Creating nested families in Revit offers flexibility and efficiency in design, but displaying symbols in 2D plans for these families can sometimes be challenging. This guide will walk you through the process of ensuring your Family Symbols are visible in your Revit project plans when using nested components.
The initial approach often involves creating a nested family with interchangeable components, such as frames and switches, using the “Generic Model Face Based” template. While this method works for 3D representation, displaying 2D symbols requires an additional step involving annotation families.
To effectively display symbols in 2D plans for nested families, follow these steps:
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Create Annotation Symbol Families: Start by creating separate families for each symbol you need using the “Metric Generic Annotation” template. These annotation families are specifically designed to represent symbols in 2D views and do not have 3D geometry, ensuring they are lightweight and efficient for plan representations.
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Load Symbols into Switch Families: Open your switch families (created using the “Generic Model Face Based” template or similar) and load the annotation symbol families you created in the previous step. Place these symbols within the switch family. It’s crucial to understand that these annotation symbols will only be visible in plan views, not in 3D views, which is exactly what you need for clear 2D documentation.
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Ensure Symbol Visibility: To control when these symbols are visible, you’ll need to manage their visibility settings within the switch family and potentially within the nested family itself. Typically, annotation symbols are set to be visible only in plan views (e.g., Floor Plans, Ceiling Plans). You can adjust these settings in the Visibility/Graphics Overrides settings within the family editor. This ensures that the 2D symbols appear in your project plans as desired.
Alt text: A Revit 2D plan view excerpt displaying electrical symbols for various switch types correctly positioned within a multi-gang frame, illustrating proper family symbol implementation for nested families.
By following these steps, you can successfully display family symbols for nested families in your Revit 2D plans, ensuring clear and accurate documentation of your designs. Remember to test your nested families in a project environment to confirm the symbols are displaying as expected in different view types and scales.
