firstly, it's Matt Stachoni He's been around a long time! When I first switched from AutoCAD to Revit for curtain wall detailing I went down the road that Matt has described. What I found is, that method, of "live detailing" has a lot of pitfalls. I think that it would work fine for an Architect whom has control of their model, it's content, and most importantly changes made to that model. For me, and I assume other supplier to subcontractor detailers, I have to deal with linked models provided and revised constantly by others. It was a nightmare to try to keep detail component and Revit linework in the correct orientation and alignment with live views from a linked model. Every time a new model was distributed I would have to visually inspect each and every detail to try to discover changes. My current project has 3 linked models and they have been distributed weekly since March 2016. That's a lot of visual inspection! My curtain wall details are now 2D linework and detail components in drafting views. Curtain wall system details are built from components, annotated, and grouped. There is no AutoCAD anything in my Revit models although I do have to convert Acad details to Revit linework quite a bit and my process for doing that isolates the Acad content way far away from my Revit model. Here's an example of a curtain wall detail for my current project

That example is exactly what I'm after. I just need that knowledge crammed inside my head now.

Could you explain the process you were referring to just a bit more? Are you nesting individual parts (cover, mullion, pp) into a detail component or is it basically the detail you get from the manufacturer with annotations included in a single component? Is that nested in the profile to use at 'Fine' levels or are the details not connected to the model at all?

it's taken me 48 years to cram that knowledge into my head What version of Revit are you using, I'll upload a detail component group sample

2016 would be great

Here ya go...

That helped alot. I really appreciate it.

So that head detail would not be attached to the profile? You wouldn't see that in a section cut or a detail callout? If that's the case, what is the advantage of having the detail native to Revit if it's not 'live'? I'm not trying to start a debate, I just need the rest of the picture. It seems like an extra step to remove all the small lines and arcs to make it Revit ready if it's a static detail that is just inserted anyway. If the system changed you would need to manually change all the details correct?

And that is why Dave is my favorite Storefront guy (that I've never actually worked without outside of RFO :laugh

Why do some of your components start offset from the origin?

nope, no profile attach for me. OK, so you decide to associate that detail with a curtain wall head profile so when you create a curtain wall and cut a section through the head you see that detail. What good does that do you? You still have a multitude of other detail components and linework to add to the detail to make it communicate what is happening on the project and what is required to attach, weather, deal with expansion/contraction, show perimeter construction, etc. So you lay all of this additional Revit detail information on top of your "live" head detail. Two months down the road the Architect decides to lower the head 8" to accommodate above ceiling duct work. Where are you now? As for "removing small lines and arcs" I don't remove anything. I create Revit details, sometimes from scratch sometimes via a macro that converts Acad linework to Revit linework. While Revit has a "short line" limitation I've either figured out how to circumvent the issue or I don't worry about it. None of my customers have refused to pay me because my detail is missing a 0.014" long line in it. And, lastly, if the curtain wall system on a project is changed it's not any different that doing the drawings in any program. Someone will have to pay me to change all of the details. But I've got a library of details that is extensive and can do bulk detail changes by selecting all instances of a detail and changing its type. Still a PITA though. Frankly in the 7 years that I've been using Revit I have never had this happen that I can recall.

all of my details are built in a drafting view that has a "marker" at a point that was derived from 0,0 in AutoCAD. All of my details are created with that insertion point at center line of section at center line of glass. So, now I can easily copy/paste details from view to view using W1 (my shortcut for Paste Aligned to Current View)

my detail families are built the same way, with cl of framing and cl of glass as the insertion point. It's a standardization that saves me a lot of time not having to insert then move stuff.