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Integrated BIM tools, including Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D
Professional CAD/CAM tools built on Inventor and AutoCAD
Use Revit predefined keyboard shortcuts or add your own key combinations.
Type:
Tutorial
Length:
8 min.
Transcript
00:00
While most tools in Revit can be accessed from the ribbon,
00:06
most functions also have keyboard shortcuts you can use to increase your efficiency.
00:12
It is therefore helpful to understand the various functions that can be accomplished by using your keyboard.
00:18
For example, to select multiple elements, such as multiple walls,
00:24
press and hold the control key while selecting those objects.
00:29
To remove an element from the selection set, press and hold the Shift key
00:35
and then select the objects to remove.
00:39
When multiple objects are near the cursor, you can repeatedly press the Tab key
00:46
to cycle through those elements.
00:49
Once the element you want to select is highlighted, Click to select that element.
00:56
You can also use the tab key to select a chain of connected elements.
01:02
For example, when you move the cursor over the North wall,
01:07
only that wall highlights.
01:08
But when you press the tab key, all of the connected walls highlight,
01:13
and when you click, all of the highlighted walls are selected.
01:18
When you switch to the annotate ribbon and start a dimension command,
01:23
you can repeatedly press the tab key to cycle between the wall face or wall center line.
01:31
When placing an element such as a wall,
01:37
you can repeatedly press the tab key to cycle through the available snap points.
01:43
To cycle in reverse order, hold down the Shift key while pressing the Tab key.
01:50
You can also use a specific object snap by typing the two letter shortcut corresponding to the desired object snap.
02:00
For example, type SM to snap to the midpoint or SE to snap to the endpoint.
02:11
On the Architecture ribbon in the Build panel, start the Wall command.
02:17
When placing a wall, pressing the spacebar reverses the interior and exterior side of the wall.
02:26
Click Modify to end the command.
02:32
On the Architecture ribbon in the Build panel, start the Column command.
02:38
When placing components such as a column,
02:42
you can press the spacebar to rotate the component in 90° increments.
02:48
When you are finished using a particular tool, rather than clicking modify, you can press the escape key to cancel an action.
03:01
Sometimes, such as when creating walls or lines, you may have to press the escape key twice to end the command.
03:08
Revit also supports standard Windows keyboard combinations for functions.
03:14
For example, you can press Control O to open a Revit project file,
03:21
or press Control P to print.
03:26
You can also use the control key to make a copy of an object.
03:31
For example, press and hold the Control key and then drag the door between rooms 126 and 127 to make a copy of the door.
03:43
You can also press Control C to copy a selected element to the clipboard,
03:48
press Control V to paste from the clipboard, and so on.
03:54
Revit also includes numerous keyboard shortcuts.
03:59
For example, when you type VG, the program displays the Visibility Graphic Overrides dialog for the current view.
04:08
Click Cancel to close that dialog.
04:12
You can also type WA to start the wall command
04:18
or ZF to zoom the view to fit the current drawing window.
04:24
You can easily modify keyboard shortcuts or create new ones.
04:29
On the View ribbon, in the Windows panel, expand the User Interface button and select Keyboard Shortcuts
04:37
to open the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog.
04:40
Click Cancel to close this dialogue.
04:45
You can also access this dialogue from the File tab by clicking the Options button.
04:52
In the Options dialogue, select User Interface, and then adjacent to Keyboard Shortcuts, click the Customize button.
05:02
The Keyboard Shortcuts dialogue contains all of the Revit commands.
05:09
As you scroll through this list, you can see that some commands already have keyboard shortcuts assigned.
05:15
You can use the search field to search for specific commands or expand the filter drop down to filter the command list.
05:25
For example, when you select All Defined, the list shows those commands that already have shortcuts assigned.
05:34
It may be helpful to scroll through this list to familiarize yourself with the predefined keyboard shortcuts.
05:42
When you select All Not Defined,
05:46
the command list is filtered to display only those that do not yet have shortcuts assigned.
05:52
When you select All Reserved, the list displays those commands whose shortcuts are reserved and cannot be changed.
06:01
You can also filter the list to show tools on specific ribbon tabs or menus.
06:08
For example, when you select Architecture tab,
06:12
you see only those commands that appear on the Architecture ribbon.
06:17
You can also create a new shortcut for any command that you use frequently.
06:24
For example, suppose you want to assign the keyboard shortcut MT to the Model Text command.
06:31
In the command list, select Model Text, then with the Press New Keys field active, type MT and then click Plus Assign.
06:46
That keyboard shortcut is immediately added to the command.
06:50
To remove that keyboard shortcut for the Model Text command,
06:56
click MT in the Shortcuts column and then click Minus Remove.
07:01
Then click Cancel to close the keyboard Shortcuts dialogue.
07:07
If the program displays the dialogue asking if you want to save changes to shortcut assignments, click Discard All Changes,
07:14
then click Cancel to close the Options dialogue.
07:19
In addition to reviewing the keyboard shortcuts in the Keyboard Shortcuts dialogue,
07:24
Revit displays keyboard shortcuts whenever you hover the cursor over a tool that has a keyboard shortcut assigned.
07:31
For example, on the Quick Access toolbar, hover the cursor over the Text tool.
07:38
Notice that the tooltip displays the name of the command as well as the keyboard shortcut TX, which appears inside parentheses.
07:47
And when you hover the cursor over the tag by category tool,
07:51
you can see that the keyboard shortcut TG has been assigned to this command.
