Autodesk Revit Content 2009 Style Guide EN

User Manual: autodesk Revit Content - 2009 - Style Guide Free User Guide for Autodesk Revit Software, Manual

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REVITMODELCONTENTSTYLEGUIDE

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December2009

Version2.1

Copyright© 2009 Autodesk, Inc.

All Rights Reserved

This publication, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form, by any method, for any purpose.

AUTODESK, INC., MAKES NO WARRANTY, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY

IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE REGARDING THESE

MATERIALS, AND MAKES SUCH MATERIALS AVAILABLE SOLELY ON AN "AS-IS" BASIS.

IN NO EVENT SHALL AUTODESK, INC., BE LIABLE TO ANYONE FOR SPECIAL, COLLATERAL, INCIDENTAL, OR

CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES IN CONNECTION WITH OR ARISING OUT OF PURCHASE OR USE OF THESE MATERIALS.

THE SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE LIABILITY TO AUTODESK, INC., REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF ACTION, SHALL NOT

EXCEED THE PURCHASE PRICE OF THE MATERIALS DESCRIBED HEREIN.

Autodesk, Inc., reserves the right to revise and improve its products as it sees fit. This publication describes the state of the

product at the time of publication, and may not reflect the product at all times in the future.

Autodesk Trademarks

The following are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries: 3D Props, 3D Studio, 3D

Studio MAX, 3D Studio VIZ, 3DSurfer, 3ds max, ActiveShapes, ActiveShapes (logo), Actrix, ADI, AEC Authority (logo), AEC-

X, Animator Pro, Animator Studio, ATC, AUGI, AutoCAD, AutoCAD LT, AutoCAD Map, Autodesk, Autodesk Envision,

Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk (logo), Autodesk Map, Autodesk MapGuide, Autodesk Streamline, Autodesk University

(logo), Autodesk View, Autodesk WalkThrough, Autodesk World, AutoLISP, AutoSketch, backdraft, Biped, bringing

information down to earth, Buzzsaw, CAD Overlay, Character Studio, Cinepak, Cinepak (logo), cleaner, Codec Central,

combustion, Design Your World, Design Your World (logo), EditDV, Education by Design, gmax, Heidi, HOOPS, Hyperwire,

i-drop, Inside Track, IntroDV, Kinetix, lustre, MaterialSpec, Mechanical Desktop, NAAUG, ObjectARX, Physique, Planix,

Powered with Autodesk Technology (logo), ProjectPoint, RadioRay, Reactor, Revit, Softdesk, Texture Universe, The AEC

Authority, The Auto Architect, VISION*, Visual, Visual Construction, Visual Drainage, Visual Hydro, Visual Landscape, Visual

Roads, Visual Survey, Visual Toolbox, Visual Tugboat, Visual LISP, Volo, WHIP!, and WHIP! (logo).

The following are trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries: AutoCAD Learning Assistance,

AutoCAD LT Learning Assistance, AutoCAD Simulator, AutoCAD SQL Extension, AutoCAD SQL Interface, AutoSnap,

AutoTrack, Built with ObjectARX (logo), burn, Buzzsaw.com, CAiCE, Cinestream, Civil 3D, cleaner central, ClearScale,

Colour Warper, Content Explorer, Dancing Baby (image), DesignCenter, Design Doctor, Designer's Toolkit, DesignKids,

DesignProf, DesignServer, Design Web Format, DWF, DWFit, DWG Linking, DXF, Extending the Design Team, GDX Driver,

gmax (logo), gmax ready (logo),Heads-up Design, jobnet, ObjectDBX, onscreen onair online, Plans & Specs, Plasma,

PolarSnap, Productstream, Real-time Roto, Render Queue, Visual Bridge, Visual Syllabus, and Where Design Connects.

Autodesk Canada Co. Trademarks

The following are registered trademarks of Autodesk Canada Inc. in the USA and/or Canada, and/or other countries:

discreet, fire, flame, flint, flint RT, frost, glass, inferno, MountStone, riot, river, smoke, sparks, stone, stream, vapour, wire.

The following are trademarks of Autodesk Canada Inc., in the USA, Canada, and/or other countries: backburner, Multi-

Master Editing.

Third Party Trademarks

All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

Third Party Software Program Credits

ACIS Copyright© 1989-2001 Spatial Corp. Portions Copyright© 2002 Autodesk, Inc.

Copyright© 1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Flash ® is a registered trademark of Macromedia, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries.

International CorrectSpell™ Spelling Correction System© 1995 by Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products, N.V. All rights

reserved.

InstallShield™ 3.0. Copyright© 1997 InstallShield Software Corporation. All rights reserved.

PANTONE® Colors displayed in the software application or in the user documentation may not match PANTONE-

identified standards. Consult current PANTONE Color Publications for accurate color.

PANTONE® and other Pantone, Inc. trademarks are the property of Pantone, Inc.© Pantone, Inc., 2002

Pantone, Inc. is the copyright owner of color data and/or software which are licensed to Autodesk, Inc., to distribute for

use only in combination with certain Autodesk software products. PANTONE Color Data and/ or Software shall not be

copied onto another disk or into memory unless as part of the execution of this Autodesk software product.

Portions Copyright© 1991-1996 Arthur D. Applegate. All rights reserved.

Portions of this software are based on the work of the Independent JPEG Group.

RAL DESIGN© RAL, Sankt Augustin, 2002

RAL CLASSIC© RAL, Sankt Augustin, 2002

RMCSG—2 Version2.1

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Representation of the RAL Colors is done with the approval of RAL Deutsches Institut für Gütesicherung und

Kennzeichnung e.V. (RAL German Institute for Quality Assurance and Certification, re. Assoc.), D-53757 Sankt Augustin.

Typefaces from the Bitstream® typeface library copyright 1992.

Typefaces from Payne Loving Trust© 1996. All rights reserved.

AutoCAD 2006 is produced under a license of data derived from DIC Color Guide® from Dainippon Ink and Chemicals,

Inc. Copyright © Dainippon Ink and Chemicals, Inc. All rights reserved. DIC Color Guide computer color simulations used

in this product may not exactly match DIC Color Guide, DIC color Guide Part 2 identified solid color standards. Use

current DIC Color Guide Manuals for exact color reference. DIC and DIC Color Guide are registered trademarks of

Dainippon Ink and Chemicals, Inc.

Printed manual and help produced with Idiom WorldServer™ .

WindowBlinds: DirectSkin™ OCX © Stardock®

AnswerWorks 4.0 © ; 1997-2003 WexTech Systems, Inc. Portions of this software © Vantage-Knexys. All rights reserved.

The Director General of the Geographic Survey Institute has issued the approval for the coordinates exchange

numbered TKY2JGD for Japan Geodetic Datum 2000, also known as technical information No H1-N0.2 of the

Geographic Survey Institute, to be installed and used within this software product (Approval No.: 646 issued by GSI, April

8, 2002).

Portions of this computer program are copyright © 1995-1999 LizardTech, Inc. All rights reserved. MrSID is protected by

U.S. Patent No. 5,710,835. Foreign Patents Pending.

Portions of this computer program are Copyright © ; 2000 Earth Resource Mapping, Inc.

OSTN97 © Crown Copyright 1997. All rights reserved.

OSTN02 © Crown copyright 2002. All rights reserved.

OSGM02 © Crown copyright 2002, © Ordnance Survey Ireland, 2002.

FME Objects Engine © 2005 SAFE Software. All rights reserved.

GOVERNMENT USE

Use, duplication, or disclosure by the U.S. Government is subject to restrictions as set forth in FAR 12.212 (Commercial

Computer Software-Restricted Rights) and DFAR 227.7202 (Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software), as

applicable.

Version2.1RMCSG—3

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CONTENTS

FeedbackontheGuide7

Audience7

Definition:QualityRevitContent7

Contents8

SupplementaryFiles8

AdditionalFiles9

Section1:PlanningRevitModelContent10

RecommendedRevitReleaseandDisciplineforContentCreation10

1.1DeterminingDesignIntent11

DeterminingtheTemplatetoUse11

FamilyRepresentations12

1.2BalancingPerformanceandDesignComplexity16

DesignIntentvs.Performance16

RecommendedFamilyFileSizes18

LevelofDetail19

ElementVisibility20

AreastoAvoidforOptimumPerformance20

ExamplesofFamilieswithAppropriateandcomplexLevelsofDetail21

ConsiderationsforNestingFamilyContent22

NestingRecommendations:22

1.3AutodeskExchangeFormat(.ADSK)23

AECExchangeEnvironment23

CreatingIntelligentConnectors23

SimplifyingtheGeometricRepresentation24

Publishingtothe.ADSKformat24

reading.ADSKfiles25

ImportingintoRevitFamilies25

Limitations25

1.4UsingImportedContent26

RMCSG—4 Version2.1

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SupportedContent26

Limitations26

1.5PlanningaRevitModelFamily27

Section2:ModelContentCreationStandards28

2.1WorkflowforModelContentCreation29

Prototyping30

2.2FamilyUnits30

2.3FamilyNamingConventions31

2.4TypeNamingConventions33

2.5CategoryandSubcategoryStandardsandUsage35

AddingSubcategoriesToModelFamilies35

SubcategoryNamingConventions36

2.6AutodeskApprovedParameterUsage37

AddingManufacturerDatatoFamilies38

CSIOmniClassTable4938

CSIClassificationCodes39

AssigningtheMasterFormatandUniFormatClassificationinRevit39

AssigningtheOmniClassclassificationinRevit(Revit2010andlater)40

2.7ParameterNamingConventions41

2.8MaterialNamingConventions44

Guidelines44

FormatForIndividualFinishMaterials(StoredInsideProjects)44

FormatForIndividualFinishMaterialsUsinganExternalImageFile45

FormatForIndividualMaterialsImages(StoredOutSideofRevit)45

2.9PreviewImageStandards46

CreatingAutodeskStandardFamilyPreviewImages47

2.10TypeCatalogStandardsandUsage52

TypeCatalogStandards52

2.11MaterialApplicationinModelFamilies54

Option1–ApplyMaterialswiththeMaterialParameter54

Version2.1RMCSG—5

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Option2–ApplyMaterialstoFamilyGeometrybyCategoryandSubcategory55

Option3–ApplyMaterialswithCustomInstanceorTypeMaterialParameters55

Example:AssigningMaterialstoaTableFamily56

2.12BestPracticesforAddingConnectorsinRevitMEPFamilies58

AddingaConnector58

SystemTypes59

ConnectorDirection60

PrimaryConnector60

LinkingConnector61

ConnectorMapping62

ConnectorDescriptions63

Section3:TestingGuidelines64

3.1GeneralFamilyTestingGuidelines65

FamilyEditorTestingCriteria65

ProjectTestingCriteriaforRevitArchitecture66

3.2Family‐SpecificTestingGuidelines67

RMCSG—6 Version2.1

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INTRODUCTION

ThepurposeofthisguideistodefineAutodeskguidelinesandstandardsformodelcontentcreationinRevit®

Architecture,Revit®MEP,andRevit®Structure.Modelcontentreferstothetwo‐dimensionalandthree‐

dimensionalstandardcomponentfamiliesthatareusedtocreateelementsthatrepresentmanufacturedcontent

(forexample,windows,furnaces,heatpumps,andstructuralsteelmembers).

Byfollowingtheguidelinesandstandardsinthisguide,contentcreatorswillensuretheportabilityand

performanceoftheircontent,andfulfillthenecessarydistributionrequirementsfortheAutodesk®Seekweb

service.TheAutodeskSeekwebservicerequires:

• theuniformdisplayofproductsofferedbyasinglemanufacturer

• complete,consistent,andaccuratepresentationofproductdataacrossmanufacturers

• thefulluseofAutodeskSeeksearchcapabilities

FEEDBACKONTHEGUIDE

PleasesendyourcommentsontheRevitModelStyleGuideandsupportingdocumentationto:

rmsg.feedback@autodesk.com

Wecan’trespondtocommentsindividually,butfeedbackwillbeconsideredinfutureversionsoftheRevitModel

ContentStyleGuide.

