Managing Revit families

00:05

VIVEKA DEVADAS: Hello everyone.

00:06

Welcome to our webinar about how to manage Revit families.

00:10

Thank you for joining.

00:12

My name is Viveka Devadas.

00:14

I'm your host and facilitator today.

00:17

By the end of today's webinar, you'll

00:20

understand how to manage and create Revit families

00:24

and how to add value to your projects.

00:26

So let me start by telling you a little bit about myself.

00:30

I'm Viveka Devadas, designated specialist, the Boston office.

00:34

I'm giving a brief introduction about my past role,

00:37

my interests, and how long I've spent at Autodesk--

00:41

four years at Autodesk and

00:45

Currently I'm an enterprise customer support specialist.

00:48

I work on virtual reality research projects.

00:51

My previous roles, I've been a project architect,

00:53

BIM coordinator, design instructor.

00:56

You can also find me on the Autodesk forums

00:59

and you can connect with me on LinkedIn.

01:01

So moving on to the core learning objectives--

01:05

what will you learn today?

01:07

We have a general overview of a Revit family.

01:11

We'll see how best we can create Revit families, how we can load

01:17

Revit families and the various techniques involved

01:20

in creating families or loading families,

01:23

and ultimately see how a Revit family can

01:27

interact in a project.

01:29

So before we begin, let me tell you

01:31

a little bit about our safe harbor statement.

01:35

So current statements in these presentations might change

01:38

and today's decisions need not be

01:41

made based on what you are looking

01:44

at in this presentation.

01:46

Let's have a quick overview of the Revit family.

01:51

What exactly is a Revit family?

01:53

Revit family is nothing but a group

01:55

of elements with parameters and a related

01:58

graphical representation.

01:59

All the elements that you add to the Revit projects is a family.

02:04

The variation within the family are

02:06

called family type or types.

02:08

Breaking down to the Revit elements,

02:12

we have model elements, view elements, datum,

02:15

and view-specific elements.

02:18

So model elements-- we have a host and a model component.

02:23

So as a host, we have built-in-place construction--

02:26

floors, walls, roofs, ceilings, stairs, and ramps.

02:30

And model components is everything else in your model.

02:33

In view elements, the way you see and interact

02:36

with things in Revit views interact

02:38

with all other elements, like floor plans, ceiling, 3D views,

02:41

elevations, sections.

02:43

And datum elements are non-physical items like levels,

02:47

grids, and reference planes.

02:50

View-specific elements may be 2D components like detailed lines,

02:54

filled regions, masking regions.

02:57

And annotations may be dimensions, text notes,

03:02

loaded tag, and symbols.

03:04

But let's take a quick look at a different kind of families.

03:07

We have system families, which are basic elements

03:11

that you would like to assemble on a construction site, not

03:14

limited to walls, roofs, floors, stairs, railings, et cetera.

03:19

Loadable families may be the components

03:21

that usually will be purchased, delivered, and installed

03:25

around a building, for example, fixtures like casework,

03:31

furniture, HVAC ducting, boilers,

03:35

water heaters, air handling units, and plumbing fixtures.

03:39

Finally, in-place families-- these

03:43

are the elements or the unique elements

03:45

that you create when you need to create a component that's

03:48

specific to a current project.

03:51

So when you create an in-place element,

03:54

Revit creates a family for the in-place element which

03:57

contains a single family type.

03:60

You can create an in-place geometry

04:02

and reference it in the project.

04:04

You can adjust and make geometry changes.

04:07

Moving on to the families where there

04:12

is a difference between host-based

04:14

versus standalone families.

04:17

So as you can see in the image here,

04:20

host-based families are dependent to a host,

04:23

such as walls, ceilings, and faces.

04:28

Once that list gets deleted the family

04:30

gets orphaned or deleted.

04:33

For instance windows, doors, walls sconces, et cetera.

04:37

Standalone families do not need a host.

04:40

They can stand or sit by themselves

04:43

like chairs and desks.

04:44

So now that we've seen what a Revit family is--

04:48

hosted and non-hosted families, let's look at the category.

04:54

So a family category is nothing but it controls

04:57

a lot of things like organizing visibility graphical

05:01

representations and scheduling options.

05:04

So depending on the category, you

05:05

can either create a cuttable family

05:08

or a non-cuttable family.

05:09

So moving on to cuttable families--

05:12

cuttable families displays as cut when the cut plane of view

05:17

intersects that family in all views.

05:19

And we have various options and settings

05:22

when a family is cutting plan like a reflected ceiling plan,

05:28

or we need to cut a specific 3D component.

