Family Creation In Revit:
Creating families in Autodesk Revit can be a powerful tool for adding customized elements to your building design projects. Families are essentially pre-made objects that can be inserted into your Revit model and behave just like any other element, such as walls or doors.
The main advantage of using families is that they allow you to quickly add complex or unique objects to your model without having to manually draw them each time. In this blog, we’ll cover the basics of creating families in Revit, including an overview of the different types of families, the steps involved in creating a family, and some tips and best practices to follow.
Types of Families in Revit
Before diving into the creation process, it’s important to understand the different types of families that are available in Revit. There are three main types of families:
- System families: These are the basic building blocks of your Revit model, such as walls, floors, roofs, and ceilings. System families are pre-made and cannot be edited or modified.
- Loadable families: These are pre-made families that can be inserted into your model from the Revit library or from a file on your computer. Loadable families can be modified to some extent, but they cannot be created from scratch.
- In-place families: These are families that are created directly in your Revit model, rather than being inserted from a library or file. In-place families are completely customizable and can be created to meet your specific needs.
Creating a Family in Revit
To create a new family in Revit, follow these steps:
- In the Revit ribbon, go to the “Create” tab and click on the “Family” button. This will open the “New Family” dialog box.
- In the “New Family” dialog box, choose the type of family you want to create. You can choose between three types: Generic Model, Generic Annotation, or Loadable Annotation.
- Select the appropriate template for your family. If you’re creating a generic model family, you’ll have the option to choose between several different templates, such as walls, floors, or windows. If you’re creating a generic annotation family, you’ll have the option to choose between text, dimensions, or symbols.
- Click “OK” to create the new family. This will open the “Family Editor” window, which is where you’ll create and customize your family.
- In the “Family Editor” window, use the various tools and features to create your family. This may involve drawing lines, arcs, and circles, as well as using various constraints and parameters to define the behaviour of your family.
Tips and Best Practices for Creating Families in Revit
Here are a few tips and best practices to keep in mind when creating families in Revit:
- Start simple: It’s often best to start with a simple family and gradually add more complexity as you become more comfortable with the family creation process. This will help you avoid becoming overwhelmed and will make it easier to troubleshoot any issues that arise.
- Use good modelling practices: When creating your family, be sure to follow good modelling practices, such as using consistent and logical naming conventions, keeping your model organized and easy to understand, and avoiding unnecessary geometry.
- Test your family: Before you finish your family, be sure to test it in a Revit project to ensure that it behaves as intended. This will help you identify any issues or bugs that need to be addressed.
- Save and backup your family: As with any important project, be sure to save your family regularly and create backups