Details are what pull a project together.. They are the main difference between Design Development and the Construction Documents. So, since every project needs details and we do not need to reinvent the detail wheel every time for most doors, cabinets, windows, etc.. we need an organized way to STORE and USE our details.
 
Drafting Views are your solution.
 

 
Drafting Views of your TYPICAL details can be saved out of a project and then, when needed, brought into another project. They can then be updated to meet the current project needs (if at all).
So having them organized in a central location (and well NAMED so you can find them) will go a long way to getting you thru the details of a project.
 
BEST PRACTICE
Best practice is to create a Revit file for each of your typical categories: Doors, Windows, Cabinets, etc. Name the files accordingly: DOOR-DETAILS.rvt, etc. Your details will be ready for you when you need them.
 
GETTING STARTED
1. You most likely have a few projects with some great details in them. Take a few minutes with a couple of your colleagues and think of which projects would have the best details of each category to ‘salvage’.
 
Our example will be for Door Details, and you can use the same technique for all the other categories.
 
2. Open your new DOOR-DETAILS.rvt file. This will be the STORAGE facility for all your DOOR details. Select Insert>Insert from File>Insert Views from File
 

 
3. This will then bring you to a ‘browse’ window where you will search to the project file your team has selected for ‘salvage’ of details. Select Open.
 
4. Change the selector dropdown from the default ‘Show all views and sheets’ to ‘Show Drafting views only’. The list will then show all the Drafting Views in your project. You can then place a check in the boxes next to all the DOOR DETAILS. Select OK when complete.
 

 
NOTE: This is where you will be very happy if you have used useful naming conventions for your details. If not.. it may be difficult for you to know which details you need to insert.. and you may need to revisit the original ‘salvage’ file to do some cleanup and renaming PRIOR to inserting them into the STORAGE file. Or you can insert them and rename them appropriately later.
 
5. The Drafting Views you selected will import into the DOOR-DETAILS.rvt file.. ready for your use.
 
SUGGESTION: Add new Drafting Views each month as you go along. My suggestion is to have a ‘sit-down’ at the end of each project and make some quick decisions of which details should be ‘salvaged’.. and make it happen. Try to make this a part of your typical project close-out.
 
USING and RETRIEVING DETAILS
The process is exactly similar. When inside a project file and you need a detail that you know exists in the DOOR-DETAILS.rvt file, you simply Select Insert>Insert from File>Insert Views from File. Select the details you want and BAM.. there they are. Edit and update them if you need to.
 
Happy Revitting
 

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