When you place a family into a model, this DNA is used to make the element. The family describes the basic geometry of the element, the behavior/relationships of the geometry, and defines the element’s parameters.

Simply: the family contains the DNA of how to make an element in Revit, and when you author Revit families, you are writing the DNA code for an element. However, as I have learned more about Revit, I’ve realized Revit families are at the core of Revit and not only does the term itself have much more meaning to me but it helps me understand how Revit works. New family files can be created to further customize how the RPCs are described in a scene.When I first started using Revit, I had a hard time with the term Revit “ families”. Family files can be customized with paths to different content categories.

The RPC Family file defines the properties for the RPC.

This file is located in the Entourage folder under the Imperial Library. RPC objects are placed via the template RPC.rfa family file. This is a great place to learn about family files: It was created by Chris Fox of 4D Technologies for their CADLearning series for Autodesk Revit Architecture. I was searching for some good info on Revit families when I discovered this useful video that explains how Family files are used in Revit. The data contained in the family is one of the keys to Revit being such a useful tool for Building Information Modeling (BIM). For example, a window can be a family and types might describe the width, shape, materials and appearance of the window. There is a hierarchy of properties that define how families behave. For Revit users “families” are how parts of a building are arranged in a meaningful way. Family means something different to everyone.

Revit family