Creating a loadable family often requires access to surrounding project conditions. Model In-Place provides that context, but the result remains project-specific. The Family Editor creates reusable content, but it removes the project context needed to model accurately.
Revit should allow selected project geometry to be used as temporary, read-only reference information within the Family Editor, including:
• Revit elements and linked models
• CAD links
• Point clouds or cropped point-cloud regions
Users should be able to:
• View references in plan, elevation, section, and 3D views
• Snap, align, measure, and dimension to references
• Maintain the original coordinates, elevation, and orientation
• Hide, refresh, replace, or remove references
• Define family origins, reference planes, clearances, and MEP connector locations from the referenced conditions
This would be especially valuable when creating equipment families from point clouds for existing facilities and retrofit projects. Temporary references should not be included in the completed RFA or increase its file size.
This feature would combine the contextual modeling advantages of Model In-Place with the reusability and content management advantages of loadable families.
