Furniture Library question
If I understood you well, you represent a producer that wants to publish custom Family models so to be used by Revit users . Am I right?
If so , maybe the right way is to contact one of the specialised sites such as:
or
BIM Store issued a guide for those who want to upload Revit Families: the last one I think is : bimstore-bible-v16-jan-2019.
You can download it from here:https://www.bimstore.co/bimstore-bible
Constantin Stroescu
Accepted solution
I don't think that it's an easy way to just convert from CAD to Revit...
How I see the facts:
- Much depends of the type of furniture you have to promote, and also on your model database.
- Suppose you have both 3d and 2 d models databases , then:
- Have your products Families many Dimension Types ?
- Have your product a variation of finishes , such as different materials for the sub components ? ( for instance seating material in cloth or leather, colour : white, red, yellow ; or you use different wood material for the frame as: oak, ash...)
- Are there 3 d models with small details and organic surfaces (like realistic sofas or armchairs) ?
- Have you 2 d views of your 3d models? They will be needed in order to make final outputs of quality.
- Have you also a strong Identity database for your products? You will need it in Revit as long as these information are loaded into the Family as parameters
a closer look of the above problems:
- In the case that you have a variation of your standard dimensions (geometric variation), then remodel the product in Revit and use geometric parameters to control it. If there are lot a Types ( more than 6-7) of one of the Families , then create a Type Catalogue . This will allow the Revit users to load only the Types that they are interested in.
- In your Type Properties when in Project , your family will show the following parameter categories:
-
- Material and Finishes
- Dimensions
- Identity Data
- If your product has no geometric variation, but only material and colour, then you can use a 3d CAD import as it is, but the rule is to remodel in Revit , in this case without geometric parameters (as a less complicated task). Exception to this rule, can be no 3
- If the originate file was created in MAX, Rhino or other software that works with Nurbs/Nurms (curves/meshes) then import them as they are into your Family. This is the best solution while Revit is not designed to master this type of entities..
- But, Pay attention ! Never import CAD model object direct into your Project. Create , instead, a New Family (Furniture) and import here, then load the Family into Project. If you use different materials , in order to be able to swap among them, then your CAD file has to be structured on Layers by Material. More precisely , if you have a chair with steel frame and fabric seating material, then you have to create in AutoCAD one distinct Layer for frame and another one for seating. Doing like this, in Revit you will be able to allocate different materials to these two subcategories. It will be quite a job to split complicated meshes on Layers if you have different materials
- These type of objects are of a big size and not very comfortable to use in Projects, unless you need it for interior design and photorealistic renderings.
- In 2 and 3 , in Type Properties when in Project , your family will show the following parameter categories:
- Material and Finishes
- Identity Data
- using CAD import without materials is not advisable.
- Identity Data has to be loaded into every Family from your product data base.
- If you have 2d CAD drawings that shows the object from Top , Front, Back , and Sides views , they will be very useful ( you 'll probably to simplify them a little ) either for Drafting Views (not connected with the Model) or as Detail Items ,to used as so in plan, elevations and sections, or a better solution to be incorporated into the Furniture Family as Visibility override for orthogonal views.
- About Visibility override of the 3d model with 2d symbols , it is a very good idea to different overrides for each Detail Level. For example , if in Fine Detail Level the 2d drawing is very accurate, in Medium Detail Level will be shown a much simplified version , and in Coarse can be just a simple rectangle at the dimensions of the envelope.
- You can complete your Family with a 3d or 2d border (parallelepiped or rectangle) to mark the mandatory distances required in use.
- Identity Data chapter has to be accomplished carefully because it has to contain all the non geometric information about your model and product as much as information about Standards and your firm. There are situations when , in Project, the architect will use your piece of furniture only as a simple rectangle , but with all information about the product (as shown in 4 overrides for each Detail Level.
Constantin Stroescu