20: Importing and Coordinating Revit Models


CHAPTER 20
Importing and Coordinating Revit Models


It’s amazing that we’re Up to Chapter 20 and yet I’m sure many readers are still unclear about how BIM fits in here. Yes, most of the previous chapters showed how you benefit from BIM when you change an item in one place and it changes in another, yada, yada, yada. But you were probably sold on the whole “coordinating with your consultants” thing back when you were considering purchasing Revit. Well, here we are. It’s time to tackle that mystical ideology that has put our industry in a loose headlock.



  • Linking a Revit structure model
  • Activating Copy/Monitor
  • Running interference detection
  • Importing and exporting AutoCAD

Linking a Revit Structure Model


The first section of this chapter will focus on the actual event of importing a Revit Structure model. As you start the process, you’ll see that this procedure isn’t unfamiliar if you have any CAD background whatsoever. If you don’t have a CAD background, I think you’ll find these procedures to be intuitive enough to get through importing Revit models with no experience.


As you proceed into design development, you must get your structural engineer on board. This consultant may be an external or an in-house resource. Either way, this individual will have a different model that you need to coordinate with.


This section will focus on the procedures involved with importing a Revit Structure model. We’ll also cover the concept of creating a live monitoring system with the structure as well as interference detection.


To get started, open the model you’ve been working on. If you missed the previous chapter, go to the book’s web page at www.sybex.com/go/revit2012ner. From there, you can browse to Chapter 20 and find the file called NER-31.rvt. You’ll also need to locate the model called NER-31_STRUCTURAL.rvt. Save this file in a location where you can retrieve it.


The objective of the following procedure is to import and link a Revit Structure model. Follow along:



  1. 1. In the Project Browser, go to the Level 1 floor plan.
  2. 2. Delete every structural grid and column. (Keep the canopy framing intact. Don’t delete the beams and columns in these two areas.)
  3. 3. On the Link panel of the Insert tab, click the Link Revit button, as shown in Figure 20.1.
  4. 4. Browse to the NER-31_STRUCTURAL.rvt file, but don’t click Open just yet.
  5. 5. Select the file.
    f2001.tif

    FIGURE 20.1 The Link Revit button on the Link panel of the Insert tab


  6. 6. At the bottom of the dialog, you have a choice of positioning. Select Auto – Origin To Origin, as shown in Figure 20.2.
    f2002.tif

    FIGURE 20.2 Pay attention to the choices provided before you click Open.


  7. 7. Click Open. Your structural model is now linked.
  8. 8. Open the 3D view East Entry from Corridor.

You can now see the wood framing the structural engineer added to support the cantilevered slab, as shown in Figure 20.3.


Already you’re seeing the benefits of a collaborative model, and you’ve done nothing more than insert one model into another. This isn’t new technology, and you’re certainly not doing anything profound. The real benefit comes from how you can keep track of what the structural model is doing underneath your model. You can copy items from the structural model and then monitor any changes made from the linked model. This is the definition of BIM.

f2003.tif

FIGURE 20.3 The supporting framing under the cantilevered slab at the east link


Activating Copy/Monitor


I can almost sum BIM up in one command: Copy/Monitor. I hate to break down the most import acronym in our industry since CAD into such simple terms, but building information modeling is the process of monitoring and tracking change, and that process starts right here.


The objective of the following procedure is to copy the structural grids and apply a monitoring system that will alert you when the grids have moved. Although this book will focus solely on copying and monitoring the grids, your takeaway will be the experience required to recognize the procedure and the importance of this function.


