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If you have the file called Curtain Project.rvt open, go to the 4th floor. If you do not, you can download it from here, or start your own model if you prefer. The model provided by me is in Imperial units.

Instead of going back and picking at the first set of curtain walls we added, let's concentrate on the north radial wall. In the 4th-floor plan, you will see the wall and two reference planes. If I have not stated the importance of reference lines before, I will reiterate that reference planes are the best!

The goal in this segment is to add a typical curtain wall, which will automatically space the grids and mullions, but then we need to focus on how to manipulate these grids and mullions to be in the positions we want. Also, we need to start adding other materials to the panels. Not all curtain walls are glass panels within a metal frame. Many times you will see other building materials applied to a curtain system as well.

In Level 4 find that curved north wall with the reference planes I mentioned before.
On the Basics tab of the Design bar, select the Wall button
In the Type Selector on the Options toolbar, select Aluminum Curtain Wall.
Click on the Element Properties
Set the base offset to 1'-0", the Top Constraint to Up to level: Level 8 and the Top Offset to: -1'0" as illustrated below.

Using the two angled reference planes as guides for the beginning and the end, draw in the curved curtain wall. Be sure to use the Arc passing through three points choice from the Options bar.

Go to the default 3D view and study the wall. It almost looks like there are additional mullions because of the fact that you can see the floors.
Go to the North Elevation.
In the North elevation, you will only be able to see the blue glass. That's okay. We want to actually align the curtain grids to the elevations. Yes, curtain walls are set up based on a grid system.
Place your pointer over one of the horizontal mullions just below Level 5.
Press the Tab key. A long dotted line will appear. This is the horizontal grid for that specific row. Once you see the dotted line, select it.
Once it is selected, you will see two temporary dimensions as well as a pin icon.

Pick the pin icon. There will now be a red slash through it. This unpins the grid line.
Select the Align button from the Tools toolbar.
Repeat the process for the rest of the grids.
Go to the default 3D view and study the wall.

Go back to the North elevation.
Select the lower left mullion as illustrated below. Once the mullion is selected, right-click. In the context menu, choose Select Mullions>Across Gridline.

Once all of the mullions on that specific grid line are selected, unpin all of them. Do NOT hit escape.
Delete them.
This procedure will still leave the mullions against the walls. Be sure to select the mullions at each end of the row and delete them, too.

The mullions are now gone in that area. You can see that the glass panels are still divided at these points. We can now change these glass panels to be a different material.
Place your cursor over the horizontal mullion above the bottom left 3' high panel.
You must then tab three or four times to select the actual panel.

Once the panel is selected, right click, and Select Panels>Along Horizontal Grid .
Unpin all of the panels. Do NOT hit escape.
Notice in the Options toolbar, the Type Selector becomes active. Select Basic wall: Stone wall - Weathered Limestone.
Repeat the procedure to the two rows above.
Save the model .

In the next session, we will add a completely blank curtain system, and apply our own grid system. Along With the custom grid system, we can start looking at custom mullion styles as well. Again, if you need this file, send me an email at ericaugi@gmail.com .

Also if you have a question, you can post it in the HotNews forum or email me at the aforementioned email address. See you next month!

(Discuss this Article! in the HotNews Discussion Forums.)

Submitted by Eric Wing, who has been in the building, architectural design, and structural engineering field for 15 years and has been managing, teaching, and presenting Autodesk applications for 10 of them. Eric′s activities within AUGI include: ATP Director, Survey Manager, ATP instructor, HotNews columnist and AUGIWorld columnist. He can be reached at atpmanager@augi.com