From the Manufacturer’s DWG to a Revit Family: A Transformer in 42 Steps

Creating a family is fast#

The product: Trihal 2000 kVA, cast-resin dry-type transformer

A Revit family doesn’t have to be fully parametric from the start. Here a real transformer, a Trihal 2000 kVA, takes shape in a 42-minute recorded session: the geometry is traced over the manufacturer’s official DWGs, and the reference planes go in the right place. Parameters can come later, when you need them, on one condition: the reference planes must be under your control from the very first move.

The sequence, in twelve chapters#

Step 4: the «top» DWG imported into the Ref. Level view and locked with Pin

Step 9: the aligned dimension between the reference planes, where Width and Length come from

Step 21: Solid Extrusion with Pick Lines on the DWG lines

Step 26: half profile of the coil with Line and Fillet Arc, following the DWG

Step 39: the Void Extrusion where the steel shouldn’t be

1. Before Revit. Download the product’s CAD files from the Schneider Electric website: one simplified DWG per view, top, front, left, right, back, bottom. Then File, New, Family, with the Metric Electrical Equipment template.

2. DWGs in the views. In the Ref. Level view, import the «top» DWG (Insert, Import CAD), lock it with Pin and center it. Same routine in the Front, Left and Right views.

3. Planes and parameters. A Reference Plane near the edge of the body, Align to the DWG line, an aligned dimension between the planes, and from that dimension come the Width and Length parameters. This is the skeleton of the family.

4. The body: Sweep. The path follows the DWG in plan and snaps to the planes with Align and the padlock; the profile is drawn in the Right view over the DWG and aligned with two Aligns.

5. Base and constraints. Reference planes with Mirror, a multi-segment dimension with EQ, and an extrusion made with Pick Lines directly on the DWG lines.

6. Check in 3D. Early, not at the end: Default 3D View, Shaded, Fine Detail.

7. The coils: Revolve. The axis at the center of the column, taken from the DWG; half a profile with Line and Fillet Arc; Finish, then Copy onto the other two columns.

8. The frame. A new Sweep, with the path running behind the columns and the upright’s profile drawn in the Back view.

9. Front details. The busbars with an extrusion in the Front view, the insulators with a small Revolve, copied onto all three phases.

10. The cables. A Sweep with a filleted path (Line and Fillet Arc) and a circular profile, the diameter of the cable.

11. The cut. A Void Extrusion where the steel shouldn’t be, and Cut Geometry to make it cut the solid.

12. Materials. Material Browser from the solid’s properties: green for the coils, blue for the base.

Why reference planes matter#

The geometry locks to the planes, not to the DWG lines. That’s what keeps the door to parameters open: later on you decide which dimensions should flex, and which shouldn’t, without redoing anything.

Watch the video#

A tutorial with no voice-over, 42 numbered steps: every screen is shown whole and still, with the command path written out in plain text. Recorded in a real Revit 2025 session with the Rec Sessione tool. Watch, pause, redo. The video is in Italian.

The full video is on YouTube: if you liked it, subscribe to the channel and hit the bell for the next episodes.

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