MODIFY VERTICAL STRUCTURE OF A WALL: Merge and Split Regions

[@MartinComolli]

I've been using Revit for over 10 years and I must say that your advice is the most useful I've seen on the web. Just congratulations on volunteering your time. Greetings from Buenos Aires.

[@miketaylor8211]

Martin in Buenos Aires... enjoy the sunshine for us! How in the world do you use Revit on those amazing historic buildings there in Argentina?! Lots of custom families I guess. Many blessings to you.

[@ahmadnaamneh5248]

Thanks for this GREAT tutorial. I have watched too many videos explaining these kinds of walls and could not understand the methodology. You just did it in a very simple, fun, short, and perfect way. Thanks, Mike.

[@TheCheo89]

Thank you Mike ... for that quick response. thank you. You're the best ;)

[@JavierOropeza08]

Another option to create a thicker base wall could be to used a stacked wall, but you lose the controls you showed in this video. This was a very helpful video!

[@miketaylor8211]

Stacked walls are powerful, but I’ve actually had more problems using them than just using individual walls.

[@willlywillly]

Another Great Video. You really are the best! Quick question....how would you a create a custom sweep profile like a horizontal bullnose precast trim offset 4' from base? Thanks!!!

[@miketaylor8211]

I'll make a video of a CUSTOM SWEEP on a wall (start to finish). Keep watching!

[@diptikashid7308]

Fantastic video and those energy vibes⚡⚡

[@dimashemetov1617]

Hello sir, you videos have been amazing and I personally think the best on KZbin regarding Revit and Energy vibe:) I want to see if you can create a video showing how to do structural stem wall with different heights along with footing. Thank you so much in advance!!!

[@miketaylor8211]

Great suggestion! I have used those in a project.. so I will make a video! Thanks for the suggestion!

[@mohammedmansour4843]

I was looking for a way to make concrete beams (lintels) above windows and l think i know now how to do that...thanks

[@MrDarrylhen]

Hi Mike. Couldn't you use parts to do some of this? To change the thickness of any of the materials, you could use the show shape handles on the part. Signed, your faithful student.

[@miketaylor8211]

PARTS is crazy Revit gymnastics! I’ll have to look deeper into it.. and try not to pull a muscle!

[@chintothechillins]

Thanks for keeping learning fun

[@diabeldesouky1938]

THANKS, I feel that you like the challenges so I need your help, here my issue: I want to draw wall consist of two materials: the bottom is 120mm thick. gypsum board partitions with hight 1000 mm and above that there is interior glass wall 1800 mm after that I need to open a glass door in this wall. how that can be done?

[@miketaylor8211]

I don't know the project like you do of course, but it sounds like you can simply use a gypsum board partition on the bottom. Then above that you can use a curtain wall...then add a door in it. I am guessing this would work best based on what I understand. A stacked wall may be your next solution, but I would try the simple way first. You could email me if you want.

[@Elisandro_]

@@miketaylor8211 A few days ago i tried insert a countertop, created in a Family Wall Based, and i can't insert on a Stacked Wall. Stacked Wall is not appropriate for this?

[@RubenMarquezLondono]

Hi, from colombia follow your video

[@iftekharkhan8879]

Hi Mike how r u ..hope u r well ..so if we want thickerr wall in terms.of layer at the time of split and merge ...then how we do?

[@miketaylor8211]

The layer thickness is set back when you create the wall.. not here in the editing (split and merge). We can only manipulate what we have previously set.

[@eastudio-K]

thats funny the escape button really is a problem haha

[@BonuxCouleur]

