Imported /link DWG file not showing up in revit

[cesslinger]

I have linked and imported a dwg file into my Revit MEP 2014 dwg. It is not showing up. I have checked my visibility graphics and my view range. I'm not sure what else I need to look at.

[Anonymous]

I looked at all the possible VG settings but this is the only way it actually worked for me. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I have had this issue with Linked CAD sections before. I go to 3D view and they are there but on the other side of the building out of the section's view. I go to top view and with the move tool move them into a position where they would be in the section's view and then they appear in the section view.

(image attached)

[Anonymous]

After 3 hours of so much struggle...i tried your suggested method and it worked amazingly. Thanks a lot man 🙂

[revitpeon · Accepted solution]

I couldn't find any reason why my geometry wasn't showing up, but I noticed that the civil CAD file was 10MB which is pretty big for a CAD file.

I copied all the CAD geometry into a new file, and reloaded from that file, and it instantly solved the problem.   The code around CAD imports is super buggy from my experience, so there is the real possibility that it is just broken, unfortunately.

[Anonymous]

Awesome thanks.

[Anonymous]

I'm having a (I think) similar problem atm.

A customer sent me a DWG file, generated with Revit, it had two references to RCP files, he sent me them afterwards this way I could fix the unloaded reference issue, but there is still nothing to see, beside a big box.

The thing is that the thumbnail of the DWG file has a 3D rendering (but this thumb was probably generated on the computer of the customer).

Thanks for your help

[omniya.m.hamad]

Thank you .You really helped me it was a unit problem.

[DJKell]

This is a repeatable issue.  I'm setting up all new title blocks in Revit this month and using CAD files as the base.  Without fail, Revit will not properly import CAD files into a title block family.  I've been through this fiasco 4 times already.  CAD files were edited in AutoCAD 2018 (most current version as of this post) and imported (the only option for working with a title block family - so linking is not possible.)  No matter what options are selected (and I methodically tried them all one afternoon) Revit completes the import but there is no CAD data visible.  Visibility Graphics is correct, import scale is correct, nothing is hidden or turned off.  I know the data is there because the Imported Categories tab in VG will expand to show me every layer in the CAD file that was supposed to be imported.  I can even Undo the command "Import Vector Data" if I choose to.  More annoying is that if you poke around the view you can actually grab the invisible CAD file and see its bounding box.  It will show up in properties as the file you imported.  The only way I was able to make the issue go away, was to copy all the CAD data in AutoCAD and paste it into a new AutoCAD drawing as above.  Then save that drawing and import that into Revit.  

The only clue I had as to why this is happening is a short error Revit gives before the CAD data is successfully imported: Revit complains that "Imprt detected no valid elements in the file's paper space," and asks if I would like to import data from model space.  If I answer yes, then the CAD file will be successfully imported.  Before copying and pasting into a new file, I did not get the paper space error.  So I checked the original CAD file... and sure enough the paper space had a viewport in it.  I erased the viewport and attempted to import it again and it worked!  Revit doesn't ask whether you want to import from Paper or Model space in a CAD file and I did not expect Paper Space to be the default option.  This may also be unique to Titleblock families which may assume paper space is the way to go more than other families.  Add "checking the paper space for valid elements" to the list of things to check in the CAD file that won't import properly.  I haven't tested other family types for the error yet and I'm not sure what logic makes Revit think that Paper Space is right place to import from without asking...

[Anonymous]

We've been struggling with this issue for a while this morning. We are using AutoCAD 2013 and Revit 2017. The solution (which is beyond frustratingly simple): confirm everything is bound and save down to AutoCAD 2007. 

That's it! Hopefully it works for others as well!

[Anonymous]

A bigggg thanks ...thnku so much ...it gives me a great relief after a long time ..this trick is useful

[Anonymous]

It is possible that you inserted the .DWG into a "Plan" view with the (Current view only) box checked.  When this is done there is no 3D "level" information attributed to the .dwg and it has no way of showing up in our standard {3D} view like we all expect. I've generally always inserted .dwg's into a 3D view to its appropriate level,   but it is pretty cool to use the "current view only" check box to place a .DWG's into a plan view when doing hybrid CAD/Revit drawings sourcing CAD xref floor plans.....

[dcarlile]

Dammit... this was going to be my (lurker) first contribution to the community. I find that it's having stuff not showing because it's wireframe rather than the other way about.

Anyway try this... Options not set to show the import if it's inadvertently been placed in a different set?

[hobyrne.ca]

Lots of good tips in here.. I was having a similar problem, but found two things worked for me that might worth trying.

1) If Link CAD doesn't work straightaway, bring the CAD file in using Import CAD instead of Link CAD (initially only). If it works, unpin and delete the import symbol, and then try linking it. That worked.

2) I was still having an issue with visibility of the CAD on one floor. That CAD file had a background that was X-reffed as Overlay and not Attach. When this was changed in the CAD file to Attach the xref, the problem was solved and everything became visible.

[Anonymous]

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@cesslinger wrote:

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I found the solution under VG - Custom Revit Links - import categories.

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Thank you so much, that helped me too!!

[Anonymous]

I recommend this Revit add in that allows you to easily check linked or imported .dwg files.

You can download it for free here: http://bit.ly/GetCorbisSniffer

Hope it helps!!

[Anonymous]

Amazing! It worked!

[Anonymous]

I see a problem nobody seems to have had before.
When you select the dwg you want to import, you might want to tell Revit what the units are. Most times Revit gets it right, but not always. This problem has taken too much of my time and nerve and I hope this clears out the problem fro someone who is having this exact one. Just now I Had a dwg imported and I couldn't see it. All my parameters ang VG and everything was right, but it was too small. It was there, but too small. I had to import both into another new project and reload and unload just to find out.

[LyleHardin]

That's a good point. It does happen.

And, you'll notice you may not be able to scale it using the Scale icon.

You have to select the imported dwg (or family) and Edit Type to see the insertion scale which you can now change.

[Anonymous]

Thanks - That worked for me 🙂

[Anonymous]

It really comes down to the scale of the drawing, but the solution is to insert the drawing, if it doesn't appear then in properties I toggled Crop view/Region/Anno Crop under Extents, even check scope box to none, afterwards your drawing should appear some where in the view.

The drawing can appear somewhere far away from where you want it so use the scale tool to adjust.