March is the month of free Revit add-ins! We will explore the best and most helpful Revit add-ins you can download for free. 4 different plugins will be explored this month.

This week’s add-in is called Color Splasher. It is developed by fellow Quebec City Revit geeks over at BIM One.

Download the add-in by clicking here.

This add-in is used to quickly create a color scheme that reflects the parameter values of specific categories. Want an example? Below, we created a scheme that shows walls with different colors depending on their length.

Creating a color scheme based on the parameter values of elements can be done with Revit default tools, but it is long and tedious. You have to use the Filters tool to identify a specific category of elements. Then, you have to add the filter to the Visibility/Graphics menu and add a color override. Long, tedious, boring.

Example: Revit vs Color Splasher to Create a Fire Rating Plan View

In the example below, we create a fire rating plan that shows walls in different colors, depending on the fire rating value.

Using Revit Native Tools:

Using Revit, you have to create a filter for each different fire rating value. Go to the Visibility/Graphics menu, then to the Filter tab. Create a new filter.

Select the Walls category. Select the Fire Rating parameter and set the value.

When all filters have been created, add them to the Visibility/Graphics menu. Add a color override to each filter.

When you go back to your plan view, the walls should be colored based on their fire rating:

That works. But if you want to spread this scheme to other view, you will have to use View Templates. It is quite long and boring to set up.

Using Color Splasher:

That’s when Color Splasher comes in. Go to the BIM One tab in the ribbon and open Color Splasher.

This menu will pop up:

The first thing you should do is to select a category. This menu will only display categories that are visible in the view. You can hold CTRL to select multiple categories at once, but for now we only need Walls.

When the category is selected, all available parameters for this category will appear. In this case, select Fire Rating.

Once a parameter is selected, Color Splasher will automatically create a color scheme. There will be a different color for each parameter value contained in the project. In this case, there are four values: 30, 60, 120 and N/A (for walls without a fire rating value). Walls without a fire rating value won’t actually be colored.

These colors are quite ugly. There are a few options to change them. At the bottom of the menu, you can click on Rainbow or Refresh. Refresh will create a new, random color scheme.

If you click on the Rainbow button, a gradient color scheme will be created. A darker color will be used for high values and a pale color will be used for low values.

Finally, you can simply click on each value and manually set a color like you would do in the Visibility/Graphics menu.

When your scheme is ready, click on Apply color set. The colors will be applied to the view.

As you notice, Color Splasher creates a solid fill color for both cut and projection patterns. The color also affects the Projection line, but not the Cut line.

Something you should be careful about: the colors will be lost the moment you close the Color Splasher menu. Make sure to click on Save schema and save an external .csch file.

You Don’t Need to Install ColorSplasher to See the Colors

When I initially tried the add-in, I wondered how the colors would behave for users that don’t have Color Splasher installed. It turns out that colors display the same for everyone, regardless of if they have the add-in installed or not. Obviously, you would need the plugin to modify the colors or shut them down.

Case Study: Colors by Phase

Recently, I was asked to create a plan view where elements of different phases would show up in different colors. Revit’s default Phases tool is limited to graphic styles for New and Existing. You can’t set colors to multiple phases.

That’s when a plugin like Color Splasher becomes incredibly helpful. First, we select all the required categories by holding the CTRL key: Doors, Floors, Furniture, Walls, etc. Then, pick the Phase Created parameter. Set interesting colors and click on Apply color set.

The only issue I have with the plan above: it would be great to control the visibility of the lines. The fact that the projection lines are affected by the color override causes some issues here. For example, you can’t see the riser lines in the stairs, because both the lines and the run surface pattern are using the same color. BIM One, if you are reading, please update Colorsplasher so you can customize whether projection lines are affected or not.

pyRevit is another amazing free plugin. We created a free 32 pages PDF guide about the best features included. Download and enjoy.