2009

Table Of Contents
1.5PLANNINGAREVITMODELFAMILY
Beforefamilycreationbegins,carefulupfrontplanningofthefamilyshouldbeperformed,evenforthesimplestof
families.Planningfamiliespriortocreationcansavetimeandpreventerrors.
Willthefamilyneedtoaccommodatemultiplesizes?
Forawindowthatisavailableinseveralpresetsizes,orabookshelfthatcanbebuiltinanylength,create
astandardcomponentfamily.
Howshouldthefamilydisplayindifferentviews?
Thewaytheobjectshoulddisplayinviewsdeterminesthe3Dand2Dgeometrythatyouneedtocreate,
aswellashowtodefinethevisibilitysettings.Determinewhethertheobjectshoulddisplayinaplanview,
elevationview,and/orsectionalviews.
Doesthisfamilyrequireahost?
Forobjectstypicallyhostedbyothercomponents,suchasawindoworlightfixture,startwithahost
basedtemplate.Howthefamilyishosted(orwhatitdoesordoesnotattachto)determineswhich
templatefileshouldbeusedtocreatethefamily.
Howmuchdetailshouldbemodeled?
Insomecases,youmaynotneed3Dgeometry.Youmayonlyneedtosketcha2Dshapetorepresentyour
family.Also,youmaysimplifythe3Dgeometryofyourmodeltosavetimeincreatingthefamily.For
example,lessdetailisrequiredforawalloutletthatwillonlybeseenininteriorelevationsfroma
distance,thanforadoorwithraisedpanelsandasidelightthatwillbeseeninaninteriorrendering.
Whatistheinsertion/originpointofthisfamily?
Theinsertion/originpointisthepointatwhichyouwanttoplacethefamilyinaproject(indicatedbythe
cursorposition).Theinsertionpointmaychangebasedonusecase.Forexample,theinsertionpointfor
windowsanddoorsisthecenterofthegeometry,sothatthecontentparametricallyexpandsfromthe
centerout.Foracountertop,theinsertionpointisatacornerandthecontentexpandswiththeinstance
lengthinonedirection.Determiningtheappropriateinsertionpointwillhelpusersplacethefamilyina
project.
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Version2.1RMCSG27