Which of the following is used to select one option from one set of alternatives?

Design Options

Objectives

To understand the possibilities of working with design options in Revit.

They are a powerful tool to evaluate design alternatives in projects, without having separate files or models because that always led to fragmented and disperse information.

Prerequisites

1. User will be using Revit, any version
2. User has basic skills in modelling

Introduction

Revit can work with different design options for projects, having all of them in the same Revit Model or file.

This allows the team to have the different alternatives of the projects grouped in the same file. While the team works in parts of the project that will not vary, other areas can be evaluated with different proposals until a definitive decision is made and the proposal is consolidated to develope it further.

Design options can work with several alternatives for different sets (or areas) of the model. Typically, each set of design options addresses a particular issue or area.

Each design option will be modeled independently, and can be visualized and properly scheduled.

Procedure

Menu for managing Design Options in Revit will be found in the Manage Tab > Design Options Panel > Design Options Menu

To work with Design Options in Revit several things have to be considered:

• Sets or areas to be addressed
• Options for each set.
• How to work in the Main Model.
• Primary options for each set.
• How to work in each design option.
• How to visualize the possible combinations of design options.
• How to schedule possible combinations of design options.

Enable Design Options

By default the Design Options are disabled.

To activate the possibility to work with different design alternatives you have to open the Design Options Menu and create for the first time at least one Set of Options and one option in it:

Once you create the first Option Set, you rename it conveniently and then it is possible to create as many options in that set as needed:

As the project evolves, you can have the need for evaluate new issues, so new Option Sets can be added to the project at any time, and of course, new design options can be added to Option sets.

Work with Design Options

When you activate the Design Options, you will notice that some other tools are enabled in the Design Options panel of the Manage Tab.

First thing to be aware is in which workspace the user will be working. For users that are not accustomed to design options this can be a bit tricky, but it is just a matter of being organized.

At the bottom of Revit interface is also the Design Options menu, including the “Exclude Options” check, or “Active View” check, depending on the work espace fixed in each case, which allows you to select elements within other options different from the active one.

Work in the Main Model

As long as in the drop-down menu of the Design Options menu is set to “Main Model” it will mean that any action that is performed will take place in the Main Model, that is, in the main part of the model that is not subject to design alternatives, where only one option is considered and is common to the whole project.

When working in the main model you will be able to edit any element that is placed in that common workspace.

But you won’t be able to modify, even select, any object that belongs to an specific design option, because, so to say, that object is placed or saved in a different “workspace”.

Work in a specific Design Option

If in the Design Option panel you set the drop down menu to any of the previously created design options you will be working in that workspace.

Actually you will notice that the Main Model is faded and you cannot select or edit objects in it, but only select, edit and create new elements inside the design option that is active and where you are located and working.

There exist the possibility to select and modify an object unmarking the “Exclude Options” check while working on Main works espace. Otherwhile, by working on some design option espace, it can be select and modify an object unmarking the “Active view” check.

When you finish editing the active design option, you can go back to the main model and continue working in it, or you can change to another design option and make changes in it.

It is important that you are aware of the design option that is active, that is, of the workspace in which you are working, because new elements will be saved in that active design option.

Don’t get confused by that.

Move elements from one option to another

There is some other ways to move elements from one design option to another, or from main model to specific design options.

1. To move objects from main model to any of the existing design options, you can select one or several objects, and then add them to any of the existing design options of the different option sets:

2. To move objects from one design option to any of the existing design options, you can only use the clipboard tools (Copy + Paste to same place, or Cut + Paste to same place), just by changing workspace (design option) between copying and pasting:

Copy > Change to another design option (or main model) > Paste

This is also valid for copying from the main model to some design option.

3. While editing one design option, it is possible select an object from main works using the option “Active Only” unmarked, and then move this element to the design option used in this moment, using “Add to Set” tool. In this case, is not possible to choose the design option where move the object, hence this will automatically set in the active design option.

Design Options Visualization

It is important to configure correctly the visualization of design options, otherwise you will get confused about the active design option, or which option are you editing.

When you open the Design Options menu, you should notice that for every option set there is one design options that is marked as “Primary”:

The primary option is the preferred option for each set. You can change at any time the options that is primary in the same menu.

• By default, in any view that you open, and having the main model option active, the design option that will be visible will be that that is marked as “Primary”.The primary options will be visible but not editable.
• If you change the active design option, that option will be temporary visible and editable. For other options sets, the primary options will remain the visible ones.
• One way for not to have preferred options, is to create an empty primary design option. In this way, if no option is selected to be displayed, no option will be shown.

But, if you open the Visibility/Graphics override menu of the view, you can see that there is a new tab dedicated to Design Options:

There, you can override the settings of the design options. You can see that by default each Option Set visualization is set to “Automatic”:

• Automatic = visualize the Primary option of the Option set if Main work espace is selected, or visualize the Designed Option set in menu bar.
• You can change for each Option set which Design Option you make visible in that specific view. The more Option Sets you have, the more combinations of Design Options you can visualize in a view.

You can only visualize a combination at a time in the active view. So, you can duplicate views as many times as combinations of design options you want to have available to place on a sheet and print.

It is important to note that once a design option has been applied in Visibility/Graphics, it will only be possible to display it, even if the design options menu selects the edit mode of any of the others.

Schedule Design Options

You can also have the different design options represented in Category Schedules.

You will create a schedule as usually, choosing category, fields, and how to organize the schedule.

Same as in graphic views, you would open the Visibility/Graphics Overrides menu of the schedule (yes, it exists and you barely notice it because in most occasions it is useless) and a new tab has appeared: the design options tab. It is quite similar to the design options tab in graphic views menu and works the same:

You can only visualize a combination of design options at a time in the active schedule. So, you can duplicate schedules as many times as combinations of scheduled design options you want to have available to place on a sheet and print.

And same as in graphics views, once a design option has been applied in Visibility/Graphics, it will only be possible to display it, even if the design options menu selects the edit mode of any of the others. Nevertheless, Selecting <Automatic> for Visibility/Grafics, always the active Design Option will be the visible option in the schedule.

Consolidate Design Options

At some point during the project development you must make decisions about the different options that you have, to include them as definitive into the project.

If you open the Design Options Menu you can see that if you pick one of the option sets (by selecting its name), you could “Accept Primary”, meaning that the primary option will be incorporated to the main model, and any other design options of the set will be deleted. Workflow would be as follows:

1. Make the correct design option the primary option for an option set
2. Select the Option set
3. Accept primary

Tips & Tricks

• Design options could impact the model performance, so use it carefully and include the definitive option to implement in the project as soon as it is decided.

• Elements inside design options do not get along well with elements in main model or in other design options. So, if you have to join or attach something in a design option to another element, incorporate this last object in the design option.
• It is possible to create rooms in the same place if they are in different design options.
• For different space layouts, place rooms inside design options.
• Design options could help you to create legends of objects and allocate those objects so that they do not impact in element scheduling or BOQ.
• Designed Options work as well with the phases.
• It is not possible to create a new family when an edit Design Option mode is active. It is needed to create it in Main Model before.

Bottom-line

Design option tool in Revit is a good way to explore different alternatives in projects without having fragmented models or files.

Which of the following is used for selecting the best alternative?

Which of the following decision making statements is used to select one of the multiple alternatives?

When selecting an alternative choose the one that comes closest to solving the problem with?

Is the process of selecting the best alternative from the available set of alternatives?