TArchit Posted August 30, 2017 Share Posted August 30, 2017 Is it possible to convert Vectorworks (BIM) files into Revit format? Thanks Quote Link to comment
Member Chih-Pin Posted August 30, 2017 Member Share Posted August 30, 2017 Have you tried exporting as an IFC file and importing it in Revit? Quote Link to comment
TArchit Posted August 30, 2017 Author Share Posted August 30, 2017 Chin-Pin I have tried IFC export. I was wondering if there is any way to convert to Revit? Quote Link to comment
Member Chih-Pin Posted August 30, 2017 Member Share Posted August 30, 2017 I think other solutions, e.g. dwg export, will give you geometry only model into Revit. I have not tried that before though. Quote Link to comment
lgoodkind Posted October 10, 2018 Share Posted October 10, 2018 Really? This is the extent of this knowledge and interchangeability? I need to export our work so that the large team using Revit can integrate into the model they are building. Apparently there is no way to do this? IFC is not useful as there is no usable information in the file and it needs to be re-built in revit. Just thought I'd ask Quote Link to comment
Robert Anderson Posted October 12, 2018 Share Posted October 12, 2018 I'm interested to hear you say that IFC is not useful. IFC is our standard recommendation for exporting to Revit. Both Vectorworks and Revit are certified to import and export IFC 2x3 for model sharing and exchange. Since Autodesk has not published (and almost certainly will not publish) the RVT schema, and IFC is virtually the only non-native file format that Revit will open (see illustration), why is it you say that IFC is not useful? Quote Link to comment
lgoodkind Posted October 12, 2018 Share Posted October 12, 2018 Robert, You wrote at a great time as we just this morning are trying to import a 550mb Revit file. The problem we have with Revit as well as IFC is the way objects are grouped and classed . Even after requesting the architect properly calls all object what we get are a bunch of IFC entities with groups and symbols inside all on class '0' or 'none' with no texture applied and attributes not assigned by class. We therefore cannot apply textures to this file in any way to make it a useful tool for visualization as it would take many hours to convert everything to proper classes to assign textures etc. If you could point me to a resource that will will explain a better way to do this I would appreciate it. The architects (EYRC) are using the standard AIA layer/class naming convention in Revit so I doubt there's anything more they can do. As it is now we can't use either IFC or Revit, without essentially going into every object to assign classes and textures. This is a lot easier in a program like Lumion but is not a reasonable endeavor in VW. 2 Quote Link to comment
Robert Anderson Posted October 12, 2018 Share Posted October 12, 2018 Your first posting was about export to Revit, now this is about importing from Revit, so these are not the same thing! Revit can export a SAT file, which Vectorworks can import. If all you want is geometry, and don't care about object structure or data, I would give that a try. We use SAT file export from Revit and import into Vectorworks quite a bit for content conversion. 1 Quote Link to comment
lgoodkind Posted October 12, 2018 Share Posted October 12, 2018 (edited) Sorry for the confusion and thanks for your input - I will give SAT a try for REVIT export and try IFC for VW export. Edited October 12, 2018 by lgoodkind Quote Link to comment
lgoodkind Posted October 12, 2018 Share Posted October 12, 2018 Perhaps you could assist with how an IFC export works in VWorks? You mention above that this is the preferred way to get a model into Revit from Vectorworks but we are not Architects and do not have the capability of creating stories etc. We've tried exporting IFC objects but doesn't seem to work with our work (hardscapes, solids models). We are landscape architects. Can I ask again what you suggest is the right method for exchanging models with the team that uses Revit? Quote Link to comment
Francisco J. D. Rogers Posted November 21, 2018 Share Posted November 21, 2018 Hello: Export directly to REVIT can be an excellent way to share data. For example I am creating the BIM Library of a Windows Maker, and he ask for the REVIT files. IFC is my choice to BIM sharing information, but it is very complicated to people new in this affairs Quote Link to comment
cberg Posted December 14, 2018 Share Posted December 14, 2018 (edited) Has anybody successfully brought an VW exported IFC project into Revit? If so, I would be interested in knowing what settings are used for a successful implementation. We have tried a few tests with our consultants. One sticking point is that doors and windows do not appear correctly in plan in Revit. Here is a screen capture (sorry for the low resolution) of what an import looks like on the Revit User end. (I'll try to replace with a higher resolution image at some point...) Right now we are using the following export settings. The iFC file is linked to Revit. Apparently, the doors and windows show up in 3D, but they do not show up in 2D. How do we get the doors to show up correctly in the revit model plan views? Edited December 14, 2018 by cberg 1 Quote Link to comment
