My voids are showing.

[brianc900163]

Hello Everyone,

I have a custom window family, and my voids are showing up in the model while still cutting the hosts. Has anyone else come across this? I started with the standard Window Family out of Revit. I removed the opening, and added the voids. I have 1 void on the interior placement side to cut my stud wall; 1 void in the host to create my masonry opening, and 1 void on the exterior to cut my stucco. All the window components are nested families. Everything works fine when you initially insert the windows. Revit randomly ‘drops’ the voids, when your working in other areas. I haven’t noticed any consistencies or patterns to explain why. I’ve figured out a work around, but it is time consuming and doesn’t make any sense on why it works. I have a lot of custom window families in the project. When this happens, it is only to a few families at a time.

Anyone else come across something like this?

Attached is a screen shot of the voids, and a window family. I’m in Revit 2012.

Thanks.

[damon.sidel]

That's a strange glitch! Unfortunately, I'm not writing with a solution, but a question: why all the voids? On the one hand, I understand the logic, that the lintel and sill would be built first, then the stucco would be added around it, thus the void there. However, in the Revit world, if you kept the opening in your window family and used it for your rough opening, then all the lintel, sill, trim, etc would protrude through the finishes on either side. The only place you'd notice it is in a section and I imagine it would be pretty easy to clean up in the detail sections that show it. Is there some other functionality you are after that I'm missing? I'm asking just because I'm curious.

[Steve_Stafford]

Not sure what the other void is meant to accomplish. When I delete it nothing changes in the family. It doesn't seem to be cutting anything and that's probably why it might show up, though it isn't for me right now. If a void doesn't cut something it is visible in the family editor too. When it cuts something you have to work harder to select it to see it. Selecting the solid it cuts will show the void too, which makes it easier to select.

[brianc900163]

I found somewhat of a solution. You can control the visibility of voids. So I can just turn it off everywhere. So as long as it is still cutting, I can just hide them.

As for why all the voids, that's a long answer. But the short version, our structural engineer wanted to be able to turn off the skin of the building and just look at the CMU/CONC walls. So we modeled the exterior skin as two separate walls. One being the CMU/CONC walls, and the second being the Limestone/Stucco walls. Also, the windows are supported by a pre-cast concrete surround. So I need a void that is larger than the window to be able represent the masonry opening for the window. If you don’t have the extra void on the outside, then the Limestone/Stucco walls gets cut to large, and it doesn’t run flush against the stone surrounds. So having the extra void, allows that exterior wall to get cut in a different pattern than the other walls. So that’s why the extra voids. If you saw the way the walls were modeled, then the window makes more since.

[Steve_Stafford]

Voids don't have a visibility parameter but they can be "pushed/pulled" so they intersect a solid (cut) or not (won't cut) . The separate walls is why the void is showing most likely. If you use join geometry between the two walls the other void should cut. Writing this without trying it, don't have Revit at my disposal right this moment to try...

[brianc900163]

I thought that at first too. (visibility of voids). I sent the problem to are tech support, and they showed me you can. Watch the screen cast they sent me. http://screencast.com/t/H3LoR9ESuE95

[brianc900163]

http://screencast.com/t/H3LoR9ESuE95

This is a screencast from our tech support.

[Steve_Stafford]

They don't have the "visible" parameter that solids have. The visibility controls won't prevent them from showing in 3D... The reason they are showing is they aren't cutting anything. When they do they should disappear.

[brianc900163]

I'll look into my walls and make sure everything is cleaned up. Thanks.