STP files

[Karol_Piroska]

I'm working on a large industrial project where I have linked MEP step/stp files produced from Siemens NX & Inventor. I imported the stp files into generic model families and imported to Revit. It is really hard to work with these and Revit hates them. Any simple operation takes way longer and printing is impossible unless the print quality is reduced on a half size sheet (A3 instead of A1). Hardware really is not an issue (i9@3.1GHz, 32BG RAM, RTX3070 8GB)

Has anyone a better idea how to work with stp files?

thanks for any advice.

[jay_colcombe]

You could try using a different Platform to Host the STP file then import it that way so essentially dumbing it down somewhat!

How to import STEP file directly into Revit (autodesk.com)

[handjonathan]

Hi @Karol_Piroska 

Thanks a lot for posting your question to the forums!   Has the solution suggested by @jay_colcombe helped with your issue?
 
We look forward to hearing back from you with more information so we can help you as a community! 

[Karol_Piroska]

apologies, I missed your reply. Unfortunately there doesnt seem to be any solution. I tried several things and Revit is simply not capable of handling industrial type MEP files in dwg/step format.

[Karol_Piroska]

Unfortunately not.

Revit can import step/dwg files, but it will happily ignore btm cutting plane in plan views - so that is no use at all. It can be imported into a generic family and loaded to project, this however makes any operation nearly impossible and exporting dwgs would take days. It is really frustrating that Revit is by far the slowest software from all I work with - any other software can easily open these models, orbit, select etc without any lag. Revit treats these models as one solid object and still it cannot cope with them.

[jay_colcombe]

I have just tested an example as fortunate enough to get a SATP sent through

Linking does indeed ignore the Cut Plane but if you Import the File instead is allows cutting

[Karol_Piroska]

thanks @jay_colcombe ; but does the btm range work for you? Cut plane does work, but btm range is ignored, so I'd see everything below, not just the view range. Obviously it does work for generic models, it is just impossible to use.

[Karol_Piroska]

thanks @jay_colcombe ; but does the btm range work for you? Cut plane does work, but bottom range is ignored, so I'd see everything below, not just the view range. Obviously it does work for generic models, it is just impossible to use.

[and.magro]

Hello @Karol_Piroska ,

I'm also encountering some issues when working with STEP files.

For large files, I divided them into smaller parts and imported them all into Revit. In the Visibility settings, I only check the ones I need for specific views.

However, the issue with Section/Detail views remains. STEP files are not cut in these views. Interestingly, in the 3D view with a Section Box applied, the STEP files are cut properly.

[and.magro]

I think I found the solution for "Enabling Cutting en Views".

Select the STEP file, and in the Properties panel, simply choose:

[Karol_Piroska]

thank @and.magro ; for me dividing the model into smaller models made it even worse. One thing that did help was exploding the stp model groups as much as I could. It reduced time selecting the model by half and I'm able to orbit the model, although it is really painful compared to navisworks, autocad etc

[Karol_Piroska]

@and.magro that will cut the model at the cut plane, but it ignores the view range and you'll see everything below. The only way it works is when placed to a generic model family and loaded into project - which creates further issues and slow down the whole project significantly. 

[jay_colcombe]

Apologies for the delay I was not at my desk.  Unfortunately not it relates just to cutting!  

As mentioned above there is a tick option just to cut but this lacks a lot of features when placed in Refit Family hance why many still use this older method.

would a viable solution be Scope Boxes as these act more like a 3D view?

I am not privy to what access you get the the STEP files provided but within Inventor there is a BIM tool to create Revit Families with more onus on compatibility between the platforms

Inventor 2022 Help | Inventor to Revit Family File (RFA) Workflow | Autodesk

[Karol_Piroska]

@jay_colcombe no apologies needed ... unfortunately scope box would not work in floor / plan view and the export from Inventor to Revit we tried was an absolute joke to be honest. So the only option really for the moment is exploding groups in stp as much as possible, saving it as a 3d dwg, importing into a generic model family (cannot even specify the correct MEP category else it will not work) and loading it into the project. Another item to workaround collections - hopefully it will help someone.