To create a copying and monitoring system, follow these steps:



  1. 1. Go to the Level 1 floor plan.
  2. 2. On the Coordinate panel of the Collaborate tab, click the Copy/Monitor button. On the fly-out, click Select Link, as shown in Figure 20.4.
    f2004.tif

    FIGURE 20.4 The Copy/Monitor button on the Coordinate panel of the Collaborate tab


  3. 3. Hover your pointer over one of the grids. You see an outline of the Revit Structure model that you’ve linked in. When you see the outline, pick the grid (see Figure 20.5).
    f2005.tif

    FIGURE 20.5 Selecting the link to Copy/Monitor


  4. 4. On the Copy/Monitor tab, click the Copy button, as shown in Figure 20.6.
    f2006.tif

    FIGURE 20.6 Clicking the Copy button


  5. 5. On the Options bar, select the Multiple option.
  6. 6. While pressing the Ctrl key, select all the grids in the linked model.
  7. 7. When you’re finished, click Finish on the Options bar, as shown in Figure 20.7.
    f2007.tif

    FIGURE 20.7 The Finish button on the Options bar


  8. 8. You may get a warning saying, “The following types already exist but are different.” Close the warning. Your grids should look like Figure 20.8.
  9. 9. Close out of any warnings stating that new items have been renamed. This is inconsequential information.

Now that the grids are being monitored, it’s time to look at what you can copy and monitor from your consultant’s models by configuring the Copy/Monitor settings.


Adjusting the Copy/Monitor Options


By copying the grids into the architectural model, you’re proceeding with the most common, and by far the safest, function of this command. If you do choose to copy and monitor items such as foundations and columns, you can automatically replace the items being copied with an alternate component. For example, you can use Copy/Monitor on a foundation wall that is 12˝ thick but automatically replace it with a foundation wall that is 10˝ thick. Note that this example emphasizes something you would not want to do; be careful while replacing components you get from the structural model.

f2008.tif

FIGURE 20.8 The copied grids


The objective of the next procedure is to look at the Copy/Monitor settings. Follow along:



  1. 1. On the Copy/Monitor tab, click the Options button on the Tools panel, as shown in Figure 20.9.
    f2009.tif

    FIGURE 20.9 The Options button on the Tools panel of the Copy/Monitor tab


  2. 2. Notice that Revit will replace any column indiscriminately with a 24˝-square concrete column. Click into the first column category, and replace the entry with Copy Original Type (see Figure 20.10).
    f2010.tif

    FIGURE 20.10 Changing to Copy Original Type


  3. 3. Change the rest of the columns to Copy Original Type, and click OK.
  4. 4. On the Copy/Monitor panel of the Copy/Monitor tab, click Finish, as shown in Figure 20.11.
  5. 5. Save the model.
f2011.tif

FIGURE 20.11 Clicking Finish


You now have a relationship with the structural model. Next, you’ll put this relationship to the test and generate a coordination alert. I suppose you could say that the honeymoon is over!


Coordination Alert


Suddenly you’ve been thrust into a completely different way of working. You have a structural model inserted into your architectural model that will bark at you every time something changes. There’s nothing wrong with that. Sure, occasionally there will be some annoyances, but these occasional irritations are a small concession for being truly tied in with the structure.


When something changes in the structural model that is involved with an active monitor, you’ll be alerted. This alert will occur either when you open your model or when you reload the linked Revit file.


To review the coordination alert, follow this procedure:



  1. 1. Save and close your model.
  2. 2. Open the NER-31_STRUCTURAL.rvt model.
  3. 3. In the NER-31_STRUCTURAL.rvt model, open the Level 2 structural view; rename grid 2.1 to 2.2, and rotate it 5° as shown in Figure 20.12.
  4. 4. Save the model, and close it.
    f2012.tif

    FIGURE 20.12 Moving grid 2.2


  5. 5. Open the architectural model. You may see the warning shown in Figure 20.13.
    f2013.tif

    FIGURE 20.13 Coordination alert


  6. 6. Click OK to continue opening the model.
  7. 7. Go to Level 1.
  8. 8. Select the link (you may have to hover your mouse over one of the grids and press the Tab key).
  9. 9. On the Monitor panel of the Modify | RVT Links tab, click the Coordination Review button, as shown in Figure 20.14.
    f2014.tif

    FIGURE 20.14 The Coordination Review button on the Monitor panel of the Modify | RVT Links tab


  10. 10. In the Coordination Review dialog, expand the category for the Grids (under the New/Unresolved category), as shown in Figure 20.15.
  11. 11. Expand the Grid Moved category.
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Aug 3, 2021 | Posted by in Building and Construction | Comments Off on 20: Importing and Coordinating Revit Models
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