By Dennis Collin
In the previous part of this ongoing blog, I was discussing repeating components, the detail of which can be found here:
I mentioned that it was possible to create our own repeating detail and incorporate that specified detail into an array that we wish to repeat. For this example, I will show how we can create a repeated 2D light fitting section detail that needs to be created at 600mm centres on a typical ceiling grid.
Firstly, create a new family and select the detail item template. In this new family, the component will be drawn above the reference plane denoting the origin, and additional reference planes will be placed to aid shape placement, with parameters added for sizing options as necessary.
Masking regions are also useful to ensure the correct display of the detail and hide model elements as required. This family will then be saved and loaded either into a project template, or into a library for use throughout the wider Revit team.
To achieve a repeating pattern within a library, the singular detail component needs to be referenced into a repeating detail system family. This is done by opening the library project or template file, accessing the ribbon menu and selecting the annotate tab, using the repeating detail option from the dropdown list.
Duplicating the repeating detail Revit tries to place and name the new family accordingly. We can then confirm the name and set the parameters of the array by choosing the detail family that we have created, set an array rule, with a suitable spacing offset.
In this example the layout will be fixed distance, with a spacing offset of 600mm and a 90-degree counter clockwise rotation. Depending on the desired component behaviour, settings might need to be varied, but for this example, the light fixture will repeat correctly.
This method works very well for many elements. However, there is a limitation when using this function with brickwork coursing as it is not possible to align intermediate references like mortar joints with either joints from another component or construction objects like reference planes. This issue will be covered in another blog soon.