Sketching a Truss Family Layout

The structural truss family template provides 5 permanent reference planes: top, bottom, left, center and right; the left and right planes indicate the span length of the truss. Truss layout lines which end at these planes or are coincident with them will maintain this relationship during layout transformation in the project environment.

To sketch truss chords

Sketch a truss web

1. Click Create tabDetail panelTop Chord.
2. Sketch along the top reference plane to define the top chord. For more information, see Sketching.
   
3. Click the lock symbol attached to the line to lock the chord to the plane.
4. Click Create tabDetail panelBottom Chord.
5. Sketch along the bottom reference plane to define the bottom chord.
6. Again, click the lock symbol to lock the chord to the plane.
7. Click Create tabDetail panelWeb.
8. Sketch the panel webs.
9. If needed, place additional dimensions between sketched lines and reference planes.
10. Save this file to your Family directory. The truss type is now ready for loading into your model.
11. Click Create tabFamily Editor panelLoad into Project.
    Note: Remember to drag the truss into a plan view, not an elevation view.