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Keep 2D nested symbol stationary when you rotate 3D face-based fixture

rdeau4X33N
Participant

Keep 2D nested symbol stationary when you rotate 3D face-based fixture

rdeau4X33N
Participant
Participant

Hello all,

 

I have scoured the forums and google, and either I'm not using the right keywords, or this is not a problem for others. I am working on many face-based electrical families. When we place many of these families in a project, they usually won't need to be rotated, but there are a couple families where it would come into play. The issue I'm having is that when I place a face based family on a wall, the 2D symbol flips to the other side of the face the family is hosting to when the 3D portion of the family is rotated 90° (either by using the space bar or by cutting a section and rotating it there). Ideally the symbol would remain on the same side of the face no matter how the family is rotated on that face.

 

Is there a very simple thing I am missing here, or any ideas on why it does this?

 

Thank you in advance.

 

Initial placement:

rdeau4X33N_1-1672776946188.jpeg

3D geometry rotated 90°:

rdeau4X33N_0-1672776917765.png

 

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nagarajanprasanth
Community Visitor
Community Visitor

Turns out the problem was the symbol family being in different category instead of annotation family.

Obviously it would respond as it's own 3D geometry, even though it was just lines.

 

Make the symbol as different generic annotation family and nested it into your family.

 

FYI the symbol was never created inside the family, it was always nested.

 

Now it works fine...

 

Wish you a happy new year 2023

 

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rdeau4X33N
Participant
Participant

I have seen this exact answer on another forum post and it does not apply. 

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dmiller_SCE
Collaborator
Collaborator

@rdeau4X33N Are you able to share an example project with the family in it? Also, why do you have to rotate the 3D geometry of the electrical fixture?

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rdeau4X33N
Participant
Participant

I can post an example family. Different circumstances call for different orientations. 

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axad1993
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

The issue you are experiencing is likely caused by the way the family's 2D symbol is attached to the 3D geometry. In face-based families, the 2D symbol is typically attached to the 3D geometry using a reference plane. When the 3D geometry is rotated, the reference plane also rotates, causing the 2D symbol to flip to the other side of the face.

There are a couple of ways to address this issue:

  1. Use an Offset Reference Plane: You can create an offset reference plane for the 2D symbol that is not attached to the 3D geometry. This will allow the 2D symbol to remain in the same position regardless of how the 3D geometry is rotated.

  2. Use a Projected Reference Plane: You can also create a projected reference plane for the 2D symbol that is attached to a specific face of the 3D geometry. This will also prevent the 2D symbol from flipping when the 3D geometry is rotated.

  3. Use a Visibility parameter: You can create a visibility parameter for the 2D symbol that can be turned on/off in the project environment, this way you can control the visibility of the symbol independently of the rotation of the 3D geometry.

  4. Use a Type parameter: you can create a type parameter that can be used to control the orientation of the symbol, this way you can have different types of the same family with different orientations of the symbol.

It's important to note that these methods may require you to adjust your families to make them compatible with the method you choose, so it's best to test them out in a test project before applying them to your working project.

Please note that the above steps are a general guide, and the specific steps may vary depending on your version of Revit.

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