05:34

On the next slide, you're looking

05:36

at non-cuttable families like cable trays, duct fittings,

05:40

ducts, electrical equipment, and fixtures or entries,

05:43

but always shown in views as projections.

05:50

These are non-cuttable families, as you can see in the image

05:53

below.

05:54

When editing a family we can also

05:56

create solid and void geometry.

05:60

We can cut this particular geometry.

06:02

We can load it into the project.

06:04

And we can also make the void to act upon solids.

06:09

So solids can be converted into void, and void into solid.

06:13

And you have a lot of editing tools within Revit

06:18

to make the necessary edits to your geometry.

06:21

So now that we have a good understanding of what a Revit

06:24

family is, the family types, different kinds

06:28

like cuttable and non-cuttable, let's

06:30

see how best we can create this Revit families.

06:34

Let's understand a workflow of creating families.

06:39

So a typical workflow would be to plan,

06:42

before beginning any creation, let's plan the family.

06:46

Whether a host is needed, is there a detail to be modeled,

06:50

and what's the origin of the family?

06:53

We also need to create a new family

06:55

file with the appropriate family template.

06:57

We need to define subcategories.

06:59

We need to classify the skeleton or the framework.

07:03

And then we need to flex this new model

07:05

to verify correct component behavior,

07:08

and finally, load it into the project.

07:13

Moving on to what a Revit family template is and how can

07:17

we make a new Revit family.

07:21

We do have a distinct family template

07:23

that corresponds to the type of element we need to create.

07:27

This template creates as a foundational block,

07:30

contains all the information you need

07:32

to start creating a family.

07:34

Family templates are named according

07:36

to the type of element the family is created from.

07:42

So let's take a closer look at the Revit family template.

07:46

So in a template you have project templates and family

07:48

templates.

07:49

And in project template you have architecture template,

07:52

structure template, and MEP template.

07:55

In a family template you have

07:59

and conceptual mass.

08:02

Taking a closer look at the 3D components,

08:04

we have hosted, unhosted and specialty.

08:07

In hosted we have a bunch of templates that are hosted--

08:12

wall base, ceiling base, et cetera.

08:14

The speciality-- we have speciality like ballast,

08:17

or framing truss, pattern-based, et cetera.

08:22

So let's keep moving on to understand a little more

08:25

on subcategories.

08:27

So subcategories-- why do we need to create subcategories?

08:31

Now subcategories display-- control

08:34

this display of different geometric components

08:37

of the family.

08:38

So we can assign different line weights, colors, patterns, even

08:43

material assignments to give different geometry

08:45

components of the family.

08:47

For instance, we could create the panel

08:49

in a different pattern.

08:51

We could add glass as a different texture.

08:54

It could even create an elevation swing.

08:56

And what is interesting is we can hide or unhide or override

09:00

the visibility graphic for each of these subcategories.

09:05

Now that we've seen subcategories

09:07

and how we can control the visibility graphics,

09:10

let's take a look at how we can assign and create

09:14

these subcategories.

09:17

So within the Revit, you need to go to the manage tab,

09:22

and then you have the object styles.

09:25

And then you can make a new subcategory.

09:27

Assign a new material to it, and then you

09:30

could also make some changes in the properties menu.

09:34

You could select the element in the family,

09:36

go to properties, subcategories, and also

09:39

assign a subcategory to it.

09:43

So now that we've seen how we can create,

09:46

let's take a look at the reference planes.

09:48

So reference plane is nothing but an infinite plane.

09:52

And it serves as a guide for drawing lines and geometry.

09:56

A strong reference has the highest priority

09:58

for dimensioning and snapping, and a weak reference

10:02

has the lowest priority for dimensioning and snapping.

10:05

A not a reference is visible in the project environment,

10:08

so you cannot dimension or snap to these locations,

10:12

as you can see on the figure on the right.

10:15

In a sense, it helps you to position certain elements

10:18

of your family, and also control the formation and position

10:22

of this 3D geometry.

10:25

But there are some limitations and challenges

10:28

where you need to draw this reference

10:30

plane to contain your geometry.

10:32

Your transformation should be symmetrical along the axis

10:36

that's x and y.

10:37

And then you should draw dimensions and equalize it

10:42

from the center.

10:44

Do not overconstrain.

10:46

You have to avoid the overconstrain

10:49

because you can use the align command and lock on each side.

10:55

For instance, if you move a particular dimension

10:59

by mistake, things might get messed up.

11:03

Moving on to reference planes--

11:05

let's take a look at setting up reference planes.

11:07

So setting up reference planes is constraints

11:10

between geometry in the family.

