Revit to Max Linking!

[3ply]

Anyone having problems when linking a revit model into Max? I would perfer to model everything in Max but I'm forced to use a revit model that was created by someone else.

 

I'm currently using Revit 2011 - export as a FBX file - reference link the file into Max. Then I apply materials and fix any modeling problems from the Revit model. This process seems simple but I've run into several issues. Issue 1 - I will save my Max file and reopen it and my linked FBX file has bounding boxes around every missing object and a window complains missing FBX DLL. Issue 2 - when reloading the FBX file the Model will appear twice in my scene.

 

Both issues don't occur everytime. I can save the file and close it, then reopen and it and no problem. Reloading the FBX file is also hit or miss. I found out if I close max and reopen the model will only have 1 instance. Seems to be very buggy!

 

I'm using windows 7 64bit Max Design 2012 and Revit 2011 Both are up-to-date with service packs and patches

[beestee]

Up to Revit 2011, we had issues with materials and the FBX format. Supposedly some of this has been addressed for the 2012 release but we have not had the opportunity to test it ourselves yet. Perhaps try out the trial for 2012 and see if it handles it better for the issues that you mentioned?

 

We were able to get pretty consistent material results by exporting from Revit as acad polymesh, but the resulting file can get cumbersome on large/complex models. Perhaps one of the acad methods would work better for you?

 

Back when we were doing a lot of this, we found that reload was buggy as well. To work around this, we would just do a new link to the updated file in addition to the old link to maintain materials, then just detach the old version.

Edited July 13, 2011 by beestee

[hockley91]

I have never had that problem before. I was using Revit 2011 at one point with 3DS Max 2012 and it went pretty smoothly. I prefer the .FBX file linking because you can import by material which helps incredibly. However, with the issue you are having, you may need to dumb down your model and bring it in as a .dwg. Have you tried importing the .fbx instead of linking?

 

It is entirely possible that the Revit model has some bugs in it. If the section boxes are showing up during the linking, then maybe you could do some tests. Turn off the section boxes in the Revit file and link it again and see if that changes things. Is the Revit file a large file also?

[3ply]

The last few days I haven't had a problem...I think one problem may have been when I was reloading the FBX model I had both the "Use scene material definitions" and "Use scene material assignments on reload" checked. After unchecking the first I haven't had any problems with reloading.

 

The FBX file is about 35 megs. I started with importing the FBX first then realized someone else was going to keep updating the revit model so I opted for linking. Seems to be working fairly good now.

 

I wish I can group the entire FBX model so I can hide it when modeling in Max. I hate using the layer manager in Max turning objects off.

 

I could upgrade to 2012 for revit but none of our consultants are using this version so we are forced to wait til everyone upgrades.

[hockley91]

I could upgrade to 2012 for revit but none of our consultants are using this version so we are forced to wait til everyone upgrades.

 

They REALLY need to fix this issue. We have the same problem over here. No one is really using 2012. Up until recently our consultants were still using 2010!