Ok so you split your wall brick above and CMU below. What if you want brick below and nothing above, in other word one of your element of the wall does not go full height. Do you have to add an air gap above? I see the use of the splitting wall but if you have to do that just to be able to modify the height of just one element, it seems like typical Revit nonsense. You have to split it in half then assign an air gap or some invisible material which I bet will still appear in section and that you will have to consequently cut-off with View/Cut Profile in every single view you have created... talk about counter productive. All you want is an Edit/Modify Height for each element but no, with Revit you have to create another view that the one you are working in of course because with Revit you always have to do it in the view that the developer has decided you have to do it in. Modify height of one wall element? I should be able to do it ANY view because you know what maybe I am working in a plan view or in an elevation or in a 3D view right now, and I want to be productive so I don't want to open or create another view. It is just an element height you want to modify, it should be SIMPLE! but no of course the torturous mind of a Revit developer is going to take you through a maze of tools that are useful indeed if you want to go intricate, do a bit of 3D Detailing why not (clients don't want to pay for it) but right now you want SIMPLE and it is just not there. So in typical Revit fashion and this is why it is so hard for graduates to jump into Revit from any other software, say goodbye to your intuition. You have to think like Autodesk, a firm owned by Wall Street lawyers so what would a lawyer do, and what does Autodesk actually do? I would buy technologies and software from various foreign companies most likely European if you are interested in Autodesk strategy to either destroy that piece of technology so it is not available to my competitors and end users or to merge it into Revit. And oh boy, you can tell Revit is a freaking patchwork of different bits of technology and like the Frankenstein monster it is not very well stitched together. So the end user end up going through nonsensical processes to complete the most simple of task. One button: "modify height" pretty please? Nope it is just too straight forward, too fast. I looked at 'Create Parts' again it does not look like the feature you would use to modify the height of just one single element. These walls are full of features that are probably fun to explore when you are modeling a shed in your garden but when you have deadlines and you have to deliver the goods, 95% of your tasks should be uncomplicated, you want to be one to three clicks away from completing the most simple of tasks. Don't get me wrong, it is good that it is there but when I look at this particular feature I cannot see any application for it outside 3D Detailing because realistically and from a practicality viewpoint if you start adding sweeps and reveals and layers and merge or split stuff inside one wall, it means you are going to require a staggering number of Wall Types that you will want to be able to quantify but not necessarily show in Schedule. And I am not even starting with adding Metadata to your walls. It is only if you have time to isolate a bunch of walls to create 3D details that this feature is truly useful. Problem is, you need your end users to be perfectly drilled meaning know the PROS and CONS and avoid the temptation of using the tools that you know sometimes. In a large project where simplicity is key and turnover of Revit staff is high, going through a scroll down list of 500 walls because some Revit developers thought it would be a good idea to always create complicated paths but rarely the one you are going to need the most is NOT A GOOD IDEA. YOU with all your experience of projects going awol, you will know this is not a feature anyone should use, in fact there should be a big RED SIGN "use only in case of NO emergency". But the young graduate who knows his Revit tools, he is going to go for it to impress everyone with his Revit skills, you know like those guys who create Revit families so accurately close to the final object you cannot even dimension them. KEEP IT SIMPLE, that should be the number one rule. So let's say one of your technicians is an experienced Revit user and he is going to have the very BAD IDEA of using this very feature on all your walls in a large scale project because it is fun. It sounds great at the beginning but guess what, it is going to snowball when you will have to Schedule that monster. There is no naming convention in the World that is going to be able to tell young and even experienced Revit users that will come on board what wall type they should be using because someone made it OVERLY COMPLICATED and from there you know it is going to snowball even worst, you know people are going to start duplicating wall types that don't need be because they cannot find that one freaking wall they need because one guy decided to have fun with his Revit toy. This type of feature would not be a problem if you also had the simple "one-click away" feature and people were able to stick to common sense, problem is you don't have that "one-click away" option and most people don't use common sense therefore every single freaking Revit user in the project is going to achieve what they need to achieve the only way they know. I am all for nice features like these don't get me wrong, but in my view these are the type of features that will send your project into oblivion very quickly if you don't have a total control of what technicians are doing and guess what: Architects Leads know SQUAT about Revit, how you do it is not their concern as long as you do it right and in time. In any industry, you have to cover the basics well before you explore the fancy stuff, and I like the fancy stuff but I also know from experience the more fancy stuff there is the more rules you need to put in place. My gripe with Autodesk because they do buy a lot of technology from everywhere is that they don't take time to think about how a project actually goes to completion. KEEP IT SIMPLE. BASICS first and foremost, FANCY FEATURES come after. It is brilliant to have both, it is dreadful to get the fancy stuff but not the basics. If I buy a car, I expect it to have wheels on it, not wings because most people don't need an aircraft to go to work, it is cool but it is not practical.

[@miketaylor8211]

Perhaps you should get a job at Autodesk and help us all!!! We have made ‘suggestions’ for them to implement.. but they seem to fall on deaf ears. I feel your pain!