That question is obviously come from AutoCAD users. Revit doesn’t have plot styles. But certainly, we can control how the objects to appear when we plot.

Object styles

Objects in Revit is controlled by object styles. You can access object styles in Manage tab, Settings panel.

As you can see below, in object styles dialog box you can control the line properties.

For example, railing is drawn with black line and solid line pattern. It will be shown with line weight 1 in projection. And 2 when cut.

Visibility/Graphics Overrides

We can override object styles for specific views. We can do this with visibility/graphic overrides.

You can access this tool in view tab, graphic panel. Or default shortcut for this tool is VG.

If you set any value here, then your view will use it instead of object styles.

Filters

Filter is another way how you can override object appearance. It has higher priority than object styles and visibility/graphics override.

It means, doesn’t matter how you set object styles and visibility graphic overrides. If you override settings in filter, then your view will use it instead.

About filters

You can set a common property for filter. By using filter, you are not limited to a specific object. For example, you can set properties for interior walls, doors, and stairs at once. As long as they have common property, you can set it in filter.

In this example, you can see common property for those objects is function.

It means only interior wall and stairs will be included. Exterior walls and stairs are not. You can create filters from view tab, graphic panel.

In this sample, the filter rule is set for function: interior. You can set 2 more conditions if necessary.

Overriding filters visibility

After you define your filters, you can override the visibility. It’s also in Visibility/Graphics Overrides, in filters tab.

Click add to add filter to the list, and change the properties as necessary.

View templates

View templates is the highest priority, since Revit 2013. View templates can store visibility settings for your view. Once you have it set, you can apply it to views you want to. By having templates, you can set the visibility only once. You don’t need to change properties for each view.

If you apply view template to a view, all filters override will be removed. And visibility/graphics override is greyed out. You are no longer able to change it.

Read more about view templates here.

Changing line weight

Now we know how we can set object visibility in Revit, including the line weight. But how do we set the line weight for plotting? Revit only has integer number, not real plot thickness.

You can see and change the plot thickness in ribbon> Manage tab> Settings panel> Additional Settings> Line Weights.

As you can see above, line weight 1 will be plotted 0.18 mm or 0.10 mm. Depends on the view scale.

It’s not difficult, isn’t it?

Related posts:

1. Is Revit 2013 supported on Windows 8?
2. Revit 2014 enhancements are available

This is a floor plan. The exhaust block has specification information. They all are stored in attributes.

By having the information stored in block, we can extract the data later. Using data extraction, you can create schedule very quickly.

Now if you already have many blocks in AutoCAD drawing, editing the attributes can be tedious and prone to error. It would be easier to edit the attributes in table, isn’t it?

Export the attributes data

You can edit the attributes in Microsoft Excel. To do that, first you need to export the data from AutoCAD. You can use ATTOUT command.

Or you can access it in express tools tab, blocks panel.

ATTOUT and ATTIN are part of express tools command. If you don’t have it installed on your computer, then you can’t use it.

export attributes will ask you to define a file name (in .txt format) and select objects to export.

Editing the attributes

You can edit the file using notepad. But it may not be convenient. It would be more convenient to edit it in Microsoft Excel. And further more, you can use formula if the attribute should be calculated value.

You can open txt file in Excel and edit there.

Open Microsoft Excel, then open file. You can’t double click from Windows Explorer.

Change the file type to Text Files or All Files to see your exported file.

Click open. You will see import wizard. You can click Next to review the import settings. Or just click finish to accept default settings.

Usually default settings would be fine. Now you can edit the values.

DO NOT edit the handle column. It’s the block ID. If you change it, it might not imported properly.

After you finished, save the file. You may see warning because you are working in txt format. Just click yes, because we want to keep it in that format.

Importing the values

You might already guess the next step. Yes, you can import the value after finish editing.

You can use import attributes or ATTIN.

Command: ATTIN

Reading the input file… Done.
10 Block inserts modified.

This is very handy if you work with many blocks in your drawing. Editing block attributes in drawing would take a lot of time.

