Create Form Using Revit Repeater in 2015 R2

When I first started playing around with Repeaters in Revit 2013 a few years back, I was very disappointed to discover that you could not select a Repeater and then create a form.
Well, in version 2015 R2 & 2016 there is a new feature that goes part of the way to solving this:

New feature in 2015 R2 & 2016:  Remove Repeater

Here is how it works . . .

• Create a new mass family (in-place or external)
• Set up your rig for the repeater to be hosted on - in this case I have 4 splines (2 pairs, above each other)
• Select the path elements - in this case the 4 splines
• Use the 'Divide Path' command
• Place an adaptive component onto the equivalent points on each divided path - in this case I have a 4 point adaptive component, snapped to the first point on each one

• Up until today, I would have known that you cannot create a form out of a repeater, so I would have laboriously placed several more adaptive components onto each set of divided path points. For that reason I would keep the number of points to a minimum

• When you select each of the adaptive components, it will allow you to 'Create Form'

• Unfortunately with an organic form this is not good enough - it does not follow the splines closely.  You need more more points on the divided path, and more adaptive components - not much fun if you have to manually add them

• If you are using Revit 2015 R2 or 2016 you can take advantage of the new feature:
• Get your mass family back to only one adaptive component hosted on the divided paths with lots and lots of points (as in the image above)
• Select the adaptive component, and Repeat

• Select the Repeater, and note that the 'Create Form' icon is not available (this is even the case if you individually select just the individual elements of the repeater)
• Instead there is a new 'Remove Repater' icon - go ahead and try it

• The repeater is "Dissolved" back to individual adaptive components.  One nice thing is that they remain selected, so you can go straight to 'Create form

• Now the form follows the splines much more closely

• Unfortunately you cannot adjust the locations of individual adaptive components on the rig, nor can you adjust the number of adaptive components that make the form - 
• If you increase the number of points on the divided paths, the form contracts along the rig

 

• If you decrease the number of points, Revit will give you a warning message that it cannot create the form - not a recommended workflow!