Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
an object's placement. Thus, team members should reach a consensus that
Revit families are implemented to a certain standard:
• The appropriate family template file is used.
• Categories are set correctly.
• Subcategories are adequately and consistently named.
Within your company, you should have a standard for family creation. This
standard could specify any of the techniques and best practices used in
creating families that can be placed into your library.
Your standard should include items such as the following:
Common Orientation and Insertion Points
If a family is
exchanged with another, you really don't want it to jump 2 feet to the
left and rotate 22.5 degrees.
Naming Conventions for Subcategories and Reference Planes
This helps make the families perform as required in relation to visibility
settings when loaded into the project. These conventions also aid users
when familiarizing themselves with how best to create a family
according to company standards.
A Standard, Companywide Shared Parameter File
This ensures that families, even from different categories, can share the
same type of data that can be reported, tagged, and scheduled in the
project file. A great starting point for consistency is the Autodesk Revit
Style Guide. It can be found at:
ADSK
The Autodesk Exchange File (ADSK) format covers multiple platforms. In
its current format, which is XML based, ADSK allows the user to export
from, say, the Autodesk
®
Inventor
®
platform to an ADSK file, which can
then be imported into Revit. There is functionality in Revit Architecture to
exportADSKfilesforusewithcivilengineers, althoughthisisnotsupported
in MEP. This is a static form, but it does have the benefit that, if connectors
have been placed in Inventor, their properties are taken through as Revit
MEP connectors. You can open ADSK files from the Open command, and
after you save them, they become loadable Revit families.
