inserting families

[vanderloo5]

Is there a way to change the orientation of a family when inserting into a view. I downloaded some Dacor cooktops and when I try to bring them into a plan view, I get a front profile. When I open the family there is a plan view as I would like to have it but I can't seem to figure out how to get that view to insert.
Thanks

[damon.sidel]

Is it possible they are face-based and designed to attach to a wall? If so, you could try inserting them into a 3D view, section, or elevation.

[antman]

Sounds like you're bringing it into a Legend view. There is a setting in the options bar to choose which view representation to orient to. I have encountered some face based families that don't have the view direction needed for the legend - in those cases i had to trace with detail lines in a plan view and paste into the legend.

If you are having problems bringing them into a non-legend view, take a look at the Placement panel on the contextual tab of the ribbon. Place on Face or Place on Work Plane is probably what you're looking for.

[vanderloo5]

Ya I was bringing it into a floor plan. I did get it to come in correctly as far as orientation but now I can't get it off the floor. There is a default elevation setting in it's properties but no matter what I change it to, it stays on the floor.

[jsteinhauer]

This really sounds like you have a face based family on your hands. When placing it in plan, it first looks for a vertical face, but you can tell it to look for a reference plane. In plan, the level plane is the strongest plane available, and if you're not careful most face based components will snap to that instead of what you really want. My guess is you're trying to place it atop of a counter or cabinet. Without 3D geometry visible in plan view you'll have a very hard time hosting these components correctly. Try placing them in a 3D view instead.

Cheers,
Jeff S.

[vanderloo5]

Thanks Jeff I did that and that brought on a whole new problem. It seemed to insert where I wanted it but it disappeared. It's only visible when I hover over it??

[jsteinhauer]

Will you post this problem child of a family?

[Revitaoist]

Probably need to do the "invisible line trick", if the cut plane does not cut the family it will not show in plan, so you have to create an <invisible line> in the family in the front view so the cut plane will hit it, that's why that line type is in all the family templates.

[vanderloo5]

85778Funny, I threw it back down on the floor and gave up. Then when I saw the invisible line post I thought ya, that might work. So I pulled it back up off the floor in 3d view and it went right where I want it and it displays fine.