Straight window in curved wall

[j0258169]

I have a window family that I need to place in a curved wall. The window itself is a normal flat window, and the window opening can be straight, I'm not looking for something fancy. For some reason, when I place the window family in my curved wall, the window gets placed at an angle. I tried this in multiple wall thicknesses, and when I place it in a really thick wall it seems to get placed correctly. Has anyone experienced this behavior? Any thoughts on what could be affecting the angle?

 

[barthbradley]

In the real world, there will be a flat wall - not a curved wall - in which the window will be placed (unless it is a custom-built curved window). So, model it the same way. Put a flat wall at window locations, and place your windows on that wall. Or, build it the "flat" geometry into the window; perhaps as a special frame to accommodate a curved wall.  If you go this route, you'll need to swap out the Opening Cut for a Void Cut.  

[j0258169]

To clarify, in the real world, this will be a curved wall. The window is going into a masonry wall, and the masonry unit will have sufficient depth to encapsulate the straight window in the curved wall. The window is not full height so the curved wall exists above and below the window.

I am not trying to model any kind of special curved window, or angled frame, or anything. I would like a straight window to be placed parallel to the tangent line at the exact point of placement. In the image, it is placed correctly on the wall on the far right. In the other three walls it has an inexplicable angle. The windows in each wall are placed at the same midpoint on the exterior face of the curved wall.

[barthbradley]

...just go into the window family and get rid of the Opening Cut, and replace it with a Void Cut to cut the wall extrusion in the family. Extend the Void Cut beyond the wall interior and exterior faces -- enough to cut the depth of the curved wall in the Project. Should work for you. 

...and yes, you are quite right; I misspoke. There will not necessarily be a "flat" wall; but there will be some special construction to frame the opening. 

[j0258169]

As I mentioned, the issue is not the void. I am aware of how to fix this.
The problem is the angle of the window in the wall.

[barthbradley]

I cannot replicate. I can easily place a window (with Void Cut), all around a circular wall.  Can you share your family? 

[chrisplyler]

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barthbradley wrote:There will not necessarily be a "flat" wall; but there will be some special construction to frame the opening. 

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Not if it's a simple single-stack masonry wall. There will just be curved courses of brick/block/rock and a hole for the window will be cut through it and the window will be stuck right into the hole.

[j0258169]

My window family has a nested family within it, which seems to be causing the problem. I still don't know what the problem exactly is though. Attached is a project file with two window families, one with the nested family (top) and one without (bottom). The two families should be in the same position relative to the wall, but you can see that the top family has an odd angle to it.

My short term solution will be to rebuild the family so that it doesn't have the nested family, but this is kind of an annoying problem.

[Sahay_R]

Try this -  I changed the nested generic model to a window, nested it into your window family, re-constrained the void. No weird angles!

[j0258169]

Interesting, I downloaded your copy of the file and it looks correct. However I could not replicate the solution in my own. Without starting from a completely new family template, I recreated the family—deleted the void, deleted the nested family, reloaded the nested family and redrew the void—and it still didn't solve the problem for me. I tried the nested family as both generic model and window.

Maybe it's my Revit version? I'm in 2017.2.

[Sahay_R]

Open my copy.

Click on the window, and hit Edit Family.

That will open the family. Then  click Load Into Project. Select your project. Override the previous version of the family when prompted.

That will load my version of the window into your project and overwrite all instances that have been placed.

Good luck!

[barthbradley]

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@chrisplyler wrote:

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barthbradley wrote:There will not necessarily be a "flat" wall; but there will be some special construction to frame the opening. 

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Not if it's a simple single-stack masonry wall. There will just be curved courses of brick/block/rock and a hole for the window will be cut through it and the window will be stuck right into the hole.

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You kind of made my point, @chrisplyler. There will be some special construction to frame the opening, such as "a hole for the window will be cut through [the wall]", as you point out.   The "hole" is special construction in your example. In Revit, we accomplish this through a Void Cut.  

[ToanDN]

@j0258169

Try the revised family.  The nested family is still a generic model.  Added an instance offset parameter to adjust the location of the window within the thickness of the host wall.  0" is dead on center.

[j0258169]

Yes, the revised works.

Ultimately I would like to know what's causing this behavior, and I would
like a solution that I am able to implement on my own. I have a hundred
other window types that will need to be fixed.

[ToanDN]

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@j0258169 wrote:
Yes, the revised works.

Ultimately I would like to know what's causing this behavior, and I would
like a solution that I am able to implement on my own. I have a hundred
other window types that will need to be fixed.

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I think one of the causes is you using a void instead of an opening cut.

[barthbradley · Accepted solution]

Actually, @Sahay_R, I was able to correct it by simply adding a Right and Left Ref. Plane in the Host Family and constraining the Void Cut Sketch Boundary to them. Works like a charm. 

[barthbradley]

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@j0258169 wrote:
Yes, the revised works.

Ultimately I would like to know what's causing this behavior, and I would
like a solution that I am able to implement on my own. I have a hundred
other window types that will need to be fixed.

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@j0258169: the problem was that the family elements were not properly constrained. 

[j0258169]

Perfect! I'm glad it was so simple.

Odd that Revit requires the ref plans to actually be labeled Right and Left. My original family had these planes in there just as Weak References and I must have accidentally deleted them while trying to figure it out. I tried putting ref planes in as just Weak References and it did not work, so it wasn't just the constraints... Labeling them Right and Left fixed it.

Any reason why it would do this? I didn't realize that this label affected the behavior in families.

[Sahay_R]

As long as it works, right  @barthbradley ?

[barthbradley]

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@j0258169 wrote:

Perfect! I'm glad it was so simple.

Odd that Revit requires the ref plans to actually be labeled Right and Left. My original family had these planes in there just as Weak References and I must have accidentally deleted them while trying to figure it out. I tried putting ref planes in as just Weak References and it did not work, so it wasn't just the constraints... Labeling them Right and Left fixed it.

Any reason why it would do this? I didn't realize that this label affected the behavior in families.

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The Ref Plane name has nothing to do with it. The Ref. Planes define the orthogonal plane you are constraining to.