Revit Architecture 2010
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from all the hype this is a pretty exciting program... looks as if it does construction documentation for you... well at least a lot of it.
does anyone have any hints or tips for Sketchup Model importing and setup...
it's pretty simple to import, however I've had issues with entire house models being imported and cannot be changed into in-place masses and cannot be converted into walls, floors etc. and if I break the model into level groups, then it does not import them in the correct origin location regardless of origin setting.
so any tips on Sketchup to Revit Arch 2010 would be appreciated.
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SkUP is OK for creating "dumb" objects for entourage & can be used for forming the basis for creating masses in Revit (where you can change vertical planes to walls & sloping faces to roof objects), but there is little you can do with the SKUP objects in Revit. I wouldn't go to the length of creating doors & windows in SKUP, for instance.
On the otherhand, Revit models export to DWG with no problem & can be exported into SKUP for NPR presentations & rendering with the likes of Twilight Renderer.
Adding a lot of entourage into Revit really slows it down (it is designed for production drawings more than presentation purposes), while SKUP is purpose buit for this. -
so windows and doors are no good... and walls shouldn't even be to size... just lines?
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You're best of just creating the volume in SU. Keep it very simple.
Thick walls and detailed windows etc will just confuse Revit. -
well how depressing... glad I found this out before I got too deep in it. thank goodness for trials...
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Revit sees a surface as a surface - it does know that one surface is part of a "wall", "roof", "window" etc.
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I've successfully imported a skp of planes as a massing element, then converted the various planes to walls, floors, roofs, curtain walls etc, BUT twiddly bits like doors and windows don't come over well.
You can model a complex skp form and import it - e.g. a reception desk -it is not easily editable later inside Revit...
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You can import sketchup models into revit as I have done it many times. BUT the process is long and confusing if you do not follow certain steps.
First you need to use color by layer in Sketchup, naming your layers something you will be able to identify again in Revit is crucial.
Keep in mind your RGB color values need to not be to close to one another otherwise revit will group them together for some odd reason. Not sure if this is a bug or not but have never been able to crack this part.
Next you need to explode your model as revit will screw stuff up in groups/components.
Now you import your model into Revit.
Open "setting/objects".
Select the "imported objects" tab.
Change all your line colors to black (important).
Now take note of the layer names, renaming them if necessary.
Close window.
Open the "settings/materials" section.
Delete everything called "render material".
Create all new layers for each color/texture. Make sure the layer names are descriptive so you can find them later.
In the graphics tab set "use render appearance for shading".
Select the "render appearance" tab
Under "general material properties" select the RGB button.
Now match the RGB codes of the original Sketchup models colors/textures for all materials. once you are done click ok. This is when you need the original (not the color by layer one) Sketchup model open while doing this in Revit.
Now go to "settings/object styles" and select "imported objects".
In the section "materials" makes sure there are materials for every imported layer. these should be named correctly and correspond to the layers to easily keep track of things.
Select the material for the first layer then click on the "...", the material editing box opens up.
Select the material that has the same name as the layer you created earlier. click "ok". Do this for all imported layers. close the "object styles" section when finished.
Save the model as a family under the appropriate families in revit.Open a new revit project and import your newly created family and render it to make sure you have completed all the steps properly. if not you have some backtracking to do. If you do have issues go back and correct them in the family but you will need to open a NEW project as revit stores the old materials and things will not automatically update (another one I found out the hard way).
Some hints: glass can be a B***ch to get to look right and I suggest you use a revit material for all transparencies. I have spent countless hours trying to get sketchup transparencies to work correctly with very limited success.
Good luck. As you can see this is not an easy process. I wish Autodesk would make the importation of sketchup models more seamless but for the time being this is what works.
Hope this helps.
Scott -
The colors will be transferred "by layer" but no textures will carry over.
Scott
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Scott,
Thanks for the information, I didn't know that any colour information could be transferred across.Regards,
JGA -
just don't bother trying if you have any curved surface at all.
(there's no smoothing that I've ever found.)More than one person in our office spent more than 6hrs at a time trying to make simple flatscreen TVs, or Windows that would flex parametrically... could have been done in 5 mins in SU.
I'm impressed, Scott,
as after 6+ hrs trying to get a simple sink to import/render in Revit, I gave up every trying to import and render anything from SU inside of Revit ever again! 
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Fletch,
Yes, smoothing can be a B*@tch but I think I have a way in my notes somewhere but I have not looked at them in quite some time. I will go through them this weekend and see what I have.
Importing SU models successfully into Revit can be done. It takes a fair bit of patience and time but it works. I have done hundreds of models in the past using SU 7 pro and Revit 2010. Once you get the basic down your off and running. The thing that always drove me nuts was the colors. If the values are too close to eachother Revit merges the geometry together. I have not found a way around this other than spreading color values out further. It can just be a pain in the backside on a model that has large amounts of colors/textures.
If anyone needs help let me know and I can walk you through it or add some more notes together.
Scott
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Thanks again for the tips.
Is the avatar image a dormobile for hobbits??! -
Oh well--you gotta love it.
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No just a damn funny pic I found this morning and liked it.
Scott
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