Issue:

Creating a Revit family is a necessary skill for Revit practice; however, it comes with a steep learning curve and is difficult to master.

Causes:

Creating a Revit family is a challenging task that requires years of practice to become proficient.

Solution:

This guide covers a step-by-step process for creating a family with a detailed description to help you through this difficult task. After completing this guide, you will be able to apply the same logic to create a variety of different advanced families for project needs. This guide is for users who understand how to build a basic Revit family and apply parameters to control the family.

Advance Door Family:

Objective:

1. Modifying an existing family.
2. Able to change the door panel to a different type.
3. Able to swing the door for rendering purposes.
4. Able to change the door accessory.

I will be using Door-Passage-Single-Flush.rfa (from 2024 Revit family library) to meet the above three objectives.

The guide is divided into 6 sections:

1. Assessing family structure of Door-Passage-Single-Flush.rfa.
2. Adding Door Swing Parameter.
3. Creating Door Panel Family.
4. Creating Door Accessary Family.
5. Adding Door Panel Swap parameter.
6. Modifying Door Handle Family.

Assessing Family Structure of Door-Passage-Single-Flush.rfa:

All users attempting to modify the family should start by investigating how the family is created and how parametric is structured. Then assess what parameters need to be reformatted and which geometry needs to be replaced.

First objective is creating parameters to switch the door panel type to a different type.

Assessing the door family, the door panel is built with extraction in the family. This would make it difficult to add parameters to switch out the door panel type. To achieve this goal, the best solution would be using a nested door panel family with label parameters. Therefore, the existing door panel extrusion will be deleted.

Following diagram is planning logic for updating the family:

Door handles are also tied to the Strike Height parameter.

This is a good parameter if the door panel is fixed, but our goal is to make the door swing. All objects in Revit are reference plane-based. Since the door handle is fixed, it won’t be appropriate for our goal. The door handle needs to follow the door panel, and this is only possible if the door handle is a surface-based family. Therefore, the door handle family needs to be rebuilt with the appropriate family template. The Strike Height parameter is still good and can be salvaged after the door handle family is rebuilt.

There is a door swing symbol family nested into the family. It is up to you if you want the door swing symbol to follow the door panel swing parameter. If this is the case, the door swing symbol family is no longer needed. However, in many cases, the door looks closed in the rendering view but want to keep the door symbol to be in the open position, you would need to keep the nested door symbol family. In this exercise, I will keep the door symbol family so it can be independent of the door panel swing.

About the Author

Sr Technical Support Specialist<br><br> Skilled in AutoCAD, Mixed-use, Renovation, Revit, and Sustainable Design. Strong arts and design professional with a BA in Urban design focused in Architecture from University of Washington.

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