The watershed event that birthed the Family Jewels blog site.

A few weeks ago I went to help a friend with their Revit MEP design and found the closet support/toilet carrier I downloaded from the manufacturer, came in on it's side and was WAY over detailed. You could have made the casting from that family. So I thought forget it - I'll try this other manufacturer, and when I did, that family came in hosted, had the wrong connectors, and was also WAY over detailed. So I decided to call up that manufacturer and asked how they were creating their content, and they said they were having it made for them. When I asked how many seats of Revit MEP they had, they said none. So I asked if they QA'd their actual products before they went out the door, and of course they did. So then I told them you should start considering doing the same QA for their BIM content, because when you think about it, whoever is creating your content for you, knows as much about plumbing as you yourselves do about making Revit families.

The point is a lot of manufacturers out there just aren't getting it. They hire out their BIM content creation, and then just throw it online when they get it back without even checking it first. So that was the moment I decided maybe a blog dedicated to Revit content creation would help. If you're a manufacturer and you do not provide design content that you produce with as much care as you take for your regular products, you still won't, or will no longer get spec'd, even if you have the preferred product. Why? Simply because time = money, and users just don't have the time to create the content for you. I have had at least three designers tell me on separate occasions they are flat spec'g the first manufacturer to provide the Revit families of the products they need. That's right - flat specifying based on content availability. And you, manufacturers, your content has the potential to be your best foot forward - your first contact with lots of designers. If your content is sub-standard and has to be rebuilt, or in some cases is useless (wrong family template), what do you think they will think of your actual products?

So here are some basic do's and don'ts for manufacturers. First the do's:

1. Before you start, do ask your user base what they need or want from your content - particularly the "I" in BIM - the Information you're going to put in the content. Keep the information about the content as rich as the designer, the contractor, the owner, the maintenance people, etc. will all need.
2. Ask for help. You have the SEEK website and team there to help you at http://seek.autodesk.com/. And they can put you touch with developers who know how to create content, and know when to ask you the right questions about your products as they develop it for you.
3. Do use all the support you'll find in the Manufacturer portal on the SEEK website: 
4. Once there, make use of the Revit Model Content Style Guide.
5. And if you decide you want your content professionally developed for you, the SEEK team will be happy to point you to the best developers out there via their Partner Program.You'll get it right the first time!

And the don'ts:

1. Never make the content any more detailed than is ABSOLUTELY necessary. This is the most violated rule. The desire is to make your content look compelling, when to a Revit user, the more simple the content geometry - the more compelling it is. For instance, just use detail lines to represent the trap on your wall mounted toilet - DON'T actually model a toilet trap. When it comes to geometry - KISS. 
2. Never post your content for public consumption without first testing it in a Revit model. If you have a circle of trust among your user base, let them test drive it for you. You'd never sell your actual products without QA'ing them - don't treat your content with any less attention to detail. 

If you have other do's & don'ts you want the manufacturers to be aware of, then respond to this posting with positive, professional criticism. But don't just post it here - make sure you copy your vendor and/or that manufacturer too so they can be edified and take action.

Comments

[Tucker]

Thank you Autodesk for this. Most manufactures are lost when it comes to creating content. Most get someone to model their product and that is all it is. I have had the opportunity to review a few manuf. content and most of it was pretty pictures.

It may be a good idea to have a survey of Revit users of what they are looking for in content. Find out what is important to them.

[William Spier]

Hey Tucker - you bet. Sit tight as I try to get some videos and more content posted. Thank you for your comment - I appreciate it.

[Thomas Maleski]

In the same set of Revit content there are spelling mistakes within the parameters, so no QA for the simple items by the person creating the content.

[Gabe Cottam]

I had a manufacturer's salesman at our office for a lunch and learn the other day just beaming with pride as he showed off his beautiful Revit families for Toilet Seats. Fully Parametric Toilet Seats. He looked pretty hurt when I told him I would never bloat my MEP model with useless families like toilet seats. Or for that matter his over modeled toilets (fully modeled P-Trap and all). We all really need to work together to spread the word about this problem to the manufacturers. Thanks for the blog William

[William Spier]

Thanks Gabe - hopefully spreading the word is just what this blog will do. If everyone who reads this points their vendors, distributors and manufacturers to this site, that will help speed up edifying the manufacturing industry.

And I also wanted to thank you for leaving the manufacturer anonymous in your reply. I am making light of this even though it goes without saying, because I want everyone else who contributes in any way on Family Jewels, to understand the intention is this is meant to be a place where manufacturers can come to find brutally honest feedback, but still feel welcome. I.e. this should always be a "deprecation free" zone where no one is ever singled out by name to be taken to the woodshed by users for whatever they're not happy about (not to mention the legal consequences if someone did start mentioning names). So thank you for setting the precedent of sharing your thoughts in a professional yet honest reply that will help manufacturers get the information they need, ultimately to provide better content, without them feeling personally berated.

Keep the feedback coming, and thanks again Gabe. It was a pleasure meeting you Thursday!

Wm

[William Spier]

BTW Tucker (and anyone else who wants to tell Autodesk what you want in Revit MEP content), there is an open survey right now for just that (for plumbing and piping at least) both on AUGI and on the Autodesk Discussion Boards. See the Plumbing and Piping Content post on 4/29/10 on this, the Family Jewels blog.