Revit light fixture light source geometry won't go away

[david_spehar]

I've followed instruction in several posts to isolate and turn off the Revit Light Source objects which I've executed with much success. However...I've run into a glitch. I received a Revit MEP file with lighting fixtures that contain Light Sources that cannot be isolated. They are not assigned the Default Light Source material and when I select the geometry in Navis it is tied to the associated light fixture. Furthermore, when I try to edit the families I can't delete the Light Source. I've attached a screen cap of the lights in Navis with these odd tumors hanging from them. Any thoughts???

[mitch.cornelius]

I think this started happening in the 2011 version of Revit. Certain fixture families prevent you from isolating the light source. The newer versions of Revit won't allow deleting or changing the size of the light sources (from what I can gather). I really don't have a good solution for you...I've just been working around them when I come across them (no fun during clashing).

If you find a solution, please post it here!

[david_spehar]

Thanks Mitch. Not the answer I was hoping to get but at least I know what I'm deailing with. Hopefully someone else will read this and provide the magic answer.

[Revit for Breakfast]

I tell people they are Molars, part of the revit dental add-on.

[david_spehar]

Don't believe the hype!!!

Nice workaround - thanks. Now if only I didn't have to do it for 25 fixture families every time I get a new model...

[david_spehar]

I tell people they are Molars, part of the revit dental add-on.

Is my browser playing tricks on me??? This isn't your original post is it? I swear you posted a solution with turning off the Light Source in the individual families. Did I dream that? If so, it worked.

[pauljordan]

Is my browser playing tricks on me??? This isn't your original post is it? I swear you posted a solution with turning off the Light Source in the individual families. Did I dream that? If so, it worked.

You dreamed it.. Only because RFB dream walked into your dreams last night and showed you the way.

He's got ninja dreamwalking skills.

Me, I usually just go to the bathroom and the idea comes to me..

When I used to work for a reseller and was stuck on an idea, my marketing person would say "Go drink some water, it'll come to you." She was right.. It always did.

[david_spehar]

You guys are freakin' me out. I'm going back to the Revit forum - they're less creepy there.

For anyone that'll actually search this post for an answer - the workaround on the table is to disable the light source in the light fixture family. It does work but unfortunately this is required for each family and chances are your engineer won't do it since they rely on the data associated with the light source.

[Teresa.Martin]

You guys are freakin' me out. I'm going back to the Revit forum - they're less creepy there.

For anyone that'll actually search this post for an answer - the workaround on the table is to disable the light source in the light fixture family. It does work but unfortunately this is required for each family and chances are your engineer won't do it since they rely on the data associated with the light source.

I actually discussed how to do this in navis in my blog. You can look here:
http://bimnewworld.blogspot.com/2010/06/turning-off-those-light-sources.html
Regards,
Teresa

[david_spehar]

Right BUT...the issue I'm having are lights who's light source object cannot be controlled through this nifty search set. If you look at the screen cap in my initial post it'll show you the tumors (or molars as RFB put it) that don't respond to this. Apparently this is the byproduct of light fixture families upgraded from versions of Revit prior to 2011. To the best of my knowledge there is no way to isolate their geometry in Navis so you have to disable the light source in the Revit families. Unless, of course, I missed something in your blog that addresses this with a better workaround.

[Teresa.Martin]

Can you send me an NWD file to test or post it here?

(You can send it to me directly)
Teresa.Martin@ideateinc.com
Regards,
Teresa

[RevitNinja]

In my quest to formulate a few standard workflows for my users, I have come across this particular problem. As a previous poster mentioned, the problem with light sources seemed to get worse when we upgraded from Revit 2010 to Revit 2011.

There are, in fact, certain light fixtures that won't allow you to access the blob that represents its light source/photometric data. I beat my head against the wall trying to figure this out, and while this is not a perfect solution, it can help in some situations.

In the NW options, click on Model-->Performance. There is a variable there called "Collapse on Convert" and there are five levels under that drop-down. My interpretation of this feature is that it functions as some type of explode. If you change it from "Composite Objects" (which I think is the default) to "None," it seems to break apart the light fixtures one step further, allowing you to select the light source as a generic mesh object. From there, I was able to select all mesh objects and toggle them off.

The downside is that most other objects in your file also get exploded. If you select a piece of mechanical equipment, you might notice that it is now five different solids instead of a single object. I haven't had too much time to come back and revisit this, but I am curious to see what Autodesk recommends...if they recommend at all...

[mitch.cornelius]

I suppose that is a good way to cut out the light source...the downside is in the clash detection process - each of the "exploded" objects will represent a separate clash.

[Teresa.Martin]

I suppose that is a good way to cut out the light source...the downside is in the clash detection process - each of the "exploded" objects will represent a separate clash.

In the test file, I could see the blobs, but if I re-exported the Revit MEP file (with fixture) from 2012, I did not get the blobs (light sources).

It would seem the problem has been fixed in Navisworks 2012.

In regards to choosing "none" on the export, you could export just the light fixtures that are causing the issue as one NWC file and then export the rest as regular geometry. You will then need to create a search/selection set to removed the blob and consolidate the lights to reduce the number of clashes.
You can use the rules in clash detective to do some of this for you.
Regards,

[mitch.cornelius]

Now that you mention it...I don't know that I've seen the light source issue on files exported from Revit 2012 using the 2012 nwc exporter. Maybe this has been fixed?

[RevitNinja]

Now that you mention it...I don't know that I've seen the light source issue on files exported from Revit 2012 using the 2012 nwc exporter. Maybe this has been fixed?

I hope you are right. We are currently using Revit 2011 and NW 2012....but are knee-deep in the company wide upgrade...

[Revit for Breakfast]

What I usually do is tell everyone that the light source is there to clash detect against. Saves the whole "$10000 program and you can't turn offf the lights!?!" conversation.

Use your marketing skills. Convince your coworkers cuz it ain't going away.


Dreaming for Breakfast

[jbish1]

Fixed?... Go into Navisworks 2012 and try to turn them back on!... They are completely gone, and cannot be turned back on! So, now we are missing a reference to the photometric web layouts utilized in Revit. What if we want them for reference to set up visualization of the model?!... Start from scratch with a Revit session open for reference??