Solid modeling functionality

[juggergnat]

If I create something custom (either as an in-place family or an inserted family), using solid and void shapes, is it possible to extract volume or surface information from this family model, or its sub-parts? I've looked everywhere and can't find this functionality. The only case I have seen this work is for rectilinear walls. Maybe someone could answer the same for other objects in Revit...if I create a custom wall profile, will the wall quantities for that wall still be accurate?

It appears that the 3d modeling for all custom family elements within Revit is not attached to the 'modeling engine', as appears to be the case with solid modeling programs. What's the point in creating a 3d model if you can't schedule it and extract useful info? This would be very helpful...to add that into a future version of Revit. That way the user can extract basic volume information for custom objects without resorting to creating formulas....

JG

[sbrown]

structural families yes, I'm not sure about other types.

[juggergnat]

On a related note, Sketchup has the ability to extract 2d areas by selection, or by material. That's mostly useful for surface finishes like stone or plaster, but it is very useful. If I create a giant 3d model in Sketchup and if I assigned the materials properly, I can very quickly find out how much stone veneer or plaster there is on the whole project, for example. Also, when you use text leaders to identify surfaces the leaders can automatically display area information OR model descriptions. These are BIM-like features in a non-BIM program.

Revit should have these abilities, both in terms of 2d areas and also 3d volumes. Hopefully with version 8.0 they can keep this in mind.

JG