Best method for exporting Inventor model as .rvt with control of revit categories for individual element

[Richard_Morin83KL6]

Hi, I am currently working on an output study to figure out the best method for integrating Inventor models within Revit with control of it's categories and material finishes later in revit. 

I have accomplished exporting ''simplified'' .asm files to .rfa files through author & export building components which I can later change the "material & finishes" within revit after exploding the imported model and changing the family category as well. This is good.

I can also have an Inventor parent assembly with multiple ''simplified'' sub-assemblies in a new model state which I can then export as an .rvt. The issue is that within the revit environment, I now have the separated elements I need but I cannot explode the individual elements in order to add the ''material & finishes'' revit category required for the project. 

Short of making a parent assembly in Inventor, then exporting to an .rvt and then exporting each inventor sub assembly (converted as a .rfa) and re-assemble the model again within the .rvt, is there another way to export an .rvt from inventor while being able to change the material finishes later on within revit?

I've also tried the AnyCAD method of importing the revit model to inventor and sending back the linked model but I cannot seem to figure out how control the "material & finishes" or categorize the elements within Revit. Basically, the goal is to prevent having to assemble the model twice while having control of material & finishes and categories (i.e Structural Framing) 

Would InformedDesign be the only way to allow for control of revit categories after importing? Any help towards the right direction is greatly appreciated. 

[johnsonshiue]

Hi Richard,

I believe you may want to sign up Inventor Feedback Community (https://autode.sk/InventorBeta) to check the latest RVT export workflow.

Many thanks!

[James_Willo]

RFA will give you a small selection of Categories but you have to infer them by picking an Omniclass. 

Informed Design will let you pick a specific Category from a list. 

The main difference of ID over local RFA workflow is that ID can give you different sizes of RFA in Revit, whereas Inventor will just export the current geometry in a local workflow. 

[Richard_Morin83KL6]

Ok I understand. I was wondering though if the workflow wanted was an .RVT model exported from Inventor but with the ability to assign Revit Categories or changing material & finishes to ''each top level component'', is this possible through ID or would each element would have to be exported individually in either .rfa or ID in order to assign these BIM parameters?

In other words, can the OmniClass be inferred to ''Each Top Level Component'' before the model is exported to .RVT?

Thank you for your help

[James_Willo · Accepted solution]

No, ID will only do a single RFA file. You'd need to export each one separately and reassemble in RVT. 

[kostremEEC7J]

I'm having similar issues. I have a workflow where I'm extracting volume based civil3d solid bodies and importing into inventor. Normally any parts I create in inventor I can get to take a material through either material styles or materials themselves. However, these solid bodies from civil 3D will not take any modification when imported to revit. Tried native exports from Inventor. Tried using BimDex add-in to export the data. Tried exporting as .sat and other files types. Tried informed design. They all end with the same default color in revit.  I feel like I've exhausted all workflows to get this 3D civil data in with some kind of contracting color.

With that said, Look into BimDex as an add-in. That did a really good job of importing a highlevel assembly from inventor and reassembling and assigning individual rfas for part files in revit when using native inventor files.

[James_Willo]

Hi Richard, please check out the new release of Inventor 2026. 

You can specify a location for RVT export, include properties and assign categories to individual elements. 

You can include material information but please note that it cannot be mapped to Revit material parameter, it would become a custom parameter. 

There is an overview video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFSHFTOhf_U