Module 9: Unit 1: Revit Architecture: Phases Video Lecture - Design Softwares

in this unit we're going to cover the
use of phases in Revit I just want to
start off by explaining the concept of
phases and where you would typically use
them so here is an existing building
this could be a house or an office now
let's say in our project we want to
extend this building we want to add an
extension onto the right hand side we
also want to demolish some of these
existing walls and we want to add a new
wall in as part of our development so
how do we do this in Revit well if this
was autocad or traditional to a CAD
package you quite typically would draw
out your existing like we've done here
then you would copy that you'd make a
copy of that existing plan and then you
would modify it so say in AutoCAD
typically you'd have an existing and I
propose next to each other that is
exactly what you should not be doing in
Revit do not model the existing and then
copy it to make your proposed because
this is a BIM package if you do that you
will have twice the amount of walls in
your schedules doors etc this is where
phases comes in now phases in Revit
allows us to actually adapt the model
over time so if you imagine this project
at one point in time we have an existing
building and at some point in the future
it is modified ie it will have an
extension some of the walls will have
come out and some will go in so that's
where phases comes into play we can
actually set those milestones in terms
of points in time and we can get our
model to adapt at those various
milestones so if I just flick to the
proposed plan and don't worry I'll show
you exactly how all this works as we go
through this unit but this is just an
example just to explain the concept what
you're actually looking at here in the
proposed plan is essentially the same
model that's been modified we've got an
extension to that model
remember that the room that was in the
corner that's being demolished there was
a crosswalk with a door in here that's
been demolished and now we have the
addition of this internal wall and these
double doors just flick back for a
second the existing plan to remind you
of that so these walls here are the same
elements in the model database as are
these internal walls these were
demolished your membrane the proposed
and there were some additions and an
extension so we can actually adapt the
model to reflect the differing
conditions at each milestone in time and
that's what phases are about you can use
them typically like this for existing
and proposed you can also use them for
multi stage projects or multi phase
projects so if you've got a large
development that's built in stages let's
say a school or university campus where
you're building different blocks at
different times you can model that whole
project that whole development in one
Revit project file using phases setting
those milestones at each phase and
having your model adapt and extend a new
block blocks built at those various
points so that's the correct way to
handle sort of existing and proposed and
multi-phase projects please do not model
your existing and then just copy it to
represent the proposed it's not the
correct way to do it in Revit
so the first thing to do when you're
setting up a phase project is to
basically decide how many phases you
need so in an existing and proposed
scheme ie we've got an existing building
and we're going to do something to then
extend it we're going to refurb it you
typically just have two phases the
existing condition and the proposed
condition so to set up those phases you
need to switch to the manage tab and on
there you'll see a power call phasing
and a button called phases click on that
and here is the phasing control panel so
you can think of phases as these
milestones these snapshots in time going
from the past to the future so they're
in sort of time order you'll notice they
don't have any set dates you can't set
dates for these phases the only
important thing is which order they come
in or what order they come in which
comes first which comes second so you
can see here for this particular project
just have two phases the existing and
the new as I said earlier you can use
this for multi phase projects so
sometimes you see this on education
projects so a large existing School
where it's being significantly altered
or refurbed you may refurbish two or
three classrooms then you complete those
then you move on to say the admin block
so they're done in actual phases on-site
you can replicate that in Revit by
setting up those snapshots so you'd have
the existing so that would be the school
modeled before you do anything to it
then you would have let's say stage 1 or
stage a stage B stage C right through to
the final stage of completion of the
project all you need to do is include an
entry for each of those phases name them
with a name that's meaningful to you
quite simple when it's just an existing
and proposed don't is here
these are the default phases that you
get in the Autodesk template so if you
start a brown
new Revit project using the Autodesk
template you will find when you open
this phasing dialog box that it already
has two standard phases setup one called
existing and one called new construction
but feel free to rename those to add
more phases you can actually take phases
out or combine them should the project
change but for now we'll just work with
the the two phases here existing and new
construction
so after you've decided on your project
phases and you've entered them into the
phasing dialog box which we've just seen
how to do to manage phases and put them
in the list there after you've done that
there's only two real concepts to learn
with regards how phases works in Revit
the first is the phase filter for each
view so let's take our existing view so
for every view in Revit you don't have
any object selected remember with
nothing selected you'll get the
properties of the view itself now if we
look down at the bottom of the view
properties right at the bottom there's
two parameters there to do with phasing
I'll go through both of these in detail
a little bit later but if you look at
this bottom one here phase you can set
on a per view basis what phase you want
that view to actually show so we've set
up a plan view for the existing I've
called it level zero underscore existing
so it's easy to pick out in the project
