Revit import and export

[WilliamK]

I'm getting a lot of projects where the design team is working in Revit. At least until they make construction documents. These are big, complex projects, where VW would look good and produce high quality drawings with less work.

Except that I can't exchange information with the design team in Revit. This trend has been increasing fast. At some point, I will need to begin using Revit, at considerable expense, in order to retain interoperability. This might be before VW 2012 comes out, so the need is crucial.

[Jeffrey W Ouellette]

Use IFC.

[WilliamK]

I tried IFC. The Revit file, ending in .rvt is grayed out. So I can't import it. I see nothing in the documentation to suggest that IFC will import Revit files.

[Jonathan Pickup]

maybe what Jeffrey means is: get your client to send the file as an IFC, rather than as a revit file

[VincentCuclair]

Problem with that is all 2D info is 'left behind'.....perhaps a combination? First IFC and then 2D dwgs....?

Edited December 6, 2010 by Vincent C

[AndiACD]

Then there are parties of two: ArchiCAD is rapidly introducing syntactic-semantic "interoperability" with its mates on this basis. And calls them OpenBIM...

Sounds almost too good to be true. Not much use to me, but. . . . Someone listening with both ears? is that possible?

[WilliamK]

Blind Expert has a point. Unfortunately, the design team says Revit is the standard that they will issue the files in. I could pay them to convert them to DWG if they have time to do that. Any conversion to a different format comes at my expense.

But I'm arguing that AutoCAD became such a dominant standard that Vectorworks at least tries to read the files, and often succeeds. Revit is fast becoming the new standard for modeling complex structures. Deciding to have Vectorworks support the standard file produced by Revit, will give Vectorworks a competitive advantage in this market.

[AndiACD]

but it is of course their prerogative to make silly decisions.

[VincentCuclair]

The AutoCAD-filter is largely created as a collaborative effort by a consortium called OpenDWG Alliance or something like that. NemV is a member of it.

Considering the speed with which Revit is being adopted (as a replacement for AC in many cases) and assuming it will be as large a dominator of the business as AC is at the moment, perhaps this 'consortium' will feel it necessary to invest in a rvt filter too.....