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Revit Libraries and Courses Descriptions

Courses are concise and contain many tutorials that are laid out in a suggested order. However students can start with any course or tutorial to meet job demands. Courses are grouped into libraries that provide a systematic approach to learning that helps ensure users can apply the data they learn on real-world projects. Below are descriptions of each Revit course available.

Revit Architecture 2012 Essentials Beginner Library
Revit Architecture 2012 Essentials Intermediate Library
Revit Architecture 2012 Essentials Advanced Library

Revit Architecture 2012 Essentials Beginner Library

Introduction to BIM
This course is an introduction to building information modeling, also known as BIM. This course provides quick history of design, from the early 1900s to the explosive growth of BIM technology, and in particular, Revit, and the impact of bi-directionality on the area of design. It continues with an overview of the Revit interface, including the Ribbon.

View Your Model
This course introduces basic visualization tools which are applied to Revit views. Students learn how to scale views, use the detail level, as well as how to work with the View Cube and Wheel navigation tools. Visualization styles are discussed with illustrations on how to switch between wireframe and hidden lines, as well as apply transparency, use ghost surfaces (allowing you to see through objects to view other objects) and half tone to enhance the model. Additional tools are discussed, such as the difference between true north (physical geographic north of the Earth) and project north (“north” set for ease of design purposes only), as well as hiding versus isolating objects.

Start a Project
This course introduces the necessary steps to successfully start a new project. Student learn how to use View templates, define grids, create levels, generate sheets, as well as use drawing and editing tools. Finally, the student learns the basics of creating walls, including assigning wall features and using location lines.

Interior Layout Tools
This course provides an in-depth look at the various Revit tools for placing walls, including using temporary dimensions, pick lines tool, wall with dimensional constraints, as well as standard Copy, Offset and Match functions. Having created walls, the course continues to review how to use Trim, Extend and Align tools. Finally, discussions on door families, door tags and creating schedules complete the course. With 18 lesson pages and 34 videos, this course will make anyone more productive.

Slabs and Stairs
This course provides details for working with Slabs and Stairs. Students learn how to create and modify Slabs with details on using other tools, such as Offset, Trim and Align, as well as effectively using the Sketch Mode. The course continues with instructions for creating Stairs, working with associated settings and productively using the Copy to Clipboard function. This course includes 18 Lesson Pages, 8 Information Pages and 40 videos.

Advanced Stairs and Components
This course shows students how to build more complex stairs, specifically U-shaped spiral staircases. Then it continues discussing how to load Revit Families, such as columns, piers and footings, create floor plans, adjust the View Range and work with Constraints. Finally, a closer look reveals how the Internet is a great place to locate ready to use Revit Families and Components.

Kitchens, Railings and Elevations
This course takes a close look at interior spaces. It begins with details on working with kitchens, including adding base and upper cabinets, setting up and working from interior elevations, with specific insights on switching between elevations, creating reference planes, align and locking components to planes. There are additional videos on creating railings, including sketching railings, working with flat and sloped railings, as well as modifying properties. Finally, the course introduces site plan preparations with details on working with topographical surfaces.

Everything Roofs
This course provides in-depth discussions on working with Roofs, including multiple ways of creating and editing roof systems. There are demonstrations on creating a Roof by Footprint, as well as By Extrusion and By Face, along with great examples on using other functions such as the Sketch tool, Attaching Walls, Changing Slopes and Applying Overhangs. The course then presents how to create Beam Systems (structural system used to support a roof) and use Section Boxes to reveal framing details.

Create Openings
This course introduces working with openings in walls, slabs and roofs. Students learn how to adjust dimensions in elevation and plan views, as well modify rectangular and non-rectangular openings. It also covers using simple 3D tools, teaching students how to extrude a chimney, revolve a solid and generate a section, as well as adding a wall, shaft and column.

Beams, Curtain Walls and More
This course starts with instructions for placing C-channel beams, a flat roof with new walls and preparation for creating a curtain wall. Students learn how to create mullions, horizontal and vertical grid lines and work with panels. Then discussions turn to creating a new material and using the Paint tool to apply materials to a wall.

Prepare and Complete Views
This course starts with an overview on creating materials and adding it to a wall, assigning new wall types plus detaching a wall from a floor. The discussion continues with the process of joining finish layers of walls, the idea of using stacked walls, as well as creating awnings and rails. Finally, students learn how to apply a view template and setup a framing floor plan.

Views, Sheets & Title Blocks
This course starts with an in-depth discussion on using View Templates, including preparing for sections, orienting a view and working with 3D views. It continues with details on loading a Title Block into a project, creating new sheets, loading sheet-specific information into the title block, as well as inserting an image into a title block.

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Revit Architecture 2012 Essentials Intermediate Library

Discover Ceilings
This course discusses the Revit Architecture tools used to create ceilings. Beginning with associated Type Properties, students learn how to sketch, rotate, align and offset ceilings, as well as how to edit grid patterns. After demonstrating how to create drop, sloped and curved ceilings, as well as placing ceiling fixtures, the course ends with discussions on transferring ceiling types between projects.

Start a Project
This course provides an in-depth look at building ramps, starting with the creation of a ramp using default values, including adding necessary landings. After reviewing how the different settings control the results, with detailed descriptions on instance properties (specific measurements and settings for each specific ramp and associated items), default slope values and standard code requirements. Additionally, the student is presented with a multi-level parking deck, complete with instructions to create pedestrian and vehicle ramps.

