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Create and manage your Revit Structure contentsand library
Damien Legrand AEC Consulting Pty ltd
SE318-1 Learn the process of creating library parts, and organizing and managing your library.Understand the diverse levels of complexity of a Revit family and relate them to a time andresource constraint. This session will cover the different techniques for creating complexparametric families and look at their direct application at a project level. It will also cover thefunctional aspect of a library to suit your work environment (type of work, number of users,etc.). Some of the examples used will include 2D and 3D details, 3D complex elements,and annotations symbols. You will gain the knowledge to optimize your library creation andexpansion. This session will be mainly structural oriented, but will benefit any advancedRevit user and CAD manager.
About the Speaker:Damien is an engineering technical consultant in Sydney, Australia. He graduated with a Master ofEngineering in Material Science from Centrale Nantes, France. He is now focusing on implementing the
Revit technology in engineering firms. Last year he worked with Meinhardt Australia on theimplementation of Revit Structure, which led to a customer success story that was presented at OTC 2008.
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Table 0f Contents
1. Principle of Family creation ________________________________________________ 3
1.1. Different type of family __________________________________________________________31.1.1. System Families___________________________________________________________31.1.2. User Defined Families______________________________________________________31.1.3. In Place Families __________________________________________________________41.1.4. Groups __________________________________________________________________51.1.5. Standard details ___________________________________________________________5
1.2. Creation Process in 3 steps______________________________________________________61.2.1. Geometry ________________________________________________________________61.2.2. Parametric _______________________________________________________________7
1.2.3. Display __________________________________________________________________8
1.3. Advance techniques ___________________________________________________________101.3.1. Nested family ____________________________________________________________101.3.2. Shared Family ___________________________________________________________101.3.3. Formulas ________________________________________________________________111.3.4. Catalog Files ____________________________________________________________11
2. Organization of the library ________________________________________________ 12
2.1. Naming Convention ___________________________________________________________12
2.2. Tree description ______________________________________________________________ 12
2.3. Template ____________________________________________________________________13
3. Development process ___________________________________________________ 14
3.1. Definition of a workframe_______________________________________________________143.2.1. Creation of a Revit Standard for the documentation _____________________________143.2.2. Enhance the documentation production and coordination ________________________153.2.3. Rethinking and adding value to the deliverables________________________________16
3.3. Challenges __________________________________________________________________ 173.3.1. Resources ______________________________________________________________ 173.3.2. Project pressure / timing ___________________________________________________173.3.3. Synchronization between teams and offices ___________________________________ 173.3.4. Integrated workflow _______________________________________________________18
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1. Principle of Family creation
1.1. Different type of family
There are many ways to save Revit contents and reuse them in future projects. From a content developer
point of view it is a matter of understanding the differences between the different family types and decides
on the best way to create a particular content.
1.1.1. System Families
They are the families that live in a project. They cannot be saved as individual ".rfa" files in an external
library.
Typical examples are walls, slabs, rebars, stairs.
In order to create a new system family, you will have to duplicate an existing family and modify the
information.
Illustration 1: Process of creating a system family
Usually the flexibility of a system family is limited as the number of parameters predefined by the type of
elements you are creating.
1.1.2. User Defined Families
They are the families that make your library. Each of them is an rfa file and can be loaded in a project.
Typical examples are beams, columns, foundations but also details components, annotation symbols,
and tags.
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When created a new user defined family, you start with a family template rft that would specify what type
of object you are creating.
Illustration 2: Process of creating a user defined family
User defined family are a lot more flexible as you can fully control the shape and number of parameters
associated.
1.1.3. In Place Families
They are the families you create in a similar way that the user defined families, but they remain in the
project file and are not exportable to the library.
The most current situation where you would use an In place family is when you are modeling a very
specific element, usually very specific to the project and when you need to reference it to some other
element of the structure.
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1.1.4. Groups
Groups are an assembly of several elements that you can make in a project and export to your library.An example is a precast panel. There is no such element in Revit. So we use a combination of user
defined and system families to create a more complex element.
