Revit Masterclass: Family Creation #3 (Windows)

[@dorukkepce7586]

Thanks Gavin, amazing lecture and lots of, lots of information to digest. I have learned so many new tricks with this tutorial. We are lucky to have you giving out this knowledge for free.

[@AussieBIMGuru]

Glad it was helpful!

[@WilliamAtAustralia1]

Thank you Gavin, the way you how present this, is very efficiency and pro

[@AussieBIMGuru]

Youre welcome!

[@muhammadabidmakba]

Many many thanks Gavin. I am in awe with what you produced here. This was absolutely amazing. I will have to watch this several times at a slower speed to fully grasp everything. Absolutely awesome. This is the best window family video I have watched so far. This was truly a Masterclass. You are absolutely brilliant at what you do. Just one last word. WOW.

[@AussieBIMGuru]

Glad it helped to such a degree, it's certainly one of my most lengthy/in depth videos when it comes to families.

[@jonathandrachenberg6736]

Thank you, this was an outstanding training. Really clarified some issues that can be difficult to uncover, such as using view range in window families to get the graphics correctly.

[@AussieBIMGuru]

Thanks Jonathan - glad you found it helpful!

[@matthewboynton216]

Cool that you can apply materials to the host wall with paint. Also the wall thickness reporting parameter technique is interesting.

[@AussieBIMGuru]

Yep that one i only learnt recently! So many little tricks hiding in the family editor that aren't very well known.

[@bohemrv]

Thank you, this is really great and helpful tutorial.

[@AussieBIMGuru]

Glad it was helpful!

[@adamhadji5488]

Thanks a lot Gavin for making and sharing these highly informative videos. This one is another top-quality advanced Revit educational material from you. I appreciated your time/work.

[@AussieBIMGuru]

You're welcome Adam!

[@matejsafr8264]

Great work! More masterclass videos would be amazing! I think its always good to have reveal,architrave, sills etc as shared, bcs u are able to schedule it and tag it. Keep it up

[@AussieBIMGuru]

Yes sometimes making these shared is a good idea, depends on project scale. If you do I always suggest making them generic model so they don't take up window marks when placed.

[@henriquethomasfranco4182]

Man, you are great! thhank you for your detailed help

[@AussieBIMGuru]

Youre welxome Henrique!

[@aaruparanzhu]

Thanks Gavin... As always amazing and informative...

[@AussieBIMGuru]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@hikeetellall]

Excellent ! thanks for your time !

[@AussieBIMGuru]

My pleasure!

[@arkplato2186]

Great, this looks like more of a stuff I could understand and work with to start my revit journey. Great. Then after I understand this will go on to the doors ;-) once again. thankyou so much, this is gold

[@AussieBIMGuru]

Glad it helps! It's probably quite advanced for a new user so you may also wish to check out my four family creation videos in my families playlist first.

[@SeanPillan]

I'd be interested to see how you use Curtain Panels and Curtain Systems. They are extremely versatile and can be used for many different applications in the Revit model. Would be good to do a series on them from Walls, Roofs, Balustrades to Cladding and how to effectively use them in your project.

[@AussieBIMGuru]

I'll add it to my list. I try to use railings for balustrades where possible, and mostly use curtain walls/roofing for glazed wall assemblies.

[@shuggieo]

quick question, on my nested panel, my symbolic lines that represent casement left/right aren't centered when I change the panel height? thanks

[@AussieBIMGuru]

It sounds like they're not meeting the 'soft constraints' that would usually keep them justified. Make sure there is a reference plane drawn and constrained halfway up the height of the panel, and you draw/snap the line ends to the meeting point of it and the side plane at the catch of the lines. It might take a few tries for Revit to understand what you're trying to make it do.

[@brettspencer172]

I've been following you for a few months now and cannot express my profound gratitude enough with all of your tutorials. Learning so much and these have become my go-to guide for advancing my revit skills. Quick question for you that pertains to this video -- at timestamp 5:06 you mention that you constrain the parameters in both elevation and in floor plan, however when I attempted this it's giving me an error that the window becomes overconstrained. Any idea why this may be?

[@AussieBIMGuru]

Glad to hear! Usually this means there are too many locked constraints. Most likely you have a sill height, head height and window height competing for constraints in elevation. Make sure to leave sill height unlocked and not locked by formula, then constrain from sill up.

[@brettspencer172]

@@AussieBIMGuru unreal. you nailed it. thank you sir! much appreciated.

[@akramdodangeh581]

Thank you so much for this video

[@AussieBIMGuru]

You're welcome!

