can materials change in design options???

[Kaotik]

I'm working with a house that has three elevations-i don't have a problem giving the walls in the design options different materials-(and colors for that matter). the problem i have is that when i go from elev-"a" that has white stucco to elev-"b" that has tan brick, only the walls in the design option change-obviously- but i need the walls in the rest of the project to match up with the front. I do know to work around this i could just save the projects as different elevations but doesn't that defeat the purpose of the design options ability??? and i also know i could put the walls in the design options and just have three different sets of walls with different materials but that means putting the entire model in the option sets and that doesn't sound right. - also it just seems to me like theres a better way to leave the walls and structure the same, just change the front and have the materials on the side and rear walls change with the design options-can that be done? :) thanks for any help with this! i greatly appreciate it.

sincerely,
Brian Andresen

[sbrown]

You have to put all the objects/walls you want to have and option in the option set, There is nothing saying all walls can't be in a option set.

[Dimitri Harvalias]

If it's just a quick look you need and it's just the exterior finish that changes this approach works easily.
Create your two wall styles for the exterior, making sure that their location line is the same when placing the wall, go the project browser, find the wall style you want to replace, select all instances, and redefine them as the other style.
If you need to you can save the views with each style as jpegs and place the images on a sheet view so both 'options' are available.

[Kaotik]

I have done that in the past but then if something gets moved or changed on the house-I have to change it three times because everything is now in the option sets. Is there a way to make a change and have it change all three at the same time? the only part of the house that changes between elevations is the very front-none of the rest of the house is affected except for the exterior paint color. i was hoping to only have the very front put into the design options sets and somehow find a way to tie the material of the wall to the option sets. But if putting the complete model into the option set is the fastest and most time saving way, then thats great-I have already been doing that in the first place. (I was hoping for something more) but i do understand it and it makes sense. Thank you for helping me out and I appreciate how fast you responded to my original question-this site still amazes me! :)

thanks again!
Brian Andresen

[sbrown]

The only thing I can think of is to create a material ie wall paint, use that in your wall construction for all the walls that aren't in the option but you want them to change at once, then just edit that material prior to each print.

[Kaotik]

ok...i liked your first answer best. :) but i would like to ask this...after I'm done putting the model into different design options, is there a way i could move a wall and have it move that wall in every design option?

either way...which do you prefer...
one project (or file) with three models inside the design options. (editing the materials before each render takes place)
or three separate projects (files) with no design options? (all files have their own materials)

thank you for all the help
Brian Andresen

[iru69]

ok...i liked your first answer best. :) but i would like to ask this...after I'm done putting the model into different design options, is there a way i could move a wall and have it move that wall in every design option?
I don't think automatically, but if it can, I'd like to know as well. You can do a copy and paste from one option to another, but that won't work so well if you've already modified the same element on the alternate option(s).


either way...which do you prefer...
one project (or file) with three models inside the design options. (editing the materials before each render takes place) or three separate projects (files) with no design options? (all files have their own materials)
That's a tough one because while design options are really cool, it adds a whole level of complexity that can be hard to justify. I'm still new to design options, and as I get more comfortable with the feature, hopefully it will "work" better. There are a couple of benefits that I see with using design options versus separate project files:

1. Design options make it very easy to mix different scenarios on the same sheets. You can also accomplish this by linking the other project files, but that can also get complicated.

2. At least if you want to make a change to an element that isn't already part of an option set, it will be updated in all views.

3. When it works right, it's pretty cool.

[SCShell]

Hey there,

In my experience, I have had no luck creating "different" projects to do what design options was created for. I used to do it before the design options was added; however, I had to keep working on the project sometimes, before the client (or myself) decided on which design to go with. So, of course, the one I kept working on, was not the one selected...that damn Mr. Murphy!

I love design options, even though they can become somewhat confusing and repetitive. But, with that being said, there is definitely a time to do what another have suggested here. Simply make the changes, save them to JPG's and move on until the choice is made.

Oh, one other thing (edit): Design options can then be used to show Alternate Bid items on the final construction documents. This is a real timesaver!

Great methods both.
Steve

[irwin]

after I'm done putting the model into different design options, is there a way i could move a wall and have it move that wall in every design option?
Create a Ref Plane in main model (i.e., not in any Option). In each Option, lock-align the wall to this ref plane.

When you move the Ref Plane the corresponding wall in each Option will move. If you move the wall in the Primary Option that will move the Ref Plane and the other walls. You cannot directly move the walls in the secondary Options. (When you lock the alignment to the walls in the secondary Options, Revit automatically makes the constraint one-directional -- the Ref Plane can move these walls but the walls cannot move the Ref Plane.)

Note that if you use Make Primary, you might need to reapply the constraints -- some of them won't make sense in the same form when something that was Primary becomes secondary and vice versa.