Families

Last year, I had the pleasure of working with Jason Spleha of Greenheck Fan and working with them to get some of their equipment created in Revit. They've done a wonderful job in creating the content. Jason came with knowledge of using Inventor software, so creating parametric families was nothing new for him.Greenheck is pleased to offer downloadable CAD drawings and Revit families for BIM (Building Information Modeling). The AutoCAD drawings are in a .dwg format and are accessible in AutoCad 2002 or newer. The Revit families are in a .rfa format and include a .txt file. They are accessible from Revit 2009 Architect, Structure or MEP programs.Drawings will be added as available, so keep checking back for the latest CAD and Revit drawings.http://www.greenheck.com/drawings/Scaled Drawings•Roof Mounted Fans•Gravity Ventilators•Inline and Ceiling Fans•Sidewall Fans•Utility, Centrifugal and Radial Blowers•Energy Recovery Ventilators•Laboratory Exhaust•Fan Coils•Louvers•Make-Up AirInstallation Drawings•Kitchen HoodsJason SplehaSystem Specialist (BIM)Building Information ModelingGreenheck Fan CorporationPhone: 715.355.3962bim@greenheck.com

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/06/prweb1015834.htm Visa Lighting is pleased to announce the expansion of BIM content with the release of the Solution Visa catalog product line in Google Sketch Up. Sketch Up is a 3D software tool that combines a tool-set with an intelligent drawing system. Designed to be an intuitive, flexible, and easy to use 3D modeling program, Google Sketch Up is an excellent tool to introduce designers into the world of 3D modeling. The availability of Visa Lighting files direct from the manufacturer provide free and complete access to the Visa Lighting catalog product information and give users the ability to incorporate specifiable lighting into Sketch Up 3D renderings. Available on disk and the Visa Lighting website as .skp files, the product line can also be found in the Google 3D Warehouse. In addition to Sketch Up, Visa Lighting is already established in Autodesk Revit and Microstation Bentley formats. Revit families are available on disk, the Visa Lighting website, at bimworld.com and in Autodesk SEEK. SEEK is an online file source for building product information, including 3D models, 2D drawings, visual images, and product specification data. Bentley files are currently available on the BIM World website. BIM World is a free service for designers and architects seeking manufacturers' content. Helvetica, sans-serif; TEXT-DECORATION: none"BIM is the direction of the industry, integration of software requires continuous improvement to ensure the best quality of information to BIM users. Providing BIM files in several different formats, Visa Lighting supplies free product content across a range of BIM software platforms. As seen in Architectural Lighting's 2008 Product Guide, Visa Lighting is a recognized pioneer in the development of manufacturer content files. Jimalee Dakin, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Visa Lighting, explains, "BIM is the direction of the industry, integration of software requires continuous improvement to ensure the best quality of information to BIM users."

There are various family's that come out of the box with Revit MEP, and they work well when placed directly in an architectural model. But most consultants will link an architectural project into their MEP project, and element hosted families don't insert well into linked files.For example, you cannot place a ceiling-hosted family on a linked ceiling or a wall-hosted family in a wall. The ceiling or wall needs to actually exist in the "host" model for you to be able to host a Light Fixture on it. This is how element hosting works in Revit.The solution here is to use a Face-hosted Light Fixture family. Revit can detect the face of a ceiling through a link and therefore the Lighting Fixture can be hosted on that face.Second, element-hosted families will be deleted if the linked element host is deleted. This is not true for Face-Hosted families. Face-Hosted families will be unhosted if their host face is deleted. which makes them sit in 3D space where they were originally. You can then re-host them to another face if you'd like.So if you are creating your own MEP families, use a Face-hosted template so that your content can be placed in a linked file.Following are the basic kinds of family templates:

• Wall-based
• Ceiling-based
• Floor-based
• Roof-based
• Standalone
• Line-based
• Face-based

Wall-based, ceiling-based, floor-based, and roof-based templates are known as host-based templates. A host-based family can only be placed in a project if an element of its host type is present.The wall-based template is for components inserted into walls. Wall components can include openings, such that when you place the component on a wall, it also cuts an opening in the wall. Some examples of wall-based components include doors, windows, and lighting fixtures. Each template includes a wall; the wall is necessary for showing how the component fits in a wall.The ceiling-based template is for components inserted into ceilings. Ceiling components can include openings, so that when you place the component on a ceiling, it also cuts an opening in the ceiling. Examples of ceiling-based families include sprinklers and recessed lighting fixtures.The floor-based template is for components inserted into floors. Floor components can include openings, so that when you place the component on a floor, it also cuts an opening in the floor. An example of a floor-based family is a heating register.The roof-based template is for components inserted into roofs. Roof components can include openings, so that when you place the component on a roof, it also cuts an opening in the roof. Examples of roof-based families include soffits and fans.The standalone template is for components that are not host-dependent. A standalone component can appear anywhere in a model and can be dimensioned to other standalone or host-based components. Examples of standalone families include columns, furniture, and appliances.The line-based template is for creating detail and model families that use 2-pick placement similar to structural beams. For information about detail families with 2-pick placement.The face-based template is for creating work plane-based families that can modify their hosts. Families created from the template can make complex cuts in hosts. Instances of these families can be placed on any surface, regardless of its orientation.