Ability to link InfraWorks files into Revit

[eblackburnEFFVJ]

InfraWorks is a very easy to use conceptual site modeling tool. Revit's site modeling tools are poor. Using Civil 3D toposurfaces requires an additional BIM360 subscription, which we do not have. I cannot seem to get InfraWorks content into Revit in any useful manner. We use Enscape to live-render the model directly within Revit. Exporting IW to NavisWorks and then linking a NWD file into Revit does not work for us for 2 reasons. 1) The satellite imagery and materials are deleted. 2) Enscape does not render NWD files as these are intended to be for coordination purposes only.

Ideally, I would be able to link an IW model into Revit while preserving all of the graphics and material qualities. Having to jump through multiple hoops is a poor solution. File translation issues always crop up. It's a shame that Autodesk's tools don't talk to each other in a simple and easy manner.

[Eric.Lemyre]

There was tools for site and fill terrain éditons in Revit in the past version and they take it off.  You have to do it in Civil3D.. that is ok but that is a pain to use many softwares to do simple thingsbi agree 

[eblackburnEFFVJ]

That was Site Designer and has been abandoned as you say. Do you really expect Architects using Revit to master and use Civil 3D for their site design? Not going to happen because of the complexity of the program. Get it from their Civil Engineers? Good luck getting anything beyond the property lines! And in Autodesk's infinite wisdom, you now need a BIM 360 Design subscription to publish LandXML files from Civil3D to Revit. Autodesk's got a 5 year plan to host everything on Forge. That's a really long time to wait.

I realize Autodesk didn't develop IW in-house, but there really is no excuse to have ignored it for this long. It's a massive hole in their products that are supposed to be the best in the industry.

[eblackburnEFFVJ]

The 2022 versions now allow this workflow to be successful.

1. Create your site context in IW using the Model Builder. Export the model as a FBX file as desired.
2. Create a new project in FormIt Pro and adjust the geolocation to the same area. Import the FBX model and save the project. It will be an AXM file.
3. In Revit, go to Insert > Import CAD Formats and change the file type from DWG to AXM. Move the site as needed to align with your building model. All elements will display as they came from IW, although I find the aerial photo to be somewhat glossy and reflect sunlight more than I would prefer. You are able to convert the IW file into a toposurface and create subregions to apply other materials.

It's still not as nice as directly linking an IW file into Revit, but it's at least possible now, and relatively easy to do.