Roof Work Plane Suggestion

[ford347]

I have a suggestion/question. I have a scenerio in which I have a commercial structure which has a wood framed panelized roof system. the ledgers at the 'back wall' are pitched multiple times, creating a warped roof system rather than using crickets. What I did to get all the different points for the ledgers and the roof fill was draw ref. planes in plan view representing the different theoretical roof sections. I made about 12 different roofs in triangular shapes to do this...if you can picture that. So through the use of slope arrows, I got all the boundaries of the roofs themselves where I needed them. I then drew beams for the ledgers in 3d view using the roof edges as a guide. Worked nicely. Then I proceeded to draw 3d beam systems from there using the sloped ledgers and other members as my supporting members.

my question/suggestion is this. The roofs I used to get my boundaries no longer work in real life because they were drawn with boundaries and straight slopes using slope arrows. But the roof structure itself is warped, so you have purlins and other misc. members that rise above the roof plane as they follow the ledger slope and are pinned at a level end on their start ends.

Can you create a roof that would follow multiple work planes per boundary line similar to the beam system tool. I'm assuming no since I've already explored the option. I tried thinking of any other surface I could create via massing or in-place family to do this, but I don't think there is. Every other element in Revit wants to follow one consistand work plane or be defined by some kind of profile, which wouldn't work in this case, you actually need each boundary line to have it's own work plane similar to the beam system tool in 9.1

Suggestion is allow this to be done. I would be nice to show the roof as it is built. This also forces me to hide the roof itslef in my structural view because the structural view is set up to show hidden lines through these types of elements, floors, roofs etc., so you have some dashed elements where it is hidden by the roof and some that are not because they rise above the roof plane. I don't care much as I use a course view for structural views anyway, but it would be nice to have this functionality in the roof tool.

let me know what you guys think or if you have any suggestions on how this could be done. Thanks

Josh

[Tom Weir]

Hi,
I think you are correct when you say this is a non-planar roof and so your approach is difficult and not real world.
Try this:
1. Create a blended solid form to represent the warped deck, several if necessary.

2. Select all columns and attach to the underside of the deck.

3. With 3d snapping enabled draw girders from column top to column top, and to the ledgers.

4. Then add in your bay framing with the beam system tool, with the 3d snapping enabled.

If you need to edit the framing you can redo the deck and the column tops will stay attached to it. Unfortunatley at this time the girders will not stay attached to the column tops so you have to manually re-adjust them. The in-fill beams on the other hand will move with the girders. I have really been trying to impress upon the developers the need to keep the girders and column tops connected. It would make editing fairly simple.

In the future we hope to see a deck form where we can specify ridge lines and drain points and have the deck warp automatically to those points, eliminating the need for the blended solids.

Tom Weir
Los Angeles

[truevis]

Have you tried modeling your roof with a Curtain System by Lines?

Also, to get your view displaying the way you want, remember the use of Filters.

[ford347]

Thanks for the replies guys. I'll give the blended surface method a shot. Seems like it should work just fine from your example. I don't know much about the curtain tool when applying it to this scenerio. Thanks. Post an example if you have the time.


Josh