![\"A](\"http:\/\/www.andekan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/reference-planes-in-revit.png\" "\\"reference-planes-in-revit\\"")
<\/p>\nThere are plenty of posts around the net that cover reference planes in detail. So I\u2019ll skip the obvious for the most part, and address what\u2019s not being covered anywhere else. Reference lines, model lines, symbolic lines and masking regions are left for future posts.<\/p>\n
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Reference Plane Properties<\/strong><\/p>\n The properties of a reference plane are\u00a0Defines Origin<\/em>,\u00a0Name<\/em>,\u00a0Is Reference<\/em>, Scope Box<\/em>,\u00a0and\u00a0Wall Closure<\/em><\/em>. Let’s detail some of the uses of reference planes and how those are managed through the different properties.<\/p>\n Labelled reference planes (with their Name<\/em> property set) will appear in the list of Reference Planes by name when changing or setting a Work Plane in the family editor.<\/p>\n When a reference plane is set to Not a Reference<\/em>, there is “no way, Jose!” you are going to be able to dimension to it. Any statement to the contrary must be based on confusing reference planes in a project with those in a family.<\/p>\n A Strong Reference<\/em> plane will always be there for you, meaning that when you are dimensioning, the mouse pointer will automatically jump to it when the reference plane is near by. And if you dare zoom out to the point that a family is just one pixel in your screen, mousing over that pixel will still pick up on the plane and allow you to dimension to and from it.<\/p>\n In contrast, a Weak Reference<\/em> plane will only “auto-point” your mouse if there is enough space between it and the next strong reference plane. If you want to dimension to a weak reference that\u2019s too close to other strong references, you can always use the Tab key to cycle between strong reference and weak reference planes.<\/p>\n When is it appropriate to use a Strong Reference vs. a Weak Reference? As a rule of thumb, the planes people are more likely to dimension to and from should be set as strong references. Everything else people might want to reference to and from should be a weak reference. And finally, anything that\u2019s not exactly where it should be, for example because the family doesn\u2019t go into sufficient detail and is only indicative, should be set as Not a Reference<\/em>.<\/p>\n Everything else in the list above (shaded blue), eg. Left<\/em>, Right<\/em>, Front<\/em>, etc., is a named reference<\/em>. This is different from setting up the Name<\/em> property, which we called a labelled reference plane<\/em>.<\/p>\n Named references<\/em> behave like strong references,\u00a0and there can only be one of each in a family (i.e. a family can only have one Left<\/em> reference plane, one Bottom<\/em> reference plane, and so on). You can still label the reference plane however you wish via the Name<\/em> property. Aside from “auto-pointing” like strong references when you mouse over them, named references<\/em> have an added bonus, which I explain in the video below.<\/p>\n\n
\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.andekan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/defines-origin-ref-planes.png\" "\\"defines-origin-ref-planes\\"")
<\/p>\n![\"Labelled](\"http:\/\/www.andekan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/labelled-reference-plane.png\" "\\"labelled-reference-plane\\"")
<\/p>\n![\"Specify](\"http:\/\/www.andekan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/hosting-plane-in-Revit.png\" "\\"hosting-plane-in-Revit\\"")
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