Curtain walls - Full detailed mullions and gaskets.. in 3D

[Tarabishy]

Hey everyone,

I have been around a couple of days around on this forum reading multiple posts about this topic... and what I have figured out is that the best way is creating a simple mullion profile and adding detail components to it to show up when cut in sections and so that is what I have been practicing and getting used to for an entry level job interview in an Aluminum Manufacturer within my country and it would have been my first job within that field of façade detailing/modeling and so on which I do not know much about but I got interested in after some research and studying a little bit b4 the interview.

So, anyway I went for the test, they wanted me to create a fully detailed 3D curtain wall with mullions including multiple components and extrusions... so I actually was not able to finish it out. What I did was creating profiles and extrusions for each component and nested them in one family but came along the part which I know I could not do anyway which is placing this family on the curtain wall system within a project which was a simple wall with couple squared horizontal and vertical mullions as a shape.

So, my question is how was I supposed to work around it or go at creating such a detailed 3D model for a curtain wall knowing I cant use the built in mullion profile in the OOTB CW system in revit.

Thanks in advance for all your replies.

[snowyweston]

First off, welcome to the forum!

they wanted me to create a fully detailed 3D curtain wall with mullions including multiple components and extrusions... .

Eeeesh.

I want to ask "Was this a "get the job" or "first day" test" - but it doesn't matter either way, if the answer is "yes" to either that's just plain rough, 1. cos' it's your first job (they know this right?) and 2. in Revit? Yeah, plenty of old hands at this game would have issues with the task...

You are in luck however, we've a member very capable in curtain wall game - he should be along shortly...

[kingjosiah]

.... he should be along shortly...

...Calling Curtain Wall Dave, help on aisle 15...

[Tarabishy]

Thanks for the welcome

It was actually a test before even the interview and did not make it through sadly, and that is what I didn't expect because it was a 0-1 year experience role.

But anyway, I still want to figure what should I have done tbh cause I studied quite a while before it and was searching multiple resources and nothing ever came up in my search on how to do it like this I only knew the way discussed here with is the simple profile with detail components.

[Twiceroadsfool]

Thanks for the welcome

It was actually a test before even the interview and did not make it through sadly, and that is what I didn't expect because it was a 0-1 year experience role.

But anyway, I still want to figure what should I have done tbh cause I studied quite a while before it and was searching multiple resources and nothing ever came up in my search on how to do it like this I only knew the way discussed here with is the simple profile with detail components.

Profiles with Detail Components is what Revit is "good at." The moment you want to get in to quantifying or having different objects for things like Extrusions, Gaskets, Sealants, etc, the Revit Curtain Wall "Mullion" tool is pretty awful. Its actually pretty awful all around, in terms of very detailed layout.

Sure, folks "make it work" and get pretty close. But if i was going to do this for an actual Curtain Wall Detailer, no way i would actually use Revit Curtain Wall. (Yes, i know some curtain wall detailers do it...) Inventor has a toolset thats built much better for this task, honestly.

For the couple of curtain wall detailer clients that we have, they actually use Revit Curtain Walls, but with Grids only (no mullions, no panels). The Curtain Grids end up just being an underlay, and custom families with the geometry properly built get placed on top, by the app. Heavier and much harder to use, for sure. But WAY better result.

[Dave Jones]

What Aaron said! Having been a curtain wall detailer for over 50 years, first with a drafting board, then AutoCAD, and finally Revit for my last 11 years I would NEVER in Revit model gaskets, sealants, or any other small accessory parts in a curtain wall. And an employer asking you to do so is over the top, especially from scratch, in an interview. 3D curtain walls should be constructed to accurately portray the vertical and horizontal grid patterns and dimensions, have simple profiles that accurately indicate the mullion face width and depth, and the location of the glazing in that profile. That's it. All of the other accessories are quantified by formula (exterior glazing gaskets = glass lite width x height x 2 for example). Finite detailing is done in 2 D with detail families. All IMO of course

[Dave Jones]

...Calling Curtain Wall Dave, help on aisle 15...

thanks for the call, I'll be down with my broom in a minute

[Tarabishy]

Yes guys, that is what I was thinking also while studying for the interview about quantifying and so on like the actual end result that one would need, I even came by a post by you Dave I guess about hotizontal and vertical mullions cutting at grids and to over come it in scheduling I would use a project parameter for grids and manually assign and so on to get the correct lengths.

But yet again they took me by surprise over there, so what I kept thinking after the test was how would i have approached such a model, I thought of making the extrusions in a family on their own and then have a curtain wall with panels only having the mullions cut width between them then I would model the extrusions on them, but I can't figure how I could do that last part in bold.

[Tarabishy]

Also, maybe they approach it without using a curtain wall system in revit by some other mean to just get the visuals I am not sure of their reason tbh.

[Dave Jones]

Also, maybe they approach it without using a curtain wall system in revit by some other mean to just get the visuals I am not sure of their reason tbh.

Nope, Revit curtain wall is the way to create curtain walls in my opinion. You may end up using Generic Models for some odd parts, like outside or inside corners but generally the Revit curtain wall tool has everything that you need to create accurate 3D curtain wall models.

oh, and BTW, I wouldn't have gotten that job either