Essential Fundamentals of Revit Family Creation

All elements in Autodesk Revit are based on families, a powerful concept that helps you manage data and make modifications with ease. Each family element can include multiple types, and depending on the family creator’s design, each type can have different sizes, shapes, material settings, or other parameter variations. One of the benefits of using Autodesk Revit is that you don’t need to learn complex programming languages to create your own component families. The Family Editor allows you to create families within predefined templates, adding parameters such as distance, material, and visibility according to your needs. You can use the Family Editor to design real-life building components as well as graphic or annotation components.

Contents:

1. Three Types of Families in Autodesk Revit

2. Adding Families to a Project

3. General Steps for Creating a Standard Component Family

4. Understanding Reference Planes, References, and Defining the Origin

1. Three Types of Families in Autodesk Revit

System Family: System families are predefined within Autodesk Revit and include basic building components such as walls, windows, and doors. For example, the wall system family contains types like interior wall, exterior wall, foundation wall, regular wall, and partition wall styles. You can copy and modify existing system families but cannot create new ones from scratch. However, you can define new family types by specifying different parameters.

Standard Component Family: Standard component families are typically loaded by default in project templates, with additional families stored in the component library. You can create and modify these components using the Family Editor. Existing component families can be copied or modified, and new ones can be created based on various family templates. Family templates may be subject-based or independent. Subject-based families require a host, such as a wall (the main family), while independent families include elements like columns, trees, and furniture. Standard component families exist outside the project environment as files with a .rfa extension. They can be loaded into projects, transferred between projects, and saved to your library as needed.

Built-in Family: Built-in families can be either model components or annotation components specific to a project. They are created within the current project only and are used for unique objects, such as custom walls. When creating a built-in family, you select a category that controls the component’s appearance and display within the project.

2. Adding Families to a Project

To add a family to your project:

1. Open or start a new project.
2. You can either drag the family file into the document window or use the menu: File > Load from Library > Load Family to load it.
3. Once loaded, the family is saved with the project and appears under its category in the Project Browser. The original family file is not required to run the project but should be saved in a commonly accessed folder.
4. If the original family file is modified, you need to reload it into the project to update the family.
5. To load a family manually, go to File > Load from Library > Load Family, locate the family file, select it, and click “Open.”

3. General Steps for Creating a Standard Component Family

1. Choose an appropriate family template.
2. Define subcategories to control visibility of family objects.
3. Use layout tools to draw reference planes that define the component’s geometry.
4. Add dimension annotations to specify parameterized geometry.
5. Label dimensions to create type or instance parameters.
6. Adjust the model to verify that the component behaves correctly.
7. Use subcategory and entity visibility settings to control the display of 2D and 3D geometry.
8. Define different family types by specifying various parameters.
9. Save the newly created family, load it into a project, and test its functionality.

4. Understanding Reference Planes, References, and Defining the Origin

Before creating component families, it is important to understand these basic concepts:

1. Reference Plane: Families can only be resized or aligned after reference planes are set. Select the reference plane and click the properties button to configure it.
2. Reference: This attribute determines whether a reference plane acts as a project reference, allowing you to dimension or align the family. References can be set as strong or weak. Strong references take priority when dimensioning or snapping, while weak references have lower priority. Because strong references are highlighted first, you may need to press the TAB key to select weak references when placing families.
3. Defining the Origin: The “Define Origin” property specifies the cursor position when placing an object. For example, when placing a rectangular column, the cursor is positioned at the column’s centerline. Only one reference plane can be set as the origin. For instance, in the “Metric window.rft” model, windows can be inserted into walls without needing to define intersection points.

xuebim

Follow the latest BIM developments in the architecture industry, explore innovative building technologies, and discover cutting-edge industry insights.

← Scan with WeChat