Good afternoon! I work in a field where we create pipe fittings, pipe accessories, mechanical equipment families, etc. I've gotten fairly adept at creating smart families where those categories are concerned. I'm currently working on a project with a TON of piping, and subsequently an insane amount of roof pipe stands. Along with this, the roof has multiple slopes. The slopes that run parallel to the ridge are no big deal, I set the workplane of the family to the bottom of the stand foot. I then set a workplane in the project so the bottom long edge of the foot that would intersect with the roof surface. Even on wider stands, the other foot is only 1/4" off the roof. this adjustment would be done in the field so for the purposes of coordination, more than adequate. My concern is with the stands that run down slope from the ridge. Our pipe has to be sloped back towards our mechanical/engine room. 1" in 40' is code for our industry. The dual slope to the roof on one side is more than required, so those stands are modeled with the same offset with the pipe running on top at the same elevation. Once we reach the ridge and continue on, the pipe has to continue upwards with the required slope. I set the workplane, and the stand sits perfectly on the roof surface. However the support is now at an angle that doesn't match the pipe slope, so aligning the horizontal plane of the support (3" X 3" X 1/4" Steel angle) to the bottom of the pipe insulation becomes impossible. The "can't rotate the element" error. My question: Is there a way to design this family in a way that I can insert the stand on the roof plane, then align the support in a way that I can use the align command to have the angle match and snap to the bottom of the pipe? And I know I am probably asking waaaaaay to much of Revit, but it would be amazing if you could make one that snapped to the plane and possibly a reference plane following the pipe so it follows both. Either way, aligning the supports is exponentially faster than moving them into place manually, for 100's of stands. Attached some screenshots, thanks in advance for any help.
Curious about family creation with two alignment points/planes
Okay so I think you have me on the right track, and I really appreciate it. So based on how I'm rotating it, the always vertical was not allowing it to align. While your suggestion worked perfectly for an item you would want to rotate around the face of a plane, these parts have to rotate aligned with the angle of the plane. So unchecking that box and disjoining worked well. I have noticed if I apply the constraint command, that while it stays close to being aligned with the reference line, it starts to space away from it a bit more each copy. I am still able to do a multiple align so that alone will save me a ton of time. With that being said, is there a way to create a parametric family where both the feet and support can be aligned independently? I tried aligning the centerline of the base to a point at the center of the other extrusion (saved as separate family). However, while it would align to both, it would only align with one of them, as in the distance between them wouldn't grow with each copy. I'm probably asking too much...lol. If not, I know I can keep them separate,. group them, array them and adjust accordingly which is fine, but with the vertical members on these stands, they would need to get taller at each instance along the pipe runs. Attached the image showing how the distance lengthen between base and support gets taller as you go down the pipe run. Currently the height of the verticals is tied to the actual support height (support height + 8" is the vertical tube length). I attached an image showing that as well. Again, these are just curiosities for when I build families in the future, I can use the information you've given me to more quickly place these in my current project and then fine tune them later. I greatly appreciate the information and advice, thank you!
