making a family from project

[ray salmon]

made a bunch of in place cabinates in the project floor plan with a lot ref planes,,,, now relize that this should of been created in the family editor.... but if I try to transfer anything from project to family (not the acad cut and paste which i miss) just get the no no popups...
it appears that i will have just recreate it all...

any, hidden secrets to this..

r

[twiceroadsfool]

Dont use in-place familes :)

[ray salmon]

yep
apparently so...

assume you mean don't create objects in project that should be created in the family editor

r

[twiceroadsfool]

The "Create in Place" button... I hardly ever use it, and when i do, its usualy for an emergency.... And then i recreate it as a family after, lol.

Not counting massing and forms...

[ray salmon]

ok, new stuff for me

r

[ruthellenwilliams]

it's true
"create in place" means asking for trouble

[sfaust]

Not always, but you do have to make sure that you really want an in-place family. Sometimes it's a one-off object that needs to have some relation to another element in the model (or several elements). But yes, in general external families are the way to go...

[cganiere]

The main point of the "Create in Place" button is for those times when you just want a simple one shot thing. Imagine the howls if the button went away.


Not always, but you do have to make sure that you really want an in-place family. Sometimes it's a one-off object that needs to have some relation to another element in the model (or several elements). But yes, in general external families are the way to go...

[Kirk Bricker]

In your project:

Edit the in-place family and select the sketch lines of your in-place family, and copy the sketch lines onto your clipboard.

In your family templete while in sketch mode for let say an extrusion you can paste those sketch lines into your family.

You need to copy sketch lines from the same type of solid form i.e. sweep to sweep and also the planes and or views will need to be similar.

Create a seperate project that only has your cabinets that you want to transfer into families, this makes it a bit easier.

This might speed up the process. ;) I'm not saying I have done this....lol

Good luck

Kirk

[twiceroadsfool]

The main point of the "Create in Place" button is for those times when you just want a simple one shot thing. Imagine the howls if the button went away.

I wish it WOULD go away. With the huge exception of Building Massing / Form making, i encourage people to not even use it for one offs in a project. It takes thirty seconds to put some reference planes in the Family Editor... Less if you have them there to begin with in Custom Family Templates.

I can honestly count the number of times on ONE hand i think the In Place tool was justifiable. Theyre less intelligent, a PITA to leverage use of, they are throw aways, and they form more dysfunctional relationships than i do with women.

I wish to God that button would go away, and take the friggin Reference Other View button with it.

<< Staunch Revit Purist at heart

[guitarchitect7]

Coming form a company that customizes almost everything for each project, I use in-place a lot. The key is knowing if you think you will need this family type later on another project. If not, then there is no trouble for creating a in-place family. I personally have found a lot of use for in-place and has help save the company time and money.

[SUB]

you don't need to be in the sketch mode to copy an in place family to a component family. Just make sure you're in the edit family mode, you will then be able to select every mass inside and copy and paste into a casework family template. Long as a project is in the edit family mode, you will be able to copy and paste bi-directionally.

[Gadget Man]

I wish it WOULD go away. (...) I can honestly count the number of times on ONE hand i think the In Place tool was justifiable...

In light of "model in Revit like it's going to be built in the real life" I use the in-place families (for example) to very quickly model my kitchen bench (counter) tops and cut the holes for my sinks in them. Then I place my library cabinet families under.

I can't imagine creating my counter/bench tops in the family editor - there is no way I could align them so quickly to the surrounding walls and other elements. And because in every project they are differently shaped I really can't re-use them in the next one.

The same goes for the in-built shelves in the Walk-In-Robes, etc...

Leave the tool where it is! Even if some people don't see any use for it, it doesn't do any harm...

[cphubb]

What about "In Place" Walls, Roofs Floors etc? Our rule is no in place component families. System families are fair game.

I would not want the button to go away, but use at your own peril.

[twiceroadsfool]

In light of "model in Revit like it's going to be built in the real life" I use the in-place families (for example) to very quickly model my kitchen bench (counter) tops and cut the holes for my sinks in them. Then I place my library cabinet families under.

I can't imagine creating my counter/bench tops in the family editor - there is no way I could align them so quickly to the surrounding walls and other elements. And because in every project they are differently shaped I really can't re-use them in the next one.

The same goes for the in-built shelves in the Walk-In-Robes, etc...

