Page 307 - Divyank Tyagi

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The MAssing User inTerfAce And fUncTionAliTy 273

Figure 8.2
Building massing
in the family
editor

Let’s take a moment to clarify the difference between in-place component modeling and
massing. If you need to create a custom-shaped building element, such as the wall shown in
Figure 8.3, you would use the Model In-Place command. You would set the category to Walls
and then use either a blend or a sweep to generate the form of the wall. You’ll notice in the
figure that the sectional dimensions of the wall are not consistent.

Figure 8.3
custom shaped
wall as an in-place
element

If you wanted to use a wall assembly with consistent sectional dimensions but configure
the wall in a complex vertical layout, you would create a mass and then use the Wall By Face
command. In the example shown in Figure 8.4, a generic wall is applied to the face of a mass
that was created by generating a surface between two splines.

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