Discover the process of copy monitoring in Revit Structure, a technique that allows for the transference of certain architectural elements from a background model into the primary model. This article provides step-by-step instructions on how to employ this method, highlighting its benefits in promoting accuracy and efficiency within the modeling process.
Key Insights
- The copy monitoring technique in Revit Structure is initiated from the collaborate tab and allows for the copying of elements from an architectural model into the structural model. This method saves time and ensures precision by eliminating the need to redraw grids.
- After the architectural grids are copied into the structural model, the 'maximize 3D extents' option is used to expand the grid envelope in all three directions, making it clearly visible in the model's elevation view.
- Cleaning up the copied grids is a crucial step to ensure clarity in the model. The grids, which may initially overlap, are adjusted by picking the zigzag line and creating an offset, resulting in a clean and clearly displayed grid system.
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Hello and welcome back to Revit Structure. In a previous video, we inserted our architectural background by linking. Now that we’ve linked the architectural background into our model, let’s move on.
What we’re going to do next is explore Copy/Monitor. This tool allows us to copy and monitor certain elements from the architectural background into our model. The first thing we’ll do is go to the Collaborate tab and click it. Then go to the Copy/Monitor tab and select it. You’ll see two options: Use Current Project or Select Link.
We want to choose Select Link because we want to pull information directly from the architectural background. So, select Copy/Monitor > Select Link, and you’ll see a blue box appear around the linked architectural model. Click on it.
This brings us to a new set of options where we can choose what information to copy from the architectural model into our structural model. Click on Copy.
Next, hover over the architectural elements that you want to include in your model. The first thing we’re going to copy and monitor is the Grids. This is important for two reasons: first, it avoids duplicating effort by redrawing grids, and second, it ensures accuracy across both models by using data provided by the architectural or other discipline.
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Let’s get started. Hover over a grid and click to select it. You’ll see it highlighted, indicating it has been added to our structural model. Let’s go ahead and copy and monitor the rest of the grids.
Zoom in on tighter areas if needed. Select each of the remaining grids. Again, we’re copying this information from the architectural model, so we don’t have to redraw it—it’s already done for us.
Once you’ve copied all of the grids from the architectural model, return to the Ribbon and click Finish.
As you can see, we now have all of the architectural grids present in our model. To verify, right-click on one of the grids and choose Select All Instances > In Entire Project.
What I like to do next is right-click again and select Maximize 3D Extents. This action maximizes the grid envelope in all three directions: X, Y, and Z.
Let’s take a look. Go to one of the Elevation views and you’ll see the result.
Okay, as you can see, we have our architectural elevation backgrounded into our model. Let's take a look at the grids. You can see that since we've extended our 3D extents, they are clearly visible above the architectural background.
We need to clean them up a little bit since they overlap. What we’ll do is select the grid line and then click the zigzag symbol. This gives us an offset control handle.
We'll stretch that out slightly, then move to the next grid. That one looks good, so we’ll leave it as is. For the interior grid, pick it, and you’ll see it offsets to the left.
Let’s drag it to the right, and we’ll also give the last one a bit more room by moving it as well. There you go—we’ve cleaned up that end. Let’s go over to the other end of the building.
You’ll see we have just a couple that need some minor cleanup. Okay, we’ll move that one out. There you have it—a clean grid layout.
You can do the same on the other Elevation views. Since they are separate instances of the elevation, adjustments made here will not affect them. Let’s go to the other side of the building. Again, we see some overlap, so let’s clean these up a bit. Select the zigzag, stretch it out; select the grid, the zigzag again, and stretch.
As you can see, we now have a clean-looking model with clearly displayed grids.
Okay, back to this model. In the Level 1 Floor Plan, let’s clean these grids up as well.
Select them, stretch them out. Again, select, zigzag, stretch—repeat as needed. I think you get the idea here. Let’s finish cleaning this up. Pull this one over—and there you have it for that face.
Now we’ll go to the opposite face. Select the zigzag—wait, we don’t want that one moved. Let’s select the correct one and drag it down. Let’s move to the next, select it, zigzag, and clean that one up too.
There you go. Let’s press Z X to zoom to the full extents of our current model. Now you can see we’ve got a grid system laid out both horizontally and vertically.
We’ll stop here, and in the next video, we’ll look at placing our elevations so we can begin laying out the horizontal orientation of our model and start modeling it. See you in a bit.