When a recent update to Autodesk Desktop Connector forced a migration to Autodesk Docs, file paths were generally change like this:
FROM – C:\Users\USERNAME\BIM 360\YOURFOLDERS
TO – C:\Users\USERNAME\ACCDocs\YOURFOLDERS
If you were doing some interesting tricks with BIM 360 Docs, and sharing and federating Revit models as non-initiated files on BIM 360, you may find that links were broken and “Not Found” in Manage Links after that latest Desktop Connector installation.
But don’t worry! You can just set a symbolic link to point from the old BIM 360 Docs location, to the new location. The Command Prompt script looks like this:
The moment after this script was run, I was able to hit Reload from Manage Links in Revit and the new location was detected and links were loaded successfully. Note that they still appear in Revit as if they are in the old location, but really it is reading the latest data from Autodesk Docs, and that new location is being updated by Autodesk Desktop Connector.
At this stage it appears those links are still working, as the Revit CollaborationCache is a different technology to the simple file sharing mechanism of Autodesk Docs.
The IFC for Revit addins that improve IFC import and export functionality are maintained at this GitHub site for versions newer than Revit 2018. In the past 2 weeks, updates have been release for all current Revit versions, and I have collected the direct links for you below. Note that the GitHub versions can be more up-to-date and current than the ones listed on the App Store.
If you want to check which version you currently have, you could use Start – Add or Remove Programs to do that without opening Revit:
checking Revit version in Add or Remove Programs
If you are inside a Revit model, you can use File – Export – IFC and check the version in the dialog box header:
If you are looking for Revit 2018 and older versions of the IFC for Revit addins, check out the SourceForge site instead.
The update for Revit 2019 was particularly significant. Release notes copied below:
General:
This version marks a significant milestone for IFC Exporter as it is now IFC4 Reference View certified (for Architectural Export and Structural Export Exchange Requirements)
New Features/Improvements:
Export of Area can now be assigned to IfcSpatialZone in addition to the default IfcSpace using IfcExportAs
Support exporting IfcGroup using ZoneGroupName parameter
Improved heuristic for assigning color to polygonal face sets
Improved handling to support for direct export of polygonal face geometry in IFC4
Support for IfcShapeAspect in other objects that have part geometries
Improved handling of Complex Property in the PropertySet definition
General improvements to support IFC4 based geo-referencing information with addition UI in export, and integration to the information found inside Revit file (usually comes from AutoCAD or Civil3D)
Reorganize the location for Exchange Requirement setting in the header of IFC File to be less hidden (now located right after the IFC version in export option UI)
Updates shared parameter definitions and Property set definitions based on the latest IFC4 (4.4.0.2.2) specifications
Support allowing a predefined type for standard walls on export
General improvements dealing with objects with many holes
Added basic support to export Area as IfcSpatialZone entity
Bug Fixes:
Export bug fixes:
Fixed error during export for a specific object that became invalid in the export process with “Store the IFC GUID in an element after export” option
User defined property set can now be exported for IfcGeographiElement
Fixed export failure when ZoneClassificationName is set to Room for exporting IfcZone
Corrected GrossVolume quantity information with the correct unit
Fixed exporting issue for a Ceiling containing Arc geometry
Fixed issue with duplicate steel connection geometries or missing connection
Fixed issue with IFC export – steel connection steel connection elements missing or wrongly exported
Fixed issue on missing ceiling geometries in IFC4 RV export mode
Fixed issue on objects with Parts that is below the first (lowest) level
Fixed issue with export Roof in some cases
Fixed crash issue if the “Rasters” are set to be exported to “IFCGrid”
Fixed issue with IFC option “export links as separate models” causes wrong object placement
Improved export Parts functionality
Fixed issue that IFC Version doesn’t update when changing the “In-Session setup”
Fixed IsExternal calculation on element types to correctly determine value
New shared parameter assigned to Curtain walls is now exported when exporting from Revit to Navisworks
Update category mapping to deal with IfcSpaceTypes and IfcOpeningTypes
Fixed issue with incorrect slab thickness when Opening IFC in Revit
Fixed some issues on export with different coordinate base
Fixed some issues on exporting Wall elements
Improved handling reserved Windows name
