Revit to max workflow wishes

[philvanderloo]

My kingdom for a thorough and comprehensive video tutorial on Revit to 3ds max design workflow.

I keep trying different methods based on what I'm reading in the forums and I still haven't found a bullet proof system. Everything I try seems to have some annoying glitch.

I don't really have a kingdom though,.....

Yet

[Guest dialog]

Well what is your goal? Keep them linked? Bring it in and bind it?

 

Or teach revit users how to make good models for once?

[philvanderloo]

My goal- show me the best way to take my Revit models and make them play nicer with Max. I would like to keep it linked so when the client makes changes to the plans I can reload to Max and make the adjustments needed.

Currently I name my Revit files by client name, i.e., Smith.rvt, etc. When I want to bring it into max I save it under a different name Smith4Max.rvt Now, do I erase all the components I don't need to show in max? hide in view? What's the best way to apply materials for easy editing in max? currently I import by material. But when I select a door and want to apply a different material in max to the jamb, panel, threshold, whatever, what's the easiest way to make these components able to be selected individually in max?

Right now, when I import files from Revit, even if I select all and do a reset xform, my scale is still jacked up and I can't figure out how to fix this. If I bring in other models I've created previously and try to use, say, profiles for sweeps, etc., it doesn't work cause the scales aren't right??

I can go on and on but the first sentence of this reply pretty much sums it up.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53d3DGrbRQE

Edited March 6, 2014 by philvanderloo

[philvanderloo]

For the record, This thread isn't so much about getting answers to the 2 or 3 issues highlighted above as it was about wishing for a comprehensive tutorial on the whole process.

My issues with Revit to Max go WAY beyond the few things mentioned in the last reply.

[Ismael]

http://area.autodesk.com/blogs/eddie/revit_to_3dsmax_with_vray_workflow

http://www.nzdan.com/white-papers/revit-technology-conference-2010

[philvanderloo]

Thanks Ismael but these vids are mostly about setting up renders in Revit and a little about exporting to max in much older versions.

[jasonstewart]

So, in my opinion there really isn't any way to get exactly what you want. You can either link, or have easily editable(relatively) geometry in max but I have not found a way to have both yet. That is the horrible part of the workflow, I usually have to do some clean up in max and because of that I have opted to do a import workflow (I break it up into different chunks like windows, doors, walls, site, etc. and immediately put them on layers) so that editing is easy. The only reason that I can do this is because all my work so far is late in the process and I know that there is little chance of changes being made between the start of a rendering and the presentation it is presented at. It sounds like you have clients that are going to make changes so my workflow might not work well for you (it does take time to export a bunch of "categories" and import them into max).

 

If you are dead set on linking my suggestion would be to avoid combining by any of the options, simply select do not combine. Its not that hard to manage a lot of objects in max and this will allow you to change the materials on some doors but not others etc. Now, if I remember correctly they still come into max with the families as one object so a door that has trim and a frame and other pieces will still all come in as one piece. If say the door, frame, and trim all have one material in Revit then they will all have one material in max. If they have different materials in Revit than when you import them they will have a multisubobject material in max that you can edit as you need. Now just by what you said I am imagining that you need to edit something like an Entry Door vs. the rest of the doors, this would be easy just give it a different material and apply more material IDs if you need to. If you want to stay organized I suggest adding everything to layers, I do not know how this would work if you updated the link so try it quickly before you invest a lot of time doing it.

 

As far as you scaling problems, have you verified that your import is coming in at the correct scale? Either your import is wrong or the other objects are wrong, I don't see any other possibility. I know other users have had problems in the past with linking/importing metric projects, I believe the reason was that Revit's internal scale is set to feet and somehow it gets lost during the import/export/linking process. Not sure if there was ever a resolution but check some known dimensions with the ruler in max to see if that is indeed the problem you are having.

Edited March 9, 2014 by jasonstewart

[philvanderloo]

Thanks Jason.

In my communications with Autodesk support, it sounds like streamlining this workflow has become a priority for them as the demand for integration of Revit and Max is increasing.