AUDIENCE

Thisguideisintendedformanufacturers,contentserviceorganizations,andothercontentcreatorswhohave

advancedknowledgeofbothRevitsoftwareandRevitmodelcontentcreation.

DEFINITION:QUALITYREVITCONTENT

QualityRevitcontentbalancesperformancewithdesignaccuracyandrequiredlevelsofdetail.Qualitycontentis

easytousebecauseitfunctionsreliablyinarangeofprojectsandprojectphases,whiledeliveringmanufactured

contentinaformatappropriateforarchitectureandengineeringdocumentationdeliverables.

QualityRevitcontentiscreatedwiththefollowingconsiderations:

• Designintent–theauthorhasconsideredhowthefamilywillbeusedinaproject.

• Appropriatelevelofdetaildesigned

• Adequatenumberoftypescreated

• Flexibleuseofparameters

• Accuracy–complete,consistentpresentationofproductdata.

• Standards–adherestoindustryandAutodeskstandards.

• Namingconventions

• Graphicguidelines

Version2.1RMCSG—7

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• Parameterusage

• Performance–contentdesignedtoreducetheperformanceimpactofthefamilyonaproject.

• Testing–thoroughtestingofthefamilyparametersandtypesindependentlyandinaproject

environment.

CONTENTS

Section1:PlanningRevitModelContent

• Explainshowdesigncomplexityinfamiliescanaffectprojectperformanceandoffersguidelinesfor

reducingperformanceimpact

• DetailstherecommendeduseandlimitationsofcontentcreatedwithotherCADsoftware

• Providesbestpracticesforplanningmodelcontent

Section2:ModelContentCreationStandards

• Describesbestpracticesformodelcontentcreation

• ContainsAutodeskstandardsforunits,namingconventions,subcategories,parameters,previewimages,

andtypecatalogs

Section3:TestingGuidelines

• Containsgeneralandfamily‐specifictestingguidelinesformodelcontentfamilies.

Notincludedinthisguide:

• Detailedfamilycreationinstructions

• Standardsforannotationorsystemfamilycreation

• Category‐specificguidelinesforfamilycreation

• In‐depthbestpracticesforfamilycreation

SUPPLEMENTARYFILES

Thefollowingdocumentsandfilesarereferencedforusewiththisguideandareincludedinthedownload

package.

• RevitMasterParameterList.xls‐includesAutodesk‐approvedRevitmastersharedparameters

• RevitMasterSharedParameterFile.txt‐includesAutodesk‐approvedsharedparameterstouseinyour

projects

• RevitMasterSubcategoryList.xls–includesAutodesk‐approvedRevitsubcategories

• RevitMasterPartTypeList.xls–includesAutodesk‐approvedRevitparttypes

• RevitModelContentSampleFiles–includessampleRevitmodelcontentandimages

• Category‐specificModelContentGuides–includescreationguidelinesforspecificcontent

• SharingRevitContentonAutodeskSeek–includesdistributionrequirementsfortheAutodeskSeekweb

service.

RMCSG—8 Version2.1



ADDITIONALFILES

ThefollowingresourcesareavailableforworkingwithbothRevitmodelcontentandAutodeskSeek.

AUTODESKMETADATASTYLEGUIDEANDPRODUCTWORKBOOK

TheAutodeskMetadataStyleGuidedefinesstylesandformattingrulesthatmanufacturers,contentservice

organizations,andcontentspecialistsmustabidebysothatthecontentthattheyproducecanbeloadedintothe

AutodeskSeekstagingenvironment.

Downloadat:http://seek.autodesk.com/participate.htm.

DOCUMENTATION

FormoreinformationonRevitfamilycontentcreation,seethefollowingreferencemanualsandtutorials:

• Revit®ArchitectureFamiliesGuide

Downloadatwww.autodesk.com/revitarchitecture‐documentation.



• RevitArchitecture,Revit®MEP,andRevit®StructureTutorials

Downloadat:

www.autodesk.com/revitarchitecture‐documentation

www.autodesk.com/revitmep‐documentation

www.autodesk.com/revitstructure‐documentation

DISCUSSIONGROUPS

• AUGI(AutodeskUserGroupInternational)

Accessatwww.augi.com.



• AutodeskSeekDiscussionGroup

Accessatwww.autodesk.com/contentsearch‐discussion.



Version2.1RMCSG—9



SECTION1:

PLANNINGREVITMODELCONTENT

InordertoensureRevitmodelcontentisdevelopedefficientlyandtoAutodeskstandards,contentcreatorsshould

followAutodesk‐approvedbestpracticeswhencreatingRevitfamilies.

Byfollowingtheguidelinesinthissection,youcan:

• createRevitfamilycontenteasilyandwithfewererrors

• ensureconsistencyandstabilityofRevitfamilycontent

• createcontentsuitablefordeliveryonAutodeskSeek



RECOMMENDEDREVITRELEASEANDDISCIPLINEFORCONTENTCREATION

Note:AllsamplefamilyandprojectfileswerecreatedbasedontheRevitPlatform2009release;therefore,they

can’tbeopenedinearlierversionsofRevit.

RECOMMENDATION:Toensurethatcontentisavailabletothelargestnumberofendusers,createthecontent

usingAutodeskRevit2009.Contentcreatedinrelease2009canalsobeusedinlaterversionsofRevit.Ifthe

contentrequiresfunctionalityavailableinalaterrelease,thencreatethecontentinthatreleaseofRevit.

UsetheRevitproduct(RevitArchitecture,RevitMEP,orRevitStructure)thatisappropriateforthecontentyouare

creating,forexample,foraDoorfamily,useRevitArchitecture,foranAirHandlingUnit,useRevitMEP.Ifthe

contentcrossesdisciplines,forexample,alightingfixtureorplumbingfixture,usetheproductthathasthemost

requirements,inthiscaseRevitMEP.

RMCSG—10 Version2.1



1.1DETERMININGDESIGNINTENT

WhencreatingaRevitfamily,theintendeduseofthefamilyinaprojectenvironmentdeterminestheextentto

whichitisdesigned.Youcandesignallfamiliestoincludeanumberofrepresentationsforuseindifferentproject

viewsandprojectphases.

Thetypeandsizeoftheprojectthatafamilyisintendedforuseinisacriticalpointtoconsiderwhendeciding

whatrepresentationsshouldbeincludedinthefamilyandwhatlevelofdetaileachrepresentationshouldhave.

Themoredetailedafamilyis,thelargeritsfilesizewillbe.Thelargerthefilesize,theslowertheperformance,

loading,andregenerationtimeofthefamilywillbe.Whenconsideringthedesignintentofafamily,usethe

followingguidelines:

• Forlargercommercialorinstitutionalprojects,inwhichhundredsofelementsmaybecreatedwitha

singlefamily,designthefamilytobeassmallaspossibletominimizeprojectsizeandperformance

impact.

• Forsmallerresidentialprojects,whereelementscreatedwithasinglefamilyarenotusedubiquitously

andwheretheoverallprojectsizeissmaller,designthefamilytoincludemoredetail.

Thenexttopic,BalancingPerformanceandComplexity,addressestheissueoffamilysizeandcomplexityinmore

detail.

DETERMININGTHETEMPLATETOUSE

Forobjectstypicallyhostedbyothercomponents,suchasawindoworlightfixture,startwithahost‐based

template.Forexample,forawindowordoor,useawall‐basedtemplate,suchasWindow.rftorDoor.rft.Howthe

familyishosted(orwhatitdoesordoesnotattachto)determineswhichtemplateshouldbeusedtocreatethe

family.Ingeneral,thechoiceofatemplateisdrivenbythehostoftheobject,withthefollowingexceptions:

• Floor‐basedobjectstypicallyusealevel‐basedtemplateunlesstheyarerequiredtocutthefloor.For

example,Furnitureobjectsarecreatedwithalevel‐basedtemplate.

• Forobjectsthataredesignedtobeusedinmorethanonediscipline,suchasplumbingorlightingfixtures,

useahost‐basedtemplatethatallowsthegreatestflexibilityforalldisciplines.Forexample,alighting

fixtureusedexclusivelyinanarchitecturaldisciplinecouldbecreatedwithaceilingorwall‐based

template,butforanengineeringenvironment,aface‐basedtemplateisrequiredforthemodellinking

workflow.Therefore,foralightingfixturethatwillbeusedinbothdisciplines,useaface‐basedtemplate.







Version2.1RMCSG—11



FAMILYREPRESENTATIONS

Dependingontheintendeduseofafamily,itmaycontainthefollowingrepresentations:

• Schematic(genericcontent;typicallynotmanufacturerspecific;mayincludemultiplelevelsofdetail)

• Designdevelopment(manufacturer‐specificcontent;typicallyCoarselevelofdetail)

• Constructiondocument(manufacturer‐specificcontent;typicallyMediumlevelofdetail)

• Highqualityrendering(manufacturer‐specificcontent;typicallyFinelevelofdetail)

Dependingontheusecaseforthecontent,the3manufacturer‐specificrepresentations(Designdevelopment,

Constructiondocument,andHighqualityrendering)maybedevelopedin1or2familyfiles.Forexample,one

familyfilemaycontaintheDesigndevelopmentandConstructiondocumentationrepresentationsofthecontent

andasecondfilemaycontainthehighqualityrenderingrepresentation.TypicallyMEPcontentdoesnotincludea

highqualityrendering,soforthistypeofcontentonefamilyfilemaybecreatedcontainingtheDesign

developmentandConstructiondocumentationrepresentations.

SCHEMATIC

Schematicrepresentationsarecreatedfromtwo‐dimensionallineworkandrepresentthefamilyobjectinitsmost

basicappearance.Theycanbeconsidered“placeholders”forelementsthatwillbeincludedinmoredetailed

designdrawings.Schematicrepresentationsdonotusuallydisplaymaterials.

RMCSG—12 Version2.1



Schematicrepresentationsofatoiletfamilyandofatablefamily

 

DESIGNDEVELOPMENT

Designdevelopmentrepresentationsincludemoredesigndetailthanschematicrepresentations,aswellas3D

forms.Theymayalsoincludebasicmaterials.Dependingontheelementthatwillbecreatedfromthefamily,the

designdevelopmentrepresentationmayincludethefollowingviews,aswellasappropriatelevelsofdetail:

• Model

• Plan/ReflectCeilingPlan(RCP)

• Section/Elevation

• TypicallyCoarselevelofdetail

Designdevelopmentrepresentationofawindow:displaysminimaldetail,mullionsarerepresentedbymodellines



Version2.1RMCSG—13



Designdevelopmentrepresentationofawatersoftener:displaysbasicshapesofthesoftenerandshows

connectors





CONSTRUCTIONDRAWING

Constructiondrawingrepresentationsareusuallysymbolictwo‐dimensionalrepresentations.Dependingonthe

elementthatwillbecreatedfromthefamily,theconstructiondrawingrepresentationmayincludethefollowing

viewsaswellasappropriatelevelsofdetail:

• Plan/ReflectedCeilingPlan(RCP)

• Section/Elevation

• TypicallyMediumlevelofdetail

Constructiondocumentationrepresentationofawindow:includesmullionsandswing



RMCSG—14 Version2.1



Constructiondocumentationrepresentationofawatersoftener:displaysamorerealisticrepresentationofthe

softeneranditsconnections



HIGHQUALITYRENDERING

Todefinetheappearanceoffamilyelementsinhighqualityrenderings,materialsmustbeassignedtofamily

geometry.Materialpropertiesandlightingmustbedefined.Therenderingistypicallycreatedfroma

representationwithFinelevelofdetailthatincludesobjectsnotusuallyshowninconstructiondrawings,suchas

thehardwareorinlayinthetablebelow.

Highqualityrepresentationofatableinashadedviewandinarenderedimage

  

Version2.1RMCSG—15



1.2BALANCINGPERFORMANCEANDDESIGNCOMPLEXITY

ThedesigncomplexityofafamilycanaffectitsperformancewhenitisusedtocreateelementsinRevitprojects.

