Multiple Design Options - Help!

[jayc]

Hi Guys,

I'm getting fairly frustrated with Design Options.

The situation is:

I have a topography with various sub-sections representing different plots on a site.
I then have 2 Design options - 1 for the first plot outlay - 2 for the second plot outlay.

This is fine.

However...

I now have a camera view looking over 'plot outlay 1' to give a perspective view over the site.

What I want to do is:

Have 1 variation of the camera view which shows the topography (+ and linked houses) in standard materials.

Then have a 2nd variation of the camera view which shows the topography (+and linked houses) in a white reflective material (so it looks like a model).


I thought I could simply make a new design option set - make an option for 'standard materials' and another for 'white materials' - assign these design options to 2 copies of the camera view - THEN select the topography and add it to these design options also, so that within the camera views I could then 'Edit option - white materials' and change everything to look white...

Whenever I select the topography and 'Add to option set', it won't allow me to and gives me the error mesage "selected elements will not be added to option set because they already belong to another design option" (or similar)...

What can I do?
Can I make this method work?
Is there a better solution?


Sorry it is so long winded (as usual)...

Any help would be greatly apreciated, it is for my college work and I'm trying to go that extra mile!

Cheers

[andrewg]

Sounds like you've got the topo already in each option.

When you set up your camera views, go to view/visibility and set one camera view to only show the first option, and then do the same for the other view and second option.

HTH

[dhurtubise]

Are you only looking to change the materials besides the topo? If so you need to look at Visibility/Graphics and not Design Option for materials.

[Dwane Lindsey]

Like the message states, you can only have an element belong to one Option Set. In order to do what you want to do in a separate Option Set, you'll have to Copy-Clip the topo, edit one of the Options in the new Option Set and use Paste-Align, Same Place. This effectively makes a copy of the initial topo and allows it to be part of the new Option Set. You'll have to do the Paste-Align for each Option in the new Option Set.

You may have to add another Option to the original Option Set that doesn't include a topo, so you don't have overlapping topo in the new Option Set. I'm not 100% sure, I don't have time to test it out at the moment...

[jayc]

I had considered just using visibility graphics - but wondered if using design options was possible.

I don't see why an element can't belong to multiple options... The options are view specific so surely it should know which option you are editing due to the view setting.

Where would I be pasting the topo? On-top of the origional?

Properly confusing...

Thanks for the suggestions

[eric.piotrowicz]

An obeject can only be part of one design option because its intended to manage various model configurations. In which case you are asking Revit to treat one object as two different objects. The V/G route is definitely the way to go on this one.
Design Options work best for parts of a project which multiple solutions are being evaluated.

[Dwane Lindsey]

The situation is:

I have a topography with various sub-sections representing different plots on a site.
I then have 2 Design options - 1 for the first plot outlay - 2 for the second plot outlay.

Maybe I mis-read what you were using the Design Options for. Do you have 2 separate plot outlays each with different sub regions, or do you have 1 plot outlay (same sub regions) and just want to show each view as a different material? The way I read your statement is you have Design Options for the topo because you have different plot (sub region) layouts. If the latter statement isn't true, then Design Options isn't going to be the correct method and I agree with the others...use Visibility Graphic Overrides in each view.

I don't see why an element can't belong to multiple options... The options are view specific so surely it should know which option you are editing due to the view setting.

Where would I be pasting the topo? On-top of the origional?

Properly confusing...

Thanks for the suggestions

The Options aren't view specific, they can just be viewed in separate views. You are still making changes to Model elements when editing Design Options...and Model changes are Project wide.

About pasting....yes, you effectively would be pasting over the top of the other topos. But, because they are part of different Design Options, they will not be visible in the Option you are pasting the topo into. And in your case and trying to use Design Options, you wouldn't have a topo that is part of the Main Model...the topo(s) would be part of the Options.

Not trying to confuse the issue even more, just trying to make sure I (and others) give answers that relate to what you are trying to accomplish.

Hopefully some of this made sense.

[jayc]

This hurt my brain too much, so i've had a break from it! - I'd just like to understand it now...

Dwane - You were right the first time.

I have 2 different topo arrangements with different sub regions (proposed & revised)

I then made a camera view looking down on Proposed topo


What I wanted to do, was then have 2 copies of this camera view - 1 showing an image of the topo in normal colours (materials) - and 1 showing the topo as 'white plastic'


I thought by using design options I could simply select the topo in one of the camera views - add it to a new design option, then change the material to 'white plastic'

This is where I started losing the will to live...

I will try out some of the suggestions soon, thanks for all the input

[dhurtubise]

If its only the display you can use visibility graphics, no need to use Design Options

[twiceroadsfool]

What Daniel said.

It doesnt sound like you want to change ANYTHING in the two cameras, except the material of EVERYTHING. (And if i understand correctly, you want to make them ALL the same material to make it read like a chipboard or foamcore model). (i like that look, by the way).

There are a LOT of ways to do it, but i wouldnt use design options either.

Use the VG dialogu to override the materials of every object in the camera view. Just select every catagory, and override its material to your "white reflective whatever."

If you dont want to do that, go make a new Phase Filter called "Everything glossy and pretty" under Settings > Phases > Phase Filters, and tell it to override EVERYTHING. Then under graphic overrides, make everything a material override to the "glossy white pretty".

Take note that the latter method will screw up any OTHER views that are using a Phase Filter where something is OVERRIDDEN in a method other than Material overrides.

So in the end.... Use the VG dialogue. Itll take twenty seconds and youll be done. Then if you want multiple views like that, Right click on the view in the browser and make a View template from it.