Parametric Components, also called Families, are reusable objects whose shape is driven by parameters you can edit, such as their dimensions. Use them for furniture, doors, windows, stairs, facade modules and other building or MEP components that you want to place many times and keep consistent. You can import them from Revit, ask the Snaptrude Agent to build them, and save them to your libraries.
Before you start
The Team Library is available on the Organization and Enterprise plans.
To bring families in from Revit through the Revit plugin, you need Snaptrude Manager installed.
How families work
Every placed component belongs to a family. The family holds the type parameters, much like a family type in Revit, and each placed element keeps its own position.
Edit once, update everywhere. Changing a family's parameters updates every element of that family in the project.
Instance or Unique copies. Like spaces, copied BIM objects can be an Instance, which stays linked to the original, or Unique, which you can change on its own.
Separate when you need to. Use Duplicate Family to give one element its own family so you can change it without affecting the others.
Story. Families and furniture belong to the story they sit on. The Story field in the Properties panel shows the element's story and lets you move it to another one.
Note: Doors, windows, stairs and ramps all use this family system. Doors and windows from older projects that used the previous system aren't supported; find them in the Families section of your Libraries by filtering by category.
Import a Revit family
Revit families (.rfa) come into Snaptrude as Parametric Components, and editing their parameters works much as it does in Revit. You can import them in three ways:
Snaptrude Manager: bring families in from Revit through the Revit plugin.
Import PC: use the Import PC button in the right menu pop-up to add a family to your personal library.
Import Family: use the Import Family button in your team's Libraries to add a family the whole team can use.
To import a family into your team library:
Open your team's Libraries.
Click Import Family.
Choose the .rfa file you want to import.
Imported families appear in the Families section of your team's Libraries. Parametric Components can include curved geometry.
Create a component with the Snaptrude Agent
The Snaptrude Agent can build parametric components from a description, including furniture, doors and windows, staircases, facade modules, conference tables and MEP components. The components it builds come with slider-driven parameters, so you can adjust them after they're placed.
Click Agent at the top of the far-left rail to open the AI chat panel.
In the Ask anything box, describe the component and the parameters you want to control. For example: "Create a conference table for 8 to 14 people with sliders for length, width and seat count."
Send the prompt and review the component the agent creates.
Select the component and adjust its parameters.
If it isn't quite right, ask the agent to change it in the same conversation.
You can add the components you create to your project library or your team library. In team projects, components the agent creates are added to your team library automatically. To share one more widely, make it public from Libraries.
Tip: Name the parameters you care about in your prompt. The agent can also research a real vendor product and model a component based on it.
Edit a family's parameters
Select an element on the canvas.
In the Properties tab of the right panel, change the main parameters shown first. The geometry updates as you edit.
For less common settings, expand the Advanced section.
For an imported Revit family, expand Revit Parameters to see the other parameters that came from the .rfa file.
Every element of the same family in the project updates to match. Each element keeps its own position.
Give one element its own family
Use this when one element needs to be different, for example a single wider door.
Select the element.
Choose Duplicate Family.
Choose whether to keep the new family in the project or save it to your library.
Edit the element's parameters. Only elements of the new family change.
Find and place families from a library
Families, staircases, ramps, doors and windows each have their own library pop-up with category filters, opened from the vertical toolbar on the right edge of the canvas. Doors (D) and Windows (W) appear there in BIM Mode. In your team's Libraries, the Families section and the Stairs, Ramps, Doors and Windows tabs let you browse what your team has saved.
Click Families, Staircases, Ramps, Doors or Windows on the right-edge toolbar, or open your team's Libraries.
Use the category filters to narrow the list.
Pick a family and place it in the model.
Related articles
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