Configure family geometry

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in this video, you'll learn how to create family geometry

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as well as control the visibility and graphic display of the geometry.

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You will also see how to use

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basic mathematical formulas to control family geometry.

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Once you have the framework of a family created,

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you can add geometry

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on the create tab in the forms panel,

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there are multiple tools to create solid geometry

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and there are multiple tools to create void forms which will cut the solid geometry.

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For this example, we'll use the extrusion tool

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when you activate the solid extrusion tool.

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There are multiple options in the draw gallery

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to create a shape that will be extruded.

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And for this example,

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we are working on a table family and so we

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can create a rectangular table top using the rectangle option.

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So we have the reference planes already created.

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So we can simply snap to the two points on the reference planes to place a rectangle.

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And after I do that you can see padlock icons

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and right now they're unlocked

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and I can click each one to then lock the sketch lines

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to the reference planes

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that way, when the reference planes update

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which they will do that when the parameters are changed,

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then it will also update the sketch lines which in turn update the

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extrusion.

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So right now I have all of those locked and then I'll click

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finish edit mode.

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And now we have

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geometry for our tabletop.

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Next I will open the front elevation view and you can see the

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extrusion here in elevation now and we also have two other reference planes.

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And so in order to constrain the geometry to those reference planes.

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I can use the arrow controls and I'll drag the top one up.

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And when I release it on that reference plane I get another padlock icon. I can lock it

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and I'll do the same thing for the bottom one

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and then I'll lock it

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that way. We have our geometry constrained on every single side to a reference plane

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that way, when we update our parameters, then the geometry updates as well.

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For example, on the modified tab in the properties panel, I'll click family types

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to open the family types dialog and we'll add some

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simple formulas to our parameters to see how they update.

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For example, for the width I will enter length divided by two.

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And then when I click in another field you can see that

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the width changes because it's now being driven by this formula.

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And if I change the length to eight ft you can

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see the width changes to four ft and I'll click OK?

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You can see that change there.

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I'll go back and make another change

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For the length. I will enter with plus two.

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And then I'll click OK?

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And then we'll go back and I'll change the width to six ft

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and then click OK.

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And so now our length is are always

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two ft longer than the width.

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So my point here is that you can use simple formulas to drive parameters that way,

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they're always obeying a specific rule that you create with the formula.

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Alright.

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I'll click OK to close this dialog and next we'll take a look at

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the geometry and ways to control the

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visibility and graphic display of the geometry.

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So a couple of things right off the bat.

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Solid geometry will have a visible parameter.

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So when I select the extrusion we can see in the

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properties palette that it has a visible parameter and this parameter

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cannot be controlled in a project but we can associated to

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a family parameter which can be controlled in a project.

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So I'll go back to the family types, dialogue

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and I'll create a new parameter

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and I'll call it tabletop visible.

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And then for the type of parameter we want to set it to Yes, no,

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that way it's either visible or not visible.

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And then in group parameter under I'll change

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that to visibility and then I'll click OK.

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And now we have a yes no parameter that can be controlled with the check box,

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then I'll click OK. And now if I go back to the visible parameter for my extrusion,

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I can click associate family parameter.

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And then in the associate family parameter dialog we have

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all the parameters will appear here that are yes,

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no parameters and in this case it's just the one

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so all selected. And then click OK.

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And now we can control whether that tabletop is visible or not with that parameter.

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Additionally,

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I can select a form which in this

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case our extrusion and then I'll click visibility settings

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and this opens the family element, visibility settings dialog.

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And here we can control the view specific display

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of the geometry.

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It's going to display in three D views and then we can

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choose whether or not it appears in the plan and RCP views,

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front and back views and left and right views.

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And then we can also control the detail levels that it is visible at.

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And so as you are working on families,

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you can get very complex with how the geometry is shown.

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I'll click OK. And then deselect

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the

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extrusion

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and next I'm going to switch to the manage tab and in the settings panel I'll

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click object styles and in the object styles dialog we can create a new subcategory.

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I'll create a new subcategory and call it

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table top and then click OK.

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And now we have a tabletop subcategory and then we can control the line, weight line,

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color line pattern and material for that subcategory

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separate from the main category of the family.

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So I'll click OK to close that dialog and then I'll select the table top

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and in the properties palette we can control the subcategory So I'll change it

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to tabletop and now we have a separate subcategory for that specific extrusion.

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So once again,

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lots of options and lots of flexibility to be able to control

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the visibility and graphic display of the geometry in your family.