Wall Object to
Model the Panel
Wall Reveal tomodel the chamfer
Lock Constrain tomaintain assembly
when stretching ormoving
Illustration 3: Process of inserting a group and modifying it
1.1.5. Standard details
Standard details and to a certain extend standard detail sheets can also be saved in your library.
You can create a project file with drafting views where you will put your standard details. When you work
on a job and need to import a standard detail, you insert from file the corresponding view.
Illustration 4: Process of inserting a standard detail drafting view
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1.2. Creation Process in 3 steps
Satisfaction
Geometry Parametric Display
Line missingHatching not displaying
Illustration 5: Satisfaction VS Phases of Family Creation Process
1.2.1. Geometry
Revit has 5 ways to generate solid/void shapes. If the geometry you are trying to create is too complex to
be done with one of these methods, you can creat e simpler pieces of geometry and use the join/unjoin
and cut/donotcut tools to rebuild the final assembly.
Extrusion:
Profile(sketched or
preloaded)
Extrusion Depth(start / end)
Blend:
Top Profile (sketchonly)
Base Profile (sketchonly)
Blend Depth (start /
end)
Solid Revolve:
Revolving AxisProfile
(sketched only)Revolve Angle(start / End) Sweep:
Path (Sketch or PickProfile (Sketch or
preloaded)Swept Blend:
Path (Sketch or Pick
Profile 1 (Sketch or
preloaded)Profile 2 (Sketch or
preloaded
Illustration 6: Different way to generate 3D shapes in Revit
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1.2.2. Parametric
The parametric concept is a great tool of Revit and this will allow you to parameter and control thegeometry you are created.
The concept is to create a parameter that you access later on in a project through the element property
dialog and to relate it to the geometry.
Locking the extrusion sketch onto
the reference plane enable to drivethe dimension of the column just by
updating the value of parameterwidth and depth
Creatingparameter to
drive a dimensionbetween two
reference plane
Illustration 7: Creation of a family parameter
Revit makes a difference between type and instance parameters:
An instance parameter should only have an effect on the particular instance you are editing
A type parameter describes a property of several element of the same type.
Instance parameters Type Parameters
Illustration 8: Difference between instance and type parameter
When creating a parameter you also have the choice of a family parameter or a shared parameter.
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A family parameter will relate to a property of the family you are making but wont be able to be retrieved
in a project in a schedule or a tag for example.
A shared parameter can be common to several families and would be accessible for scheduling or
tagging
Shared Parameter can beused across multiple
families which allow you toretrieve this information in
tag or schedule
Illustration 9: Benefit of Using Shared parameters
1.2.3. Display
Once your geometry is created with all the parameters need, you need to make sure that your family will
display correctly on your drawings.
For every pieces of geometry you will be able to set the level of detail, the type of views where it should
be visible.
You can also associate a piece of geometry to a subcategory and use to object style setting once in
project to drive the line type and pencil thickness to be used.
In case these options are not giving you a good result, we can add some symbolic representation to
correct the display.
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The 3D Sweep is visible only atmedium level of detail
The Symbolic representation canbe moved to display Purlin lap
Illustration 10: Example of Display Settings for a Concrete beam Family
As part of the family category and parameters, you will be able to modify some advance properties that
will help drive the general behavior of you family in a project file.
Representation in Plan with
the show Family precut inPlan deactivated
Representation in Plan withthe show Family precut in
Plan activated
Illustration 11: Family Category and parameters Settings
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1.3. Advance techniques
1.3.1. Nested family
When creating Revit contents it can be a good thing to categorize the object by their level of complexity.
For example a bolt would be a low level 1 of complexity and a steel beam with connection plate at both
ends would be a high level 3 of complexity. The idea behind this classification is that you do not have to
create all the geometry in one single rfa file.
You can use existing families and nest them into a more complex family. This process will also allow you
to drive the parameters of the nested family directly form the main family.
The Pile is nested in the Pile Cap.This enables to reuse a family in multiple
other
Parameter of the nested family are driven inthe main family using the = feature of the
element property dialog
Illustration 12: Example of a Nested Family
1.3.2. Shared Family
To extend the nested family concept described before you can share the nested family into the main
family. This will enable you to schedule this family on its own even if it is nested into a more complexfamily.
