Model Group from Project to Family?

[jeff112408]

I've tried a few different approaches here and seem to be batting zero. I'm currently working on a Zipline tower which consists of multiple stair landings. I thought it would be a great idea to completely design one and then create a group... copy/paste... bam bam bam.

Well... that didn't work out too well. There were issues with masses which were cut with voids, bolts/washers/nuts that were set to a specific plane which went absolutely haywire when i rotated the group or changed its elevation, and cut/join's said NO!

SO i then tried to save as a Group File. No Dice...
I tried finding a way to get the geometry into a Family. No Dice...
I tried linking the file. No Dice...

Does anyone have any ideas on how to group up the masses, constraints, etc., so i'd be able to copy them without having to spend 2 hours customizing each landing? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Racer 12]

Jeff,

I have just run into the same issue, my workaround was to export my 3d view from my Revit project to .DWG. Then I opened a family, imported my 3d.dwg, and exploded the first level.
Maybe this will help you, maybe not. Perhaps this would be a good wish list item.

Thanks,

Adam

[Dimitri Harvalias]

Jeff,
I took a quick look at your landing file and there are some fundamental issues that I would suggest should be corrected before you try to copy this all over your model.

The model is made up of mostly in place mass objects. Although it can be done it's not a good idea to use masses to create 'real' geometry. In place families are particularly troublesome because of how they behave in a model. As you've already discovered they relate to specific ref planes and can be a pain to copy around a project with any predictability.

I'd suggest you rebuild these as families and bring them in to the project. How many different conditions do you have? How many platforms are there in total? How much can be 'standardized' and how much can be 'parameterized'?

Answer these questions and that should help you figure out how you'll want to go about rebuilding them. It should also make placing them in multiple locations and controlling behaviour much easier

[damon.sidel]

I agree with Dimitri that you should create as much of your model as families, not In-Place components. That said, if you are loathe to do that, you could consider editing your in-place components and detaching the elements from their reference planes. For each solid or void in each component, edit the work plane and chose Dissociate. That may allow you to group and copy it. It will be tedious and perhaps not much faster than creating real families, but it may get you where you are trying to go.