Material (graphical) Legend

[dfi]

I am trying to make a graphical legend, not a schedule, that I can use to show graphically different materials on the facades of a project. Is it possible to show different material patterns and shades in a legend that correspond to the different materials used on the facades. I was hoping that I could use a wall as a 'legend component' and show it in elevation but only plan and section are available. Has anyone tried to put this information in a legend?

[Scott Womack]

I am trying to make a graphical legend, not a schedule, that I can use to show graphically different materials on the facades of a project. Is it possible to show different material patterns and shades in a legend that correspond to the different materials used on the facades. I was hoping that I could use a wall as a 'legend component' and show it in elevation but only plan and section are available. Has anyone tried to put this information in a legend?

Currently, there is no way to make this a "live" changing Legend. There are two options currently, one is to just put filled regions in the in legend, and manually manage it as CAD does, or look into the the two phases previous to a project methods. Search the forums for Tagging items in schedules, or Curtainwall Elevations, etc.

[hkossila]

Funny you mentioned this, I'm trying to do the exact same thing just today. In my case I'm doing exterior material takeoff and so I changed the materials to be a solid color so I can color coordinate my takeoff with the materials in the elevation view. But then I need to have a legend that shows what material is what color. If you're doing something similar you can try this:

Create a generic wall and name it whatever the material is ie: Brick Material. make the wall some thickness like 8" and go into structure and assign the only material you want to show, in this case brick. Since I have only solid colors, I changed the cross section pattern to the same color as the shaded color, and the pattern to solid. Then in the legend select your new wall, pick plan view, turn detail level to high and there it is. You can tag it so it matches the material called out on your schedule. If you want a nice little square, make the wall length to match the width of the wall when placing.

Obviously this is less than ideal, because the walls will also show the material color in your plan views unless you keep the detail level to low. But still, beats making filled regions and worrying about them matching.

check the following post for a better idea

[hkossila]

WAIT!!! BETTER IDEA!
Create a generic model family and call it material. Make it a simple extrusion, 8"x8" or so. When you finish the extrution, go to properties and add a shared parameter called material, make this a type parameter. Leave it default to "by category".
Load this family into your project. You aren't going to actually place this anywhere except in your legend. first go to the families in the project browser and find your new family. select it then go to properties. Create new ones of each material you need to show and in the materials parameter, select the material you want to show. When you have all these created, you can select them from the legens list, make sure to select one of the elevations, and change the detail level to detailed, and turn shading on. The material pattern and color should show up!