browser which is the existing plan once
I've created that floorplan view I need
to go into its properties for the view
itself and make sure that that phase is
set to existing that's the phase I want
to see and if you click on there
there'll be a drop down and it will list
the phases that you've entered in that
phasing dialog box so in this project
we've only got the term existing the new
construction so leave that on existing
so that's the one concept is basically
taking each of your views and deciding
on what state or milestone you want to
actually see the project at and setting
it accordingly in that phase parameter
there for each view that's view specific
so switch the proposed go down here now
as you might expect the phase in this
one is set to new construction so that's
the one concept and that is each view
that you create it'll be the same
elevations 3d sections you will see your
list of phases in the view properties
and you need to decide for that
particular view what milestone in time
do you want to actually be displayed and
set it there the drop-down
so we've just discussed the first
concept with regards how phasing works
and that is you need to set each view to
show what milestone or what phase you
want displayed the second concept is
each element in your model in your
database
now if I'll take a segment of wall each
element has phase parameters and is
two-phase created and phase demolished
so for every single model element in
your project you can tell it when that
particular element was created and when
if at all it's demolished so let's go to
the existing plan so as we've just seen
this wall here this particular piece of
wall was created in the existing phase
at that snapshot in time remember it's
picking that up from here so you'll have
a list of phases if you've got a
multi-phase project so that wall was
created here and phase demolished none
at no point through this sequence does
that wall ever get demolished so it
stays in the database even if we switch
to the end of the project which is the
proposed or the new construction phase
it's still there because it's not set to
be demolished let's take that wall
exactly the same it was created in the
existing phase and it's not set to be
demolished now if we look at our
extension let's take a segment of all
their phase created new construction so
this new wall was created in the new
construction phase that proposed it
didn't exist further back in time at the
existing phase hence when we switch back
to this view where we've told it we
actually want to see just the existing
phase it didn't exist so it can't be
displayed it's being filtered out so you
can think of phases almost like a
some very slick filters which basically
turd on or off the visibility of
elements depending on when they entered
that time line and if at all they're set
to be demolished let's go back to the
proposed so again this new internal wall
here it was only created in the new
construction phase not set to be
demolished
just very quickly flicked back for the
last time to the existing and let's take
this room here now this was parted
existing it was created back then in the
existing phase phase dommage it's set to
be demolished in the second phase the
new construction phase hence when we
switched the proposed it's not there and
that really is all there is to phasing
it is setting your views to show what
you want to see what what snapshot or
milestone in time remember you just need
to call up the view properties and set
what phase you want to see and then you
need to set these parameters for your
elements when they were created and when
if at all they were demolished
so we've just discussed the concept or
theory of how phasing works remember
that the two aspects one is setting the
phase creating phase demolished for your
elements and then there setting your
view properties to actually show the
phase you need to see on a per view
basis so let's look at how this works in
practice how we actually add elements
now into the various phases so let's go
back to the existing let's say that
we've just remembered there is a fact
another room in the corner here in the
existing building so let's go and add
that now so slept that wall I'm going to
type cs4 create similar gonna pop a wall
up there and add a door in okay so if I
take that new wall and we look at it
phasing properties face created existing
phase demolished now the question you
may be asking is how were those set we
didn't we haven't gone into that matte
element properties we have an adjusted D
so where's it got that from well quite
simply the phase created it will inherit
that from whatever phase you've got this
view in which you're working in which
you created it set at let me try and
explain that a different way so we've
just added that wall and that door in
this floor plan here this floor plan
view so if I deselect the objects if we
take this floor plan this is currently
set to show the existing phase so if we
add any elements at all in this view
they will automatically inherit the
property that they were created in the
existing phase it's picking that up from
the view setting which is a really neat
feature because once you've set up your
floor plans for existing and proposed as
long as you remember to work in the
correct view you can do what we've just
done here is go back to existing
sort of tweak the model add extra bits
in and they will all be set to be
created in the existing by default no
element is set to be demolished you have
to go and override that and tell it if
you want it to be demolished so let's
just go in and add a little broom
cupboard here so select that wall CS
create similar add that there add a door
in and again automatically set the
properties those elements are created in
this phase the same phase that the view
is set to show so conversely if we go to
the proposed plan we want to add a bit
more to our extension cs4 create sim
let's put another wall across there
let's make a small sort of draft Lobby
again if I select the element itself
phase created this wall was created in
the new construction phase because it's
inherited that property from the phase
that the view is set to so just watch
out with that one it's very easy to
accidentally add elements to the wrong
phase so typical example you've set up
an existing and proposed and you
suddenly think ah there was a further
