Revit Viewer

Yes it still exists.

I've been doing some work with Autodesk as a Revit Mentor helping users navigate their 30 day trial. One of the recurring themes is, "I only need Revit to view other peoples models. How do I do that?" In the old days a version of Revit that lacked a license turned into viewer mode. At times that proved a bit dangerous because a user could lose a license (network issues or internet access) while working on a model and find themselves in Viewer Mode and unable to save work they ordinarily could, should be able to.

To counter that situation we now have a separate application that is Revit Viewer. It's installed alongside Revit, wherever you decided to store it on your computer. In my case it's listed like this when I search in Windows 10. FWIW, I don't put any icons on my PC's desktop so that's how I start everything, click on the Window...type a few letters, launch an app. It's the illusion of an uncluttered mind! My actual desk...well that's a different matter...

When you run it you'll be greeted by this message before it will finish opening and let you open a project.

It is worth stressing that the limitations the dialog above describes kick in as soon as ANY change is made. I frequently hear, "I can't print in Viewer mode". That happens when you change the model, to which they reply, "I want to print using a different titleblock, I switched to a different one".

Yeah, that's a change...

It doesn't matter how minor or subtle a change is, the key word is change. If you move a tag, add a dimension, put a view on sheet, change a view's scale, a view's detail level...yeah those are all changes. Trying to print (or save/export) afterward will cause Revit to pop up the dialog above again. If you get the dialog, use Undo until the action you want will work. Most likely you'll have to undo everything you've done just after opening the file.

I should clarify, using Viewer won't allow exporting to formats that can be modified (that is part of the license warning message). That means Viewer can't be used to export to DWG, DXF, IFC etc. We can use Viewer to Print or Publish to DWF.

3D Printing and Revit STL Files

I recently got an email from a fellow Revit user asking if Revit 2014 changed anything for creating STL files, specifically if we could define inches as the base unit. I haven't had the opportunity to print anything to a 3D printer via a vendor myself yet so I'm clueless.

He shared with me his current frustration which apparently has to do with a fairly automated process that his vendors offer. Apparently it is as simple as: Submit your STL file online and get your automated quote in return. It works great as long as the submitted STL file uses the correct units, which is apparently "inches". If you don't cooperate with the system you end up having to call each vendor and it takes a lot more time than necessary.

He was specifically writing about the STL Exporter for Revit from Autodesk Labs. It exports to the units "Feet" and there is no way to alter that presumption. I've asked about it with a couple friends at Autodesk and it is on their radar so hopefully they can provide an option, in the future, for defining the units of the file output.

Since I have no wisdom to offer him and I know that at least a few readers have experience with this process I'm curious what alternatives he could consider. Can some other application that can edit STL files let him change the units? Perhaps the vendors could make this easier for customers and provide a pricing routine that asks for STL units? Is it more complicated than it seems? Comments are welcome!

Export a Shared Parameter

A more recent post with images is POSTED HERE now.

or alternate title, "Road to Recovery"

When you don't have access to the original Shared Parameter's file there are two ways to get to it, via a family or in a schedule. Either way you need to be able to “touch” the parameter so you can use the Export option for shared parameters. Revit will add the parameter to the current shared parameter file you are using.

In a family you need to open Family Types, select the parameter, choose the Modify button.

In a project schedule you need to take a look at the view properties for the schedule, view the fields, pick the parameter, then click Edit.

In either case you just need to click Export and Revit will warn you that it will add it to the current shared parameter file you are using.

 

If the Export button is not active it is because you don’t have a shared parameter file selected yet. You’ll need to do so first. Go to the Manage Ribbon > Settings panel > Shared Parameters button, browse to find it or create one from scratch.

The only family type that doesn't play along with this scenario is titleblocks. Shared parameters that are used in titleblocks must be "connected" to a project by adding the shared parameter to the project as a project parameter too, since titleblocks are sort of a "tag" for views.

Saving or Sharing Export DWG Layer Standards

The process has changed a bit for exporting to dwg (or DGN for that matter). We used to be able to export our own settings to a .txt file format for use with other projects. In Revit 2011 we had this dialog and Save As button.

With 2012 they've decided to capture our settings in a project file itself. They let us choose one of these four standards to use, or to use as the spring point for our own version.

The fifth option is to "Load settings from file...". Interesting that there aren't any files to use though. We are to capture our changes in the project and then, when desired, pass it along to other projects via the Transfer Project Standards tool.

