Dave Buckley Posted April 15, 2010 Share Posted April 15, 2010 Am I right in thinking that every time I link an FBX file into Max i have to make sure my System Units are set to Feet to avoid rescaling, as Revit automatically exports FBX files using feet as the measurement regardless of your Revit setup? I'm having major problems linking my FBX files in with my system units set at .mm or .cm, the file link just doesn't wanna play ball with these settings :$ Or does anyone know of a way of changing the units that Revit exports FBX files in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaronrumple Posted April 15, 2010 Share Posted April 15, 2010 (edited) What are the units set to in Revit? I haven't done any testing yet, but I've had no problems when working ft/inches in Revit and inches in Max. If you import rather than link do you get the same results? Just fyi: Revit works in one real world units system. It doesn't scale between systems like max and AutoCAD. This makes it easy to flip from english to metric in Revit. And have you selected the correct FBX filter from the drop down when you import? Note that the units is part of the FBX format and can be edited if you are doing a custom import filter. Edited April 15, 2010 by aaronrumple Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Buckley Posted April 15, 2010 Author Share Posted April 15, 2010 Sorry my explanation wasn't clear. Revit auto outputs fbx as feet. My max system units are mm. When I link the fbx the incoming units and rescale options are greyed out on the file link manager, meaning that whenever I link in an fbx to max I have to go and change my max system units to feet otherwise the import plays horrible in max. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Buckley Posted April 15, 2010 Author Share Posted April 15, 2010 Import isn't an option as the it defeats the object of the new fbx file link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaronrumple Posted April 15, 2010 Share Posted April 15, 2010 It seems Revit 2010 is always exporting units as feet. No way to change this in 2010. I don't know if it has been changed in 2011 to play better with Max 2011. (2011 just went live for download today...) I'm assuming your FBX file is from 2010(?) Least that's whay my testing currently shows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Buckley Posted April 15, 2010 Author Share Posted April 15, 2010 The file is from revit 2011. I've had it for a couple of days. Priveleges of workin for an autodesk reseller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaronrumple Posted April 15, 2010 Share Posted April 15, 2010 Well then - you should be telling me what it does... ;-) (I'm an ex-reseller....) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Buckley Posted April 15, 2010 Author Share Posted April 15, 2010 Haha which one? Revit is my secondary product and we have a dedicated revit guy who's out on site today otherwise I'd have asked him although I trust these forums more. I missed the reseller training for revit for the first time this year although the channel kickoff at the end of the month should give me a chance to bombard autodesk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaronrumple Posted April 15, 2010 Share Posted April 15, 2010 Haha which one? Revit is my secondary product and we have a dedicated revit guy who's out on site today otherwise I'd have asked him although I trust these forums more. I missed the reseller training for revit for the first time this year although the channel kickoff at the end of the month should give me a chance to bombard autodesk http://www.Hagerman.com We started reselling Revit just before it became part of Autodesk. All the old Revit guys are still over at http://www.augi.com. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Buckley Posted April 15, 2010 Author Share Posted April 15, 2010 Yup. I met at a few of them at the uk augi event last year. I think I did anyway. I let you know what I find out anyway but thanks for the help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfbreton Posted April 15, 2010 Share Posted April 15, 2010 Sorry my explanation wasn't clear. Revit auto outputs fbx as feet. My max system units are mm. When I link the fbx the incoming units and rescale options are greyed out on the file link manager, meaning that whenever I link in an fbx to max I have to go and change my max system units to feet otherwise the import plays horrible in max. Revit export in Feet no matter what, this is correct. If you are setting your units in max as mm, that means that 1 unit will translate as 300 units in max. You may be in a situation whre you reach the limit of max in terms of precision. Is this what you are referring as "plays horrible"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Buckley Posted April 15, 2010 Author Share Posted April 15, 2010 Well if I do the link with my max import with mm and hit zoom extents all, then my viewports don't chang and the model stays tiny and doesn't fill the viewports as expected. The model isn't very big, it's just one building. I just don't understand the point of having the rescale and incoming units options on the file link manager if you can't use them? The help document says you must change 3ds max system units to feet in order to avoid rescaling issues? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Buchhofer Posted April 15, 2010 Share Posted April 15, 2010 Thats all well and good, but system units changes wreak MAJOR havoc mid project with anything. haven't gotten a chance to work with the new stuff yet myself, looking forward to it "just working" though by the time i get the chance Blaze new ground friends! feed us workarounds! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Buckley Posted April 15, 2010 Author Share Posted April 15, 2010 Thats all well and good, but system units changes wreak MAJOR havoc mid project with anything. haven't gotten a chance to work with the new stuff yet myself, looking forward to it "just working" though by the time i get the chance Blaze new ground friends! feed us workarounds! My point exactly. It simply defeats the object for us metric workers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Hart Posted April 15, 2010 Share Posted April 15, 2010 Well if I do the link with my max import with mm and hit zoom extents all, then my viewports don't chang and the model stays tiny and doesn't fill the viewports as expected. The model isn't very big, it's just one building. I just don't understand the point of having the rescale and incoming units options on the file link manager if you can't use them? The help document says you must change 3ds max system units to feet in order to avoid rescaling issues? I had this problem just yesterday, and was trying to see if units were the problem. Turned out the Revit model was miles from the origin, due to the survey info used. After shifting the building near the origin it came in very well into Max 2011, and for the first time in years in a clean and usable manner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theqball Posted April 18, 2010 Share Posted April 18, 2010 My point exactly. It simply defeats the object for us metric workers have you tried to set your system units to feet and your display units to mm? this should avoid the issues you are seeing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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