Thisisanimportantconsiderationwhencreatingfamiliesthatincludealotofgeometry,multipleparametric

relationships,and/oralargenumberoffamilytypes(sizes).Efficientgeometrycreation,judicioususeof

parametricconstraints,andcarefullyplanneddetailandvisibilitysettingscanreducetheperformanceimpacta

familywillhaveontheprojectsinwhichitisused.

Inthissection,youlearnto:

• Identifypossibleperformancegainsandimpedimentspriortofamilycreation

• Managedifferentperformancefactors,includingparametricrelationships,detaillevel,andvisibility

settings

• Createefficientfamilies



DESIGNINTENTVS.PERFORMANCE

Themorecomplexanddetailedafamilyis,thelargeritsfilesizeandimpactonperformancewillbe.Before

creatingafamily,determinethefollowing:

• Thedesignintentofthefamily:Whataretherepresentationsthatthefamilymustcontain(schematic,

designdevelopment,constructiondocumentation,highqualityrendering),andhowdetailedmusteach

representationbe?



• Thetypeofprojectinwhichthefamilywillbeusedandhowfrequentlyitwillbeused:Willthefamily

createonly10elementsinasmallresidentialproject,orwillitbeusedtocreatehundredsofelementson

manyfloorsofalargecommercialbuildingmodel?



RMCSG—16 Version2.1



Thefollowinggraphdisplaysthegeneraltrendfortheimpactofdesigncomplexityonfilesize.Generallythemore

representationsafamilyhasandthemoredetailedtheyare,thelargerthefamilyfilesize.Thelargerthefamilyfile

sizeis,themoreofanimpactitwillhaveonperformance(longerloadingandregenerationtimesandgreater

increaseinprojectfilesize).

ImpactofDesignComplexityandProjectSizeonFamilyFileSize



Forexample,awindowfamilythatisintendedtobeusedhundredsoftimesinalargecommercialprojectwillhave

asmallerfilesizeifitcontainsonlybasicschematicanddesigndevelopmentrepresentations.Impactonthe

projectsizewillbeasminimalaspossible.

Conversely,adifferentwindowfamilyintendedforuseinasmallresidentialprojectmaycontainahighquality

renderingrepresentationthatwillincreaseprojectfilesizewhenthefamilyisadded,butbecausethewindowsit

createsareaddedtotheprojectonlyafewtimes,theincreaseinfilesizeismanageable.



Version2.1RMCSG—17



RECOMMENDEDFAMILYFILESIZES

Toprovidecontentcreatorswithatangibleguidelineforfamilyfilesize,somecommonfamilytypesandtheir

recommendedfilesizesarelistedbelow.Usethefilesizesbelowasarecommendation,asactualsizemayvary.

Large,complex,and/orunusualfamiliesmayexceedtheserecommendations.

ApplicationElementComplexityLevelFileSize



RevitArchitectureCaseworkSimple 200

–

300K

 Complex 500K



Door(single‐panel) Simple 300

–

400K

 Complex 600K



FurnitureSystem Simple 200

–

300K

 Complex 500K



Window(single‐unit) Simple 300

–

400K

 Complex 600K





RevitMEPAirHandlerUnitSimple 300

–

400K

 Complex 800K

–

1000K



ChillerSimple 300

–

400K

 Complex 800K



FanSimple 200

–

300K

 Complex 400K



PlumbingFixture Simple 300

–

400K

 Complex 600K





RevitStructureW‐ShapeSimple 180

–

200K

 Complex 300K







IMPORTANT:Tohelpreducethefilesize,inRevit,clickFile→PurgeUnusedtodeleteitemsthatarenotinuse,

clickFilemenu→SaveAs,andverifythattheCompactFileoptionisselectedwhensavingthefile.



RMCSG—18 Version2.1



LEVELOFDETAIL

Detaillevelsdeterminewhichpiecesoffamilygeometrydisplayindifferenttypesofprojectviews.WhenaRevit

elementiscreatedwithafamilyandaddedtoaprojectview,thecurrentdetailleveloftheview(coarse,medium,

orfine)displaystheappropriatefamilygeometry.

INTENT:Theintentistobuildthefamilybasedontheexpectedfinerepresentation,thenremovedetailtocreate

thelowerlevelsofdetail.Thisapproachimprovestheperformanceofthefamilyinlowerlevelsofdetailviewsin

theproject,butstillprovidestherequiredgraphicsforproperdocumentationofaproject.Theintentisnotto

buildeachlevelofdetailincrementallyoradditionally.



AwindowdisplayedinbothCoarseandFinedetail

 



Familiesthatincludeintricatelevelsofdetailcanimpedeperformancewhenusedinprojects.Foroptimalfamily

performance,onlythenecessaryfamilygeometryshouldbemodeledandtheuseofhighlydetailed

representationslimited.

Whendecidingwhatlevelofdetailshouldbeshown,usethefollowingrecommendations:

• Don’tmodelgeometrythatwillnotbevisiblewhenthefamilyisaddedtoabuildingmodel.

Forexample,foratablefamilythatincludesadrawer,modelthefaceonly,nottheentiredrawer.



• Dependingonthetypeoffamily,usethefollowingguidelinewhenmodelinggeometry:

Ifthegeometryis…Setthedetaillevelto…

Smallerthan1’Fine

1’

–

3’Medium

Largerthan3’Coarse

• Donotduplicategeometrythatcanbeusedfordifferentlevelsofdetail.



Version2.1RMCSG—19



ELEMENTVISIBILITY

Typically,thegeometryofanelementcreatedbyafamilywillchangedependingonthecurrentprojectview.The

visibilitysettingsofthefamilydetermineinwhichprojectviewselementscreatedwiththefamilywilldisplay.

Inaplanview,youmaywanttoseea2Drepresentationoftheelement.Ina3Dorelevationview,youmaywant

todisplayafullydetailed3Drepresentationoftheelement.Inotherviews,youmaywanttohidetheelement.

Limitingthevisibilityofhighlydetailedfamilygeometrytoonlycertainviewscanimproveprojectperformance.

AREASTOAVOIDFOROPTIMUMPERFORMANCE

Usethistableasaguidetoimprovetheperformanceofyourfamilies.

CommonMistakeWhenCreatingFamilies RecommendedApproach

LackofplanningpriortofamilycreationBeforecreatingafamily,usetheguidelinesoutlinedin

1.4PlanningaRevitModelFamily.



UnnecessaryparametricrelationshipsBeforeaddinggeometrytoafamily:

• Plantheparametricrelationshipsandcreatea

familyskeletonthatfeaturesthemain

parametricrelationships.

• Buildonlytheparametricfamilybehaviorthat

youneedtoavoidover‐constrainingthe

model.

• Flextheskeletontotesttherelationships

beforeyouaddgeometry.

Useofgeometryinsteadofsymboliclinesinplanviews Inplanviewrepresentations,geometryusuallycanbe

representedwithsymboliclines,ratherthan(solid)

geometry.Usinggeometryinsteadofsymboliclineswill

createanunnecessarilylargerfamily.

Highlevelsofgeometricdetailandunderuseofvisibility

settings

UsetheguidelinesintheLevelofDetailandElement

Visibilitysectionsofthisguidetoavoidunnecessarily

largefamilyfiles.

Overuseofvoids,formulas,andarraysExtensiveuseofvoids,formulas,andarrayswilladdto

theoverallfamilysizeandaffectitsperformancein

projects.

Useoftoomanynestedfamilies(familiesimportedinto

otherfamilies)

Nestfamiliestocreategeometryinotherfamilies only

whennecessary.Onlyusenestedcontenttoshare

objectsamongmultiplefamilies,forexample,door

hardware,muntinpatterns,andsoon.

Largefamilieswithmanytypesthatdonotincludetype

catalogs

Themoretypes(particularlyunused)theheavierthe

family.Createtypecatalogsforfamiliesthatcontain6

ormoretypes.See2.10TypeCatalogStandardsand

Usage.

InadequatefamilytestingSee 3.1 GeneralFamilyTestingGuidelines.





RMCSG—20 Version2.1



EXAMPLESOFFAMILIESWITHAPPROPRIATEANDCOMPLEXLEVELSOFDETAIL

ThepurposeofcreatingRevitfamiliesformanufacturedcontentisnotforthemanufacturingprocess,butfor

architectureandengineeringdocumentationdeliverables.Itisimportanttocreatethefamilycontentatan

appropriatelevelofdetailfortheintendeduse.Thefollowingexamplesofawindowfamilyillustratethisguideline.

Ineachofthefollowingimages,thewindowontheleftincludesanappropriatelevelofdetailandthewindowon

therightincludesmoredetailthanisrequiredorusefulfortheproject.

PLANVIEW



NOTE:Theaboveimageshowstypicalgraphicqualityforaplanviewscale.Noticethe“muddy”qualitytothe

windowontheright.

PLANVIEWENLARGED



SECTIONVIEW



Version2.1RMCSG—21



CONSIDERATIONSFORNESTINGFAMILYCONTENT

Anestedfamilyisonethathasbeenloadedintoanotherfamily.Insomecases,itcanbeconvenienttorepresent

partsofthenestedfamilyseparatelyfromthemainfamilymodel.Forexample,youcouldcreateawindowsill

familyandnestitinawindowfamily.Thisallowsyoutobuilduponpreviousworkwhilecreatingfamiliessuitedto

yourneeds.

IMPORTANT:Itisimportanttounderstandthatnestingfamiliesincreasesthefilesizeandaffectsperformance,

specificallytheregenerationprocessofthefamilyviews.

NESTINGRECOMMENDATIONS:

• Insteadofnesting,considercreatingallofthenecessarygeometryinthefamily.Usereferencelinesand

labelstolockgeometryinplace.

• Limitnestingto2levels‐Thedeeperthatfamiliesarenested,thelongertheytaketoupdateinthe

projectfile.

• Onlynesthigh‐valuecontentthatmaybeusedinseveraldifferentfamilies,suchasadoorhandle.

Becarefulwhenchanginganestedcomponentthatissharedbymorethanonefamily.Whenyoureload

thecomponentintotheprojectfileitwillupdateallofthefamiliesinthefilesharingthesamenested

family.



RMCSG—22 Version2.1



1.3AUTODESKEXCHANGEFORMAT(.ADSK)

Startinginthe2010releaseofAutodeskproducts,theAutodeskExchangeformat(.ADSK)providesanimproved

methodformanufacturerstoleverageDigitalPrototypestoproduceRevitFamilies.TheInventor2010AEC

ExchangeenvironmentprovidesmanufacturerswiththeabilitytoprovidetheirexistingDigitalPrototypesas.ADSK

files,whichcancontainasimplified3Dgeometricrepresentation,intelligentconnectors,andotherproduct

metadatathatcanbereadbyRevitArchitecture2010,RevitMEP2010,AutoCADArchitecture2010,andAutoCAD

MEP2010software.ByreusingtheinformationfromexistingCADdesigns,manufacturersandtheircustomerscan

avoidthetimeandexpenserequiredtoremodelthisdata.



AECEXCHANGEENVIRONMENT



TheAECExchangeenvironmentisavailableinInventor2010andlaterversions,andthecommandsforpreparing

andpublishingcontentareavailabledirectlywithintheInventoruserinterface.Thecontentpreparationand

publishingprocessinvolves:

• Creatingintelligentconnectors

• Simplifyingthegeometricrepresentationoftheproductdesign

• Addingproductmetadatainformation

• Publishingthedesigntothe.ADSKformat

CREATINGINTELLIGENTCONNECTORS

TheAECExchangeenvironmentsupportsthedefinition

ofpiping,ducts,andelectricalconnectors,whichallow

theAECApplicationUsertoconnecttheADSK‐sourced

contenttoBuildingServicesintheirdesigns.

Theseconnectorsareassignedpropertiesthatare

relevanttotheirusage(e.g.,flowdirectionand

quantityofairflowforaduct),whicharerequiredfor

connectiontotheirrespectiveBuildingServices.

