Tag: keyboard shortcuts

Revit Shortcuts and the Revit Warnings Project

Luke Johnson

A couple of interesting new endeavors have appeared online recently that I wanted to share. The first is from Autodesk, and they are encouraging you to learn and use keyboard shortcuts. I have posted about keyboard shortcuts plenty of times in the past. I’m not sure this particular site will help me much, because over the years I have customized my Revit shortcuts and they don’t match up with the default anymore 🙂

Check it out at:
Revit Shortcuts | Keyboard Shortcuts and Commands | Autodesk

I have also posted previously about warnings and error reports (including how to solve them). The Revit Warnings Project  wants to take your Revit error reports and turn them into some useful, browse-able statistics data and graphs. It is an interesting read, if only to see how your errors compare to some others. I would like to see the Revit Warnings Project expanded to included recommended solutions to the warnings too.

My less-serious take on Revit Warnings and Errors can be viewed here:
What Revit Wants: Funny Revit Error Messages

Editing Keyboard Shortcuts in Navisworks

Luke Johnson

Most of you would be aware of keyboardshortcuts.xml in Revit. However, did you know about RoamerCommands.xml? This file lives in the Layout folder under you Navisworks install, and it can be edited to modify keyboard shortcuts in Navisworks.

Note: This process is very risky, so this file should be backed up before editing it. During experimentation, I had a lot of crashes and often had to restore this file to fix the issues.

  1. Backup RoamerCommands.xml (rename the backup or copy it somewhere, like this)
  2. Edit it in a text editor like Notepad++ or Sublime Text
  3. Look for something you want to change / add
  4. Modify the file
  5. Make sure there are no duplicate entries, like this
  6. Save it
  7. Restart Navisworks
  8. If Navis crashes on opening, restore the old file from Step 1 and start again
  9. If it doesn’t crash, see if your keyboard shortcut works

I was able to change the keyboard shortcut for File Open as shown below:

Video showing that my modified RoamerCommands.xml worked:

File location on my system:
“C:Program FilesAutodeskNavisworks Manage 2015LayoutRoamerCommands.xml”

There is a good list of the vanilla shortcuts at this post (this is also where Lee mentions RoamerCommands):
Keyboard Shortcuts (Hotkeys) for Autodesk Navisworks – Beyond Design: the Construction and BIM blog

Modifying 3Dconnexion mapping XML file to utilise Keyboard shortcut correctly

Luke Johnson

If you use a 3Dconnexion mouse with Navisworks, and you have installed the latest drivers (which I highly recommend), you may struggle to find out how to map a Spacebar to a button on your Spacemouse. Obviously, in Navis it is important to be able to hold down the Space key for selection purposes. If you try to record a macro for Spacebar in the 3Dconnexion management menu, you will find that it has both a ‘press’ and ‘release’ action.

You need to use the Keyboard list to map a key press correctly. However, Spacebar does not appear in the default menu… Happily, you can directly modify your profile XML to map the KB_Space action to a button on your 3d mouse. The images below show where to find this file, and how to edit it:

This method will fix the ‘press and release’ nature of macros, meaning you can “hold” the 3d mouse button for a Spacebar or Shift+Spacebar multiselection in Navisworks.

EDIT Good discussion about using a 3D mouse with Navisworks on LinkedIn…

Using Keyboard Shortcuts in a Schedule View

Luke Johnson

Revit Keyboard Shortcuts don’t work too well in Schedules, because Revit thinks you are trying to input data.

However, you can use the alternative key entry method – basically, it starts by pressing Alt, then following the onscreen text options that show up.

In some cases, this will be all you need.  But I wanted to make a quick way to Insert Data Row in a Room Schedule, and unfortunately it is buried under a drop down list on the contextual ribbon.

Here is part of the solution – add the Insert dropdown to the Quick Access Toolbar.  Now, when you press Alt, Revit will assign a shortcut to that position.  In my case, to trigger the insert data row command, I had to press this key sequence:
Alt
0
2
downarrow
downarrow
downarrow
Enter

So, still a pain.  But what if we could assign this as a macro to some smart shortcut system.  That’s where the new Radial Menus on the SpacePilot Pro come in.  I created the above key sequence and added it to a Radial Menu.  Now I just press a button on my 3D mouse, select the Data Row shortcut that I created, and there it is…

See the top right banner on this page for an affordable way to enter the 3D mouse world…

Extending the vanilla Revit shortcut key capability

Luke Johnson

I don’t normally post “paid” addins, but this is an interesting little idea for an app:
Assign a HotKey to a specific component, not just a command (link)

I wonder if someone would like to make a Revit add-in that allows mapping of a multi-step command to one hotkey?  Here’s what I’m basically thinking:

  • separate hotkeys that can launch different New Family commands using the different Family Templates for each category (ie. a shortcut for New Generic Model Face Based etc)
  • ability to string multiple standard Revit keyboard shortcuts together with other keyboard methods, so that you could accomplish something like this or even this with just one keyboard shortcut

The easiest way to become faster at Revit

Luke Johnson

I’ve been waiting for this!  Keyboard shortcuts can make you ridiculously more productive in any CAD software, and that certainly includes Revit.  Harry has made a little ‘tutor’ program that gives you visual cues on what Keyboard Shortcuts you can and should be using (like Veodin Keyrocket for Windows / Office).

Unfortunately, the full version isn’t free – but I guess the guy has to make a crust somehow 🙂  And I have a feeling that $5 will pay for itself in about half a day of improved productivity.

EDIT: Updated versions 27 Feb 2013
2012 Install 2013 Install Purchase License

Check it out:

“Free version provides reminders for shortcuts that contain the letter “W”. If you find it helpful and want reminders for all shortcuts, please purchase a license. “

Read more:
Download the Revit Keyboard Shortcut Tutor today! | Boost Your BIM – making Revit even better

How to override Room Separation lines using the Keyboard only

Luke Johnson

Follow these steps:

That should get you to the Room Separation line entry in Visibility / Graphics.  Then, you can:

  • press Spacebar to toggle visibility on / off
  • press Right Arrow, then Spacebar to open the Override sub-dialog

As you probably know, I’m a big believer in Keyboard Shortcuts.

However, in all honesty, if you have mouse and are using Revit 2013, it is probably going to be quicker to:

  • Select a Room Separation line
  • Right-click
  • Override Graphics in View – By Category…

Increase your Windows and Office Productivity

Luke Johnson

I’m a big fan of Keyboard Shortcuts.  Revit, Windows, AutoCAD – I believe they are all faster when you use keys instead of the mouse alone.  I have previously posted about Revit keyboard shortcuts on various occasions.

However, this little utility is centred around teaching you the Windows and Microsoft Office keyboard shortcuts that will help you most …

Download and install Keyrocket
(direct link)

Run it by pressing Windows+K

You can easily search through keyboard shortcuts for various programs.

It will give you little tips from the tray when it thinks you could use a particular shortcut.

via
Learn Windows and Office Keyboard Shortcuts the Easy way • Raymond.CC