Sunday, August 19, 2012

How To Cut the Long Sides of Beams In Revit (Using A Reference Plane)

How do you cut the long side of a beam  using the cut command and a reference plane when Revit only allows you to cut the short side of the beam? This is illustrated in the image below?



I have seen this question asked again and again on different Revit Forum Sites and I thought it was time to explain how I have done it in the past. 

Follow the steps below and watch the scrolling image to learn how.

1. draw a reference plane at the far end of the long side of the beam to be cut
2. cut the beam with the cut command
3. move the reference plane to the desired location

Why did the Revit developers only allow users to cut the short side of the beam by a simple cut, and pick command? I don't know...but I am sure the Revit developers had their reasons for making this the current workflow. 

IMHO
The important thing to remember, when solving Revit problems, is to take matters into your own hands, and find ways to solve these problems yourself. DONT WAIT, for the Revit developers to change the program....change your way of thinking about the program.

Having a positive attitude has always helped me solve my Revit problems. 
For example, when I solved this particular problem, I didn't get mad at the Revit developers for making this limitation. 

I THANKED them for programming in Revit the ability to MOVE a reference plane, which ultimately  helped me solve this problem. Thank you Revit Developers!!!







8 comments:

Bol said...

Why not use the "opening by face" tool instead?

Naren said...

I appreciate your help with this topic and writing it down. I agree positive attitude is good too, but there is a threshold for everything. If Revit is a free software we can ignore the problems, but we pay thousands of dollars and somethings in REVIT are real crappy. Instead, these, so called 'Developers' create new tools in REVIT and don't even care about resolving the problems within. The helpdesk is a joke. It's their job to fix the things, we shouldn't play to their tune all the time. Good Luck !!

Unknown said...

This still doesn't work for me. there seems to be a limitation in the angle of the reference plane which doesn't allow the beam to keep the long side. I, along with others, have elected to use the "opening by face" command instead.

Anonymous said...

it does not work for me either. why the 'Developers' don't let people choose which side they want to keep/delete? not considerate programe

Marcello Sgambelluri said...

Opening by face works too.
both methods have their pros and cons....

Marcello Sgambelluri said...

remember that this post states that this method only works if you are using a reference plane... also I have found this to work at all angles of the reference plane. If you find out differently please provide examples so I could investigate... also you could rotate the reference plane AFTER you cut
This was tested on Revit 2016 R2

Craig McNiven said...

Nothing will work with a curved beam - not the 'cut', not the 'open by face' and not even a modeled in place void extrusion.

I totally agree with Naren, that this sort of thing shouldn't be an issue at all, yet this is the umpteenth site I've visited looking for a solution where everyone is asking for this to be addressed or fixed.

Marcello Sgambelluri said...

I have verified this method works for cutting the long sides of curved beams in plan and in elevation. (curved includes arcs and splines) are you still having trouble with cutting the long sides of curved beams?