Version2.1RMCSG—23

Figure1‐ElectricalConnectorsonanHVACUnit

SIMPLIFYINGTHEGEOMETRICREPRESENTATION

AsthetypicalDigitalPrototypeismodeledaround

manufacturinglevelofdetail,itissuggestedthata

modelsimplificationworkflowbeusedtodramatically

simplifyandreducethelevelofdetailthatisprovided

toAECCustomers.

Withoutmodelsimplification,thehighlevelofdetail

thatcanbepresentinaDigitalPrototypewillhavean

adverseimpactonmodelperformanceintheAEC

application.Userscancontrolthelevelof

simplification,rangingfromremovalofkeyinternal

detailstoacomplete“shrinkwrap”thatrepresents

onlytheouterenvelopeoftheproductdesign.The

“shrinkwrap”processenablesthecreationofa

simplifiedgeometricrepresentationofthebuilding

productwhileretainingtheinformationthatisdesiredbyarchitectsandengineers.Theprocesscanalsohelp

protecttheIntellectualpropertythatmanufacturersdonotwishtodisclosetodownstreamcustomers,byallowing

forselectivedeterminationoffeaturesandgeometrytobeincludedorexcludedduringtheprocess.

Figure2‐DetailedGeometryofanHVACUnit



Figure3–Simplifiedrepresentation



PUBLISHINGTOTHE.ADSKFORMAT

Thepublishingprocessinvolvesexportingtherelevantgeometry,connectors,andproductinformationtothe

.ADSKfile.Usershavetheoptiontoexportrelevantproductmetadata(e.g.,producttype,model,manufacturer,

cost,andcustom).TheproducttypeclassisbasedontheOmniClassTable23AECIndustryTaxonomy.Direct2D

viewrepresentationsofthe3Dgeometrycanalsobeincluded.



RMCSG—24 Version2.1



READING.ADSKFILES

The.ADSKformatcanbereadbyRevitArchitecture2010,RevitMEP2010,AutoCADArchitecture2010,and

AutoCADMEP2010softwareversionsorlater.Informationfromthe.ADSKfilecanbeincorporatedintothe

receivingapplicationandsavedoutintheapplication’snativeformat.

IMPORTINGINTOREVITFAMILIES

ADSKfilesthencanbeimportedintoRevitFamiliesforsomepostprocessingtohelpmeettherequirementsofthe

RevitModelContentStyleGuide.Thisprocesswillbediscussedinmoredetailinafutureappendix.

LIMITATIONS

TherearelimitationstoADSK‐sourcedcontentwhichshouldbeunderstoodinordertomaximizethevaluefor

manufacturersandtheirspecifyingAECcustomers.Notethatsomeoftheselimitationscanbemitigatedwithpost‐

processingoftheADSKfilesafterithasbeenconsumedbyRevit.

• AsaresultofthemodelsimplificationprocessinInventoranddifferencesbetweentheInventorandAEC

product’sParametricgeometryhandling,thegeometrythatiscurrentlyproducedforAECapplications

throughtheAECExchangeEnvironment,isstatic,andcannotbeediteddirectlybytheAECuser.Itwill

appearasimportedgeometry.

• ADSKfilesdonotcurrentlycontainvisualappearanceinformation,andthereisnowaywithinRevit

productstomanuallymodifytheirappearance.

• ADSKfilesdonotcurrentlysupportRevitHostingbehavior,andthereforethecontentcannotbeplaced

onFacesofBuildingElements,orhaveholescutinthem.IntegratingthecontentintoaRevitfamily(.rfa)

filecanhelpremovethislimitation.

• LightSourceDefinitionscannotcurrentlybedefinedinADSKfiles,andthusmustbemanuallyaddedin

theRevitenvironmentifneeded.IntegratingthemintoaRevitfamily(.rfa)filecanhelpremovethis

limitation.

Asaresultofcurrentlimitations,ADSKfilesaremosteffectivefordeliveringconfiguredengineeringproductsthat

donotrequireahighlevelofvariabilityforusebytheenduser.



Version2.1RMCSG—25



1.4USINGIMPORTEDCONTENT

ContentcreatedinotherCADformatsmaybeimportedandusedtocreateRevitfamilycontent.Importedcontent

mayincludegeometry,metadatasuchasproductperformanceinformation,connectors,andviews.Theuseof

suchimportedgeometrydoesnotofferallofthecapabilitiesavailablewiththe.ADSKformat(seeSection1.3)but

isanoptionif.ADSKdataisnotavailable.

WhenimportinggeometryfromotherCADformats,foroptimalresultsandintegralfamilyfunctionality,itis

recommendedthattheimportedgeometryisusedasaguideforfamilycreation,notasthefamilygeometryitself.

NOTE:ItisacceptabletouseimportedgeometryforcontentthatisdifficulttocreategeometricallyinRevit,such

aspeople,trees,cars,etc.

SUPPORTEDCONTENT

RevitfamiliessupporttheimportofcontentcreatedinthefollowingCADfileformats:

• .DWG(AutodeskAutoCADformat)

• .DXF(AutoCADDrawingInterchangeFormat)

• .SAT(SpatialCorporationStandardACISformat)

• .SKP(GoogleSketchUpModelformat)

LIMITATIONS

Ifyouimportcontentintoafamilyanduseittocreatethefamilywithoutmodification,theresultingfamilytypes

willbeaddedtobuildingmodelsasstaticelementsthatdonotsupportthedynamicparametricrelationships

inherentinRevitbuildingmodels.Familiescreateddirectlyfromimportedcontentdonotsupportdirect

assignmentofmaterialsandotherparameters,limitingtheiroveralluseintheprojectenvironment.Imported

contentmayalsohaveadverseeffectsonprojectperformance.Insomecases,theselimitationsmaybe

acceptable,buttoconformtostandardbuildinginformationmodelingpractice,itisrecommendedthatmost

importedcontentshouldberecreatedasafullyfunctionalRevitfamily.

RMCSG—26 Version2.1



1.5PLANNINGAREVITMODELFAMILY

Beforefamilycreationbegins,carefulupfrontplanningofthefamilyshouldbeperformed,evenforthesimplestof

families.Planningfamiliespriortocreationcansavetimeandpreventerrors.

• Willthefamilyneedtoaccommodatemultiplesizes?

Forawindowthatisavailableinseveralpresetsizes,orabookshelfthatcanbebuiltinanylength,create

astandardcomponentfamily.

• Howshouldthefamilydisplayindifferentviews?

Thewaytheobjectshoulddisplayinviewsdeterminesthe3Dand2Dgeometrythatyouneedtocreate,

aswellashowtodefinethevisibilitysettings.Determinewhethertheobjectshoulddisplayinaplanview,

elevationview,and/orsectionalviews.

• Doesthisfamilyrequireahost?

Forobjectstypicallyhostedbyothercomponents,suchasawindoworlightfixture,startwithahost‐

basedtemplate.Howthefamilyishosted(orwhatitdoesordoesnotattachto)determineswhich

templatefileshouldbeusedtocreatethefamily.

• Howmuchdetailshouldbemodeled?

Insomecases,youmaynotneed3Dgeometry.Youmayonlyneedtosketcha2Dshapetorepresentyour

family.Also,youmaysimplifythe3Dgeometryofyourmodeltosavetimeincreatingthefamily.For

example,lessdetailisrequiredforawalloutletthatwillonlybeseenininteriorelevationsfroma

distance,thanforadoorwithraisedpanelsandasidelightthatwillbeseeninaninteriorrendering.

• Whatistheinsertion/originpointofthisfamily?

Theinsertion/originpointisthepointatwhichyouwanttoplacethefamilyinaproject(indicatedbythe

cursorposition).Theinsertionpointmaychangebasedonusecase.Forexample,theinsertionpointfor

windowsanddoorsisthecenterofthegeometry,sothatthecontentparametricallyexpandsfromthe

centerout.Foracountertop,theinsertionpointisatacornerandthecontentexpandswiththeinstance

lengthinonedirection.Determiningtheappropriateinsertionpointwillhelpusersplacethefamilyina

project.



Version2.1RMCSG—27



SECTION2:

MODELCONTENTCREATIONSTANDARDS

InordertoensureRevitmodelcontentisdevelopedefficiently,consistently,andtoAutodeskstandards,content

creatorsshouldfollowtheAutodesk‐approvedstandardsinthissectionwhencreatingRevitfamilies.



Usethetopicsinthissectionto:

• ensureconsistencyandstabilityofyourRevitfamilycontent

• ensureaconsistentuserexperience

• createcontentsuitabletoshareonAutodeskSeek



RMCSG—28 Version2.1



2.1WORKFLOWFORMODELCONTENTCREATION

Beforeyoucreateamodelfamily,reviewthestandardsinthissection,andthenusethebestpracticeworkflow

belowtocreateyourcontent.Thisworkflowhelpstoensurethatyourcontentiscreatedinthemostefficientand

leasterror‐pronemanner.

1. Createanewfamilyfile(.rfa)withtheappropriatefamilytemplate.



2. Definesubcategoriesforthefamilytohelpcontrolthevisibilityofthefamilygeometry.



3. Createthefamilyskeleton,orframework:



• Definetheorigin(theinsertionpoint)ofthefamily.



• Layoutreferenceplanestosnaptowhenyousketchcomponentgeometry.



• Adddimensionstospecifyparametricrelationships.



• Labeldimensionstocreatetypeorinstanceparametersor2Drepresentation.



• Test,orflex,theskeleton.



4. Definefamilytypevariationsbyspecifyingdifferentparameters.



5. Addasinglelevelofgeometryinsolidsandvoids,andconstrainthegeometrytoreferenceplanes.



6. Flexthenewmodel(typesandhosts)toverifycorrectcomponentbehavior.



7. Repeatpreviousstepsuntilthefamilygeometryiscomplete.



8. Specify2Dand3Dgeometrydisplaycharacteristicswithsubcategoryandentityvisibilitysettings.



9. Savethefamily,andthentestit.



10. Forlargefamiliesthatincludemanytypes,createatypecatalog.

TIP:Formoreinformationonthestepsinthisworkflow,downloadtheRevit®Architecture2009FamiliesGuide

(www.autodesk.com/revitarchitecture‐documentation),andseetheCreatingStandardComponentFamiliestopic.



Version2.1RMCSG—29



PROTOTYPING

Ifyouneedtocreateanumberofsimilarfamilies:

1. Planandcreateasingle“prototype”family.



2. TesttheprototypefamilyintheFamilyEditorandinaprojectenvironmenttoidentifyanyerrorsor

inconsistencies.

SeeSection3:TestingGuidelinesfortestingcriteria.



3. Correctanyerrorsandinconsistenciesandretestthefamilytoensureitisworksproperlybeforecreating

theadditionalfamilies.



2.2FAMILYUNITS

Althoughfamiliescanbecreatedasunit‐specific(imperialormetric),Revitsoftwarestoresallcoordinatesin

universalunitsanddisplaysspecificunitsaccordingtouserpreference.Thismeansthat:

• Unitscanbesettodisplayasnecessaryforatargetaudience(i.e.,displayasdecimalunitsforacivil

engineeringdrawingorfractionalunitsforanarchitecturaldrawing).



• Familiescreatedinimperialunitsmaybeloadedintoandusedinmetricprojectsandviceversa.

Forinformationonchangingthedisplayofunits,see“ProjectUnits”intheRevitHelp.

Touseanimperialormetricfamilyinaprojectwithdifferentbaseunits,useoneofthefollowingoptions:

• Loadthefamilyintheprojectwhereitwillusethecurrentprojectunits.

However,anyimperial‐ormetric‐specifictextinthefamilyname,typenames,andparameternameswill

stilldisplayasmetricunlessexplicitlychanged.Standardssizesmayalsoneedtobeadjusted.



• Duplicatethetypeswithinametricorimperialfamilytocreatebothimperialandmetrictypeswithinthe

family.



• Openthefamily,saveitasanewfamily,andchangetheunits.



