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View Full Version : Why is my massing study halftone?



mmiles
2009-04-21, 03:31 PM
Hi all - still using RAC2009 - my new project was a good opportunity to explore how best to begin a (single family,residential) project using massing models and design options. I have one principal question, and a secondary, but less urgent question.


I have three design options under one design option set. the first two have quite a bit of "detail" to them - in that I have cut voids, added some model lines for accents, and placed masses into one mass family. The first one was copied into the #2 option. The third option was started from scratch and is currently less "detailed" but does have the same kind of voids, and placed massed as the first two. However, option #3 (now my primary option) only appears as a halftone image in all the elevation views, while the 1st two options appear with nice dark line weights. Why the difference?
Less important, but I am curious why I get an error about not calculated floor volumes in my masses. I made a mass family (contains inplace mass with solids and voids, placed masses, and model lines)prior to creating design options. When I created two design options,I placed the mass family into each option. Once i tried to edit the options I was given an error: "mass contains geometry that cannot be combined. Mass Floors, volume, and surface area, won't be computed." In those two options I cannot generate floors. In the third option (created from scratch after the option was created) I can create floors - which is good - but based on problem one listed above....not so good, either.attached images show difference between options which have different line weights. (the differences in line weights in my Revit view are clearly more different than my JPGs might indicate, but I think the problem is still illustrated fairly well).

Thanks for input. Any opinions about massing and design options as part of the process for residential project (i.e. house) are welcome too.

mmiles
2009-04-21, 07:27 PM
ok all you crime stoppers out there, it appears to be related to the degree of transparency for the default mass material. however, each design option is using the same material parameter. The only thing is ,before I made the design options, I made the mass (which appears with bold black lines in elevation views) family with the material setting with 0% transparency. Then at some point, I change that parameter back to 10% and that seems to be the solution to my issue with the line weights for that (and subsequent) options.

the question now is why do the 1st 2 options not change according to the material setting transparency? They remain unchanged no matter the setting.