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Did 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.
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.
1. Click on File>New>Family…
2. Select the Door.rft family template.
3. Save the new family as a manufacturer's name. For example ACME – Single
Hinged.
Parameters already exist in the family that control several settings of the door.
These parameters can be viewed in the Family Types dialog.
4. 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.
1. Again, click on File>New>Family…
2. Select the Door.rft family template.
Note: The Door family template has within established settings for Object Styles.
3. 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.
Note: There is no need to have symbolic linework in the Nested family. You will
leverage the existing ones in the Host family.
13. 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.
14. Select Extrusion Properties on the Design Bar.
15. 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.
16. Click Finish Sketch on the Design Bar to complete the door panel.
17. Click the Dimension tool on the Design Bar.
18. Create a dimension to indicate the thickness of the door panel.
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.
1. In the Host family (ACME – Single Hinged) select the Component tool on the
Design Bar.
2. 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 not a label indicating the
parameter in the Host family. You will need to create it.
Now that the door panel is located and constrained to the opening, you can associate
the nested panel parameters to the host parameters.
1. Right-click on the door panel.
2. Select Element Properties.
3. Select the Edit/New button in the Element Properties dialog box.
4. In the Type Properties dialog box, select the small button to the right of the
Thickness parameter.
5. 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.
The last part of the process is to create the symbolic linework of the door panel
and swing.
1. Select the Symbolic Lines tool on the Design Bar.
2. Select Panel [cut] from the Type Selector.
3. Select the Draw button and pick Rectangle for the shape designation on the
Options Bar.
4. Draw a rectangle 3’-0” tall by 2” thick off the right-most vertical reference plane.
5. Lock the two padlocks as indicated.
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.
1. Select one of the nested panels.
2. Right-click and select Element Properties.
3. Select the small button to the right of the Visibility parameter.
4. 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.
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”.