Generative Design does not work with Revit

I’am strugling to get the Generative Design tool actualy to work in Revit2021. + 21.9.4.0 for Generative Design (There finally seem to be real live request for Generative Design yeah :smiley:)

I made the most simple script possible. Updated all the software. Checked SandBox is oke. But still creating a study does not work for those parts that require more than simply Dynamo stuff. The Data.Remember does work in Sandbox but not in GD. And another example is the Solar Analysis Package. Only the Dynamo part does work and give result. No geometry visible AND no values.

Also example scripts like Grid Object Placement.dyn do not work. Only in Dynamo.Or the part of a script with only Dynamo.

Next thing I could think about is a network problem.
The Generative Design script are not local.
And perhaps some parts do not have enough permission to do the job.

Any idea? Anybody?


basic script in Dynamo

basic script in sandbox

explore - only Dynamo stuff

The example solar analysis script in the extra dir.

Hi @T_V_werk

Did you update Revit 2021?

image

Yes I did - the same version as in your image.
I did hope that was the problem.

I’ve had a similar error when an Output has the same value for all variations. The Revit element doesn’t change so this could be the the issue for your Revit volumes. Just as a test, what happens if you add the Dynamo volume to your Revit volume outputs?

I changed things as you suggested.
Dynamo SandBox works fine.
But Generative Design still does not work :frowning: besides the Dynamo part of the script.

A little update. We experience exactly the same problems on other computers in our firm.

In the screenshot of your graph from the initial post, it looks like you’ve blocked your output watch node with a gate node. That gate going to prevent data from flowing to the output when the graph is executed in GD.

The only time you’ll need to use a gate node is when your graph includes nodes that will create or modify elements in the Revit workspace (ex: FamilyInstance.ByPoint). As a general rule, output nodes should never be downstream of gate nodes.

That’s correct Nate.
Still the Watch Nodes before the Gate should give output. And they don’t at the moment.

New updates:

  • tested with deactivated local virusscanner - still not working
  • tested at home with old Revit 2021, old GD version, Dynamo 2.5 - it works as it should
  • tested at home with an update on GD 21.9.4.0 - it works as it should
  • tested at home with Revit 2021.1.1 en Dynamo2.6 - it works as it should

So there seems to be a problem related to our office network or rights or something.
Any idea what could be the next step?
It does not seem possible to change the location where the files are stored.

Is the Documents directory on your office computer configured like a default Windows Documents directory (C:\Users{username}\Documents…) or is it redirected to some kind of network drive?

I’ll ask next week what is going on behind the scene. I really want this to work. And not only for me. :crossed_fingers:

Good question Nate.
Earlier this week we did some testing together with the IT department of 1.

Our documents directory seems to be redirected (synchronized ?) to a network drive.
In that way, users are not limited to our own computer. And there is also a good backup system.
If software tries to do something ‘illegal’ in this environment we get an automated warning. But that does not happen in this case. The GD tool simply does not work without fault (remember nodes etc.).

If we start Revit as an Administrator it does work. But in that case the *dyn files etc. are stored in a local admin user directory. So nice test but not really a solution.

He did not seem very pleased to know about all the files that GD placed in ‘his’ network.
Furthermore I do not think that this IT solution is very unique. There must be more companies having trouble with GD scripts. Isn’t it possible that users can actually pinpoint a specific directory for this?

And is there a workaround for now?
I want to create scripts that other people in our company can use ‘on the fly’.

Thanks for digging into this.

I think the root of the problem here that the background Dynamo instances that GD manages are running into Windows permissions issues when trying to load the packages that are bundled with each GD script. Which is why running Revit as an admin gets around the issue. That’s not a great solution since not everyone has the ability to use admin privileges, but that’s the only short-term workaround I can offer in your specific case for now.

We’re actually working on some new features right now that will let users point GD to a list of different locations on disk, so we can get away from forcing people to store all of their study types in a single location. You described the exact use case we’re trying to enable - Dynamo authors should be able to place scripts in a centralized location, and other users on the network can consume them from GD.

Could you DM me your email address? I have some more questions about how your company handles syncing Dynamo scripts and packages within your network.

Thanks Nate for the reply.
It is good to hear that you and others are working on a real solution.
For the moment I will mark your reply as a solution. It is as good as it gets for the moment.
And I will DM you my email adress.