Sprinkler Family

[GREMMELS87]

I am trying to create a Sprinkler family that I can insert onto a ceiling.  There is not a family for Plumbing Fixture ceiling based so I opened a Mechanical Fixture Ceiling Based family and then changed the category to Plumbing Fixture.  From here I began drawing the symbol I wanted for my sprinkler family using model lines.  (I am not really looking to model a sprinkler, I am just looking to get a graphic that will work and will show up in my reflected ceiling plans in all views).  So using the model lines I drew a circle with an 8" Diameter because that is the size I want this 'symbol' to read in plan.  I then tried to create a solid filled region that is 4" in diameter within the 8" circle I just created (this type of symbol is used to represent a concealed sprinkler). However, there is not an option to to create a filled region in this family.  I then create a 'detail family' and drew a circular filled region with a 4" diameter and load it into the Plumbing fixture family.  It shows up in the family, but when I load that family into my project the filled region does not appear.  I go back to the 'detail family' and check the 'shared' box under family categories and parameters.  When I try and load this family back into my Plumbing Fixture family it says you can't load a shared 2d family into a 3d family.  What am I doing wrong? How can I get this family to do what i want?

[conormccartney3897]

if you're not going to model it, make it as an annotation symbol instead.

[Alfredo_Medina]

Make a detail component, make the graphics that you need with a circle and a filled region, with the exact dimensions. This family does not need to be shared. Nest this family into a generic model face-based family. Change the category to "Sprinkler".

[GREMMELS87]

If I create this sprinkler symbol as an annotation family then won't that family only be view dependent?  I don't want to put a symbol on our overall reflected ceiling plan and then have to place it again on various enlarged spaces of the same reflected ceiling plan.  That is why I would like it to be a model family.

Medina-

See my attached file.  I opened a 'detail item' family and created the symbol i wanted then loaded it into a 'generic model face based' family.  I switched the category to Plumbing Fixture (I don't think there is a Sprinkler Category).  I loaded this family into my project and again the lines appeared but the filled region did not.  How do you get a filled region into a model family?

[CoreyDaun]

Hello,

Alfredo is suggesting that you create the symbol as a Detail Item Family and then load that into your Model Family and place it on the Ref. Level View. Using this method, the symbolic representation of the Detail Item will display in all Views that the Model Element does. I will add that, if you wish for the symbol to scale up or down based on the View's Scale (i.e. Annotative), then create the symbol as a Generic Annotation instead.

There is a "Sprinklers" Category. If you are specifically using Revit Architecture and not the full blown version, you may not have access to this Category. When you loaded your Family into the Project after the modifying it, were you prompted to overwrite it? And if you, did you? Anyway, as it is, your Family appears correct (w/hatch) when I load it into a new Project. Try using your Family in a new Project and see if it still misbehaves.

Oh, and welcome to the Discussion Groups, by the way!

[GREMMELS87]

That is so strange that the hatch is showing up in your model.  When I created the symbol in the 'detail item' family I drew the linework and the filled region.  But when I load the family into my project the lines show up but not the filled region.  So it is recognizing the linework and the filled region when I load the 'detail item' family into the 'face based family' but when I load the faced based family into a project it only recognizes the linework.  I created a new project file and loaded the sprinkler family onto a generic floor and still the same result.

And I did find the Sprinkler category, I only had the Architectur tab checked.

Here is the family loaded into the new project created.

[Alfredo_Medina · Accepted solution]

Interesting issue. The black filled region looks correct in the project when the sprinkler family is not placed on the face of another object. However, when it is placed on the face of a ceiling or floor, the filled region becomes white. To correct this, open the sprinkler family, and go to the Front elevation. Create a reference plane above the top of the extrusion that is in the template. Name that reference plane as, for example, "x". Then go to the Ref. Level view. Select the detail item,  go to Edit Work Plane and select the reference plane "x". Close that window, and select the detail item again, and, in its properties, uncheck "draw in foreground". Reload into project. 

[GREMMELS87]

That worked! But to clarify, technically shouldn't the way it was set up before be correct.  The 'draw in foreground' checkbox is intended to be used to control the visibility of certain objects in relation to other objects, right? Or was the problem that the detail component work plan was set to reference level and not an actual reference plane?  Trying to understand the big picture of what was wrong so I can recognize the problem when similar situations come up.

[Alfredo_Medina]

I tried both ways (detail component hosted by reference level, and detail component hosted by a reference plane, both at the same elevation). The host did not make a difference in the final result. It only worked when the detail component was hosted by the reference plane that was lifted a little bit above the extrusion.