Equipment Builder Help

Getting Started with Equipment Builder

Equipment Builder creates a simple placeholder equipment family in Autodesk Revit® from a manufacturer cutsheet PDF or a quick box sketch. It is meant for MEP engineers who need the outline, clearance zone, and connection points of a piece of equipment in the model early, before a real manufacturer family exists. The result is an outline-level body, not detailed geometry. Watch Demo Videos or read below to understand how to use the tool effectively.

Equipment Builder Basic Usage

The Equipment Builder window is staged. Work through each stage in order:

1. Click on the Equipment Builder button in the Thermist panel.
2. Source. Choose "Open PDF" to trace a cutsheet, or "Draw with Boxes" to sketch the equipment from simple boxes.
3. Define. Trace the cutsheet views (PDF mode) or draw footprint boxes (Boxes mode). See the sections below for details on each mode.
4. Scale (PDF mode only). Set the drawing scale so the traced outlines produce real dimensions.
5. Name, category, and clearances. Enter the family name, pick the Revit® category, and set clearances.
6. Render. Review a 3D preview of the body.
7. Connectors. Add pipe, duct, conduit, and electrical connectors to the faces of the body.
8. Build. The family is generated, loaded into the project, and ready to place.

Define (PDF Mode)

• Pick the page of the cutsheet that contains the drawings.
• Drag a box around the Plan view, then optionally drag a box around the Section or Elevation view.
• If the cutsheet has no section view, type the overall height instead.
• The tool auto-traces the equipment outline inside each box.
• Use the Eraser tool to remove unwanted linework such as dimension strings, labels, and leaders so they do not become part of the trace.
• Zoom with the mouse wheel. Pan with a middle or right drag.

Scale (PDF Mode)

• Cutsheets are not drawn to scale, so the scale must be set before dimensions can be derived.
• Type a ratio (1 : N) directly, or use "Map Dimension": click the two ends of a known dimension on the drawing and type its real length.
• Length, width, and height are derived from the traced outlines and the scale. A live readout shows the current values.

Define (Boxes Mode)

• Draw footprint boxes in the plan viewport.
• Drag the top edge of a box in the front viewport to set its height.
• Boxes snap flush, aligned, and centered to each other.
• Type exact dimensions after drawing a box.
• Delete a box, duplicate it with Ctrl+D, or nudge it with the arrow keys. Each nudge moves 1", or 1' with Shift held.

Name, Category, and Clearances

• Enter the family name and pick the Revit® category the equipment belongs to.
• Set front, back, left, and right clearances with the stepper buttons. Each step is 6".
• Clearances are drawn as a dashed rectangle in plan views only.
• An instance parameter on the placed family controls whether the clearance lines show, so they can be turned off per instance.
• Untick "Draw clearance lines" if you do not want clearance lines in the family at all.

Render

• A 3D preview of the body appears once the outlines and dimensions are set.
• Orbit with a left drag, pan with a right or middle drag, and zoom with the mouse wheel.

Connectors

• Pick a connector type from the dropdown. Pipe systems (including gas), round or rectangular duct, conduit, and electrical power are available.
• Enter the connector size, click Add, then click the face of the 3D body where the connection is located.
• The connector points perpendicular to the face you clicked.
• Connector footprints show at true size in the preview and can be dragged to reposition them.
• Rectangular duct connectors can be rotated in 90° steps.

Build

• Click Build to generate the family. It is loaded into the project and ready to place.
• The family is free-standing (unhosted), so it can be placed anywhere in the model.

Tips for Best Results

• In PDF mode the family's plan view reproduces the linework of the traced plan drawing, so it looks like the cutsheet plan in plan views.
• The 3D body is built from the plan and section outlines. If only a plan is traced, the body is the plan outline extruded to the typed height.
• Erase dimension lines, text, and leaders that touch the equipment outline before tracing. Otherwise they can distort the outline.
• The whole build is a single undo step, so a single undo removes the family cleanly.
• The window can be resized with the grip in the bottom right corner.
• Placeholder families are one-off and not parametric. If the equipment size changes, rebuild the family rather than editing it.

Need More Help?

If you have questions or need additional assistance, please contact us. We're here to help you get the most out of Thermist!