Export HVAC_HEAT_GAIN with current units (Watts)
Removed duplicate base quantity NetSideArea exported for walls
Improved export with the Property Set option “Export schedules as property sets”
Fixed issue with IFC4 Reference view, which fails for some models from Factory Live
Update the CSIORG link in the IFC exporter
Changed IfcGeometricRepresentationContext from “Annotation” to “Plan”
ClassificationCode(2) is now processed during export even if ClassificationCode is missing
Corrected Area quantity property of doors
Improved Materials export, that works for some floors but not others of the same type
Fixed issue with wrong Base Quantity information in some scenarios in IFC export 2×3 Coordination View
Fixed issues with warnings are shown when exporting to IFC4RV in some models
Improved Railings import to Revit via IFC
Properly convert this Flow_Rate parameter on Export
Corrected 2D CurtainWall door swing on IFC Export
Nested curtain wall element now will get proper parameters while export to IFC
IFC-Export configuration will now remember the previous settings including: “Project Origin/Coordinate Base”
Improved exporting of Material parameter
Improved IFC4 RV Exchange Requirement, which may be missing when File Header is not initialized
Support allowing a predefined type for standard railings on export
Fixed IFC4 “opening as recess” code for ReinforcingMesh case
Fixed issue with IFC export where some geometries are exported slightly longer extrusion
Fixed issue with IfcGeographicElement not exporting user-defined PropertySets
Import bug fixes:
Improved Rebar import
Improved import of Windows that are not cutting a wall in a linked or opened IFC
Recognize the angle between Project North and Survey Point properly in Revit IFC import/link
Improved import of Columns that may be placed in the wrong location on IFC Link in some cases
Improved import of beam cover
Fixed issue with Certain Tekla IFC geometry not visible when using Link IFC
Improved link IFC that may have incorrect geometry imported for some cases
Improved Link IFC file in Revit that in some cases failed with the model empty and an error appears in log file
Fixed issue with translation IFC having mm units using Revit IFC loader makes default model view small unexpectedly on LMV
Fixed issue related to invalid/corrupt IFC files that “load” without any errors
Improved link IFC file properly inside Revit 2020
Grids placed by IFCOFFSETCURVE2D will be placed at open IFC in the correct unit
Fixed issue with multiple versions of the same IFC file get loaded into Revit Cloud Worksharing Host resulting in duplicate geometry
Improve the structure in Link IFC that may end up upside down
Fixed missing material information upon import IFC
Avoid duplicate instance and type names when linking in an IFC file
Improved creation of Geometry which may be missing for some IFC models
Fixed issue for some IFC files that failed to show in BIM 360 viewer
IFC link – model is now correctly positioned when there is rotation component in IFCSite local placement
Improved issue due to “bad” data involving Wall with zero thickness inside the IFC file that caused differences between IFC from Allplan opened/imported vs linked in Revit
Improved handling of detailed geometry containing IfcAdvancedBrep in REVIT 2020 and 2021
Improved slab elements import which may be missing in some IFC file
Corrected IfcPort ConnectedTo IfcGUID information that contained its own GUID instead of the GUID of its connected Port
Known Issues/additional notes:
This release still contains issue that Steel Connections may not be exported correctly
Export configuration “IFC2x2 ePlan Check” has been removed as it is already obsolete. If there is any saved configuration, the option will be automatically assign to IFC2x3 as default
Revit lets you model things that you can’t necessarily build, which shouldn’t surprise us given that “Revit was intended to allow architects and other building professionals to design and document a building” 🙂 wiki
However, in recent times Revit is getting used more and more for fabrication workflows, with core Revit features, addins, and Dynamo scripts developing to make that happen.
With that in mind, I was shared something recently and simply had to share it… check out the video below:
Basically it shows how we can quickly cut up impossibly long modelled Revit elements (like Pipes) into more ‘buildable’ fabrication lengths. Cool! The video also discusses how appropriate generic fabrication content could really begin to bridge the gaps between Revit models and actual things you can buy off the shelf.
Thanks to Nathan Moore for sharing this! And credit also to Jeremy Tammik and Pablo Derendinger.
I think we will inevitably see more and more automations like this that connect Revit to real fabrication and procurement workflows. Feel free to share your thoughts and ideas in the comments!
