How to Draw a Reference Plane in Revit

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Learning how to create Revit families tin exist an essential skill to have in today'southward job market.

Edifice Revit families from scratch is non something that's piece of cake to learn on your own, however. That's why nosotros've compiled a free collection of Revit tutorials that will help you larn how to create Revit families yourself. Visit the BIMsmith Complimentary Guide to Revit Family Creation to learn more than.

How to Create a Revit Family Stride By Stride

Hither's a step past step breakdown of what's covered in the above Revit tutorial video.

1. Kickoff with the basics.

Before yous start drawing, think about how you desire the family to human action and how you want the user to collaborate with the final family unit.

A. Choose a Template

There are a lot of template options, but most of the time, "Generic Model Face Base of operations" should exist a expert template to apply.

B. Create a Skeleton

It's all-time to starting time by drawing left and correct reference planes, use the aligned dimension tool to snap to the center origin point, then do the aforementioned for front and back (don't forget to make them equidistant). If you lot want to snap to them when loaded into a projection, give the reference planes specific names such as "width" or "depth".

Beginning Tip: Constantly check on your project. Flex the model to make sure it is operation how you desire it to.

Starting time Tip: Always name your parameters. This volition help in the long run to know what you are editing.

ii. Showtime drawing.

A. Create the Base

Draw the base for the parent family by using the extrusion tool. In social club to lock the sketch lines to the reference aeroplane and then you are able to flex the model, cull the lock button and select the desired reference planes to trim it dorsum into identify.

B. Edit in a Dissimilar View

Get into an elevation view. Create a reference airplane for acme and another one for thickness values. Make certain to assign parameters to the different planes. Don't forget to test and lock the geometry.

3. Create the other families that will go into the parent.

A. Create a New Skeleton

For this, you lot will accept to create a new family, but this time you can use the generic model template, it doesn't need to be face based.

Tip: At this point, ask yourself if y'all are using this geometry over and over over again. If and then, you should probably nest it to salve time.

B. Draw the Shape

Draw a simple extrusion and lock to the reference planes. Select and use a radius characterization to control the radius in one case loaded into the parent family. And so, select that label and make a new parameter for it.

C. Add Reference Planes

Do the same thing that you did in the parent family: create a reference plane height and lock extrusion to the acme and the lesser. Make certain to lock the top and the bottom, so test it out and make the family reflect the height of the table legs.

D. Add a Bore Parameter

Since well-nigh people don't think in radius, we are going to add a diameter parameter that will eventually exist controlled in the parent family. Add a new formula (Diameter / ii) which volition brand the radius study as one-half of what information technology is.

E. Assign a Material

Brand sure you lot assign a material so that it can be controlled in the parent family.

F. Depict Support Pieces

An example of a support piece for the table is the brackets that are continued to the tabletop. Requite the support pieces some definition, but don't draw every detail.

Tip: Don't model everything in Revit, it tin really ho-hum down the model and information technology'll take a while/be quite frustrating. Be careful while picking and choosing what to model. Ask "what'south a skillful representation of this and what is overkill?"

4. Add the other family into the parent family.

A. Open the Parent Family

Add the new leg family that you just created. This slice of geometry is constrained in-and-of-itself and so if y'all create several instances of it they will all human action in the same style.

B. Add Reference Planes to Help with Placement of Multiple Families

Draw reference planes offset from the left, right, front, and dorsum. These reference planes will determine where the table legs will prevarication inset from the perimeter of the table. Assign the same perimeter parameter (say that five times fast) to all of the table legs and name it (for case, leg starting time). Brand all of those references "non a reference" since no one needs to snap to these locations.

C. Edit the Added Family

Past selecting the nested family, you can associate all of its parameters to the parent family unit. This ways you tin assign each of the parameters to the parent then edit information technology there rather than having to select each nested component and edit it in each dialogue box.

D. Label New Parameters

The dialogue box volition enquire where y'all want to acquaintance the parameters. In this tutorial, we named the parameters the same way except for adding "leg" at the end to differentiate parameter labels. You lot don't want to be trying to edit the height of the table and accidentally change the height of the leg, and so try to think ahead and make sure things are labeled in a clear way.

Eastward. Make Everything the Correct Size

In order to make the tabular array leg written report to the height of the table, yous'll demand to add a formula (height-thickness).

five. Finalize your Revit family.

A. Add All Pieces

Put the leg in place and make several instances of it. At present that this is done, all 4 of the legs will act the same.

Optional: Swap Out for Some other Leg Fashion

Accept the nested piece and add a characterization (this allows yous to bandy it out for another family in the same category). Brand the other leg style by editing the family with the desired features and saving it as a new one. Swap out the other legs to the new one and you're proficient to become!

B. Add Parameters and Constraints to the Family

Now that you have your tabular array fix, think near all the other parameters and constraints you might want to add to this family unit. For example, you don't want someone making a 300' table. Test these values out to make sure they respond in the way that they are supposed to.

C. Add the Parameters on the Draw

You have to associate the parameters to the constraints so they don't move if they don't see the status that is found. Do the same affair with the nested family. If you don't, the formulas won't practise annihilation and the geometry won't reply every bit y'all had hoped. Likewise, make sure to utilise the constraint parameters in the formulas or they won't work.

D. Test the Family

Brand sure to test out your family and make sure that it works. This stage is very important peculiarly if it is being sent out to other users.

E. Brand Preset Family unit Types

By creating a few preset family unit types, you can express the design intent and provide the dissimilar variations yous were intending to take for this family. If you create more than half dozen, brand a type catalog (.txt file) that goes along with the Revit family unit.

F. End Calculation Materials

Employ a tabletop parameter and assign a couple of materials (you tin use the generic materials). Make the materials use their return advent.

G. Clean Up the Preview

Hide the host in the families on a unlike layer to clean upwards the file preview images. Click "Save As" and select the "3D View: Preview" in the dialog box.

6. Test out your new Revit family.

Open a new project, load it in and examination it out!

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Source: https://bimsmith.com/help/learning-revit/How-to-Create-Revit-Families