Now, what do you think you can do with it?

Related posts:

1. Why I can’t Use Formula in xls Created by Data Extraction?
2. Use BURST for block with attributes instead of Explode!
3. Reporting Multiple Coordinates in A Block using Attribute Extraction
4. Command line only express tools: Have you used them?
5. Enable block attribute dialog during insertion

There are some enhancements/extensions missing from subscription center. I read in Revit extension readme, that some extensions will be available in Autodesk Exchange apps store.

I tried to search some extensions I’ve used in the past. And yes, now they are available too. So these extensions are available for public download?

Unfortunately no. Autodesk put them in Exchange app store, but they are still only available for subscription customers. As you can see in Revit extensions below, it clearly states that these are only available for subscribers.

Interestingly, I found this ‘subscriber only’ type of licensing is only for Revit extensions. Autodesk did release extensions for AutoCAD and Inventor, but all of them are free.

Obviously, Autodesk want to promote Exchange app store further. I won’t be surprised if they move all extensions there.

If you haven’t visited it yet, do it now. There are many great free extensions. And of course, there are also extensions that require you to purchase it.

Visit Exchange Apps store here.

Related posts:

1. AutoCAD Block Best Practices is now available on AutoCAD Exchange App Store
2. Is Revit 2013 supported on Windows 8?
3. AutoCAD and Revit 2012 are here!
4. Do you know that you can get Autodesk technology preview for free?
5. Training videos for Autodesk 2013 products are released

Uninstalling Autodesk 360 reported to cause some issues with properties palette in AutoCAD 2013 and 2013.

To prevent Autodesk 360 installation

You need to copy your whole installation media to your hard drive. Or you can work with deployment.

Find setup.ini file, open it with notepad. Find this line below:

POSTREQUISITE=ACAD_PSPACK;ADSYNC;ACADSKETCHUPIMPORT

Delete ADSYNC, so you get

POSTREQUISITE=ACAD_PSPACK;ACADSKETCHUPIMPORT

You can also remove ACADSKETCHUPIMPORT if you don’t want to install SketchUp import plugin. Save the file and close it.

Now you can use this media in your hard drive for installation.

Credit to:

• Mike Burke who originally share the tip.
• Jason Piercey for posting this in Autodesk forum. You may want to read the original post for more details and join the discussion.

Related posts:

1. Unable to Install AutoCAD because it’s already installed
2. How to install express tools after AutoCAD is installed
3. AutoCAD Installation Troubleshoot
4. Why reinstalling won’t fix your AutoCAD problem
5. Up and Ready: Boldly install, configure, & deploy Autodesk software

Infinite Skills has released more Autodesk tutorial video. As you know, all Autodesk 2014 products have been released. That includes AutoCAD 2014.

Now Infinite Skills added some more title to keep the training videos up to date. Here are some titles that you can buy right now.

1. Learning Autodesk AutoCAD 2014
2. Learning Autodesk AutoCAD LT 2014
3. Advanced AutoCAD 2014
4. AutoCAD 2014 training bundle (Basic and Advanced bundle)
5. Learning Autodesk AutoCAD Electrical 2014

Don’t forget to check the sample video before you purchase it.

Looking for more Autodesk software training video?

Infinite Skills has released many training videos for years. Not only AutoCAD, you can find Revit (Architecture, Structure, and MEP), Civil 3D, Inventor,AutoCAD Electrical, 3ds Max and Maya.

Check here for all Autodesk software training video available.

Related posts:

1. More training videos released: AutoCAD advanced, Revit families, Inventor, Civil 3D
2. Learning Autodesk Revit MEP 2012 training video is available
3. AutoCAD 3D training video is available
4. Revit Architecture 2013 Training video bundle is available
5. Training videos for Autodesk 2013 products are released

However, I got many questions asking why their rendering result is black.

I believe that’s because they don’t set sunlight and sky on. Because of there is no light, then all they get is just black.

