This article demonstrates how to annotate or add information to a Revit Structure project. It specifically focuses on dimensioning major grid lines or structural elements within the architectural design.
Key Insights:
- The article details how to start annotating a project by going to level zero and turning off the visibility of the architectural link to better focus on the project.
- The dimension panel guides users in aligning dimensions using various elements, ensuring accuracy in the architectural design.
- Emphasis is placed on the process of dimensioning both major and minor grid lines, as well as other structures such as walls and equipment rooms in the design.
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Hello, welcome to Revit Structure. Let’s get started. In this video, we are going to look at annotating, or placing dimensions and information, on our project.
The first thing we want to do is go to Level 0. This will serve as our base plan. You’ll notice that there are dimensions already provided—these are coming from the architectural link (background). Let’s temporarily turn off its visibility so we can focus on our annotations. We can always reference it later to confirm dimensions.
Go to the Revit Links tab under Visibility/Graphics (VV), uncheck the visibility box, and click OK. Let’s zoom in on the stair area. We’ll begin by creating an independent set of dimensions for our structural layout.
First, we’ll dimension the major grid lines and structural elements. Go to the Annotate tab. In the Dimension panel, select the Aligned Dimension tool. The keyboard shortcut for this is DI.
Before placing dimensions, check the dimension style. We want one that uses tick marks, 1/8" text, and an opaque background—this will help mask any overlapping elements.
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As you move your cursor over the grid lines, you’ll notice they’re automatically recognized. Begin by selecting the major grid lines. Place the dimension string outside the building footprint.
This shows that the major grid lines have been defined. Some offset grid lines such as those ending in a letter/number combination, will be dimensioned separately—they don’t require a continuous dimension string.
To clean up the dimension layout, select the grip (blue dot) and drag the dimension line outward. A leader will automatically appear connecting the dimension to the grid.
Zoom out and move to the opposite end. You’ll see grids E9, D9, between D, E, and F. Start your dimension from Grid D, then select D9, E, E9, and F. The dimensions are dense, so use the blue grip to drag them outward for clarity. Place them wherever you feel the spacing is appropriate.
Press Escape. Move the dimension line down slightly to provide more space. Now, all horizontal grids are dimensioned.
Next, we’ll dimension vertically. Typically, we use the top or right side, depending on the layout. Since we read drawings from right to left, and the right edge is less crowded, we’ll place dimensions there.
Open the Aligned Dimension tool again from the Quick Access Toolbar or use the DI shortcut. Zoom in and begin selecting the major vertical grid lines.
Now, dimension the minor grids, including Grid Line 1 and Grid Line 2. Use a leader where necessary to clearly show the connection. Everything looks good so far.
Let’s connect a major grid to a minor grid using a new dimension string. Excellent. Press Escape to exit the command.
Reviewing the layout, we can see the vertical grid lines align with the exterior faces of our structural walls. So, we’ve effectively dimensioned the column and wall locations.
Now let’s dimension the equipment room. Always start dimensions from a known grid reference. Begin from a nearby grid line and dimension to the face of the wall. By default, Revit will snap to the centerline of the wall. Press TAB to cycle to the outside face, then click to place the dimension.
You can align this dimension with the others above, but let’s leave it here to show it belongs to the equipment room. Let’s now dimension vertically for this room.
Start at a major vertical grid line—Grid 1—and dimension to the wall face. Again, press TAB to get the correct face. Add another dimension to the farthest exterior face of the wall. Now we see the room dimensions: 24'-0" long by 11'-0" wide.
Press Escape. Save your project.
Use Zoom All (ZA) to fit everything to the screen. Now you have all major structural elements dimensioned.
Very good. That’s it for this video. See you in the next one.