Robert Anderson Posted December 14, 2018 Share Posted December 14, 2018 cberg, Unlike the Vectorworks file format, IFC does not handle coordinated 2D planar geometry to go with the 3D. The IFC file format is 3D only. (Well, technically it's not, but 2D geometry is considered "annotation" and is not part of the certification.) But all applications that export IFC are exporting 3D geometry only, AFAIK. In other words, this is not a Vectorworks export issue (it's exporting very high-quality IFC), this is an inability of Revit to convert IFC to Revit native objects. 1 Quote Link to comment
cberg Posted December 14, 2018 Share Posted December 14, 2018 That makes sense, somewhat. Is there any workaround, or settings that I could use in my export process that would get rid of these boxes in Revit or is this just a limitation of the IFC to Revit export process? For example, would it help if I export all 3d doors open? Should I turn all my doors and windows off? Or is there nothing that can be done? Quote Link to comment
zoomer Posted December 14, 2018 Share Posted December 14, 2018 On 10/12/2018 at 7:21 PM, Robert Anderson said: Your first posting was about export to Revit, now this is about importing from Revit, so these are not the same thing! Here please .... Quote Link to comment
cberg Posted December 14, 2018 Share Posted December 14, 2018 I am looking to go from VW to Revit. :-) But looks you are also having problems going from Revit to VW. Quote Link to comment
zoomer Posted December 14, 2018 Share Posted December 14, 2018 It's just my clients. Would be hard to convince them to go VW 😉 All have Revit. Quote Link to comment
cberg Posted December 14, 2018 Share Posted December 14, 2018 (edited) Here is another view of a simpler IFC Export. Here is the VW file. This is what the Revit Import looks like.IFC CV2.0 Settings Top Plan. Using Does anybody know what we can do in Revit to turn the bounding boxes off. This is critical to collaboration with our consultants. Here is what it looks like in autodesk viewer Edited December 14, 2018 by cberg Quote Link to comment
zoomer Posted December 14, 2018 Share Posted December 14, 2018 I generally have these Cutting Boxes in Bricscads DWG. So in IFC too. But as in Bricscad, in IFC these are on a separate Layer that is usually OFF. Not sure if I have seen them from VW > IFC > Bricscad. 1 Quote Link to comment
cberg Posted December 14, 2018 Share Posted December 14, 2018 Zoomer, do you think i could turn off the layer in IFC? Quote Link to comment
zoomer Posted December 14, 2018 Share Posted December 14, 2018 (edited) In Solibri I see it is somehow OFF by default. I can make it Visible when I go select Object Opening > Relations > Void Edited December 14, 2018 by zoomer 2 Quote Link to comment
cberg Posted December 14, 2018 Share Posted December 14, 2018 Zoomer. You are brilliant!! Thank you! The boxes are Opening entities. Someone in my office came across this link which talks about what to do. We are going to experiment to see if we can turn them off through filtering. Or perhaps opening the IFC directly. https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-structure-forum/linked-ifc-window-door-opening-box/td-p/7624489 Quote Link to comment
Macroperari Posted July 19, 2019 Share Posted July 19, 2019 On 12/14/2018 at 6:17 PM, cberg said: @cberg I know this is a old topic. But if you are still interested in hiding those boxes in Revit then do the following: - Use the Tab-Key (on Windows ) to select one of the Boxes. - Navigate to the multifunction Tab and hide the Elements of this Category. This is view specific, but you can save the Settings of this view in a new View Template and assign the view template in other views. 1 Quote Link to comment
mgebel Posted May 1, 2020 Share Posted May 1, 2020 Just read this and thought I would chime in, as I'm modeling a project with an architect in Revit, and we have been able to send the project back-and-forth with some success. There have been some weird things happening, though, and I'm curious if anyone has encountered something similar before. 1) we get the building shell from the Architect as IFC. All geometry comes in to VW cleanly, and layers and classes map nicely. However, everything is coming in rotated about the origin by exactly 17degrees. We did a screenshare to check that his model was not rotated, and we couldn't find anywhere this odd rotation was coming from. The solution is to simply rotate all of the Revit IFC geometry -17deg every time we update the reference... annoying, but not a deal breaker. Also, textures are stripped out, but some colors come through for example, none of the glass has transparency. This is a just a bit annoying. Should IFC support textures? 2) we are modeling interior elements (mainly millwork), and sending back to the architect. We tried a large variety of export formats (not SAT, though). Nearly all of the formats we exported came into Revit with triangulated faces. In the end, we decided to go with Rhino .3dm, which translated all the geometry very cleanly, but completely stripped out all the textures and color. 3) At that point, we stopped, because we are achieving what we needed to in terms of geometry. I would be interested to know if anyone has had any more success going back and forth with Revit, while maintaining textures in both directions? Quote Link to comment
jpccrodrigues Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 Quick question: is there any way or procedure to export a vectorworks site model and be able to transform it into a revit terrain? Quote Link to comment
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