Revit template file tips, tricks, suggestions?

[JRC123]

I am in the process of cleaning and upgrading my companies template file. We use a project file/e-transmit rather that an actual template in order to retain our loaded families, in particular the families loading into system families such as level heads. By the way, this is structural, but it seems broad enough to post here since the architectural sub-forum has the most users.

I more or less have a plan of action for this.

I have:

• * Removed all outdated, duplicated, or poorly performing families.
• * Purged out all the old line patterns and styles that have accumulated via importing.
• * Deleted gratuitous family types such as 6" Concrete Slab, 8" Concrete Slab, etc. Now we have one of each base family loaded and can customize as needed.
• * Organized, tested, and standardized our schedules. (ex: Column order is Phase, Description(depends on family, usually the Type parameter), Unit(usually LFT), Quantity, Comments, etc.)
• * Cleaned up the text styles.
• * Removed all redundant View Templates, moved templates to appropriate category.
• * Cleaned out old project info.
• * Removed unused, redundant views.
• * Reset level/grid numbering to start from zero.
• * Purged outdated steel families and updated to AISC cert. 14.1 families.
• * Changed default placement options (ex: used aligned dimension, selected Arial 1/8") so new families will be correct.
• * Updated default tags used in the Tag All command.
• * Renamed everything(except line styles) to a consistent naming convention.

I still need to thoroughly go through our detail components to update the object styles, fonts, functionality, etc. I also need to clean up, rename, and catalog our standard details. I intend to number these, print them, and maintain them in a separate file for import. The idea behind cataloging/numbering/printing is that we will have a quick visual reference to our details so less time is spend hunting/creating details.

Does anyone have any more suggestions or missed items for an optimal template?

I am curious if anyone has a better system for managing detail views than listed above.

I would also love to know if anybody has found a more efficient way to manage line and object styles. It seems those two rapidly get out of hand when dealing with imports.

I would love to know if you have anything you've implemented in your template that you recommend.

[Revitaoist]

Make sure the template file is easily accessible to update when needed,, so when you are working on a project and you find yourself doing something that is done on all projects, you can quickly and easily update the template. It also keeps the overhead down on template development as you can bill those quick updates to whatever project you are working on instead of dedicating company time to template building. I like to have it pinned to the dropdown. Not sure why you are using a project file instead of a real template file. It saves a few clicks if you can just start new project from the main menu.

[damon.sidel]

I would also love to know if anybody has found a more efficient way to manage line and object styles. It seems those two rapidly get out of hand when dealing with imports

I'll respond to this itty-bitty part of your ginormous post!

Do some yoga, practice your meditative breathing, and let it go. That really is my recommendation with line patterns, line styles, object styles (I try to keep this organized as best I can, but don't sweat it too much), materials, fill patterns, and fill regions. Over the years, I just learned to let these be what they are. I try to keep them organized a bit and certainly have refined my standards for templates, but I just try to be Zen about the organization of these specific items.

[JRC123]

Not sure why you are using a project file instead of a real template file. It saves a few clicks if you can just start new project from the main menu.

It lets us set up worksets in the template. There are other things like view titles and sections need the custom families we have re-associated with them if we use a template. If we use a project file as a template we can keep all those settings without issue. In the end transmitting a file and re-saving it saves time.

[mburke.54112]

It lets us set up worksets in the template. There are other things like view titles and sections need the custom families we have re-associated with them if we use a template. If we use a project file as a template we can keep all those settings without issue. In the end transmitting a file and re-saving it saves time.

We use an actual project file for the very same reasons..
-all our worksets are already there (save gobs of typing)
-custom families we use all the time are already there
-detail views / sheets containing our typical structural notes, dwg list, abbreviation are already there