REVIT MASSING

There are two ways to create masses using Revit:

• In-place masses
  These are typically used for concept massing a building and should be avoided if modelling building parts e.g. doors and windows.
• Mass families
  These are better suited to repetitive items that don’t have a specific category. These instances are quite rare and typically lend themselves to being a specific type of family. For example, a statue doesn’t have a specific category but there is a category “Entourage” which could encompass this item. There are more tools for creating family masses than in-place masses.

This guide explains the creation of an in-place mass but the process of creating a mass family is the same except a family template would be chosen.

show in-place masses

By default, in most templates, masses are turned off in the Visibility Controls. This means if you start massing, you won’t see any of the created items.

1. Click the Properties palette > Visibility/Graphics Overrides
2. Ensure that Mass is ticked on.
   
3. Alternatively, masses can be temporarily turned on in a view by click the Massing & Site tab > Conceptual Massing panel, click the Show Mass Forms & Floors.
   
   

creating masses

1. From the Ribbon’s Massing & Site tab > Conceptual Mass panel, click the In-Place Mass
2. You will be prompted to name the mass. Name it something sensible using your company standards e.g. BS8541 naming requires Originator-Type-SubType/Product.
   
   Note: The default name of “Mass 1” must never be used to ensure it is clear what the mass contains.
   Masses are then created by drawing profile/s which are then turned into masses.
3. Draw a shape to indicate the shape of the mass.
   The draw tools can be used to allow creation of curves.
   

4. Select the whole 2D shape.
   Note: if the whole shape does not select, use

   to pick up the entire shape.

5. From the context sensitive ribbon (green ribbon) > Click the Forms panel > Create Form dropdown and click Solid Form to create the form.
   

Loft

Drawing two shapes on different levels, selecting both shapes and clicking the Solid Form button will loft the shapes.

editing masses

1. Select any mass, and from the context sensitive ribbon > Model panel, click Edit In-Place.
2. Selecting any face or mass will show the context sensitive ribbon options for editing a mass. This document will focus on the Form Element
   
   

X-Ray

Shows nodes at each point within the shape and the path the extrusion undertook.

Add Edge

Add Edge allows a face to be divided into two or more edges. What can be confusing is the Add Edge tool only allows adding edges to the sides of shapes not the top or bottom. To do this, another shape would need to be drawn and extruded.

If an edge is added it can be manipulated using the triad.

Add Profile

1. Selecting a face from the solid
2. Move your cursor in the face’s Z direction and the profile will show at the location of your cursor.
   
3. Click to place the profile at the required location. (shown in the image above as a profile at half the height of the shape)
4. The tool will then loft between the 3 profiles creating curves between each of the points.
   
5. Each individual profile can then be selected and manipulated.

Dissolve

1. Select a solid and click the dissolve
   The profiles used to create the shape will remain, but the actual shape will be removed.
   

Pick New Host

Will allow the shape to be hosted to a new plane whether that be one of other modelled geometry or of a level in the project.

Lock Profiles

This will lock the bottom and top profiles of a form to be the same shape.

If the shape has been lofted from different shapes, it will reset the top form to match the bottom.