Is it possible to add decal inside a family?

[danezeq]

when i click on add>image revit gives me a disapointing message: "The imported image will not be visible in projects. To improve performance, delete the image before saving the family".

[constantin.stroescu · Accepted solution]

not a Decal , but you can use Material in Family:

• in Family Editor create a new Material:

Edit the Material using Scale and Offset...uncheck Tile option (not Repeat):

the result in Family is something like this:

and, loaded in project is like this:

[danezeq]

Thanks.

Can the material be a parameter and i could set it from the project?

and if i'll add material and asset in the family, it will be available in the project? (or i should create the material and the asset twice?)

[constantin.stroescu]

yes , it can...

you can set the material in the Family , but you can also create a Material Parameter :

You can set only this Material Parameter and allocate the material  in the  Project but, in my opinion , is better to allocate the material in Family and the Material Parameter will be used only to change it , if desired into the Project...

now you have allocated a material but you have also a Material Parameter that appears as Parameter in Family Types:

Loaded into the Project , the Material Parameter appears in Type Properties , and it can be changed here,,,

[danezeq]

Thank you.

i'm working on it.

i'll let you know if i sucseeded 🙂

[dan.stroescu]

Constantin,

Do not duplicate materials in material editor as it is prone to errors. It is better to add "New material" and configure it.

[danezeq]

I followed your steps and found that after i disable the tile option, the image get lost somewhere i cannot find it.

only after i resize the model and make it realy big i can find the image somewhere in a random location (sometimes even upsidedown)

the offset is set on 0,0

[RDAOU]

@danezeq 

can you post the image and the family?

[constantin.stroescu]

You have to make two adjustments of the bitmap ( as shown in my previous post):

• Scale (locked so not to altered proportions)
• and Position > Offset. The preview does not fit always with the real position ( I suspect could be altered by the units setting.....if you don't use imperial units). In fact it happens almost every time, and I have to offset the image usually one half to the bottom left margin...

It will be better if you attach your bitmap and I'l try to map it onto the object.

[danezeq]

Here it is

[danezeq]

Thanks @constantin.stroescu 

I keep read your post and don't understand what exactly i've made wrong

But before that, i dont get the RULES of what exactly should be altered.

i trust on you and @RDAOU  that can fix the family easily, but i mainly want to understand, how it works.

[constantin.stroescu]

Decal works more or less like a paper wrapped on a surface . Mapping in Revit is much less developed as in 3d Max for instance, but it can be placed well on flat surfaces...

Even if in Families , we can not use Decal as Revit function, we can still apply the bitmap as a material to a thin object or a surface and then , move that "surface" upon the surface of our object on which we want to apply the image.

In my two screencasts I shown how you can combine mapping with that surface stretches so to achieve quickly the best result..

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/community/screencast/74cb15ab-123c-4732-ba47-353a686c5e0b

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/community/screencast/2f0de226-ba1f-469e-a162-e445b52b82bf

[danezeq]

Ok i understand your great description, ive made some progress,

Now my next obstacle is that when i change type (every sign will have it's own material, thus jpg) and change jpg, the other jpg will change it's location on the surface. do you think i can overcome this thing?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmo1NDRB8Bs

[RDAOU]

@danezeq 

You have to create them in a separate family, then nest them into your sign family and assign one for each type

[constantin.stroescu]

it's exactly as RDAOU explained in his last post.

• The bitmaps have different dimensions and resolutions and they have to be mapped each one separately.
• if you use two bitmaps on the same material as one for the Generic and Cutouts for instance , both bitmaps must have the same dimension and resolution (usually  they are the same bitmap worked in Photoshop so to fit there purpose) - for more information on this subject you can have a look at this post to see how to use mapping with cutouts:

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-architecture-forum/rpc-entourage-custom-make-in-revit-how/m-p/9...

[danezeq]

This kind of project has more then 30 different types of signs, so assign each one of them with a thin model component is not an efficient procedure.

But if i understand correctly, i should assign it once for each size of sign, and then i can duplicate from type to type, and change the material from each type (by a parameter, will be done from the project, not from the family) as long as the size of the sign (and the jpg file) will stay, it will do the trick?

REPHRASE: As long as i keep the size the same - the JPG will stay on place. But when there's a need of a new size, i should nest a new "plate" with jpg as a material on it. is that right?

Sorry for my language difficulties 🙂

[constantin.stroescu]

Theoretically, if your bitmap has the same dimensions and resolution, it has to work (as you have seen from my link with Generic and Cutout mapping , they need not any additional adjustments as they have both the same parameters)

[danezeq]

"You have to create them in a separate family, then nest them into your sign family and assign one for each type"

so i nested to families that contain the plate with maetrial with the jpg.

To determine which one of them will be visible should i make Yes/ no parameters as the munber of the sizes of signs i have

or is there anyway to make revit recognize the size and display the right family?

Right now noth of them are visible:

[danezeq]

For now i did this:

Added a nested family inside the sign family, with no parametric size (because if the size will change, the jpg wont be placed correctly anymore) the nested family is just a plate with material defined as a parameter "Front JPG"

- I change the Front JPG parameter in the sign family, not in the nested plate family.

Now when i change type of sign, the front jpg changes well. But if i change to a sign which has another size, i should be able to hide the plate family which the irrelevant size. i'm still not sure whats the best way to do it.

i've attached the family file.

[constantin.stroescu · Accepted solution]

I made a test with a Face Based Family with three Types ( could be more) .

Each Family Type has different dimensions and different Material as parameters.

If there are many Family Types then they can be exported into a .txt file  : File>Export >Family Types. Then when you want to load only one or several Types you'll be able to choose from Family Table which Type(s)  you need in your Project.

Type 01 ... with its parameters:

 Type 02...with its parameters:

and Type 03...with its parameters (all Types of the same Family)

and here are the Material Browser settings for the Materials:

and a screencast that shows how it works:

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/community/screencast/cce64ad0-aa47-457a-8943-03fe7e2dfc85