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Timber Battens

11 REPLIES 11
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Message 1 of 12
AndrewNorthcott
7768 Views, 11 Replies

Timber Battens

Hi, i am trying to add some timber battens as a feature in a project i am working on. I need them to look real as they will be seen in the 3d model shown to council. Can anyone please help me out with how exactly to do this please. I am pulling my hair out.

11 REPLIES 11
Message 2 of 12
loboarch
in reply to: AndrewNorthcott

That sounds like a face based family could be used for this purpose.  can you share an image of exactly what you are looking to model?  That will help people understadn the problem better and be able to offer a more specific solution.



Jeff Hanson
Principal Content Experience Designer
Revit Help |
Message 3 of 12

Here is an image of something very close to what i need to do. I am still learning revit so if i could get as much detail as possible on what to do, or even a step by step process then that will be greatly appreciated.

Message 4 of 12

I'd use a Curtain wall if it was me.Create a profile for the Batten/Slat, load into project, create a CW Mullion, apllly a wood material, then create a CW Type, chagne the param to the spacing for the Horiz and Vert Mullions Mullions, and tweak as needed.

Mike Maloney
BIM Design Automation Coordinator
CH2M Hill
Message 5 of 12
loboarch
in reply to: MikeMaloney


@MikeMaloney wrote:

I'd use a Curtain wall if it was me.Create a profile for the Batten/Slat, load into project, create a CW Mullion, apllly a wood material, then create a CW Type, chagne the param to the spacing for the Horiz and Vert Mullions Mullions, and tweak as needed.


This sounds like a pretty good solution to me.  Other than this you could do it with a custom family, but that would probably be a lot more work.  You might have better control over the more subtle things with a custom family, but if the curtain wall communicaes what you need I would go that way just for simplicity sake.



Jeff Hanson
Principal Content Experience Designer
Revit Help |
Message 6 of 12

How exactly would i go about making the custom family, if i was to decide to go that way. I am very new to the program and am still learning how to do alot of this.

Message 7 of 12
loboarch
in reply to: AndrewNorthcott

Creating families in Revit is a whole subject onto itself.  There is an older guide to help you author families.  The gudie was last updated in 2010 but most of the information should be the same.

 

http://wikihelp.autodesk.com/Revit/enu/2013/Help/00001-Revit_He0/0328-Build_th328/1348-Revit_Fa1348/...

 

If I was making this particular family I think I would start with a 2 pick family.  This way you can just click 2 points to set the length.  The family would have an array of the vertical support element that would be controled with a parameter so as the element got longer the vertical supports would be added at a specified interval.  i would also set up a parametric array for the horizontal elements so you could specify the height and horizontal elements would be added.



Jeff Hanson
Principal Content Experience Designer
Revit Help |
Message 8 of 12
AndrewNorthcott
in reply to: loboarch

Thanks Jeff. That is very helpful. I am halfway through setting up the family but i can"t seem to get the parametres for the vertical array set up properly so that when i flex it, it adds or takes away some of the vertical supports. When I get this one worked out i should be able to set up the horizontal parametric array for the actual battens with no problems.

Message 9 of 12
loboarch
in reply to: AndrewNorthcott

ONce the array is created you need to assign the array value to a parameter in the family, this needs to be an Integer parameter. i.e. "Array_Number".  Then you have to create a formula for the "Array_Number" parameter. i.e. Array_Number = Height / 2'-0".  This would created a member of the array for every 2 feet of height.  The advanced sample family that ships with Revit has 2 examples of an array set up like this, youm could look at that to see how it is done.  The "+1" is added in each of the formulas in order to make the array value never drop below 2 otherwise an error will result because you can have an array value of lower than 2.

 

array_formulas.png



Jeff Hanson
Principal Content Experience Designer
Revit Help |
Message 10 of 12
AndrewNorthcott
in reply to: loboarch

I have the basics set up for my family but i can't get the vertical supports to work properly when i put in the formula. I want a support at either end of the battens plus the rest equally spaced between them with a maximum space of about 2400mm. I don't know what i am doing wrong at the moment. I have attached the family file so can you please have a look and see what i am doing wrong please. It is driving me crazy that i can't get it to work out properly.

Message 11 of 12
loboarch
in reply to: AndrewNorthcott

You can give this one a try.  It looked like you were setting the 2nd position for the arrary rather than the last position.  I created the arrary and set the position as last and made sure to constrain the element to the reference planes for the length and the height.  It Seems to be working now.



Jeff Hanson
Principal Content Experience Designer
Revit Help |
Message 12 of 12
AndrewNorthcott
in reply to: loboarch

Thank you very much for that. It is greatly appreciated.

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