Mastering Autodesk® Revit® Architecture 2013

Chapter 11

Working with Phasing, Groups, and Design Options

Most projects will progress through various stages and phases. As a result, it's necessary to distinguish the element of time in your project: when something is created, if it is demolished, and what it will look like when the project is complete. In addition, design is about maintaining relationships between repetitive elements. Sometimes this repetitive element can be a single component in your project, such as a light or a piece of furniture. But it can also be an entire collection of elements, such as a typical room in a hotel or hospital.

Another fundamental aspect of design is the iteration of options. You have to be able to see many ideas simultaneously and in context with other ideas. The client and contractor need to see options and alternates. It's important that these options not be fully independent, separate files so that the results can be analyzed and compared.

This chapter focuses on these three concepts: time, repetition, and iteration of options. In Autodesk^® Revit^® software, they're addressed with phasing, groups, and design options.

In this chapter, you'll learn to:

• Use the Phasing tools to create, demolish, and propose a new design
• Understand and utilize groups
• Create and use design options

Using Phasing to Apply the Element of Time

Phasing is the software's method of allowing you to add the element of time to objects in your project. It's easy to think of an architectural design in terms of what ...