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Forums >> Revit Building >> Technical Support >> Family Help
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Joined: Tue, Jun 17, 2008
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im sure its probably somethign real simple but i cant figure it out. i want my families to be able to be "strecthed" rather than moved when i used the align tool. example: i create a counter top at a default 8' long. so i load it in and turns out the counter top turns out to short. so i try to align its right edge to the wall face that it should extend to and rather than strecthing to the wall face reference alignment it moves and is still the 8' length. one option is to have a "length" parameter so i could input the desired length but what if i dont know the length. also thats a longer process. i tried reverse engineering the defualt counter tops but could not figure it out.
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Joined: Tue, May 16, 2006
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If you have created your countertops with a parametric length (label), you should get a grip on one end that you can stretch in place. Remember that the family is inserted from an insertion point which for most people is one end. That end would be placed correctly and the other end stretched. To create this, in the family, place a reference plane or line some distance from the origin. Add a dimension to it and then right click on the dimension and choose label. (This may take a couple of tries) Add a label like "Counter length". Now, edit your family and lock the extrusion - filled region or appropriate linework to this new reference plane. Your family will now be parametric and you can test it by changing the value of "Counter length" in the type. ... POST EDITED TO CORRECT TYPO'S - THANKS COREED FOR ADDING THAT THE PARAMETER NEEDS TO BE INSTANCE - NOT TYPE
Edited on: Mon, Jul 7, 2008 at 3:42:09 PM
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Joined: Fri, Feb 10, 2006
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if you want to adjust your length by clicking and dragging. when you add an label as WWHub said, make sure you use an instance parameter. HTH
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best regards, coreed,aia bmpArchitects,Inc. "Revit has to be implemented, Not installed." Long Live Revit |
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thanks WWHub and coreed but thats not what i was looking for. attached is a little illustraion of what im talkin about. heres another explanation of teh image and my intended question: the top represents a default counter top from revit and the bottom represents a counter top i created from scratch. i would like to close the gap between the counter top and the wall face. one option would be as yall suggested to use the "length" parameter and input the length of the full desired length(8'-0" + length of gap to wall) of the counter through the porperties. another would be to drag the counters right edge via the grip arrow to the wall. lets assume i dont know the full desired length(8'-0" + length of gap to wall) of the counter and i dont want to click and drag a grip to the wall. i want to use the align tool to "stretch" the counter. using the align tool i selected the wall face as the reference and the counters right edge as the entity. the default counter top "stretched" whereas my created counter top completely moved keeping its original length. doe sthis make sense? how do i make my counter top able to be "stretched" rather than moved using the align tool. hands on exercise if you need to actually see it firsth hand: in a new project insert the default counter top 24" form the library. draw a detail line out a random distance to the side of the counter. use the align tool select the detail ine as teh reference and select the closest side of the counter top. it stretches that edge to the detail line right? thats what i want to do. not just for counter tops but for other applications such as piping or possible wall mounted tables or such.
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zonelzares, The advice coreed and I gave is still valid for what you want to achieve given your last post. If the length parameter is set as an instance parameter, it does not have to be input by numbers but becomes a grip that you can drag graphically. However, the alignment tool will not work to stretch any parametric family - it only works to place it.
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Joined: Mon, Mar 20, 2006
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I may be misunderstanding, but the alignment tool WILL stretch a parametric family. If you parameter-dimension to a reference plane and the object edges are locked to it...instead of parameter dimensioning to the object itself...the object stretches when aligned rather than moving when aligned. Also, once in the project you have to be aligning the reference plane rather than the object edge...both will light up to be selectable, but if you select the object it moves, reference plane it stretches. To make this easier to select, sometimes in the family editor I will draw an oversized reference line and lock it to the reference plane. In the project, it lights up nice and big and the family stretches when you align it. In the family editor be sure you parameter-dimension to the reference plane and align-lock the line to it...parametering to the line doesn't work and locking the plane to the line doesn't work.
Edited on: Tue, Jul 8, 2008 at 8:09:24 AM
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make sure you form the solids in your family in the correct orientation to be stretched the way you want them to stretch too.
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thanks bauhaus1919 thats the answer i was looking for. yeah it does stretch. WWHub you should try what bauhaus1919 says to do to see that it does stretch using the align tool. bauhaus1919, you said to draw a reference line and use that to align, which i did. but after looking at the default counter top in the imperial library i noticed they dont have a reference line. only a reference plane but yet that counter stretches. also i noticed it has a masking region on the top surface.whats a masking region for?
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lol
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I was trying to describe the reference line as optional to have something easier to select to make it easier to avoid accidentally clicking the object edge. Not necessary, but comes in handy sometimes.
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oh i c thanks.
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jonelzares, Yes, bauhaus1919's answer was a good one. To answer your question about the masking region - If the family is a 3D family with the 3D elements set visible in plan and elevation, then no masking regions are required. But if the family is 2D or what we call 2-1/2D where 3D elements are only visible in 3D, then you need masking regions in plan and possibly elevations in order to mask floor / wall patterns. For countertops, I prefer to stay with straight 3D families because they are simple but for families like toilets that have complex surfaces, plans and elevations look better with 2D families.
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