Module 4: Unit 12: Revit Architecture: Stair by Component Video Lecture - Design Softwares

in this unit we're going to look at
creating stairs by the use of the stair
by component tool and here's a stair
that I've already created and I'm gonna
take you through in this unit exactly
how to use the tool to create a stair
like this just before we start I want to
mention a little bit about stairs being
a system family as opposed to a
component family mention this before in
relation to walls but it's such an
important concept in Revit I just want
to go over that again so just like walls
stairs in Revit are what we call a
system family that is the 3d object
itself the geometry is created in the
system by Revit as you need it that's
fundamentally different to a component
family and I've put a desk in here to
give you an example of that so with a
component family it's very similar to a
block in AutoCAD in so much as you can
save this as a separate little file
outside of your Revit project so typical
component families can be downloaded
from internet from manufacturers
websites for example and you can save
them and build up your own external
library Revit families or component
families have a dot R FA file extension
stands for Revit family and those are
fundamentally different from the system
families which only exist inside each
specific project that you create them in
so as I said walls and stairs also roofs
ceilings floors are all examples of
system families within Revit
now we've just said that Revit stairs
are system families and as such we can
create different types an unlimited
number of different types so if I select
the stair we've got here just like our
other families in Revit we can change to
a different type down here now because
it's a system family the system family
names are set here but the types which
are under the headings here you can
define and you can create additional
types as needed so this one currently is
assemble stair private and all we need
to do to create a new system family type
is hit the Edit type button hit the
duplicate remember 99% of the time in
Revit you're going to be hitting the
duplicate button straight after you've
hit the Edit type button what you don't
want to do is start adjusting the type
that you've already got you want to
create a new type of based on this
existing one so edit type and then
duplicate choose a different name Revit
will automatically append the existing
name with number two you can change that
to whatever you need it to be and from
there on you can go and adjust all the
different parameters for your system
family within their notable set of
parameters are these calculation rules
if I hit edit this is where you can put
in your building regulations
calculations now this is turned off by
default because Revit obviously as a
piece of software ships all over the
world and each different country will
have its own set of regulations so this
is off by default
you just need to turn it on and you can
then put in your own calculation rules
so that as you create your stairs they
comply with your own local regulations
so let's go ahead and look at creating a
basic stare between two levels in Revit
so to start with let's get rid of stair
that we've created now get rid of that
desk so we've just got our basic
building shell wood flooring I'm going
to switch to level zero floor plan and
we'll create a simple straight run stair
from level zero up to level one just
show you those two levels there so level
zero being the base of the wall level
one at the top of the wall so I'm going
to create a stair that rises between
these levels go back to level zero so
the architecture menu we've got a panel
a called circulation and on there stair
so in this unit we're gonna look at
stair by component the next unit we'll
look at the stair by sketch separately
so stair by component I'll leave it on
that stair type for now that we'll do
now in order to create your basic stair
there are three parameters really you
need to consider initially the first one
being what stair type you want and we've
just said you can have an unlimited
number of different stair types if you
need to create different ones so pick
your stair type the other two parameters
or settings you need to consider are the
levels where do you want your stair to
start from the base level so level 0 in
this case and where do you want it to go
up to so the top level is level 1 Revit
now has enough information to start
creating the stair when we talk about
stair by component the components we're
referring to are these up here we can
put runs in we can put landings in we
can put supports in
for the runs we can have different types
straight runs spirals dog legs but for
the purpose of this unit we're going to
keep it nice and simple just gonna start
off with a simple straight run so I
click in my model I'm gonna zoom in a
little bit now the important things to
note here are when you're creating your
stairs in Revit you'll always start at
the base of the stair and work up so
I've clicked at the base of the stair
and I'll carefully move my cursor around
so you can see what's happening and that
is it's starting to place or define
where our run is going to be and it
follows my cursor so I can choose the
orientation in plan where I want this
stair run to be I'll just keep it
horizontal for now and notice as I move
my cursor to the right the text
underneath the run tells me how many
