Paint face in component?

[LP Design]

Hi all,

I did a bit of searching on this issue but the closest I found was this unanswered question from '07:
http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?t=57540&highlight=paint

:?: To make a long story short, is there a way to use the paint tool on a component once it is placed in a project?

To make a short story long...
I created a roof based family of a cricket for a low-sloped roof. I have it set with a material parameter so I can assign it as rigid insulation or whatever material happens to be specified. Once the family has been loaded and placed on the roof I tried to "paint" the surface with my roof membrane material but no luck.
The cricket family was generated using a Blend and it's parameter controls are fairly complicated so I am hesitant to try adding a thin "layer" above the cricket solid for the roof membrane.

It seems like the paint tool is perfect for this application but I can't figure out a way to use it on a component. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

-LP

[cliff collins]

Painting it can be done, but you were on the right track by adding a Material Parameter
in the family. Painting faces is really not the best way, because if painted objects get edited, joined/unjoined, attached/detached, trimmed, etc. they can lose their "paintjob"
and you end up spending alot of time figuring that out and "re-painting".

The Material Parameter in the family and applied in the Project is a better, more stable method.

Once the family is loaded into the project, you should be able to just go to Element Properties and change the material via the parameter(s).

Make sure that in the family, you edit the blend and set the Material with the material Parameter you added.

cheers

[LP Design]

Nevermind, I figured it out. :Oops:

Well, I'll post my solution just in case it helps someone else.

In the family editor you can paint a face of a solid with a material parameter. It sounds kinda weird, but once loaded into a project you just have to assign a material to that parameter and the face will show up painted. Works as both Instance and Type.

Peace,
-LP

--EDIT--
Cliff I didn't see your post until after I hit submit.
I had already tied the blend to the material parameter which let me assign it to insulation, but if I assigned it to a roof membrane material it would show the whole volume as that material, which would be incorrect in section and for take-offs.
With the method above I can accomplish both objectives.

[twiceroadsfool]

Nevermind, I figured it out. :Oops:

Well, I'll post my solution just in case it helps someone else.

In the family editor you can paint a face of a solid with a material parameter. It sounds kinda weird, but once loaded into a project you just have to assign a material to that parameter and the face will show up painted. Works as both Instance and Type.

Peace,
-LP

--EDIT--
Cliff I didn't see your post until after I hit submit.
I had already tied the blend to the material parameter which let me assign it to insulation, but if I assigned it to a roof membrane material it would show the whole volume as that material, which would be incorrect in section and for take-offs.
With the method above I can accomplish both objectives.

Correct... You can assign the overall geometry a material (for cut pattern, and surface patterns, and colors on most sides), and you can PAINT a face (or several) in the family, and tie that PAINT to a Material Parameter seperately.

All of our Structural Steel is this way, so we can show it painted to match architecture, while no sacrificing the Material properties of the Steel, and without having redundant Materials.