We are a UK manufacturer of demountable (Mostly glazed) internal partitions, looking to start creating our products as BIM objects for architects and designers to use in their projects. Our problem seems to be that the objects are not that complex, but have a miriad of variations when it comes to doors and abutments with other building elements such as drywall.
We have contacted a couple of outside BIM object creation companies, but the prices we are getting back seem to be much more expensive than hiring an additional member of staff just to create them ourselves.
My question is would we require the full version of REVIT to create the BIM objects, preferably in a high vis format, with all of the necessary information sitting behind them that would be required to enable full specification.
You can use Revit LT for making families. About the quotes you are receiving for BIM content, I am not surprised to read that the quotes are high. Making families properly requires skills, knowledge, and a lot of time. (Sometimes I wish I had charged more). If you decide to make them in house, you still have to hire training for your staff, or you need to hire people who already have all the required knowledge and experience.
If you are a manufacturer, and require manufacturing drawings, as well as Revit Family files, your best bet is actually Inventor. With Inventor 2014, you can create parametric Revit Families quite easily from your Inventor Assembly or part models. You then also have the benefit of having Inventor to do all of your design work in.