All elements in Revit are organized in a hierarchy of,
- Elements
- Categories
- Families
- Types
- Instances.
- Types
- Families
- Categories
Understanding Revit elements is very similar to understanding real world elements in a typical building project.
- There are mainly three types of Elements in Revit:
- Model Elements include categories that have 3D geometry such as Walls, Doors, Windows, etc.
- Datum Elements include categories that are used as references for the project such as Levels, Grids, etc.
- View-Specific Elements include categories that describe or document the project on a specific view such as Dimensions, Text, Annotations, etc.
Let’s take an example of Model Elementcategorysuch asDoor.
- A specific design of a door is known as Family such as a Single Flush Door.
- Each family of this element can have multiple types within it. For example, the Single Flush Door family with 0.8m, 0.9m and 1.0m width types.
- Now, when you place a particular type of door at a particular location in your project, it is known as the Instance. So, if there are 4 Single Flush Doors with 0.8m type in the project, then we can count 4 instances of 0.8m Type of Single Flush Door family in the project.
- Each family of this element can have multiple types within it. For example, the Single Flush Door family with 0.8m, 0.9m and 1.0m width types.
To make it yet easier to understand, let’s take the following example of chairs in a room:
- Element Type: Model Elements (because they contain 3D geometry)
- Category: Furniture
- Family: There are two different design of chairs in this example:
- Executive Chair
- Desk Chair
- Type:
- Executive Chair Types:
- Blue Chair
- Desk Chair Types:
- Blue Chair
- Black Chair
- Executive Chair Types:
- Instances:
- Executive Chair -> Blue Chair -> 6 Instances (around the table)
- Desk Chair -> Blue Chair -> 5 Instances (in the left)
- Desk Chair -> Black Chair -> 4 Instances (in right)
I hope these examples make it more clear for you to understand how elements are organized in Revit. To further understand Revit elements, please reviewAbout Element Behavior in Revit
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