[@Herokai16]

Great Video, you are explaining it very good! Even me who´s beginner in Revit could follow, obviously with way more time than an hour:D

[@AussieBIMGuru]

Thanks! Glad to hear this was possible for beginners to get through as well, well done.

[@codygaulton7361]

Amazing and super helpful tutorial, how would I go about having different pieces of text on my window panel in elevation that I could control with visibility parameters

[@AussieBIMGuru]

Unfortunately I don't believe revit can include generic annotations in family elevations - inbuilt limitation to my knowledge.

[@codygaulton7361]

@@AussieBIMGuru Thanks for the confirmation, looks like my text is going to be filled regions haha

[@codygaulton7361]

My panel appears perfect when loaded into main family but when I load the main family into a project the panel gets grouped into hidden line subcategory, the subcategories I have assigned in the panel family get ignored, any help?

[@AussieBIMGuru]

@@codygaulton7361 check them at project level object styles instead. Once the styles reach project level they refer to this instead of the family settings.

[@robbie7132]

Great video Gavin. I made my own version of this following your video, in my version the the window swing symbol lines are set to not show in coarse view. In medium and fine view the swing symbols are shown... but in fine view i would like to add a text at the bottom left hand corner of each subframe (F for fixed, A for awning etc). However its not possible to add labels or symbols to elevation views within the family environment. Any ideas on how to get around this?

[@AussieBIMGuru]

Yes unfortunately annotations don't show in families in elevation views, massive missing feature we've requested for ages from Autodesk. The only workarounds I've seen are using a tag or 3D model text.

[@411toaster]

Nice info thanks Gavin. Are those Revit icons on the task bar you have available for a download?

[@AussieBIMGuru]

Yep they're on my github: github.com/aussieBIMguru/Revit-Files/tree/master/Program%20Icons

[@BimJedi]

Nice Tutorial Any chance you could let everybody download the family ?or maybe in bim guru website to purchase ?

[@AussieBIMGuru]

I keep families from the channel on github: github.com/aussieBIMguru/Revit-Files/blob/master/Families/ABG_210607_Window%20family.zip My broader windows collection is available on this website, but goes beyond what I cover here: courses.bimguru.education/courses/bg-windows

[@VanDynamoPlayer]

Could you make the nested window family instance base width and height and then lock it to the frame instead of making formulas for it? Great video btw! lots of great ideas!

[@AussieBIMGuru]

You could, but it takes more constraints and i always avoid constraining to other geometry vs reference planes.

[@monkeybone1711]

Love the Tutorial, thx a lot. How would you recommend constructing a window where I need to create a Frame and Subframe that are composed out of 2 different Elements (Aluminum Cladding and Wooden Frame) and the profiles are a lot more complex and therefor require more references and parameters? I created a Main Frame model over Sweep with the desired Profile. Then I added an Extrusion as a cladding (rectangle). The problem occurred when I started modeling the Subframe as a nested family. The Cladding of the Subframe should be modelled as a separate Item as well as the glazing between the subframe and the cladding. Due to the complexity of the Profiles (references rarely overlap) I’m having huge problems with defining references that flex correctly and end up getting Error messages. Any tips for such problems?

[@AussieBIMGuru]

Yes unfortunately if you have a highly detailed profile it is going to be less likely to have a fully parametric outcome, unless you fully constrain the lines that need to flex. In that scenario I'd generally suggest to work with a lower level of resolution if it's an internal system detail versus an interface detail to another one (which a subframe detail is).

[@jonjondelacruz5463]

Nice video. Do you have video for munition maker?

[@AussieBIMGuru]

Never heard of it before!

[@jacobschiesser4730]

do you have this window family on a site somewhere i can download it?

[@AussieBIMGuru]

Yep if you look me up on github i have my revit files for family creation videos on there.

[@gduteaud]

Hey Gavin, thanks for the comprehensive tutorial! I'm having trouble with the sill, mine doesn't behave like yours. When loaded in a project, when I uncheck the visibility parameter the solid disappears but the void remains cut in the wall. Any idea what I'm doing wrong? Thanks!

[@AussieBIMGuru]

Make sure you apply the visibility parameter at the window level vs the sill level, and also that the sill is set to be a shared component ideally.

[@papayaaaaaaaaaaaaa]

Thanks for your awesome tutorials, i have a project this semester, i need to define 3 different layers for the glass of the window with two air gaps between them, i cant see any modifications in revit, is it possible to make it ? (Make a 3 layers window glass)

[@AussieBIMGuru]

It is, but would mean adding more geometry/extrusions to represent them.

