2026-02-23 BIM - Theory Presentation -Curtain Wall Design -Schedules -Revit Families -View Templates

Quick recap

The meeting focused on presentations related to various features of Revit, a Building Information Modeling (BIM) software, as part of a class project. Students presented on topics such as curtain walls, schedules, families, and view templates, demonstrating how these features can enhance workflow efficiency and project documentation. Each group explained the functionality, benefits, and practical applications of their assigned topic, with some groups also showcasing specific uses within their project model. The instructor provided feedback, emphasizing the importance of understanding both basic and advanced Revit features and encouraged students to explore the software's capabilities further. The session concluded with a brief overview of how view templates were used in the project to facilitate coordination between different disciplines.

Next steps

• All students: Complete checkpoint 1 (levels, walls, grids, basic structural elements) before next class

• All students: Catch up on any unfinished work for checkpoint 1 during the next lecture class

• All students: Be prepared to start working on floors and roofs in the next practical class

• Presentation groups: Prepare to continue presentations in the next lecture class (next week)

• Nicole: Redo the schedules presentation

• Zonie: Pass message to other independent study students about attending class and the process

• Brian: Look up and transfer Nicole's grade from last year's schedules presentation

• Brian: Add Abigail and Alandra's names to the class registration system manually

Summary

BIM Feature Presentation Schedule

The class took a break from their major project to focus on presentations related to BIM features in Rivet. Brian explained that the class would present on 11 different topics, with each group defining their topic, providing an industry use case, and demonstrating the feature. Michaela confirmed her presentation was pre-recorded, while others planned to present live. The class discussed the schedule for presentations, with some groups requesting to present later due to other commitments. Brian agreed to accommodate these requests while ensuring all presentations were completed by Friday.

Curtain Wall Design and Revit

The class discussed curtain walls, with Gavin and Ansel explaining their definition, benefits, and applications in architecture. They demonstrated how to use the curtain wall tool in Revit, highlighting its advantages over individual windows for large glazing areas. Brian asked questions to clarify the differences between curtain walls and windows in Revit, emphasizing the importance of using the correct tool for accurate scheduling and information modeling. The group also discussed the need to demonstrate both the practical application of curtain walls in buildings and their use within the Revit software during future presentations.

Curtain Walls and Schedule Management

The meeting focused on curtain walls and schedules in architectural design. Brian emphasized the versatility of curtain walls, highlighting their use in solar panels and modern buildings. He encouraged exploring the model to uncover hidden features. The discussion then shifted to schedules, where Michaela and Abigail presented on their importance in organizing building data and facilitating efficient project management. They demonstrated how to create and use schedules in Revit, covering topics such as listing modeled elements, adjusting parameters, and reducing repetitive drafting work. The presentation concluded with a demonstration of key schedules and navigating the model to find elements.

Arshadow Room Schedule Management Demo

Tarick demonstrated how to use Arshadow to create and manage room schedules, including selecting view templates, editing properties, grouping finishes, and filtering schedules. He showed how to add and edit fields, group finishes, and modify room details. Brian provided technical assistance and guidance on navigating the user interface. Tarick explained how to remove fields from the schedule using the filter function.

Revit Scheduling for Beginner Users

Brian provided feedback on a presentation about Revit schedules, explaining that the content was too advanced for the current skill level of the team, which he categorized as beginner/level 1 users. He suggested focusing on basic scheduling capabilities rather than complex parameters and data manipulation, as these advanced features would not be relevant for their upcoming studio project. Brian emphasized that Revit has three levels of usage, with level 1 being basic modeling, level 2 involving data manipulation and schedules, and level 3 allowing for custom programming and feature creation.

Revit Families and Scheduling Concepts

The meeting covered three main topics: schedules, families, and BIM concepts. Brian explained the functionality of schedules in Revit, emphasizing their ability to create formulas and organize project information. Mateo presented on families, detailing the three types: system families, loadable families, and in-place families, and their importance in creating reusable components. Davina discussed BIM concepts, focusing on time savings and the need for upfront preparation when implementing Revit in a firm. The group also addressed the importance of establishing a library of families to enhance workflow efficiency in Revit.

Rivet Families Presentation Overview

The team presented on Rivet families, explaining their types and uses. They demonstrated how to upload and edit families, and discussed their importance in maintaining design consistency. Brian provided feedback, suggesting they had stayed on the surface with their presentation and highlighting the three types of families: built-in, imported, and one-time use. He also mentioned additional resources for families, such as BIM Smith, and emphasized the importance of curated family lists.

Revit Families Creation and Categorization

The discussion focused on Revit families and their creation and categorization. Mateo demonstrated how to edit and create new families, emphasizing the importance of categorizing them correctly for proper functionality in Revit projects. Brian raised questions about creating unique families for a firm, highlighting the need for a workflow that ensures these families can be shared and used by multiple team members. They also discussed how schedules in Revit are tied to the categories of families, affecting how objects are displayed in schedules.

Revit Families and View Templates

The meeting focused on discussing families in Revit, with Brian explaining how families can be modified and categorized to meet specific needs. He demonstrated the use of the family editor to create complex elements, sharing a personal example from a cruise ship renovation project. The discussion also covered view templates, with Adriana presenting on their purpose and benefits for maintaining consistency in architectural drawings. The session concluded with an announcement of the next topic for discussion.

Revit View Templates Overview

The meeting focused on view templates in Revit, discussing their importance in maintaining consistency and efficiency in both studio and professional practice. Shai explained the different aspects of view templates, including visibility settings, view filters, and discipline controls. Jewel highlighted their practical applications, such as controlling graphics across multiple drawings and ensuring alignment between different teams. Dusean demonstrated how to edit and apply view templates, showing examples of changing visibility options and colors. The discussion also touched on the challenges of capturing window pop-ups during screen recording.

Revit View Templates Demonstration

The instructor, Brian, provided feedback on a student's presentation about view templates in Revit, awarding partial bonus points for identifying how the project used view templates to manage different building types and control visibility of elements. Brian then demonstrated a practical example of creating and applying view templates to hide specific elements like windows and doors, emphasizing their efficiency for coordinating different aspects of a building model.

Revit Door Filter Customization

Brian explained how to use view templates and filters in Revit to hide specific doors while maintaining the same door type. He demonstrated creating a filter that selects doors with a specific comment, allowing for advanced customization without modifying all instances of a door type. Brian encouraged the class to use industry-standard methods in Revit, emphasizing the importance of leveraging information and parameters rather than manual adjustments. The class had completed four presentations out of 14 and had 2 hours left in the current session, with the next topic being floors and roofs. Brian requested a status update from the class to determine the best focus for the remaining time.

Project Progress and Presentation Reschedule

The class discussed progress on a major project, with Brian announcing that presentations would be rescheduled to the following week, allowing more time to complete checkpoint 1, which includes walls, windows, grids, and levels. Brian emphasized the importance of finishing the checkpoint to move on to roofs and floors, stating that failure to complete it would prevent progress in the project. Nicole raised issues with accessing certain links for the project, and Brian suggested using screenshots as an alternative. Zonie inquired about independent study, and Brian clarified that attending the class is necessary for grading and future independent study arrangements, especially since summer classes won't be available.

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