Xref Revit Into Autocad

[Paciente Flynn]

Asidefrom exporting the Revit model to plain AutoCAD is there a way to xref a Revit building in to Civil 3D? The footprint of the buildings our architects are working on (created in Revit) often change and I need to see this in our site plans (created in Civil 3D) so we can make the appropriate adjustment.

I would recommend at least looking at the Navisworks option. You don't necessarily have to put *everything* into the Navisworks model, especially with the NWC exporter. And NWD files can be very light, even with lots of objects.

Sorry I didn't bother mentioning the building site import because only Revit Architecture seems to be able to export the file. Fairly useless from what I can tell, from what I can gather the resulted import is similar to the Nwc file (slow & over detailed) but because all variants of Revit can export navisworks files that's probably a better option (if you really have to view it in 3d I suggest better to do so in Navisworks really, at least you can turn things off).

I have a big problem with linking cad files. We are working with world coordinates and in CAD files we use xrefs from other departments. I managed to turn the xref layers in Revit off but after relaunch it loads xref of xrefs and layers are getting more and more. I can't delete xrefs from the dwg file.

it could be your xref is attached with another xref? the best solution is to clean your autocad file as much as possible. bind all the xref's attached, move your autocad drawing file 0,0 select any corner probably between two gridlines hort.and vert. gridlines and then link into Revit. another way is to uncheck the layer you don't need see attached and see if helps. thanks

Thanks for reply. Like I said, I can't modify the CAD file because we have to work with world coordinates and other colleagues contionue to work on them. I assigned a layer to xref in dwg and turned it of. On first launch it was ok but after second launch Revit loaded xrefs of xrefs and there were many layers in V/G. That is a loop in API and it is a bug. There should be an option that you can exlude xrefs from cad file.

as far as i know there is no option at the moment, then in that case unload your xref's in autocad file since you said you change the later so you can turn it off? no point linking your autocad file with xref"s. thanks

I can't unload xrefs from dwg because other people are working on those files. They need xrefs in files. All xrefs have layer "0". I unchecked the layer "0" in Revit and it worked. But the problem is: I saved the model and opened it again and I saw that Revit loaded xref of xrefs and model crashes. Until today I copies from files what I needed and created new files. But as you can imagine I have to modify files if people change stuff in it. People have much things to do so they can forget to tell me that I refresh my file. If we are talking about collaboration and BIM, there might be some option about that.

Take control of that file. Treat it like one from a consultant that gets updated periodically. Save it off to a different location and detach those XREFs and reference that cleaned up file. Then as changes happen update the file that you are referencing.

That is what I have been doing so far but I am not with that happy. In AutoCAD you can link a dwg without its xrefs but in Revit it fails.. I try to encourage my colleagues to use BIM but when I say "it is unfortanely in Revit not possible to link your file to my model, pls let me know when you change something" and you can imagine what they can think about it.. I don't get it what developers are doing instead of adding weird wall features...

from my experience there is another opinion you handle it other teams to take a weekly package to clean it and work on it to develop you model as u can this task will repeat every weak and true view will help u in this also and it will help you to detect the changes from AutoCad before link the new package to ur model to continue

Can you expand the XREF tree so I want to see if you have multiple same nested XREF that attached to the file. Also try to remove XREF that is not found or unreferenced. If you don't do this, it create a mess in your XREF and cause some issues within Revit.

I work on big industrial projects consisting of 10+ factory units development, the way we work in Autocad is by trying to make it as typical as possible, creating one typical unit plan and then xref it along the all site so we only work on one plan.

Revit does not use xrefs, you can link in consultant models and control what elements of their models show in your file. When they update their model, you can reload the link, inspect their changes and accept or reject them. Typically, the architect produces the base building file which the MEP and structural consultants link into their file. They then, just like the architect, can control how this base model is shown in their project.

I don't use AutoCAD REVIT, but many of my customers do, and I'd like to be able to directly open the files, or xref them into my project drawings. I don't understand the relationship between REVIT files and Bricsys BIM or DWG files. Are their any good explanations of this, or is it not possible?

