Simple parametric families in Revit

Today, I will be showing you how to create simple parametric families in Revit. This tutorial
is for anyone learning Revit who hasnt yet got into creating families. I will be continuing to
post more family tutorials so keep checking back over the coming weeks for more. This
tutorial will show you how to create a simple cube family with a fixed elevation height with
parametric width and height as well as material options.

The first thing you want to do, is to create a new generic family template. When deciding
what template to use, you should take into consideration what kind of family you are
creating. For example, if you are creating a light fixture, you would of course use the light
fixture family template. Be sure to think about where the family will be hosted, if it will be
hosted on the ceiling, make sure you also use a ceiling based family.

Once you have your generic family template loaded, you will want to tile the windows. (Be
sure you have no other active projects open) The reason you want to do this is to give you a
good overview of all relevant views when creating your family. Plan view, Elevation front,
Elevation left (or right) and 3D view.
Now you should see 4 equally sized windows fitted to your screen. In case the view has been
obscured, zoom to fit in each window (double click mouse wheel). Now the most important
part about creating families is using reference planes. Reference planes are crucial when
designing families, as these will act as your control dimensions / constraints. Create a square
with 4 seperate reference planes as shown in the image below. Always remember to draw
your reference planes clockwise, this will be important for future developments.

Now you have set constraints to the floor plan view of the project, it is now time to set some
elevation height constraints. We do this with the use of dimensions (di), by adding a
dimension line to our elevation view. If you have a certain height you want your cube to be,
then measure it off here, otherwise, for now just follow the example shown in the images
below.
Once we have set some dimensions on our reference planes, we want to give these
dimensions a parameter. Parameters are used to give custom or fixed assets to our families.
Now you want your elevation view, where you have just created a dimension to be active.
Highlight your dimension and click on the dropdown menu next to label, as shown below. To
start with, the only option you will see is Add parameter

We are now going to add a parameter to this dimension line, constraining the elevation height
of the cube. As shown in the image below, we will create a name for this dimension
parameter Height of cube. Be sure the Group parameter under option is set to
Dimensions In this case, we will keep it as a Type parameter. This means that we can use
this parameter to constrain the height of the family to the Height of cube parameter, which
you can see is 2214mm.

Once you have created a parameter for your Elevation left view, you will want to do the
same thing for your dimension lines you created on the Floor plan view. Click on the
dimension defining the height and add a new parameter label. This time we will call the
dimension Height again checking it is set as a dimension. This time we will use an Instance
parameter so click the Instance checkbox. Instance parameters will give the user of the
family the option to define custom settings, in this case height for the cube. Follow the exact
same steps mentioned above for your Width dimension on the Floor plan view. You will
now have 3 dimension, with 3 new dimension labels.

Now, once our template is set up and constrained we are going to start creating some actual
physical geometry. We do this of course with the Revit massing tools. As shown above,
navigate to the Design tab and click on Solid Extrusion. You now want to draw a box with
the square line creation tool, covering the reference planes you have set, as shown in the
image above. Before you finish your extrusion, you want to edit some of the extrusion
properties.

We are now going to modify the Extrusion End constraints, otherwise known as the
elevation height, or extrusion height. Click on the small grey box at the end of the Extrusion
End bar. You will now see the Associate Family Parameter dialogue appear. You will also
see the 3 new paramaters you have just created. As we are now trying to define the extrusion
height of the cube, we will select our Height of cube parameter. Click OK. You will now see
that the Extrusion End bar is greyed out.

The final parameter we are going to add is to be for a material. The reason we do this, is so
that the user of the family, in a project environment will be able to choose which material
they want the family to be. For more detailed families it is possible to split the materials into
different sections, but I will be discussing that in another post. For now, we want to add a
parameter for the material. Simply click on the small box at the right side of the materials bar
and click on Add parameter We will name this parameter Cube Material and make sure
it is set as a Material and finishes parameter and set as an Instance.