risers I've created and how many are
remaining and that is to satisfy the
condition to reach the levels or span
between the levels we've stipulated so
rabbits already worked out with this
particular stair type to go between
level 0 and level 1 in our model it
needs 24 risers so for now I'm just
going to do a single straight run stair
and you can see once I go past the end
of the run 24 risers are created zero
remaining so it's fulfilled the
requirement to span between the two
levels and I just do and further click
to actually place that particular run
and hit the green tick to go ahead and
complete the operation and create the
stair
if I switch to a 3d view there is our
basic stare just zoom in a little you
can see it's a fully 3d component
complete with handrails the thing to
note before we move on is that in that
operation Revit created the stair and
stair run it also created handrails but
it created these as separate elements in
their own right and separate on left to
right as well so you can go and change
their types individually or both you can
delete one or both of those handrails if
you don't need them in a separate unit
we'll look in depth at handrails in
Revit and their creation and
manipulation
very few stairs consists of a single run
most have an intermediate landing or
more than one landing so I'm going to
show you how to add landings or to
create your stairs from from scratch
with landings included so in order to do
so let's get rid of the one we've just
created and start again
so go back to level zero there's our
building
so remember architecture the circulation
panel stair by component
remember the component panel up here
remember choose your stair type in the
properties palette remember to check the
level settings here where you want the
level to or the stair to start from and
go up to okay level zero up to level one
remember we're starting at the base of
the stair and I move my cursor note that
text again how many risers we're
creating where the cursor is and how
many are remaining to get up to level
one in this particular case now
previously we moved our cursor all the
way past the end of the run to complete
a single run of 24 risers which went up
to level one if you want a landing all
you need to do is click inside the run
you decide how many risers you want
before the landing starts so let's go
with five risers so I click here and
what Revit does is actually create that
first run of stair now the job isn't
finished yet because we haven't got up
to level one yet we've got more risers
to add but what we can do now is put the
landing in now if you look up on the
options bar there is a tick box there
automatic landing
that's ticked on by default we're going
to leave that on for now all we need to
do
now click where we want the next run to
start from so let's start from here and
as before tells us how many rides we've
we've created in this particular run and
how many are remaining to be created to
get up to our level one let's put a
couple of landings in and you'll see in
a minute when I switch to 3d that what
Revit is done is actually joined up
those two runs with a horizontal landing
complete with the handrails so we're
just defining where we want the runs to
be and how long each run is and Revit is
filling in the gaps in between with
landings
now the runs don't have to be in a
straight line so you can see give me
quite creative with where these runs are
and that's it I've got all the risers in
I need rabbits created the landings in
between all I need to do now is click
the green tick it finishes the geometry
of the stair I'll switch to a 3d view
and there is our completed stair
complete with landings and handrails
we've already seen how the handrail or
railings can be created at the same time
as the rest of the stair in this section
of the unit I want to talk a little bit
more in depth about the railings so if
we were creating a new stair again we'd
go to architecture stair stair by
component and if we're in plan that's
where we would actually trace out our
runs but I just wanted to start that
command to show you at the end of the
menu tucked away on the far right hand
side a trailing button if I click on
that that's where you control the
railing creation process as part of the
stair by component so you can see there
unless we tell it different it's going
to create the default railing at the
same time it creates the stairs and we
have a choice whether that railing sits
on top of the stringer or the treads in
this stair they've already created you
can see that the railing is sitting on
top of the stringer this being the
stringer the side supports if you toggle
it to treads that railing will actually
sit inside the stringer on on the edge
of the treads so you can control where
that that railing sits I'll cancel that
for now and I'll just cancel back out
which gets us neatly back to the stair
we've already created we saw how the
railings are created as separate objects
and separate on each side of the stair
so let's go ahead and change that
railing to a different type now
sometimes depending on the railing type
you will get this warning box that comes
up that basically is warning you that
for this particular railing type the
geometry isn't exactly perfect
if i zoom in you can see scenarios like
that where it doesn't quite join up so
it's just warning you it isn't quite
perfect just scanning around quickly
trying to find other instances where
that might happen there's a good example
