Rhino - Autocad - Revit - Linking Complex Form to Drive Massing
Software : Rhino 4, Autocad 2009, and Revit Architecture 2009
Level : Intermediate
Description : This Revit Architecture 2009 video tutorial covers how to import geometry from Rhino via Autocad. Really this technique will work for any program that can output a .sat. Even if the program cannot, Rhino imports many formats (such as .step or .iges) which you can then export as a .sat for Autocad. The basic logic in this tutorial is to create a tower which has geometry too complex to build in Revit. We then pass it through Autocad to export a closed solid .dwg. As of now Rhino only exports .dwg files as meshes (which do not work very well for massing objects) . We then run a few simple Massing operations such as scheduling, creating floors, and creating walls. Lastly, we create a new mass from Rhino and re-import the geometry to have all our schedules update and will a few steps our geometry as well. Here is a link to the source files on the forum.
Topics Covered
-Exporting from Rhino
-Import .sat to Autocad
-Importing geometry for Massing in Revit
-Creating floors from a Massing in Revit
-Simple Massing schedule
-Creating walls from a Mass
-Updating the Mass by re-importing geometry
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Here is a link to the source files on the forum
Hello Dave. Oh this is a great tutorial. I made all this on my desktop.BUT i have some questions :
1.Walls that i made in Revit I cant split, cut, trim ? How to make some peace of this complex geometry with glass?
2. In facade i dont see all geometry of complex walls?
On the Forum i put my university work.
Thanks for answers.
Dave,
You can select multiple rows in a schedule (but only adjacent ones). Just drag select; when you have multiple rows highlighted (highlit?), switch to a graphical view and hit the properties button. You can then fill out the desired element parameter(s) for the selected items through the properties dialog.
p.s. Design ReForm simply rocks.
Great tutorial Dave! Thanks a lot for your time and effort.
José Espizua
Right on! That was good.
Dave, what was grasshopper used to create? Almost could of done that easy in Revit if it had more then a 2 profile sweep.
well that’s a big if
http://designreform.net/forum/index.php/topic,737.0.html
Dave, when you convert the walls to a curtain system, is there a way to triangulate glass patterns? I went through the excercise above and my building form is too tight and the envelope doesnt work well with four sided panels, the seams of the panels are not joining.
You may have to use a mesh then. If you use a mesh you can make each face a panel. I would probably have 2 masses one for walls and floors. the another (mesh) for curtain panels.
I tried the mesh, I cant export a mesh as acis sat file. Any thoughts?
I get it now, I exported the mesh for curtain panels as dwg and another solid mass as acis. I see what you mean by
“As of now Rhino only exports .dwg files as meshes (which do not work very well for massing objects)”
So the solid mass gets used to extract mass data, area, etc……
Great, thanks again!
Great information Dave,
I have a fairly solid understanding of Rhino and 3ds Max but have previously struggled getting the geometry across from one to the other (modelling in Rhino rendering in Max). It is a shame that there isn’t a less tedious way to export “clean” geometry across that will allow me to edit it in max if required and get the best out of the renders. Would love to see a plug in or script to help with this. While you were talking about exporting to get into Revit the principles are still the same and how you go from one application to another can mean hours of headarches or a seamless workflow.
Thanks for showing this method.
Hello Dave…I really enjoy your site
I was looking over this tutorial…and realized that you can totally skip importing into acutocad…
Revit lets you import sat files.. Revit does not work well with dwg exported from rhino, but sat files from rhino work just like dwgs from autocad….So inother words you can import Your sat file from revit..and do all the exact same steps you did in your revit tutorial….
Fabian
Matt,
I have used the NPower plugin to go from Rhino to Max. It actually brings the Nurb geometry into Max very close to how it was in Rhino…I would recomend it for Rhino to Max rendering pipline. You have to pay more for the tools to edit the nurb model in Max, which I have not done yet, but would like to.
Thanks for site Dave!
Will
Fabian,
When you exported from Rhino, what ACIS format did you use? ACAD, default, etc.? When I brought the ACIS file from Rhino to Revit I got a “mesh” warning. It may not be a big deal, but I’m curious why the ACAD flow is involved. Dave, is it really that easy? Great tutorial!
James
it is that easy…I leave the ACIS format at default..and the reason you get that “mesh error” is beacuse you are extruding a surface and not a solid…example: if you extrude a circle into a cylinder then export it as an ACIS file and try to put it into revit it will give you the mesh error…meaning you can not use this mesh to create mass flooring….But if you use the same extruded cylinder and cap both ends (planar srf) and join them before exporting - then you will not get that error message… which will then give you a massing object that can now be used to create mass flooring.. You can totally skip importing into AutoCAD. As a matter of fact I don’t even have AutoCAD Installed……Its that simple
Right on…I missed the JOIN part….I’m all over it. Thanks man, James
ok, sorry i did not make this very clear at first…..
YES, you can skip autocad. BUT, In my experience the solid dwg’s tend to be lighter than the .sat straight from Rhino. In fact we always did the direct Rhino -> Revit transfer and then tried this technique and found revit to move much smoother.
The other aspect to this technique that makes it worth while is layers. When you bring in a .sat file from Rhino verything is on the same 0 layer. If you go though Autocad you can place geometry on different layers and have a bit more control of line weights through objects styles.
Hope that helps, i’ll try and sum this up and edit the post.
Thanks,
Dave
Hi Dave,
I am still looking for a link between your model in cad and revit, why you re-import the mass whiles there is Link option in Revit? and why this link option was not enable in your Import Dialog box?
I am too used to the .sat importer. I have not tried linking a solid dwg. Did you? How does it work?
Thanks,
Dave
Hi,
I tried to link the CAD file inside the mass family, but the link option was not enabled.
so I import CAD file directly in revit using Link option and then I made a copy of this system family inside the mass family, it worked! .
Now you can use Manage Links from file menu to reload your DWG file in Revit.you dont need to keep main instance which you have imported at first in the Revit, you can remove it.
[...] Learn how to link complex organic geometry that was modeled in Rhino into Revit as a mass element [...]
Hi Dave,
Thanks again for the great video. I was wondering if you know of a way to export a polymesh from rhino into autocad as an IGES files or how to convert a mesh into a solid. I am trying to model terrain and the CNC guy needs a IGES file but I cant export IGES from rhino as a mesh.
An extremely informative, concise, and very easy to follow tutorial. I am just learning the basics of Revit, and from your small tutorial showed many aspects and techniques that displays the power of the BIM software. Thank you!
Secondly, I know the ability of other 3d software has far more potential that what AutoCAD can do with solids (using polylines to create solid objects and 3d faces), but was wondering if you knew the LOFT command in AutoCAD. I have used this in many conceptual models to create an airplane wing, mechanical transition, all the way to the “tower” design you put together quickly.
To use LOFT. Execute the command, then select the polylines in the order you want the solid to be created. This command does a seamless interpolated AutoCAD solid of the polylines you created.