[@guga001]

Fantastic video! Wasn´t expecting to learn something totally new, like the ability to set a material to the host wall via a family parameter, after so many years using Revit. Thanks. But this video left me wondering how you deal with this kind of family in a model group. I mean, you defined types inside your nested families that are left or right handed, right? In the case of a asymmetric window how to deal with that if they´re inside a group that is mirrored? You'll have 'right' components taht in fact are left. Sorry if my question is not clear because of my English.

[@AussieBIMGuru]

The unfortunate approach with a partially asymetric group is usually that we would need duplicate groups for mirrored layouts. I have found that mirroring groups in general can cause various problems on larger projects. This has typically been the safest approach in companies I have worked at, versus hosting elements outside groups or trying to exclude and substitute mirrored elements.

[@guga001]

@@AussieBIMGuru Thank you.

[@JavierOropeza08]

great stuff! I will definitely have to watch this more than once to pick up all the amazing tips Do you ever get into wall closures? Like getting the interior or exterior material to wrap the opening? I have never been able to understand those in relation to window and door families and how they work in the project with the wall settings for wrapping and inserts, etc.

[@AussieBIMGuru]

I've played with them a bit in the past, unfortunately they can't quite ever represent a true junction on many wall types, especially for compound walls as the outer layers tend to wrap to core centre. Usually i just leave wrapping off for walls and accept that some wall ends will look incorrect, mostly a graphic thing.

[@ZOULUYANG]

Thanks for the great tutorial! I followed the steps, however when I load the brick sill into the window family, the wall does not cut, I use the Generic face based template, and checked the cut with voids when loaded, don't know where could be wrong, any solution for this?

[@AussieBIMGuru]

Only thing left i can think it may be is ensuring it is a shared family in its settings.

[@ZOULUYANG]

@@AussieBIMGuru I figured it out, i picked the wrong working plane..

[@arkplato2186]

At 16.30 for has subframe, did you only choose the frame and the glass or everything. Cant get my nested panel to work properly. Tried changing them a lot. But it is just failing to behave. Like i choose frame it shows awnings, or likewise other are messing up.

[@AussieBIMGuru]

In this case the family will have: - A subframe, and glass within the subframe, associated to the 'Has Subframe' parameter - A full sheet of glass with no subframe around the edge, associated to the opposite ('Fixed panel') - Swing lines in elevation, associated to the 'Awning', 'Casement left', 'Casement right' parameters I connect the fixed panel/subframe parameters using a formula, so when one is on the other is off.

[@arkplato2186]

@@AussieBIMGuru thanks man then I just have to try again and see what did I do wrong. Hope it works out.

[@AussieBIMGuru]

@@arkplato2186 my window is on my github if you need a reference copy.

[@nikouer]

I don’t understand where you lock the subframe. In the bottom reference plane or in ref level and why having both?

[@AussieBIMGuru]

I believe in this case i make my subframe workplane based and then host the family to a reference plane to avoid needing a constraint.

[@IndiaRisingofficial]

Hey Aussie, what about Skylight Windows? Could you create a video on that please

[@AussieBIMGuru]

Hi there! It would be quite similar to how I build this one, but I'd recommend a face based template instead of a wall based one. You can do this by making a new Generic model faced based family then changing its category to Windows.

[@IndiaRisingofficial]

@@AussieBIMGuru nice. I used the existing skylight window from autodesk and placed it on a slanted roof. But when I switched to plans, the window doesn't cut at the 1m level. The entire window shows up in plan. Have you faceed this problem before? Any reason behind it?

[@AussieBIMGuru]

@@IndiaRisingofficial yes I believe windows only cut in parallel views if i recall correctly. That or maybe it uses 2D detail work in plan to show it instead of the 3D geometry.

[@SketchupGuru]

@@AussieBIMGuru thanks Gavin. IndiaRising is a small project I'm working on. Basically just voiceover and Stock footage videos. Back to the BIM world but this time in Germany. Your videos are super valuable as always :) I'll probably just hide the 3d Model in the family and only show the 2D Detail. Nice tip.

[@wojciechturek1601]

Oh aiiiiiii!!! 💙💙💙💙💙💙

[@AussieBIMGuru]

Glad you liked it!

[@karinaboza1684]

Hi Aussie, thank you for the video. I have an issue with the window, I can see a window in the floor plan but in 3D the window does not go thought the wall, either inside or outside. Do you have any advice?

