Bill KnittleSynergis Building Solutions EngineerDid you ever notice that the content provided with Revit Architecture tends to shy away from how manufacturers offer their product? Take a door for example. A manufacturer offers a variety of sizes. A Revit door family also offers a variety of sizes. They are known as
Types. The difference lies in the panel styles. Revit families only offer one panel style.
Ironically, Revit’s door family template offers a great starting point for creating a simplified series of door families for your company using nesting. Start by creating the
Host family. To create any type of parametric content for Revit, begin with a template. Revit ships with several specialized family templates.
Click on
File >
New >
Family… Select the
Door.rft family template.
The template will open with multiple views of the family.
Save the new family as a manufacturer's name, for example,
ACME – Single Hinged.
Note: It may be beneficial to create a directory structure whereby the Nested families are a sub-directory of the Host family.
Parameters already exist in the family that control several settings of the door. These parameters can be viewed in the
Family Types dialog. Select
Family Types in the
Design Bar.
Height,
Width, and
Thickness will play a large factor in the creation of this specialized family. These three parameters control the door panel’s overall dimensions. Now begins the stage of the process where you create the Nested family. Again, you will start with a family template.
Click on
File > New > Family… Select the
Door.rft family template.
Note: The Door family template has within it established settings for Object Styles.
Save the new family as a panel style, for example,
Single Flush.
Note: Recall the file directory structure? Save the panel styles which will be the Nested families in the sub-directory folder of the Host family.
Before creating the door panel, some house-cleaning is required to rid the template of unwanted geometry and parameters. Specifically, you must delete the trim solid extrusions and their parameters.
Maximize the
Ref. Level view. Select each trim extrusion and delete it. Also, delete the flip symbols.
Select
Family Types in the
Design Bar. Select each parameter under the
Other category. Click the
Remove button under
Parameters. Click
OK.
Note: There is no need to have symbolic linework in the Nested family. You will leverage the existing ones in the Host family.
Double-click the
Exterior view in the
Project Browser. Delete the opening, swing lines, and equality dimension.
Double-click the
Ref. Level view in the
Project Browser. Select
Solid Form >
Extrusion on the
Design Bar.
With lines, draw a rectangle to fill in between the two vertical reference planes. Do not lock any of the padlocks. This will be done later.
Select
Extrusion Properties on the
Design Bar. Under
Identity Data, select
Panel from the
Subcategory pull-down. This will allow you to control the visibility of the panel separately from the family. Click
OK.
Click
Finish Sketch on the
Design Bar to complete the door panel.
Click the
Dimension tool on the
Design Bar. Create a dimension to indicate the thickness of the door panel.
Select the new dimension. On the
Options Bar, select the
Label pull-down. Select
Thickness from the list. This will associate the parameter to the dimension.
Select the
Align tool on the
Tools toolbar. Select the left-most vertical reference plane.
Then, select the left side of the panel extrusion and lock the padlock.
Repeat the process by aligning the right side of the panel extrusion to the right-most vertical reference plane and locking the padlock.
Double-click the
Exterior view in the
Project Browser. Select the
Align tool on the
Tools toolbar. Select the top horizontal reference plane.
Then, select the top side of the panel extrusion and lock the padlock.
Save the panel family.
Select the
Load into Project. This will load the panel family into the Host.
The final step of the process is to insert the door panel as a
Component. Then, you will associate the parameters of the nested panel family to the host family’s. Finally, you will create the symbolic linework of the plan door.
In the
Host family (ACME – Single Hinged), select the
Component tool on the Design Bar. Insert the
Single Flush door panel family into the opening of the doorway.
Note: If you recall, the Nested door panel family has a Thickness parameter. The Host family has the same parameter. However, there is no label indicating the parameter in the Host family. You will need to create it.
Select the
Dimension tool on the
Design Bar. Create a dimension to indicate the thickness of the door panel.
Select the new dimension. On the
Options Bar, select the
Label pull-down. Select
Thickness from the list. This will associate the parameter to the dimension.
