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Username: Mike Kelly Book: Autodesk Revit Architecture 2012 Essentials: AUTODESK OFFICIAL TRAINING GUIDE. No part of any chapter or book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means without the prior written permission for reprints and excerpts from the publisher of the book or chapter. Redistribution or other use that violates the fair use privilege under U.S. copyright laws (see 17 USC107) or that otherwise violates these Terms of Service is strictly prohibited. Violators will be prosecuted to the full extent of U.S. Federal and Massachusetts laws.

Modeling In-Place Masses

Now that you've imported the designer's sketch and drawn the appropriate reference planes for added context, you can start creating the massing elements that will represent the building. You will do so using a tool called In-Place Masses. Consider masses as families in Revit that are created directly within the project. This tool allows you to model within the context of the project you're actively working in.

Modeling the Base Mass

To model the base mass, follow these steps: 1. Open your Level 1 floor plan view by double-clicking Level 1 in the Project Browser. 2. Select the Massing & Site tab on the ribbon and select the In-Place Mass tool.

3. Revit displays a dialog telling you that it has now enabled the Show Mass option in the current view. Click Close. 4. The Name dialog appears. For this exercise, let's use the default name, which is Mass 1 (see Figure 2.15). Click OK. FIGURE 2.15 Use the default mass name.

Now you're in a special, in-place editor for creating masses in Revit. You'll notice the menu options have changed. Select the Rectangle tool. 6. Using the Rectangle tool, sketch lines as shown in Figure 2.16. These lines should cover the form and be placed along the reference planes you created earlier. FIGURE 2.16 Sketching a rectangular form

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Select the lines and then select the Create Form tool from the Form panel.

The results aren't immediately obvious since you're looking at a solid form in plan. To view the results from another angle, return to the South elevation. Select the top of the form by clicking on it and use the grip arrows, as shown in Figure 2.17, to increase the form's height until it aligns with Level 8. The edge of the forms will stick to the level when you're close and snap itself into place. FIGURE 2.17 Increasing the height of the mass

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SKETCHING MASSES The type of mass that you're creating in this exercise is called an extrusion. There are many other configurations of masses, including blends, sweeps, swept blends, and revolves. After you've created the initial mass, it's possible to edit the form dramatically; you can even use voids to carve away at your initial form. We don't have the space to go into that level of complexity. But modeling more complex masses is something that you'll likely want to learn. Check out http://au.autodesk.com/?nd=class_listing.

Modeling the Middle Mass

The next step is to model the middle mass form: 1. Return to the Level 1 plan view. Set the view to Wireframe, as shown in Figure 2.18 (so you can see through the mass you've just created). The Wireframe button is located in the View Control Bar at the bottom of the screen. FIGURE 2.18 Setting View to Wireframe

2. Using the same workflow, sketch another rectangle as shown in Figure 2.19. Then select the rectangle and click Create Form. FIGURE 2.19 Sketching the second rectangle

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3. Once again, open the South elevation and use the grip arrows to move the second mass form so that the upper face aligns with Level 10 and the lower face aligns with Level 8, as shown in Figure 2.20. Don't forget that you can set the view display to Wireframe if you need to see through the first mass to the second mass. Changes to one view won't be reflected in every view. FIGURE 2.20 Second mass in place

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Modeling the Upper Mass

The process of creating the third (and uppermost) mass starts the same as for the first two masses: 1. Return to Level 1 and create a rectangular sketch that connects the outermost reference planes, as shown in Figure 2.21. Then select the lines and click Create Solid. Extend the upper and lower faces to align with Levels 64 and 10, respectively. FIGURE 2.21 Creating the third sketch and mass form

2. Return to the South elevation and use the grip arrows to extend the top and bottom of the form. You could continue to work in 2D views, but it'll be more helpful if you can see what you're doing in 3D.

Working in 3D
Select the Default 3D View icon from the QAT. Doing so allows you to see the working mass more completely, as shown in Figure 2.22. FIGURE 2.22 Default 3D view of the completed mass

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You likely noticed from the imported sketches that the East faade of the mass should taper in elevation. The base and the top are different widths. By adding an edge to each face (both North and South), you'll be able to adjust the upper form appropriately:

First, hover over the South face of the upper form and select the face by clicking on it. Doing so activates the Add Edge tool on the Form Element panel. 2. The Add Edge tool divides one plane on the mass by adding another edge that can be adjusted independently of the other edges. Add the edge at the front, lower corner of the upper mass, as shown in Figure 2.23. FIGURE 2.23 Adding the South face edge

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3. Rotate the model to expose the North face. Do so by selecting the intersection of the ViewCube between the right, back, and top sides. The model will spin around, zoom extents, and center.

4. Select the North or Right face to add an edge. 5. Open the East elevation from the Project Browser. Use the grip arrows to adjust this face of the upper mass. As you hover your mouse pointer over the intersection, a vertex control will appear as a purple dot at the upper-right corner where you added a face (Figure 2.24). FIGURE 2.24 Selecting the vertex

6. Select this control and then use the grip arrows to move it to the intersection of the uppermost level and right reference plane. Next, do the same thing to the west side of the mass. The result will resemble Figure 2.25. FIGURE 2.25 Resulting South elevation and 3D view

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Your mass is nearly complete, but first you need to join all the mass geometry together. From the Modify tab select the Join tool on the Modify panel. Then select the lower and middle forms to join them. Repeat this process for the middle and upper forms.

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Now that the forms have been joined together, select the Finish Mass tool from the InPlace Editor panel. It's the big, green check mark, meaning you're done!

Congratulations! You've just created your first massing study! JOINING MASSES Each mass is an independent object. Masses can even be scheduled independently from each other. You'll find this functionality helpful for creating separate masses for programming purposes (such as convention space or meeting rooms). But be careful if you have overlapping masses. If overlapping masses are not properly joined, Revit will create overlapping mass floors and your schedules will be incorrect. Furthermore, if you create real floors from the mass floors, the floors will overlap rather than create a single element.

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