Hello Everyone,
So I am very new to Dynamo (and Revit and Rhino)… I have a deadline and I am starting to lose all hope.
It is not a very original subject but I am quite lost right now.
So, I have a Rhino file, that I exported in SAT by layer with the origin. I assembled this geometry in dynamo. And I want to put it into Revit.
It seems to work fine (I have my entire bridge in dynamo) until the last node(importinstance .bygeometries).
You can see that i tried to do it with only one layer.
But then Nothing happens in Revit. I tried to do that in a blank georeferenced revit project. And it seems that Revit acknowledge some kind of import in the VV window.
Any suggestion?
Thanks a lot 
I don’t do a lot of geometry importing but have you tried DirectShape?
@timothee.holla Check if the project units in Revit match the imported geometry units
Can you preview the results of the ImportInstance.ByGeometries node? May be a units or distance from origin issue.
Maybe try some other export formats from Rhino directly into Revit - SAT | DWG | DGN | SKP | DXF (if desperate!)
For SketchUp, export from Rhino as Collada DAE, save as SKP format for Revit.
Also note that Revit only accepts SOLIDS as import Geometry cleanly; Revit really doesn’t have any true support for 2D mesh objects.
I note that in your graph you have lots of Surfaces - these probably need to have an extruded thickness added for Revit to recognise them correctly as geometry.
Lastly - the georeferencing is also likely to be a major issue - if your object in Rhino is more than 9144m (Autodesk says 20 miles, but my Revit throws errors at 9144m. YMMV) from the origin Revit is likely to behave in strange random ways; including but not limited to, not showing your imported object.
Recenter your object closer to the origin in Rhino.
Also, as a veteran of over 30 years of ‘deadlines’ - leave the experimental stuff to when you’re not busy. Trying brand-new methods or software you’re unfamiliar with on a deadline will make you dead (or feel that way). Using well-practiced techniques makes ‘deadlines’ turn into nice successful projects that have you getting home on time while also producing something that looks awesome. Just sayin’.
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Hi…can you post some simple SAT files. I have projects and we use SAT files and successful on manipulating it both in Revit (generic models via host revit model). With dynamo hit and miss but generally successful. SAT files are ACIS solids but when in dynano it needs to be united Solids by union and be converted by a scale of 1000 (metric). There are few other nodes after. If you upload couple of SAT files as a test to dropbox or to any site we can download i dont mind helping out and sharing the graph. I also suggest doing it manually in revit it the recommended way especially if you dealing with hundreds of SAT files and also consider the file size. Conversion of for example 100mb SAT file can take 3 hours in dynamo. Doing it manually in revit is 30mins. I can help you also on doing this successfully using manual method if you do not know. Tnx
Hello,
I have like 20 SAT files to Import and the Idea is to make automatic because there is a lot of exchanges betwenn the Rhino model and the Revit one.
I have to convert by a scale of 1000 before the “import instance” or after?
I am not sure I understand everything, and when I look on the internet to change these units, i found that we have to work with the Revit API, which frankly worries me.
I tried doing it manualy in Revit, but I lose the geo referencing, so layers are not well put together.
If you can help that would be very much appriciated.
The SAT files :
My dynamo script for what its worth : https://we.tl/MQoXOW4tf2
Hello Vikram
I work in m in Revit.
The “dynamo geometry” is in mm is that it? Can we change that?
Hey Jacob,
When you say preview you mean a 3D Watch node ?
In that case I don’t have anything showing…
Hi,
To me it looks like the sat file coordinates are in meters.
Therefore you need to change the Revit Projects Units to meters before importing the geometry:
Hey Giovanni,
It was really easy for you … The units in Revit are already in m… I am going to try it with your script.
I already thank you!
I will have a look…it is before…scale it by 1000 to make it mm…i know its a bit odd to scale up rather than down to get to mm…anyways it looks like you got your answer already? Should i bother helping you now please advise? For testing purposes you may need to work with mm so you will see a better output on your workflow.
A regular watch node would do. I was looking to see if an instance is created by the node. If so I would have recommended you select it and isolate it in a 3D view worth a section box on. It would effectively had indicated the scale issue which @Giovanni_Brogiolo, @4bimfercesp and others have pointed out. Keep going with the scale issue though as I am fairly certain that’s the issue.
Hello,
So I tried… and good news! the elements shows up in the model. But I lose the georeferencing. Elements are not well put together when in Dynamo they are. I am tried to scale it up but revit tells me its too big and it’s going over the 1E9 lenght limit.
I am sorry, i feel a little bit like an idiot. With all those idiot questions.
Thank you for your help though
Thanks…this is where the solid by union comes into play…anyways you are welcome.
Forget the geo-referencing.
If you’ve modeled it in Rhino it’s not likely to be buildable-accurate yet, thus geo-ref is just wasting your precious time on a deadline.
Secondly forget the geo-referencing because Revit cannot correctly handle or display objects more than 9144m from the origin point. You’ll need to start mucking around with Survey & Base Points in Revit to get correct geo-ref.
For that matter, neither can Dynamo. If you’re working at a scale of mm then the largest object you can process is has a maximum dimension of 1000m (1000 x1000 mm). If you’re trying to geo-reference your units are going to be far larger than anything Dynamo or Revit can handle.
As it turns out, it looks like you had scale issues anyway.
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Hello Adrian,
I came to the same conclusion. I think i am going to lose the georef. And just assemble it correctly.
I thank you for your help. I learned a lot!
