Creating and modifying AutoCAD Revision Clouds
Revision clouds are geometries used in AutoCAD to drive attention of users to a certain part of the drawing. The revision clouds are Polylines in the shape of connected arcs and they can also be modified like a Polyline.
The AutoCAD 2016 version came with completely revamped features of revision cloud. In this article, I will discuss these features in detail.
Creating a simple Revision cloud
To create a simple revision cloud type REVCLOUD on the command line and press enter. Click at rectangular from the command line options and then click at twoย points in the drawing to makeย the rectangle.
A revision cloud will be made in the drawing area as shown in the image below.
To create a polygonal revision cloud with multiple vertices select the Polygonal option from the command line options of REVCLOUD command. You can also select the freehand option which creates a revision cloud with free movement of your mouse cursor.
To make a freehand revision cloud start REVCLOUD command then select Freehand from the command line options and click at a point to start the command. Release the mouse click and draw a freehand curve enclosing the required region.
As soon as you reach the starting point of the revision cloud the curve will automatically terminate and a closed revision cloud will be made.
You can also convert closed geometries like a Polygon, Ellipse or a Circle into a Revision cloud. To do so, make a closed geometry then select the REVCLOUD command. Select Object option from the command line and then click on the geometry from drawing area which you want to convert to a Revision cloud.
If you want to reverse the direction of arcs select Yes from command line else directly press enter to accept the default arc direction.
Modifying the REVCLOUD
As mentioned earlier, revision clouds are Polylines with the connected arc like geometry. You can modify the revision cloud using its grips just like any other Polyline curve.
You can select any grip and move it in the drawing area to change the shape of Revision cloud. To add or remove more vertices from revision cloud move your cursor to any of the grips and hold it there, select the respective option from the menu which will appear as shown in the image below.
You can also add more grips on the revision cloud by changing the REVCLOUDGRIPS system variable to 0.
Changing system variable to 0 or OFF will make Polyline grips on every arc of the revision cloud. Changing the system variable to 1 or ON will make grips only on the segments of the revision clouds thereby simplifying it.
The properties of the revision cloud can also be changed using the PEDIT or Polyline edit command. For our current example, I will change the width of revision cloud using the PEDIT command.
Type PEDIT on the command line and press enter, then select the revision cloud whose property you want to change. Select Width from the command line and specify the width for the revision cloud and press enter twice. You will notice that the width of revision cloud will change as per your specifications.
Modifying revision cloud type
The arcs used in the revision cloud are not of standard length or type, you can modify maximum and minimum arc length of the revision cloud and also the type of arc to be used for the revision cloud. To specify new arc length of Revision cloud type REVCLOUD on the command line and press enter.
From command line select Arc length option then specify minimum arc length and press enter, specify maximum arc length and press enter again. Make sure that the maximum arc length specified is less than three times the minimum arc length else the revision cloud will not be made.
After making these settings select the type of revision cloud which you want to make like rectangular, polygonal or freehand and make the desired Revision cloud. You will notice that the revision cloud will be made with the specified properties.
You can also change the style of a revision cloud from a simple set of connected arcs to a calligraphy styled arcs. To make this change select the REVCLOUD command and select Style from the options of the command line and change the style to calligraphy and make the desired revision cloud. The resulting revision cloud will look similar to the image shown below.
Do you have questions related to this tip? Let me know in the comments below.
how to make same size rev cloud arc ??
What I typically do is use the PLINE command to create the boundaries for where your revision is (where you want the cloud to go) and then when you are in the RevCloud command, that is where you will set the arc size you want and then use object setting to select the object/item you want to make into a revision cloud and this should hopefully do what you’re asking.
i encountered a problem in autocad, whenever i input revcluod command the arcs are on a reverse side. can somebody help me?
You need to change your rev cloud setting to “NO” for the reverse direction option. You probably have it set to “YES”.
In the newest version 2021 I have noticed that when you set ARC length, you can only set a minimum, in the 2020 version when I would create a REVCLOUD all the arcs would be the same size, the size I set. But with the new updates the arcs are all different sizes and it looks a bit messy, I have tried several things to fix this but have had no luck so far, do you know of any solutions to this problem?
This is exactly my problem. Anyone have a solution?
Wait I just found a solution. Use the command REVCLOUDARCVARIANCE and set it to 0 or OFF. then you can control the revcloud arcs to be the same for the min and max
Thank you, that’s exactly what I needed!
This is literally the problem and the solution I was looking for. You are truly a hero of the people.
YESSSSS why did they change this? I love how Autodesk spends time changing the style of Rev clouds and not actually fixing the bugs.
How to change from revcloud to playline
sir, can I choose an item just in cloud? I intend to make the drawing in black and white except for the item in cloud.
HI. I use the annotative scale factor to drive all my text heights ltscale factor dimensions etc. is there any way i can use the annotative scale factor to automatically set the revcloud arc length =( maybe a reactor)
I’ve also drawn a polyline or a rectangle or shape and changed it to a revision cloud with the command by picking it after starting the REVCLOUD command. This does require that you answer if it is to be reverseed or not, so two entrie clicks are necessary.
Can you modify an existing rev cloud, it’s arc length, etc?
Thanks
Yes obviously you can do that, it is mentioned in the article as well.
I do not see in the article where you can change the arc/radius of an existing rev cloud….?
I don’t see anything about how to modify the arch length of an existing cloud, only how to set it when creating a new cloud.
Must have misread multiple times- I don’t see that anywhere.
Excellent tutorials sir, very easy to understand. Please suggest me some professional shortcut keys that can increase my speed of Drafting.
and sir please guide me that how i can add custom textures in Hatch panel
thanks and best regards
ar.hassan
Here is a related article that will help you. https://thesourcecad.com/autocad-commands/
What’s the version of CAD you use? I don’t see REVCLOUDGRIPS in AutoCAD 2015 LT
As mentioned in the article, additional revision cloud features were added in 2016 version and I have used 2016 version for this article.
Thanks
very good information , learned more than I knew re: revision cloud
Welcome
Please send me notes of starting autocad 2d & 3d
you can see AutoCAD 2D and 3D tutorials on this page https://thesourcecad.com/autocad-tutorials/