Rooms and Area Plans
This course offers several introductions to working with the Room entity (a way of designating what space is considered part of a particular room), Color Schemes and Area Plans (a way of designating what areas in a building are considered a particular area of the building, like an office suite) It continues with examples of adding Room Tags, adjusting room boundary elements, defining Color Schemes by department and numeric values, as well as reusing color schemes with other projects and views. Finally, room volumes and areas are discussed with a focus on creating an Area Plan.

Schedules and Legends
This course provides an overview of the different types of schedules and legends used in architectural projects, including door schedules, key schedules, multi-category schedules, takeoff schedules and their appearance. Students learn how to link certain parameters to schedules, controlling the appearance of headers and creating groups. Learn how to work with schedules and legends by exploring solid examples, along with details on how to create lists, apply filters, and sort effectively.

Callouts and References
This course discusses the tools and process for expanding details used to annotation the building model. It starts with explanations on creating Callout Views, their relations with the Parent View and the differences between annotation and model objects. Students learn how to effectively use Detail Levels and how Callout Views inherit certain settings before seeing how to finish walls and floors. With examples on how to add details, whether created with Revit Architecture tools or referenced from other CAD files, students learn how to best present their models.

Detail Drawings
This course presents the tools used to add details to any model created with Revit Architecture. Students learn how to enhance views and sections with Detail Lines, Hatch Patterns and Materials, along with Filled and Masked Regions. Detail components are fully described with complete instructions for how to create detail objects, as well as how to add parameters, text, dimensions and keynotes in order to make the 2D detail drawings complete.

Create 3D Solids
This course shows how to work with 3D solids, whether as part of the model or in the Family editor. As the different tools are presented, the students learn how to create specific 3D models, including a table, lamp, lighting fixture and sloping wall. The course begins with discussions on the five methods for creating 3D objects, as well as how to make effective changes and how to use the Family editor.

Parametric Solids
This course addresses the concepts of building parametric families with Revit Architecture. Students begin by strategically placing reference planes, adding dimensions to capture the design intent. They learn how to manage what parameters need to change and which should be locked, creating geometry through the process. This systematic approach to building a parametric model ensures students learn how to design their model while testing changes with every step until a successful model is created with a variation of types added to a Family.

Design Options
Typically, large 3D models are designed by teams, some assigned to create the core of the building while another group explores variations to key areas, such as entry ways, roof structures, window configurations and sustainable green alternatives. This course discusses how to define and collect alternative designs as Option Sets, assign the variations as primary and secondary options, generate views, and finally, incorporate a primary design option into the main model.

Phases at Work
Projects are often separated into smaller incremental stages, either to manage financial requirements or finite resources. This course introduces how to capture the different phases or stages of a project. Students learn how to use Revit Architecture to use default phases, as well as create new ones, including using the Demolition tool, adjusting walls, using filters and overrides, generating schedules and adding views to sheets.

Teamwork and Sharing
Large projects require planning and collaboration between team members. This course introduces the workflow used for dividing work. Learn best practices for using central files, assigning the work, creating and managing worksets. Finally, see how to transition between local and central files to complete the project.

Mastering Links
This course explores the concept of linking AutoCAD files to a Revit Architecture project, as well as managing Structural and MEP model coordination. Going beyond basic discussions about what tools to use and how they work, students learn best practices for linking models, working with the Project Base and Survey Points, using True and Project North, publishing and sharing coordinates, maintaining progress between the Architectural project, Structural and MEP models, as well as assigning multiple locations for a single model. Lessons learned here cannot be found anywhere else.

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Revit Architecture 2012 Essentials Advanced Library

Nested Families
With an understanding that a Revit Architecture family is a group of elements that share common settings, often with variations known as types, this course offers a close look into advanced techniques for creating nested families. Existing families are combined to produce complex objects that are driven by settings and measurements. The course shows students how to create three different nested families — table & chairs, a north arrow and a light fixture.

Advanced Families
This course covers advanced techniques for mastering families, using a sample family that comes with Revit Architecture. The course explains the limitations of the sample family and then illustrates how to redesign it, so that it can be used more productively. Students learn how to systematically create three families, ultimately making one family that combines the three earlier created families. The resulting family component is then used to place a linear array (a number of the same elements, in sequence, with the size and positioning required), making this array useful in a Revit Architecture project. These are lessons every serious user of Revit Architecture must learn.

Type Catalog
This course covers Type Catalogs, which are a powerful part of Revit Architecture. Instead of creating a specific type for each possible variation, a Type Catalog gives a Revit designer the ability to create only those types needed to then load into the Revit project file. This saves time and has the added benefit of helping to keep a Revit project file down to a more manageable size. This course starts with the basics for creating and populating a Type Catalog text file. The course continues by teaching the student the format required for writing the definitions for the different parameters of a type, as well as how to load the associated family. The course also covers how to improve productivity by assigning parameters to components of a type and demonstrates, with ample videos, the best practices for mastering Type Catalogs.

Massing and Concept Tools Part 1
This course introduces how Revit Architecture is used to perform Massing studies, a process of creating forms representing the volume of buildings in a project. Students learn different ways to create and modify these forms, as well as how to review, compare and analyze the impact a building and its surrounding environment has on each other.

Massing and Concept Tools Part 2
This course continues on from the previous course, Revit Architecture 2012 Essentials Advanced — RV12-844A — Massing and Concept Tools Part 1. The student learns to use additional concept tools, creating a variety forms, with a number of the exercises being based on the works of the Spanish architect, Felix Candela. These exercises show techniques for using 2D line work, working with reference planes and applying panels to surfaces.

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