Revit Groups vs Links

[@seamusriley3532]

This was sooo - nice to see. I'm watching for the first time after going through this at my own office. I re-made our entire casework library to be non-hosted, and I've never looked back, and I'm glad groups in groups is okay because I love doing it! One thing I learned from this was not to make the groups too big - I am guilty of proposing the grouped floor plate. Not anymore.

[@TheRevitKid]

Haha, so glad you were validated... Yes, floor plates is not a good idea ;)

[@amybeckenham]

My favourite topic! sad i missed this live, but great to see after the fact

[@TheRevitKid]

Glad you enjoyed and hopefully you can be on live for the next one!

[@PaulAubin]

Great stuff. Thanks Jeff and Aaron

[@TheRevitKid]

Thanks for watching, Paul!

[@SleepySetzer]

Awesome sharing

[@TheRevitKid]

Cheers!!

[@francoispicard3923]

Thanks guys! The explanations on the groups will make me use it on projects for sure!! Is the Parallax screen annotations tools is available somewhere?

[@hilarywilliams1446]

Thank you!!!

[@TheRevitKid]

Cheers!!

[@hilarywilliams1446]

@TheRevitKid, Any tips on if we are handed the scenario you bring up? As an MEP engineer, we are handed a multifamily model with many unit types linked in plus design options. We are then told we just have to make it work.

[@Rocketeer4o9]

Very informative thank you.

[@TheRevitKid]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@ricardstridsberg571]

Great topic! Thanks!

[@TheRevitKid]

Cheers! Thanks for tuning in!

[@ricardstridsberg571]

Im in Sweden, so I missed the live event! :/ Any recommendations about the level of ’nested groups’? One example: Type-appartment with type-bathroom/kitchen within. How deep can we go? How many groups within groups is ’still ok’? :)

[@ParallaxTeam]

@@ricardstridsberg571 Hey Ricard! How 'ok' it is will really come down to how well the Groups are made, in terms of following the "Group Rules," hehe. I know the models i showed during the broadcast had some that were at least 2 levels of nested down: Apartment > Bathroom > Bathroom Vanity. And in the Handout on Healthcare Groups i know there are some that are two levels down. Off the top of my head i cant recall any times ive needed to go three levels down, though they may exist. (Open Office Desk Group > Open Office Desk > Computer Setup > Peripherals?) But im stretching, lol.

[@rschloch]

21:40 yup. Open a second session of revit to work on linked files. Opening in the same session should also be possible, but if one of your models freezes, you lose multiple file changes.

[@ricardochavez8623]

I have tried both and honestly i like groups if they can be set up right, its alot easier to manipulate one group and have it change everywhere. What i dont like is if you mess up you get that error which forces revit to duplicate the group. LInks are fine as well, but not if you are using bim collaborate. when you use bim collobarte you have to sync-publish-reload links. it becomes tedious with multifamily residential with anythign more than 3 unit types.

[@rschloch]

30:20 I typically create a dummy view template (which is also used to sort the section type) but don’t have any overrides checked. Then I set the view template after creating the view. Another solution might be to set the visibility for all links in the worksets to not visible in the view template. I’ve seen some foolish implementation with links and worksets / worksets visibility.

[@anthonylyman7999]

In our projects we typically need to have a room that can schedule the overall (inside exterior wall and demising wall) square footages, but still be able to schedule the individual rooms for finishes, etc... How is that being handled with groups. We use links solely for the ability to have a room in the main model and individual rooms in the links. Thoughts?

[@TheRevitKid]

Thanks for tuning in Anthony ! Aaron mentioned this in the live stream when someone asked a similar question … long story short, have them rooms int he groups and use area plans for the overall unit areas… it’s what area plans were made to do!!

[@eivendur]

Greatly enjoyed the show, lots of great info and right at the time where I need to make the big decisions for our first highrise buildíng. Any chance you can post the links to the handouts Aaron mentioned in the talk? Would be highly appreciated if you could post the links! Thanks a lot, a new follower. :)

[@TheRevitKid]

Yes, sorry! I forgot to upload those somewhere... Stay tuned, I'll get them up ASAP.

[@pavillon9365]

Another big Groups Cons is that they do not work with Dynamo Scripts

[@TheRevitKid]

Yeah, I think Aaron mentioned this!

