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Copy & Paste elements from AutoCAD to Revit

Copy & Paste elements from AutoCAD to Revit

Would be great to copy a selection of elements in AutoCAD and paste it in Revit. 

 

This idea came from working with the Adobe software collection, where you can copy from Illustrator some lines, text, fills etc. and paste them straight in In-Design or Photoshop without any problem or saving a file. 

 

I think this feature will reduce some working steps in the workflow between Revit and AutoCad.

14 Comments
ipselute
Advisor
You can import a vector file ( dwg, dxf, skp, etc) into Revit, then copy the geometry to whatever view you want. The need for Autocad will decrease with time, more people will switch to Revit and the rvt format file will become the new standard. Autocad drawing is the past, just like Gutenberg printing machines.
Yien_Chao
Advisor
You dont want to deal with the mess of linestyle, layers, import items, text style and others.
ipselute
Advisor
I believe it would be very useful to import CAD details as blocks (or something similar to blocks) in Revit. Many companies have standard CAD details. It would be a shame to recreate all that, line by line, in Revit. Or maybe include a microCAD app in Revit and let the user get (really) creative.
Marvi
Enthusiast

 

@ipselute of course Revit is the future and will be standard and believe me I am not one of many who wants to do hybrid BIM or try to use 2D as much as possible. 

 

The Idea is very simple, since they are both Autodesk software, it should be a more harmonic way how you transfer elements between them without saving 1000 files and creating a lot of junk in your computer. 

 

And as you said, detailing (small scale drawings) and urban planing (large scale drawings) is still and will still be 2D for a while. Why not have a smoother way how to get elements inside Revit. Automatic conversion between ACAD blocks and Revit Detail Items or Detail Groups etc. etc. 

 

 

@Yien_Chao it is not so tragic, don't worry. The revit style managment needs emprovment anyway, you should not make a judgment now based on the present technology. 

Yien_Chao
Advisor

@Marvi not tragic, but pain in the ass and waste of time. that's why i made a Dynamo node for this.

dgorsman
Consultant

Unlike Adobe stuff, there are significant differences between the data involved when dealing with DWG (or third-party custom DWG objects like ProStructures, or Inventor) and Revit.

 

Copy/paste goes through the Windows clipboard, unlike a dedicated import function.  Trying to implement PASTE-handlers for every possibility would get quite taxing as opposed to the more regimented dedicated process.   The latter can also be treated as a completely separate module for development and testing.

cristhiance5
Explorer

Having the ability to copy vector lines from autocad to facilitate the drawing of details and save time. Well, autocad has many vector drawing facilities, while Revit improves its drawing capabilities, I consider a good alternative to just do Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V from autocad and insert into the work plane.

Anonymous
Not applicable
Thank you for submitting this request before me.
Maltezc
Advocate
Maltezc
Advocate

Hi all! I recently created an app that does this finally!

 

You can check it out here:

youtube

 

It'll take 2 apps to bring elements from Autocad to Revit. 

 

Autocad plugin 

 

Revit plugin

 

Hope this helps! 

 

Feel free to reach out to talk more about it. 

wr.marshall
Advisor
DZimmerKVJT2
Enthusiast

@Marvi Oi, these add-ons are MIA. When I select your links the result just says it cannot find them. Any ideas? 

 

 

DZimmerKVJT2
Enthusiast

Seven years and still nothing? This is mind boggling, confounding, and generally befuddling. 

 

Yeah, we are familiar with importing and inserting - a process that's clunky, messy, imperfect, and also has seen little improvement. Importing is why our Revit models have a hundred layers, two dozen text types, etc. You can copy paste into/out of cad to/from word, excel notepad (with just text, and imperfectly but at least it tries). I did this almost 20 yrs ago with cad.

The excuse of 'every one will soon work only in revit' is as inaccurate as it is lazy. While this stood a chance once, a decade or two of stagnation coupled with massive cost increases and decreases usability has fed real fuel to the Anti-Revit crowd.

Even if more people were happy with revit, the transition will be extremely lengthy. And made longer by needless complications like this. Why? Because transferring those thousands of master details from CAD to Revit was such an expensive process and didn't' have great results. It's still underway. Most small to medium sized firms (up to 100 or even 200 employees) still used CAD on old projects up until recently or still do today. Almost all have details or other relevant graphical info in CAD form.

It's analogous to the migration from paper to electronic. Some companies are STILL scanning old files. Humans still print occasionally, still sketch by hand. 

Like the migration off fossil fuels to electric. It's gonna take at least a generation or two.

jholzworthPGP9B
Community Visitor

@ipselute 

"You can import a vector file ( dwg, dxf, skp, etc) into Revit, then copy the geometry to whatever view you want. The need for Autocad will decrease with time, more people will switch to Revit and the rvt format file will become the new standard. Autocad drawing is the past, just like Gutenberg printing machines."

AutoCAD is used in every sector of the Market. Revit is used in one sector... construction. Revit, nor any other similar niche software will be replacing AutoCAD. Even if Revit was used across the board like AutoCAD, a simple to use 2D drafting package will always be desired. And, then there is the elephant in the room. Autodesk my have the largest share of the market, but they haven't developed a software package since AutoCAD. Everything else has been purchased from actual software companies. This is why Autodesk can't facilitate simple things like bringing an AutoCAD object into Revit, or exporting an Iventor drawing into model space in AutoCAD. It's why the manufacturing sector is still waiting for Fusion360 to maybe resemble a shadow of the ghost of what it was supposed to be. Stop declaring AutoCAD to be on it's death bed. Not only will it most likely always have a market, but Autodesk hasn't had the ability to create a program anywhere near as revolutionary as AutoCAD in a very long time. Autodesk gobbles up smaller, innovative businesses, or puts them out of business. They've long given up on innovating themselves.

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