Unable to see Symboles in Ceiling Plan on Sloped Ceiling

[plavallee]

We are presently have trouble trying to place Electrical fixtures and equipements to a sloped surface in a reflected ceiling plan. When we place the family in the view which is set to a "Unlimited" view depth, the symboles do not appear, but we do see the 3d content of the family.

Does anybody know how to fix this?

[Matthew Stuver]

I have had this same issue last year. Basically you will not be able to see your 2D annotation symbol on a slop ceiling, its an issue with the software. With the angle of the ceiling the family does not recognize the slope, only perfect horizontal. You would need to create a new family to the angle of the ceiling in the model. l hope this issue gets fixed in the next couple of years. Sorry I cannot help you out more, just my two cents.

[mhartmann]

the only way i know to get around this is to mount the devices and fixtures horizontally. this will not work with ceiling hosted items, they will always conform to the slope of the ceiling, and therefore will not show the annotation symbol. if you are using face based content, you can set them on a workplane at the height they are to be mounted, or set them on the floor and move them in a section view up to the height they should be at. this way, they are coplanar with the view and the anotation symbol will show. a smoke detector, for instance, it's symbol (circle with an S in it here) will show in plan, in a 3d view, it will be a little crooked against the ceiling, not really a big deal. but if you're trying to do this with a light fixture or something bigger (that is supposed to be sloped), then it will look funny.
Mike

[james.klatt]

What types of things are you placing? Lights or something else? You can place lights on a sloped surface and there is a check box in the family under settings/family categories and parameters/ "keep vertical" something like that. It will allow you to host to a slanted surface, but will keep your family horizontal. That option is only available on certain family categories.

[patricks]

What types of things are you placing? Lights or something else? You can place lights on a sloped surface and there is a check box in the family under settings/family categories and parameters/ "keep vertical" something like that. It will allow you to host to a slanted surface, but will keep your family horizontal. That option is only available on certain family categories.

Any fix for this yet, or maybe planned for 2011? My elec engineer needs to show lights on a sloped canopy, but his lights appear horizontal and "floating" when linked into my model, because he has them hosted to a plane so that his symbolic graphics will show.

[matt__w]

Check out #9. I do believe it's available in the light fixture family.

http://revitclinic.typepad.com/my_we...mily-tips.html

[cporter.207875]

Any fix for this yet, or maybe planned for 2011? My elec engineer needs to show lights on a sloped canopy, but his lights appear horizontal and "floating" when linked into my model, because he has them hosted to a plane so that his symbolic graphics will show.

I created a 2x4 recessed fixture that has a parameter for specifying ceiling angle. The geometry is basically a solid cylinder with a void form cutting everything except the 24"x48"x6" geometry of the fixture. To do this I left an opening in the void form that is locked to a ref line that rotates according to the specified angle. This way the family is always vertical, while it appears to conform to the slope of the ceiling. Keeping the family vertical allows the detail component to be seen in plan, regardless of the ceiling slope.

See Attached.

[matt__w]

Keeping the family vertical allows the detail component to be seen in plan, regardless of the ceiling slope.

Ahhhh... forgot about that one. :\

Good point!

[cporter.207875]

I created a 2x4 recessed fixture that has a parameter for specifying ceiling angle. The geometry is basically a solid cylinder with a void form cutting everything except the 24"x48"x6" geometry of the fixture. To do this I left an opening in the void form that is locked to a ref line that rotates according to the specified angle. This way the family is always vertical, while it appears to conform to the slope of the ceiling. Keeping the family vertical allows the detail component to be seen in plan, regardless of the ceiling slope.

See Attached.

Also, I added a formula for the dimensions of the symbolic element so that it will appear to be the same dimensions as the sloped ceiling grid in plan. It is just a cosine formula using the ceiling angle parameter to determine the "plan length" of the fixture.

Now, this family was built for ceilngs sloping along the long axis. I would have to create a separate fixture if installed on a cross slope.

[kalimazoop]

Would you mind sharing that family? It would help in understanding how you configured the planes and voids in applying it to other lighting families.

either way, thanks for pointing out that face based functionality.