Wrong colours when exporting from Revit to Autocad and import back into Revit

[mathildeD2MY7]

You probably wonder about the title, but allow me to try and explain (which wont be easy). This is related to a work assignment. We have some symbols we use for projects that can't be parametric in order to change it's size as there are too many details on them. A way back, for an exam, I wanted to test if I could shrink down a whole Revit-house into a miniature one. A lot of trial and error, this is what ended up working:

I exported the house as .dwg. I then open it in Autocad and make sure each part is on a correct layer. I then import the .dwg back into Revit, and it ends up being a big grey block. To correct this, I go to the manage tab, object style and imported projects, where I put the correct colours/textures back on each corresponding layer. This way, I have the correct colours/textures and it being an imported .dwg-block, I can scale the size however I want.

This process does not work on the flat symbols, though, and I can't for the life of me figure out why. At one point, a green and white symbol got imported back as green and red. I changed the red to white, and it ended up black.

This is not a normal method, I know, but there is a method to my madness, I guess (and hope), haha. But does anyone of you clever people have another workaround as to how I can get the symbols imported back into Revit and keep the correct colours? Is there anything in the import/export settings I am missing? When I export from Revit and open in Autocad, the colours are correct, it is the export from Autocad and import back into Revit that gives me grief.

[barthbradley]

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@mathildeD2MY7 wrote:

This process does not work on the flat symbols

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When you say "flat symbols", are you meaning Generic Annotation Families? If so, how are you exporting "flat symbols" along with Model elements to DWG?  Or are you meaning that you are Exporting house Plan Views?  

[mathildeD2MY7]

Ignore the "flat". I just meant it's not a big square like a house, but a much thinner object. I have tried exporting from both a family and project, and with both, it shows just fine in Autocad in regards to colors. But as soon as I import it back into Revit to have it become a scalable block, the colors are all messed up and won't let me change them like I am supposed to. I'm just wondering if I'm missing a step along the way. Not easy to figure out as this is not a traditional way of doing what I'm doing 🙂

[barthbradley]

So you are scaling it way down in Revit. What's the scale factor?  

...also, are you placing DWG on Sheet or in Model. If Model, what does it look like with Thin Line turned OFF? 

[mathildeD2MY7]

I have no issues with the scaling, it's the importing of the colors that's messed up. For example, I need the symbol to be white and green, but the white ends up black no matter what I do. I follow the process with going to manage tab and imported objects and I change the layers color into white, but it shows up black. My question is, how can I preserve the colors when importing from a .dwg from Autocad to Revit?

[barthbradley]

Linked DWG file's colors are displayed differently in Revit than in AutoCAD (autodesk.com)

[mathildeD2MY7]

I tried this earlier. Did not work. The entire thing turned into one big white square in Revit, messing the entire thing up.

[barthbradley]

Just post the RVT and DWG here so we can troubleshoot without having to go back and forth. 

[mathildeD2MY7]

I'll upload them as soon as I'm back in my office in the morning. Thank you 🙂

[mathildeD2MY7]

Tested back and forth again today and thought I finally had it. Feels like I'm going blind trying to figure this out. I got one symbol to work and followed the same process with another one, but this shows up different in Autocad and therefore refuses to be in the correct colors.

I really appreciate any help I can get in helping with this. I know it works, I just don't understand what's different between each. I am not an expert in Autocad, so am I missing something there along the way?

Uploaded three files for testing, they have 1 symbol that works and 1 that's broken.

[mathildeD2MY7]

Quick update. I made two symbols the same way in Revit and exported them. One of them had two extrusions and I was able to put each extrusion into one layer in Autocad before re-importing to Revit, same way I did with my miniature house. The other symbol, however, ends up in Autocad as simple meshes where I can't layer them in a way that Revit accepts after re-import.

At another try, an exported object with two extrusions ended up as one massive block in Autocad. I exploded this and it ended up a lot of meshes, but this time, I was partly able to put them into their new corresponding layers.

I just struggle to understand what makes each of them so different when I make and export them the exact same way. I have a ton of symbols to create, so I just need to crack this code and understand what's going on with Autocad or if it's the Revit export giving me grief.

I know it is a very big ask as this is out of the ordinary and more in the lines of my own out-of-the-box thinking, but whatever tips I get that I can take with me and explore further is greatly appreciated. If you try and get no further then me, I still appreciate the effort.

[mathildeD2MY7]

Suddenly, I realized why it imports as meshes instead of a block sometimes in Autocad and other times not. Just posting it here in case others at some point are looking for a solution.

When you are done creating your family in Revit... if you export it from one of the flat views (ref, right, left etc.), it will open up in Autocad as simple meshes you can't change colors on. But if you export the family to a .dwg from 3D-view, it opens up in Autocad as a block where you can put each part into a layer of the color you want.