Rotate Nested Family: Host to a Plane or Line

[Anonymous]

I have seen several posts and I am not seeing what is suggested.

I have a family that I am nesting. It's pretty straight forward in all cases but this one. I wan to have it rotate with the rotation of a reference line.

I have seen more than once to insert it with reference to a work plane but that doesn't seem to be an option in Revit MEP 2016.

I have tried 'locking' it to some reference lines that are using the rotating reference line as a host.

I have also tried setting the work plane before dragging the family into the work area.

The closest I have gotten is what is attached.

I am wanting the coupling in this family to rotate around the center.

Thoughts?

[fabiosato]

Hello,

Just to understand your need, this part is a pipe coupling, right?

You need it to follow the pipe slope or to rotate around the pipe axis?

[Anonymous]

That is correct. This will actually end up sitting on an elbow I created. 

[fabiosato]

Hello,

I suggest that you don´t nest this geometry in your elbow, but create it in the elbow, nested families does not get pipe system colors, as long as I have tried.

To create this geometry, I suggest you to create a sweep using a profile, then you can link a parameter to the profile, making it extremelly easy to rotate, you can use negative values!

If you need to nest the family to count it and the color issue does not botter you, you can nest it, no problem. If you use profile, create an instance angle parameter, so you can link to a host parameter.

If you need more details please let me know.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the reply.

Indeed I am wanting to nest for the sake of counts and coloring them the same as the pipes of not much concern to me.

Instance angle parameters are no problem to create; however, I don't know what you mean by "use profile". Are you meaning a profile view of the elbow? If so, I have not been able to find a way to get the family to move with the reference lines.

[fabiosato]

Hello,

Please check the following video,

I didn´t mention in the video, the profile parameters must be all type, after you load it in the family, go to the project browser find the family and right click and select Type Properties.

Then, on the type properties window link the host family parameters to the profile parameter, the host file parameters can be instance or type.

[Anonymous]

I didn't see a video as an attachment or link. Did I miss it?

[fabiosato]

Hello,

Go to Screencast and look after my name. I linked the video but something happened. I can't solve it now.

[Anonymous]

I apologize but I am new to AutoDESK forums and I don't know where the Screencast section is. I tried going to the main Community home page and didn't see anything.

[fabiosato]

Actually Screencast videos are within Autodesk Knowledge Network, you should go to other site, sorry for not making it clear.

[fabiosato]

Posting the video

[Anonymous]

I meant to post yesterday and completely forgot.

Thank you for posting the video but what I am trying to do is get that family hosted to a reference line so that it will revolve around a point. It will be on one end of a flexing elbow. The other end will also have a coupling but that will be a fixed location.

If you see the family I posted initially, I have reference lines that are revolving around a point but the coupling family, although moving, doesn't move with the reference lines.

If I am not making sense, I can try to come up with a better example family.

[fabiosato]

Hello,

Now I understood your need, the solution is simpler! Basically you need to set the workplane for each nested family, and in this case they don´t need to have workplane property set, it is better off. fot the fixed end select reference level, then insert the component and align and lock to the planes you want.

The second one, selects the reference line that is the axis of the flexible end, then create the new nested family and align and lock the the reference line.

You can change the reference selecting the nested family and using the Edit Work Plane command.

[Anonymous]

I apologize. I am not sure I follow your instructions.

I did figure it out though. ...and it was indeed far more simple than I was making it out to be.

What I did was bring in the family then run an angle dimension from the centerline plane in the nested family to the perpendicular plane in the 'live' family.

I then ran an aligned dimension from the lateral line in the nested family to an origin plane in the 'live' family.

I then applied the appropriate instance parameters to these two dimensions.

This gave me the rotation around center that I wanted as well as the distance from center that i wanted. I didn't need to host it to any work plane or reference line.