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Thread: Designing a Family Library from scratch

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    Default Designing a Family Library from scratch

    Hi we are new Revit users and are starting our family library from scratch (hopefully using few downloaded families.
    I'm not the CAD person and don't have a in depth understanding of Revit but I'm the person that needs to tell our Revit people what families I need (ie what products we use) and what I need on the schedules to hopefully be able to take as many quantities off Revit as possible. I've had a lot of experience doing this with ArchiCAD but it seems to be quite a different approach in Revit.
    Can I get some input from others about how we would tackle this project and what info I need to give to the Revit users to be able to specify exactly how it should look on the drawings and what it should output?.

    My example would be a door -
    35mm thick solid core core door
    it comes in different sizes
    it can be a single, 1 1/2, double door
    it can be rebated or not (if 1 1/2 or double)
    it can be a passage or cupboard door (we only do interiors so external is not usually used)
    it is usually painted but can be timber veneer
    it can have a vision panel (2 standard sizes)
    it has door hardware (2 or more different types - eg lever only or mortice lock or pull handle)
    it can have a door closer
    it can have a security swipe card reader next to it
    it can have a door stop
    it can have a coat hook
    it may have a privacy or toilet latch (ie vacant / engaged)
    it can have master keying (different levels, ie Master, Grand Master)
    it can have a number of keys for the lock

    I need each door to be able to have all of these parameters, so it can produce a door hardware schedule.

    if anyone can help me with a structure or a list of questions that need to be answered in order to efficiently design a family, that would be very helpful.

  2. #2
    Revit Forum Manager Steve_Stafford's Avatar
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    Default Re: Designing a Family Library from scratch

    Quote Originally Posted by jodie
    ...Can I get some input from others about how we would tackle this project and what info I need to give to the Revit users to be able to specify exactly how it should look on the drawings and what it should output?...
    You can separate this into two areas: Graphics and Data

    Graphics is obvious...what does it look like in plan/elevation/section. At the risk of sounding simple minded, you and/or your team should do the Revit family tutorials to get a decent intro into the concepts, assuming you haven't done so already.

    Data is less obvious...to tackle this you need to get familiar with family, project and shared parameters. I've written about this subject in my blog over the last couple months RevitOpEd , perhaps it will help.

    A quick summary, the only user created parameter type that can be used in tags and schedules is a shared parameter. Project parameters can only appear in schedules and family parameters can only manipulate geometry within the family. When a parameter must both modify the geometry in a family and appear in a schedule you must use a shared parameter.

    Start out with a focus on basic graphic representation and put more effort toward getting all your data defined so schedules will satisfy your needs. Afterward you can explore the subtleties of nesting panels, frames and such.

    Do a search of the this forum for door families, quite a few decent ones have been posted at one time or another. Good place to start.

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    Default Re: Designing a Family Library from scratch

    Steve, thanks for the excellent advice and the well written articles on your Blog Site, it was very helpful.

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