By Dennis Collin
This handy plug-in has recently been released due the expansion of the Revit 2016 API. Allowing the ability to adjust 2d and 3d extents of elements.
The plug in has been written by ReviTea and is free to download of Exchange Apps for any subscription user. The information and download page can be located Here on Exchange Apps.
The download is small about 1.5MB and installs under the Add-ins tab. (although it is possible to customise the location of the application post install.)
As you are no doubt aware the Trim and Extend tool don't work too well with Grid and Level objects. Although the Extents end of Grids and Levels have two modes: 3d model extent mode and 2d view specific extent mode. It's not easy to switch between them and drag their end control points efficiently, especially if there are lots of Grids or Levels in the project, the control nodes are often so buried with other screen clutter it can take a few goes to select the correct element!
This is the issue that the plug-in tries to address by providing a range of functions to make such extents adjustment tasks a little easier.
The Trim Grids tool works similarly to the standard Trim and Extend tool of Revit. With it you can easily trim or extend one or more Grids to a boundary defined by Grid, Level, Reference Plane or a Detail Line object.
A number of alternate options cater for projects using 3d extents for Grids and levels these include;
The Trim/Extend Grid 3d function which Trim or extend Grid 3d extents to a reference (Grid, Level, Reference Plane or Detail Line) as a boundary. Any 2d grids will convert to 3d extents. There is also a multiple Trim/Extend Option
The Trim/Extend Grid 2d function works in a similar fashion to the 3d extents option by Trimming or extending a Grid 2d extent to a similar boundary reference again with multiple selection options.
The Set Grids 3d Height function set Grids 3d (model) extents in vertical direction by specifying levels and offset value.
The Trim Levels tool works similarly to Trim and Extend functions for Grids with options for 2d or 3d adjustments and multiple element editing, working in a very similar manner to the previously mentioned Grid functions.
Another useful feature is the Switch Bubbles function that can show or hide multiple Grids/Levels bubbles according to a nearby boundary defined by Grid, Level, Reference Plane or Detail Line. Obviously this only affects the Grid/Level in the current view but still nevertheless handy for speedy drawing and sheet editing prior to plotting and issue.
Overall this toolkit is very useful in the multiple editing of work plane elements specifically Levels and Grids. However despite the trim/extend function working on curved gridline elements, the function does not work on cranked, multi-segment gridlines, due to their quirky nature of being sketched with multiple elements. Obviously something the API cannot cope with as yet.
ReviTea have also written a useful extension toolkit for the selection and filtering of elements I will review this in a future blog. You can find links to this other extension on the main download page.