Now here is something cool – Jon Mirtschin of Geometry Gym has been working on an IFC importer add-in for Revit (my previous post here) (current version 0.0.23 download direct here, or source page here).
What made me go ‘wow’ today was this: using this add-in, you can take an IFC file and import it as a Generic Model Adaptive Component in Revit 2012. You can select the points and adjust it just like ANY Adaptive Component – but it came from Grasshopper via IFC!
How to install (from the readme): Copy the following files to the appropriate Revit Addins folder, either “%AppData%AutodeskREVITAddins2013” or “%AppData%AutodeskREVITAddins2012”:
– ADNPlugin-eStorage.addin: add-in manifest – ADNPlugin-eStorage.bundle: bundle folder which contains all other supporting materials
In this 30 second video example, I take a PDF file and save it in the extensible storage of a Raster Image in Revit, then I Restore the contents back out of the image into a PDF file again!
Using the ‘List’ button shows all of the file data stored in extensible storage in the current RVT project.
This actually reminds me a little bit of VEO Archive (a model linked document library) … the concept of attaching documents and file data to elements in a Building Information Model is actually VERY powerful!
EDIT:
Guess what – you can also store this file data in family RFA files! Yay. For example, I opened a Door family and then attached a PDF to a Text Note. I then loaded this into a project, closed the source family, and opened it again FROM the project – and the extensible data stays with the Family.
How about this for an idea – set up a File Browser drafting view with Text Notes. Then, attach project related documents to these notes using eStorage.
This could be very handy in a Worksharing scenario as a way to push out Meeting Minutes / Agendas / Deadline documents inside the Revit model
You could even scale this idea up to Revit Server as a way to track, update and distribute project related documents throughout the globe!
EDIT 4:
What about embedding your Project Standards as a RVT file in eStorage? Whenever you want to Transfer Project Standards, just save the file out, open it and go for it.
Autodesk have published an add-in for Revit 2013 that automates the upgrading of RFA, template and RVT files.Go here.
File Upgrader will batch upgrade previous versions of Revit files to the Revit 2013 format. The tool is intended to help upgrade family contents, template files as well as project files. Every time users open a Revit file which was saved in a previous version of Revit, a standard dialog is displayed in the Revit user interface stating that the file is being upgraded. During the display of this dialog, Revit tries to upgrade the document to the current version. This slows down the process of opening a file. To save time opening older file versions during each of the subsequent attempts to open the file, users can manually open each of the Revit files and save it to the current version. This can be time consuming if there is a large set of files to upgrade across various folders and sub-folders. The File Upgrader tool saves time and manual labor by automating this process. This plug-in was first published as an ADN Plugin of the Month: http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/ADN_plugins. The plug-in has been provided with the complete source code needed to build the application, with the intention of encouraging users of Autodesk software to use programming to tailor the products they use to their specific business needs.
Additional info from the documentation provided below:
Usage Inside your Revit-based application, go to “Add-ins” tab ⇒ “Upgrader” panel ⇒ “File Upgrader” to start the command. Clicking this button starts the command and launches the “Revit File Upgrader” dialog.
Under the “Source” text box, specify the location of the folder where previous versions of Revit files resides. Similarly, in the “Destination” box, specify the folder where the upgraded filers will be saved.
Check the file types you would like to upgrade; you can upgrade .rvt, .rfa, and .rte files. By default, .rvt and .rfa are checked.
Press the “Upgrade” button to start the upgrade.
Once upgrade starts, Revit will open a file one by one, and save in the destination folder. The progress can be monitored in the list box at the lower part of the dialog.
After the upgrade process is completed, a dialog box is displayed with the total count of succeeded files over total number of files confirming the completion of upgrade. The status messages are also save as a log file, UpgraderLog.txt, in the destination folder.
For some reason, if the files fail the automatic upgrade process, the users can check the log file, and manually open the files and save them to the current version after resolving the conflicts/errors using the Revit user interface.
The tool handles nested folders. It also handles catalog files (.txt files) if it exists, copying them to the destination folder.
While using this tool, please ensure that the target folder is not nested inside the source folder.
Known Issues This plug-in only works when there is an active document in Revit.
After running the plug-in, the last document remains open in the Revit’s User Interface. The file is saved, but the user will have to manually close it.
These are due to the current limitation of API. We hope to address it in future.
Personally, I like the Component Commander and Open Folder tools. Open Folder is a button that simply opens Windows Explorer to the folder of the currently active Project or Family – very handy! (This is also a good way to find out the internally saved file location of a family – just click Edit Family from the Project Browser, then hit the Revved Open Folder button…)
ReVVed is a collection of Revit extensions that have been designed with the draftsperson in mind. ReVVed turns repetitive tasks into one click commands. These commands work with architecture, structure and MEP flavors of Revit. Commands like:
Text Tools – merge multiple text notes into a single note or change the case of notes.
Component Commander – allows loaded components to be searched and found easier.
Web Link – opens a web browser to the URL stored in Revit components.
Polyline – adjust the total length of end-to-end lines. (Like travel distances)
Open Folder – opens Windows Explorer to the folder where the project or linked file is located.
Project Commander – store critical information about the currently open project in a handy place.
You can downloadReVVed 2011 or ReVVed 2012 for free. Current versions are 2011 release 4 and 2012 release 2. Find out what’s new!
Finally, an easy way to access and install Revit add-ins! There is already a good selection of free tools available, like Auto Section Box and an alternate IFC Export UI:
To get there, just press the ‘X’ icon in the upper right corner:
These are the latest Revit 2012 Files available for download. They are ready for use but the documentation is very out-of-date: Note: These are compiled with 64-bit Revit and Windows 7, and .NET 4.0. I’m not sure of the effect if you don’t have these. 2012-03-21 WhiteFeetMenuSetR2012.zip 2011-06-31 WhiteFeetMenuDocumentation R2012.zip You’ll need an addin file. Note that you need to edit the path in it to the location where you put the other files. (See installation instructions below.) WfRevitRibbonPanel2012AddIn.zip
Here is a link to a new blog by Tim Grimm. Each post features a new Revit add-in: some free, and some commercial. Check it out: Revit Add-Ons
I made a bit of a list of free Revit add-ins myself a while ago, but things change very quickly in the Revit development scene. Here is my old post: Free Revit add-ins, get your free Revit add-ins…
Go to http://apps.exchange.autodesk.com/ and click Autodesk Revit on the drop-down list. A number of free add-ins are already available.
Autodesk Exchange has been active for AutoCAD for a while now, but it looks like this will become a somewhat ‘official’ delivery method for add-ins in the future (think Autodesk Seek for add-ins…)
Whether you prefer C# or VB.Net for Revit API add-in development is probably a matter of preference. So for those of you who haven’t heard yet:
Based on popular demand, we have now added new VB.NET samples. So regardless whether you are new to this training or have already gone through it once with the C# code, now is your chance to choose the language you prefer, C# or VB.Net, at www.autodesk.com/myfirstrevitplugin.
