Best Practice for Small File Size

[pwmsmith]

I want to populate a building with 500 work stations with movable partitions, L-shaped counter top, chair, and file cabs under. I have created the family for insertion into the project however,

Is it better to nest this into another family and provide and array parameter or insert the single unit into the project, array and or group?

Or put all the furniture into another file and link?

Looking for the best answer to small file size and management.

Thanks
Patrick

[clog boy]

I want to populate a building with 500 work stations with movable partitions, L-shaped counter top, chair, and file cabs under. I have created the family for insertion into the project however,

Is it better to nest this into another family and provide and array parameter or insert the single unit into the project, array and or group?

Or put all the furniture into another file and link?

Looking for the best answer to small file size and management.

Thanks
Patrick

I'd probably make a nested family, and if the setup is the same on multiple floors I'd probably put them into a group.

[Steve_Stafford]

Try this...take an empty template such as File Menu > New > Project then click the NONE option. This is a really "dumb" template, you just define imperial or metric units.

Save it...close it. Note the file size.
Open it and add your family, save it and close it. Note the new file size.
Open it and array the family five hundred times....save, close, note file size.
You now know what the file size "footprint" of the family is by itself and arrayed.
Is the difference worth the "fuss"?

If the family uses the Furniture System category you can shut them off quickly with visibility graphics. Use that category and nest all the other furniture elements so you can schedule them either as part of the whole or as pieces/parts (make them shared).

You can use a Workset too...this will permit you to unload them so your project doesn't "see" or "feel" them until you open the workset again. File size is a factor in performance but is can be a red herring too.

If you are doing an interiors project it may be much more important to have 3D families in the project than doing a 2D only approach so that you can generate any number of views and not bump into the "oh we only did those as 2D, sorry".

[greg.mcdowell]

Not that file size isn't important but (there's always a but) file size isn't the biggest determinate for poor performance like it is in other apps.

In Revit it's the number of relationships in the database that affect things the most. It's possible to have a 30mb file that's painfully slow if everything is locked or constrainted or hosted. And I've seend files nearly 100mb that are quite responsive.

Do take advantage, however, of the course, medium and fine levels of detail for your families if appropriate. Showing unneeded detail at small scales will slow things down quite a bit.

[nole]

Save it...close it. Note the file size.
Open it and add your family, save it and close it. Note the new file size.
Open it and array the family five hundred times....save, close, note file size.
You now know what the file size "footprint" of the family is by itself and arrayed.

Thank You very much Steve for idea how to get size of the family on HDD. It's so simple.