RMCSG—30 Version2.1



2.3FAMILYNAMINGCONVENTIONS

FamilynamesaretheprimarymeansofidentifyingfamiliesinAutodeskSeekandintheRevitsoftware.Autodesk

familynamingconventionsensurethatfamiliescanbeidentifiedinAutodeskSeekandtheRevitsoftwarebythe

real‐worlditemsthattheycreate.Thenamingconventionsincludedescriptorsthatallowtheusertosearchfor

familiesbyelement,bymanufacturer,and/orbaseunits.

GUIDELINES:

• Createuniquenamesforeachfamily.

Forexample,afixedwindowfamilyandafixeddoorfamilycannotsharethesamename.

• Usenaturallanguagetonamethefamily.

Thefamilynameshoulddescribehowthefamilyisidentifiedintherealworld(i.e.,incatalogs,by

manufacturer,etc.).

• Ifpossible,donotincludethefamilycategoryinthefamilyname,unlessthefunctionaltypeisthesame

asthecategory(e.g.,window).

• Use‘titlecasing’(aswiththetitleofabook)forfamilynames,astheyarecasesensitive.

• Keepfilenamesasshortaspossible.

FamilynamesmustdisplayindialogsandintheTypeSelector.

• Whenaddingoptionaldescriptorstofamilyfilenames,considertheorderinwhichthedescriptorsare

listedtoensurethatthefamilyfilesdisplayintheProjectBrowserinthemostlogicalandintuitiveorder.

• Donotusespacesbetweenwordsinfilenames.Toseparatewordswithinasyntaxelement(e.g.,

ManufacturerorDescriptor),usetheunderscorecharacter(_).

• Ifahyphen(‐)isusedtoincludeaperformancerange,enclosetherangeinparentheses,forexample,

(230‐250_Ton).

• Ifatypecatalogistobeusedwithafamily,namethetypecatalog(.txtfile)withthesamenameasthe

family.Seesection2.10foradditionalinformation.

FORMAT

<FunctionalType>‐<Subtype>‐<Manufacturer>‐<Descriptor1>‐<Descriptor2>‐<2Difnecessary>

Note:RefertotheRevitMasterPartTypeList(includedinthedownloadpackage)forinformationonapproved

FunctionTypesandSubtypes.

Descriptionoffields:

Field/ComponentRequiredorOptional Description

FunctionalTypeRequiredNamestheelementthatthefamilycreates(forexample,

DoororWindow)

SubtypeAsneededNamestheparttype,forexample,foraWindow the

subtypecouldbeCasement.

Manufacturer/GenericOptionalManufacturername,genericfamiliesmaysubstitute the

Manufacturernamewith“Generic.”

DescriptorAsneeded

2DRequiredUseonlyfor2Dfamilies

Version2.1RMCSG—31



Examples

Window–Double_Hung–Acme–Tilting_Sash–Clad.rfa

Chiller–Air_Cooled–Acme–Low_Profile.rfa

Fountain–Drinking–Acme–Polished_Chrome.rfa

Window–Double_Hung–Generic–Wood.rfa

Chiller‐Air_Cooled‐Acme‐Scroll‐(75‐100_Ton)‐Pkgd.rfa

RMCSG—32 Version2.1



2.4TYPENAMINGCONVENTIONS

Allfamiliesmustincludeonepredefinedtype.Forfamiliesthatcreatereal‐worldobjectsthatareavailablein

standardsizes,predefinedtypesshouldbegenerated.Unlesstheyrepresentnominalsizes,typenamesshould

includeunitsorcapacity,andincludeaunitindicator.

Whennamingafamilytype,usetheformatandrulesbelow:

GUIDELINES

• Donotincludethefamilynameorcategoryinthetypename.

• Typenamesshouldmirroractualusage.

• Typenamesshouldindicatethekeydifferencesbetweentypes(size,count,material)and,when

applicable,reflectstandardsizes.

Insomecases,youmaybasenamesonsizedifference,butusecommontermsratherthannumbers.

• Whentypesarenamedbysize,usedimensionsonly.

Avoidtheuseofcharactersorwords.(h,w,d,orheight,width,depth).

• Typenamesshouldincludeunitsorcapacityandaunitindicator,unlesstheyrepresentnominalsizes.

• Metrictypesshouldreflectthelocalunitstandard,unlessthetypesareintendedtobegeneric.

• Keeptypenamesasshortaspossible.

TypenamesmustdisplayindialogsandintheTypeSelector.

FORMAT

Unlessthereisamarket‐specificreasontodootherwise,usethefollowinggeneralorderintypenames:

Fordoorsandwindows:   <width>x<height>

Forcaseworkandfurniture:   <width>x<depth>x<height>

Forotherelementtypes:<width>x<depth>



Version2.1RMCSG—33



Forunit‐specificfamilies:

Forimperialfamilytypes:

Inmostcases,sizeshouldbeexpressedininches.Useonlyoneoftheconventionsbelowwithinafamilyand

forrelatedfamilies.

Forfamilieswithmostsizesunder10’: XX”xYY”

Forfamilieswithmostsizesover10’: XX’–YY”xAA’–BB”

Formetricfamilytypes:

Foralltypesinmetricfamilies:  XXXXxYYYYmm(orlocalmetricunitindicator)



Forfamiliesthatfeaturenominalsizesorindustry‐standardterms:

Intypenames,dropthedimensionindicators(“,’,ormm)and/oruseindustry‐standardnamingconventions.

Brick(industry‐standardnaming):  Common,Norman,CSR,MetricModular

Lumber(nominalsizes):  2x4

Structure(industry‐standardnaming): W12x204

EXAMPLES

TYPESFORANIMPERIALWINDOW:

16”x24”

16”x48”

24”x24”

24”x48”

24”x72”

36”x24”

36”x48”

36”x72”



RMCSG—34 Version2.1



2.5CATEGORYANDSUBCATEGORYSTANDARDSANDUSAGE

Allfamilies,includinggenericfamilies,mustbeassignedtoappropriatecategoriesandsubcategories.Whena

familyiscreated,itisassignedacategory.Thecategorydefinesitstoplevelofidentification(forexample,Door,

Window,orCasework)withintheprojectenvironment.Whenthefamilyisusedinaproject,thefamilycanbe

locatedintheProjectBrowserunderitscategory,andelementscreatedbythefamilytypeswillschedulebyits

category.Thelineweight,linecolor,linepattern,andmaterialassignmentofthefamilygeometrycanalsobe

assignedtobycategory.

Todisplaydifferentlineweights,linecolors,linepatterns,andmaterialassignmentsfordifferentgeometric

componentsofthefamily(forexample,theframe,sash,mullions,andglassthatcompriseawindow),the

componentscanbeassignedtosubcategorieswithinthefamilycategory.

CategoriesarepredefinedinRevitsoftwareandcannotbecreatedorchangedbytheuser.Subcategoriesare

predefinedinsomefamilies,butothersubcategoriescanbecreatedinfamiliesasneeded.

ADDINGSUBCATEGORIESTOMODELFAMILIES

Ifyouneedtoaddsubcategoriesinyourfamilies,usethestepsbelowtoensurethatyoursubcategoriesadhereto

Autodeskstandards:

1. OpenthelistofAutodesk‐approvedsubcategories,RevitMasterSubcategoryList.xls(includedinthe

downloadpackage).



2. Selecttheworkbookthatcorrespondstothecategoryofthefamilythatyouarecreating.

Thefirsttablecontainsanypredefinedsubcategoriesthatareestablishedbythefamilytemplate.The

secondtablelistsadditionalsubcategoriesthatyoucanuse.





Version2.1RMCSG—35



3. Determineifanyoftheadditionalsubcategoriesfityourneeds.



4. Ifthelistdoesnotcontainthesubcategoriesthatyouneed,createnewsubcategoriesusingthenaming

conventionsinthenextsection.



5. SubmityoursubcategoriestotheAutodeskSeekteamforapproval.Aftertheyareapproved,the

subcategorieswillbeaddedtothemasterlist.

SUBCATEGORYNAMINGCONVENTIONS

• Createuniquenamesforeachsubcategory.

• Usenaturallanguagetonamethesubcategory.

Thesubcategorynameshoulddescribehowthesubcategoryisidentifiedintherealworld(i.e.,in

catalogs,bymanufacturer,etc.)

• Donotincludethefamilycategoryinthesubcategory.

• Keepsubcategorynamesasshortaspossible.

• Capitalizetheleadinglettersofthewordsthatformthesubcategoryname.





RMCSG—36 Version2.1



2.6AUTODESKAPPROVEDPARAMETERUSAGE

Familiescontainparametersthatnotonlycreatethefamilygeometry,butidentifyorclassifytheelementsthatare

createdbythefamily.Allfamilieshavepredefinedparametersthatyouassignvaluesordatato,butyoucanadd

parametersthatarenotpredefinedinRevitsoftware(thatarenotsystemparameters).

IMPORTANT:Ifyouwanttodisplaythenamesandvaluesofcustomparametersinaschedule,theymustbe

definedassharedparametersinatextfilethatisindependentoffamilyandprojectfiles.

REQUIREMENT:Topromoteconsistencyinmodelcontent(particularlyformanufacturercontentthatissharedon

AutodeskSeek),useparametersastheyareexplicitlydefined(includingtheGUID)intheapprovedshared

parametersfile.Ifarequiredparameterisnotinthefile,addittoyourcontentasnecessary.Itisalso

recommendedtoincludethesharedparameterfilecontainingtheadditionalparameterswithyourcontent

package.Whencreatingcustomparameters,referto2.7ParameterNamingConventions.

Refertothemastersharedparametersfile(RevitMasterSharedParameters.txt)forthelistofAutodesk‐approved

sharedparameters.Thisfilecontainsmostofthesharedparametersthatyouwillneedtoaddtoyourfamilies.A

spreadsheet(RevitMasterParameterList.xls)thatliststheseparametersbyfamilycategory,alongwithapplicable

predefinedsystemparametersisalsoavailableforyourreference.

WindowscategoryintheRevitMasterParameterList







Version2.1RMCSG—37



ADDINGMANUFACTURERDATATOFAMILIES

IdentityDataparametersinfamiliescanincludemanufacturerdata,includinginformationsuchasthemodel,

description,assemblycode,cost,andmanufacturerURL.Whenelementsarecreatedwiththefamilyinaproject,

theparametersandassociatedvaluescanbeincludedinschedules.

Identitydataparametersforawindowthatincludevaluesformanufacturerdata



ParameterNameDescription TypeofParameter

ManufacturerManufacturername System

ModelModelnameornumber System

ProductPageURLURLtoproductpage Shared(seesharedparameterlist)

ProductDocumentationLinkURLtoproductdocumentation Shared(seesharedparameterlist)

URLURLtomanufactureswebsite System

CSIOMNICLASSTABLE49

FamilyparameterscanreferenceOmniClassTable49properties,althoughRevitparametersandOmniClass

propertiesmaynotmatchperfectly.SeeRevitMasterParameterList.xlstoviewthemappings.



RMCSG—38 Version2.1



CSICLASSIFICATIONCODES

OnAutodeskSeek,contentfamiliescanbelocatedbytheappropriateCSI(ConstructionSpecificationsInstitute)

code.Forbestresults,includeinformationin3formatstandards:

• MasterFormat2004–50divisionsthatstandardizeinformationinconstructionprojectmanuals.

• UniFormatII(AssemblyCode)–Organizingpreliminaryconstructioninformationbasedonitssystemsand

assemblies.Usedforpreliminaryprojectdescriptions,performancespecifyingandcostestimation.

• OmniClass1.0–Consistsof15tables,eachrepresentingadifferentfacetofconstructioninformation.

Formoreinformationonthestandards,refertotheCSIWebsite,http://www.csinet.org/s_csi/index.asp.



ASSIGNINGTHEMASTERFORMATANDUNIFORMATCLASSIFICATIONINREVIT

TheMasterFormat2004andUniFormat(AssemblyCode)shouldbeassignedtoeachfamilytype.

