scaling family

[fernando]

good night... :)
i had a little trouble
i create a electric fixture family for a Neon Publicity Logo :lol:
after a hard work in extruding the letter's and so on :oops:
my client want's it placed in 3 sides of the bulding... :oops: :oops:
now the big trouble :roll:
in 3 diferent sizes.....is there a scale comand i can use??? :banghead:

not drawing all again 3 times... :cry:

[beegee]

Hi Fernado ( sounds like the lyrics to an Abba song :D )

Bad news is there is no scaling tool. ( Its on the wishlist somewhere I think)

Since each letter needs to be rescaled as well as the spacing between them, you will need to make two more copies of the family, rename them and then edit the extrusions of each letter. Probably need to move each letter as well.

You may be able to export to dwg , scale the 2D version to size, then reimport to use as an underlay.

Another possibility is to use a decal for the other two signs.

Sorry, I know you didn't need to hear this.

[gregcashen]

Fernando, there is no need for a scaling tool in Revit. Just ask anyone.

The official answer is probably something along the lines of: "You should have made it parametric so that you could scale the size of it through parameters associated with Ref Planes" or somthing like that.

Beyond that, I don't know what to tell you :cry:

Do, please, post this as a request in the wishlist, as it is an oft requested feature that gets little attention.

[gregcashen]

By the way, played with Rhino and Solidworks a bit this week and noticed that one of them (can't remember which) has a scaling feature with built in axis filters so you can scale in only the dimensions specified. Handy little thing, that.

[hand471037]

Greg, most 'traditional' 3D modeling software has those filters you speak of, so that you can only scale/rotate/move (and more) within a certain axis. It's only when you get into the world of Architectural CAD does this seem to fall away. Never understood why this is.

Heck even Blender, the free 3D modeling/animation software, has this functionality. Just thought you might wanna know ;)

Anyways, sounds like you're best bet would be to export it as a 3D DWG file and then import it with a custom scale. Very clunky, I know, but if you need to just get it out the door...

[fernando]

thnak's for the tip's, i understand wy a architectural aplication don't use, a scaling tool
in real world we don't scale a architectural object
we could strecht one of the dimensons, width, heigth..so on.
but to create some artistic elements it would be usefull, of course


by the way...gona tri to drw a glass wall and aply the neon a plane near the camera to simulate is increase....but for soure it will creat undesired shadows.... :(

[gregcashen]

Jeffrey, I am stupid about 3D software. Revit is my first foray aside from a brief encounter with 3DStudio back in 95 or so and very little 3D Autocad work. I know Autocad has filters. I figured it was something that had been thought up time and again, I just figured that was a good model for why Revit (read L*#$@d) might want to reconsider his position on the whole scale thing. I overheard the Sketchup people talking at AU about the scale function and something to do with the internal debate over whether it should have been a true 3D scale or a 2D scale...anyway, it is a true need for those of us who have created a family that we thought was not required to scale, and then found out that is was.

To answer the original question, I suppose the answer is to open the family, redefine it with Ref planes, and make a new type.

I really need to try some other 3D type programs :roll:

Re: the neon light...you can make a material that has self luminance and give it a neon color, so when it is rendered it will appear to be neon without needing a light source...I think...not like I've rendered neon yet.

[Phil Read]

Fernando -

You might also try to export the file to DWG (while in a 3D view) as geometry and then import in another family template - scaling as appropriate. Only what is visible will export (in case you don't need the whole family).

All the material assignments from the Revit family will be maintained when you export/import for rendering purposes.

Regards -

Phil Read
Autodesk Revit