Materials/Assets - How do you name/classify them?

[BLothian]

Curious as to what naming convention methods you are using in your projects/templates. This is one area I have never dedicated any time to because I've never really had a clear idea how I should be naming materials (and assets). TBH at the moment I don't actually use assets (do you actually need to if you aren't rendering?). If I create a material its just a name to schedule and given a colour so I can see it in consistent colours mode. I need to improve in this area and getting a broad overview on what other's should help (I hope)

[cellophane]

I stole a page from Aaron's playbook and have mine named by Master Format divisions. Assets are named similar to the materials, but they are a little more generic since the rendered image of concrete is more or less the same. The only issue I really ran into with Assets is using unit characters in the names: they don't seem to like / or " (i.e. 5/8" Gypsum Wall Board) in Asset names; although I do have some materials that have those characters and I cannot for the life of me figure out how they got there...

I did use Dynamo to push all the names to Excel for renaming and formatting, then wrote them back into Revit, along with a provision to delete materials I don't want. I can pass along the graphs if anyone is interested, but I'm a moron and have lost my spreadsheet :banghead:

[Twiceroadsfool]

Mine are similar, but my new template only does 2 digits of the Spec Division, since- for materials- it works fine. The assets are the same, but less descriptive, since the "asset" for all CMU's is the same asset, even though the Revit Materials are different sizes.

[GMcDowellJr]

Mine are similar, but my new template only does 2 digits of the Spec Division, since- for materials- it works fine. The assets are the same, but less descriptive, since the "asset" for all CMU's is the same asset, even though the Revit Materials are different sizes.

You mean different thicknesses in particular? So one material asset for gypsum wallboard but multiple materials based on thickness (and then being sure to assign the correct material to its corresponding thickness)... is that right? For CMU and the like do you also have just one for each face size and use it for varying thicknesses -- one asset at 8x16 but used on 8x16x4, 8x16x8, 8x16x12, etc? Certainly less to change!

[Twiceroadsfool]

Revit Materials:

04-MASONRY-WALLS-CMU-GROUTED SOLID(11-5/8")
04-MASONRY-WALLS-CMU-GROUTED SOLID(9-5/8")
04-MASONRY-WALLS-CMU-GROUTED SOLID(7-5/8")
04-MASONRY-WALLS-CMU-GROUTED SOLID(5-5/8")
04-MASONRY-WALLS-CMU-GROUTED SOLID(3-5/8")
04-MASONRY-WALLS-CMU-HOLLOW(11-5/8")
04-MASONRY-WALLS-CMU-HOLLOW(9-5/8")
04-MASONRY-WALLS-CMU-HOLLOW(7-5/8")
04-MASONRY-WALLS-CMU-HOLLOW(5-5/8")
04-MASONRY-WALLS-CMU-HOLLOW(3-5/8")

Assets:

04-MASONRY-CMU-RUNNING-STANDARD

Gypbd is similar, i suppose. I mean, there are various Revit Materials for various thicknesses, for us. And one Render Asset.

[cellophane]

Mine are similar, but my new template only does 2 digits of the Spec Division, since- for materials- it works fine. The assets are the same, but less descriptive, since the "asset" for all CMU's is the same asset, even though the Revit Materials are different sizes.

I intend to rework my materials to a 2-digit format for simplicity, just haven't made it that far yet :hide: Although it is nice to have an exact division noted just for the educational aspect of learning where everything goes.

Revit Materials:
04-MASONRY-WALLS-CMU-GROUTED SOLID(11-5/8")
04-MASONRY-WALLS-CMU-GROUTED SOLID(9-5/8")
04-MASONRY-WALLS-CMU-GROUTED SOLID(7-5/8")
...

Assets:
04-MASONRY-CMU-RUNNING-STANDARD
...various Revit Materials for various thicknesses, for us. And one Render Asset.

And pretty much this.

[kowen1208]

You mean different thicknesses in particular? So one material asset for gypsum wallboard but multiple materials based on thickness (and then being sure to assign the correct material to its corresponding thickness)... is that right? For CMU and the like do you also have just one for each face size and use it for varying thicknesses -- one asset at 8x16 but used on 8x16x4, 8x16x8, 8x16x12, etc? Certainly less to change!

That's how mine are set up. In a rendering, 5/8" gyp looks the same as 1/2" gyp, so duplicating the appearance asset is pointless.

Would be nice if we could have graphics assets, since 5/8" gyp and 1/2" gyp look the same graphically, aside from thickness.

Would also be nice if the material thickness could be linked to the keynote directly, so if the thickness changes, the user doesn't also have to change the material/keynote.