Revit TotD – Material Physical Properties.

This issue was brought to my attention by a fellow RevitCity.com chatter.  He noted that when trying to change the properties on the physical properties tab of a material, everything goes back to default when you try to save the parameter subset.  After playing with it a bit, I found a workaround to get the subset to save:

Here is what I did:
1) Change the behavior to Orthotropic
2) Change the parameters you want to change
3) Hit Apply at the bottom
4) Change the bahvior back to Isotropis (assuming that’s what you need)
5) Make sure the parameters are how you want them (you may need to just go in and enter the parameters again if the next step resets the parameters)
6) Hit Apply
7) Save As

Here is a short video demonstrating this:
Creating a Material Physical Properties Subset

You’ll notice that there is still some odd behavior in that trying to change the subset on another similar material causes the other material to change as well.¬† I think the key here is applying the changes before moving on to another material.

Hope this helps, and happy reviteering!

-Carl