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    • Previous tutorial


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    • Revit

    Add and modify railings

    Add a railing to a staircase and modify it using draw tools.

    Type:

    Tutorial

    Length:

    7 min.


    Tutorial resources

    These downloadable resources will be used to complete this tutorial:

    create-railings.rvt

    Transcript

    00:03

    Handrails and balustrades are used for safety purposes

    00:06

    first for us to hold onto as we ascend or descend the stairs.

    00:11

    But also to prevent anybody from falling into

    00:13

    the stairwell or over the edge of a balcony

    00:18

    in rev,

    00:18

    railings can be hosted by a level in the project.

    00:22

    And they can also be hosted on a number of other objects

    00:25

    such as stairs, floors, walls

    00:28

    and even roofs and topography

    00:31

    and looking at the entrance lobby of this building,

    00:34

    we can see we have some stairs at the back of the

    00:36

    lobby coming up to meet floor two through the stairwell here,

    00:39

    which we will need to add the railings on to,

    00:42

    to get a better view of the stairs from the project browser.

    00:45

    Let's open up the 3d view cropped stairs

    00:49

    and we can see this view is cropped much

    00:50

    closer to the stairs using the section box tool.

    00:54

    And it also has the level two floor set to be transparent.

    00:57

    So we can see the stairs in their entirety

    01:01

    to place railings on the stairs or go to the architecture ribbon tab

    01:05

    and from the circulation panel under the railing tool

    01:09

    or choose place on stair and ramp.

    01:13

    This tool only works if there are no existing railings hosted on the stairs.

    01:17

    So we'll work fine for our staircase here.

    01:21

    Looking at the type selector,

    01:22

    we can see we have the rectangular handrail type selected.

    01:25

    So we'll click here and we'll choose the handrail, pipe type of handrail.

    01:31

    And now looking at the place railings ribbon here,

    01:33

    we see we have position options for treads or stringer,

    01:37

    which means it will place it either hosted on the treads

    01:40

    here or on the supports at the side of the stairs.

    01:44

    We'll leave it set to treads.

    01:46

    And now we just need to go into the view and click on the stairs

    01:50

    and those railings will be placed from top to bottom on both sides of the stairs.

    01:56

    So, although we have these place top to bottom,

    01:58

    we can see that they need to be extended around the stairwell at the top

    02:02

    and looking at the back wall here,

    02:04

    we have the full railing with all of the pipes along the back wall,

    02:08

    which we don't really need.

    02:10

    So we'll edit this railing to remove it from the back wall here

    02:13

    and leave us with the full railing

    02:15

    at the bottom and also at the top of the stairs.

    02:19

    So we'll edit this handrail first and as a rail in, in rev,

    02:22

    it needs to be continuous and we need to split this into separate railings.

    02:26

    We'll first copy it to the clipboard.

    02:29

    So with it selected,

    02:31

    we'll go to the modify railings ribbon tab here and from the clipboard panel,

    02:34

    we'll click, copy the clipboard.

    02:37

    So now that we have that in the clipboard,

    02:39

    we'll edit this existing rowing.

    02:42

    And to do this first, we'll go to the level one floor plan view.

    02:47

    So,

    02:48

    and to do this, we'll open the level one

    02:50

    and to do this first, we'll open the level one floor plan view.

    02:55

    And now zooming in here,

    02:57

    we can see where the railing is placed around the stairs.

    03:00

    So whilst it's still selected, we'll go to the modify railing's ribbon here

    03:04

    and we'll click edit path.

    03:07

    So now we can see we have the sketch lines that make up the rail end,

    03:10

    we can see we have the arrows pointing

    03:13

    up the rail. And so the bottom of the rail in here to the top.

    03:17

    And all we need to do is to select the sketch lines on the right here.

    03:20

    So from the top and along the back wall

    03:22

    and then just delete those so that we have the railing just

    03:25

    on the left hand edge of the first edge of the stairs.

    03:29

    So click, finish, edit mode to save the changes to that roll in.

    03:32

    And now we'll swap back to the crops stairs, 3d view.

    03:36

    And we can see we have the rolling going up the

    03:38

    first run of stairs and meeting the back wall here.

    03:43

    So now we'll paste the railing back in.

    03:45

    So from the modify ribbon tab we'll go to the clipboard panel

    03:48

    and under the past tool here, we'll click, paste the line to the same place

    03:53

    and we can see that full railing being pasted back in.

    03:57

    So whilst it's still selected

    03:59

    from the modify railings tab here, we'll click edit path

    04:03

    and we can do this in this 3d view. So

    04:06

    looking at the level one floor here, we can see the sketch lines

    04:10

    and we just need to delete the lines from the

    04:13

    bottom of the railing up up to the top here.