From the video comments:
Are you paying for a Revit M/P Fabrication add in or using ITMs to route and coordinate to LOD400? I think there is an opportunity to use native Revit to accomplish this. A properly “parameterized” fitting family combined with the correct pipe types and routing preferences would allow native Revit to produce what you need.
Some related thoughts and ideas from Nate here, pointing out a common problem with modelling generally (that in order to model accurately, you often have to select some kind of proprietary brand / make / model first):
I am in a situation (and I think most other companies are in similar situations) where I am not necessarily the final decision maker on the “BRAND” of pipe/fittings that we end up buying. There is a fundamental disconnect I think in the industry that fabrication software providers want to provide MANUFACTURER SPECIFIC items to help streamline the downstream purchasing/install/warehousing operations… My solution is to create a “SPEC DRIVEN” family library (similar to how duct works) so I can simply have an “ASTM SCH40 Welded” system or a similar Grooved system etc. That way the families placed will adhere to the spec and allow more flexibility downstream for the buyers/warehouse.
Every now and then you come across a project that is still using a super-old version of Revit (remember Revit 2017? Yeah, it was released about 5 years ago…) You might have found that your old versions of Revit have actually stopped working or stopped activating due to Autodesk license system changes.
So… how can you get access to Revit 2017 or other old Revit versions? As recent as November 2020, Autodesk enabled access as shown below:
So you can use, at this point back to 2015 and next year and when the software advances to the new version in April, this will change to 2016.
There shouldn’t be any need to apply for the extra previous licenses. The seats won’t show up in the Autodesk Account however and you need to access the installers via AVA. https://ava.autodesk.com/
Please note that 2017 Autodesk software supports the login method. That means that you will not use a serial number when the install the software. You should gain access to 1 seat of the 2017 Revit for every applicable Revit product that you own on subscriptions. By assigning Revit to a user you will effectively grant them access to all versions so you don’t need to specifically assign 2017.”
As simple as that! Just use AVA to download and install the older version. See the short video below:
Thanks to Dave Murray from McGregor for the heads-up!
I was recently working on a multi-vector dataset comparison in Deep Space. We had received Revit, Navisworks and tabular data, and I was comparing 3 different data drops of that information, particularly for changes in the quantities of specific types of elements. A ‘data drop’ is a set of data or files that you receive at a given point in time.
In the course of exporting the Navisworks data through to CSV, I came across a specific problem – the number of rows in imported CSV did not match the number of elements processed. Why?
As you may know, you can store line breaks inside parameters in Revit. There are very few good reasons to do this, but it still does happen. Once this happens, those line breaks need to be processed by tools down stream. I spent a lot of time in the early days of Deep Space figuring out how to ‘clean’ bad Revit data so we could still bring it into the platform for analysis. Usually, if the CSV writer or reader are smart enough, they should be able to deal with this problem. However, I discovered a bit of a gap in the available tools this time. What was the problem?
It turns out that the CSV was malformed, it was actually dirty or bad data. While it did have the line breaks, it did not consistently use double quotes to contain fields. So we had the situations where there would be line breaks that were inside the CSV fields or columns, but not inside double quotes. I tried a lot of different CSV readers, including Excel, LibreOffice, Google Sheets and PowerBI / PowerQuery, but they all tripped up at this data. Because they were using the rule ‘new line = new row of data’, the imported CSV information was coming in mangled.
How can we clean this data? We generally know there should be 17 fields or 16 commas per row of data. But we also know there can be line breaks inside fields… so it is a challenge to map a data row to CSV lines. In some cases 2 or 3 lines of CSV data might still just be one row of actual data.
After trying to use various out of the box solutions, I decided to build some Python code to try and solve this. I used Dynamo Sandbox 1.3 to do this, primarily out of habit, not because it is the best Python IDE out there 🙂 I ended up with a kind of line-merging iterator, here is some of the Python code below:
biglist = IN[0]
commact=[]
for ctr in range(len(biglist)):
astr=biglist[ctr]
strct=astr.count(',')
commact.append(strct)
counted=range(len(biglist))
fixedstr=[]
bad=[]
skips=[]
incr=0
for ctrx in range(len(biglist)):
if ctrx==skips:
pass
elif commact[ctrx]==16:
fixedstr.append(biglist[ctrx])
elif commact[ctrx]>16:
fixedstr.append(biglist[ctrx])
elif commact[ctrx]+commact[ctrx+1]==16:
jnr=[]
jns=biglist[ctrx]+biglist[ctrx+1]
fixedstr.append(jns)
skips=ctrx+1
else:
bad.append(ctrx)
OUT = bad, fixedstr, commact, counted
What does it do? Essentially, it counts the number of delimeters (commas) on one line, then it processes or merges lines based on that information.
