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Transcript
00:01
In this video, we will cover adding generic annotations to model families and using labels in generic annotations.
00:12
When creating families, you can choose for the actual geometry to appear or you can choose for a symbol to appear,
00:21
if you want a symbol to appear, there are multiple ways that you can handle this.
00:26
Let's take a look at some examples.
00:29
In this level one floor plan view, you can see several components that are using a symbolic representation.
00:37
When you change the scale of the view, you will notice that some of these components update in size.
00:46
I'll change the scale back to an eighth of an inch equals a foot.
00:50
And then we'll take a look at why some of them changed in size and some didn't,
00:55
select a lighting fixture and then click Edit Family,
01:00
in the family editor open the reference level floor plan view and then zoom into the lighting fixture.
01:08
This lighting fixture has symbolic lines that are constrained to the reference planes and so that they will match the size of the lighting fixture.
01:19
And so this is a great way to show a lighting fixture symbol, whereas the symbol will match the size of the lighting fixture,
01:28
and that is done with symbolic lines on the annotate ribbon.
01:33
In the detailed panel, you can find the symbolic line tool and you can sketch lines and constrain them to reference planes.
01:43
When you select a symbolic line, you can click visibility settings.
01:47
To open the family element, visibility settings dialog.
01:52
Symbolic lines will appear in views that are parallel to the creation view
01:57
and then you can choose the detail level that they will be visible at.
02:03
Click Cancel to close the dialog.
02:06
On the create ribbon, you will notice that there is a model line tool.
02:12
Model lines and symbolic lines are completely different.
02:16
While symbolic lines will display in views that are parallel to the creation view, model lines will appear in any view,
02:25
and you can control the visibility just like you would a model element.
02:29
So if you wanted the symbol to appear in a say a 3D view, then you could use a model line.
02:38
Let's switch back to the project and then select a duplex receptacle and click Edit Family.
02:46
Once again open the reference level floor plan view.
02:52
In this family, when you select the symbol, you can see that it was created as a generic annotation.
02:60
This is actually a nested generic annotation family,
03:05
and as you saw in the project, the size of this generic annotation changed when the scale of the view changed,
03:13
while model elements will always be the actual size, generic annotations will scale along with the view, similar to text and tags.
03:24
And so if you need a component symbol to scale then you want to create it as a generic annotation.
03:32
If you wanted a nested family and you didn't want it to scale, you could create it as a detailed item.
03:40
But in this case we have a generic annotation family and we can click Edit Family to open the generic annotation family.
03:50
In the family editor you can see tools that are similar to creating a tag family.
03:58
The generic annotation was created with lines and on the create ribbon there is a line tool.
04:05
These lines behave similar to symbolic lines.
04:11
There is also a label.
04:13
And when you select the label you can click Edit Label in the contextual ribbon to see the parameter that is added to the label.
04:21
In this case the parameter is called label.
04:27
I'll click Cancel and will close the edit label dialog and then we'll switch back to the duplex receptacle family.
04:37
When I select the generic annotation, you can see that the label parameter is associated to a parameter in the duplex receptacle family.
04:48
And if you click the button to open the associate family parameter dialog,
04:53
you can see that it's associated to a label parameter in the duplex receptacle family.
05:01
So what this allows you to do is set a label parameter in the duplex receptacle family and have the label in the generic annotation family populate.
05:16
I'll switch back to the project.
05:19
So as you can see there are multiple ways to handle symbols in a family.
05:25
You can either use symbolic lines or model lines.
05:28
Or you can use generic annotations or detail items.
05:33
Generic annotations will scale with the view and you can create labels and associate them to family parameters.
Video transcript
00:01
In this video, we will cover adding generic annotations to model families and using labels in generic annotations.
00:12
When creating families, you can choose for the actual geometry to appear or you can choose for a symbol to appear,
00:21
if you want a symbol to appear, there are multiple ways that you can handle this.
00:26
Let's take a look at some examples.
00:29
In this level one floor plan view, you can see several components that are using a symbolic representation.
00:37
When you change the scale of the view, you will notice that some of these components update in size.
00:46
I'll change the scale back to an eighth of an inch equals a foot.
00:50
And then we'll take a look at why some of them changed in size and some didn't,
00:55
select a lighting fixture and then click Edit Family,
01:00
in the family editor open the reference level floor plan view and then zoom into the lighting fixture.
01:08
This lighting fixture has symbolic lines that are constrained to the reference planes and so that they will match the size of the lighting fixture.
01:19
And so this is a great way to show a lighting fixture symbol, whereas the symbol will match the size of the lighting fixture,
01:28
and that is done with symbolic lines on the annotate ribbon.
01:33
In the detailed panel, you can find the symbolic line tool and you can sketch lines and constrain them to reference planes.
01:43
When you select a symbolic line, you can click visibility settings.
01:47
To open the family element, visibility settings dialog.
01:52
Symbolic lines will appear in views that are parallel to the creation view
01:57
and then you can choose the detail level that they will be visible at.
02:03
Click Cancel to close the dialog.
02:06
On the create ribbon, you will notice that there is a model line tool.
02:12
Model lines and symbolic lines are completely different.
02:16
While symbolic lines will display in views that are parallel to the creation view, model lines will appear in any view,
02:25
and you can control the visibility just like you would a model element.
02:29
So if you wanted the symbol to appear in a say a 3D view, then you could use a model line.
02:38
Let's switch back to the project and then select a duplex receptacle and click Edit Family.
02:46
Once again open the reference level floor plan view.
02:52
In this family, when you select the symbol, you can see that it was created as a generic annotation.
02:60
This is actually a nested generic annotation family,
03:05
and as you saw in the project, the size of this generic annotation changed when the scale of the view changed,
03:13
while model elements will always be the actual size, generic annotations will scale along with the view, similar to text and tags.
03:24
And so if you need a component symbol to scale then you want to create it as a generic annotation.
03:32
If you wanted a nested family and you didn't want it to scale, you could create it as a detailed item.
03:40
But in this case we have a generic annotation family and we can click Edit Family to open the generic annotation family.
03:50
In the family editor you can see tools that are similar to creating a tag family.
03:58
The generic annotation was created with lines and on the create ribbon there is a line tool.
04:05
These lines behave similar to symbolic lines.
04:11
There is also a label.
04:13
And when you select the label you can click Edit Label in the contextual ribbon to see the parameter that is added to the label.
04:21
In this case the parameter is called label.
04:27
I'll click Cancel and will close the edit label dialog and then we'll switch back to the duplex receptacle family.
04:37
When I select the generic annotation, you can see that the label parameter is associated to a parameter in the duplex receptacle family.
04:48
And if you click the button to open the associate family parameter dialog,
04:53
you can see that it's associated to a label parameter in the duplex receptacle family.
05:01
So what this allows you to do is set a label parameter in the duplex receptacle family and have the label in the generic annotation family populate.
05:16
I'll switch back to the project.
05:19
So as you can see there are multiple ways to handle symbols in a family.
05:25
You can either use symbolic lines or model lines.
05:28
Or you can use generic annotations or detail items.
05:33
Generic annotations will scale with the view and you can create labels and associate them to family parameters.
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