Leave the tool where it is! Even if some people don't see any use for it, it doesn't do any harm...


LOL, the tool will obviously never go away, its just a personal irritant of mine. It does plenty of harm when people see the button there and go willy nilly.

I know a lot of people use it for things like countertops, and i get the necessity there. But even for that stuff i just make families for it, be them Line Based Casework with varying end conditions, or whatever.

To each their own.

Maybe with the super-duper-customizable-UI ill be able to remove the button from everyones station in the office, LOL...

[guitarchitect7]

LOL, the tool will obviously never go away, its just a personal irritant of mine. It does plenty of harm when people see the button there and go willy nilly.

I know a lot of people use it for things like countertops, and i get the necessity there. But even for that stuff i just make families for it, be them Line Based Casework with varying end conditions, or whatever.

To each their own.

Maybe with the super-duper-customizable-UI ill be able to remove the button from everyones station in the office, LOL...

I don't mean to pick, but I just have to ask...

So you create a new family from template to draw a countertop (even if it's line based) aligned and locked to reference planes that are contrained by parameters. After you've managed to create all that you then proceed to load the SEPERATE file into the project? Then, if you happen to have made an error, you now have to reopen that file to make changes. Simply for a line based countertop? That just seems like a lot of work.

Versus...

Click Create, select family catagory, sketch a few symbolic lines, and click finish - and no external file to have to worry about.

[twiceroadsfool]

Huh? My point was i have some countertop families made (a couple that are line based, and some that are not) with options so when i have to toss a kitchen counter together i can use them, instead of in place.

Sometimes when i have one where that doesnt fit the bill, ill make a new Casework Family. Im not sure why you assume it has to have ref planes, constraints, parameters, etc, just because its a family.

As for reopening the file... I have to click Edit Family, you have to Click "Edit in Place". Its the same button, lol...

To each their own. Im not saying the in-place method has no validity, im just saying ive never really found the need for it. Making regular families just doesnt take that long, and you get a lot more out of them. But im glad to hear that the in-place family works for a lot of people. :)

[guitarchitect7]

Huh? My point was i have some countertop families made (a couple that are line based, and some that are not) with options so when i have to toss a kitchen counter together i can use them, instead of in place.

Sometimes when i have one where that doesnt fit the bill, ill make a new Casework Family. Im not sure why you assume it has to have ref planes, constraints, parameters, etc, just because its a family.

As for reopening the file... I have to click Edit Family, you have to Click "Edit in Place". Its the same button, lol...

To each their own. Im not saying the in-place method has no validity, im just saying ive never really found the need for it. Making regular families just doesnt take that long, and you get a lot more out of them. But im glad to hear that the in-place family works for a lot of people. :)

True, the edit is the same, but by doing in-place you wouldn't have to edit at all. It's custom to the project. Create once, then done...ideally.

I possibly see a benefit of having mulitple counter top types nested in one family, but at that point you mind as well just make it in-place - especially if it's only line work because I bet your nested family isn't perfect everytime and you would have to edit anyway. The reason for assuming using contraints and parameters is because otherwise there really isn't any other benefit to do a seperate family based off template in this situation.

It is all based on preference so obviously I'm not here to change your mind, but my point of view just seems like you've done a lot of work for a whole lot of nothing.

Now if your countertop was an actual model that stretched based of casework length and width with an adjustable sink hole, then I could definately see the benefit of doing a family based template.

Maybe this point of view makes more sense. In AutoCAD, would you have had a block that you inserted in everytime, or would you just use the rectangle tool; I just used the rectangle tool.

[twiceroadsfool]

We agree to disagree. :)

[jonhiatt]

To get back to the original question, there is a way where you might not have to recreate your work. First, highlight the in-place family, click edit, and within the editing mode, choose everything you want to have in a loadable component family and group it. Then, while still in the in-place family editor, scroll down in the project browser and expand the"group" heading and find the group you just created. Now, right click on the group in the project browser you created and choose "Save Group." This will save whatever you grouped as a Revit Family file.

By the way, the in-place family has good uses, especially in high design. The benefit of an in-place over a loadable family is that the in-place allows one to use the geometry from the Revit project to create your family, (i.e. you can pick lines from the model and have them project on to your work plane) thus ensuring proper alignment. Generally this is not the case, though I have had a few instances where I needed the in-place family on a few tricky custom, curving curtain walls.