cupboard in the corner of that room so
no problem you go to wall add it in add
your door in all done and complete you
go back to your existing and it's not
there that's because you were working in
the proposed view that view had its face
at the proposal new construction that's
where you added those elements so they
only came into existence at that phase
new construction so when we go back in
time to an earlier phase they weren't
around or haven't been created yet now
that's if you do do that accidentally
very easy to rectify all you need to do
don't delete them and start again just
select those elements in question might
have to filter light
let's just take the doors hag Said's
right so phasing is a common parameters
between the door and the walls so we can
now send those elements back in time and
say actually you weren't created in the
new construction phase you were created
in the existing phase deselect they
still appear in the proposed plan
because they weren't set to be
demolished but if we now go back to the
existing plan they also exist there
because this is the phase in which they
were created
we've just seen how we add elements to
our model to the correct phases and that
is basically just to ensure that we are
in the correct view with the set to the
phase we want to add our elements so if
we want to add more to our extension or
add new walls in as part of our proposed
project we need to ensure we're working
in a view which is set to show the
proposed or the correct phase we want
likewise we go back to the existing
condition any elements we add here will
be set individually to be created in the
existing phase so what about demolishing
elements so we just added these extra
couple of cupboards in here in the
existing so we've said this these are
present in the existing building let's
go back to the proposed there they are
because they're not set to be demolished
but let's say as part of our
architectural project we do want to
demolish these they're to come out so
two ways of doing that you can either
just select the elements remember we
could actually fence those set the
elements in question
phase demolished currently set to none
go and hit new construction so we're
saying when we reach this point in time
this milestone the proposal new
construction is called here we actually
want them to be demolished and there
they go
just to show you they are still in the
existing model that's when they were
created and it's not until you get to
the second snapshot in time the second
milestone I either proposed that they
actually get demolished out of the
database a quicker way to do it is
actually use the demolish tool so if we
go to modify we get a nice big lump
hammer there demolish tool click on that
and now we can simply go and on model
and knock out the walls and elements
that we don't want so we don't want that
wall and we don't want that one and
let's take out that covered now if we go
back to the existing
let's just select one of those walls and
look down here phase demolished new
construction so all that a demolished
tool does is just set that phase
demolished parameter to whatever the
phases of the viewing which you're using
that tool so I was in the proposed plan
you'll recall that the proposed plan has
it's just cans later there has its phase
set to new construction so if I go ahead
and use this demolished tool on any of
these elements all it's doing every time
I click on an element it's just setting
a say for example there it's setting
that phase demolished from none to match
the phase of the view in which you're
using the tool so it's just at a much
quicker way than me manually selecting
the elements and doing that
so we've set up our phases through
manage phases listed them they're in the
right order we've set up our views and
we've ensured that our views have the
phases set correctly to show what we
want to show in each view we've added
our elements and we've ensured that each
element is created in the correct phase
and demolished if applicable in the
correct phase the only last thing to
talk about in terms of phasing is phase
filters now if we take our view
properties again so what have anything
selected in this view we look down we've
seen that parameter at the bottom phase
that's where we set what we want to see
but just above that there is a parameter
called phase filter currently set to
show complete if I hit the drop down
this basically allows you to apply some
graphic overrides to your elements
because each element as we've seen now
has its phase parameter set we can do
some slick things here in terms of
exactly what we want to show on this
view now I would suggest that 95 percent
of the time you're going to want show
complete now what show complete means is
you're asking Revit to show you exactly
what you would see for this project at
this snapshot in time at this phase so
if you were there on site in the
proposed phase ie when the project's
finished this is what you would see
you'd see the extension you'd see the
new walls you wouldn't see the walls
that we've taken out that we've
demolished because they've gone so it's
showing the project complete as it is at
that snapshot in time however you do
have other options so we can show all
you can see now we get all the existing
we get the elements that have been added
in in this phase that proposed we also
get elements that have been demolished
so we get all elements in the project
how
whether it's still applying a graphical
override to differentiate between the
different ones so you can see we should
have got a half tone to the existing
we've got dashed line stands for the
elements have been demolished and you
can actually go in and you can control
these graphic overrides and to do that
you need to go into phases and phase
filters there's the list of options
you've got in that phase filter
drop-down and graphic overrides for each
of those you can set that dash style for
demolished for example the colors so
you've got full control over how these
different elements are displayed in
their different States but that's where
you set it and again it's on a per view
basis and it's this phase filter
parameter now I'm just going to put that
back to show complete a really useful
phase filter is a demolitions filter so
I've made a demolitions plan here
typical planning an architectural
project where you're taking out internal
