Revit Family Cleanup

Before an Autodesk Revit family is put into production, it should be cleaned up to reduce size and eliminate overhead that does not need to end up in a project file.  Information that is not required by the family should not be kept in the family.  The final step in family creation before putting a family into production should be the cleanup effort.

The following items should be addressed as part of the cleanup process:

Purge Unused Families, Groups and Styles

• Manage tab -> Settings panel -> Purge Unused function
• Select the Check All button and purge out all unused items shown in this dialog box.

Delete Unused Materials

• Manage tab -> Settings panel -> Materials function
• Select each of the materials that are not directly used in the family and delete them.
• Depending on how the family was started, there may be many materials that are not used in the family.
  • If a family is highlighted in a project file and the Edit Family function is selected to edit the file, then the materials that are in the project file will become materials in the family.  These materials should all be eliminated before utilizing the family in another project.

Line Patterns

• Manage tab -> Settings panel -> Additional Settings flyout
• Some of the Line Patterns that are in use can be seen in the Object Styles dialog box.
  • Manage tab -> Settings panel -> Object Styles function
• The following are standard family components and Line Patterns that are specified for that component:
  • Reference Level = Dash dot
  • Reference Planes = Aligning Line
  • Hidden Lines = Dash
• The standard family templates contain many Line Patterns that will not be used by the family and should be deleted.
  • For many families, the following Line Patterns can typically be eliminated without any ramifications:
    • Dash dot dot
    • Demolished
    • Dot
    • Double dash
    • Long dash
    • Loose dash
    • Overhead
    • Rebar Cover Lines
    • Triple dash
• If any AutoCAD file has been inserted into the family, there will be additional Line Patterns added to the family that were in the AutoCAD file.
  • These Line Patterns will have a name that begins with “IMPORT-“ and there can be many of these.

Fill Patterns

• Manage tab -> Settings panel -> Additional Settings flyout

Conducting this cleanup as the final step of family creation will benefit users of your family and make for a better family.

Advertisement