This actually got me around 90% of the way there. Then I still had to do some manual fixes of things like ‘double double quotes’ that were also tripping up the CSV readers.
Above is a snapshot of the Dynamo script. And here is the script for download:
I have recently developed a few Material and Object Procurement and Tracking solutions, primarily using Deep Space and Revizto together. These workflows also involved IFCs converted into Revit, so we could automatically set tracking parameters from Deep Space data back into Revit, and colourise the models. When converting Revit to IFC, I usually use IFC Link functionality, primarily for speed and geometric integrity.
However, some DirectShape objects created by IFC Link cannot be overridden in Revit using traditional methods. Even after setting Revit parameters from Deep Space, and using Visibility/Graphics Filters, the elements simply will not allow their colours to be overridden using a Shaded Surface pattern. So, we have to find another way…
It turns out that Phase Filters are really the only way to solve this problem, as they override the elements at the Material level. There are a few pieces to the puzzle:
Set up the necessary Phase Filter, with each item set to Overridden (this allows for basically 4 status overrides in total)
Set Graphic Overrides – Material definitions to have the colours you want (by changing Phase – Exist material etc to the desired colour / material)
Set the Revit view to the correct Phase and Phase Filter, and Realistic view mode
Here are some screenshots of the above steps:
1 – Create Phase filter for visual Overrides
Next…
2 – Edit Revit Material to match desired visual Overrides
Then…
3 – Set the View Settings
Also…
Keep in mind if you are using Container Files you will need to Transfer Project Settings and bring across your
Finally…
Make sure your View is set to Realistic in Revit, if you truly want to see the Material Phase override in the Revit view.
As you know, Revizto is the best Integrated Collaboration Platform on the market today, especially if we are talking about AEC and BIM Coordination and Management. However, some people and companies still do things ‘the old way’. For example, some companies still create Viewpoints in Navisworks, share those Viewpoints as actions, and call that ‘coordination’ or ‘collaboration’ (which it really isn’t). Instead, with the Revizto ribbon in Navisworks, you can simply click Create Issue, Apply a Stamp, and immediately start collaborating with your team in the cloud.
But, we generally still have to sometimes work with people who do things ‘the old way’. So, if we still want to mainly work in Revizto, but we are receiving Navisworks Saved Viewpoints as a kind of action list, what then?
Revizto allows us to import BCF files. So all we need is a Navisworks addin that converts Saved Viewpoints to BCF files … and CASE built one of those back in the day! I previously posted about the CASE BCF Exporter here.
I spent some time over the last day or so downloading the repos, setting references, and fixing the Build problems. I have now built the Case BCF Exporter ( CASE.Navis2BCF ) for Navisworks 2018 and Navisworks 2021 (update – I have also compiled and test for Navisworks 2020 as well):
Install the plugins. In the downloaded package, there is a ReadMe file. Depending on version, it says:
Copy CASE.Navis2BCF folder into:
%APPDATA%Autodesk Navisworks Manage 2021Plugins
Restart Navisworks
Open View - Windows and enable "Case BCF Exporter"
Open your Navisworks model that includes Saved Viewpoints. Sometimes you may be sent a Viewpoint XML file and you need to import it to Navisworks.
Now, with the BCF Exporter panel open, click “Refresh List”. You should see clearly the Viewpoints that you want to Export as BCF. You may need use Shift+select to select and Remove any Viewpoints from the BCF Exporter list that you DON’T want in the BCF.
With your shorter list showing, click Export Issues
Save the .bcfzip file when prompted. A descriptive name will be useful later, as the issues will be tagged with the filename.
Open Revizto Viewer and open the Issue Tracker
Click down arrow to Import issues from BCF
Select the BCFzip file you saved, then click Open
Now, the issues (including Camera location and Markup image) are all imported to Revizto from Navisworks Saved Viewpoints!
