Face Based Families - Change Default placement behavior to "Place on Face"

[Anonymous]

 

I prefer to do all my families as Face based. This way, they can host into almost anything and they can also cut into hosts while being almost any family type. Unfortunately, new users have problems using these families because of the default behavior of face based families.

I always get a call "I tried using that family but it did not work and I can only place it on the wall". I then have to tell them to click the "Place on Face" or "Place on Work Plane" every time they work with these families.

Since we only use the "place on vertical face" on rare occasions and that the current default is so disruptive, I would switch the default to a more useful and explicit option "Place on Face" rather than "Place on Vertical Face".

[scbunker]

Or at least remember the last selection...

[Anonymous]

this should not be hard to implement , come on ADESK 

[Anonymous]

Never understood why this is has not been implemented. If BIM Managers are creating face-based families for basic Revit users to use, then we should be able to create families that can be hosted onto a floor within a plan view without having to change the host every time....

[Anonymous]

This points to another problem, you cannot simply switch the host of a family, so BIM managers would have to redo the family from scratch or copy/paste between templates and have to redo all the parameters and voids properly. So really, wither the BIM manager knows about Face based from scratch and makes an entire library like this, or he tediously converts most of the families. And then it brings another problem, the one above. You then have to educate the users who are extremely annoyed by the default behavior of face based families. Some of them just place a bunch of families without knowing since they do not see them, this bring more annoyances and here we are, trying to fix bad design in Revit.

[casquatch]

I think each option has it's usefulness, it just depends on the family. If I create a face-based receptacle that will always be hosted on a wall (or something vertical), I'd like it to default to the vertical face, not a non-vertical face.

I think if there was just an option within the family editor that we could adjust it would be best. Allow us to switch between the Vertical and Non-Vertical options based on the family. That would solve all issues, at least in my mind.

[dplumb_BWBR]

I like casquatch's idea about the family knowing if if should be Vertical or on face (shouldn't that say "Horizontal face"?)

But really, if it would simply remember the last setting, that would fix 95% of the problem.

[paul_brickler]

I'm currently in the process of placing existing light fixtures and air terminals into all of the ceilings of a very large, multi-story office building.  The building is divided into many separate offices with many separate ceilings at many different heights.  The fact that the families that I'm supposed to use for these devices all want to default host to vertical faces in every room is absolutely killing my productivity, to the point that I'm just going to build brand new ceiling based families to replace them, as a time saver.  I shouldn't have to do this.

Face-based families should:
1. Default to being placed on a face.  Not on a vertical face.  We know that it's a new feature that you all added several versions ago, and we all think it's really cool and very impressive.  But it's only useful in rare circumstances, so you don't have to shove it in our face every time we want to use a face-based family - which are very useful for a lot of different reasons.
-And/Or:
2. Remember the previous setting as to whether the last instance was placed on a face or vertically.
-Or:
3. Have a setting in the family that enables the vertical option (a toggle) and the ability to set the default placement.

[Anonymous]

I design layouts for casework and having to choose "Place on Work Plane" every time I lay a new component is also killing my productivity. I find myself needing an option to choose and change what the default placement option would be so I don't lose my momentum every time I choose a new component to drop into my drawing. This is especially difficult when building large drawings where there's a navigation lag. i have to pause for several seconds after choosing a family until the option for placement becomes available.

[casquatch]

@Anonymous  - Are you using face based families for casework? Are you referring to a wall based item or something that would be mounted to a wall? I would think in both situations, you be better off using unhosted families. It would just allow you to place them and then you can adjust the elevations based on the level of your view.

I guess if you are using face based elements, this Idea would help you, but I'm thinking you could avoid the issue and just use unhosted elements.

[dplumb_BWBR]

I've just rebuilt all of our sinks so they cut their own hole in the Countertop.

If you use "Cut with Voids" option, the family MUST be face-based.

[casquatch]

@dplumb_BWBR, yeah, I can see that being a problem and a great use case for keeping the last used option as the default. I have plans to do that too! 😄

[Anonymous]

I do NOT use face-based families for casework. Nothing I am talking about is in reference to walls. I'm working primarily with base cabinets. Cabinets that go on the floor. The problem is I'm constantly having to physically choose 'Place on Work Plane' when placing components in a drawing as the default placement option is always "Place on Face". I rarely need the "Place on face" option, as 90% of the components I place need the 'Place on Work Plane' option, and when the network or the software is lagging it's like stop-and-go traffic. 

[Panayotov]

I also think that it would be better to have the ability to change default placement. In my work I think is better to put elements on work plan so I have to choose this option each time. If I have option to change by default to be work plan, that will increase my productivity.

[rolandga]

Still not fixed in Revit 2022? These little things get so little attention but they are so disruptive in the workflow. We need the ability to change the default behaviour or remember the last method used.