1. OpentheFamilyTypesdialogforthefamily.

2. UnderIdentityData,forKeynote,entertheMasterFormatcodeappropriateforthefamilycontent.Refer

totheCSIWebSiteforalistofclassificationcodes.

3. UnderIdentityData,forAssemblyCode,clickintheValuefield,andclickthebrowsebuttontoselectthe

appropriateAssemblyCodefromthedialog.



4. Repeattheprocedureforeachtypeinthefamily.

Version2.1RMCSG—39





ASSIGNINGTHEOMNICLASSCLASSIFICATIONINREVIT(REVIT2010ANDLATER)

TheOmniClass1.0codeisassignedtothefamily.Youdonotneedtoassignittoeachfamilytype.

5. InRevit,OpentheFamilyCategoryandParametersdialog.

6. UnderFamilyParameters,forOmniClassNumber,clickinthefield,andclickthebrowsebuttontoselect

theappropriateOmniClasscodefromthedialog.

NoticethattheOmniClassTitlevalueisaddedautomatically.







 

RMCSG—40 Version2.1



2.7PARAMETERNAMINGCONVENTIONS

ConsistentparameternamingenableseasierandmorecomprehensiveparametricsearchinginAutodeskSeek.

Createparametersonlywhenvariationcreatesmeaningfullydifferentiatedtypesthatrepresentreal‐world

possibilities.

GUIDELINES

• Usestandardapprovedparameternameswhenavailable.

• Keepparameternamesasshortaspossible.

• Avoidabbreviationandtruncation,whenpossible.

• Use‘titlecasing’(aswiththetitleofabook)forparameternames,astheyarecasesensitive(e.g.,

CoefficientofPerformance;PointofShipment;HighandLowPressureGasConnectionDiameter).

• Parametersmustdisplayindialogs.

• DonotchangelabelnamesprovidedbytheRevitfamilytemplates.

• Parameternamesthatyoureusetocreateequalitiesshouldbecarefullycheckedfornamecoherence.

• Usethemostcommondescriptorforagroupofparametersasthefirstpartofthenamesothatthe

parameterssortlogically(e.g.,FilterFaceArea;FilterEfficiency).

• Parametersforsubsequentitemsshouldincludeanumberinthenamebeforethefinalpartofthe

description,butdonotincludeanumberinthenameforthefirstitem(e.g.,ActualHotGasFlow;Actual

HotGas2Flow).

• Avoidusingsymbolsinparameternames,including:+‐/\*()“‘<>|^${}[].

• Donotincludeunitsinthenameofaparameter(e.g.,SupplyAirFlowCFM).

• UsingthetermsActualorDesign:

o Actual–describestheactualvaluethesystemdefinitionrequires.“Actual”parametersarelinked

toconnectorsandareoftenusedforparametersthatdefineflowrates,forexample,Actual

SupplyAirFlow;ActualChilledWaterFlow.

o Design–describeswhattheproductisdesignedtodo,forexample,DesignVentilationAirFlow;

DesignReturnAirFlow.

• NameYes/NoparameterssotheyimplythattheyreturnaYes/Novalue,forexample:

o HasHandle

o IsEnergyEfficient

o ShowHoods





Version2.1RMCSG—41



FORMAT

<Function/Object><Typeofmeasurement/Descriptor>

<Function/Object>requirediftheparameterappliestoasub‐componentratherthan

theentirefamily.

<Typeofmeasurement/Descriptor>requiredforallparameterstodescribethevaluebeingpassed.

EXAMPLES

PARAMETERSTHATAPPLYTOTHEENTIREFAMILY

Format:<Typeofmeasurement/Descriptor>

Casementwindow:

• Height

• DefaultSillHeight

• Width

• WindowInset

• RoughWidth

• RoughHeight

Engineeringequipment:

• ActualHeaterGasFlow

• TotalHeatingCapacity

• FullLoadCurrent

• CompressorType

PARAMETERSTHATDESCRIBEAMEASUREMENTVALUEOFASUB‐COMPONENT:

Format:<Function/Object><TypeofMeasurement/Descriptor>

• HeatPumpCoilFaceArea

• HeatPumpCoilFaceVelocity

• ExhaustFanBladeSpeed

• ExhaustFanDrive

• ExhaustFanMotorSpeed

RMCSG—42 Version2.1



PARAMETERSTHATDESCRIBETHELINEARDIMENSIONOFASUB‐COMPONENT(CONNECTOR)

Format:<Function/Object>Connection<TypeofMeasurement/Descriptor>

• HotGasBypass2ConnectionDiameter

• CondenserWaterConnectionDiameter

• SupplyAirConnectionWidth

• SupplyAirConnectionHeight



Version2.1RMCSG—43



2.8MATERIALNAMINGCONVENTIONS

Finishmaterialnamingconventionsorganizethematerialbymanufacturer,andgeneraldescriptiontomore

specificdescription.Dependingonthetypeofmaterial,afinishmaterialnamemayincludeacolor,code,finish

type,oridentificationnumber.

GUIDELINES

• Finishnamesshouldindicatethekeydifferencesbetweenmaterials(manufacturer,type,color,

finish)and,whenapplicable,reflectstandardsizes.

Insomecases,youmaybasenamesonsizedifference,butusecommontermsratherthannumbers.

• Metricfinishnamesshouldreflectthelocalunitstandard,unlessthematerialsareintendedtobe

generic.

• Keepfinishnamesasshortaspossible.

RECOMMENDATION:Tooptimizethefilesizeforfamilieswithalargenumberofavailablematerials,provideonly

themostcommonmaterialsinthefamily,andprovidetheremainingmaterialsinaseparatefinishlibrary.Seethe

Finishesparttypeguideformoreinformation.

FORMATFORINDIVIDUALFINISHMATERIALS(STOREDINSIDEPROJECTS)

<FinishType>‐<Manufacturer>‐<Code>‐<Descriptor>



EXAMPLES



Paint‐AcmePaint‐AC440‐VintageBrownMatte

Glass‐AcmeGlazing‐Series1205–Clear

Aluminum‐AcmeMetal‐AC120‐Anodized(Clear)

Fabric‐AcmeFabrics‐ACF820‐Houndstooth‐Black/White

Stain‐AcmeWindows‐NaturalWoodFinish









RMCSG—44 Version2.1



FORMATFORINDIVIDUALFINISHMATERIALSUSINGANEXTERNALIMAGEFILE

Materialsrequiringexternalimages,bumpmapsandcutoutshouldbestoredinalocationthatcanbesharedby

multipleRevitProductinstalls.

ForWindowsXP:

C:\DocumentsandSettings\AllUsers\ApplicationData\RevitManufacturerLibrary\Materials\<MFG>



ForWindowsVistaandWindows7:

C:\ProgramData\AllUsers\ApplicationData\RevitManufacturerLibrary\Materials\<MFG>

GUIDELINES:

• Createuniquenamesforeachuniquematerialimage.

• Capitalizetheleadinglettersineachportionofthefamilyname.

• Donotusespacesbetweenwordsinfilenames.Toseparatewordswithinasyntaxelement(e.g.,

ManufacturerorDescriptor),usetheunderscorecharacter(_).

• Acceptablefileformatsformaterialimagesinclude:bmp,jpg,jpegandpng.

• ProvideareadmetodescribewheretheimagefilesmustbelocatedandhowtomapRevittothe“Revit

ManufacturerLibrary“folderintheRenderingOptionsdialog.





FORMATFORINDIVIDUALMATERIALSIMAGES(STOREDOUTSIDEOFREVIT)

MaterialImage:

<FinishType>‐<Manufacturer>‐<Code>‐<Descriptor>+fileextension

Bumpmaps:

<FinishType>‐<Manufacturer>‐<Code>‐<Descriptor>‐bump+fileextension

Cutouts:

<FinishType>‐<Manufacturer>‐<Code>‐<Descriptor>‐cutout+fileextension

EXAMPLES



ImageFile:

Paint‐Acme_Paint‐AC_440‐Vintage_Brown_Matte.jpg

Stain‐Acme_Windows‐Natural_Wood_Finish.jpg



BumpImageFile:

‐bump.jpg

Stain‐Acme_Windows‐Natural_Wood_Finish‐bump.jpg



Cut‐outs/Perforations:

‐cutout.jpg

Aluminum‐Acme_Fencing‐AC120‐Anodized‐cutout.jpg

Version2.1RMCSG—45





2.9PREVIEWIMAGESTANDARDS

Afamilypreviewimageisareducedthumbnailimageofa2Dor3Dfamilyviewthatgraphicallyidentifiesafamily

beforeitisdownloadedoropened.Previewimagesdisplayin:

• ThumbnailsviewinMicrosoft®WindowsExplorer

• AutodeskSeeksearchresults

• thePreviewwindowinRevitOpenandLoadFamilydialogswhenafamilyisselected

BycreatingpreviewimagesthatadheretoAutodeskstandards,userscanviewconsistentpreviewsacrossfamilies,

ensuringaconsistentuserexperiencebothinAutodeskSeekandinRevitsoftware.

FamilypreviewimagesinAutodeskSeek,WindowsExplorer,andRevitOpenFamilydialogs



RMCSG—46 Version2.1





CREATINGAUTODESKSTANDARDFAMILYPREVIEWIMAGES

Tocreateapreviewimage,beginbycreatingafamilyviewtouseexclusivelyforthepreviewimage.Althoughyou

cansaveanyfamilyviewasthepreviewimageview,thebestpracticeistocreateaviewthatcanbesetto

consistentlydisplayasisrequiredforthepreviewimage.

Afteryoucreatetheview,setAutodeskstandardgraphiccontrolsinthepreviewimageviewtoensurevisual

consistencywiththepreviewimagesofotherRevitfamilies.Differentgraphicstandardsexistforthefollowing

typesoffamilypreviewimages:

• Detailcomponentandannotationfamilies

• Hostedmodelcomponentfamilies

• Non‐hostedmodelcomponentfamilies

NOTE:Althoughannotationfamiliesarenotcoveredinthisguide,similarstandardsforannotationpreview

imagesexist.

IMPORTANT:Whenmodificationstothepreviewimageviewarecomplete,savetheviewandsetthefamilytouse

thecurrentviewasthepreviewimage.Eachtimeyousaveandclosethefamily,youmustensurethatthepreview

imageviewistheactive(open)viewsoitwilldisplayasthepreviewimage.

CREATINGADETAILCOMPONENTPREVIEWIMAGE

Foraneasilyidentifiabledetailcomponentpreview,setthepreviewimagetodisplaythe2Dviewthatfeatures

onlythecomponentlineworkandfilledregions.



Turnoffvisibilityofdimensionsandreferenceplanes/linesintheview,astheseelementsmayobscurecomponent

geometryiftheydisplay.

Version2.1RMCSG—47





TOCREATEADETAILCOMPONENTPREVIEWIMAGE:

Createaviewtouseasthefamilypreviewimage

1. Ifnecessary,openthedetailcomponentfamilyforwhichyouwanttocreateapreviewimage.

Turnoffvisibilityofdimensionsandreferenceplanes/lines

2. ClickViewmenu→Visibility/Graphics.

3. IntheVisibility/GraphicOverridesdialog,clicktheAnnotationCategoriestab.

4. UnderVisibility,clearDimensions,Levels,ReferenceLines,andReferencePlanes.

5. ClickOK.

SetstandardviewcontrolsinthePreviewview

6. OntheViewControlBar:

• Clickthecurrentviewscale,anddependingonthefamilyunits,click11/2”=1’‐0”or1:5.

• ClickDetailLevel,andclickFine.

• ClickModelGraphicsStyle,andclickWireframe.

7. ClickSave.



RMCSG—48 Version2.1



CREATINGAHOSTEDORNON‐HOSTEDMODELCOMPONENTPREVIEWIMAGE

Dependingonthetypeofmodelcomponentthatapreviewimagedepicts,itmaydisplaya2Dorisometricview.If

thepreviewimageiscreatedforahostedfamily,hostelementsmayormaynotdisplayinthepreview.

