rudybeuc@gmail.com Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 (edited) Just tried to convert a whole Revit project file. Did not come out as expected. Anybody else try this? Any tips? Thanks, Rudy Beuc Edited September 22, 2021 by rudybeuc@gmail.com Quote Link to comment
zoomer Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 As someone said, importing a DWG is fine art .... I say importing a RVT is a torture. It is not a lossless import so far and a pretty young exchange option provided by ODA. But it gets better with every Release. And at least you get most basic building geometry in. To convert or repair or at least to snap to it 🙂 And it heavily depends on the Quality of the RVT input. When many people work together on a large BIM Model, it often doesn't really fit my personal CAD quality standards. 2 Quote Link to comment
Jeff Prince Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 I can’t see a compelling reason to migrate a project from one package to another. Start in (insert software of choice), finish in (…). Heck, we even try to keep projects within a single release of Vectorworks due to all the little issues that can pop up when updating to the latest version. @rudybeuc@gmail.comcurious why you would want to migrate a project over. Is there a compelling reason or is it just an academic exercise? Quote Link to comment
rudybeuc@gmail.com Posted September 22, 2021 Author Share Posted September 22, 2021 Ok, I'm a single person frim and I do all my own drafting. I'm working in Revit and in the process of migrating to VW. It's primarily do to subscription only licensing choices provided by a certain software vendor, but that's another issue. I also know of some other firms who are looking for alternative due to the same issue. But anyway.... I need to learn and establish workflows, customization, and so forth. So I think, "Ok, I've got a blank spot in my schedule, lets try this out". This way I'll learn stuff, get some customization done, and move forward. Besides, it would be great to be able to open up my past work in the current software. Yesterday afternoon I tried to convert a copy of a recent project. My workstation ran all night. Well, the results are not as expected. I don't think I can use any of it to move forward. Nothing like it seemed in all the videos I've seen so far. Thanks, Rudy Beuc Quote Link to comment
zoomer Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 Have you also tried a DWG Export test from Revit to VW. And IFC ! Maybe the result is better. I am also used that large Revit Imports into VW can take several hours and better run overnight. Quote Link to comment
rudybeuc@gmail.com Posted September 22, 2021 Author Share Posted September 22, 2021 Zoomer, I was hoping to translate a project and see that everything came over halfway OK, and learn from it. Not much came over OK. I was wondering if there was something I may have missed. Looks like Revit projects can't be directly imported into VW. Maybe it has to be done in pieces, I don't know. It wasn't a large project, It was a house. Thanks, Rudy Beuc Quote Link to comment
zoomer Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 I have clients (from clients) that only offer RVT files for me. More often I get RVT and IFC File Export options. I always import both, in VW and Bricscad and decide what to use. Beside the different quality of both importers, for me it was just the quality of the Source that caused the pain. If they blindly add Door blocks from any library that are unnecessarily tessellated or save 400 Sprinklers by a separate Symbol/Block for each although they are all the same, light symbols with 400.000 3D Faces and each duplicated for another wattage and such things, it doesn't really matter if IFC brings these in and you can't work with your file anymore or if RVT import omits all of such geometry when importing, which is basically trash and not manageable anyway. Yes, Revit Doors will insert as True Door Plugins into VW but are basically just a standard Door with a single complete Symbol for the geometry and not even reading the Doors basic Specs into VW's Door Object. (Boundary and BIM readings says 2.35 m wide but VW Door PIO is still default 89 cm .... Beside your Exchange of existing Projects into VW, there is also the different philosophy between different Apps. For me, coming from Microstation, although different, I felt reasonably familiar with Allplan or Archicad when testing but somehow decided for VW 4 years later. And it took me at least 2 years to get comfortable with VW and to forget about things that were so much better in those other Apps and value some of VW features I do not get in other Apps. But personally I value much of VW's philosophy over ACAD's way, while I see the majority of Bricscad users, beside myself, are dependent on ACAD's way and Command Line. Quote Link to comment
zoomer Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 3 hours ago, rudybeuc@gmail.com said: It's primarily do to subscription only licensing choices provided by a certain software vendor, but that's another issue. I can't stand subscriptions either. To know that you can't access your own Work anymore when things get tough .... So far I was able to prevent or cancel any mandatory arriving Subscription Models of my preferred Apps. I think if that won't work that way in the future, I will more likely end with Blender and FreeCAD on Linux. 2 Quote Link to comment
Jeff Prince Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 4 hours ago, rudybeuc@gmail.com said: Ok, I'm a single person frim and I do all my own drafting. I'm working in Revit and in the process of migrating to VW. I recommend leaving your projects in Revit and just doing your new projects in Vectorworks. The cans of worms you will open could consume your billable hours. Then, factor in the downtime of learning a new package... You could lose a lot of money and only have headaches to show for it. 1 Quote Link to comment
Jeff Prince Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 1 hour ago, zoomer said: I can't stand subscriptions either. To know that you can't access your own Work anymore when things get tough .... So far I was able to prevent or cancel any mandatory arriving Subscription Models of my preferred Apps. I think if that won't work that way in the future, I will more likely end with Blender and FreeCAD on Linux. Adobe lost me as a customer precisely for this reason. Affinity Photo & Designer gained a new user. 1 Quote Link to comment
zoomer Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 Here too (+ still Pixelmator, easier to use for me), But I seldom need it. If things get tough, I may also work with Gimp if it needs. 1 Quote Link to comment
Jeff Prince Posted September 23, 2021 Share Posted September 23, 2021 2 hours ago, zoomer said: Here too (+ still Pixelmator, easier to use for me), But I seldom need it. If things get tough, I may also work with Gimp if it needs. Some days I feel like going back to paper and just hiring out the computer work 🙂 Autodesk went to a subscription the same time I needed to update my PC. Became my justification to switch to a Mac, Vectorworks, etc. Total cost of computer and software went down to less than $2000 a year. Quote Link to comment
zoomer Posted September 23, 2021 Share Posted September 23, 2021 8 hours ago, jeff prince said: I recommend leaving your projects in Revit and just doing your new projects in Vectorworks. But if he wants to leave (non perpetual) Revit, he basically needs to convert the old projects. Or re-rent Revit when needing to access an old project ? As said, RVT to VWX not lossless so far. But maybe in a few years. I have no Revit experience what useful export options are available. RVT or better IFC for geometry, DWG for 2D Plans (?) Quote Link to comment
shorter Posted September 23, 2021 Share Posted September 23, 2021 (edited) I would concur with @jeff prince and @zoomer importing RVT will not give you the results you desire. Only by building a model in VW, natively, will it work as you want. RVT and IFC import are merely coordination tools. No more. Always model natively. Use the IFC or DWG from RVT as a guide. Forget RVT import. It only registers project coordinates anyway. You also get classes with DWG and IFC. That said this only really relates to parametric modelling. We have had some fantastic results importing Rhino data, but that's because it's NURBS-based which, of course, Revit isn't. Edited September 23, 2021 by shorter Quote Link to comment
Jeff Prince Posted September 23, 2021 Share Posted September 23, 2021 7 hours ago, zoomer said: But if he wants to leave (non perpetual) Revit, he basically needs to convert the old projects. Or re-rent Revit when needing to access an old project ? lots of options like…. convert Revit to 2D .dwg and finish in 2D Vectorworks or hire a Revit operator to finish the current Revit projects while he gets up to speed on Vectorworks or Pay the Revit tax to do the work himself while getting up to speed on Vectorworks. It’s nice to want to move over to a different software, but without an efficient plan to do so, it never happens smoothly. Quote Link to comment
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