Currently this is not possible.

Of course, Revit File Format is Autodesk's proprietary secret sauce.

But like for DWG, meanwhile quite successfully, ODA tries to get

behind the RVT secrets and find ways to access those files and its data.

Vectorworks uses such a RVT import solution already, but the results

aren't that useful so far. Bricscad currently doesn't use it but offer

a RFA import (Revit Families) since V19. Which are kind of a Block or

Part Definitions. So just like single Bricscad's Components, not the

whole file.

And it needs an import before referencing.

So for now you can just try to import RFA data which is widely offered in

BIM libraries. Things like Windows or Refrigerators.

To exchange data with other proprietary Software, open File Formats like

IFC for BIM Models are more promising.

And of course you can ask your clients to export DWGs for you.

@Erich, "I'd like to be able to directly open the files, or xref them into my project drawings". Would you be able to describe a few use cases which would better tell me what you wish to do after you "open/xref" the files?

Yes, basically I am trying to get AutoCAD blocks into a revit project to begin with.

At first I managed to push from AutoCAD the blocks and pulled into revit using Speckle.

But the geometry was incomplete when coming into revit and well not serving the purpose I am trying.

So I went ahead and cleaned it up a bit, and deleted dimensions, solids, and others that were not necessary and then pushed again the DWG to speckle server having better results an error message still displays:

Hello @gokermu

Thanks for sharing the solution to detail items, this is great!

I have still have not had a moment to test this, but I am looking forward to it, I will come back to you when I do, if necessary

Do you think this can be integrated in future versions of the AutoCAD connector?

Hello @gokermu

I have finally a task that involves this solution of yours with the dynamo script.

I have one question for now what is the data in the code block that I should write, I imagined these are the layers so I did but I have an error Warning: Get.ValueAtIndex operation failed.

1.The way I manage Revit files is to create a new vectorworks file that exists solely for the purpose of holding the Revit import. I then reference that into my landscape design file. When the architect issues a new revit model, I have to go into that special file I set up for referencing and reimport the Revit file. I'm interested in hearing how others address this. I would not want an automatic and continuous update from my architects though as I would miss the opportunity to visually check to see what has changed. I always hear "we just changed the building in this one area" to find that all kinds of other stuff was changed too ? I only see that because I compare the models.

2. I have yet to receive a Revit project that was georeferenced correctly, interested to hear other's experiences. Typically, I'm the one dealing with survey, civil, and georeferencing with the architects just delivering pretty little boxes orientated with the front facade facing up most of the time.

1. I spent most of my career in the Autodesk world too. I am not aware of any method possible for live linking Revit files in Vectorworks. Can you live link files in AutoCAD or Revit from other softwares like Archicad or Bentley Systems? Seems like most of these software companies would prefer you stay in their ecosystem for such functionality.

The work around of course is to use shuttle files as I described to hold these imported files from other softwares. I do the same thing with sketchup files. I suspect that if having live and continuous updates is mission critical for you, you should just use the same software as the rest of your team. If you are opening your own office, maybe it's wiser to give up on that aspect of your workflow and choose the software that fits best with your practice. As your practice grows, it's unlikely all your clients will be on the same software or version of software. When I ventured out on my own for a second time, I abandoned Autodesk and moved to Vectorworks because they provide tools and workflows suited for landscape architecture, something Autodesk has refused to do since they started offering industry specific toolsets. Prior to that, I did the same thing for a very large AEC firm. Most everyone was on Revit or AutoCAD there. The design architects and landscape architects decided to use more appropriate tools for our tasks. Similarly, all the large international consultants we worked with generally gave their designers the freedom to use whatever it took to get the job done. Most of the architects used Rhino or Sketchup rather than Revit during concept and design development. Eventually, that work made its way into Revit without issue. In the absence of strict standards and workflows, with many hands in the work and variable compliance with the standards, I find it safer to store my work in a separate silo so the weevils don't spoil the harvest ?

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