Component Family Template Hosting Options: When creating custom component families, be aware of which family template is selected at the onset, as each template can have built-in behaviors regarding required hosting conditions.
Most common hosting options are:
Wall-Based – Must be installed on a wall assembly, and in the case of doors/windows, will automatically cut an opening into the hosting wall
*Face-Based – Must be installed on another element’s planar surface. (ie: Light fixtures that need to be mounted to the underside of concrete beams or trusses)
*Ceiling-Based – Must be installed on a ceiling assembly. (This is a coordination issue if your lighting consultant /MEP designer is building their own model, but the ceiling elements are in the Architect’s model.)
Floor-Based – Must be installed on a floor assembly. (Similar coordination issue if the floors will be owned by one consultant, while the elements placed are created by another in a separate model.)
Site Component – families will ‘attach’ themselves to varying elevations of a toposurface in the model, rather than to a standard horizontal workplane of a Level.
TIP: ONLY use hosted templates if you expect that the hosting condition will always be available. It is not possible to remove the hosting requirement without rebuilding the family into a non-hosted template. If you have a hosted component and need a non-hosted version, copy/paste the geometry into a non-hosted template, then rebuild the parametric controls as needed.
*These family templates by default orient the host face similar to a floor, so the modeler has to envision their element in the proper vertical orientation when constructing it. A minor inconvenience, but it is what it is!
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