Beam not at correct level

[Chad Smith]

I am starting to make some Beam families and have started off by editing one that comes with Revit. See attached.

But when it is drawn onto a level, its elevation is incorrect. I originally thought that the center of the beam (when viewed in section) was supposed to line up to the level, but have recently heard that the top of the member is supposed to line up with the level. My family does neither.

My family is constrained equally about the Ref Level in the family editor. This is driving me nuts.

[beegee]

I changed the "define origin" from the ref level to the top ref plane.

[Mr Spot]

If you have a look on www.revitcity.com you will find numerous structural components i've already created.

Cheers.

[Chad Smith]

Chris,

Your family on RevitCity seems to work correctly. But I can't understand why yours works and mine doesn't. I believe it has everything to do with anchor point of the EQ dimension.

But even after making mine look like yours with the constraints to the same locations and the EQ anchor location set to the top, it still doesn't align properly.

I know I could modify yours to suit my needs, but I'd rather understand the reasons behind it. If you could run through how you did it, it would be appreciated.

[beegee]

Chad,

Did you see the revised family I posted above ?

I believe it works the way you wanted, by sitting with it its mid point on the reference level when inserted in a project.

As I said, I changed your family by adjusting the "define origin " and locking the equal constraints.

Chris,

Your family on RevitCity seems to work correctly. But I can't understand why yours works and mine doesn't. I believe it has everything to do with anchor point of the EQ dimension.

But even after making mine look like yours with the constraints to the same locations and the EQ anchor location set to the top, it still doesn't align properly.

I know I could modify yours to suit my needs, but I'd rather understand the reasons behind it. If you could run through how you did it, it would be appreciated.

[Chad Smith]

Yeah I tried it, but the center point of the member still doesn't exist about the level.
As the beam size gets smaller, it gets lower in elevation.

[beegee]

I tested it just by adjusting the beam depth for the loaded member ( ie no catalogue file loaded ) and it worked fine for me.

[Chad Smith]

Beegee, I loaded in the family without the catalog this time and it works fine, you are correct.

So, here are my findings to date:

1. If you load in a beam without a catalog, it works fine.
2. If you change the beam depth without duplicating first, it works fine.
3. If you duplicate the beam and adjust the depth, it doesn't work.
4. If you load all the types from a catalog, it doesn't work.
5. If you change the type from a working beam (see point 1.) to another loaded catalog type (see point 4.), it doesn't work.

Looks as though the beam family has bugs in it.
Revit development team?

[Mr Spot]

I've been looking into the file and found the same problems with at as you. Although I'm pretty sure its to do with how you define your constraints. If you change the size in the family you notice the some of the reference planes don't lock to the element, namely the top, bottom, left & right reference planes. try to define as much as possible out of the sketch and then lock the rest from within the sketch.

I'm still fiddling but need to get back on to some other work. Will let you know if i discover the exact problem.