Thistopicpresentsgeneralguidelinesforcreatingpreviewimages.Foradditionalguidelines,refertothecategory‐

specificdocumentationformodelcomponentpreviewimages.

Createpreviewimageviewsaccordingtothefollowinggeneralguidelines:

• Doorandwindowpreviewimagesshoulddisplaya2Dfrontexteriorelevationviewofthefeatured

component.Visibilityofthehostelement(usuallyawall)shouldbeturnedofftobetterdisplaythe

windowordoor.

Thispreviewimageofawindowfamilyisagoodexamplebecauseithasanappropriatelevelofdetail,isa2D

frontview,andisrepresentativeofthecontent:





Thispreviewimageofawindowfamilyisapoorexamplebecauseitisa3Dviewthatincludesthehostobject

(wall)whichmakesthewindowdifficulttosee:





• Othermodelcomponentpreviews,suchasfurnitureorcasework,shoulddisplayinasoutheastisometric

view.

Version2.1RMCSG—49



 

• Host‐basedfamiliesotherthandoorsandwindows,suchaslightfixtures,mayincludehostelements

(wallsorceilings)inthepreviewimage.

Turnoffvisibilityofdimensionsandreferenceplanes/linesintheview,astheseelementsmayobscure

componentgeometryiftheydisplay.

TOCREATEAMODELCOMPONENTPREVIEWIMAGE:

Createaviewtouseasthepreviewimage

1. Ifnecessary,openthefamilyforwhichyouwanttocreateapreviewimage.

2. IntheProjectBrowser,selectaviewofthefamilythatyouwanttouse:

• Foradoororwindowfamily,selectanelevationview(preferablyfront).

• Forothermodelcomponentfamilies,selecta3Dview.

3. Right‐clicktheviewname,andclickDuplicateView→Duplicate.

4. Renametheduplicateview:

• IntheProjectBrowser,right‐clicktheviewname,andclickRename.

• TypePreviewandclickOK.

• ClickNotoretainthenamesofcorrespondingviewsandlevels.

5. Ifnecessary,opentheview.

Setastandardpreviewimagevieworientation

6. Dependingonthetypeofcomponentthatyouarecreating,setthevieworientation:

• Foradoororwindowfamilyinanelevationview,ontheViewCube,click .

• Forotherfamiliesthatdisplayina3Dview,ontheViewCube,click tosetasoutheast

orientation,right‐click,andclickSetCurrentViewasHome.

Turnoffvisibilityofdimensionsandreferenceplanes/linesandifnecessary,setthehostvisibility

7. ClickViewmenu→Visibility/Graphics.

8. IntheVisibility/GraphicOverridesdialog,clicktheAnnotationCategoriestab.

9. UnderVisibility,clearDimensions,Levels,ReferenceLines,andReferencePlanes.

10. Ifyouarecreatingapreviewforahost‐basedfamily,setthehostvisibility:

• Forfamilypreviewsinwhichthehostshouldnotdisplay,suchasdoorsandwindows,clearall

hostcategories.

RMCSG—50 Version2.1



• Forfamilypreviewsinwhichthehostshoulddisplay,selectallhostcategories.

11. ClickOK.

SetstandardviewcontrolsinthePreviewview

12. OntheViewControlBar:

• Clickthecurrentviewscale,anddependingonthefamilyunits,click11/2”=1’‐0”or1:5.

• ClickDetailLevel,andclickFine.

• ClickModelGraphicsStyle,andclickShadingwithEdges.

Setthepreviewimagetodisplaythecurrentview

13. ClickFilemenu→SaveAs.

14. IntheSaveAsdialog,inthelower‐rightcorner,clickOptions.

15. IntheFileSaveOptionsdialog,underPreview,forSource,select“3DView:Preview”,thenselect

“Regenerateifview/sheetisnotup‐to‐date”.







IMPORTANT:Thissettingdisplaystheselectedviewasthepreviewimage.Itisalsorecommendedthatthe

activeviewwhenyousavethefileisthesameastheselectedpreviewview.



TIP:SelecttheCompactFileoptiontohelpreducethefilesize.





16. ClickOK.

17. ClickSave.





Version2.1RMCSG—51



2.10TYPECATALOGSTANDARDSANDUSAGE

Atypecatalogiscomma‐delimitedTXTfilethat,whenplacedinthesamedirectoryasafamily,displaysalistof

familytypesbeforethefamilyisloadedintoaproject.Youcanselectandloadonlythefamilytypesthatthe

currentprojectrequires,avoidinganunnecessaryincreaseinprojectsizefromunusedtypesandalonglistoftypes

intheTypeSelector.Thetypecatalogalsoprovidesanexternalmeansofeditingthefamily,asyoucanremoveand

addparametersandtypesinthecatalogfile(TXT).

TYPECATALOGSTANDARDS

Usethefollowingstandardswhencreatingtypecatalogs:

• Useanytexteditortocreatetypecatalogs.

• Createtypecatalogsforfamiliesthatcontainsixormoretypes.

• Nameatypecatalogfile(.txt)withthesamenameasthefamilyfile(.rfa)thatitsupports.

• Ensurethatparametersintypecatalogsaretestloadedbythefamilyforwhichyoucreatethetype

catalog.Iftheparametersarenotused,thefamilywillnotload.

IMPORTANT:InTypeCatalogs,inordertoincludefeetandinchmarksinthetypename,youmustincludea“mark

afterthefootorinchsymbol.

Todisplaythetypename…Inthetypecatalog,enter…

48”x60”48””x60””

3’

–

6”3’”

–

6””

Forinformationoncreatingatypecatalog,see“CreatingTypeCatalogs”intheRevitHelpandFamiliesGuide.

UNIT‐SPECIFICFAMILY

Atypecatalog(TXTfile)foradoorfamily



RMCSG—52 Version2.1



Dialogdisplayedbythetypecatalogwhenthedoorfamilyisloaded



STRUCTURALCONTENT–INDUSTRY‐STANDARDNAMING

Atypecatalog(TXTfile)forasteeljoistfamily



Dialogdisplayedbythetypecatalogwhenthesteeljoistfamilyisloaded





Version2.1RMCSG—53





2.11MATERIALAPPLICATIONINMODELFAMILIES

Materialscanbeappliedtofamiliestodepictthereal‐worlddisplayofelementscreatedwiththefamilyinshaded

andrenderedviews.

IMPORTANT:Whenapplyingmaterialstoafamily,rememberthatmaterialsincreasethefamilysize,whichin

turndecreasesitsperformancewhenitisloadedandusedinprojects.

Dependingonhowyouapplymaterialstoafamily’sgeometry,youcancontroltheuser’sabilitytomodifythe

materialsofelementsthattheycreatewiththefamily.Usetheseguidelinestoapplymaterialstofamilygeometry:

Ifyouwantto…Then…

usematerialsthatwillnotneedtobechangedApplythematerialdirectlytothefamilygeometryby

assigningittotheMaterialparameter(Option1).

changethematerialforthefamilycategory

and/orforsubsetsofgeometriccomponentsin

thefamily

Applyamaterialtothefamilycategory.

Createsubcategories,assignmaterialstoeach

subcategory,andassignsubcategoriestogeometry

(Option2).

changethematerialforageometriccomponentin

afamilybyinstanceortype

Createaninstanceortypematerialparameterand

assignittotheappropriatefamilygeometry(Option3).

NOTE:Thisisthemostflexibleandpreferredmethodof

materialassignment.

Ifpossible,usethematerialsthatareavailableintheRevitsoftwarewhenassigningmaterialstofamilygeometry.

Ifyouneedtocreateamaterial,makesurethatthematerialnameconformstothenamingconventionsdescribed

intheMaterialNamingConventionstopic.



OPTION1–APPLYMATERIALSWITHTHEMATERIALPARAMETER

YoucanapplymaterialsdirectlytosomeorallofthefamilygeometryintheFamilyEditor.Eachpieceoffamily

geometryhasadefaultMaterialparametertowhichyoucanassignmaterials.

USETHISMETHODWHEN:

Thematerialofthefamilygeometryisunlikelytochange,suchasforamanufacturedcomponentthatissupplied

withasinglestandardmaterial.

RMCSG—54 Version2.1



RESULT:

Whenyoucreateelementsinaprojectwiththefamily,youcannot:

• changetheelementmaterialswithouteditingthefamily

• changethematerialforinstancesortypesofthefamily

• changethematerialsbyassigningamaterialtotheelementcategory



OPTION2–APPLYMATERIALSTOFAMILYGEOMETRYBYCATEGORYANDSUBCATEGORY

Youcanapplymaterialstoallorselectpiecesoffamilygeometrybysubcategory.Subcategoriesarecategoriesthat

existwithinthefamilycategory.Youcanassigndifferentpiecesoffamilygeometrytoeachsubcategory,andthen

applyadifferentmaterialtoeachsubcategory.Toapplymaterialtogeometrythatisnotassignedtoa

subcategory,youcanapplymaterialsbythefamilycategory.

USETHISMETHODWHEN:

Youwanttobeabletoapplydifferentmaterialstodifferentfamilycomponentsbycategoryorsubcategory.

RESULT:

Whenyoucreateanelementinaprojectwiththefamily,

• youcanchangethematerialsassignedtoeachsubcategoryorcategory.



OPTION3–APPLYMATERIALSWITHCUSTOMINSTANCEORTYPEMATERIALPARAMETERS

Youcancreateandassignacustominstanceortypematerialparametertofamilygeometry.

BESTPRACTICE:Thisisthemostflexiblemethodofmaterialassignmentthatyoucanprovidetheuser.

USETHISMETHODWHENYOUWANT:

• toallowtheusertochangefamilymaterialsbyinstanceorbytype.

• bysettingthematerialparameterto<bycategory>thisoptioncanalsoallowtheelementstobeupdated

bysubcategoryorcategory.

RESULT:

Whenyoucreateanelementwiththefamilyinaproject,theparametergivesyoutheoptiontochangeamaterial

foraninstanceoftheelementorforeachtypeofelementthatyoucreate.



Version2.1RMCSG—55



EXAMPLE:ASSIGNINGMATERIALSTOATABLEFAMILY

Inthisexample,acombinationofmaterialoptionsisusedtoapplymaterialsinasimpletablefamily.



Materialassigneddirectlytogeometry(Option1):Thehardwarewillnotneedtochangewhenthisfamilyisused

inaproject,soamaterialisapplieddirectlytotheknobforthetabledrawer.IntheElementPropertiesdialogfor

theknobgeometry,underMaterialsandFinishes,theMaterialparametervalueissettoMetal–Chrome.



Materialsassignedwithtypematerialparameters(Option3):Twotypematerialparametersarecreatedinthe

tablefamily:

• LegMaterial–assignedtoablackpaintfinish

• TopMaterial–assignedto<ByCategory>

RMCSG—56 Version2.1





Thematerialforthetablelegscanbechangedasrequiredbytheuserintheproject.InElementProperties,the

MaterialpropertyforthetablelegsgeometryisassociatedwiththeLegMaterialfamilyparameter.Thematerial

forthelegsthereforeisdeterminedbythematerialassignedtotheLegMaterialparameterintheFamilyTypes

dialog.

Thematerialforthetabletopcanbechangedbytheuserasrequiredtomatchotherfurniturecomponentsinthe

project.TheMaterialpropertyforthetabletopgeometryisassociatedwiththeTopMaterialfamilyparameter.

ThematerialforthetabletopisthereforedeterminedbythematerialassignedtotheFurniturecategoryinthe

ObjectStylesdialog(inthisexample,Walnut).



Byusingamaterialfamilyparameterandassigningthevalueof<ByCategory>toit,yougivetheusertheflexibility

ofusingthedefaultmaterialappliedtothefamilycategoryorchangingtheparametervaluetoamaterialoftheir

choice.



Version2.1RMCSG—57



2.12BESTPRACTICESFORADDINGCONNECTORSINREVITMEPFAMILIES

InRevitMEP,theconnectorconnectsthesinglefamilycomponentwithothercomponentstocreateMEP

systems.Withoutaconnector,anRMEfamilywouldjustbeastaticplaceholder.

