Visibility control for joined elements in a family

[mp_thompson]

Is there a way of joining elements in a Revit family whilst maintaining seperate visibility controls?

Take this window for example (which was downloaded from Eurocell but highlights my point)

Window 1.JPGWindow 2.JPG

The horns to the mock sash are pretty messy (first pic) because there is a visibility parameter for them, for the case where there aren't any horns (see below).

When you join the horns to the top section of the window, the visibility parameter then controls the visibility of the whole window.

For this example, is the only alternative to have two separate top sections of window, each with opposite visibility controls?

[nicholas_seibert]

Hi Matthew,

What you are asking isn't possible at this time, and i see what you are talking about.  You are only getting that overlapping look in the family editor correct?

Also, one way to keep it clean would be to use nested families.  For this case you could use a nested family for the framing and instead of a yes/no parameter you could use a Family Type parameter. Once again this doesn't completely solve your issue as the nested family would still have the uneven join.

Hope this helps!

Thanks

[coffeyj]

Hi Matthew,

You will surely have better control over visibility of the family if you create two family types that control different frame elements. It is a bit of work on the front end to set up, but should be simple enough to visualize using Preview Visibility in the Family Editor. 

Thanks for participating in Answer Day!

Jill 

[mp_thompson]

Thanks @nicholas_seibert

Nested family makes more sense than how I described it cheers!

So fundamentally, if you join elements within a Revit family, they are classed as one object when it comes to visibility? 

[mp_thompson]

@coffeyj

Yes, I suppose it's lazy on my part to just want to add one small element than recreate more together with a slight addition.

Interestingly though, whoever created this (the images above) revit family for the manufacturer decided to not even bother about it!

[ToanDN · Accepted solution]

Model the upper section with the horns joined cleanly. Add a void below
it with a dimension parameter to control if it cut the horns out or not.
Furthermore, you can add another check box to control the dimension of the
void via a formula. When load in project, the only thing you need to do is
check or uncheck a box and the horn will show or not.

[mp_thompson]

Cheers @ToanDN 

Quicker option thanks

[coffeyj]

Hi Matthew,

It's not lazy at all! You do what you gotta do when there are deadlines 🙂

If the family came from a manufacturer it could be that it was created years ago as a container for information and has just been upgraded year after year with little modification. In my experience, families from manufacturers are rich in data and less articulate (in type logic, visual dexterity, etc.) as 3D objects.

Anyway, it could be worth it to keep what you need and modify what's not working for you.

Good luck!