Add a label that displays the
material Mark. Load the family in your project and create a Material
Tag for each different material.

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7- CREATE A MATERIAL TAKEOFF SCHEDULE TO USE AS

A LEGEND

Time to create a material legend using the Material Takeoff tool. Go to

the View tab and click on the Schedules drop-down menu. Select Material
Takeoff. Use the fields described in the image below.

Then, add a filter for Material:Name containing FINISH, or any

abbreviation you would like to use.

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In the Sorting/Grouping submenu, sort by Keynote (and add a Header)

then sort by Mark. Uncheck Itemize Every Instance.

Go to the Formatting submenu and activate the Hidden field box for the
Material: Name parameter. This parameter is used for filtering but is not
required in the schedule itself.

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8- ADJUST MATERIAL NAME WITH “FINISH” PREFIX

Now, modify the names of the material you want to include in your
schedule. You must add the FINISH prefix in their name so they appear
in the schedule. In the example below, we add the prefix to the carpet,
ceramic and hexagonal tiles materials. However, we keep the Gypsum
material without the prefix because it is not used as a finish and doesn’t
belong in the schedule.

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9- ADJUST MATERIAL TAKEOFF HEADERS

The image below represent what you should see in your schedule. It
is impossible to add new parameters to materials. Instead, use the
existing parameters and use them for your own purpose. For example,
Material:URL becomes NOTES and Material:Description becomes
DIMENSIONS. Fill out the headers like in the image below.

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10- FILL OUT INFORMATION FOR EACH MATERIAL

Now, time to fill out the schedule with all the required information about
the materials. There is two ways to do such a thing. The first is to fill the
information directly on the schedule.

The problem is that we have no idea what material is in the first row,
especially because the Material:Name is hidden. The workaround is to add
the info directly on the Material Tab. Go back to the Material menu and
find the materials that are missing on your schedule.

Check out the image next page to find out how to use each material
parameter so it fits in the schedule.

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11- PLACE SCHEDULE AND ALL INTERIOR DRAWINGS

ON A SHEET

Time to put everything together on a sheet so you can put the final touch.
Adjust the appearance of the schedule: add thick outline grids, adjust the
fonts of the title, headers and body. Adjust the columns size. Center the
text for each column. Another important point to know: changing the
Type Mark on a material tag inside a view will also affect the value inside
the schedule. Check out pamphlet #2 to learn more about schedules.

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12- IN REVIT 2019, USE DOUBLE PATTERNS TO INDICATE

A MATERIAL TINT

Revit 2019 introduced the ability to use 2 patterns in a single material.

The most common use of this feature is to have a line pattern in the
foreground and a grey solid fill pattern in the background. In the example
below, we have 2 carpet colors. For the dark carpet, we add a background
light grey solid fill. The plan is much easier to understand with this change.

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13- TRY USING MATERIAL TAGS IN 3D VIEWS

What is so great about this strategy is that all the important information
is actually modeled. That means you can use any view type to indicate
material finishes. In the example below, we create an isometric 3D and add
material tags. You will have to lock the view before you can assign tags.

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revitpure.com/design
GREAT NEWS! The DESIGN package is finally ready! It will be released
on January 17h 2019. This new package is going to absolutely blow your
mind and make your Revit drawings more beautiful.

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DOWNLOAD THE TAGS, SCHEDULES AND

MATERIALS

The DESIGN package includes a Revit template and families. You will
get all the schedules and tags discussed in this pamphlet. That means you
can implement the finish system without the hassle of having to recreate
everything by yourself. Check it out: revitpure.com/design

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