11:12

To make the family reliable, we make

11:14

sure to constrain the geometry to levels.

11:17

And then we need to define this origin.

11:20

Reference planes can be nested families,

11:22

can be snapped when loading into a host family

11:25

to better align and position the nested geometry.

11:30

Moving on to reference lines, it creates a 2D for reference

11:34

and it also has logical start and end points.

11:37

For instance, you can control the angle

11:39

of a curve of an elbow fitting.

11:41

We can parametrically control the angle of a door swing.

11:47

Certain steps to parameterize your family--

11:50

we can draw dimension lines and equality constraints

11:53

from center to make sure your transformation happens

11:56

symmetrically if required.

11:58

So you need to modify a window, you

12:01

can modify it by equality constraints.

12:05

So it fully applies to the entire family.

12:08

But make sure to lock all the sides of the geometry

12:11

and make sure that they are not overconstraints.

12:16

Label the dimensions with particular parameters.

12:19

Moving on to the visibility--

12:21

yes, visibility control can be added to these elements.

12:25

We can assign a yes/no visibility parameter

12:27

to hide and unhide a form in family.

12:31

It can be used to create different family types

12:34

or to adjust visibility in family instances

12:36

when placed into projects.

12:39

We can set visibilities according to the view type

12:41

and detail levels under visibility settings.

12:45

Materials-- moving on to materials--

12:48

we can assign material parameters to forms,

12:51

as you can see in the image and the UI.

12:54

You can click on the material, which opens up

12:56

an associate family parameter, which further opens up

12:59

to the parameter properties.

13:01

Material parameters can be associated with forms.

13:04

Parameter values can be added inside the family

13:07

or the project once loaded.

13:09

We've seen how to make Revit families.

13:12

We identified the different types of Revit families

13:15

and how we can load that into the project

13:17

and how we can apply constraints.

13:20

So the next part of a family is applying

13:22

materials-- these are known as painting parameters.

13:26

You can paint with material parameters.

13:28

For instance, you can paint the interior of the shell

13:31

with a totally different material parameter, which

13:34

would allow you to also have a different material on the faces

13:37

inside or outside.

13:39

Now let's move to the next objective.

13:42

We're going to take a look at the advanced loadable

13:45

techniques relating to Revit family.

13:49

We have a concept called nested family.

13:52

Now what exactly is the nested family?

13:54

A nested family is an insert of several nested families

13:58

within a host and usually combined geometry.

14:02

So for instance, there are repeating

14:04

elements inside a family.

14:06

And when we make nested families it

14:08

makes it easy for us to deal with complex geometry.

14:12

Rather than create a door family with all the components inside,

14:15

you can create a family and directly

14:17

model the frame and the door panel

14:19

and nest the rest of the components, that's

14:22

lock, handle, overhead closer, floor plan symbol, et cetera.

14:29

So we also have to share or not to share families.

14:33

By default, families are not shared.

14:35

So if we need to enable the families sharing option,

14:40

we need to enable the shared function,

14:42

where we need to go to properties and check share.

14:46

Same thing applies for the family category,

14:48

as you can see in the image on the right.

14:51

Moving on to nested families-- there are certain protocols

14:55

to be followed.

14:56

When nesting our not shared families,

14:58

components created by the nested family

15:00

act within the rest of the elements as a single unit.

15:03

Nested families do not appear in project as standalone projects.

15:08

When nesting a shared family, nested and host families

15:11

should be treated separately, because nested families might

15:15

appear in project as a standalone family.

15:18

So it's important to make and pay

15:21

special attention in which category

15:23

you're going to place the nested families.

15:27

Moving on to nested families--

15:30

let's look at a typical window family example.

15:34

Now rather than modeling a combination of window family

15:37

from scratch, you may consider to create a combination window

15:41

family by loading the double hung and fixed family

15:44

into a new window family.

15:46

For instance, in the figure A you see an unshared family.

15:50

And in the figure B you see a shared family.

15:54

So you can consider creating this combination family

15:57

by just loading the double hung and this fixed family

16:00

into an absolutely new window family.

16:03

And that is how the nested family

16:05

will behave as a single component within the building

16:08

models.

16:10

Now that they have an understanding of the families,

16:14

let's see how this works with interchangeable components.

16:19

Now that we apply a family type parameter

16:21

to a nested component, you can create families

16:24

with interchangeable sub-components.

16:28

This kind of family parameter allows

16:29

you to control which nested family should be used

16:32

for that particular object.

16:35

Nested family become one or more variable

16:37

inside the main family.

16:41

Now how do we create a family type parameter?

