Revit Family Library Creation

[kmarquis]

I'm in the middle of creating content for our Revit Family Libraries. I'm worried that a new user will load a shared and non-shared version of the same family in a project and run into problems. Is there a downside to making ALL of the families in the library Shared by default?

[twiceroadsfool]

I'm in the middle of creating content for our Revit Family Libraries. I'm worried that a new user will load a shared and non-shared version of the same family in a project and run into problems. Is there a downside to making ALL of the families in the library Shared by default?

Shared versus Non-shared behave differently. Once you understand the implications of the different behavioral tendancies, you can decide what to share and what not to.

Shared:

1. Cannot have Type parameters nested in a parent family (since theyre driven directly in the project).
2. Cannot have different "versions" loaded in different families or in the project, since theyre all tied together.
3. Have strange issues with Family Type parameters depending on how many families deep you have them nested (like, the issue is you simply cant do it.)

But thats not to say sharing is bad. Most of mine are shared. You just have to know when you want it shared and when you dont. Number one is a biggie...

[kmarquis]

Can you explain Number 1 more? Can you give me a scenario? Not sure I understand exactly what you mean. I used Shared Families on my last project and I had some weird stuff happening like certain elements in a composite family would dissapear once they were loaded into the project. I just want to really be able to wrap my head around what's going on before I start another project with them.

Thanks.

[twiceroadsfool]

Can you explain Number 1 more? Can you give me a scenario? Not sure I understand exactly what you mean. I used Shared Families on my last project and I had some weird stuff happening like certain elements in a composite family would dissapear once they were loaded into the project. I just want to really be able to wrap my head around what's going on before I start another project with them.

Thanks.

I make a family called "Cube.' It has three parameters: L, W, and H.
I make L and W type parameters, and i make H an instance parameter.

Then i nest Cube in to a family called "Cube array." I cannot control L and W by tying the parameter to L_Cube and W_Cube in "Cube array," since its a shared family. Thats because even though its IN cube array, its TYPE is driven in the project.

Also, things disappearing: There is a known issue with families disappearing after youve nested several levels, if any of them are NOT shared. I have some families that are nested five levels deep. If theyre not shared (all five levels), things start to "vanish" when you reload them. The factory knows about it.

[kmarquis]

Thanks Aaron,

I think I'm doing it right. I basically make something shared when I need an element in a nested family to be tagged. For example nesting a sink family into a countertop family I would make the sink family shared so I can tag all the sinks. I'll just leave the cabinets left unshared as a default and explain to the team at the beginning of a project the process and worry about it then. Thanks for your help.

Karen

[twiceroadsfool]

Think it through.

In the example you gave, several things can go wrong.

Sink nested in countertop. Does the countertop have parameters to control the size of the sink? If it does, you have to change the sinks size to instance parameters.

Cabinets? Toughie. I keep them type parameterized for sizes, but then you cant nest them shared. But i dont nest them shared, sooo...

[kmarquis]

In the example you gave, several things can go wrong.

Sink nested in countertop. Does the countertop have parameters to control the size of the sink? If it does, you have to change the sinks size to instance parameters.

Cabinets? Toughie. I keep them type parameterized for sizes, but then you cant nest them shared. But i dont nest them shared, sooo...

For most projects we have one size sink, maybe two. If we need an additional size we can just edit the nested family and create a new size sink and a new type for the Sink+Countertop Family....Such as "2'6"D Counter w 30"x20" Sink" Does that not work?

Our cabinets have to be shared because we create Lab Bench Families that are a composition of about 6 or 7 different cabinets. Each cabinet has to be tagged in the project as well as the entire Lab Bench as a whole.