When creating a room data sheet, say for a healthcare project, it is often necessary to create a 3D axonometric view per room to accompany the detailed floor plan, internal elevations and schedules. To create these views within Revit involves multiple steps:
- Duplicate an existing 3D view.
- Rename the view.
- Activate the section box and modify its extent to extend just beyond the room’s bounding box.
- Set the view’s orientation using the view cube.
- Lock the orientation
- Apply a view template to control the graphic appearance.
The problem
Creating a large number of 3D axonometric views can be time-consuming and error-prone. For example, Revit does not allow two views to have the same view name. Therefore, each view created must have a unique name, which must be entered manually. Additionally, sometimes multiple rooms must be grouped within a single 3D view. For example, a hotel or hospital room usually consists of two ‘sub-rooms’ – the bed area and the ensuite.
Additionally, it is common to override the graphic settings of the nearest walls so that they appear (semi-)transparent, enabling the entire room to be visible. Since the elements to be overridden vary from view to view, this override needs to be done on a view-by-view basis (Override Graphic in View > By Element) and can’t be standardised through filters or view templates.
Creating axonometric views with Dynamo
To solve this need, Parametric Monkey has developed a Dynamo graph, which is available as part of our Dynamo Package Development service. The graph will create 3D axonometric (orthographic) views based on the bounding box of selected rooms and name the new view per your naming convention. Additionally, there is the option to ‘pair’ rooms together based on a common parameter so that only a single view is created for multiple rooms.
Before running the graph, ensure that all rooms to be paired have matching parameter values. Also, since the section box references the room’s bounding box, ensure the room’s Upper Limit and Limit Offset are correct. To automate this process, refer to our Room adjust upper limit tutorial.
To run the graph:
- Select the rooms to reference (#1).
- [Optional] Define the pairing room parameter, such as “Occupancy” or “Number” (#2). This value should be left blank for no pairing.
- Specify the section box side offset from the room’s bounding box (#3).
- Specify the section box bottom offset from the room’s bounding box (#4).
- Specify the section box top offset from the room’s bounding box (#5).
- Define the view orientation (#6).
- Define the view template to be applied (#7).
- Specify if the view orientation should be locked (#8).
- Define the view name prefix (#9). This value can be left blank if desired.
- Define the room parameter to reference in the view naming convention (#10).
- Define the view name suffix (#11). This value can be left blank if desired.
- Specify the crop region offset from the geometry (#12).
- Specify if the crop box should be visible (#13).
- Press Run.
Once run, use the Axonometric graphic overrides graph to override the graphics of the obscuring walls and dependent doors and window families, such as transparent fill with a dashed line pattern.
Computational logic
The graph filters the selected rooms to return only bound rooms. If a pairing parameter has been specified (input #2), the rooms are paired based on their parameter value. If the parameter’s value is empty, the room is filtered out. The bounding box is then calculated and adjusted based on the supplied offsets (inputs #3 – #5). Depending on the view orientation (input #6), the vertices of the bounding box are extracted and used for the eye position and target position.
The proposed view naming is then generated based on Prefix – Parameter Value – Suffix (inputs #9 – #11). If a proposed view name exists in the document, the room is excluded and returned separately. Next, an axonometric view is created, and its section box, view template, and locked status set. Finally, the view’s crop box is updated based on inputs #12 and #13.
Conclusion
Automated routines such as this can significantly speed up the process of creating the views for a room data sheet. And best of all, consistency in how the views are created ensures a consistent graphic output. To learn more about our Dynamo Package Development service, drop us a line and discover how we can automate your Revit workflows.