16:44

Load the components that you want to nest within the family.

16:47

Let us load several panels.

16:50

You can create model components.

16:52

Select an element in the type selector.

16:54

Place the component at the desired location.

16:57

You can then show when components get swapped.

16:60

They remain in the same position and the same sites.

17:03

Then select the nested component.

17:05

You can label at the option bar as add parameter.

17:10

So what it does is, in the parameter properties

17:13

under the parameter type, when you select the family editor.

17:16

You can enter the parameter data.

17:18

You can enter a name for the parameter

17:20

and select either instance or type parameter.

17:24

Finally, you could load and save that particular family

17:27

into the project.

17:28

Then you can add that component to the building model,

17:31

and then select it.

17:33

Or you can select a totally different component

17:36

from the pull down list, or from the dropdown list.

17:41

So now that we have an understanding

17:42

of nested families, there are certain things

17:46

you need to know.

17:47

The first approach it's not possible to access parameters

17:50

in nested families once the host family

17:52

is loaded into a project.

17:54

So it's important to understand what a host is,

17:57

what a nested family is, and how you can control the instance

18:00

perimeter for this particular family.

18:03

However, you can associate a host family perimeter

18:07

with more than one listed family parameters of the same type.

18:11

You can associate this parameter with multiple listed families.

18:16

Of course, there are some restrictions,

18:18

like annotation families can be loaded into other annotations.

18:22

only detail families can be loaded into details.

18:26

So the host family is an instance,

18:28

the nested parameter must also be an instance parameter.

18:31

So we need to use instance parameters in nested families

18:35

for flexibility.

18:38

Let's take a look at associate parameters for model text.

18:42

These act like a nested family and the format

18:45

can be controlled by parameters in the host family.

18:52

So you can create parameters to control a variety of categories

18:56

like font size, text size, depth,

18:60

and you can even modify the font to bold or italics.

19:04

Let's see about how we can add a generic annotation in the host

19:08

family.

19:10

So you can add editable text.

19:12

You can use symbols.

19:14

You can resize a scale.

19:15

For example, here you can see a dishwasher and a washer.

19:19

So you can add these elements, you can override,

19:22

you can hide and hide and label these particular parameters.

19:29

[INAUDIBLE] load generic and annotations in the project,

19:32

suggest a title block or a note, or even

19:35

a sheet list or a material takeoff.

19:38

Even if they're not visible in the label,

19:40

they can be managed from certain options you have available.

19:45

Detailed components-- so as you can see in the image

19:48

on the right--

19:49

detailed components.

19:50

So these are Revit families that can

19:52

be placed in drafting or detailed views

19:54

to add more information or more layering to the model.

19:58

The fast method of detailing than drawing individual detail

20:01

lines is the detail component.

20:03

So we can nest the detailed components

20:05

within the host family.

20:07

For instance, there is a tip where you can also

20:09

import a DWG file and apply the same visibility controls to it.

20:15

You can also have multiple detailed components

20:20

displayed at particular visibility levels.

20:25

Moving on to work plane-based families--

20:28

as the name implies, you can also

20:30

create families that are set on particular work planes.

20:34

And then once more as you could go and edit that work plane.

20:37

You can modify the components work plane

20:40

by options you have available.

20:43

You can create a family that's hosted by an active work plane

20:47

and it can be even in a particular angle,

20:50

not necessarily horizontal.

20:52

For example, in particular models,

20:54

you might have inclined, curved ceilings.

20:57

So you can make a family at a plane-based family.

21:04

Some of the examples are like placing

21:07

an AC component or a chandelier or a water heater or even

21:11

trees, and these may not always be vertical,

21:14

but you can also be aligned or it can

21:17

adapt to the slope of the host.

21:21

Now that we've seen nested families

21:23

and how we can also work in particular planes

21:26

and with constraints and restrictions,

21:29

let's take a look at room-aware families.

21:31

So these families such as furniture, doors,

21:33

windows, casework, et cetera, have the possibility

21:36

to be room aware.

21:38

Some part of the instance geometry

21:40

are located outside the room, space,

21:42

or within another family, which results in no calculable room

21:45

values being reported.

21:48

So we can modify the position of the room calculation point

21:51

if an instance is not associated within a room

21:54

or with the correct one and to reflect in schedules.

21:59

Adjust from the room and to room calculation

22:02

from doors and windows--

22:04

when window and door families have

22:06

enabled the room calculation point,

22:08

from/to path detection displays.

22:11

We can select this particular spot.

22:13

And we can determine what exactly the family--

22:17

where exactly the family needs to be located.

