Neat Baluster Panels

[Chad Smith]

How does one go about making the baluster panels in a railing finish neat up against a post?

This is the first time I have needed to do a glass panel which has to infill between the posts exactly, but I cant seem to find anyway to do it.

[Scott Womack]

How does one go about making the baluster panels in a railing finish neat up against a post?

This is the first time I have needed to do a glass panel which has to infill between the posts exactly, but I cant seem to find anyway to do it.

Try defining the Glass as a Railing, instead of a baluster. Then the glass will be continuous, follow the rake of the stairs, turns, etc. If the posts, or joints in the glass are just a hair wider than the glass, they'll show up in elevations and renderings.

[Chad Smith]

Sorry, maybe I wasn't clear.
The railing is already a railing object, I just want the Baluster-Panel component (which is the glass) to automatically stretch between the posts neatly. i.e. So there is no gap between the outside of the post and the edge of the glass.

[Rick Houle]

I believe the previous post was suggesting that the glass (as a railing object) can be continuous and pass through the center of the posts, leaving no gap in print or render
I've never tried this but it sounds usable, assuming i interpreted it correctly.

On another note, some people here in my office claim to add "masking regions" to baluster families to blot out what is behind them...
(thought it was neat - just wanted to share that)

[Andre Carvalho]

I think defining the glass panel as being part of the railing is a nice suggestion bit it would make a continuous glass through the baluster (even on the top edge of the post) and I don't think this is what Chad wants...

You can try creating a baluster family that contains both the post and the glass panel (already set to with no gap between the outside of the post and the edge of the glass). If creating a post-glass-post baluster family, the posts will overlap and can't be seen. Then in the baluster dialog box, just use the entire thing as a pattern. The distance from previous will be the distance from the center of this baluster/glass panel pattern to the next one center. Also, don't use the Justify option as "Spread pattern to fit".

Andre Carvalho

[greg.mcdowell]

I like that idea.

No, it's not technically accurate but it does get the point across at snall scales and can/should always be detailed "correctly" in large scale views.

It's particularly useful while you're designing. I'm definetely going to give this one a shot.

[Scott Womack]

Sorry, maybe I wasn't clear.
The railing is already a railing object, I just want the Baluster-Panel component (which is the glass) to automatically stretch between the posts neatly. i.e. So there is no gap between the outside of the post and the edge of the glass.

There is no way to get the width of a baluster panel to scale correctly that I have found. That is while I define the Glass as a railing component, not a baluster component. That way it is continuous and avoids having a buck of railing families, each with a slightly different sized baluster panel with different widths.

[Dimitri Harvalias]

This has been one of those minor annoyances in the Revit railing tool. I usually use the same glass as railing approach.
Generally this type of rail has the glass captured on the top and bottom rail and this is where the problem occurs. Revit can not adjust the baluster size to fill the gaps for different spacings of posts. It might be nice if the balusters worked somewhat the same as the curtain grid tool. Wherever you place a grid the baluster is placed. Predefined patterns are OK for regular spacing.

[Chad Smith]

Thanks for the responses.
Andre is correct that I need the gaps in the glass. I have given all suggestions a try and unfortunately haven't come up with a satisfactory result.
Probably the closest we have come up with is to use a Curtain Wall, but even then it results in gaps in the handrail due to the way curtain walls trim mullions.

My last attempt will be a Generic Line based Model.

[dbaldacchino]

You should be able to get the glass to butt-up against the post. It's all in how you define the spacings in the Baluster placement dialog. Can you post what you've got so far?

[Chad Smith]

Here ya go.

[Andre Carvalho]

Thanks for the responses.
Andre is correct that I need the gaps in the glass. I have given all suggestions a try and unfortunately haven't come up with a satisfactory result.
Probably the closest we have come up with is to use a Curtain Wall, but even then it results in gaps in the handrail due to the way curtain walls trim mullions.

My last attempt will be a Generic Line based Model.

Chad,

If using a curtain wall to create it:

To avoid having my vertical mullions cutting my horizontal mullions or vice versa (and therefore creating the gaps in the handrail) you may use the two curtain wall trick. One has the panels and the vertical mullions (acting as posts) and the other only the horizontal mullion (acting as handrail). Create the first one, copy, paste at the same place and switch the type.

Another option is to model everything in your panel family. Half post, glass panel and half post. Also include the handrail. When creating the curtain wall, use no mullions at all, and the panels will meet at the curtain grids. The two half posts meeting together will create your post. The handrails will connect just fine too.

Andre Carvalho

[Chad Smith]

To avoid having my vertical mullions cutting my horizontal mullions or vice versa (and therefore creating the gaps in the handrail) you may use the two curtain wall trick. One has the panels and the vertical mullions (acting as posts) and the other only the horizontal mullion (acting as handrail). Create the first one, copy, paste at the same place and switch the type.
Thanks. This is the route I have decided to go. It has the added benefit of dealing with the corners a bit easier where the glass and posts have to stop but I need the handrails to mitre.

[dbaldacchino]

The file is corrupted :(