You can now finish your extrusion by clicking on the green tick in the modify extrusion
ribbon. You should now be seeing something similar to the image above. If not, make sure all
of your views are active and zoomed to fit. You can now save this family. Revit > Save As >
Family I like to add all my custom families to a new folder I have created in the Autodesk
library, that way they are all stored together, but you can choose to save it wherever suits you
best.
Once you have saved your family, Use the Revit > Close button. You can now open up a new
architectural project file template, or the project where you want to add your newly created
family. You can now add your family the way you always would > Place component, locate
your family and load it. You will now see your cube in a project view. Here you will be able
to set some custom parameters, such as material, width and height.
Table
Firstly, you will want to open a new Revit family template. For this instance, we are going to
use the Metric Generic Model template. The first thing we are going to do, like in any
family creation is to set out the boundaries, or in Revit, the Reference planes. You will see 2
reference planes, 1 on the X-axis and 1 on the Y-axis. You will want to create 2 new reference
planes to start with. Once you have created the new reference planes, you should add 2
aligned dimensions as shown in the image below.

You have now set up your reference planes for your table top surface. To make these
reference planes into the boundary lines of our surface, we will need to add labels to and lock
the dimension lines in place. We do this by adding a parameter to our dimension in exactly
the same way as we did in part 1. This time, we are going to call the 2 dimensions Table
Height and Table Width both of these should be Type parameters. You do not have to
worry too much about the actual size of the table at this point. Be sure to lock your dimension
lines in place.
Once your dimension lines are locked, labled and in place, you are ready to begin some actual
massing. We are going to add geometry by using the Create > Extrusion tool. There are many
ways to create this extrusion. My prefered method is to draw a rectangle roughly in the
middle of your reference planes. I now use the Align tool, to align my extrusion edges to my
reference planes. By doing this, we can make sure to manually lock our mass to the reference
planes on each line of the mass.

You should now refer to an elevation view. You will see that you have only 1 default
reference plane, where our table top is hosted. We will need to create a new reference plane
here which will host the desktop of the table. To o this, we create a new reference plane and
name it Desk Height. Once the reference plane is created, we can click on our desktop mass
and click Edit Workplane. We can now select the new Desk Height workplane as the host.
Create an aligned dimension between Ref. Level 1 and Desk Height and be sure to lock it
in place..
Once we have our desktop in the correct position, we need to think about adding some legs to
the table. We should now switch back to the plan view of the project. Again, we will need to
use reference planes to define our table legs. Offset all of the reference planes which you
have created by 100mm (or the desired thickness of your tables legs) using the Pick lines
tool. You should now see something similar to the image above, with 8 reference planes.

We will now, of course, add dimensions to our reference planes to lock them in position. We
will again add a parameter to each one of these dimensions, but this time label it as Legs
Width, this should again be a Type parameter. Once you have labeled and locked one of the
dimensions in place, you can then highlight all the other dimensions and use the same Legs
Width parameter. You should now have 4 new dimensions with the Leg Width parameter,
as shown in the image above.
Using the exact same method we used to create the desk top, we are going to now use to
create the tables legs. Create > Extrusion and draw a rectangle roughly around where you
want to have your tables legs. Align each edge of the table legs to the reference planes, and
LOCK them in position. It is very important to lock your dimensions or you will end up with
a strange looking table! Create your 4 table legs and hit, the tick to finish your extrusion.

Refer back to your elevation view and add a dimension for the height of the table. I have
choosen to label this Type parameter as Desk Height. Once you have this dimension set
and labeled, you will now be able to select the legs of your table, and constrain the Extrusion
End to Desk Height as shown in the image above. You will now see your legs attached to
the desk top of the table.

You should now hopefully see an object which looks like a basic table, as shown in the image
above. Now, the great thing about creating families like this, is that we can set different
design options, and sizes very easily. I will make 3 different default sizes to save me time
when I am using the family in a project. To do this, we click on the Family Types Icon in the
top left of our Create ribbon. It is now possible to add new types of the same table. Click
new, call your family something appropriate E.g. Table 12 and then change the dimensions
accordingly.

The last thing we are going to do in the family environment is to allow custom materials to be
set for the table. In this case, we need to set a parameter for Leg Material and Desk
Material. We do this by click on the small grey box in the material properties, once we click
on an element. Click on the legs of the table and then the small grey box. A new window will
open, where you should click Add Parameter. This time we should name it Legs Material
make sure it is in the Materials and Finishes group, and set it as an INSTANCE parameter. Do
the same thing for the table top, and we are just about ready to load this family into our
projects. Save the family and close.
We can now open a new project and enter our new family as a component. When you load the
family, you will see there are 3 variations to choose from. (Depending on how many uniquely
dimensioned tables you choose to create.) You will also be able to click on Edit type in the
properties panel to change the dimensions, also notice that you have customisation options
for selecting Leg Material and Desktop Material. Choose the options that you need, and
your new table family is complete. As you can see, creating basic families like this in Revit is
very simple, and the same basic rules apply for creating more advanced geometry.

