Proper DGN Import Export

[Disappointed]

I need to export into DGN-V8 files. These have been around for more than a decade. Also I find it regretable that you have to edit an ini-file to get 3D-Objects to export at all. As many of out sub contractor work on Microstation-based software we also need proper Import of V8-DGN-files. Just getting an Info window that some parts could not be imported, I would appreciate a list of unrecognised or unimportable entities found in the file. If DGN files can contain things that Revit cannot deal with, Revit should do something about that.

[samuelsanf]

Another think is that exporting to DGN don't let you export with shared coordinates (as dwg does); for now the walkarround is to export to dwg, then to dgn...

But if you're exporting from sheets, even with views as external references, the dwg drawings don't get the coordinates so I have to export sheets, and them view only and manually replace the views in the dwg with sheet..

[Anonymous]

There's a free Bentley Addin to export Revit to iDGN.

However, if you have nested families in revit, you are as screwed as when exporting to DWG, IFC, NWD etc.

E.g. you have a table consisting of the top as shared family and the feet as shared families, then exporting to one of the above will not give you the table but only the table top and the feet as Microstationi cells/ DWG blocks or IFC entities.

It seems like the iDGN export would use the DWG export and convert the result to DGN.

The really nice thing about it is, that all the parameters are available in the iDGN file.

The down side is that it only exports 3D views one by one, so for a 50 storey building you have to export the 50 views, or one big view (which often will crash)

[Anonymous]

For DGN import:

1. Convert the DGN to DWG.
2. Import the DWG into a Revit Family
3. place the family on the correct level with the correct rotation

If you have changes in the DGN, just recreate the Family (Step 1 and 2) and load it into the file.

That way you have a real Revit file with no imported DWG-crap in the RVT file.

@Anonymous: please develope something that automates this process and please develope a DGN import / export utility that deserves the name.

BIM means exchanging the data from all participants in a project. And the project can't be just one Revit file (unless you only want to design single family homes)

[Anonymous]

Hi everybody

   i export three revit files to DGN format, But the two files location is coming properly but third file is not sit the proper location i tried to many more ways like remove once link file and again re link files, copy to paste another file but its not help to me. But the revit file coordinates everything is OK but export only making problem so anybody knows this issues let me know, please share your thoughts.

I Attach below image for the i Model publishing options like this way i export file.

[Disappointed]

Reading an old post in some other discussion board, I noticed that the (old) DGN-V7-format files Revit generates on exporting had a specialty concerning the origin contained within them: You can have all sorts of UCS or WCS inside a dgn file and still get wrong import or export results because you can also set up something called the global origin in Microstation. The author mentioned that circumstance had something to do with old versions of the application not being able to handle large coordinates. While this is no longer the case the compatibility to old files was kept even in V8-files. I think venkatgopi91autodesk  should look into the seed files that are used as template by revit to produce the dgn data. Hopefully one contains an alternate global origin. One might need to have access to an installed version of microstation to look into the files, but perhaps a test version will do. If you do not have one ready, you could at least check whether all exports use the same seed file.

[wr.marshall]

Revit able to import i-dgn(Bentley Microstation). As a Bonus though Bently already offers a plugin for Revit to do this, is an export Revit to i-dgn file format.

for ref links:

Import Bentley i.dgn files in Revit - (solution not worked for me)

[wr.marshall]

Just to clarify. The Bently plugin for Revit can only export a Revit file to I-dgn. It cannot import at the time of writing this idea. 

[wr.marshall]

related idea: STEP export (and import) - Autodesk Community

@kimberly_fuhrman-jones please combine with Proper DGN Import Export - Autodesk Community

[wr.marshall]

related idea: Add Shared Coordinates to DGN export - Autodesk Community

[huzaifa.hussainZF4EP]

Revit 2023 - Exporting 3D views to DGN is not directly supported. After you export a 3D view of the model to an DGN file, the resulting file does not have any geometry. The V8 DGN exporter used by Revit does not support 3D views. Please see the below link, Autodesk is aware of this issue. We would like this to be fixed in the coming updates or hotfixes.

Troubleshooting: Exporting to 3D DGN | Revit 2023 | Autodesk Knowledge Network

[wr.marshall]

See following idea: Proper DGN Import Export - Autodesk Community

Please advise @kimberly_fuhrman-jones if you would like to combine with this idea

[john_stickney]

Looks like "Proper DGN Import/Export" has been and STILL (5/27/2025) is an issue for Revit.  Nearly a decade with what looks like ZERO progress!  WOW!   The DGN file format has been around since at least the early 1980’s and a well-documented file format that has been unchanged for the past quarter century.  If Revit “claims” to be able to Import or Link to the MicroStation DGN format, then it needs to operate as so.  Otherwise, remove it as an option and do not tell users you support it when you clearly do not.

After digging into this a bit more, I believe the issue has to do with the Working Units in MicroStation and the lack of a defined Coordinate System file which is something that CAD programs (DWG and DGN) did not use to have until perhaps 10-15 years ago.

If this is a Working Units problem, then Revit “should” prompt the user and note this.  The same goes for a missing Defined Coordinate System, not simply providing a blank screen.  Feedback is required from the user interface to fix the issue.  Again, the DGN file format has been around for well over 40+ years and it should be relatively easy to support.

BTW, I have tens of thousands of files to address so this is not a small effort on my side.  Telling a user to convert DGN to DWG, then to RVT is not a solution, it is hitting the easy button for tech support.