2009

ELEMENTVISIBILITY
Typically,thegeometryofanelementcreatedbyafamilywillchangedependingonthecurrentprojectview.The
visibilitysettingsofthefamilydetermineinwhichprojectviewselementscreatedwiththefamilywilldisplay.
Inaplanview,youmaywanttoseea2Drepresentationoftheelement.Ina3Dorelevationview,youmaywant
todisplayafullydetailed3Drepresentationoftheelement.Inotherviews,youmaywanttohidetheelement.
Limitingthevisibilityofhighlydetailedfamilygeometrytoonlycertainviewscanimproveprojectperformance.
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AREASTOAVOIDFOROPTIMUMPERFORMANCE
Usethistableasaguidetoimprovetheperformanceofyourfamilies.
CommonMistakeWhenCreatingFamilies RecommendedApproach
Lackofplanningpriortofamilycreation Beforecreatingafamily,usetheguidelinesoutlinedin
1.4PlanningaRevitModelFamily.
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Unnecessaryparametricrelationships Beforeaddinggeometrytoafamily:
• Plantheparametricrelationshipsandcreatea
familyskeletonthatfeaturesthemain
parametricrelationships.
• Buildonlytheparametricfamilybehaviorthat
youneedtoavoidover‐constrainingthe
model.
• Flextheskeletontotesttherelationships
beforeyouaddgeometry.
Useofgeometryinsteadofsymboliclinesinplanviews Inplanviewrepresentations,geometryusuallycanbe
representedwithsymboliclines,ratherthan(solid)
geometry.Usinggeometryinsteadofsymboliclineswill
createanunnecessarilylargerfamily.
Highlevelsofgeometricdetailandunderuseofvisibility
settings
UsetheguidelinesintheLevelofDetailandElement
Visibilitysectionsofthisguidetoavoidunnecessarily
largefamilyfiles.
Overuseofvoids,formulas,andarrays Extensiveuseofvoids,formulas,andarrayswilladdto
theoverallfamilysizeandaffectitsperformancein
projects.
Useoftoomanynestedfamilies(familiesimportedinto
otherfamilies)
Nestfamiliestocreategeometryinotherfamilies only
whennecessary.Onlyusenestedcontenttoshare
objectsamongmultiplefamilies,forexample,door
hardware,muntinpatterns,andsoon.
Largefamilieswithmanytypesthatdonotincludetype
catalogs
Themoretypes(particularlyunused)theheavierthe
family.Createtypecatalogsforfamiliesthatcontain6
ormoretypes.See2.10TypeCatalogStandardsand
Usage.
Inadequatefamilytesting See 3.1 GeneralFamilyTestingGuidelines.
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RMCSG—20 Version2.1
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