Use Excel with Revit!!!

I know what you're thinking, Revit does not support importing and exporting of data with Excel. Your right, natively it does not.  So right off the bat we need to talk about add-ins.  There are several out now that you can buy to allow you to create and sync data with Excel.

Schedule Sync

BIMLink

CTC's Spreadsheet Link

Rushforth Tools

And I'm sure there are more. Each has its pros and cons.  My personal favorite is Rushforth Tools.  The cost is very reasonable, and you get so much more then just the ability to use Excel.  Personally I wouldn't use Revit without it.  

Now there are some things to know before you start manipulating data with Excel, and pushing it back into your model. For starters, every single little object in a Revit model has a unique element ID, and I mean everything. Most of the add-ins will by default create a column identifying this property. Don't mess with it, ever. There really shouldn't be a need to, but it would really confuse the software for these values to change. It is a very good property to use for keeping track of things as it does not change. 

Next, what kinds of stuff might you want to change?  The limits are almost boundless here and will likely be an entire post itself in the future. Some brief suggestions, how about shared parameters used for scheduling, or coordinating your ceiling heights with the heights of ceiling devices, or pushing CFM values from your load calculation software into the spaces, and then to the devices in those spaces. I could go on, but that's just a sampling.  What kinds of data would you like to sync with Excel?  Do you have any favorites you are already using? Leave a comment and let's discuss.

Family Annotation Symbols

Annotation Symbols are used to represent an object that would not be well represented otherwise.  A classic example is an electrical duplex receptacle. If you were to accurately draw from plan view what would be seen at 1/8" scale and account for a thick line weight, you might notice a slight budge on the wall from the face plate. You would have no idea what it meant if noticed at all.  Let's introduce a circle with two off center lines and we can see where and what should be along the wall.

This symbol does not change size with a change in scale. This is correct. The size after all was somewhat arbitrary to begin with. Wait a minute, you changed scales from 1/8" to 1/2" on your view and the symbols got much smaller?

Yes, they should have.  The scale is larger, but the printed size is the same, so in your view it looks smaller, because your view is larger.  Put it on a sheet, and overlay it to the same space at 1/8" scale and the annotation symbol will be exactly the same.

Sometimes multiple devices need to be shown at the same location. Think about a fire alarm plan showing a pull station and a horn strobe (typically above). How though do we keep the model accurate, drawings legible and not have devices violating the laws of physics, by utilizing Robert Bell's technique for shifting. 

The switches in the picture above are too tight together in reality. If we showed them true to scale, the annotation symbols end up on top of one another and we can't read the drawings. Using Robert's technique, we can shift the symbol to be legible without shifting the physical switch. I didn't cheat I promise. Notice the blue switch symbol has a drag arrow at the bottom of it. That is the trick.

This gets potentially more complicated with multiple scales. Yes it is a lot of work to build, but it will be used much more then you might expect. It is certainly worth it. I find it useful for switches, power outlets, data outlets, and Fire Alarm devices all the time. Do you have any suggestions for using this technique for Plumbing, or HVAC?

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