topic line based family in revit in Revit Architecture Forum

line based family in revit

Anonymous — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 03:55:43 GMT

can someone please explain to me what a line based family is? Thanks!

Re: line based family in revit

Alfredo_Medina — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 11:53:54 GMT

At the family level, a line based family is one that has its main geometry attached to the length of a reference line.

At the project level, a line based family is one that does not prompt for an insertion point, but for a start and end point, which determine the length of the family in the project. This length can be scheduled if the length parameter of the family is tied to a shared parameter.

Line based families can be used for 2D detail components and for 3D models. Attached is a very simple example of a 2D line based detail component family. It's an arrow. When you insert this family in a project, instead of getting an arrow already created, like in other families, you see a prompt that says "click to enter component start point", and then, "click to enter component end point". So it is the user who determines the length of the family by providing the two clicks, and the user can continue clicking more points in sequence to create more arrows, to draw, for example, an evacuation route.

See attached image and family file.

Re: line based family in revit

ct_studio — Fri, 18 Jul 2025 19:41:34 GMT

hi Alfredo,

I'm trying to update this to include text instead of the arrow, to show water main line:

I don't seem to be able to get text to show up. Also is it possible to make a pattern so that I can draw a long line and have the WM appear multiple times?

Thanks.

Re: line based family in revit

ct_studio — Fri, 18 Jul 2025 19:55:41 GMT

https://youtu.be/URWyHxBsUdw?si=HiP98fSLyWG6-Jsz