The power and potential of the Autodesk Revit Family Editor is vast, and 90 minutes just doesn’t do it justice. Dispensing with the basics, this hands-on lab jumps right into the deep end of the pool. (If you need to brush up on the basics, video recordings of many Family Editor basics are posted on my website for all attendees.) In this hands-on lab, we explore advanced parameters and the use of formulas to drive the geometry. Whether you are new to the Family Editor or just want to use its more advanced features, this lab gives you the tools to begin making more advanced family content. We explore formulas, family type parameters, materials, and even dabble in some trigonomic functions. So be sure to buckle your seat belt. You are in for an exciting ride!

• 2013 Extras (ZIP - 10.8 MB)
• 2013 Dataset AU (ZIP - 40.7 MB)
• 2014 Handout (PDF - 40 Pages)
• 2013 Dataset CSRW (ZIP - 41.6 MB)
• 2013 Handout AU (PDF - 41 Pages)
• 2013 Handout CSRW (PDF - 28 Pages)
• 2014 Dataset (ZIP - 35.8 MB)

Success with the family editor is so much more than creating simple objects with flexible dimensions. This two-part session will dispense with the basics and jump right into the deep end of the pool! I will share with you several real content creation examples that I have built for my clients over the years. Each will explore family creation concepts that go beyond the basic box or simple flexible family. If you want to up you family creation game, join me for this information packed two-part session.

• 2018 Handout (PDF - 55 Pages)

Have you ever tried to control the shape of a curved form parametrically in the Family Editor? If so, you’ve no doubt discovered that flexing them sometimes throws you a curveball. In this session we’ll explore several techniques to tame your unruly parametric curves. We’ll look at examples of circles, arcs, quarter round, half round, arches, and we’ll even check out some splines. We’ll look at both simple and compound curves. We’ll work primarily in the traditional Family Editor but most techniques apply to the massing Family Editor environment as well. We’ll explore curvature and rotation, and we’ll throw in some trigonometry for good measure. After this session, I cannot guarantee that you’ll never have another misbehaving curve in your family content, but what I can promise is that you’ll come away with several useful tools to help you tame them when curve-mischief strikes!

• 2023 Dataset (ZIP - 44 MB)
• 2023 Handout (PDF - 55 Pages)
• 2016 Extras (PDF - 8 Pages)
• 2014 Handout CSRW (PDF - 62 Pages)
• 2015 Handout (PDF - 73 Pages)
• 2015 Dataset (ZIP - 14.0 MB)
• 2015 Presentation (PPTX - 1.4 MB)
• 2016 Handout (PDF - 61 Pages)
• 2014 Dataset CSRW (ZIP - 18.5 MB)
• 2014 Handout MU (PDF - 15.3 MB)
• 2014 Dataset MU (ZIP - 54 Pages)
• 2016 Dataset (ZIP - 16.8 MB)

If you create Revit family content, there has been a slow trickle of new features that have crept into the family editor in recent releases. They just have not received much fanfare, so let’s play a little game of: “Is that new?” We’ll look at new features like: room aware location points, new family templates and let’s not forget reordering parameters! We’ll explore 3-point adaptive arcs and the newest new feature: “load into project and close”. But we won’t just focus on new stuff. Using some slightly obscure techniques we can make a parameter hidden in the project environment so you can use it to drive formulas without users inadvertently modifying it (because they won’t even know it’s there). We will explore using family types parameters to build drop-down lists and play some tricks with categories and shared vs. nonshared families. If you create family content even occasionally, there’s bound to be a topic in this session that will have you asking: “Is that new?”

• 2016 Dataset RTC (ZIP - 35.1 MB)
• 2016 Dataset BIMW (ZIP - 35.1 MB)
• 2016 Handout BIMW (PDF - 25 Pages)
• 2016 Dataset CADMW (ZIP - 35.1 MB)
• 2016 Handout RTC (PDF - 30 Pages)
• 2016 Handout CADMW (PDF - 29 Pages)

If you use Revit in your work every day, you have no doubt discovered how important it is to have good family content at your disposal. When you do, things move quite smoothly and when you don’t, they can be quite the opposite. Inevitably, regardless of how good your library is, we all need to visit the family editor from time to time. In this session, I thought it would be fun to let you decide. Come to the session with ideas, we’ll take a vote at the start and if your idea is chosen, I’ll build your family content suggestion live in real-time as I discuss how and why I am performing each step and decision. If you have ever wanted to be a fly on the wall of someone else’s office as they work through a content creation problem, here is your chance. We’ll cover approach, design and strategy and many modeling, and parametric family creation techniques. The final file will be made available to all attendees following the conference.

