Exploding Families (nested)

[atobiasz]

Hi all,

I was not able to find solid info on that other than "doesn't work" so I thought I might try it here.

Basically the question is if it is possible to explode families similar to blocks in AutoCAD.

Here is an example:

A Family made for placement in the model has 2 nested families. Once placement is done is it possible to eliminate the initial family so only the nested families remain? All the parametric values can go away that’s fine and the nested families are also shared if that matters.

Since I come from AutoCAD and started with Revit v2012 it is basically like a block within a block which you could just explode so much until only lines are left.

I hope somebody has some insight on that because this seems like something that must have come up before.

Thanks.

[rosskirby · Accepted solution]

No, that's not possible.  You would have to manually place the instances of the two nested families where you originally had the one parent family.

[atobiasz]

Thanks for the respond; II was afraid this would be the answer. Somewhat odd that one can select individual nested elements in a family but is unable to seperate them.

[remy.verbruggen]

Dear forum member,

I have just done as you described, or as I would call it: the Revit equivalent of family explode (for nested families).

With the help of <this article> I managed to batch-copy nested elements to the main model, one category at a time. In my case, the target families were all electrical fixtures. Just be sure to do a check on all the copied elements, for revit likes to mirror/rotate/rename some of those elements. I would only advise this in case of a large number of nested families, for a small number is easier to re-place and there is some fixing to be done afterwards.

Regards,

[leipert23]

Here, you might try this....

Build up the nested families that you want in one Revit file, then bring in that whole file as a block into other Revit files.  Then you can explode the imported Revit file and have everything there and editable. 

I made a short video explaining this on YouTube: https://youtu.be/l9QTGh5LraQ 

-Dan

[kieran.grayken]

Cheers Dan,

that is a great suggestion and does nearly all that I am looking for, apart from one crucial part!

I load my furniture families into a Revit file and then load this file into another project and then bind as you have explained. I then ungroup the group in order to investigate how it has brought them in. Unfortunately it only loads in the one type that has been placed in the original file. Unfortunately I NEED all the types to be loaded in also, and not just the one that was placed in the original file.

Do you know a way that this can be achieved? It is for this reason that I cannot simply rely on copying and pasting furniture from a Standard file.... i.e. it doesn't paste the family's type variations.

I hope this is clear, can get a bit confusing. I have added a screenshot to help.

Cheers for any suggestions.

Cheers,

Kieran

[ToanDN]

You can open the model where you have all the families and types and Save As Library > Family.  Then open the folder where the families are saved, CTRL+A to select all files and drag drop onto a model view of the working file.  There, all families and types will show in the browser.

[kieran.grayken]

hey that is not a bad idea. Thanks! I must admit, I have never used the save as Library function.
only issue is one of QA. this will lead to duplicated furniture families in several folders, however the system I was proposing we employ had this issue anyway in that the families would be in separate project.
think I might load the furniture layouts into the company template. that way they should be there when a new project is created.
Thanks again,
Kieran