there it doesn't quite join whether you
get that warning box or not depends on
the railing type the profiles that make
up these railings how well Revit can
actually join all this geometry together
it actually says in the warning box that
most of the time you can actually ignore
that warning so you can imagine the
typical let's say one 251 200 sets
relevation you're not actually going to
notice I wasn't going to make no
difference to your design but
nonetheless Revit does give you a
warning about it so let's go back down
to the base of us there now we've said
that we can delete either or both of
those railings so let's go ahead now and
take off both railings if we change your
mind and we need to add the railings
back in we can simply go to railing
again on the architecture menu and we
have an option to place on host again we
can toggle whether it's on the stringer
or the treads this time I'll click back
on the treads and just hover over your
model it will find applicable hosts ie
stairs or ramps so I can go ahead and
click and it adds the railings back in
and you can see this time it's placed
them on the edge of the treads and not
on the stringers now a point worth
noting about adding your railings back
onto hosts is it only works if you've
got no railings on your hosts
all what I mean by that is if I take one
of the railings off and I go to railing
and place on host it won't detect that
as a valid host because it's already got
one railing on what you need to do is
actually get rid of the other railing
first so you've got no railings at all
now if you go to railing place on host
it will detect it and allow you to
reinstate both railings at the same time
we very briefly looked at the different
stair components at the start of this
unit let's go back and have a look at
those in detail now
so I've deleted all the stairs we had
before go back to architecture stair
stair by component leave it on run we
looked at a basic straight run we do
have full step spirals so click a start
point and set your radius and there is a
spiral stair hit the green tick again
exactly the same principle in that it
creates the railings at the same time
and there is our spiral stair to go back
stair by component we've also got Center
and end defined spiral stairs click
start and then click where you want the
end of that spiral run to be again green
tick to complete the operation and to
create the stair and there is our other
spiral we've also got some predefined
winder stairs l-shaped
and we've also got a dogleg stare so a
variety of different run types there
it's kind of Kaiser there for a second
we can also add in landings manually so
we looked at the automatic addition of
landings but if for example you've
created a run there I've turned
automatic landing off for this just to
show how this works and so we've put our
runs in we've got no landings if you
switch to landing and we've got the
ability there to pick two runs so for
example start run at the bottom and the
next one it'll create the landing now
and again that one and that run creates
that landing and finally green tick to
complete the operation and create the
final stair and railings and there we
are
and finally to complete this unit we're
going to take a look at multi-story
stairs so to this basic model I've added
a number of additional levels so if I
switch to an elevation where we conceal
the levels so rather than just level 0
and level 1 I've now created a number of
additional levels up to level 6 the
important thing to note is that the
distance between all these levels is
uniform between each of them they're the
same distance spaced apart vertically
between each pair of levels very
important that they are uniform in their
spacing for this multi-story tool to
work so let's go back to level 0 I'm
going to create our stairs by component
again just to finally go over how we do
that so you can see it all come together
so remember the architecture menu the
circulation panel stair stair by
component pick your stair type now for
this to work we just need to define the
stairs between our first pair of levels
so level 0 up to level 1 then have a
straight run automatic landing on on the
options bar so Revit is going to create
the landings for us automatically so
let's make the stairs uniform in length
or two runs and split it so 12 runs or
12 Rises sorry and 12 back the other way
so there is our stair between the first
two levels
let's hit the green tick and take a look
at the stair and there it is
but if we want this stair to continue up
the height of the building rather than
switch to each of these levels and do
that process again ie model all the
stairs separately
we can do what is an effect arraying
these stairs vertically so if I go back
select the stair and you take a look at
the properties there is a parameter
they're called multi-story top level
it's currently set to none we've got no
multi-story stairs created let's take a
look at the drop down there and we've
got access to all the levels in our
model so let's go ahead and pick level
six at the top of the multi-storage
there and you can see instantly Revit
arrays in effect the stair component
vertically up the model stopping at the
level that you chose in that drop-down
box really neat little feature if you
happen to have a multi-story building
where the stairs are uniform all the way
up and that completes this unit to get
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