This document summarizes a presentation about creating custom families in Revit. It discusses the pros and cons of using free downloaded families versus creating customized families. The presentation provides rules for building effective families and examines case studies of complex family types like exterior shading devices and vertical trash chute systems. The speaker is a Revit specialist who provides their contact information and recommends additional learning resources for working with families in Revit.

1. Make Your Own Families Houston Revit User Group January 2010 Presentation

2. About the Speaker Who I am Philip Chan, LEEP A.P. Revit/BIM Specialist at WGW Architects, Inc. Revit Architecture Certified Professional

6. Structural Engineers?

7. MEP Engineers?

8. Interior Designers?

9. Landscape Architects?

10. Consultants?

12. Manufacturer web sites

13. Outsourcing

15. Pros & Cons Free downloaded Families Customized Families

16. Pros & Cons Pros: Yes, they are free! So it means they are ready to use!? If from Manufacturer, it gets all the data you need for your model (schedule, analysis…) Pros: Can be made into anything (Almost everything) The creator has total control on the family. Can suit the need for the office. Can be parametric, have more than 1 type. Can be more consistent

17. Pros & Cons CONS: Heavy on files size. Limitations (e.g. breakable, non-parametric, hosted) Too detailed! Created by imported geometry (e.g. dwg file) Needed families not existed. Cons: Time consuming to build, quality assured. Can be problematic if creator is inexperienced. No budget to afford it in-house.

18. Examples Sources: Revit City Autodesk Seek Sweets network Various Manufacturer Sites

19. But what if no content is existed? Solutions? “Find one that “close” enough and tweak it!” “I have a 3D dwg file and import it into the model.” “Just trace over the cad drawing with model lines and group them.” Answer: Maybe?

20. GOOD Solutions Why not start from “SCRATCH”?

21. 4 Simple Rules* when Building Your Own Families Beneficial: Not just to you - but to the project team Efficient: Implementation and changes are fast and predictable Elegant: Understood by the team and any last minutes new members Repetitive: Can be used on many projects *(Quoted from Phil Read)

22. Case Study

24. Depth

25. Blade AngleCategory: Generic Family Rfa file size: 400k Composed of: 3 nested families (2 generic families) (1 profile family)

26. Case Study #1

28. Depth

29. Height

30. Signage Style

31. Tie Rod –Height, Projection

32. Mounted Plate StyleCategory: Specialty Equipment Rfa file size: 900k Composed of: 4 nested families (4 generic families)

33. Case Study #2

35. Depth

36. Height

37. Canopy Projection

38. Tie Rod –Height, ProjectionCategory: Generic Family Rfa file size: 450k Composed of: 2 nested families (1 generic families) (1 profile family)

39. Case Study #3

41. Canopy Height

42. Curve Beam Height

43. Cable Height

44. Number of CablesCategory: Generic Family Rfa file size: 500k Composed of: 2 nested families (2 generic families)

45. Case Study #4

47. Floor-to-Floor Height

48. Support Width/Length

49. Vent Height

50. Spout Height Projection

51. Spout Turning AngleCategory: Specialty Equipment Rfa file size: 700k Composed of: 4 nested families (4 generic families)

52. Case Study #5

53. Questions?

54. Learning Resources Autodesk University Online http://au.autodesk.com AUGI.com Revitcity.com Help file http://www.autodesk.com/revitarchitecture-familiesguide. Various Blog Sites

55. My Contact Info Office: pchan@wgwarchitects.com Personal: pchan925@yahoo.com

56. Good Night!