Import Model from Revit ( Modeling )

Tool summary :

  • Imports members or member changes from Revit into your current Job so that the Revit model and SDS2 model are synchronized.
  • Choose this tool if you are importing from Revit Structure for the first time, or if you have imported from Revit previously.
  • If you have imported from Revit previously, the XML file that you select to be imported will introduce to your current Job changes made in Revit to beams , columns , vertical brace , horizontal braces and joists that are currently in your model, but will not affect members of those types that are the same in both models.
  • The XML file will also include information on new beams, columns and braces that have been added to or deleted from Revit since the last time you imported.
  • As a result of this operation, members may be added to or deleted from or altered in your 3D model, toward the end that your 3D model is made to exactly match the equivalent 3D model as it existed in Revit at the time that the XML file was generated in Revit.
  • To import from Autodesk Revit Structure, or export to Revit Structure, the Revit user needs to purchase a plug-in for their program. Information is available at https://sds2connect.com/ . The medium of interchange between SDS2 software and Revit is an XML file.
  • To import and export connections, the Revit Structure user needs the "Revit SDS2 Connect" plugin as well as the "Revit SDS2 Roundtripping" plugin. System connections can be transferred, but graphical connections cannot.
  • To invoke Import Model from Revit :

    Method 1 : Click the Import Model from Revit icon, which is pictured above. The icon can be taken from the group named ' Model - Member ' and placed on a toolbar (classic) or the ribbon (lightning).

    Method 2, 3 or 4 : Import Model from Revit can also be configured to be invoked using a keyboard shortcut , the context menu , or a mode . For the lightning interface, this configuration is done using Customize Interface .

  • Export Model to Revit and Export Selected to Revit and Export to New Revit project are related tools.

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  Instructions :

Before importing: If you have previously done a Import Model from Revit of an XML file to your current Job and current Fabricator from a particular Revit project, the XML file that you are now importing needs to have originated from that same Revit project. If you have never imported to your current Job and Fabricator, the XML file you are now importing must have originated from a Revit project that has never imported from a different SDS2 Job and Fabricator. During the process of "roundtripping" between SDS2 and Revit models, the XML files that are generated "tie together" the SDS2 Job and the Revit project so that equivalency can be maintained between the unique identities of entities in the two models.

1 . In Modeling , Invoke Import Model from Revit as described above.

2 . Select the XML file that you want to import. Be aware that once you import an XML file from a particular Revit project to your current Job, the next XML file that you Export from your current Job can only be used in the Revit project that created the XML file you are currently importing. In other words, the process of "roundtripping" between SDS2 and Revit "ties together" the SDS2 Job and the Revit project.

3 (if applicable) : Skip this step if none of these possibilities apply. For example, skip this step if you have never before, from your current SDS2 Project, done a Export Model from Revit or a Import Model to Revit .

Possibility 1 : If you have done a Export Model from Revit from your current Job but have never before imported, you will get a message like the following, where revit_project.rvt is the name of the Revit project which the XML file you selected in step 2 was exported from. If you have never done a Export Model to Revit from your current Project, this won't happen. Press the "OK" button if you want to continue.

Revit import will associate this job with "revit_project.rvt"
     

Possibility 2 : If the XML file you selected in step 2 was exported from a Revit project which previously had done a "Roundtripping" import from a different SDS2 Job, you will get a message like the following. You will not be able to continue on to step 4. That file is not importable.

This file is meant for:
Job: xxx
Fabricator: yyy

Possibility 3 : If the XML file you selected in step 2 cannot be read, you may get a parsing error. An XML file is unreadable as an import file if, for example, it was generated for a purpose unrelated to "roundtripping." You will not be able to continue on to step 4. The file is not importable.

The selected file: file_name.xml, is not a valid transfer file from the Design Data Revit plugin

Possibility 4 : If the XML file you selected in step 2 was exported from SDS2 software and not from Revit, you will get a message like the following. You will not be able to continue on to step 4. The file is not importable.

This is a transfer file from SDS2 to Revit. Not usable in SDS2!

Possibility 5 : If the XML file you selected in step 2 was exported from a Revit project in which no member or connection information was changed since you last imported from Revit, you will get a message like the following. You will not be able to continue on to step 4. That file is not importable.

This transfer file is not an update of the previously used transfer file.

Possibility 6 : If the XML file you selected in step 2 has already been imported into your current job, you will get a message like the following. You will not be able to continue on to step 4. That file is not importable.

This is an old transfer file from Revit. Members are current against this file.

4 . Where there are differences between entities in your current Job and the analogs to those entities in the XML file, you will be given options to import or not import the entities. If the XML file contains members which exactly match members in your current Job, those members will be skipped over, and you will not be given the option to import them. Optionally, you may press " Print " at the bottom of this window to save a report listing member deletions, additions, and modifications. Press " OK " on the bottom of this window to continue with the import.

When you import, you get a list of to-be-added or to-be-modified members like this one. To prevent a member from being imported or changed, uncheck its check
box ( ).

If Revit Import is unable to match the imported material with an entry in your Job's shape file, you may press the "file cabinet" browse button ( ) to map that member to a different material. If the connection is changed in the XML file, you may click the Zoom to Fit button ( ) next to the member description so that the member fills up the Modeling window.

5 . Where there are differences between the Job or Fabricator Options in your current Job and the analogs in the XML file, you will get a list of setup changes that will be made in your current Job. Optionally, you may press " Print " at the bottom of this window to save a report listing member changes, press " Cancel " to stop the import, or press " OK " to continue with the import.

When you import, you may get a list of Job Setup changes like this that you may examine and print.
You may also get a list of Fabricator Setup changes like this one that you may examine and print.

6 . Members in your model which have been changed due to information imported from the XML file will be displayed in stick form. To see the results of this import in solids form, you will need to Process and Create Solids .

As a result of an import, new members ( beams , columns , vertical brace , horizontal braces, joists only) may be added or modified in your current Job . Beams, columns, braces or joists may also be deleted from your current Job, if their counterparts in the Revit Structure Project have been deleted. If the Revit user has the "Revit SDS2 Connect" plugin, connections in the SDS2 program will also be updated to match their state in the Revit model at the time that the XML file was generated. Changes may also be made to setup -- for example, if new plate definitions were added to the Base / Cap Plate Schedule in Revit, they will now also be added to your current Job in the SDS2 program.

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