Families - starting view

[arkitek2ss]

when opening a family, is there a way to change the starting view instead of the 3D view, open it with the floor plan.

thank you.

[barthbradley]

Revit opens the Family in the last view it was saved in.  

"Family" and "Floor Plan" is same sentence doesn't compute.  Are you meaning a Project?  

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/revit-products/getting-started/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2018/...

[arkitek2ss]

when I open a family, it opens to the 3D view.  Im constantly opening up the plan view when I want to edit the family .rfa, close the 3d view, edit what I need to and then save and reload back into the project.  then when I need to make another edit to the same element, it opens to the 3d view again.  happens to all the families I open.  I know how to edit the starting view for a project but not a family .rfa file.

[barthbradley]

So you are saving the family in plan view and then closing?  And then when you reopen the file, it's back at 3D?  Strange.  

[barthbradley]

Shot in the dark suggestion for you....

[RobDraw]

There doesn't appear to be a way to assign the starting view. In fact, the starting view button is present in the family editor but it is grayed out.

[barthbradley]

Did you verify, @RobDraw? Using what version?  

My 2018 saves and reopens just as I described above. 

[RobDraw]

I didn't try your suggestion because I thought you were guessing without testing. That box is for the thumbnail preview and seemed unrelated.

Your method does work.

[arkitek2ss]

correct and Revit 2018.3

[barthbradley]

---

@RobDraw wrote:

I didn't try your suggestion because I thought you were guessing without testing. That box is for the thumbnail preview and seemed unrelated.

Your method does work.

---

You're right about that last one. It was a shot in the dark.  Did I miss? he,he.  

[barthbradley]

Try deleting the 3D view from the family and saving and closing and re-opening.  .

[arkitek2ss]

tried that too.

[barthbradley]

What??? Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you are doing. What Family and Category is it? 

Can you post your workflow step-by-step (e.g. 1,2,3)?   

[RobDraw]

---

@arkitek2ss wrote:

tried that too.

---

Are you saying that @barthbradley's suggestion doesn't work for you?

Make sure to pick the appropriate source view in addition to checking the box.

[arkitek2ss]

huh...when I open a family either from outside of revit (windows explorer) OR from File - Recent Documents, the family opens to the 'Ref. Level' AND the File Save Options Thumbnail Preview Source is set to the same Ref. Level.

But when I open the family within revit via Project Browser / within the model / select and Modify menu and pick Edit Family, it opens to the 3D view and the File Save Options is set to 3D view for the thumbnail.

any thoughts?

thank you

btw, this is happening in both '18 and '19.

[ToanDN]

Edit a family from a project opens a new file, not the RFA you saved to a family folder. Only when you save and overwrite it becomes an RFA. Now load it back in your project, close the file, and edit family to open it again, what view are you seeing?

[barthbradley]

I can bounce back and forth between Project and Family with losing the last View orientation.  Are you saying that you are reloading and closing family and then reopening from Project.  Well then, it's going to open in the in-built "View1". That's the way it has always been.   

[arkitek2ss]

I would assume like most people, open the family from the model, edit, and then reload back into the model.  It's just annoying and extra steps to open the Ref. Plan, close the 3D view, and then make the changes, and reload back into the model.

[barthbradley]

I guess if I was constantly opening families and editing them while working on a Project, it would be terribly frustrating to me too.  But, I don't usually work that way.  May I ask why you need to?  Are you creating new Types within the Family? You know, you don't necessarily need to open the Family to do that?  

..still, just to be clear: you shouldn't need to switch views if the family is currently open. I mean, if it is left open in Floor Plan View, and you are switching back and forth between the Project and the Family, the view should remain the same as you left it.  

[RobDraw]

What people do with families can vary quite a bit depending on responsibilities, workflows, type of families, etc. I'm wondering why you need to edit families multiple times. So much so that you are willing to take extra steps to assign a particular view for future edits. 

@barthbradley, you beat me to the punch.