Placing Pendants

[Sparky]

I have a lobby area that has no finished ceiling, it is just open deck. I downloaded a pendant from Beta-Calco which will not even host on a grid ceiling. So I used the Revit standard pendant, this one will host on a finished grid or gyp ceiling but not to the open deck ceilings. How do I get the pendant to recognize the open deck as a surface? Perhaps there is a trick.

And if you want to chime in too about what the possible deal is with the Beta-Calco I would appreciate it. Below is the link for the Beta-Calco pendant. Just click the "Revit" button to download the file.

http://www.betacalco.com/products/pr....php?prdid=241

Thanks in advance.

[mwiggins121466]

Are you using the "place on face" button when trying to place it on the deck? Not sure if this will work but give it a try. If that does not work, place a work plane at the proper elevation then use the "place on work plane" button.

As far as the Beta-Calco issue, there are different ways to build families. That was built for an architect in that the ceiling has to be "live" in the file for it to place.

[Sparky]

Are you using the "place on face" button when trying to place it on the deck? Not sure if this will work but give it a try. If that does not work, place a work plane at the proper elevation then use the "place on work plane" button.

As far as the Beta-Calco issue, there are different ways to build families. That was built for an architect in that the ceiling has to be "live" in the file for it to place.

Yeah I was using place on face but it did not work. I will play with the place on work plane option.

For the Beta Calco is there a way I change the properties of the fixture so the ceiling does not have to be live?

[AaronC]

Yeah I was using place on face but it did not work. I will play with the place on work plane option.

For the Beta Calco is there a way I change the properties of the fixture so the ceiling does not have to be live?

You could put in a ceiling and just hide it if you want to use the ceiling-hosted Beta Calco one.

[Sparky]

You could put in a ceiling and just hide it if you want to use the ceiling-hosted Beta Calco one.

Good idea, I will play around with it and see how this works out.

Thanks.

[Sparky]

Well the ceiling/deck is pretty complicated as it is also sloped. Out of curiosity is it more typical that an architect put some sort of surface here that I can mount my things to? Seems counter productive that the architect draws in a surface then I have to redraw it in order to mount my fixtures.

[AaronC]

Well the ceiling/deck is pretty complicated as it is also sloped. Out of curiosity is it more typical that an architect put some sort of surface here that I can mount my things to? Seems counter productive that the architect draws in a surface then I have to redraw it in order to mount my fixtures.

Yeah it's very counter productive. Hopefully manufacturers stop using ceiling/wall hosted fixtures and switch to face-based or even non-hosted families.

[Sparky]

Yeah it's very counter productive. Hopefully manufacturers stop using ceiling/wall hosted fixtures and switch to face-based or even non-hosted families.

I take it there is no easy way to change the property after a fixture has been created?

[mwiggins121466]

No it has to be recreated with a different template. Sometimes you can copy and paste geometery but generally you have to redo all of the parameters.

[kalimazoop]

if the ceiling is sloped, recommend that you create a new fixture with the Generic Unhosted template and specify that the fixture is workplane based. Also make sure you specify "always vertical" in the family setting.

In the project, draw a reference plane along the ceiling area you are trying to place the fixture. When placing the fixture, select workplane for the host and then specify the workplane you want to assign it to.

The problem with face based fixtures is that they dont stay vertical when placed on a sloped surface.