Monday, November 11, 2013

Adjusting Automatic Sketch Dimensions

When we are working on families Revit hides Automatic Sketch Dimensions (ASD's) from us unless we use Visibility/Graphics to turn them on (Annotation Categories tab). Revit guesses are often close enough when it creates ASD's. For example the profile of a skirt/apron beneath a table top is adequately constrained by the ASD's in this image.


When I add another sketch inside the first to define the thickness of the skirt/apron Revit guesses correctly again. If you select ASD's Revit doesn't let us delete them. If we add our own dimensions and either assign a parameter or invoke the EQ or Padlock constraints Revit will remove the corresponding ASD.


If Revit places a ASD incorrectly we can change what it's referencing. Select it and click on the witness line grip (dot icon) and drag it to a correct reference. For example, in this image Revit guessed that it's more important to reference the Center (Front/Back) Reference Plane. That's not what I had in mind.


In the little bubble of the image I've revised it so that the ASD is referencing the correct elements. Revit will respect this change unless we change the family and cause it to revisit the constraints, such as deleting a form or altering an existing sketch. Remember to keep an eye on ASD's.

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