Select the
Align tool on the
Tools toolbar. Select the center vertical reference plane.
Then, select the center of the panel extrusion and lock the padlock.
Now that the door panel is located and constrained to the opening, you can associate the nested panel parameters to the host parameters.
Right-click on the door panel. Select
Element Properties. Select the
Edit/New button in the
Element Properties dialog box.
In the
Type Properties dialog box, select the small button to the right of the
Thickness parameter. Select
Thickness from the list within the
Associate Family Parameter dialog box. Click
OK.
Note: By associating the parameters of the nested family to that of the host family, you can ultimately connect the two parameters together.
Repeat the process to link the
Height and the
Width parameters. Click the
OK button to return to the
Element PropertiesIf you plan to control which nested panel is visible, you need to create a parameter to control its visibility. Select the small button to the right of the
Visible parameter. Click the
Add parameter button in the
Associate Family Parameter dialog box.
Enter
Flush Panel for the name of the parameter. Select
Graphics for
Group parameter under. Click
OK three times.
Double-click
View 1 from the
Project Browser. Select
Family Types in the
Design Bar. Change the values for
Thickness,
Height, and
Width. Click
Apply to test the parameters. Change the values back to their original values.
Select the panel one more time. Select the
Visibility button on the
Options Bar. Clear the check for the
Plan/RCP checkbox. Click
OK.
The last part of the process is to create the symbolic linework of the door panel and swing. Select the
Symbolic Lines tool on the Design Bar. Select
Panel [cut] from the
Type Selector.
Select the
Draw button and pick
Rectangle for the shape designation on the
Options Bar. Draw a rectangle
3’-0” tall by
2” thick off the right-most vertical reference plane. Lock the two padlocks as indicated.
Select
Plan Swing [projection] in the
Type Selector. Select
Arc passing through 3 points for the shape designation. Select the upper-left corner of the nested panel, the upper-right corner of the symbolic panel, and pull the arc away until the radial dimension reads
3’-0”.
Select the
Dimension tool on the
Design Bar. Dimension the width and thickness of the symbolic panel. Select the
3’-0” dimension. Select the
Label pull-down. Select
Width from the list.
Repeat the process by associating the top dimension to the
Thickness parameter. Save the family. Load it into a test project and test it.
You need to create
Types of the door family for each style of door panel. But first you need to create visibility parameters to control which panel style is visible.
Select one of the nested panels. Right-click and select
Element Properties. Select the small button to the right of the
Visibility parameter.
Click the
Add button in the
Associate Family Parameter dialog box and name it for that panel style. I happened to group mine under
Graphics.
In the
Family Types dialog, you can set the values of the door family and create a specific type by clicking the
New button under
Family Types. Create as many unique door sizes as possible for each panel style. Be sure to check the visibility box next to the panel style for each type created. Click the
Apply button to establish the type.
Create more panel families and nest them to the
Host. Associate the nested parameters to the host parameters. What you have is a simplified standard library of door types.
Below I have loaded the host family into a test project. I add three doors from the same family. The door family has three types called Flush Panel – 36” x 84”, Raised Panel – 36” x 84”, and Vision Panel – 36” x 84”.
About the Author Bill is a graduate of the University of Hartford in Architectural Engineering and has accumulated eight years of “real world” design, management, and CAD experience in the field of Architecture. At George J. Donovan AIA & Associates, Architects, he was instrumental in implementing, managing, and training his peers during their transition from AutoCAD to Autodesk Architectural Desktop. With Architectural Desktop, Bill was able to increase productivity, coordination, and profitability in a variety of key projects. His most recent achievements are within the Newtown Business Commons, where he documented a vacant building’s conversion into 75,000 square feet of leasable office and retail space for Cameron C. Troilo Properties, as well as designed a new five story hotel for the Homewood Suites, Hilton. Bill has a passion for Building Information Modeling (BIM) and what it can bring to the future of design for both professionals and their clients. He can be reached at
bill.knittle@synergis.com.