    04:15

    So using a crossing selection, we can just select all of those

    04:19

    and now press delete so that we have just the sketch lines for the top of the rail line

    04:24

    and then we'll click finish edit mode.

    04:26

    And now we can see that rolling

    04:27

    just at the top here coming up to meet floor two.

    04:33

    So now we'll edit the railings so that they return around the stairwell.

    04:38

    So to do this, we'll open the level two floor plan view.

    04:44

    Now zooming in here, we can see where we have the rolling.

    04:46

    So we'll select the railing on the right at the top here.

    04:50

    And now from the modify railings ribbon tab, we'll click edit path.

    04:55

    We can see we have the sketch line that makes up the

    04:57

    railing path and we just need to add some more to it.

    04:59

    So

    05:00

    we'll go to the draw panel on the modify railings tab here and choose the line tool.

    05:06

    Now looking at the options bar,

    05:08

    we have the option for chain and we'll check this because we're going

    05:11

    to draw multiple lines and this will make it a bit more efficient.

    05:15

    So now we have that set,

    05:16

    we'll snap to the end of the line at the bottom

    05:18

    of the screen here and draw this away by three inches

    05:22

    will then move to the right

    05:24

    and draw this six inches long.

    05:26

    And then we can move vertically up the screen and snap to

    05:29

    the intersection of the wall at the top of the view.

    05:33

    So now we have those sketch lines drawn,

    05:35

    we'll click finish edit mode to save the changes that we've made to this roiling.

    05:41

    Now we'll edit the central roll in. So

    05:43

    panning across slightly, we'll select that roll in

    05:46

    and from the modify

    05:47

    rarin, we'll click the edit path tool

    05:50

    again. We just need to draw some more lines in. So we'll set the line sketch to active

    05:56

    with the chain option. Still selected. We'll click on the end at the top of the rail in

    06:01

    and then draw out by three inches again.

    06:05

    Now we draw across the left by 13 ft three inches.

    06:09

    So let's type that in the temporary dimension

    06:14

    and now we can sketch vertically up to the intersection with the back wall.

    06:20

    So now we have that sketch completed

    06:22

    coming from the rail in here across and back to the wall.

    06:25

    We'll click finish edit mode to save those changes.

    06:31

    Now let's walk back to the crops stairs, 3d view.

    06:35

    And we could see that we have those railings.

    06:37

    We're returning back to the wall here and across the stairwell

    06:41

    and also to the wall on the other side.

    06:44

    And that now completes adding the roads to the stairs and around the stairwell.

    Video transcript

    00:03

    Handrails and balustrades are used for safety purposes

    00:06

    first for us to hold onto as we ascend or descend the stairs.

    00:11

    But also to prevent anybody from falling into

    00:13

    the stairwell or over the edge of a balcony

    00:18

    in rev,

    00:18

    railings can be hosted by a level in the project.

    00:22

    And they can also be hosted on a number of other objects

    00:25

    such as stairs, floors, walls

    00:28

    and even roofs and topography

    00:31

    and looking at the entrance lobby of this building,

    00:34

    we can see we have some stairs at the back of the

    00:36

    lobby coming up to meet floor two through the stairwell here,

    00:39

    which we will need to add the railings on to,

    00:42

    to get a better view of the stairs from the project browser.

    00:45

    Let's open up the 3d view cropped stairs

    00:49

    and we can see this view is cropped much

    00:50

    closer to the stairs using the section box tool.

    00:54

    And it also has the level two floor set to be transparent.

    00:57

    So we can see the stairs in their entirety

    01:01

    to place railings on the stairs or go to the architecture ribbon tab

    01:05

    and from the circulation panel under the railing tool

    01:09

    or choose place on stair and ramp.

    01:13

    This tool only works if there are no existing railings hosted on the stairs.

    01:17

    So we'll work fine for our staircase here.

    01:21

    Looking at the type selector,

    01:22

    we can see we have the rectangular handrail type selected.

    01:25

    So we'll click here and we'll choose the handrail, pipe type of handrail.

    01:31

    And now looking at the place railings ribbon here,

    01:33

    we see we have position options for treads or stringer,

    01:37

    which means it will place it either hosted on the treads

    01:40

    here or on the supports at the side of the stairs.

    01:44

    We'll leave it set to treads.

    01:46

    And now we just need to go into the view and click on the stairs

    01:50

    and those railings will be placed from top to bottom on both sides of the stairs.

    01:56

    So, although we have these place top to bottom,

    01:58

    we can see that they need to be extended around the stairwell at the top

    02:02

    and looking at the back wall here,

    02:04

    we have the full railing with all of the pipes along the back wall,

    02:08

    which we don't really need.

