have you purchased famlies from revit-content.com

[dmorin]

As anyone purchased any of the families offered from revit-content.com? If so how do they perform, are they well constructed and have you had any problems with them?

Thanks

[phyllisr]

..purchased any of the families offered from revit-content.com...
Since I consider myself an "equal opportunity whiner," please do not consider this as critical of any company in particular. Also be aware this is a personal opinion - other Revit users may feel very differently about purchased content and may have success stories to tell. In our office, we do not use outside content at all, even content posted to Autodesk Seek. On the rare occasions we download anything foir convenience, we have a careful review process in place to fix things.

When we create content for others (through our consulting arm), we consider it essential to work with the client to determine their specific needs. We have learned that "one size fits all" content really means "one sits fits very few."

There are different reasons that apply to different vendors - here are the reasons I would not buy from the site you questioned.

The content looks over-modeled. For example, we simply do not model hollow metal frames to the level of detail indicated in the images on their site.
I would not pay for anything if I could not see an example first. I would not expect free stuff, just something to evaluate.
There is nothing on the site that explains how any of this works.
Anything that requires 18 pages of explanation (the manual for the All-in-One Door Family) is not worth it. We work very hard at simple and intuitive - this is not it.

As I said, just one opinion...

[barathd]

I purchased the cabinet family - mild disappointment. Way, way over modelled and VERY European. Sure it works for others but did little for me.

[gwnelson]

I also got the cabinet family & am very disappointed. The documentation is shoddy & the model complex - not very intuitive, either. When I sent an e/m to the company with comments & questions, no one responded. Save your money & invest it in yourself.

[barathd]

Glen:

When I sent an email to them - I did get a response. They thought their software was just wonderful and couldn't understand whay I did not like it. I also had the same experience with Smart-Bim. Where are these people getting there direction? Content is EXTREMELY over modelled, complex and counter intuative.

Regards

Dick Barath

[gwnelson]

Dick, I have the same feeling about all of the SEEK content that I've ever tried. Time spent trying to make it work would have been better invested in making it myself.

[twiceroadsfool]

I think it goes with the age old saying: You get what you pay for. That is not to say these are lousy families, as you may not consider them to be, but theres no replacement for due diligence spent... Not just on modeleing geometry, but on modeling geometry and parameters in such a way that it will perform efficiently for your Operation.

Over modeled, undermodeled, over optioned, underoptioned, overconstrained, not constrained enough... Everyone wants different things. What parameters is it using? Are they shared? Level of detail?

When i say You get what you Pay for, i mean in time investment.

Now, having said that: I dont believe in the Super-Family at all. Theyre easy to break (a user hits edit family, breaks one constraint, ruins every door), theyre performance heavy, have a steep learning curve, and you STILL have all the issues above. I have a few of the families here, but they dont make it in to circulation. Maybe they work better than OOTB content, but i never found a need. I either have time to build it custom myself, or i dont. If i dont, OOTB it is.

[patricks]

We never pay for Revit content. Most of the time if someone needs something we don't have, they'll ask me to find it or make it. If we need something quick I may grab it off of RevitCity, but I will usually tweak it to meet our needs. Other times I'll just make it myself from scratch.

I enjoy creating content, anyway, as often it presents a challenge. We also have a good bit of junk content in our library, and I usually take it upon myself to correct it, and usually in the process make it better.