Materials and Finishes

[BillB_UH92]

Standard Revit trash can (imperial Library -Site Accessories) is gray and botrom half is translucent from some reason. In family editor I added Material parameter which shows up in the actual updated model, but this new parameter does not seem to work. Any of the MANY project materials can be assigned to my trash can in the Type Editor, but they do not change the gray appearance.

How does one add a materials/finish parameter so it connects with the family? The family editor lets you add parameters but I can not assign them to the actual materials. sorry basic question ....

Also trees (plantings) and a downloaded car (category - site) are not showing up in 3-D views (View cube only, the tree but not the car do appear in camera views) Any suggestions? Thanks very much

[cliff collins]

Sometimes Revit families actually contain only a 3D Cad file in a Revit Family "container".

So, once loaded in the project, check VG and make sure Imported Categories are turned on.
(esp. the car family that isn't showing up.)

Also, the materials in the Family must match the Materials in the Project.
Sometimes it's better to not actually apply the material itself--just the parameter--
in the Family, load into the Project, and then assign the Material.

If the Family contains a Cad object, go to VG, Object Styles, Imported Categories, and then assign
a Material for the Cad elements.

cheers

[BillB_UH92]

Thanks very much; still no change. Not mission critical right now. Thanks very much anyway.

[SkiSouth]

bill,

When you are selecting your materials there are two materials you have access to. One is the graphics material (what you see when you are working in revit) and the rendering material - obviously used when rendering. What you are seeing is the graphics material (look at the right column second box - Shading).
The transparency setting is 5%. Enough to cause the transparency effect you are observing. Take the slider to 0. The transparency will go away.

[BillB_UH92]

Thanks for investigating this; I went to the Family editor and adusted the transparency; it worked perfectly!
Out of curiosity, when I apply a material to the trash can in the Family Editor's Material dialog box, it gives me an extremely limited selection of materials to choose from (plus the option of duplicating and renaming as many as you like).
From the Family Editor is it possible to access the full, standard Revit Material menu (or the slightly adjusted version of the menu in my current project)? From Family Editor I want to match a material that already exists in my project. Must I re-write the Material name exactly as spelled in the project and give it the same cut patterns as already found in the project, etc? Will that create a duplicate? Just curious....

Thanks again for your help!

[jsteinhauer]

Thanks for investigating this; I went to the Family editor and adusted the transparency; it worked perfectly!
Out of curiosity, when I apply a material to the trash can in the Family Editor's Material dialog box, it gives me an extremely limited selection of materials to choose from (plus the option of duplicating and renaming as many as you like).
From the Family Editor is it possible to access the full, standard Revit Material menu (or the slightly adjusted version of the menu in my current project)? From Family Editor I want to match a material that already exists in my project. Must I re-write the Material name exactly as spelled in the project and give it the same cut patterns as already found in the project, etc? Will that create a duplicate? Just curious....

Thanks again for your help!

Hi Bill,

The reason why there is such a large selection in the project vs a family, is that a project has many families loaded into it with many, many materials. You can try two different approaches to get the preferred material into your family. Otherwise you'll have to create a new material, and assign all of the information to it.

1) In the project assign the family with the proper material. Then edit the family. The Material might go back into the family this way.
2) Create an in-place family, and assign the proper material. Cut/Copy this into your family. Might not work copying an in-place family into the family editor.

Cheers,
Jeff S.

[cliff collins]

The idea is to create Material Parameters in the Family, load the family into the Project, then apply Materials
to the Family once it's inside the Project, using the Project's full list of Materials.

The family itself will by default only have a limited palette of materials, as is intended.

Cheers

[BillB_UH92]

Cliff Collins and JSteinhauer;

Thanks very much!

Creating an object category and assiging the materials to the category works like a charm.

(I was not able to copy-paste from project to the family editor, only from one component family to another, or send the component back with a new material)

I also noticed one can import the full collection of materials (or object styles, line types, fill paterns, etc) from any project or component file using the Transfer Project Standards button under the Manage tab of the Family Editor.

Thanks again

[mm41108988100]

Similar problem here. I have created a model using Sketchup as a test. From there I've "washed" it through CAD. I am working in a new furniture Family however when attempting to assign materials and it is not linking. To elobarate I am making a basic table as a test with a top and legs. In type properties I have created under materials parameter table top and table legs. However when I adjust the finishes no change occurs. I know I need to link the table top, a simple box, to the table top material but have yet to figure this out. When looking at type propeties under the parameters heading it is completely blank where typically editable dimensions and finishes appear. This is where I feel the problem lies. I would be more then happy to share files should anyone want to take a look. Please help, already haved wasted countless frustrating hours and tutorials trying to resolve this. Thank you

[Dimitri Harvalias]

Similar problem here. I have created a model using Sketchup as a test. From there I've "washed" it through CAD. I am working in a new furniture Family however when attempting to assign materials and it is not linking. To elobarate I am making a basic table as a test with a top and legs.

Welcome to the forums.
Not clear to me from this if you have created any native Revit geometry. Revit can't assign materiality (for graphic display purposes) to anything that is not solid geometry created in Revit.

[greg.mcdowell]

Dimitri - I don't think that's correct. I'm pretty sure you can assign materials through the Object Styles dialog if the object has been setup correctly.

From memory, if you're starting in SketchUp you'll need to assign materials by layer (or rather have all geometry related to a material on the same layer - this allows for material assignment later in Revit). Then object materials need to be set to the defaut SketchUp material (easiest way to do this is to purge the material from the file). Export the file to DWG and import that file into Revit and you should be able to assign materials through Object Styles.