    02:10

    So we'll edit this railing to remove it from the back wall here

    02:13

    and leave us with the full railing

    02:15

    at the bottom and also at the top of the stairs.

    02:19

    So we'll edit this handrail first and as a rail in, in rev,

    02:22

    it needs to be continuous and we need to split this into separate railings.

    02:26

    We'll first copy it to the clipboard.

    02:29

    So with it selected,

    02:31

    we'll go to the modify railings ribbon tab here and from the clipboard panel,

    02:34

    we'll click, copy the clipboard.

    02:37

    So now that we have that in the clipboard,

    02:39

    we'll edit this existing rowing.

    02:42

    And to do this first, we'll go to the level one floor plan view.

    02:47

    So,

    02:48

    and to do this, we'll open the level one

    02:50

    and to do this first, we'll open the level one floor plan view.

    02:55

    And now zooming in here,

    02:57

    we can see where the railing is placed around the stairs.

    03:00

    So whilst it's still selected, we'll go to the modify railing's ribbon here

    03:04

    and we'll click edit path.

    03:07

    So now we can see we have the sketch lines that make up the rail end,

    03:10

    we can see we have the arrows pointing

    03:13

    up the rail. And so the bottom of the rail in here to the top.

    03:17

    And all we need to do is to select the sketch lines on the right here.

    03:20

    So from the top and along the back wall

    03:22

    and then just delete those so that we have the railing just

    03:25

    on the left hand edge of the first edge of the stairs.

    03:29

    So click, finish, edit mode to save the changes to that roll in.

    03:32

    And now we'll swap back to the crops stairs, 3d view.

    03:36

    And we can see we have the rolling going up the

    03:38

    first run of stairs and meeting the back wall here.

    03:43

    So now we'll paste the railing back in.

    03:45

    So from the modify ribbon tab we'll go to the clipboard panel

    03:48

    and under the past tool here, we'll click, paste the line to the same place

    03:53

    and we can see that full railing being pasted back in.

    03:57

    So whilst it's still selected

    03:59

    from the modify railings tab here, we'll click edit path

    04:03

    and we can do this in this 3d view. So

    04:06

    looking at the level one floor here, we can see the sketch lines

    04:10

    and we just need to delete the lines from the

    04:13

    bottom of the railing up up to the top here.

    04:15

    So using a crossing selection, we can just select all of those

    04:19

    and now press delete so that we have just the sketch lines for the top of the rail line

    04:24

    and then we'll click finish edit mode.

    04:26

    And now we can see that rolling

    04:27

    just at the top here coming up to meet floor two.

    04:33

    So now we'll edit the railings so that they return around the stairwell.

    04:38

    So to do this, we'll open the level two floor plan view.

    04:44

    Now zooming in here, we can see where we have the rolling.

    04:46

    So we'll select the railing on the right at the top here.

    04:50

    And now from the modify railings ribbon tab, we'll click edit path.

    04:55

    We can see we have the sketch line that makes up the

    04:57

    railing path and we just need to add some more to it.

    04:59

    So

    05:00

    we'll go to the draw panel on the modify railings tab here and choose the line tool.

    05:06

    Now looking at the options bar,

    05:08

    we have the option for chain and we'll check this because we're going

    05:11

    to draw multiple lines and this will make it a bit more efficient.

    05:15

    So now we have that set,

    05:16

    we'll snap to the end of the line at the bottom

    05:18

    of the screen here and draw this away by three inches

    05:22

    will then move to the right

    05:24

    and draw this six inches long.

    05:26

    And then we can move vertically up the screen and snap to

    05:29

    the intersection of the wall at the top of the view.

    05:33

    So now we have those sketch lines drawn,

    05:35

    we'll click finish edit mode to save the changes that we've made to this roiling.

    05:41

    Now we'll edit the central roll in. So

    05:43

    panning across slightly, we'll select that roll in

    05:46

    and from the modify

    05:47

    rarin, we'll click the edit path tool

    05:50

    again. We just need to draw some more lines in. So we'll set the line sketch to active

    05:56

    with the chain option. Still selected. We'll click on the end at the top of the rail in

    06:01

    and then draw out by three inches again.

    06:05

    Now we draw across the left by 13 ft three inches.

    06:09

    So let's type that in the temporary dimension

    06:14

    and now we can sketch vertically up to the intersection with the back wall.

    06:20

    So now we have that sketch completed

    06:22

    coming from the rail in here across and back to the wall.

    06:25

    We'll click finish edit mode to save those changes.

    06:31

    Now let's walk back to the crops stairs, 3d view.

    06:35

    And we could see that we have those railings.

    06:37

    We're returning back to the wall here and across the stairwell

    06:41

    and also to the wall on the other side.

    06:44

    And that now completes adding the roads to the stairs and around the stairwell.

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