This idea stems from the constant request for "mega families" for test fits and common spaces. Despite how much these might seem helpful, they are complex, hard to manipulate, and can be much heavier than having individual components. I believe some of that could be alleviated by using shared components, but it's not consistent, doesn't work well with Family Type parameters, and still leaves a lot of room for error. Autodesk strongly urges against them for performance sake, and many case studies are showing how they are not great. That being said, it's a very valid request. Some projects do use similar families and elements, and for test fits, it would be great to have an easy option that has everything.
That being said, "Family Groups" would be a potential solution. This would function like a special savable group of families with special characteristics unavailable in current families or groups. Below are some thoughts.
- Families in this group can be edited in a project, similar to the way groups are. This not only includes data, but the ability to move elements around. Changes can be saved as alternates, a single instance variant, or a new default. Allowing for all bathrooms to be grouped inside one Family group, but have alternates within that group.
- Each family can be manipulated independently within the group environment, similar to a group. All families in a family group will be shared in the project, and editing those families will affect the grouped version.
- Groups will have their own set of parameters with the ability to add as needed.
In summary, it's a hybrid between a group and a family designed to allow users to easily edit the layouts as alternatives, while still easily importing them as a single file.
To improve all Family Groups and Regular nested families, the "Family Type" parameter needs to be updated to have options to only show elements within the family or family group. Additionally, a more generic "Dropdown" option should exist to allow for narrowing choices within a family or group without needing a ton of checkboxes that need to be manually checked and unchecked for a single choice.
I would be happy to elaborate on this Idea as I've been thinking about it for a while!
