Generic model hosing plan regions

[gmadjedi]

This is something I've been fighting with for a while. I have a building being developed in Revit 2015 (now 2016) while the metal building company is generating models of their structure in Autocad. Initially I imported the 3d autocad file as a concpetual mass. That worked fine until I tried to save my model out in assorted formats for others to use. I've since imported the 3d Autocad file into a generic model. Seems to work much better and I dont have to keep messing with the mass visibility.

The real problem I had which is still happening is that whenever I try to use a plan region the entire generic model become completely visible which is totally useless. My question is, based on some of what I've read, if this is due to the generic model not being entiredly contained within the plan region.

If that's not the problem does anyone have any ideas what might be causing the problem or know of a work-around?

[t_mokha]

Hello,

 I understand that you have a problem with a generic model and plan regions. I just want to see if it is possible for you to prepare a Screencast video of the process(es) you go through in order for me to understand it completely and troubleshoot/investigate.

You can also join the sample file for me to work on it and try to reproduce what you are trying to do, and determine if it is supposed to work that way or not.

Regards,

[gmadjedi]

WOW that's cool!!! Hope I did it right 🙂

[gmadjedi]

Please note that the appearance of the entire imported file triggers when a plan region is placed with the import as a "generic model" or "conceptual mass"

[t_mokha]

This forum post seems to show a similar problem, with several workarounds. Please check/test them and let me know.

I will send you an email so you can send me the sample file and I can test it further if no workaround on that forum works.

Regards,

[gmadjedi]

Sadly what was in that post doesn't seem to help at all.

[ToanDN]

I would have tried to create a new Revit project file, link the AutoCAD model in that file, and finally link that Revit file to the main projct file.

[gmadjedi]

I originally had it that way and was still creating the problem. However that was when it was insereted as a mass model. I'll give it a try as a generic model import and saee if it makes a difference.

[gmadjedi]

Exact same result. I honestly didn't think it would make a difference but I'm willing to try anything at this point.

EDIT: Just to be clear - simply linking the Autocad 3D file definitely does not work. When done that way Revit does not cut the file properly. It's entriely visible in all views. When the Autocad 3D file is inserted as a "conceptual mass" or a "generic model" then it is cut properly. Just flips out when a plan region is placed.

[gmadjedi · Accepted solution]

I believe I've found the source of my problems. It appears the imported 3d Autocad file may be trhe culprit. I've had all sorts of problems dealing with this file. I may try for a little bit more but I'm buring way too many hours pursuing this.

[Anonymous]

I had the same problem.
I found that the point was that my 3D CAD imported in a generic family was partially exploded. If I import again the 3D CAD without explode it, the Plan Region in the Project doesn't affect the generic family any more. I resolved the problem in this way, but I think it is a bug.
I reported this bug in AUGI Wish List:

http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?163808-Resolve-Plan-Region-s-bug

[Anonymous]

I wish that could work for me however I've never exploded the imported 3D model since I had to be able to easily shut it off in certain views.

Thanks for the reply though.

[tamas_badics]

Just to add my 2 cents:

When using plan-regions at different cut plane than the main one, the view is generated the following way:

First we construct a 3D "cutter" shape that starts out as a box aligned to the view's extents. Then modify this cutter by the plan region sketches to have horizontal planes at the approriate heights. Imagine a sketch-up-like push-pull modification of the initial box. In the end we have a 3D shape that has several horizontal faces connected by vertical ones.

Then we take every 3D element visible in the view and intersect them with the cutter. The resulting intersection faces are used to generate what you see in the view. (If we have no plan regions, it is enough to intersect the elements by a single cut-plane at the cut elevation).

Now in your case, if I understood correctly, you have this frame imported from AutoCad as a single element with a really complex 3D shape. I speculate that the intersection with the cutter fails. In the end we resort to showing the entire element in the view.

As to why the intersection may fail, it is hard to say with certainty. Usually it is caused by slightly misaligned conditions where the cutter object is intersecting the other shape at a difficult corner. It may also be that the imported element is already in a not-so-healthy state that allows us to show it but 3D cutting cannot handle it sue to inaccuracies.

If you care, you may experiement with various plan regions. First one that is not near the framing element to see if the region sketch is the culprit at all.

If you find that the imported shape is so messed up that even the simplest plan region causes this problem, you can try to reimport simpler shapes to see when it starts to happen.

All-in-all it may not be worth your time to fully understand this situation.

[Anonymous]

As I said in a previous post I really believe the 3D cad file is the cuplprit. It came from a metal building manufacturer using Tekla and exporting their model to 3D cad.

Thanks for the suggestion. I assume this sort of failure doesn't generally occur with imported 3D models so I'll give it a shot.