Generic Light Fixture Familys vs Project Specific Fixture Data

[AnnieJ115]

Hi everyone,

I work for an electrical subcontractor and we're just getting into Revit. I'm currently setting up face-based light fixture families for a project, but plan to add them to our library as well.

Here's where I find myself thinking in circles. Say I pull my generic recessed 2x4 fixture into the project. In my current project, I have several type marks that could use this symbol. It's easy enough to make each it's own type within the family. But, since those types will based on project specific info, I won't want them in my generic family types. (Being a sub, the logic and format for naming/tagging light fixtures varies greatly from project to project.)

So, I could make a copy of the fixture families needed for each project, and add types there as necessary. Easy enough. And it makes sense that the family would be stored with the project. But there's a whole alphabet of fixture types in this project, which means a lot of "extra" family files. And if this is the standard, then am I also going to be creating copies of other families?

I'm curious, how are other electrical subs or designers dealing with this? Is there a much simpler way, and I've just been thinking about it for too long? I've been combing the boards, but haven't found anything that addresses this issue directly.

thanks!

AJ

[dennis howell]

Your concept of using the Type Mark is valid. Or, if you would like, you could use the Mark value instead. Using just the Mark value, you could put the same Type of light in multiple times, but give a different Mark value to each. This will keep you from having to have all the different Types. You will get a msg from Revit that 'warns' you have multiple Marks with the same value, but that is no problem. So it is really up to you which way to go.

[AnnieJ115]

Yes, I will use the TypeMark project parameter to identify each fixture type.
I guess what I'm asking is, is that the only way to identify each fixture type (within the project) ? I'd like to be able to just pre-highlight a fixture and see what designation it is (A, A1, A2, B, B1, etc).

The only way I can see to do this is to make a copy of the generic family, just for this project, then make project specific types within the family. That way I get the schedule info I need for my project, and the light fixture family in my library stays clean.