BILT Speaker

BILT Speaker
RevitCat - Revit Consultant

Monday 11 January 2016

Weird Stair Stuff part 7 - No Array in Sketch by Component

Here is yet another crazy inconsistency and limitation in the Revit stair tool:
If you use the Stair by Component Sketch tool, it does not automatically create all the riser lines for you (unlike the old sketch tool).  So you need to create one riser and then array it.  But the Array tool is not available in sketch mode, just when you need it most !!!!
Greyed out array icon

Workarounds

Here are my workarounds - not that it gives the Factory any excuse for not fixing this:

1.   Convert to Sketch
  •  Use the Run Tool
  •  Select the run and convert it to a sketch
2.   Multiple Copies
  • Place two risers at the spacing you need
  • Select the second one
  • Click on the Copy icon

  • Make sure it is set to 'Multiple Copies'
  • Snap to the endpoint of the first riser (not the one you are copying)
  • Snap to the end of the second line (that you are copying)
  • It will place a third riser at the same spacing
  • Snap to it and it places a fourth one
  • Keep going until you have your 'poor man's array'.
  • Then log in to the Autodesk website and register a fault that needs to be fixed




Link to Stair Index Page

2 comments:

  1. I much prefer your "Multiple Copy" technique over the Array tool for almost everything. The Array Tool is great early in design when you're still messing around with spacing and/or counts, but I feel that Arrays carry too much baggage as you progress.
    My preference is to just do a Multiple Copy.
    Assuming your dimension is a reasonable number, here's the way I do it:
    Pick the first item.
    Select Copy
    Check Multiple
    Click a first point (anywhere)
    Drag your mouse WAY out in the direction you're copying.
    Type in the dimension (in your example. 250)
    Then type it in again
    And again
    And again.
    The trick is, by dragging your mouse WAY over - past the last element in your "array", you can just keep typing the distance over & over without any additional mouse movement or other input.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Dave - useful tip. It could also be good if you wanted to vary the distances, say alternate two different numbers.

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