Align Model Hatch in Curtain Wall Panel

[pnelson]

I have written a custom hatch pattern to represent grid lines of Kalwall panels. I had no problem importing the hatch, or placing it on the curtain wall panel. However, I cannot shift the hatch using align, similar to shifting masonry hatch. It is centering the hatch on the panel. The windows are 3'-0" wide. The grid is 12"x12", so i should have 3 lights across. It is centering the hatch, so now i have 2 full 12" lights, and a 6" light to either side. Is there some other way to shift model hatch on curtain wall panels, or is there another way i need to represent these lines? an image is attached. any help is appreciated.

[Andre Carvalho]

You have probably centered your hatch with the center reference plane on your curtain panel family. What you can do is to edit the family and add a dimension from your center reference plane to one of your hatch lines, set it to 6" and lock it. To select the hatch line you will have to use the TAB key.

Don't try locking the hatch line with the left or right side reference planes because Revit won't accept it when loading into your project.

Andre Carvalho

[pnelson]

i didn't create the family from scratch. i duplicated a system panel: glazed. using element properties, and edit/new i changed the surface pattern under material to my custom hatch pattern.

when i select the panel, if i right click i cannot choose edit family. i can click edit on the toolbar. this appears to let me edit the window, however, i cannot see the hatch pattern. there is also no reference plane. i have them turned on in visibility/graphics override. am i missing something? should i have set this panel up in a different way? attached is an image showing what happens when i click edit on the toolbar.

[Andre Carvalho]

I see what you mean. I don't think it will work if you are using system panels unless you edit the pattern you created and move the origin 6".

I thought you were using a curtain panel family you created. My example above explains how to do it using panels created using the curtain panel template. If your panels are rectangular you can easily create a curtain panel from the template family and follow my suggestion. This will make your pattern work without editing the pattern itself.

Andre Carvalho

[pnelson]

I tried creating a curtain panel family from the template, but didn't have good luck. the panel doesn't resize correctly, and i can't even figure out how to get the hatch onto the panel. any suggestions for a tutorial on this? i have compared what i have done by looking at some of the stock panels, and don't see why my panel won't work correctly.

on another note, i rewrote the hatch pattern and offset the origin 6 inches and re-imported the hatch. while it fixes the problem graphically, to me its not really a solution. i would like to figure out how to make the panel hatch operate the same way every other hatch does, where it will function with the align tool. that way i can change it quickly in the future, without rewriting the hatch pattern. any suggestions?

[Andre Carvalho]

I tried creating a curtain panel family from the template, but didn't have good luck. the panel doesn't resize correctly

Make sure you align/lock the geometry to the left and right reference planes. if you are still having problems, post the family here, if you don't mind.


i can't even figure out how to get the hatch onto the panel.

If you can't load your pattern to the family itself, just create a material parameter to your panel, so you can choose it later on the project. Once you do it there, editing the family again will bring the material (and pattern) to the family editor. From there, you can use align to the center reference plane or add dimensions to it as I've mentioned on my post above.

I hope it helps,

Andre Carvalho

[pnelson]

thanks for the last bit of advice. i was finally able to get the panel to resize correctly, and the hatch pattern is now in the right place, although i did have to change the origin back. it still won't align like other hatch on walls does, but i know how to control it now, editing it within the family editor.

thanks again.

[ppaige]

I just wanted to chime in on this because I was having this exact same issue (modeling a Kalwall panel, no less). I went into the family and set the reference plane to be equal between two hatch lines, and now it works fine.

However, I'm still confused as to why it works this way. You can align hatches every which way on walls and the like - what makes curtain wall panels different?

[tonyisenhoff]

Alternate solution...

Create a basic glass wall with the surface pattern you want. Instead of replacing your CW panel with another panel, replace with this wall... You can then use the align tool to alter the surface pattern's position.

The downside of this is the display in plan. The panel (which is now replaced with your glass wall) will have a thicker cut line than a CW panel. You may have to override that wall's cut lineweight to get the display you want. We've created a filter (thru Visibility/Graphics) to accomlish that quickly and globally per view.