Revit Pattern (.pat) Source File - Version 2!

Believe it or not, pattern files are popular.  As in, some of the most visited pages on this blog have to do with Revit pattern files.  You know, those files with ".pat" extensions that look like jargon when you open them?  Well, if you want to learn how to customize them yourself (or make your own from scratch) here is the tutorial from way back in 2011!  The other extremely popular post on patterns was a simple free download created by a former colleague of mine, Doug Campbell.  Doug and I were partners in crime at our previous place of employment but now he is running the software ship at BL Companies.

You may recognize Doug's name from that very pattern post.  If not, then you may also remember him from the much loved "understanding view ranges" handout...  Either way, you will definitely know Doug now as he has recreated his pattern files library AND the PDF handout.  Doug added over 80 pattern files!  Plus, he was nice enough to offer them to the Revit Kid community free of charge!

Continue reading to download the pattern files for FREE today...

Revit Tutorial - Show the Area of a Filled Region in a Tag (Using Dynamo)

Dynamo in the Real World...

Tack this one up as a "real-world" use for Dynamo.  A very good friend emailed me and asked if I knew how to send the area of a Filled Region into a tag.  For example, he had some filled regions on elevations for a planning and zoning submission... Those filled regions needed to show the area.  Obviously, you can click the region, look at its area in square foot (or meters squared) and then type it into a text note/tag.  Well, that would be pretty painful if there were hundreds of them!

Other than actually modeling the signage as a 3D box family that can report the area I decided this sounded like a job for Dynamo.  Repetition, reporting parameters... I mean, come on now!

Continue reading to learn how to create your own Dynamo script that will report a detail items parameters....

Revit Tip - Can't Select Filled Region

Problem:  You created a fileld region in a floor plan view but later on in the process you cannot select the region.  You see the pattern and when you turn "detail items" on and off the region turns on and off.  For some reason you cannot select the damn region.

Solution:  Check your Visibility/Graphics settings ("VV".  Under the "Line"  category see if the line type you drew as the boundary for the filled region (eg. "") is off or on.  Interestingly, when the line type that is used as a boundary for your region is off... You cannot select the region.

Just an FYI.

;)