• 2019 Dataset (ZIP - 37.3 MB)
• 2019 Handout (PDF - 26 Pages)

Creating custom family content in Revit has always been a bit challenging to master. In recent versions of Revit it is even more so thanks to Conceptual Massing Environment. When it first came out (back in 2010) I assumed it would be transitional and that eventually the tools and features of the traditional and massing environments would be merged together to make a single and more powerful family editor. But alas, this is not the case. So here we are several releases later with two similar, but very distinct family editing experiences. This wouldn’t be such an issues except for the fact that you cannot easily move between the two. Take profile families (vs the need to use Generic Models in massing) as an example or the inability to copy and paste between the two environments and you can begin to understand the issue. In this session, we’ll look at a side-by-side comparison of the two environments and then open it up to discussion from the group. Both your questions and your expertise are welcome in this session. Come join the conversation.

• 2015 Handout (PDF - 12 Pages)

preAre you tired of boring box families? Ever heard anyone say: “You can’t do that in Revit®?” Well in this lab, we are going to model a complete Ionic column capital from start to finish. We’ll look at planning the family and breaking it down into its constituent parts and pieces. We will then create the profiles required for the volutes and scrolls. These will become sweeps and swept blends defining the overall forms. But we won’t stop with just modeling these forms. This will be a fully parametric family that is scalable and leverages coarse, medium and fine levels of detail. I like the challenge of building most of this geometry in the traditional family editor, but we will also discuss some ways to incorporate the completed family into adaptive components to leverage unique features like divide and repeat. If you want to kick your family editor modeling skills to the next level and break out of the basic box, come join us for this hands-on session! (You should have familiarity with Revit® essentials).

• 2015 Handout BIMW (PDF - 33 Pages)
• 2015 Dataset CADMW (ZIP - 27.3 MB)
• 2015 Handout CADMW (PDF - 33 Pages)
• 2019 Handout (PDF - 39 Pages)
• 2015 Presentation BIMW (PPTX - 3.3 MB)
• 2015 Dataset BIMW (ZIP - 27.3 MB)
• 2019 Dataset (ZIP - 27.7 MB)

Years ago I began exploring the possibilities of creating the classical orders of architecture in Revit software. Parametric families are the cornerstones of Revit software, and this project presented an ideal way to push Family Editor to its limits. Challenges were many, but there were plenty of successes as well. This session is part case study (of the journey I took from the original idea all the way to the publication of a book) and part tutorial (to show the “nuts and bolts” of how we built the families), all demonstrated directly in Revit software. In this session I’ll talk about scaling, content reuse, profiles, moldings, formulas, nested components, and complex forms in both the traditional and adaptive component family editors. I’ll show the final successful versions and a few not-so-successful earlier versions as well. If you’re interested in historic architecture and/or classical form, or you just like pushing family editor to extremes, then this session is sure to please.

• 2015 Handout (PDF - 49 Pages)
• 2015 Presentation (PPTX - 123.9 MB)
• 2014 Handout (PDF - 57 Pages)
• 2015 Dataset (ZIP - 16.3 MB)

step-byMaybe you know the power of Revit software’s Family Editor but you’ve avoided it, or it’s intimidated you until now. Wait no more. This lab will introduce you to the basics of Family Editor. Once you get past being intimidated, you will find that while Family Editor is extremely powerful, it can actually be great fun. In this short introduction to Family Editor, we’ll create a Revit component family complete with constraints and parameters. Don’t worry if you don’t know what a constraint or parameter is—we’ll cover that too. Whether you’ve never worked in Revit software before, or you’ve used Revit for a while but you’ve simply avoided Family Editor, this lab will teach you the basics of the Family Editor in a simple step-by-step fashion, and in the best way possible: hands-on! (The session will use architectural examples, but the concepts apply to all flavors of the Revit software, including Revit LT.)

• 2017 Handout (PDF - 40 Pages)
• 2015 Dataset (ZIP - 37 Pages)
• 2020 Handout (PDF - 43 Pages)
• 2012 Dataset (ZIP - 10.4 MB)
• 2015 Handout (PDF - 2.7 MB)
• 2016 Handout (PDF - 39 Pages)
• 2018 Dataset (ZIP - 12.4 MB)
• 2017 Dataset (ZIP - 11.8 MB)
• 2020 Dataset (ZIP - 11.7 MB)
• 2016 Dataset (ZIP - 11.8 MB)
• 2012 Handout (PDF - 35 Pages)
• 2018 Handout (PDF - 42 Pages)