Cup
If you are already familiar with creating basic families, and you want to learn about some of
the more advanced features of creating families used in the Coffee cup family (revolves,
sweeps, blends etc.) then continue on to the following instructions:

As with all new families, the first thing we will need to do is open up a template. In this case,
we will use the Metric Generic Model face based This will allow us to host the family to
a face / surface for instance a table top. Always consider where you family is most likely to
be hosted before deciding which template to use.

The first thing you are going to need to do is set out some reference planes to use as markers /
constraints. Head to your Front elevation view. At this point, bare in mind that most of the
templates are designed for large objects, such as roofs panels / building objects. Due to this
reason, the generic reference planes will be a lot larger than we need, you will therefore need
to resize the reference planes and change the scale to 1:1. Once you have done this, you
should set out your reference planes exactly as you see in the image above, unless you want a
slight variation to my design.
Now our reference planes are set up, we want to make the overall form of the cup. To do
this there are various methods, but the method I prefer is to use a solid revolve. Therefore
pick the revolve tool under the Create or Architecture menu (depending on which version
of Revit you are using). Sketch your revolve profile as shown in the image above, take note
you only have to draw half of the object as the Axis line acts as mirror, or line of revolution
for cylinder like forms. Follow the steps below before you finish your Revolve.

Assuming you dont want a square edged coffee cup, we will need to create profiles on the
edges of the revolves in order to give a nice rounded finish to the rim and bottom of the cup.
First of all, just draw the corners as rectangles as illustrated above. Once you have done this,
you want to use the Fillet arc tool to create the corners. As shown above select the tool and
make sure the Radius box is ticked in the actions bar, you can play around with the radius
dimension to find your desired curve, I have used a 1mm radius in this instance. Make sure as
always to lock your geometry in position with the reference planes.
If you look in your 3D view you will now see something that is beginning to look like a
coffee cup. The next step is to create a handle for the cup. I am working now on the Right
Elevation view. You should set up as before, reference planes in your Right elevation to
constrain the handle as shown above. We are now going to use the Solid Sweep. A solid
sweep is created in 2 steps. Firstly, as shown above, we are going to create the line or the
Path that the desired geometry will follow. Once we have set the path, we will need to create
the profile, this is how the path will be extruded as a 3D object rather than a 2D path line. Go
to Home > Sweep > Sketch path and follow the instructions above to create a handle shape.
Click the tick to finish your path.
Be sure to only click the tick once, as we are yet to make the 3D profile. Click the Select
Profile button on the ribbon followed by the Edit profile you will now be asked to choose
which view you want to sketch it in, select the Elevation Right You should now see a head
on view with a cross with a point in the middle. The point is representing the middle of the
path you have just drawn. (Imagine we are just stretching this point to create the desired
thickness.) We now want to set up reference plans and sketch the profile for the cups handle, I
have used an almost circular shaped geometry but feel free to play around with the profile
shape. Once you have done this, click the green tick twice to complete your Sweep.

In your 3D view you should now see an empty coffee cup with your new handle attached
correctly. Now we need to fill it with some coffee!! To do this, we will again use the solid
Revolve tool. Use a dimension line to constrain the level of your coffee, you may also want
to set an instance parameter for the level of your coffee if it is important to you how much
coffee is in the cup ;) Follow the image above if you wish to create an almost full cup, pay
attention to the bottom corner of your revolve as you do not want it to be protruding your
actual cup geometry!

The final step we need to take in the family environment is to set some parameters for
materials, so whoever will use the coffee cup family will be able to set custom materials for
the cup. Assuming you want the handle to be the same material as the cup itself, create two
new parameters, one for cup and handle material, and the other for the coffee liquid material.
Follow the steps in the image above if you are unsure of how to do this. Finally save your
family with an easily recognisable name and load it in to a project to test out.

You can now add custom colours and materials to your coffee cup as shown above,
unfortunately I didnt have a liquid coffee texture, so had to settle with Murky water I
wouldnt drink it, but the cup is doing its job! Hope this helps anyone who is having
problems with some of the more advanced tools in the Revit family creation environment.
With the basic understanding of the tools we have discussed today, it is easy to start designing
your own objects, try for yourself and see how you get on!