[@aethelwolfe3539]

Really can your write a code block or something to get around this? What if you want to make a script in dynamo to array groups?

[@MrJoao1302]

Thanks, veeeery helpfull, this topic always panicked me haha

[@TheRevitKid]

I am so glad you enjoyed! Yes.... It can be a terrifying decision, but, hopefully now you have a way of making that decision based on facts ! :)

[@abhinavchaurasia5740]

I love watching your show. It really helps in understanding some of the core concepts. Great job👍 I have a doubt regarding the above topic. Would love to know your opinion on this. Let's say we have a Resort Project having multiple villas on a sloping site. We have used Revit Links instead of Groups (for obvious reasons) for placing the outdoor private pool for each villa in multiple instances. When it comes to exporting the IFC what is the best possible way to tackle it? What I am aware of is we need to Bind the links before exporting. But Binding links with levels creates hundreds of unnecessary levels in the main model file (Not Ideal for IFC), on the other hand, Binding links without levels make some mess-up in the geometry of the linked model (for example - pool steps railing flying or retaining wall getting detached etc).

[@TheRevitKid]

Sounds like you may need to think a bit more about how you build your pool model and its levels and components… yes, I think linking is the right approach on the Revit side… but, you can export links to IFC … so not sure why you need to bind?

[@hendgamal1157]

Thanks guys, Great Episode, How can I get the handouts Aaron talked about? Regards,

[@TheRevitKid]

Cheers! Thanks for watching and glad you enjoyed !!

[@charlesball9522]

Why make rooms groups as opposed to nested families? But i guess you can't have walls in nested families. So it (nested families) really only works if it's just a bunch of furniture or something like that.

[@peterderooy2116]

Links are still needed for multi-discipline models. MEP systems could be an issue for groups.

[@TheRevitKid]

Are you talking about copying instances of MEP links for typical room layouts?

[@michaelwolff1607]

Mass parameters may have different group values and work in calculations.

[@juanandreslopezlira2098]

yehhaaaa thanks for shere

[@nikouer]

Hello. I have made a model group in Revit where the including elements are in different phases. The problem is when I copy the group all elements moved to the current phase. Is there a way to copy the group maintaining the original phases of elements? Thank you.

[@michaelwolff1607]

How do view filters work out with model groups? Currently on an R2019 project the entities inside groups seem to be hidden from the filters.

[@TheRevitKid]

Hmm... I will have to look at that and also ask Aaron for his input. I am not 100% sure without trying myself.

[@valeriepierre7297]

I love your videos. Nice seeing this one when i am new to multi family in revit and looking for the best way to manage it all. At first I used groups for the interior of the units. it was playing nice until a stair was introduced, at which point I had to convert it to a link and start over. Now I am using links for the interior walls of the units (only 4 units). The VG for the plans is set to by links. The major issue with mirroring links is that the annotation (door tags and text with leaders) in the mirrored units get all messed up. I now have to go back and put the door tags and text in the host file. Is this common practice to keep annotations in the host file? All dimensions are in the link and no issues so far. The million dollar question is: the exterior walls are in the host file, the exterior shell consists of 2 equal sides (mirrored), would you group and mirror the exterior walls? I found an Autodesk article that advises against grouping exterior walls. Does anyone know why? It would be the logical thing to do if the two sides are identical.

[@TheRevitKid]

I would not group mirrored exterior walls... No.

[@valeriepierre7297]

@@TheRevitKid thanks for the answer/ but why not? just curious.

[@rschloch]

48:55 doesn’t checking the group out first take care of this issue?

[@jdimensoes]

No sound? 🥺

[@markusbocherrevitman3638]

REVIT : Groups vs Links vs Families vs AUTODESK

[@TheRevitKid]

vs. All of the above! ;)

[@DevinSheaProductions]

Links all day. However starting with groups is okay..

[@TheRevitKid]

....... huh?

you forgot ASSEMBLIES!

[@TheRevitKid]

What about them!?

[@ParallaxTeam]

We didnt forget. :) They arent viable for the same "types" of repetitive elements, because they dont propagate updates, they automatically "create uniques." That makes them pretty unsustainable for these use cases. Love them for other things, tho!

@@ParallaxTeam oh yeah unique product/system views/schedules