simple answer is no not really with OOTB beam families. but yes it is possible with an Advanced family or insitu sweeps.

There is an option with OOTB families that would work but it would require quite a bit of stuffing around and it may not necessarily provide the result you want depending on what your structure is doing. Is the entire beam sloping, or is it just the top face of the beam that needs to adjust? Don't forget that you can place a reference plane (give the plane a name) and then define that reference plane as the host for your beam. That is one option so depending on how complicated the slope is this may work for you.


If it is it just the top face of the beam that needs to adjust, you will want to take an existing beam family and modify it with additional constraints that allow you to modify the top surface slope of the beam while leaving the bottom face level.

Another option is the insitu sweep, which you can lock the top face of this extrusion to the bottom of the slab, that way if the slope modifies your extrusion will also modify accordingly. I made that sound simplier than it is in reality but its also not all that complicated to do.

Thanks for the help!

It seems like I'll have to look into Advanced Families. The reference plane option doesn't really work in this case just because all of the multitudes of beams going every which way, but that was the original plan.

The insitu sweep sounds very promising too. I'll look it up. Thank you.

Are you saying that the beams are sloped but straight, or are you actually needing to put a kink in the beams? If it is the former, then it is achieved by attaching columns to the slab and then using 3D snapping of your beams to the columns. If it is the latter, then it is trickier. There is a way it can be achieved with Dynamo, I believe. Marcello presented on it at AU and BILT, where it projects the flat framing onto a surface of any shape. The "kinks" in the slab may cause it to misbehave though. They may not clean up, or may be split into two beams, in which case you'd have to try and join/miter them together.

Are we talking steel framing or concrete? If it's steel framing it's not too complicated. Frame a beam into a column at the top of the column (top of col. same level as top of beam) When you click on the beam, in the properties under Structural you will find Start Attachment & End Attachment (you will only see both of these if the beam is attached to a column. From the pull down you can choose End Elevation or Distance. Make both ends Distance. Do this for all your beams. Once you do this you can chick on the column and Attach Top to the slab (make sure to select Intersect Column Midline before you attach the column). The ends of the beams will stick to the top of the column and slope. All your infill beams should slope with the girders. I'm not sure if this works with concrete framing as well.

Yes, this is the best process for maintaining sloped structures. When the floor is modified, the columns follow, and the beams follow the columns. If I recall correctly, you also want to make sure that "3D snapping" checked, when modeling the beams.

Yes, 3D snapping should be checked. One quick trick for cantilever beams(i.e. beams that need to slope but don't have a column or beam to connect to): I model a column and phase that column somewhere past the future. That way you can still attach the beam to column, column to roof, and then never see the column in any drawings.

I like that idea! I've used the "symbolic column" method where you have a column with no physical componentry whatsoever The beams can still snap to it and the column can still be attached to the floor (although you do get a warning that can be ignored, that they are attached but do not intersect).