Bloated Lattice.

[beegee]

I made a simple lattice screen family for a square punched lattice material.

Thought I would do it “properly” by using voids for the punched holes.

Voids are arrayed in the X direction only and the array is not parametric.

The family file size is huge for a family – 995 kb ! compared to 100 kb for most families.

When I tried to load it, Revit hangs. !

There isn’t really anything complex about this family. Should be so simple to do.

I tried nested the void in the parent family, to see if that saved file size, but it doesn’t cut the panel then.

Anyone experienced this kind of thing before ?

Guess I’ll just have to settle for symbolic lines for the holes and a “solid” lattice panel.

[Scott Hopkins]

Beegee,

Perhaps you should try constructing the lattice out of overlapping horizontal and vertical boards. This would certainly make the file size a lot smaller. Actually the railing tool would be ideal for this wouldn't it?

[Kirky]

Try this i.e insert into cement sheet wall size... 384kb

[Kirky]

personally I find lattice a bit boring, what about this batman .......(Beegee)

[beegee]

Actually Robin, thats not really a cow at all, its our old adversery Two Face, in one of his cunning disguises, but there no way he's going to fool the greatest crimefighter the world has ever known, I know that underneath that black and white exterior lies a two dimensional parametric array with a low polygon count.

[Kirky]

an enity of unspeakable evil.....whose goal is the acquistion and distruction of the third dimension!

[beegee]

Perhaps you should try constructing the lattice out of overlapping horizontal and vertical boards. This would certainly make the file size a lot smaller. Actually the railing tool would be ideal for this wouldn't it?

I thought so too ..... I made the horizontals and verticals as extrusions, arrayed them then used join geometry on each (tedious ) so that it appeared correct in hiden line elevation view.

Guess what the file size is now ? ..... 1792 kb

There's something wierd going on here.

Interestingly, it does load into the project without crashing Revit and only increase the file size by about 600 kb with 2 instances loaded.

( Thanks for your lattice wall, Kirky, but I couldn't that to do what I wanted either )

I was going to make a really large panel, then use a void to cut it back to the parametric width and height required, but this file bloat is daunting.

I've yet to try railings, but it really should be simple to do as a generic family.

Any ideas ? ( Other than applying a filled region in the main file. )

[aggockel50321]

Here's what I've used. Doesn't seem to create a lot of overhead when arrayed. But it does require a little work in adding posts & trim, etc.

The family is a nested panel with a hole in it, arrayed in one (horiz) direction only. There's parameters for the panel width, height, depth, hole size, and the arrayed row length.

Keep in mind when setting the horizontal panel sizes, to make them divisible by the row length, or there will be gaps between the panels.

Once set in the project, with the dimensions you want, array it vertically, add the posts & rails with an in-place family, & then copy and/or array the assembly as required. You do end up with a line showing between the adjacent panels, but at the view resolution that the lattice shows up, it's not that noticeable.

I've never had any luck doing a two dimensional array that holds up over time. I can get it to work in a session when creating it. But once loaded into a project, it blows up.

I even tried to nest this array into a new family and then set up a vertical array, but for some reason, it won't load. I get an "unamed selection set" error, & I have no clue what that error means. Maybe a factory guy can explain it.

This also makes great cubby holes, just extend out the depth parameter.

[beegee]

Thanks Andrew, I'll give that a try.

I would still like to know why the files bloat using voids or arrayed elements though.

[aggockel50321]

After reading this post, I took the horiz. array I posted yesterday, & modified it to a vertical array. and got it to work as a baluster in a rail family.

Take the baluster family attached, & use it in a railing family.

Figure out your lattice size, (lattice spacing and baluster height), open the baluster family, and set these values as a new family type. Don't try to modify the baluster family (set a new spacing or baluster length) in the project, ou you might get unpredicted behavior. Open the baluster family, create a new type, set the new parameter values including the baluster height, apply them, and then save & load the family into your project.

Place the baluster family in a railing, set the spacing between balusters to 0", load & select posts & rails to your liking, choose them in railing properties, sketch the railing, finish the sketch, and you get a lattice.