2009

Table Of Contents

1.1DETERMININGDESIGNINTENT

WhencreatingaRevitfamily,theintendeduseofthefamilyinaprojectenvironmentdeterminestheextentto

whichitisdesigned.Youcandesignallfamiliestoincludeanumberofrepresentationsforuseindifferentproject

viewsandprojectphases.

Thetypeandsizeoftheprojectthatafamilyisintendedforuseinisacriticalpointtoconsiderwhendeciding

whatrepresentationsshouldbeincludedinthefamilyandwhatlevelofdetaileachrepresentationshouldhave.

Themoredetailedafamilyis,thelargeritsfilesizewillbe.Thelargerthefilesize,theslowertheperformance,

loading,andregenerationtimeofthefamilywillbe.Whenconsideringthedesignintentofafamily,usethe

followingguidelines:

• Forlargercommercialorinstitutionalprojects,inwhichhundredsofelementsmaybecreatedwitha

singlefamily,designthefamilytobeassmallaspossibletominimizeprojectsizeandperformance

impact.

• Forsmallerresidentialprojects,whereelementscreatedwithasinglefamilyarenotusedubiquitously

andwheretheoverallprojectsizeissmaller,designthefamilytoincludemoredetail.

Thenexttopic,BalancingPerformanceandComplexity,addressestheissueoffamilysizeandcomplexityinmore

detail.

DETERMININGTHETEMPLATETOUSE

Forobjectstypicallyhostedbyothercomponents,suchasawindoworlightfixture,startwithahost‐based

template.Forexample,forawindowordoor,useawall‐basedtemplate,suchasWindow.rftorDoor.rft.Howthe

familyishosted(orwhatitdoesordoesnotattachto)determineswhichtemplateshouldbeusedtocreatethe

family.Ingeneral,thechoiceofatemplateisdrivenbythehostoftheobject,withthefollowingexceptions:

• Floor‐basedobjectstypicallyusealevel‐basedtemplateunlesstheyarerequiredtocutthefloor.For

example,Furnitureobjectsarecreatedwithalevel‐basedtemplate.

• Forobjectsthataredesignedtobeusedinmorethanonediscipline,suchasplumbingorlightingfixtures,

useahost‐basedtemplatethatallowsthegreatestflexibilityforalldisciplines.Forexample,alighting

fixtureusedexclusivelyinanarchitecturaldisciplinecouldbecreatedwithaceilingorwall‐based

template,butforanengineeringenvironment,aface‐basedtemplateisrequiredforthemodellinking

workflow.Therefore,foralightingfixturethatwillbeusedinbothdisciplines,useaface‐basedtemplate.

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Version2.1RMCSG—11

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