If you want to render with sunlight, make sure you set the sun status to on, and sky to ‘Sky Background and Illumination’.

And of course, make sure the time is set correctly. If you set it to night, of course there will be no light.

Saving this properties to view

If you have many cameras and views in your drawing, then you might find the sun and sky settings are turned off every time you change your view.  To avoid this, you need to define the sun and sky settings in your camera properties.

Each camera can have their own settings. You can set camera1 to render scene at 9 am in the morning, and camera2 to render at 15 pm.

You can change the properties by opening view manager. It’s in AutoCAD ribbon, View tab> Views panel> View Manager.

Select a view from the views list. You can select a saved view or a camera view.

Change the background override to sun & sky.

You should get another dialog box open. Change in general section (sun) status to on. And change sky properties to Sky Background and illumination.

Not only this is easier. By defining each view and camera, it also allows you to batch render your views on cloud rendering.

Related posts:

1. AutoCAD rendering with artificial lights
2. Setting Up AutoCAD Sun Light is Easy!
3. Defining AutoCAD Camera
4. AutoCAD and Photorealistic Rendering
5. AutoCAD rendering tip: Using cutouts map for removing materials

Long story short, they are occasional users who used AutoCAD 2005 before. AutoCAD 2013 doesn’t have that much new features. So the class was finished in one hour.

But because they are AutoCAD 2005 users, I gave them chance to ask what do they think difficult to do in AutoCAD. Probably AutoCAD has new feature in 2006-2012 that they never know. They miss 8 versions, they miss a lot!

They asked many things.

Is it possible to create schedule in AutoCAD?

Is there easier way to set annotation size?

Can I batch plot my drawings?

They are very excited when I show them publish, annotation scaling, data extraction, etc.

What do you want to do in AutoCAD?

You probably know many of the answers. But not all of us are power user. Some of us just use AutoCAD a few hours a week. Some use it mostly for reviews.

So I think you probably also have questions if it is possible to do in AutoCAD. I will try to answer your questions, focus on vanilla AutoCAD features.

I will not suggest or respond to AutoLISP or other programming solution. You can do almost anything if you go to AutoLISP way. That’s not what I want to achieve. Especially because I’m not good in programming.

How to ask your question

Please ask questions in comment section of this article only. Do not email me.

If you read this using email newsletter, please click read in browser in the email. Find the comment section and ask the question there.

How the answer will be provided

Please do not expect I will respond immediately. I live in different time zone with most of you. I will respond as soon as I can by replying your comment.

You may also respond/answer to other questions if you want to.

The answer can be link to other article/documentation, a short answer, or publish a new article.

So go ahead. Ask your questions.

Related posts:

1. Do you know great AutoCAD tips? Submit to us!
2. Which is Your Favorite AutoCAD Release?
3. CAD notes’ most popular articles: 2009-2012
4. What is your favorite AutoCAD extension?
5. The best of CAD notes (2009-2012): Editor’s pick

The problem is because Revit 2014 will install .NET Framework 4.5. as prerequisite. This is the one that cause above problem.

There are several hotfix and updates released by Autodesk to fix it. Follow the links below -based on your product- to download updates. Remember, Revit 2013 is the download link if you have Building Design Suite.

Hotfix and updates for Revit 2012 and 2013 for Ribbon

1. Ribbon hotfix for Revit 2012
2. Revit 2013 Update Release 1
3. Revit 2013 Update Release 2
4. Revit Architecture 2013 Update Release 1
5. Revit Architecture 2013 Update Release 2
6. Revit MEP 2013 Update Release 1
7. Revit MEP 2013 Update Release 2
8. Revit Structure 2013 Update Release 1
9. Revit Structure 2013 Update Release 2

Related posts:

1. Revit Architecture 2013 Training video bundle is available
2. How to keep your Autodesk product up-to-date
3. Learning Autodesk Revit MEP 2012 training video is available
4. AutoCAD and Revit 2012 are here!
5. More training videos released: AutoCAD advanced, Revit families, Inventor, Civil 3D