To quickly view these, open the Filters, Custom Filter, go to Tags, and choose the relevant BCF filename from here:
I would love to go ahead and build the plugin for Navisworks 2019 and 2020, so I will update the post here when that is done.
Hope this helps some of you to keep using Revizto to maximum efficiency, even if some people around you are still doing things ‘the old way’ 🙂
UPDATE:
I have now compiled for Navisworks 2020 and tested it.
Revizto is known for listening to its clients and responding rapidly. We received lots of feedback from Revizto customers who wanted to manage the Company, Department and Location of users. In the past, you had to manage users in Revizto with only one piece of metadata – User Tags. But now we have released an update to user management that adds these fields:
Company,
Department, and
Location
How do you use these features?
First, you should enable the new metadata fields. Here’s how:
Select your License, then select ‘License info’ from the “Tools” drop down list
Then, tick ‘Company‘, ‘Department‘ and ‘Office location‘ in the “Show additional user fields” area:
Congratulations! You have enabled the additional fields.
Second, how do you set those fields? Here’s how:
Login to Revizto web workspace, and choose ‘User directory‘ from the “Tools” drop down list
To set 1 field – tick the box on the left, then to Set Company, choose ‘Set company’ from the drop down list under “More”
Type the Company name, click ‘Create new’ and then Set
To set fields in Batch or Multiple– filter the users first (you could use existing User Tags for this)
Use the top tick box to select all, then immediately use the Set company fields as described above:
Third, how do you use those fields in Dashboards? Here’s how:
Login to the web workspace, then go to Tools – ‘Cross Project Dashboards‘
Make a new Dashboard and Chart
Within the new Chart, you can use the new Grouping fields – “Assignee company”, “Assignee department”, “Assignee location”. Those fields are also available for Reporters of issues.
Congratulations! You have now added fields, set data, and you can use that data in Dashboards
Fourth– when you export the User directory with “Export to Excel“, you will now see those additional fields as shown below:
Along with the above, you can now also batch import users from an Excel file. How?
From the User directory, click + Add users
Then choose ‘Import from file‘ and follow the steps to import and map data to Revizto user fields
Here is a list of all the new features released this week in the web workspace in Revizto:
Additional fields for users with the ability to filter and group by them (company, department, location)
Ability to add users from excel files
Displaying action logs in a license for client admins (you can understand who added a specific person to a license or project, who changed rights, who removed a person from a license or project)
Adding the ability for a cumulative graph in statistics
Fix the creation of RFI
Translation of workspace into other languages
Full credit to the awesome web development team at Revizto for these useful enhancements and new features!
Also, we are currently running a closed beta of Revizto v5.0 with some of our Revizto power users – you might start to see some of the version 5 features coming out now on social media, so keep your eyes open for that 🙂
You might receive a message like this when opening a model in Revit:
Missing Third Party Updaters
An Updater is a piece of code that basically works to continuously sync a Revit model with some external properties or logic. In this case, the updaters missing included:
REXExtension: DReinfFootingSpread
REXExtension: DReinfWall
REXExtension: DReinfColumn
This was in a Structural design model that I received in Revit 2017 format, and I then upgraded to Revit 2018.
I then tried to install the “Structural Precast Extension” for Revit 2018 – but the error still appeared.
After that, I installed the “Revit Extensions for Autodesk Revit 2018” package.
Which appears on this Extensions Ribbon:
This solved the problem – the “Missing Third Party Updater” message did not appear again when opening this model in Revit 2018.
On this particular project, I’m acting in my usual Strategic BIM and VDC Implementation capacity, and we are rolling out our typical software stack to a large project team. This includes:
Setting up BIM360 for Revit cloud worksharing, federating models in Revit and creating control model/s
Syncing data to Deep Space – we will immediately use Deep Space for project quantification, compliance, and model compare between Tender dataset and current Revit dataset
Exporting models to Revizto for team review and collaboration
Over the past few years we have been building and refining a data platform for AEC and Infrastructure projects – we call it Deep Space. It has allowed us to manage huge projects, develop powerful analytics, and increase productivity and efficiency with automations.
We just released a brand new version of our Revit addin, check out the first demonstration video here:
