Families and Offset From Host Wrong

[kimberlyMPHHZ]

I've made a few families for our office and for some reason some of them place strangely. When I go to place them on the work plane of the view I'm in, it says the offset from the host is 87'-1" which is the project elevation of the level I'm working in. If I change this number to 0 it will change the elevation from level to -87'-1". 

I think it may have something to do with the schedule level since other families I've made that don't have this problem also don't have the schedule level instance parameter. 

This is just really a pain because every time I try and place one of the families with this problem it will place, but then I'll get the pop-up that it's not visible in the view and when I go to 3D, there it is actually 87'1" above the work place I was trying to place it on. 

Anyone know what I'm doing wrong? I can't figure out what's going on.

[ReActionCAD]

Did the default elevation in your family get changed either in the project or the family itself?

[kimberlyMPHHZ]

The default elevation in the family is 4' and all of the geometry is placed at the Refl. Level.

[ReActionCAD]

That can change in the project. Select an instance and check the Edit Type dialog without going into the family editor.

[kimberlyMPHHZ]

Oh, I see. Yeah, it's still at 4'-0" in the family types as well.

[ReActionCAD]

Does reload help?

If not, try renaming the family in the project and reinsert the family. If it works, you can simply select all of the instances renamed family in the project and replace them with the fresh/working one.

[kimberlyMPHHZ]

Well, I'm having this same problem in multiple projects where the families have been loaded in. I also just loaded this family into this project. It leads me to believe that it's a family problem and not a project problem, but I have no idea where to begin.

[ReActionCAD]

You've already begun. Part of trouble shooting is ruling out what isn't the problem.

I doubt it's the family as the value is correct in the family. It could be the way you are placing the first instance of the family. One of your screenshots says the family does not have a host.

Try my suggestion about renaming the family. That way you are sure of starting off fresh.

If you can't figure this out, describe your workflow step by step and tell us where the error comes up. I doubt it's the family but share it here for a quick look, please.

[kimberlyMPHHZ]

Well, thanks for helping me troubleshoot! I just created a brand new project, re-loaded the family into the project, and I'm having the same problems. 

I opened a new project with just the Revit template instead of my office's template, and it works fine, except that the first floor is at 0'-0" which is the main difference between the two templates. If I move all the levels up 100' I'm getting the same problem again where it says the offset from host is 100'. This would lead me to believe that the host is just 100' below the floor, but again, when I place the fireplace family, the family places 100' above the floor instead of on the floor. 

In short, when the first floor is at 100' in project elevation, some families end up being placed at 200' project elevation.

I can't put in a Revit file because they're too large, but here's the family. 

[ReActionCAD]

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@kimberlyMPHHZ wrote:

If I move all the levels up 100' I'm getting the same problem again where it says the offset from host is 100'. 

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Moving levels can be problematic. They should be set at the beginning of the project and not moved. 

The family appears to have built properly.

I'm leaning towards a workflow problem.

[kimberlyMPHHZ]

Our project template is set up with the the main level's project elevation set to 100'-0". 
I only mean to say that I had to move the levels in the Revit template file to create the same affect, but the problem is the same with our existing office template. 

I've had this same problem with multiple different families in several different projects, but I've been making Revit families for our office for almost a year now and I've only encountered this problem with a few of the families. 

Any ideas on what I can do to fix this problem would be helpful!

[ReActionCAD]

You haven't given me any more information so I've got no more ideas. I'll have to try to recreate the issue using the steps you've provided. If the problem happens as you are describing, I'm leaning even more towards a workflow issue. You need to be cognizant of exactly when it breaks and avoid doing whatever it is that triggers the error.

[kimberlyMPHHZ]

I've genuinely given all the information I know to give. 

I just created a new family (I'm working on electrical fixtures in a new project) and the exact same thing is happening. I just barely loaded it into the project and it placed almost 90' above the work plane. All I did in the family was add annotation lines and an annotation text box.

I created a new family where I just put in a box and loaded it in and it loaded in fine and placed fine. That's kind of why I think it's a family thing since the same project can have two families behave differently. I have noticed that all the families with problems have a schedule level, that may be the best information I have.

[ReActionCAD]

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@kimberlyMPHHZ wrote:

I think it's a family thing

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Your family is fine. I'm fairly certain it is the way you are handling them. It may be hard for me to recreate but I will try later today, if I have a chance.

[kimberlyMPHHZ]

I've figured that it's because I have the family set to be work-plane based. Here's a video of what I'm doing. As I am here to learn, can anyone explain to me why this is happening when the family is set to be work-plane based?

[ReActionCAD]

I build all my families as workplane based. I don't think that is the problem with the Offset from Host parameter in the project. I haven't had a chance to experiment, yet. Hopefully, over the weekend, I will.

[lauri_barnhart]

Greetings, @kimberlyMPHHZ.

Hope you are well. Just checking in to see if you have found a solution to the issue you are experiencing. If you still require assistance, please update us here. If you've found a solution, please provide an update on how you resolved it.

Thanks!

[kimberlyMPHHZ]

I'm still trying to figure this one out, any help would be great!

[blank... · Accepted solution]

If you're experiencing this in Revit 2027, it's probably the same bug, or at least related to it, that I'm getting. For me it places the family on the level below, with random offsets from schedule level. Try recreating the same family in earlier version and test.

I already reported it and it's confirmed as a bug:

[Randall_Temple]

Move your Project Base Point to -100', without moving the Internal Origin.  Verify that your elevation markers reference the Project Base Point.
You could do the same with the Survey Point, but I've usually set that to the GIS datum for site plan elevations.