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The Sharing Option
allow you toschedule everynested familydirectly in your
project file.
Illustration 13: Concept of a shared nested family
1.3.3. Formulas
It is possible to relate to parameter together using a formula. This enable to control the family parameters
with a minimum user input which reduces the chances of mistakes.
Illustration 14: Example of Formulas in a Truss family
1.3.4. Catalog Files
In case you are creating a family that is based on a manufacturer catalog, you do not need to create all
the different type in the family file or the project. You can combine you rfa file with a txt file where you
input all the values from the catalog.
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2. Organization of the library
It is very hard to describe the best way to organize your library as it depends much on the type of work
that you are doing, the number of users within the organization and how much content you have at the
time.
2.1. Naming Convention
A clear and understandable naming convention is essential to allow other users to fully use the potential
of your library.
MH-S-Step Symbol.rfa
Company Name Shortcut
Discipline
S: Structure
M Mechanical
0: Common
Thumbnail : giveuser more claritywhile loading thefamily in the
project
Name as short andprecise as possible
Illustration 15: Example of Naming Convention adopted by Meinhardt Australia
Your naming convention would differentiate your own contents to the one coming from external sources.Renaming contents is the very first step of putting in place a QA system
2.2. Tree description
On a similar basis the tree of your library is a key point of making all your work accessible and useful to
other Revit users. It is necessary that the majority of the Revit users throughout the organization are
feeling comfortable navigating your library
Components or CAD Standards Related
Engineering Discipline
Revit Object Type
Revit Object Subcategory
Material
Engineering Discipline
Revit Object Type
Revit Object Subcategory
Material
Illustration 16: Examples of library roots
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2.3. Template
This presentation is not to describe the way to build up a company template however the template would
contain a certain number of the contents that you have created.
The template is a great tool to make sure that all the families that control your CAD standards are used
widely throughout the organization. All the annotations families that are specific to your company should
be in the template file and used to create section marks, view titles, titleblocks
On the other side it is interesting to limit the number of object that you leave in your template to limit the
size of your template. It is also a way to force user to go and browse the library which eventually help to
maintain consistency in the way the documentation looks.
Standard information is preloaded to
the starting template.
This ensure consistency in thedocumentation
All the project components are to be
loaded as you are building the model.
This make sure that are only using what is
necessary.
Tip: Drag and Drop from the library folder
Illustration 17: Example of families preloaded in the starting template Robert Bird Group Australia
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3. Development process
3.1. Definition of a workframe
When talking about content creation, it is very important to define a workframe for all the work to be done.
They are a lot of circumstances that need to be taken in consideration to make sure that the development
work that you are doing is going to give you the best return on investment.
3.2. Benefits / Goals
Families being the core elements of the Revit environment, there are multiple advantages developing
your own contents. However it is critical to identify what is your first priority.
3.2.1. Creation of a Revit Standard for the documentation
If you are in the early days of using Revit to produce documentation, the very first step is to start building
a library of component that will give you the correct output for your documentation.
On way to start is to modify the object of the default library (the one supplied with the software).
Starting with the defaultZ-Purlin.rfa
Adding two model lineson each side:
line type set to define byinstance
visibility controled by two
parameters Lap1andLap2
Result in project
the purlin displays with thecorrect line type
you can represent the lap
by choosing to turn off or on
lap 1 and 2
Original Customized
Illustration 18: Customizing a family for documentation purposes
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If you are coming from a numerous years of using AutoCAD, it is also a good thing to start transferring
your entire AutoCAD legacy to Revit
By matching yourACAD color to Revit
penweightyou canbenefit from yourAutoCAD legacydrawing
Illustration 19: Example of a library of Standard Details imported from AutoCAD
Tip: Even if you match color and pen weight some issues can still occur:
AutoCAD polylines with a weight are not coming across to Revit
AutoCAD Single Text will loose its formatting while imported to Revit
This ongoing development works very well in a project environment as it is not time consuming and you
can see the immediate result while you are still working on your project.
