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Overview

Clicking any material in a listing will take you to that material’s item page. This lists a range of information related to the material, and is designed to help you determine if the material is appropriate before loading it into your model. Material item page Some of the information displayed on this page is editable by administrators - this can be done on the material’s item page directly or in Listings Views.

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Item Page sections

Each section of the material’s item page is detailed below:

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Visual styles

Displays 3 thumbnails showing the material in 3 Revit view modes:
  • Realistic - Controlled by the material’s Appearance Asset
  • Consistent Colors - Controlled by the settings in the Graphics section, including the shading color.
  • Hidden Line - Controlled by the settings in the Graphics section, except the shading color.

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About

The about section displays a description of the material and up to 2 reference links.

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Description

The description is a short text field designed to present information about the material such as material properties or product information. This field is populated through Kinship and is not linked to the Description parameter in the material’s Identity Data. Text added to the Description is used in search results, so may be used to add additional searchable information not already captured in the material name or Class. Reference links point to useful external resources as intranet pages or online product documentation. There are two editable slots, Documentation and Manufacturer. The reference links are not extracted or linked to the URL parameter in the material’s Identity Data. The Description and Reference Links can be edited by administrators using the Edit Info option under the More menu button button at the top of the material item page, or from Listings Views.

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Revit material data

The following sections displayed on the material item page are extracted from the 5 ‘tabs’ in the Revit material. Each of these contain information relevant to specific use cases - they are displayed on the material item page to enable selection and comparison of materials before loading into Revit.

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Identity Data

This tab includes basic descriptive information about the material. Identity Data section
There are 3 editable fields in the Identity Data:

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Class

The Class is the primary way of organizing materials in the library. Learn more about Classes. Administrators can change the material’s Class in the following ways:
  • Change Material Class in the More menu button menu at the top of the material item page.
  • Edit Info in the same More menu button menu.
  • From listing pages.

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Keynote and Mark

The Keynote and Mark (Revit Annotation) parameters are frequently used for tagging materials in drawings and linking to specifications. Administrators can edit the values of both parameters in the following ways:
  • Selecting Edit Info in the More menu button menu at the top of the material item page.
  • From listing pages.
If the Class, Keynote or Mark parameters are edited, the amended values will appear in Revit when the material is next loaded into a model.
Materials that are downloaded from the website will not show the amended values.

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Graphics

The graphics settings control how the material appears in views using the hidden line, shaded and consistent color visual styles. Graphics section The material item page displays the specific colors and fill patterns the material uses including:
  • Use Render Appearance - When this is on, the shading color and transparency are inferred from the material’s appearance asset.
  • Shading Color - Color used for the material in shaded and consistent color views.
  • Transparency - Transparency of the material used in 3D views using the shaded and consistent color visual styles.
  • Surface Patterns - Fill pattern or solid color seen on the surface of families the material is applied to.
  • Cut Patterns - Fill pattern or solid color seen when the family the material is applied to is cut in the view (e.g section views).

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Appearance

The material’s appearance asset controls how the material appears in renderings, and in views using the realistic and textures visual styles. Appearance section An introduction to appearance assets can be found here. The material item page displays the specific settings which determine its appearance including:
  • Colors (shown with an RGB code): The base color of the material.
  • Presets (selectable in dropdown menus): These sometimes determine the value of other settings, make new settings available, or otherwise modify the material’s appearance.
  • Numerical values: These are usually shown in a comparable way to the Revit material browser with a slider, indicating the minimum and maximum values.
  • Image maps: Image files linked to the material.
  • Procedural maps: Pre-defined list of textures that are generated inside the Revit material browser.
The settings are shown in two sections:
  • Base Color / Image: the overall color, image map or procedural map determining the material’s appearance. These are typically the uppermost properties in the appearance section in the revit material.
  • Additional parameters: other settings used by the material (e.g bump, transparency). Settings that are available in the appearance asset type but turned off are shown, with an ‘Off’ indicator.

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Material Performance - Physical and Thermal

Material Performance - Physical and Thermal section The physical and thermal assets contain properties related to the structural and thermal performance of the material. They can be used to inform analysis and simulation in other tools. The material item page displays the name, type and all other data related to the physical and thermal assets.
Some materials do not contain a physical and/or thermal asset. In this case the material item page will report that the material does not contain one.

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All Files listing

The Featured section displays attachments and image maps that have been selected by administrators for display on the material item page. It may be used to call attention to key files relevant to selecting or using a material. Featured section Click on any item to see an expanded version including the file details in a carousel view. Attachments and image maps can be featured from the All Files page. Up to 10 files can be featured for each material.

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Attachments

Attachments are files such as images, documentation and product sheets attached to a material for reference purposes. Administrators can attach files to a material in the following ways:
  • From a Listings View.
  • Using the More menu button menu at the top of the material’s item page.
  • From the All Files page for the material.
There is no limit to the number of files that can be attached to a material.

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Image maps

To represent real-world objects, Revit materials frequently rely on linked files, or image maps. One such image map might be a photo of bricks or concrete, which will be displayed on the surface of a wall to which the material is assigned. As well as defining the base appearance of the material, image maps can be used for various visual properties such as its bumpiness, relief or roughness. Image maps section

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Learn more

Material Classes

Organize materials using classes, including creating, merging, deleting, and managing unassigned materials.

Appearance Asset Types

Learn about appearance asset types in Revit materials and how they’re organized in Kinship.

Materials Utilities and Resources

Explore utilities and resources that help you stay on top of your library, including recent activity and related assets.