InRevitMEP,thereare3kindsofconnectors:

• ElectricalConnector

• DuctConnector

• PipeConnector

ADDINGACONNECTOR

1. Clickthetoolfortheconnectoryouwishtoadd(ElectricalConnector,DuctConnector,orPipe

Connector).

2. Clicktoplacetheconnectorinthedrawingarea.

RMEprovidestwowaystoplacetheconnector,placingitonafaceoronaworkplane.Ifyouselectthe

PlaceonFaceoption,theconnectorisautomaticallyaddedtothecenterofthefaceofthegeometryand

moveswiththeface.Ifthegeometryisdeleted,theconnectorisalsodeleted.

BESTPRACTICE:Placeconnectorsonafaceratherthanonaworkplane.

RMCSG—58 Version2.1



SYSTEMTYPES

Thefollowingtableprovidesanoverviewoftheapplicationscenarioforeachsystemtype.

SystemTypeApplicationScenario Example

PipeConnector

HydronicSupplyFamiliesinclosedwatercirculationsystems Boiler,Chiller,

CoolingTower

HydronicReturn

SanitaryPlumbingfixtures



Lavatories,

WaterClosets.

DomesticHotWater

DomesticColdWater

FireProtectionWetThethreesystemsarematchingthethree

sprinklersystems,sprinkler‐wet,sprinkler‐dry,

sprinkler‐pre‐action.

Sprinkler,

DryValve

FireProtectionDry

FireProtectionPre‐Action

FireProtectionOtherOtherfireprotectionsystemsexceptthethree

above,suchasstandpipe

Cabinet,Hose

Connection

FittingPipeFittingsElbow,Tee

Globa

l

Familiesthatwillbeinmultiplesystems Pump,Valve

OtherFamiliesingas,refrigerant systems,

Placeholderforpipesystemsnotincluded

Gasconnectorof

Waterheater

Unsupported StromDrainage ,SanitaryVentilation

DuctConnector

SupplyAirHVACAirdeliverysystems AirConditioner,

DustCollector

ReturnAir

ExhaustAir

OtherAirPlaceholderforairsystemsnotincluded

FittingDuctFittings Elbow,Tee

Global Familiesthatwillbeinmultiplesystems Fan

Unsupported FreshAir

ElectricalConnector

DataAutomaticallyormanuallycontrolthe

transmitting,receiveorsendingofdata/voice

signals.

DataOutlet

Power

–

Balance

d

Equipment,deviceorfixtureoperatesin

powersupply/distributionsystems.

Generator

Power

–

Unbalance

d

PanelBoard

TelephoneTelecommunicationdevicesusedtotransmit

andreceivesound.

Telephoneoutlet

SecurityBearmedanddetectsecurity/accessproblem SmokeDetector

FireAlarmAlarm‐initiatingdevicesoperatetocontrol

alarmsignals

WaterFlow

Indicator

NurseCal

l

Keycomponentinaddressingpatientcare

needs.

CallPoint

ControlsNormallyusedforremotecontrolinsome

specialcircumstances

ControlValve

CommunicationDevicesincommunicationsysteminbuilding,

usedtotransmitting,receiveorsend

communicationsignals

Speaker



Version2.1RMCSG—59



CONNECTORDIRECTION

Forduct/pipeconnectors,anarrow,perpendiculartothesurface,displays.Thedirectionthatthearrowispointing

isalsothedirectioninwhichtheconnectingduct/pipewillbedrawn.Asthepictureshows,verticalductcanbe

drawnfromanupconnectorinanairterminal.

NOTE:Thearrowdoesnotrepresenttheflowdirection.



PRIMARYCONNECTOR

Bydefault,thefirstconnectorineachdomainisassignedastheprimaryconnector.Inthefollowingimage,youcan

easilyidentifytheprimaryconnector(connector1)bythecrosssymbol.TheRe‐assignPrimarytoolallowsyouto

reassigntheprimaryconnector,asrequired.



Theprimaryconnectorofpipeandductfittingsshouldbelocatedatcoordinates(‐1,0,0).Inthefollowingimage

oftheplanviewofaP‐Trap,connector1istheprimaryconnector.

RMCSG—60 Version2.1





Forotherfamilies,thelocationoftheprimaryconnectorisnotimportant.



LINKINGCONNECTOR

Whentherearemorethanonepipe/ductconnectors,thereisachoiceforlinkingconnectors.



• Linkedconnectorsonlyhaveaneffectwhenthesystemtypeissettoglobalforequipmentorfitting.

• Linkingconnectorsonequipmentmakesitpossibletopropagateengineeringdata,allowingyoutouse

equipmentasaninlinecomponentinasystem.

• Linkingconnectorsonfittingsshouldincludetheprimaryconnector.

Version2.1RMCSG—61



CONNECTORMAPPING

EditElementPropertiesfortheconnectortodefineparametersfortheconnector.



Forpartparameters,clickingabrowsebuttondisplaysadialogthatmakesiteasytomapconnectorparametersto

familyparameterswiththesameunits.Connectormappingmakestheconnectorparametricwiththefamily.

RMCSG—62 Version2.1



CONNECTORDESCRIPTIONS

Inthefollowingexampleofcomplexequipment,itwouldbedifficulttodeterminethefunctionofeachconnector.



Tomakeiteasiertoidentifythefunctionofconnectorsinthefamily,addconnectordescriptions.These

descriptionsdisplayintheSelectConnectordialog.Inthefollowingimage,descriptionsareunderlinedinredfor

illustrationpurposes.







Version2.1RMCSG—63



SECTION3:

TESTINGGUIDELINES

ToensurethequalityofRevitfamilycontent,thoroughlytestfamiliesbeforeusingtheminproductionorsharing

themonAutodeskSeek.Testfamilieswiththeguidelinesinthissectionto:

• verifythatnewfamilycontentmeetsAutodeskstandards

• ensurefamilyparametricrelationships

• ensureaconsistentuserexperience

Twosetsoftestingguidelinesareincluded:generalguidelinesandfamily‐specificguidelines:

• Usethegeneralfamilytestingguidelinestotestallfamilies.

• Usethefamily‐specifictestingguidelinestotestspecificcriteriaperfamilytype.

Inaddition,category‐specifictestingguidelinesareavailableforsomefamilycategories.Thesedocumentscontain

specifictestingguidelinesthatyoushouldusewhenavailable.Beforetestingafamily,determinewhethera

category‐specificdocumenthasbeenpublishedforthecategoryofthefamilythatyouaretesting.



RMCSG—64 Version2.1



3.1GENERALFAMILYTESTINGGUIDELINES

Performgeneraltestingonafamilywhenitis:

• openintheFamilyEditor

• loadedintoaproject

Usethecriteriainthechecklistsbelowtotestfamiliesineachoftheaboveenvironments.

Whentestingfamiliesinprojects,itisstronglyrecommendedthatyou:

• Testfamiliesinprojectscreatedwiththegenericmetricandimperialtestingtemplateprojectsthatwere

includedinthedownloadpackage.

• Testfamiliesinprojectsthatmatchthedesignintentofthefamily.

Forexample,testawindowfamilythatisdesignedtobeplacedinalargecommercialbuildinginalarge

commercialproject.

• ContentthatisdesignedtoworkinmorethanoneRevitdisciplinemustbetestedinallapplicable

disciplines.Forexample,foralightingfixture,testtheconnectorsinRevitMEP,andverifythatthefixture

castslightasexpectedwhenrenderinginRevitArchitecture.

TIP:Forlargecontentcreationprojects,itisrecommendedthat“spotchecking”orrandomtestingof10%ofthe

contentbeperformedbyatesterwhoisnotthecontentcreator.



FAMILYEDITORTESTINGCRITERIA

R Testallfamilyparameterstoensurethatthegeometryflexes/adjustscorrectlywhenthefamily

parametersaremodified.



R Testallfamilytypes–changethetype,applyit,andinspectthegeometrytoverifythatthedimensions

andrelationshipsaremaintained.



R Inahost‐basedfamily,verifythatthehostflexesasexpected.Changethehostthicknessandensurethat

thefamilygeometryadjustsappropriately.



R VerifythatthefamilypreviewimageisusingthePreviewview.



R Checkallviewstoensurethatthefamilydisplaysappropriatelyindifferentdetaillevelsandwhen

differentModelGraphicsstylesareapplied.



R Testconstraints:

o Testthehandlesontheedgeofthegeometryandmakesurethatallgeometryisconstrainedto

eitherareferenceplaneorareferenceline.

o Testthedimensionparametertomakesurethatthereferenceplaneorlineisbeingadjustedby

theparameterandnottheactualgeometry.



Version2.1RMCSG—65



PROJECTTESTINGCRITERIAFORREVITARCHITECTURE

R Usingatestprojectoroneofthetestingtemplateprojectsavailablefordownload,loadthefamilyina

projectenvironment,andcheckallviewsforanomalies.Ifthefamilyincludesatypecatalog,useittoload

thefamily.

R Inspectthefamilyappearanceinallviews(plan,reflectedceilingplan,elevation,Section,3D)at

alldetaillevels(Coarse,Medium,Fine).

R InspectthefamilyappearanceindifferentModelGraphicsStyles:Wireframe,HiddenLine,

Shading,andShadingwithEdges.

R Testallfamilytypes–changethetype,applyit,andinspectthegeometrytoverifythatthedimensions

andrelationshipsaremaintained.

R Createnewtypesandmodifyallparameters,checkingallviewsforanomalies.

R Modifyallmaterialassignmentstoverifythatmaterialsareassociatedtothegeometrycorrectly.

TIP:Tobetterinspectfamilygeometry,modifyallmaterialtypeparameterstoglass.Also,ifanyofthe

familygeometrydoesnotdisplayasglass,thenamaterialparameterisassignedincorrectly.

R Modifycategoryandsubcategorymaterialstoverifythefamilyisnotusingmaterialtypeparameters.

R Forhostedfamilies:

R Placehostedfamiliesintotheprovidedhostthicknessesandconfirmfamiliesworkinallhosts

appropriatetothefamiliesuse,includingin‐placewallsandmasselements.

R Modifythehostthicknessby25%‐400%,andcheckforunconnectedgeometryand/orplan

representationsthatmaybedisconnectedfromthegeometry.

R Re‐inspectthefamilyappearanceinallviewstoensurethatthegeometrydisplaysasexpected.

R Dimensiontoallreferencesandsnapallreferencestowalls.

R Createatestrendering.

R Testthefollowingcommandsongeometrycreatedinthefamily:

R Copy/Paste

R Rotate

R Mirror

R VerifythatthefamilypreviewimageisusingthePreviewview.

R Testthefamilyinanactualproject,verifyitsperformance,andensurethattheprojectmatchesthe

designintentofthefamily.



RMCSG—66 Version2.1



Version2.1RMCSG—67



3.2FAMILY‐SPECIFICTESTINGGUIDELINES

Dependingonthetypeoffamilybeingtested,theremaybespecificcriteriatotestinadditiontothegeneral

testingthatshouldbeperformedonallfamilies.



Usethistabletodetermineifafamilyrequiresanyspecifictesting:

REVITFAMILY‐SPECIFICTESTING

FamilyTypeExampleTest

Freely‐PlacedFurniture,entourage Testinarelevantprojectcontext.



Forexample,placefurnitureorcaseworkelements

onafloorwithatexturetoensurethatthe

elementsmaskthefloor.



HostedWindow,door Ensurethatthefamilyinteractsproperlywitha

hostandadjuststodifferenthostthicknesses.



Face‐BasedLightfixture Ensurethatthefamilyattachesproperlytofaces

anddoesn’timproperlyembedin,orprojectaway

from,thefaceoftheobjecttowhichitisattached.



DetailComponentDetailcomponent Ensurethatthefamilysnapstoothergeometry

correctlyandthatitmasksanygeometryonwhich

itisplaced.



