Month September 2018

What are Revit Families?

Bansri Pandey 1 Comment

In the last chapter ‘Concept of Revit Elements‘, we learnt about how Revit elements are organized in a hierarchy of,

Elements -> Categories -> Family -> Type -> Instance.

Now, let’s dig deeper into different kinds of Families available to use in Revit.

System families are predefined in Revit. You do not load them into your projects from external files, nor do you save them in locations external to the project.

Examples of System families include Walls, Roofs, Floors, Ducts, Pipes, Levels, Grids, Viewports, etc.

Unlike system families, loadable families are created in external *.RFA files and are loaded in the project. Building elements that are usually purchased, delivered and installed in/around a building such as windows, doors, electrical fixtures, furniture, mechanical equipment, plumbing fixtures, etc are examples of loadable families. Some annotation elements that require customization, such as symbols, title blocks, tags, etc are also loadable families.

Learn more about how to use a loadable family in a project in this video – by Autodesk Building Solutions

If you need a projecet-specific component that is unique to your project condition, you may use In-Place Families. In-place family take reference to the geometries in the project and can be resized or adjusted according to the referenced geometry. However, you cannot create multiple types of the same family. Each individual component that you create will be considered as individual family.

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Concept of Revit Elements

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All elements in Revit are organized in a hierarchy of,

  • Elements
    • Categories
      • Families
        • Types
          • Instances.

Understanding Revit elements is very similar to understanding real world elements in a typical building project.

  • There are mainly three types of Elements in Revit:
    • Model Elements include categories that have 3D geometry such as Walls, Doors, Windows, etc.
    • Datum Elements include categories that are used as references for the project such as Levels, Grids, etc.
    • View-Specific Elements include categories that describe or document the project on a specific view such as Dimensions, Text, Annotations, etc.

Let’s take an example of Model Element category such as Door.

  • A specific design of a door is known as Family such as a Single Flush Door.
    • Each family of this element can have multiple types within it. For example, the Single Flush Door family with 0.8m, 0.9m and 1.0m width types.
      • Now, when you place a particular type of door at a particular location in your project, it is known as the Instance. So, if there are 4 Single Flush Doors with 0.8m type in the project, then we can count 4 instances of 0.8m Type of Single Flush Door family in the project.

To make it yet easier to understand, let’s take the following example of chairs in a room:

M2 Revit Elements
  • Element Type: Model Elements (because they contain 3D geometry)
  • Category: Furniture
  • Family: There are two different design of chairs in this example:
    1. Executive Chair
    2. Desk Chair
  • Type:
    • Executive Chair Types:
      1. Blue Chair
    • Desk Chair Types:
      1. Blue Chair
      2. Black Chair
  • Instances:
    • Executive Chair -> Blue Chair -> 6 Instances (around the table)
    • Desk Chair -> Blue Chair -> 5 Instances (in the left)
    • Desk Chair -> Black Chair -> 4 Instances (in right)

I hope these examples make it more clear for you to understand how elements are organized in Revit.  To further understand Revit elements, please review About Element Behavior in Revit

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Starting a project in Revit

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There are many ways to start an architectural project. The approach will depend on each designer’s preference and at which design stage you are beginning your project in Revit.

  • Approach 1: Starting with a layout

    • Most architectural projects begin by designing space layouts using lines or basic modeling tools such as walls, doors and windows. Once a layout is complete at one level, often the design develops vertically on different levels.

  • Approach 2: Starting with a reference

    • Some architects like to begin their conceptual work in CAD, SketchUp or other software tools. Once a concept is finalized, a REVIT model is then generated using the output drawings from CAD/other tools as references.

  • Approach 3: Using complex forms for conceptual design

    • Some architects like to begin their design by playing with space volumes and complex forms. Once the form is finalised, a building model is then generated based on that form. In REVIT, this is done through Massing tools. It is especially useful for complex form development during conceptual planning phase.
Please note that as this course ‘Basic 3D Modeling tools for an Architectural project‘ is focused on beginner level, the tutorials provided in this course are based on approach 1 and 2. If you are interested in learning more about approach 3, click on Massing Studies.

Q&A

Have any Questions? or Suggestions? or Feedback? Please feel free to Contact Us, we will get back to you as soon as we can.