What is a beam pocket supposed to look like

[ron.sanpedro]

I have a generic wall set to Bearing and extending to Level 2, and a Beam on Level 2 attached to the wall, with the beam pocket turned on. But there is no beam pocket showing. Instead I get a beam disapreaing into the wall, with no edges. I had exppected turning the beam pocket on to actually create a pocket in the wall that the beam would nest in. But it seems to have not done anything at all. So what should I be expecting a beam pocket to do.
And secondly, how are people dealing with a tructural beam that goes thru a wall? In reality even a steel I-beam can be wrapped in sheetrock neatly, but you would expect to see a line where the beam and wall meet. Instead you get nothing. Very wrong graphically. Our second pilot project has a lot of this condition, exposed steel beams penetrating a sheetrock wall. Hopefully there is a way to get this to look right graphically, ideally not editing the wall profile. This works for penetrations all the way thru, but not beams that rest on columns enclosed in the wall.

Thanks,
Gordon

[Paul Andersen]

Hey Gordon, I believe the Beam Pocket is strictly meant to automate the beam end extending into the center of the wall. It's a quick way to get the Structural framing plans to look like how most show a bearing condition.

Intersecting lines not showing up in Revit has been a pet peeve of mine for quite some time. It just looks unpolished and detracts from overall clarity of the drawing in many situations.

The edit profile method has a few issues in my opinion. If the beam does not go through the wall their will be a hole in the wall on the non-bearing side (may or may not be an issue). This method also does not appear to flex correctly with member size changes. In my tests only the horizontal edges of the beam profiles seem to maintain their constraints/locks after finishing the sketch. If you go to the 3D view of the attached example and flex the edit profile members you will see it quickly break down.

The method I have been using when necessary is a void extrusion. I use one face of the wall as the workplane. Using the pick tool with the lock toggle and a tab selection you can quickly generate the sketch. I then drag the other end of the extrusion to either lock to the wall face opposite the one I used as the workplane for a pass through beam or to the beam end if it stops inside the wall. This method always flexes correctly and the same void can be used to cut through multiple walls by extending it along the length of the beam. The only drawback to this method (aside from having to do it at all) is that you can wind up with quite a long list of families in your browser if you have a lot of these to place.

[tomnewsom]

I have a generic wall set to Bearing and extending to Level 2, and a Beam on Level 2 attached to the wall, with the beam pocket turned on. But there is no beam pocket showing. Instead I get a beam disapreaing into the wall, with no edges. I had exppected turning the beam pocket on to actually create a pocket in the wall that the beam would nest in. But it seems to have not done anything at all. So what should I be expecting a beam pocket to do.
And secondly, how are people dealing with a tructural beam that goes thru a wall? In reality even a steel I-beam can be wrapped in sheetrock neatly, but you would expect to see a line where the beam and wall meet. Instead you get nothing. Very wrong graphically. Our second pilot project has a lot of this condition, exposed steel beams penetrating a sheetrock wall. Hopefully there is a way to get this to look right graphically, ideally not editing the wall profile. This works for penetrations all the way thru, but not beams that rest on columns enclosed in the wall.

Thanks,
Gordon
Use the Join tool to make the beam cut the wall properly. You get intersection lines too. (and it makes your quantities accurate)

[Paul Andersen]

Use the Join tool to make the beam cut the wall properly. You get intersection lines too. (and it makes your quantities accurate)
Does that actually work for wood and steel framing members in Revit Building? I would like that ability in Revit Structure if it does. Currently I can only use that approach with concrete and precast members.

[tomnewsom]

Does that actually work for wood and steel framing members in Revit Building? I would like that ability in Revit Structure if it does. Currently I can only use that approach with concrete and precast members.
Ah, good question - I've been doing exclusively concrete recently. "I don't know" is the answer.

[thnieves]

Hi Paul,

How would you do the beam pocket in the opposite direction, I mean cutting through the wall's length?