Based on your feedback from the models we released last month, we’ve made a round of improvements and expanded the number of models now available. The new set is available for download on the downloads page. Improvements for August include:

  1. We have added 50% more models of our most frequently ordered products. The number of models available is not nearly enough to meet all needs, but we are committed to adding models each month. Please let us know which brands and product types would be most useful to you.
     
  2. We’ve changed course again on the issue of “face-based” vs. “ceiling based.” (And we think we have it right this time.) We’re going with face-based. A lot of you sent e-mail to me  (BIM@AcuityBrands.com) with a preference for face-based. And, even Kyle Berhnardt, Autodesk’s Revit MEP Product Manager, weighed in on the issue:
     
    “Face-based, or Face-Hosted as I call them, are the most flexible type of content that can be created.  Face-Hosted content can be placed on any surface in Revit, including the face of a linked element.  99% of MEP users are working on a separate model with the Architectural model linked in, so they don’t actually have the ceiling available in their models.  So what that means is the ceiling-based families, or all Element-Hosted Families, are more or less useless to 99% of Revit MEP users.”
      
  3. Several of you requested that we continue to provide the additional data for different product types in the separate type catalog file, so we’re continuing with that practice.
     
  4. We’ve gotten mixed messages on whether or not to include the IES files with the download. At this point, we still are not including the IES files in the download. However, we are including a URL in the family file parameters that will link you out to a photometric report and download on our web site. Let us know how well this works (or doesn’t work) for you and we’ll adjust according.

We appreciate the feedback you sent and the support you’ve expressed for this effort. As always, we look forward to your comments and suggestions.