Tips on Materials Editing
Abstract
This document outlines some tips when adding, editing, and modifying materials in the “Element Properties” dialog box.
Scenario
This example will look at a default exterior wall and will walk through changing element properties and/or material properties. The steps taken in this document can be applied to most default elements in Revit that are editable – casework, walls, windows, floors, roofs, ceilings, etc.
Step 1. Begin by right clicking on the element to be edited and select “Element Properties” from the drop down menu:
This brings up the properties window. From the properties window, select “Edit Type . . .” brining the “Type Properties” window.
Now that the “Type Properties” dialog is open, the tips presented will make more sense.
Tips on Materials/Types
1. If it is desired to create a similar construction within the same family – even if only a change of face brick color is required – always “Duplicate” the current type being edited.
2. The same applies for individual materials – always duplicate a material file if a change is desired. First, navigate to the list of material references in Revit by doing the following:
a. For this scenario – editing wall properties – all of the materials editing will be done through the structure editing. This calls up another dialog box to edit the composition of the wall type. Next to each material in the “Material” column, a “. . .” symbol appears once the box is highlighted. Click on this symbol to call the material reference dialog.
b. The default in this scenario is “Masonry – Brick.” Changing the render appearance of the brick will change every instance in your project if you do not duplicate it first. The list of materials in this dialog box pertains to the whole project – not just the wall being edited. If an item in this list is changed and not duplicated, all instances of “Masonry – Brick” will be changed once ok is selected. So, when changing materials in elements, duplicate the material, then change the render appearance of it.
c. Select “Replace” to change the material’s render appearance, thus changing the material itself when in the project. It is of upmost importance that when a variation of a material is desired, that it be duplicated from a similar existing material. This allows for scenarios such as having a wall of red brick connected to a wall of orange or brown brick.
3. From the “Render Appearance” tab in the materials dialog box, the size of patterns may be edited. This can be achieved by changing the size of the image file and the “bump” image file. For instance, if a wall has 10” long brick rather than standard, the bump image can be stretched to show 10” brick. Simply counting the bricks in the image and scaling accordingly will allow for different size brick. Note: the aspect ratio of the brick will stay the same as the image, since the image is a square. Again, duplicate the material before making any changes in the render appearance.