22:20

We can also use controls like flip control

22:23

to reorient this particular direction

22:26

and to access movement controls.

22:29

Let's look at the final objective.

22:31

We are actually going to see how this entire Revit family

22:34

creation is going to interact in a project-based setup.

22:41

Another thing which I want to cover real quick

22:44

is replacing a family.

22:45

You can, of course, you have an option

22:47

to replace this family in a project with a different name.

22:51

So in the project, under families,

22:53

you can replace and reload a particular family.

22:56

And the old family will be rewritten-- or I'm sorry,

22:59

will be overwritten with the new family,

23:01

and the new name will appear in the project browser.

23:06

Once loaded, families become part of the project.

23:09

It's embedded in the project.

23:11

So when collaborating on the sharing the model,

23:13

the source file of the family does not

23:15

need to be transferred to the loaded families.

23:18

All loaded families can be accessed under your project

23:21

browser.

23:23

Instances within the view and the project

23:25

can be selected directly from the family browser, which makes

23:28

mass amendment very smooth.

23:32

Let's move on to type catalogs.

23:34

What exactly is a type catalog?

23:36

It's a dialog that lists all the available family types.

23:40

You can search and filter before you

23:42

load the types into a project.

23:44

This helps decrease the project size,

23:46

minimize the length of the time selector list

23:49

when selecting families.

23:51

For instance, when you load the entire structural column

23:54

family, you must scroll through dozens of similar column

23:58

families in order to make your selection.

24:01

But here, this type catalog will help

24:04

make life easier by simplifying this particular column

24:07

family you want to install.

24:11

You can also load this family with a specific time catalog

24:15

by the insert tab or load from the library panel.

24:18

You can select multiple types by pressing control

24:21

during selection.

24:22

And you can also narrow down the range of the search item

24:25

by selecting specific parameters from the list

24:28

at the top of each column.

24:32

You can also upgrade families, but you

24:36

have to have a few key points.

24:39

Keep in mind for upgrading families, Revit families,

24:42

just like Revit projects, cannot be downgraded to a lower

24:46

version.

24:47

All Revit families should be in the version of the host model.

24:52

So if you are designing in 2018 and you're

24:55

working on the host model in 2022,

24:58

your Revit family should also be in the same version of the host

25:02

model.

25:03

For instance, the 2020 family cannot be downgraded to a lower

25:07

version.

25:09

So when you start Revit it and load

25:11

a family that requires an upgrade,

25:13

the upgrade process begins automatically

25:16

in the background.

25:17

A dialog displays an informational message

25:20

indicating the software release of the model and the release

25:23

to which it can be upgraded.

25:25

Depending on the size of the model,

25:27

the upgrade process can take a while.

25:30

After the upgrade is complete, save the model

25:33

to avoid the need to repeat the process.

25:35

That upgrade is possible using Dynamo.

25:40

Moving on to automation with Dynamo--

25:42

as you can see in the figure on the right, in family management

25:45

you have the option to bulk load or upgrade

25:47

from a complete folder.

25:49

You may need in your project to load a large number of families

25:54

to continue with your work and to save time.

25:56

You can use this script to load them all at once.

25:60

Even when you are starting a new project

26:01

or jumping on a new phase of a project like a renovation case,

26:05

it's good practice to update or load several necessary families

26:09

at the same time.

26:11

Best practices for modeling families--

26:15

will the family need to accommodate multiple sizes?

26:18

How should the family display in different views?

26:21

Does the family need a host?

26:22

How much detail should be modeled?

26:24

What is the origin point of this family?

26:27

Will this family be used for a room calculation point?

26:32

Best practices for modeling Revit families--

26:35

checklist of modeling Revit families.

26:37

Minimize the complexity of geometry and do not over-model.

26:42

You can go through the list, but I want to highlight,

26:44

you can flex this family to make sure everything

26:47

is working as expected.

26:49

Don't use a lot of voids in your family geometry.

26:52

And don't use a lot of formulas and arrays if possible

26:55

in your project.

26:57

Not all families need to be parametric.

26:60

You can create family components and set up

27:03

in place in place families if you're using it repeatedly

27:07

inside a project.

27:08

Do not leave an imported DWG or SAT

27:11

file because that might cause some miscellaneous elements

27:17

and sticking in your project model.

27:21

I hope that was helpful to you.

27:23

So here you have some additional resources

27:26

where you can browse upcoming webcasts and live events,

27:30

and you can also share expertise with industry peers and product

27:33

teams.

27:34

You can visit our enterprise hub,

27:36

where you have access to all of these previous webcasts

27:40

and this current one.

27:43

Thank you.