07:58
As you become more familiar with the program,
08:01
you will likely find that you can work much faster by using keyboard shortcuts.
Video transcript
00:00
While most tools in Revit can be accessed from the ribbon,
00:06
most functions also have keyboard shortcuts you can use to increase your efficiency.
00:12
It is therefore helpful to understand the various functions that can be accomplished by using your keyboard.
00:18
For example, to select multiple elements, such as multiple walls,
00:24
press and hold the control key while selecting those objects.
00:29
To remove an element from the selection set, press and hold the Shift key
00:35
and then select the objects to remove.
00:39
When multiple objects are near the cursor, you can repeatedly press the Tab key
00:46
to cycle through those elements.
00:49
Once the element you want to select is highlighted, Click to select that element.
00:56
You can also use the tab key to select a chain of connected elements.
01:02
For example, when you move the cursor over the North wall,
01:07
only that wall highlights.
01:08
But when you press the tab key, all of the connected walls highlight,
01:13
and when you click, all of the highlighted walls are selected.
01:18
When you switch to the annotate ribbon and start a dimension command,
01:23
you can repeatedly press the tab key to cycle between the wall face or wall center line.
01:31
When placing an element such as a wall,
01:37
you can repeatedly press the tab key to cycle through the available snap points.
01:43
To cycle in reverse order, hold down the Shift key while pressing the Tab key.
01:50
You can also use a specific object snap by typing the two letter shortcut corresponding to the desired object snap.
02:00
For example, type SM to snap to the midpoint or SE to snap to the endpoint.
02:11
On the Architecture ribbon in the Build panel, start the Wall command.
02:17
When placing a wall, pressing the spacebar reverses the interior and exterior side of the wall.
02:26
Click Modify to end the command.
02:32
On the Architecture ribbon in the Build panel, start the Column command.
02:38
When placing components such as a column,
02:42
you can press the spacebar to rotate the component in 90° increments.
02:48
When you are finished using a particular tool, rather than clicking modify, you can press the escape key to cancel an action.
03:01
Sometimes, such as when creating walls or lines, you may have to press the escape key twice to end the command.
03:08
Revit also supports standard Windows keyboard combinations for functions.
03:14
For example, you can press Control O to open a Revit project file,
03:21
or press Control P to print.
03:26
You can also use the control key to make a copy of an object.
03:31
For example, press and hold the Control key and then drag the door between rooms 126 and 127 to make a copy of the door.
03:43
You can also press Control C to copy a selected element to the clipboard,
03:48
press Control V to paste from the clipboard, and so on.
03:54
Revit also includes numerous keyboard shortcuts.
03:59
For example, when you type VG, the program displays the Visibility Graphic Overrides dialog for the current view.
04:08
Click Cancel to close that dialog.
04:12
You can also type WA to start the wall command
04:18
or ZF to zoom the view to fit the current drawing window.
04:24
You can easily modify keyboard shortcuts or create new ones.
04:29
On the View ribbon, in the Windows panel, expand the User Interface button and select Keyboard Shortcuts
04:37
to open the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog.
04:40
Click Cancel to close this dialogue.
04:45
You can also access this dialogue from the File tab by clicking the Options button.
04:52
In the Options dialogue, select User Interface, and then adjacent to Keyboard Shortcuts, click the Customize button.
05:02
The Keyboard Shortcuts dialogue contains all of the Revit commands.
05:09
As you scroll through this list, you can see that some commands already have keyboard shortcuts assigned.
05:15
You can use the search field to search for specific commands or expand the filter drop down to filter the command list.
05:25
For example, when you select All Defined, the list shows those commands that already have shortcuts assigned.
05:34
It may be helpful to scroll through this list to familiarize yourself with the predefined keyboard shortcuts.
05:42
When you select All Not Defined,
05:46
the command list is filtered to display only those that do not yet have shortcuts assigned.
05:52
When you select All Reserved, the list displays those commands whose shortcuts are reserved and cannot be changed.
06:01
You can also filter the list to show tools on specific ribbon tabs or menus.
06:08
For example, when you select Architecture tab,
06:12
you see only those commands that appear on the Architecture ribbon.
06:17
You can also create a new shortcut for any command that you use frequently.
06:24
For example, suppose you want to assign the keyboard shortcut MT to the Model Text command.
06:31
In the command list, select Model Text, then with the Press New Keys field active, type MT and then click Plus Assign.
06:46
That keyboard shortcut is immediately added to the command.
06:50
To remove that keyboard shortcut for the Model Text command,
06:56
click MT in the Shortcuts column and then click Minus Remove.
07:01
Then click Cancel to close the keyboard Shortcuts dialogue.
07:07
If the program displays the dialogue asking if you want to save changes to shortcut assignments, click Discard All Changes,
07:14
then click Cancel to close the Options dialogue.
07:19
In addition to reviewing the keyboard shortcuts in the Keyboard Shortcuts dialogue,
07:24
Revit displays keyboard shortcuts whenever you hover the cursor over a tool that has a keyboard shortcut assigned.
07:31
For example, on the Quick Access toolbar, hover the cursor over the Text tool.
07:38
Notice that the tooltip displays the name of the command as well as the keyboard shortcut TX, which appears inside parentheses.
07:47
And when you hover the cursor over the tag by category tool,
07:51
you can see that the keyboard shortcut TG has been assigned to this command.
07:58
As you become more familiar with the program,
08:01
you will likely find that you can work much faster by using keyboard shortcuts.
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