[@AussieBIMGuru]

Make sure you have an opening at the family level that cuts the host wall.

[@karinaboza1684]

@@AussieBIMGuru Hi Aussie, the family level? Could you please explain?

[@AussieBIMGuru]

@@karinaboza1684 in the family itself I mean.

[@karinaboza1684]

@@AussieBIMGuru I tried everything, inclusive I updated the Revit 2020 to Revit 2023. is there a way to send you a screen shot of this?

[@AussieBIMGuru]

@@karinaboza1684 you can email me at aussiebimguru at gmail dot com.

[@MuhYusuf-pr4yj]

why when i preview: visibility on, frame not hide.. but instead glass hide?

[@AussieBIMGuru]

Sounds like the subcategories might be incorrectly assigned. Double check.

[@michaelfitton2184]

Any download for this ot similar?

[@AussieBIMGuru]

Yes in revit repo on my github my example window is there.

[@bigted92]

Can we download this?

[@AussieBIMGuru]

Yes, the family is on my github.

[@victors.7717]

I'm building the window library for my company and I´m dealing with the visibility graphics behaviour, and it doesn't make any sense to me. :(

[@AussieBIMGuru]

Yeah it's pretty munted. A lot of firms just use a combination of 2D and 3D in plan. Generally the key is to make sure the plan in the family looks right and that will typically show similarly in the model if the window is cut also.

[@victors.7717]

@@AussieBIMGuru Do you uncheck "Plan/RCP" in visibility settings for extrusions/sweeps and keep "When cut in Plan/RCP (when category permits)" on? I f

[@AussieBIMGuru]

@victors.7717 typically i either do both or none if I'm using 2D. I tend to use 2D for the most part in plan in the components i use in my main families for consistent appearance regardless of which height i cut my windows at.

[@vin01shubh]

How to make trapezoidal panels family in revit

[@AussieBIMGuru]

I'd suggest using a curtain panel for this and using a sweep around the border with a triangle to the centre. Noting a trapezoid only works this way if a panel is square. If you want a morphed trapezoid then you could use an adaptive curtain panel and build each face individually. I've made an example here: github.com/aussieBIMguru/Revit-Files/blob/master/Families/Trapezoid%20panel.rfa

[@obsidianstatue]

17:20 not(fixed panel)

[@AussieBIMGuru]

Yep that's the one.

[@raaz2010100]

What is Has frame

[@AussieBIMGuru]

An option to turn the outer frame on/off.

[@michaelsonsarmiento5943]

Mate are you hiring now? I'm located in Sydney.

[@AussieBIMGuru]

I work as a sole trader, but there's quite a few jobs in the market currently. Worth checking out what is on www.seek.com.au

[@atis1]

Windows are Revits weak spot.. You have to watch entire 1h tutorial to build window with multiple parameters etc. Arhicad for that matter have all that so much easier..

[@AussieBIMGuru]

Yep each program has it weak areas, e.g. engineering features or a lack thereof.

[@markusb2743]

I gave up 4 min into the video as he uses short cuts and IOcan't find out how to get the menus he pops up , I was so exited when I found this video to see how to design my own windows but this is useless. When you show someone learning a program then you must tell us what shortcuts you're using. balkan Architect shows you how to draw a single solid glazed window, but I want a window with different mullions, multi tophunh or side hung windows.

[@AussieBIMGuru]

Sorry my teaching style wasnt suitable for you, but hope someone out there manages to teach you those things! The main shortcut i likely use in this video is RP for reference plane, CO for copy/move and sometimes DI for dimension.

[@danielbotha345]

@@AussieBIMGuru Sorry, from the start I don't seem to have the same menu as you had at the top, then after you set the reference lines, you dimensioned, and that is where I fell off the wagon.

[@AussieBIMGuru]

@@danielbotha345 i'm using revit 2022 in this video I think. The family editor hasnt changed much in 2023 but the UI got a rehaul in 2024 if youre using that version so it may be that. It could potentially be the modify menus as well which only appear when you have objects selected, and their contents will vary slightly depending what is selected. Prior to 2022 the family editor UI hasnt changed too much though. It may be worth going through content such as LinkedIn learning which spends longer on the basic shortcuts, UI etc, as my videos tend to target intermediate level use and beyond.

[@mahtabmedia8306]

Not useful for beginners because you don't mention which command you go

[@AussieBIMGuru]

@@mahtabmedia8306 my masterclasses arent aimed at beginners, generally. For beginner content maybe try balkan architect.