Any tips on exporting useful BIM info on large scale assemblies?

[Anonymous]

I'm a building product manufacturer walking the fine line between Revit and Inventor. 

I'm currently using Inventor but by the time I get the entire project modeled I end up with nested assemblies and export a single object .ifc file that doesn't do much for the Architect/GC.

It might help to know that I'm using skeletal modeling techniques with multi-bodied solids. The final assembly will usually have several nested assemblies (normally broken out by floor level) which contain more nested assemblies (Elevations) each containing at least one part which can contain hundreds of solid bodies each. 

Any tips on a better workflow that will give me more of the 'I' in BIM when exporting building components?

Thanks for the help!

[EvanGu · Accepted solution]

So far in Inventor, there are 3 file types exported by Inventor, rfa, adsk and ifc.

Rfa export only supports in part environment in current releases. If the assembly is not so much complex, you can create a new part and derive the assembly, do Revit feature recognition and export it to .rfa, we call it native Revit file because this rfa contains feature information and parameters, apparently it's only for simple assembly models because feature recognition may have failure.

IFC export supports both assembly and part but looks not the best choice for you.

So I think you can try to export it in.adsk format with properties and connectors, then read it in Revit.

Another way to export rfa file is to use Configurator 360. Upload your Inventor assembly model to C360, you can download it in a lot file format including .rfa. This rfa is not the same with the one that exported by Inventor, it does not contain feature information and surface body, but including each solid in your assembly.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the suggestions. I'm trying to derive the assembly into a part. It's been churning away for a few hours now. 

I'll test out your other suggestions and see what I can come up with. 

Thanks again!