Visibility Settings for family

[mthurnauer]

I am trying to edit a recessed projection screen family so that is shows a rectanlgle on the reflected ceiling plan and not on the floor plan. I changed the visibility of all of the modeled objects to not show in plan and rcp and then I initially added symbolic lines to the rcp to show it. When I loaded it into my project, it shows the lines in plan and rcp. I checked and they are just symbolic lines and not model lines. On the rcp, the ceiling shows through the symbolic lines. I added a masked region to it and now is covers the ceiling, but it still shows lines on plan and rcp. What am I doing wrong?

[rkitect]

Did you set the Symbolic lines and masked region to only show in RCP?

[mthurnauer]

When I draw symbolic lines, I do not have the option to say to show it in plan/rcp. It just gives me the option to control its visibility based on detail level. What confuses me is that I should be able to draw symbolic lines in the rcp and not have them show in plan, but when I draw them in one they show in the other.

[jspartz]

I know you can place the lines on a higher work plane and as long as there's nothing being cut with the floor plan cut it won't show the family at all in the floor plan. But, if you want some items to show in the floor plan too, then add a subcategory and put your symbolic lines on it and turn off that subcategory in your floor plan.

[rkitect]

My apologies, I remembered there being a Visibility Settings option but didn't bother to see if it contained the view options. Long shot, but try making a reference plane that is above the cut plane in the family, name the reference plane and then use that as the work plane for the symbolic lines. The other option is in the object styles for the family you can create a new sub-category under annotation called "Furniture-Ceiling (Projection)" Create the lines using that subcategory then turn them off in the plan.

hTh

Edit: oops, jspartz beat me to it! I gotta stop leaving a message up for editing for extended periods of time!

[mmiles]

I know you can place the lines on a higher work plane and as long as there's nothing being cut with the floor plan cut it won't show the family at all in the floor plan. But, if you want some items to show in the floor plan too, then add a subcategory and put your symbolic lines on it and turn off that subcategory in your floor plan.

somewhere in the help menu is an explanation of family categories, and the visibility settings relatted to the cut plane of the view-(search cuttable families) Some categories will display, others will not depending on where they are place relative to the cut plane and the upper and lower limits. So, maybe your issue is related to the category you selected.

Also - I tested a generic ceiling based family whereby I modeled an extrusion, set the visibility to not display in plan/rcp, and then drew symbolic lines in the ceiling plan view and loaded into a project, placed on a ceiling, and everything displays as desired - no solids showing in plan or rcp, only symbolic display in RCP.

[rkitect]

...and everything displays as desired - no solids showing in plan or rcp, only symbolic display in RCP.

That's because it was a ceiling based family. If you do this in a generic or wall based family (which I'm guessing is what we're dealing with here) you will end up with symbolic lines on both Plan and RCP.

[mthurnauer]

I have tried switching the family to many different types and it makes not difference. What I really want is to have a hidden line outline of the screen in its down position. So, in the elevation view I have drawn symbolic lines representing the projection screen in the down position. This seems to be the source of the problem. They are definitely symbolic lines, but apparently if the symbolic lines cross the plan cut elevation, the the entire model shows in both plan and rcp. If I delete the symbolic lines in the elevation, then it will not show up on the floor plan, but will on the rcp.

[mthurnauer]

I ditched the one that I started with (downloaded off of adesk seek). I started with a generic ceiling based family and I have found that the problem is because of the symbolic lines drawn in elevation. I have tried switching the family type from generic to specialty equipment (my preference) to equipment, electrical fixture, light fixture. The problem occurs in every one of them if the symbolic lines in elevation apparently cross the cut plane once it is placed within the model. I guess my only option is going to be to make a new subcategory as mentioned and turn them off in plan. But to me, why would symbolic lines effect the programs interpretation of the whether or not an object crosses the cut plane?

[Scott Womack]

Unfortunately, it is because the symbolic lines extend "downward from the ceiling. In the years I've been using Revit, it appears that a bounding box, that encompasses EVERYTHING in a family is what Revit is using to determine what if any of the family crosses one of the cut planes. I believe that is why even symbolic lines in an elevation affect the diaply of the family in plans and RCP's.

Maybe someone from the factory can chime in on this?

[jspartz]

If you want the symbolic lines in your elevation, and lower than your floor plan cut plane but don't want to see it in your floor plan view, I believe the only way would be to select your model items and turn them off in floor/rcp views and then use symbolic lines on the rcp as well.