Introducing Revit Architecture 2010, BIM for Beginners: Chapter 2 - Getting Acquainted with the Revit Interface and File Types

3.31.10 5:05-5:38pm 33mins
Introducing Revit Architecture 2010, BIM for Beginners
Chapter 2 ■ Getting Acquainted with the
Revit Interface and File Types
- Overview of the Revit user interface
- Modifying and personalizing the interface
- Selecting objects and navigating views
- Using keyboard shortcuts

"...user interface (UI) of Revit 2010 is dramatically different from that of its previous version. ...entire family of Autodesk products, has moved to the “ribbon” paradigm..."

"The ribbon UI in Revit can be changed and customized per your needs. This feature is
new in Revit 2010. A full customization of the UI is still not possible; however, you can make certain changes to it, such as modifying the panel order or moving a panel off the Ribbon to your desktop. Revit 2010 supports working across multiple monitors."

"change the order of the panels within the tabs and also undock them from the
Ribbon so they float in the workspace and are visible at all times. With multiple monitors, you can move these panels from screen to screen."

"Revit, you can undock the Project Browser and make it float over the drawing area."

"Keyboard Shortcuts
Keyboard shortcuts are the fastest way to work with Revit. The shortcuts assigned to the existing Revit commands are unfortunately not as obvious in the new UI as they were previously. You have to hover over a tool and wait for the tooltip to appear in order to see the assigned shortcut, which is described with two uppercase letters. To change the automatically assigned shortcuts, edit the Keyboard Shortcuts.txt file located in \Program Files\Autodesk Revit Architecture 2010\. This location is unchanged from previous releases of Revit. You will have to restart Revit after changing the keyboard shortcuts in the .txt file."

"Tab - ...similar to the Cycle command you may know from AutoCAD. It allows you to cycle through various elements near the cursor when more than one is present. ...useful when you’re dimensioning because it allows you to cycle through various references of the elements dimensioned (dimension to wall center instead of wall face; opening of a door
instead of outer frame; and so on). The Tab key is also used to select chains of connected
lines and walls."

"Shift+Tab - ...reverses the default order in which the Tab command cycles."

"Ctrl - ...used to add multiple objects to a selection at the same time."

"Ctrl+Tab - ...will cycle through open views. Use this to quickly move from view to view."

"Shift - ...some elements in Revit are constrained to move horizontally or vertically only. Revit gives you visual clues indicating which way a selected element can move. You can remove this constraint by holding the Shift key while repositioning the element. ...some elements can move in any direction by default, but holding the Shift key while moving them constrains their direction."

"Delete - ...used to delete selected elements from the model. ...also use the Backspace key to delete elements."

"Ctrl+Z - undo"

"Ctrl+Y - redo"
"Multiple undo operations can also be performed from the quick-access toolbar using the list of recent commands. Dragging the mouse down this list undoes all selected commands in one step."

"Spacebar - ...mostly used to cycle through rotation of an element during or after placement."