Blocks: Inserting into Revit

[Chad Smith]

Whats the usual practice for inserting blocks (groups of walls, doors etc).

E.g. I have a room drawn for a disable bathroom that has the correct minimum dimensions, watercloset, handbasin etc.
I then want to insert that group of objects into a drawing as a 'block', but still have the ability to 'explode' to make larger if needed.

I tried the Import/Link as a revit file, but I can't seem to 'explode' the linked file. :?
Or is the usual practice to open the block file and copy-clip from one drawing to the other?

[aggockel50321]

Here's one method...

1.)Select the items you want to include.
2.) Under the Edit menu, select "Group". The items you selected will be placed in a group named Group 1, 2, etc.
3.) Select the grouped items. (All items in group will highlight) Select properties, & rename the group to something that you'll recognize i.e. "Accessable Toilet Group".
4.) From the File menu, select "Save Group". A dialog box will pop up giving you the ability to select where on your computer to put the file.

Then, in some future project:

1.) In the File menu, select "Load from Library" and select the submenu "Group". A dialog will pop up, go to the folder where you saved the group & select it.

2. Under the Modeling Tab, select "Place Group", select your group from the drop down list next to "properties" above, & place your group.

You can then ungroup the items & edit them as required.

Keep in mind that hosted families will need the host in your new project in order to place them.

[Vincent Valentijn]

Also keep in mind to try out how your saved groups behave when inserted into another project... many users have experienced the grouping tool to be quite troublesome, items jumping around the place or sizes changing back to default parameter-settings, stuff like that. When tested it could be a nice method though.
btw. a linked file is non-explodable, you can only edit the original file.. you can choose to turn items on or off in view though. Depending on the situation a simple 'cut and paste to clipboard' could work too.

[Chad Smith]

Thanks Andrew, thats exactly what I was looking for. It's also great that objects within groups will interact with other non-grouped objects. You can even go as far as to put a door in a wall that is in a group :D


many users have experienced the grouping tool to be quite troublesome, items jumping around the place or sizes changing back to default parameter-settings, stuff like that.
Thanks for the heads-up Vincent, I'll keep an eye out for that. Seems to be working great so far.