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 Welcome to this 17 part series on creating your own basic custom model components. In this series we will cover all the fundamental concepts that will enable you to create absolutely any object you can think of from scratch! Having this knowledge and skill is crucial to getting the most out of Revit and also in understanding just how Revit actually operates. When you have worked through each of the 17 parts of this series, not only will you be able to create 3D objects (with parameters) from scratch, but you'll also be confident in taking the standard elements (that ship with Revit) and modifying them for your own use.

Due to the importance placed on being able to create custom model family components yourself, this Series has a dedicated Forum here at Revit Zone. Each Part of the Series will have distinct thread. So if you'd like to follow along with the series, you may want to Register for free Membership. By doing so you will be able to ask questions and join the discussion related to this fascinating side of Revit.

In this first part of the series we will simply look at what the 16 other parts consist of. This in itself will highlight all of the fundamental concepts involved in creating custom model components. So let's go through them one by one:-

Part 2: Component Types (Read the Article HERE)

There are various component types within Revit. So it's worth starting off by differentiating between the main ones. The type that we are looking at in this series is the 3D model type. Examples of this type would be windows, doors, railings. Basically anything that is a 3D model that is either capable of standing alone, or is hosted by another element.

Part 3: Families, Types, Instances (Read the Article HERE)

We cannot talk about components without discussing Families. Families are at the root of Revit. In this article we will look at what constitues a Family, where they are saved, how they are made, etc. We will also examine this concepts of Family Types and Family Instances.

Part 4: Building Blocks (Read the Article HERE)

In this article we discuss the concept of how "any" object is modelled within Revit. We look at how any form can be (and has to be) broken down into a number of simple elements

Part 5: Solid versus Void (Read the Article HERE)

Revit has a very limited number of tools for creating the "building blocks" of components. In fact I think you'll be quite suprised at how basic it actually gets. Every object is formed by creating a solid. There are different methods for creating these solids. You can either Extrude, Sweep, Revolve or Blend. Once created, you can then modify these solids by "adding" Voids to them. Again Voids can be created by either an Extrude, Sweep, Revolve or Blend process.

Part 6: Parameter Power! (Read the Article HERE)

One of the main (if not THE main) strengths of Revit is the fact that it is a Parametric modeller. That is, it models objects based on user-defined parameters. This allows you to make very quick and easy changes to your model just by adjusting the parameters. In this article we look at how to create user-defined parameters to control our custom component.

Part 7: Independent versus Hosted Components (Read the Article HERE)

Ever tried placing a window into your Revit model, without having a wall present? Go ahead and try it- it's not possible. The reason is that windows are Hosted elements that require a Host (in this case a Wall) in order to place them. Once place they are related to their Host- in the case of windows, move the wall and (as you problably know) the window stays within it. In this article we look at the various Host types as well as non-hosted components

Part 8: Family Templates (Read the Article HERE)

Now when I said that you create your components completely from scratch, that is not entirely 100% true. All custom families in Revit are based on a Family Template. In this article we look at the different Family Template types, the differences between them and how to decide which is most appropriate for what you wish to create.

Part 9: The Family Editor (Read the Article HERE)

Ahhh, The Family Editor! If you're new to Revit, you may not have ventured into this dark corner of the software. If you have stumbled into it by accident, you may have been daunted and quickly retraced your steps! Fear Not! In this article we take an in-depth look at the Family Editor and examine how it differs from the primary Revit interface.

Part 10: Reference Planes & Lines (Read the Article HERE)

Along with the actual Parameters themselves, Reference Planes are the key to Parametric Modelling. In this article we look at the difference between Reference Lines and Reference Planes, when you would use each, and how to create a dynamic, parametric skeleton upon which to "hang" the geometry of your model.

Part 11: Adding Parameters (Read the Article HERE)

There will be occasions when you wish to create a component with fixed dimensions. But more often you will wish to create components with Parameters that you can subsequently adjust. For example, let's say you create your own Table. If you create it with 2 parameters (one for "Width", one for "Length"), you will be able to adjust it's dimensions, once it has been placed within your main model.

Part 12: Solid Extrusions (Read the Article HERE)

In Part 5 we discussed how the basic building blocks were created from Extrusions, Sweeps, Blends or Revolves. In this article we focus on Solid Extrusions. We look at how the extrusions are defined, created and subsequently edited.

Part 13: Solid Sweeps (Read the Article HERE)

Along with Solid Extrusions, Sweeps are what you will be using to make most of the constituent parts of your components. Consisting of two parts- a 2D path and a 2D profile, the Sweep process allows you to create quite complex geometry. In this article we examine the mechanics of creating a soid sweep.

Part 14: Defining Materials (Read the Article HERE)

So far we have just talked about creating the geometry of for our component. But as you know, Revit allows a variety of materials to be represented and applied to different objects. In this article we look at how to create a new material and apply it to the geometry of our component.

Part 15: Defining Types (Read the Article HERE)

If you look at a Revit Window or a Door (among others) you will see that for each basic family, there can be a number of different "Types" defined. For example, when you choose a window, you will see a number of different sizes listed in the "Type Selector". Family Types allow you to create the basic geometry of your component and then define a number of variants based on differing dimensions (or other parameters).

Part 16: Testing your model (Read the Article HERE)

So far we have looked at how the Family Editor is used to create various solids and voids, whic in turn form the geometry of our component. We attach this geometry to Referecne Planes, which in turn are controlled and constrained by Dimensions and Parameters. We set up a number of default variations as "Types". The final stage is to test the parametric nature of our creation. That is, we cycle through each "Type" (which each has differing dimension parameters) and check that our model adjusts (ie behaves!) accordingly.

Part 17: Using your model (Read the Article HERE)

OK. So we created our component and we've checked that changes to it's parameters do in fact result in corresponding changes to the model. So now we can save the new Family that we've created and Load it into a Revit Project.

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