Monday, July 7, 2008

Curtain Systems - by Lines

Lets stick with Curtain Systems for a litte bit.
Creating Curtian Systems by lines is not the most common way I make curtain systems, but they can be very usefull and work very well as long as you are aware of their limitations.

Lets start by creating some model lines on two different planes (eg level 1 and level 2)

Now go to Modeling and Curtain System >>Curtain System by Lines
Click on one of the bottom model lines and then the opposite top model line and then click to a side blank area. Your first Curtain System will be created. Notice how it start off with only one panel.

Repeat the same on the remaining model lines. I then went to a plan view. In the modeling design bar select Curtain Grid. Hover the courser near the lower model line and Revit will suggest a location for a vertical curtain grid. Left click to insert the grid.
Work your way around to insert Curtain Grids on the rest of the system.

Notice how the Curtain Grids along the straight glazing are not parallel , but from a fan shape.
Below is the same Curtain System using create by face. See how the grid is parallel.
Continue the creation of the glazing and add Mullions.
So it's relatively simple. OK, now lets edit the shape. Select one of the original Madel lines and drag its end. The Curtain System will automatically update dynamically.
So I'm sure you can think of a few good uses for this method of drawing. This from of system in Revit is called a "Ruled Curtain System". You will notice how it doesn't have the same properties dialog box that a Curtain Wall by face has. In fact it has very few properties you can change. This is one of the big limitations of Curtain Systems by lines.

Finally the last thing I will say today on Curtain Systems is in regard to Tagging them. I forgot to mention in yesterdays post "Curtain Wall and Curtain Systems" that you can not use the "Tag" function on Curtain Systems. Tagging works perfectly on Curtain Walls. The image below shows all the categories you can create tags for, but Curtain Systems are not present.
This leads on to issues with putting window number tags on Curtain Systems. You can't directly. You end up having to use the Curtain Panels for Tagging purposes. This can obviously lead to some problems so care is always necessary.

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