Preparing to Create Lighting Fixture Families (4:02 min)

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Preparing to Create Lighting Fixture Families in Revit.

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In this video, we're going to review some existing lighting

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fixture families and discuss the process of efficiently creating

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new lighting fixture families.

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I'm in a simple Revit model where

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I've added several lighting fixture

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families that come with Revit.

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These families are all face based

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and can be placed on any surface regardless of its orientation.

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In this case, they're placed on a ceiling,

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but they could be placed on walls, roofs, beams,

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and even reference planes that you want to add into the model.

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Using a face based family is important when you're working

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with a linked model where you cannot insert a ceiling or wall

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based family through the link.

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I'm going to select one of the fixtures and edit that family.

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You can see that the family looks

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like it's upside down, a feature of working with face

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based lighting fixtures.

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When I open the elevation's front view,

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there is an extrusion that symbolizes the face.

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This element does not display when you place the fixture,

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but it needs to remain in the family file.

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There is also a connecter element, and the light source,

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as well as the model elements that make up the fixture

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itself.

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In properties, I'm going to click Family Types.

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And you can see that a variety of parameters

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have been added to this fixture.

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Some of them are built in, such as this lamp fixture.

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Others have been added directly to the family as a family

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parameter.

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If you're going to make new lighting fixture families,

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there are several things that can make the process simpler.

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First of all, create a base file,

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kind of like a template file for each of the typical styles

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of fixtures.

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For example, surface recessed and suspended.

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There are parameters that fit each of these.

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So, here's an example of a surface fixture your template.

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It should be face based as we discussed earlier, and include

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an electrical connector and a generic light source.

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And you can see here, when I selected the light source,

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that it is right now just set to generic for its photometric web

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file.

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You also need to add parameters to that template file.

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This example still uses family parameters,

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but it's much better to use shared parameters.

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That way, you can have the same parameters and multiple models,

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and they can be used in schedules and in tags.

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It's also good to have a separate family

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for the lighting fixture geometry,

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such as a circular fixture zone shown here.

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I could have several different fixture

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styles that could all be applied to the same template.

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You can now use the face based template

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that includes the light source and electrical connector

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as the base to compile a new lighting

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fixture with a nested model for the fixture geometry.

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And if you need them, you can also nest-in custom annotation

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symbols.

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You will then assign the correct location for the light source

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and update it with the correct photometric IES file

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to finish off your custom light fixture.

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So, having a base template can save you time

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and make creating lighting fixtures much more efficient.