This is a follow-up to a previous post about creating an offset parameter to shift a symbol up or down when faced with overlapping symbols in plan view. In the comments, both Jay and Julian mentioned that offsetting the symbols left and right would be preferable to just having the symbols offset vertically. To do this, we only need to make a minor change to the nested family containing the symbol, which will give us the result shown here.
Using an Offset Parameter to Avoid Overlapping Plan Symbols
I’ve been wanting to write about a technique I used recently while working on some families that allows for the symbols nested in them to be moved around independently of the modeled family. I learned about the process from R. Robert Bell, who explains the problem-solution as follows:
Masking Regions & Symbolic Lines
To make the most out of Revit content, including improving its performance when placed within a project, families should generally be modeled at Revit’s three levels of detail in 3D views as well as 2D views (see previous posts for examples of content I’ve created as such).
Generic CCTV Monitor and Entourage Families Bug in Revit MEP
I recently finished a project where among the families I did there was this CCTV monitor with a nested symbol. Starting from a face-based template, I created the base and the arm of the monitor and then created a couple reference lines to host the geometry for the screen. The family was generic and so I decided to allow the screen to be set to whatever size might be deemed necessary by the user. To that end, I figured the best way to set the size would be by entering the screen’s diagonal length in inches in an instance parameter. You can also tweak the ratio between height and width, but I left that as a type parameter. These are the parameters I created:
On Strengths and Weaknesses (in the Revit Family Editor)
There are plenty of posts around the net that cover reference planes in detail. So I’ll skip the obvious for the most part, and address what’s not being covered anywhere else. Reference lines, model lines, symbolic lines and masking regions are left for future posts.