Control the visibility of geometry in families with multiple configurations by adjusting visibility parameters.
This video demonstrates the following:
With visibility parameters, you can control the visibility of geometry in the family by turning the parameters on and off. This method can be useful when you have a family with multiple configurations. A visibility parameter can be used to control the configurations rather than creating and managing multiple families in a project.
In this example, a louvered shade family is placed on the building. The shade family has a support hanger element that connects to the building. To try a design without the support hanger, you can use a visibility parameter to control the visibility of the hanger rather than creating a new shade family.
Select the shade family and click Edit Family to open the shade for editing. In the shade family, the support beam and hanger were created as a nested family that has been arrayed. The geometry we want to control is in the support family. Press Tab and select the support beam family and click Edit Family.
In the support beam family, select the geometry of the hanger. In the Properties palette, click the control next to the Visible parameter. This control allows you to associate the Visible check box to a parameter. In this case, a yes/no parameter does not exist, so we'll create one. Click Add Parameter, enter a name, and group the parameter under Visibility. When you click OK, an equal sign is applied to the control in the Properties palette, indicating that it is associated to a family parameter. Load the support beam into the louver shade family and close it.
Because the support beam is a nested family, the visibility parameter you just created must also be connected to a parameter in the host family. Select a support beam in the array and click Edit Group. You must edit the group to gain access to the visibility parameter in the support beam family.
In the group edit mode, select the support beam and click Edit Type on the Properties palette. Click the control next to the support beam hanger visibility parameter to associate it with a parameter in the host family. Name the parameter click OK to complete the association. Click finish to finish editing the group and then load the louver shade into the project.
In the project, select a louver shade and edit the Type properties. Clear the support hanger visibility check box and click OK. The shade families no longer display the support hanger.
Because the visibility of the hanger is associated with a parameter, you can also use formulas to control it. For example, if you did not want the support hanger to be visible when the length of the support is below a specific value, you could control that behavior with a formula.
In the Family Types dialog, create a formula that checks the visibility parameter once the Support_Length parameter is greater than 650mm. Now when the Support Length is changed in the project, the support hanger will turn on and off based on the value.
Use visibility parameters and formulas to create more complex parametric families.