By John Flanagan
Revit Architecture 2016: Create a Template to reflect Office Standards
Introduction
Think of a template as a preset starting point. Templates have an .rte file extension rather than the .rvt extension that a project uses.
Templates are not static, they are evolving
It is important to remember that when creating your template(s), you definitely will not get everything you need in them the first time. Templates will more than likely change with each and every project you do. As new versions of the software become available, you will have to amend your templates to accommodate any new changes that you want to bring into your workflow.
What goes into a template can depend greatly on your workflow as well as your knowledge of the types of things that can be put into them.
Checklist for a Good Template
Defining Levels in a project template is helpful. They could be just a few basic floor and/or ceiling plans for a residential project.
Settings that are typically added to project templates include Units, Snaps,
Temporary Dimensions, Object Styles (Lineweights, Line colour, and Line
patterns), Line Styles, Materials, Fill Patterns, Annotation Styles (Text,
Dimensions, Arrowheads, AND Loaded Tags), Filters, Loaded Component
Families, Views, Schedules, Sheets, and Views on Sheets, Discipline specific
items such as Wall types, Column types, or duct and Pipe types are also included.
This list does not contain everything, but it includes important aspects that you will want to address prior to starting your project.
You can create templates by using a completely blank project, by saving an existing project as a template, or by using one of the default templates provided with the Revit installation.
Conclusion
- Have a clear direction of office standards; text and file locations.
- Start with the tedious tasks first (Annotation Tags, Titleblock, Line Types, Text Styles etc.)
- Be project focused, not template focused. The scope of you project might change. Change your template to reflect these changes.
For more information on Revit Templates and Template creation visit the Cadline Community or enrol on a scheduled two day training course in Template & Family Creation at one of our training centres (details online).