How to add high quality assets to a Revit scene?

[Anonymous]

My target scene is similar to this one:

Two USPS Mailboxes in HIGH quality

The Revit main scene is ready, seen here (under Enscape):

My problem is this: what is the best practice way to insert the two USPS mailboxes in front of that building?

SolidWorks Version

Blender Version

I have spent a lot of time and resources in those two models. The originals were in SolidWorks and they were redone from scratch (to keep the poly count low and quality high) in 3ds Max. Please don't tell me that I have to throw them away!

What do Revit professional do? Redesign the mailboxes in Revit?

TIA,

-Ramon F. Herrera
JFK Numbers

ramon@jfknumbers.org

[RDAOU · Accepted solution]

@Anonymous 

No you do not need to remodel if you have them already in 3D Max... you can convert these to Revit families 

to convert them from 3D Max to Revit you can do the following:

1.  in 3DMax optimize the polygons / reduce percentage (helps in making the geometry less complicated and lighter for Revit; however, reducing them too much is not good too lol so you have to experiment and decide on the quality)
2. export as DWG and open in AutoCAD
3.  it will be 1 object...so you need to ungroup them
4. assign layers (namely to elements of different texture/finish/color) which should help you in Revit when you assign materials
5. Allocate each  layer to an object (the mailbox maybe 3 layers red/blue/white paint)
6. Save the DWG
7. In Revit open new family / say furniture or Generic model family
8. on the insert tab >> Import DWG
9. In material Browser, create the materials you will use (example: the mail box above has Blue/Red/White …) set finish/texture/bump...etc 
10. On the manage tab >> Go to object styles >>> Imported Objects
11. Expand the list and set a material for each layer then hit OK
12. Go to Family types and create material parameters
13. Assign/select the value for each parameter (the ones you created in step 9)
14. save it and load it into the project.

The downside of importing such families in, is that they tend to bloat the files size in Revit..

[Anonymous]

Okay, I will try those instructions. Step No. 1 will not be necessary, the designer is very dedicated and spent a lot of time making sure to balance poly count vs. quality. It is attached.

I am still curious: when adding a non-architecture part: car, mailbox, soda vending machine, Zapruder camera, shiny silver fire extinguisher, etc. what do Revit professionals do? Is it possible to design them in Revit?

Thanks again,

-Ramon

JFK Numbers