walls for example not quite neat to have
a plan like this to show the Builder
which walls are being removed so all I
did was duplicate a floor plan renamed
it underscore demolitions just so we
know what it is and the face filter in
this case I set it to show previous plus
demo so the general phase for this view
is new construction but I'm applying a
faceful because I want them now to show
the previous phase and that's what it's
doing here in the halftone and anything
that's being demolished and that's all
I'm left with so I've actually filtered
out although we're on new construction I
filtered out then walls that only come
into existence in this new phase so it's
a really neat way of producing a
demolitions plan now we've just worked
with plans all the way through the unit
just to show you that this concept of
phasing is applicable to all types of
view here is a 3d view so again you can
see everything there because the phase
filter defaults to show all so we've got
our existing our demolished in red
and we've got our additions there so I
can switch that to show complete that's
the final project show new and it will
just show everything that's just been
adding in this phase so you can see
you've got a lot of flexibility with
phase filters with regards displaying
each view to show exactly what you need
to show just be aware that the default
for phase filters show all so you will
get things that have been demolished
being shown as well as I said I would
suggest that most of the time for each
view you probably want to have that set
on show complete so for this phase I new
construction with show complete set of
the phase filter you will get the model
representing exactly what the project
would look like at that snapshot in time
I thought briefly at the start of this
unit about using phases for multi-phase
projects just want to give you a very
quick demo of that now just show you how
that works so here's the project we've
done so far with two simple phases
existing and proposed first of all I'm
going to go back into that phases dialog
box going to rename that new
construction that will actually be our
phase one of the projects make sure
that's highlighted and I can now insert
another phase after that one phase two
and we'll do one more phase three okay
that it's going to rename this proposed
floorplan view to phase one try and be
disciplined systematic in how you name
your views when you're working in Revit
because you can imagine in a real
project this project browser is going to
start to get created really quickly with
lots of different views and you don't
really want to sort of be wondering what
each one is for or represent so have
some sort of systematic naming
convention so you know what level they
relate to and what they're actually
showing so that phase one I just double
check that filter yes the phase is set
to show phase one let's duplicate that
rename it phase two now just remember
when you're doing this you're
duplicating your views make sure that
you go and change the phase as well so
we've created a new view we've changed
the name of it to show phase two but you
can see because it was duplicated from
that phase one floor plan the phase is
still set to show phase one you need to
go and change that to Phase two do that
again for Phase three so duplicate
change the name of the view itself but
also change the phase for the view so
we've got floor plans for existing phase
one phase two and phase three all with
the correct phase parameter set there so
those are existing phase one of the
project we created an extension we took
a few walls out so we'll leave that as
phase one we're happy with that so let's
say in our real wheel project we've
created this extension and we've moved
some staff out of here temporarily into
this part it's got a phase two let's go
and add some walls in so we've now got a
further extension as part of phase two
so this comes down here and let's do
some internal walls I won't put the
doors in but you hopefully get the idea
we've created another further extension
let's say it's phase two the staff of
here now have to move out into this part
because we now want to clear those
internal walls and make this one open
plan office so remember that demolished
till modify demolish think that take
that out let's go to phase three and in
phase three we can now clear the
internal building a whole walls
that's one big open plan space so what
I'm trying to demonstrate here is that
quite often you get architectural
projects that do to site constraints or
logistics of working in an occupied
building mean that you have to complete
it in stages or phases you might have
staff or resources that have to move
around you might have temporary walls or
hoardings that need to go up and be
taken down but you can model all that
complexity and that logistics in Revit
using phases so we start with an
existing building phase one build one
extension
phase two built the other extension but
now remove the walls that we've just put
up in phase one and phase three we get
the completed scheme and this is all
just using basically one model that
adapts over time to those various phases
fundamentally different than if you just
started with the existing like you would
have done say in AutoCAD and copied that
and changed it and you've got to sort of
keep track of all those different
versions you're scheduling would all be
out because you've got far too many
elements in the model phasing is the
correct tool for the job to do what
we've that we've just done if you want
to explore different options in terms of
designs so let's say for phase one you
are considering an extension here but
you might also want to consider an
extension other side please don't be
tempted to use phases to consider or to
look at different options I've seen
people do sort of phase 1a and draw that
there then they've done phase 1b and put
that on here but had to demolish this so
that it doesn't then appear as well and
you if you do that you will get in a
real mess as you've seen in this unit
phases are four elements to be created
and demolished in a sequential order if
you want to consider options where
you're either considering option A or B
for example then use design options and
I'll be showing you that in the next
unit
please don't sort of mix it up with the
use of phases and that completes this
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