What does Ref Level even mean?

[kgatzke]

What does Ref. Level even mean if it has no bearing on placement in the project?  

In the family editor this wall based canopy family has a lip that is 1" below the insertion point!

But in the project it places with an elevation to the bottom of the lip!

So what exactly is the Ref Level for if Revit just ignores it and places to the lowest point in the component?!

[RDAOU]

The reference level refers to the level that family is associated with and NOT the placement point...it is how you constrain your family and where you define the placement origin using the reference planes.

Example: the family you have placed is associated with the level called MAIN FLOOR but it could be anywhere between earth and heaven on that wall. And the Elevation parameter is what controls its placement Xm from that level. If you want the lip to be below the Floor Level, simply constrain the upper handle/face of the lip to the reference plane controlled by the Elevation and set elevation to 0

[barthbradley]

Zero out your Default Elevation in the Family

[MostafaElashmawy]

add a dimension inside the family that will measure this 1" then lock it.

[kgatzke]

@RDAOU Ok, so I modified my family.  I added a plane controlled by a parameter called height.  Then I locked the nested family to that plane and inserted it into the project.  Works in the family editor.  Not in the project. 

[ToanDN · Accepted solution]

[RDAOU]

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@RDAOU wrote:

The reference level refers to the level that family is associated with and NOT the placement point...it is how you constrain your family and where you define the placement origin using the reference planes.

Example: the family you have placed is associated with the level called MAIN FLOOR but it could be anywhere between earth and heaven on that wall. And the Elevation parameter is what controls its placement Xm from that level. If you want the lip to be below the Floor Level, simply constrain the upper handle/face of the lip to the reference plane controlled by the Elevation and set elevation to 0

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[kgatzke]

What does Autodesk expect of the end user, when they make their products so hard to use?  Do they forget they're not dealing with computer science majors and that most of us went to school for design or engineering?

[RDAOU]

@ToanDN 

The difference between one user and the other is that one can simply read the above responce and the other thinks it needs a MCS to decipher it 🤣 which leads to the conclusion @ToanDN must be a computer science graduate lol

[barthbradley]

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@kgatzke wrote:

What does Autodesk expect of the end user, when they make their products so hard to use?  Do they forget they're not dealing with computer science majors and that most of us went to school for design or engineering?

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Revit can even make computer science majors cry like a baby sometimes!  HA! 

[SteveKStafford]

How long does it take to get a license in this field again? How many years of university/college and work experience? I find it interesting that so many people think Revit is the hard part... Navigating codes, energy requirements, structural analysis, clients, funding, ... on and on...

It would be nice if the software (and the profession) was easier...but I'm not holding my breath.

[ToanDN]

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@kgatzke wrote:

What does Autodesk expect of the end user, when they make their products so hard to use?  Do they forget they're not dealing with computer science majors and that most of us went to school for design or engineering?

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All model families have at least one Level.  Without it you would have to set a workplane every time you start a family to draw something.  Family level and project level may or may not be the same depends on the Family Templates and how you build elements in families.  You will just get used to and remember them the more you build things.

[AzWoodWarrior]

If I can figure out the stairs, view range, complex roofs, and on and on without even finishing high school, you'll get it. Just keep in mind that it has to have 0 in the Z direction somewhere, like a variable it associates with the level you give it in both creation and the model. Or set a pulling out hair parameter, which is preferable over the throw the monitor out of the window parameter.