Wing - Autodesk Revit 2017 for architecture: no experience required

Eric Wing

Executive Editor: Jody Lefevere
Development Editor: Tom Cirtin
Technical Editor: Eric Bogenschutz
Production Editor: Dassi Zeidel
Copy Editor: Kim Wimpsett
Editorial Manager: Mary Beth Wakefield
Production Manager: Kathleen Wisor
Book Designer: Franz Baumhackl
Proofreader: Amy J. Schneider
Indexer: Ted Laux
Project Coordinator, Cover: Brent Savage
Cover Designer: Wiley
Cover Image: iurii/Shutterstock

Copyright 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
ISBN: 978-1-119-24330-4
ISBN: 978-1-119-24332-8 (ebk.)
ISBN: 978-1-119-24331-1 (ebk.)
Manufactured in the United States of America

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an organization or Web site is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Web site may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet Web sites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read.

For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at (877) 762-2974, outside the U.S. at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002.

Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some material included with standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books or in print-on-demand. If this book refers to media such as a CD or DVD that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at http://booksupport.wiley.com. For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016944943

TRADEMARKS: Wiley, the Wiley logo, and the Sybex logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates, in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. Autodesk and Revit are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.

To my offspring,
Cassidy and Jacob.
Thanks for waiting
patiently on the
weekends as I
work away.

Before I ever even pondered writing a technical book such as this one, I was the guy who bought them and studied them from the front to the back. This specific page, however, I always thought was somewhat superfluous... bordering on self-indulgent. As I sit here now, after finishing 14 chapters (and 8 online bonus chapters), I can categorically say that the 750-word allotment only scratches the surface of the list of people close to me who have been tremendously inconvenienced by my unavailability and, conversely, by my temperament during the rare occasions when I was available. Of course, topping this list are my wife, Jennifer, and the kids, Cassidy and Jacob. You guys always come through for me, and there is no way I could have written a single chapter without your support; and yes, you get to go to Disney World again like the last 10 years!

Also, Id like to thank Grandma, Baci, and Dziadziu for constantly watching and being with the kids.

On the technical side, thanks to Stephanie McComb for acquiring the book and working with me on my manuscript and for her constant patience as I constantly fell behind schedule. Thanks to Eric Bogenschutz for his thorough technical edits and for keeping the images making sense with the lessons. I would really like to thank Tom Cirtin for keeping it all on track.

Eric Wing lives in Syracuse, New York, with his family. He is the BIM services manager for C&S Companies, which is a full-service engineering/architectural firm headquartered in Syracuse. Erics degree is in construction engineering; he earned it from Delhi University. In addition to writing this book, Eric has written AutodeskRevitArchitecture: No Experience Required 2010 through 2017 and Revit Structure Fundamentals 2010, and he co-wrote Mastering Revit Structure 2009. Eric also authors Revit, AutoCAD, and Navisworks videos for Lynda.com. Eric is an adjunct professor at Syracuse University. In addition to his writing, Eric is a globally recognized speaker, consultant, and trainer.

Why do you need a big, thick technical book? Well, its true that the best way to learn is to just do it. But do you ever just do it and not fully get it? Books can serve either as the basis for learning or as supplements for your learning. No one book will teach you everything you need to know about a specific application, but you may never learn everything you need to know about an application without a book. When written appropriately, the book you purchase is there to start you off using good practices. If you have already begun, the book serves as a desktop reference. And last, a book can serve as confirmation that youre approaching an application in the correct manner.

The Autodesk Revit Architecture tool is no exception. Although this application has proven to be easy to learn and easy to get a feel for, its still a deep, sometimes complicated application with many procedures that require step-by-step instructions to fully understand. And to be honest, some of these features just dont work in the real world.

This book has been written by an author who is in the trenches using Revit Architecture, Revit Structure, and Revit MEP simultaneously every day. So, yes, you could figure out all this information on your own, but sometimes its nice to let someone else figure it out for you and pass that knowledge along to you in the form of a book.