Understanding BIM Techniques and Key Revit Terminology for Effective Workflow

When working with Revit software, you will frequently encounter specific terminology, including the following concepts:

1. Families and Masses: All elements used in Revit are categorized as families or masses. Depending on their context, families and masses can either be part of the project or exist independently. They can be further classified as follows:

a. System Families: These are predefined families within Revit. For example, common building components such as walls, windows, and doors are all part of system families. While users can customize their properties, creating new system families is not possible. A special subtype is the annotation family, which is a loadable family primarily used for annotations like text, dimensions, and tags. Annotation families are two-dimensional and only visible in the current view.

b. Built-in Masses: These families are created by users within a specific project environment. They can only be used in that particular project and cannot be reused across other projects.

c. Loadable Families, Metric Systems, and Conceptual Masses: Loadable families are independent of any project. Based on how their attributes are created and edited, they are divided into metric families and conceptual masses. These families can be copied, pasted, and loaded into multiple projects for repeated use. To modify their properties, changes must be made within the family’s original file.

2. Explanation of File Extensions: When working with Revit and Navisworks, certain file extensions help quickly identify the file type and its role:

a. RFA Files: These files represent all loadable families in Revit.

b. RVT Files: This extension denotes project files made up of multiple families. To edit loadable family properties within a project, you must return to the corresponding RFA file and update it there.

c. NWC Files: These are intermediary files used to bridge model data between Revit and Navisworks. After creating a visual model in Revit, you can export it as an NWC file for direct editing in Navisworks.

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