Forums >> Revit Building >> Tips & Tricks >> The Hard Way to Create a Topo Fence - But it Works.

Enginator

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There is apparently no way to create a fence that follows the topography of your site using Revit.  Here's how I did/am doing it.  Warning - this is THE hard way!

First, the type of fence I wanted to make was a 5' high wood fence.   

1.  Draw reference planes along the fence lines and name them accordingly.

2.  Create temporary sections adjacent to one of the reference planes.

3.  Go to the section view and turn on "Shading with Edges".  You should now see where the "grass" meets the "dirt", or whatever defining colors there are depending on your site properties to distinguish between above and below grade.  This is now a section looking at where the fence will be, and right at the associated reference plane.

4.  Start creating the fence using Modeling->Create to extrude the components of your fence in place, following the terrain, and operating from the reference planes you inserted.  Being particularly savvy with arrays and the family browser comes in handy (I suppose, because I'm not that savvy with either).  From the section views, I also added some general terrain following reference planes for the top and bottom of the fence, from which I create the top and bottom extrusions.  You may have to switch "shading with lines" on and off in order to see what you are doing.  It's a long process, but this is a brute force method that works.

5.  I have had some success with installing Site based "post" families along a fence line, which will follow the terrain. So you could use those in conjunction with the above to better create the fence.  I don't recommend this method for all of the vertical members, because at least for a wood fence, the tops and the bottoms of the slats won't be contoured to the terrain - they will be horizontal.

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robinballew

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Enginator

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Here you go. Rendered version isn't that great, but you get the idea.   That was my first time through.  Again, I'd probably get my sections a little closer to the reference plane next time and use site based metal posts on the inside.

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WWHub

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Elmo

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Enginator

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Chymos

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Reviving an oldie.  Anyone ever figure out how to do this more efficiently.  My firm works on extremely large sites and constantly struggle with how to do fencing and street curbs on irregular topo.

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WWHub

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Chymos

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I agree that this would be a great way to solve the problem on a smaller or a relatively flat site, but our sites are generally in 60 to 80 acre chunks, and seldom are they flat.  The railing solution would require a maddening number of floor slabs to pull it off well.

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ans322

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This post is really old but for anyone who comes across this and is still looking for a better solution, the following may help. (This was done with REVIT 2015 but it should work similarly for older versions of Revit.)

First, draw your path as you normally would. If you have a very bumpy topogrophy, I would recommend making individual segments of fence (I don't mean do each fence individually, but when you're drawing your path instead of going from 0 to 50 feet for example, go from 0 to 10, 10 to 20, etc until you hit the desired length. You'll still have one line, but you'll be able to highlight each segment individually)

With that being said, highlight your first segment. Set Slope: <drop down menu> to sloped, then set Type: <drop down menu> to custom. In the text box, indicate your desired increase in height from point 0 to your first point. Do the same for the second point, but indicate the desired increase in height from the first point. Continue until all sections have been assigned. Now, accept the changes.

If your railings follow the correct path but your balusters are in a straight line along the host level, do the following:

Select your fence and hit Edit Type under the Properties toolbox. Construction > Baluster Placement > Edit...

Note: you will only need to change the Main Pattern.

Check each baluster type in the main pattern. Look at Base: <drop down menu>. Select whichever rail you want it to follow. I generally create a bottom rail under "Rail Structure (Non-Continuous): Edit..." so that I don't have to worry about adjusting the offset.

Hit Apply, Ok, and you're good to go.

Good luck!

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