My company uses proprietary BIM software that, when imported, comes into Revit as an Import Symbol. They have no solid surfaces or shapes. They are basically just 3D linework. I have been tasked with finding a way to get Revit to recognize them as solid objects for the purposes of clash detection, positional data, etc. I believe Dynamo might be one of my best chances to do so, but I’m pretty new to it. So does anyone know of a way to get Dynamo to turn 3D linework into solid objects within Revit?
The idea I’ve heard so far is by using the node “DirectShape.ByGeometry”, following the YouTube tutorial at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9sWcjZmqy8. Unfortunately, my company’s cybersecurity is preventing me from using the built-in Dynamo Package Manager, so if I have to use custom packages, I will need to install them manually, which I am not very confident actually works…
Direct shapes can be created by out of the box nodes that said direct shapes likely aren’t the best path forward - you will be quite limited by what you can do with them.
I’ve got precast columns, unistruts, pipes, fittings, equipment, etc., but they are currently all “import symbols”. My goal is to use Dynamo to automatically generate geometry that fits the dimensions of these import symbols that have been imported into a Revit project file. Any and all ideas on how I might be able to do this are welcome.
Well the best way to do this will vary by the object type.
I’d do these as column family instances.
Usually I’d do these as structural framing family instances or generic model family instances.
This would be done as pipe instances.
Fitting instances.
Specialty equipment or HVAC or Plumbing or… Either way there’s a category for a family instance here.
Basically you’re not going to get any better outcome by dumping the content in as direct shapes than you have linework - they’d be ‘in Revit’ but anyone who does a compliance review of the dataset will likely reject it outright as the content isn’t workable for one technical reason or another.
If you are looking for a quick ‘export-import’ workflow you’re likely be better off exporting from your other BIM software to an IFC (file.ifc) and importing that into a RVT, and working with the resulting file.ifc.rvt as if it were you export. That should preserve the most data and geometry possible with the least amount of effort.
If you don’t like that method and want ‘real Revit’ content, you’ll need to build the families above in native Revit format, then take your import and extract the type, location and associated data for all objects. That dataset ([type, location, data]) can then be used to create instances in the native format. This is not an easy workflow so plan on a heavy lift.