3.2.2. Enhance the documentation production and coordination
The next step you can reach in your development process would be improving the workflow process of
the design team. This mean improving the time spent creating model and documentation, improving the
ability to adapt to changes
Developing parametric families will allow you to cover multiple situations with the one family. The flexibilityof the family should really be driven by the changes it is likely to accommodate in a project environment.
You do not want to send too much time developing some intelligence that you do not have any use of.
The choice between family/shared and type/instance parameter is critical as it will condition the way you
will manipulate the family in the project.
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Tag Family
Beam Family
The use of the Shared parameter hensure the coordination between
the beam sixe and the text value onthe drawing
Illustration 20: Reducing error risk and improving documentation quality
It is also important to understand that the time you can save in a project is in the model creation and
management through the project life. Things like tiding up your drawing (cropping view, moving text),
creating drawing sheets, are very hard to compress in time.
Your library should also help you reduce the process of checking drawing and marking them up for
inconsistency in the way to represent things. Unlike in ACAD where it is still up to the user to assign the
right layer Revit can take control of this and limit or even eliminate this type of errors.
3.2.3. Rethinking and adding value to the deliverables
As Revit becomes a more integrated platform throughout the organization it can be time to think of
implementing some other aspects of the BIM concept.
Looking at the analytical as pect of the model and putting in place the processes to help engineers
and drafters to share the same model will bring a spectacular improvement in you design
methods
Using 3
rd
party software to do costing on a project will also help in your project managementtasks.
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3.3. Challenges
3.3.1. Resources
One of the first challenge you will face when starting creating and managing content s is the resourcing of
this process. You will need to have in house advance users that will create the contents.
Communication between these power users is a key as it will guarantee a faster development process. It
will also help passing on the knowledge to all the Revit users in the organization. In some companies we
have seen the creation of a BIM committee which is a very positive thing.
3.3.2. Project pressure / timing
Out of all the challenge, the most obvious is the time issue. It is clear that project work will have to be
completed first before spending time on creating contents for the future. This time constrain will limit the
scope of development that we can aim for. If a user is only creating contents on his non production time,
then we can only plan for a very limited development over the years. However if a proper time is allocated
which means the production time will be decrease slightly temporarily, then the result will be much
greater. Of course the development work undertaken should allow the user to do his production task in
less time.
3.3.3. Synchronization between teams and offices
For big organization with several offices in different region, it is a real challenge to make sure that the
development is ongoing in all offices but also that the result of this development is passed back to all
these offices.
MH LIBRARY
MH LIBRARY
MH LIBRARY
MH LIBRARY
State Revit Team Leader
Revit User
National Revit CAD Manager
Head Office (VIC)
Branch Office (VIC)
Deployment of the library on to
the branches offices servers
NEW CONTENTS FOR MH LIBRARY
to be checked and added to the mainlibrary
VIC
SA
QLD
NSW
New Library Parts created byUser or Request for Contentcreation
First QA check by the Team Leader
Final QA check by the Revit CADManager
New Drop of Content on to themain MH LIBRARY
Illustration 21: Multi locations Management System
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3.3.4. Integrated workflow
The key success of the implementation of a solution like Revit is very much related to readiness of the
organization to deal with this change.
Managing director: At this level a clear understanding of the benefits of the Revit technology need
to be acknowledged. As a result the time and cost of such an implementation will be taken in
consideration in the financial activity of the company.
Project director: At this level the technology and its utilization need to make return on the
particularly project they are used on. It is a matter of analyzing on one side the skills of the
resources and on the other side the development work already completed to decide the extends
of the use of Revit in a project.
Project Engineer: At this level a clear understanding of the BIM workflow and consequences indrawing production time and model creation is critical. This will help the engineer to overview the
documentation and plan for drawing issue all along the project.
Project drafter: At this level an in depth knowledge of the software is necessary to set up the job
properly and ensure a continuous production of quality drawings.
CAD / BIM Manager: Navigating between all these roles the BIM manager will build up a
development plan in accordance with the workload and the experience and feed back of people
involved in the production tasks. He will then get his plan approved by the more senior
management.