Revit MEP Families – Diamonds in the Rough

I bet everyone asks the same question when they start to learn Revit: What is a Family?

When you start a new Revit file, you have the option to choose from Project, Family, Titleblock, or Annotation Symbol. It is easy to understand what Project, Titleblock, and Annotation Symbol are without further explanation. But what is a Family?

Families are the components you use to build your model, such as walls, windows, and doors. For the Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing (MEP) disciplines, Families are items like Mechanical Equipment, Electrical Equipment, and Lighting Fixtures. Each Family can have multiple types of components comprised of differing sizes, materials, or parameter variables.

One of the many keys to mastering Autodesk Revit MEP software is the ability to create intelligent, parametric Families for your content libraries. It's not as easy as simply building a 3D model. Parameters, and the valuable data they contain, make up one of the more powerful functions at the core of Building Information Modeling (BIM), and Autodesk Revit-based software products. The information contained in parameters is of special interest to MEP engineers, and any user who learns how working with parameters in Revit MEP affects project workflow, construction documentation, and the transfer of valuable data.

Recently, we started to receive more requests for training specifically related to Revit MEP Families. With the expansion of our virtual training program, now is the perfect time for us to introduce a new course focusing on those Revit Families specific to MEP projects and designers.

Scheduled over two, four-hour virtual sessions, our Revit MEP Families class will show you how to use the modeling tools in the Revit Family Editor. You will learn the process of creating intelligent parameters to properly control family dimensions, behavior, and visibility. Additionally, we will teach you how to make sure your Families "play nice" with other elements in your model.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this class, you will be able to:

• Employ the modeling tools found in the Family Editor
• Determine the correct Family template on which to base custom content
• List various types of Revit parameters, and explain how they affect your documents, workflow, and time
• Use parameters in the Family, and Project environment
• Work with nested Families
• Apply Revit MEP Connectors and understand how data flows between elements
• Understand Lookup Tables, and how to use them in conjunction with Revit MEP families of certain categories

So, whether you are looking to create that amazing Family that behaves and prints exactly the way you want it to, or want to customize an existing Family to your project needs, mastering the art of the parametric Family is a huge productivity booster, and it’s a lot of fun, too!

Join us for our first Revit MEP Families class on November 21st-22nd. Class times, and additional registration details can be found on the Ideate, Inc. website.

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Bill Johnson
Senior Application Specialist MEP/AEC Solutions
Bill has over 25 years experience in applying MEP & AEC design solutions for large commercial companies, this has led to actively developed Autodesk® Revit® implementation strategies, techniques, and procedures for architectural and MEP companies. He has worked for TEECOM Design Group, GTE/GTEL, Greg LeDoux and Associates, and Scottish Power in England. Bill is an Autodesk MEP Implementation Certified Expert, and has been the Lead Designer for several multimillion dollar communication sites, which have included structural, electrical, HVAC, conduit, cable plans, and equipment layouts. He graduated from the Pasadena Institute of Technology and has a Sustainable Design Certification from the University of California at Berkeley.

How to Stay Out of the Dark When Rendering in Revit

For those of you who have spent any time rendering, you probably have discovered that the entire process requires a lot of time and patience. After spending a considerable amount of time perfecting your settings and running many test renderings, nothing can be more frustrating than having lighting issues. As an AEC Applications Specialist and technical support specialist with Ideate, Inc., I have seen many cases in which people complain that their renderings in Revit are too dark or completely black when completed. If you are running into this issue, you may want to look at some key lighting settings to determine if they are the root cause. Verify the following four items and you shall see the light:

STEP 1
Verify that you have the appropriate Lighting Scheme selected for your view. Revit offers (6) different lighting schemes to choose from. For example, if you select the scheme called ‘Interior: Sun only’, then you will not be able to render your view with any artificial light fixtures. 

STEP 2
Once you have determined the appropriate Lighting Scheme, verify that your Light Groups are turned on with a checkmark and that dimming is set to 1. Keep in mind that you can only select Artificial Lights when a Lighting Scheme contains Artificial Lighting. For example, if you select the scheme called ‘Interior: Sun only’, then you will not be able to select any artificial lights fixtures.

STEP 3
Verify that you have selected the appropriate Daylight Portal options for sunlit interior renderings. In order to select the Daylight Portal options, first click the Edit button under the Quality setting of the Rendering dialogue box. This will then open the Render Quality Settings dialogue box. Next, select which rendering quality you want (Draft, Low, Medium, High or Best) then click the Copy to Custom button. This option will then allow you to select which openings you would like to have daylight come through.

STEP 4
If your Artificial Lights are turned on, but little to no light is coming out of the fixture itself, then verify whether your lighting fixture family has geometry, such as a diffuser, that is blocking the light source definition. If you find that there is a diffuser, check to see if the diffuser material has a transparency. If the transparency is not selected, or the percentage is very low, you will see little to no light emission from your fixture.

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Sash Kazeminejad, LEED AP
AEC Application Specialist
Sash Kazeminejad brings proficiency in Autodesk solutions including AutoCAD and Revit Architecture to Ideate customers. His industry experience includes project management, IT, and staff design for Hennebery Eddy Architects in Portland, Oregon. He has completed seven divisions of the Architectural Record Exam, leads Revit workshops, is LEED AP accredited and is on track to achieve California licensure in 2013 with Oregon to follow. In his academic life, Sash was awarded a Montana AIA Scholarship, earned a BA in Environmental Design, an MA in Architecture from Montana State University (MSU) and taught Building Information Modeling (BIM) and related topics at MSU Gallatin College. As a Revit Architecture Autodesk Certified Professional, Sash provides Revit Architecture training and support for AEC firms.

Get it. Know it. Use it.