familes like blocks?

[cadmaster77]

just starting out in revit.. are FAMILIES in revit (2011) like blocks in autocad? i kinda figure yes... the issue i have is, i am running through a tutorial and its asking me to load "double-flush.rfa".. i have a directory located here "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Autodesk\RAC 2011\Families" and i cant seem to find the door... 3 questions

is this the standard location of families

if i dont have the door, where can i find it

is there more doors (or other items.. windows, toilets, etc) that i can copy into that directory and use?

thanks for the help

[r.grandmaison]

CADMaster,

First of all, welcome to Revit. Be patient with yourself and in due time you'll be able to change your nickname to RevitMaster.

Families are kind of like blocks...although they're more like dynamic blocks than standard blocks. And, you can create different "types" within the same block (kind of like visibility states in dynamic blocks) that define basic properties that percolate through the entire family which are of the same "type". So, the anolog breaks down rather quickly. You can edit types within a family without exploding or bediting the family- and you can duplicate a type and rename it within a family too. So, you might instead want to think of them as something different from a block! I wish that the term "Family" wasn't originally used, as it carries with it meanings that are too...well..familial...but it is what it is. So, with that, here's my take on a family. It's a potential collection of (simple or complex) objects that share a common ancestry tree that can reproduce and spring forth genetic differences horizontally with the tree, all the while being still somewhat related and part of the same genetic material. Does that help??? So, the original family might have just had one member in it, but it has since subdivided/cloned itself (duplicates) perhaps many times and adjusted its appearance for all identical sibling (types) and changed its dimensions on an per individual basis (instances). And the DNA is magic, not only does the original pass along genetic information to the clone, but the clone can pass genetic information back across the tree to the original. You could think of the genetic information/DNA as the parameters and properties of the components that make up the entities/members of the family.

Depending on your tutorial materials- and whether you want to load a family supplied by the tutorial developer or the actual one supplied with Revit- you'll find it in the "DOORS" folder. Typically that's under the "Imperial Library" folder.

What you MIGHT want to do is to see if you should be pulling them out of a Training Folder instead. If you're tweaking a family for tutorial purposes, you might not want to tweak the original file that ships with the product. So, typically when you want to load a family you'l first hit the "Imperial Library" folder that appears on the "Outlook shortcuts" looking panel and then dig deeper into another folder based on the family type you want to load.

[cadmaster77]

Ahh,, yes sensei.. i like that name..

the items i have in my imperial folder sub tree is "Annotations, Balusters, Entourage,Furniture, Furniture System, Lighting Fixtures, Mechanical Equipment, Planting, Specialty Equipment".. and a couple of sub directories that fall under those..

are there standard families? and if so.. where? i already downloaded the APAC.CAB from the autodesk website.. and it wasnt in there.

thanks for the help

[tropitech]

there should be a folder called "doors" in your list. there's usually also a folder in there called "International library" which contains even more families.

if you downloaded the APAC.cab wouldn't you be working in metric measurements? you can change between imperial/ metric whenever you like anyway.

the seek.autodesk website is also a great resource, and your door is right here...http://seek.autodesk.com/search/double-flush?source=SearchBox&globaldd=globaldropdown.option.b&q=producttype%3Ageneric