halam Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 Hi , I was wondering how you guys deal with dimensioning complexer shapes that just youre avarage walls of a condo. Especially with round objects and faces that are not parallel (in infra this is very likely) The wierd thing is that the Revit system finds endpoints midpoints etc., lines can drawn between these points in a view and so i dimension these drawn lines. But the great disadvantage of this is that they will NOT update if the model is changed. This workaround is not ment to be. The pitfall is that one forgets to check lines and dimensions in all these different views and the 'old' drawn dims do not match the actual 3D model (!). I would really like to share some thought about dealing with the challenges involving dimensions or maybe annotating sizes in a different matter. Thanks in regard Hans designing bridge structures and stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobDraw Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 Are you dimensioning in a 3D view? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hlammerts Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 I do not understand you're question. The picture i posted is a section near a pilar of a fly-over. Do you know what that is, a fly-over ? I am talking about placing dimensions in sections, structural plan, detail view etc. etc.. (3d is not the question) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobDraw Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 What part didn't you understand? The upper portion of the image you posted looks like a 3D view. The dimensions on the lower portion seem to be at random elevations on a profile. Am I wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halam Posted January 8, 2016 Author Share Posted January 8, 2016 (edited) No! You are indeed wrong! It looks like but is not! I know a little revit what I am doing. You did not notice the hatches then? In is a view from a section as I described it! Please read and keep you're mind to the question if you will.. Edited January 8, 2016 by halam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halam Posted January 8, 2016 Author Share Posted January 8, 2016 I uploaded this video. hoped my problem with dimensioning is understood somewhat more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobDraw Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 (edited) I do not understand why you have to be so rude. I'm done here. Edited January 8, 2016 by RobDraw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halam Posted January 8, 2016 Author Share Posted January 8, 2016 (edited) I was trying to be clear. You answer all my questions with a question. Which I do not like much. But maybe next time there can be more chemistry between my Q and you're A. Edited January 8, 2016 by halam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tzframpton Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 Halam, what I do is this: initiate the Aligned dimension, hover over the endpoint, and cycle the Tab key a few times. Keep watch for the dimension anchor to highly only a single dot - when it does, snap your first dim line. Do the same thing to the other end. This way the dimension anchors to the actual endpoint, rather than using pseudo techniques. When I find to dimension planes not parallel, this is my approach and it has yet to fail me. You can also try the Linear Dimension tool rather than Aligned. The Linear Dimension looks for points, rather than planes. Hope this helps. -TZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halam Posted January 8, 2016 Author Share Posted January 8, 2016 Thanks. Still, in many cases it will not snap.. (my cases) I was wondering if there are possibilities to bring parameters, being dims inside a family, to be displayed as fields or tags outside it. Do you get the picture? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tzframpton Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 Thanks. Still, in many cases it will not snap.. (my cases)I was wondering if there are possibilities to bring parameters, being dims inside a family, to be displayed as fields or tags outside it. Do you get the picture? It should snap, unless this is a circular Family. In this Section I can't tell if it's rectangular or circular. Can you confirm for me? If it is in fact a circular column/pile/etc, then what you'll have to do is edit the Family to have Planes that flex to the diameters on the top and bottom. As long as the Planes are set to Weak or Is Reference in the Family, then you can dimension to it in a perpendicular view. *EDIT* Can you upload the Family so I can inspect? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halam Posted January 8, 2016 Author Share Posted January 8, 2016 No it really doesn't and as far as me and my colleagues know this is a know limitation. Like to grids not being parallel in combination with a section with a certain angle across. Is it possible for you to dimension this? With or without tab , there are plenty cases where we have to draw lines first.. I'm not the only engineer in office that manipulates it this way.. I will upload the model later. It is just a in place model we use very often. No two families are ever the same in civil Thank you for helping me out sofar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tzframpton Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 No it really doesn't and as far as me and my colleagues know this is a know limitation. Like to grids not being parallel in combination with a section with a certain angle across. Is it possible for you to dimension this? With or without tab , there are plenty cases where we have to draw lines first.. I'm not the only engineer in office that manipulates it this way..It may seem that Revit has shortcomings but I can assure you it doesn't. The only time something cannot be dimensioned in Revit is when it logically impossible. But Families must be prepped in advance. I do know that AutoCAD has things like "apparent intersection" and other fancy ways to pull dimensions but they are not dynamically linked to the geometry either - same with the pseudo workarounds in Revit. Again, is it possible for me to have a look at your Family? -TZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halam Posted January 8, 2016 Author Share Posted January 8, 2016 Right there : Logical impossible! That is where I just need them.. Happens often and we need these logical impossible dims. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tzframpton Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 I'm still not convinced that what you're dimensioning is logically impossible based off the screenshot you posted. Sorry to keep asking, but can you upload the Family or at least post a screenshot of it in 3D? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halam Posted January 8, 2016 Author Share Posted January 8, 2016 (edited) Great. I will state my question even more clear with part of the model later. Understand you are not convicted yet, neither am I on this matter https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6-6JB1a0xTcODViOF8zLTRaRGM/view?usp=sharing Edited January 10, 2016 by halam edit: uploaded model Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halam Posted January 10, 2016 Author Share Posted January 10, 2016 (edited) The model attached. My question is this: How can i dimension in a view the bottom and top of this pilar in such a way that dimension remain related to this subject? In other words, when the size or the position of (e.g.) of an object is changed the dimension should follow properly! without having to use and work through any unnessesary 2D detailing. I can think of two possibilities (but i do not know all the details ..): - use of ref planes or ref lines inside the family - use of variables inside the family which can be called upon (reported) in the view Thanks a lot! Hans Edited January 10, 2016 by halam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tzframpton Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Okay. I see what's going on. You have modeled an In-Place Family, which is a big no-no, especially for things like Structural Columns. Things like this, halam, really need to be created as a Loadable Family with parametric attributes applied. Your Family lacks substance and is nothing but geometry. This is never good with Revit. Here is a quick video I made in recreating your Family parametrically: http://screencast.com/t/JoQErYEkh Since I made the Column with Reference Planes, notice I can dimension it now. I've also uploaded the Family, although I don't have Revit previous to version 2015 so that's the version I have uploaded. Hopefully you have access to 2015. If you use InPlace Families, Revit will continue to trouble you. With all sincerity, I cannot stress enough to create geometry such as this correctly. Since you're doing a bridge design, the bridge road would warrant an InPlace Family - that I can see. Simply placing Reference Planes within the InPlace Family at the right spots would then allow you to dimension it - if this is what you need to do. Hopefully this helps you out halam. -TZ Example_StrcColumn.rfa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halam Posted January 11, 2016 Author Share Posted January 11, 2016 Always good to have somebody opinion how to model things in Revit and why they think it should be done in a other manner. Thanks for the tips. I will discuss this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tzframpton Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 No problem, Hans. Since you were willing to give me an example, it greatly helped me in helping you. Let me know if you need further assistance. -TZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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