I've posted the source files that the four export settings templates use because they don't appear in my 2012 installation anywhere. I recovered them from my 2011 installation. Interestingly the other three besides the AIA version didn't show up until I loaded each one in to replace the previous. As soon as I did that, the other files appeared alongside the AIA version. If you really want to edit the .txt version, to grow your own version, you can download them here:

exportlayers-dwg-AIA.txt
exportlayers-dwg-BS1192.txt
exportlayers-dwg-CP83.txt
exportlayers-dwg-ISO13567.txt

Dept. of Subtle - Text Output to DWG

With 2012 we can now map Revit fonts to fonts in AutoCAD. I can export Arial to Romans for example.

I got a request to check something out today and the results are curious. Here's a drafting view of four Arial font sizes: 1", 1/2", 1/4" and 3/32" (using view scale of 1:1).

Here's how it looks going from Arial to Arial (Revit 2012 - AutoCAD 2012).

Here's how the Text Height transferred (Revit/AutoCAD):

I used the "deepest" units setting in AutoCAD for Fractional of 1/256" so that's altered the value for 3/32" to register the "correct" amount. The decimal equivalent for 3/32" is 0.09375 though so the reported value (when I change the units to decimal instead) of 0.09220621 is also off a bit.

Then I exported from Revit Arial to AutoCAD RomanS, same sizes:

Here's how the Text Height transferred (Revit/AutoCAD):

Can't really measure text height accurately in Revit since none of the tools that measure or dimension can "touch" text. It's possible the fonts are "off" in Revit to begin with, just can't say for sure. I don't know that the inaccuracy is enough to get upset about but it doesn't result in text heights that match what you'd expect.

Export to DWG Layer Options

I responded to a question at AUGI about exporting to dwg. I decide to repeat some of it here. When you export there are three options for Layers and Properties:

• Category Properties BYLAYER, overrides BYENTITY - This deals with differences between elements that have the same layer assignment but "look" different in Revit for some reason)
• All Properties BYLAYER, no overrides - This forces all exported elements to be bylayer which will change line patterns and colors so that they ARE By Layer)
• All Properties BYLAYER, new layers for overrides - This allows Revit to create a new layer when an element has a representation that a single layer will not support)

To put this in a practical example, imagine a Revit Grid element which has text, a circle and a line that is usually drawn with a different line pattern than the circle. If this is exported to layer S-Grid and you want entities to use a BYLAYER setting, what should Revit do?

The first option will override the linetype of the line so that it maintains its appearance. It does so by creating a new linetype/pattern in the AutoCAD dwg that matches the line pattern name in Revit.

If you choose the second option you get a solid line for both circle and line which doesn't look so good when you see it or print it.

The last option will create a new layer for the Grid Line, S-Grid-1. You end up with S-Grid for the circle and text and S-Grid-1 for the grid Line. All the elements are By Layer.

If you are still with me, a little reminiscing... I remember a few years back (late 2004 or early 2005) when Jim Balding, my boss when I worked with WATG, and I were on a conference call with David Conant (Autodesk Revit Product Designer) for a couple hours discussing exporting to DWG.

We had just been through a fairly harrowing experience getting dwg files just so for an overseas client that was going to take over the project for construction documents. We even had our in-house programmer and cad manager in Honolulu, Danny Polkinhorn, create a clever little application to redress the dwg files after they were exported from Revit. He affectionately dubbed it "Revit DWG Fixer". One result of that phone call with David was these three options I just wrote about. I'm sure others echoed our desires but the result nearly matches what we expressed then. Not the solution but that we experienced these kinds of layer issues. The solution gave us an option that worked, for us at least. We usually chose Option 3...I still prefer it.

To digress a bit further, it is important to understand that the intended purpose for exporting to dwg is to create files that can be used as a background for other trades. It was never really intended to be a better way to make dwg files. Not to make files that a native AutoCAD user could just continue to work on as if they started the work themselves. The resulting files are not created the way a native AutoCAD user would create them. It does a really good job of getting close. Kind of like me claiming to speak Spanish. I know a few words but a native speaker will catch me in the lie pretty quick.

One practical example, AutoCAD users will usually create an overall floor plan file for each floor of the building. Partial plans are derived by using a sheet file that has the overall plan as a external reference (xref). The partial views are showing some of the same overall floor plan file and the viewport is adjusted for the correct scale and location.

If you export the same kind of information from Revit you don't get the same configuration. You get a sheet file referencing a model file that is the literal export of what was visible in the partial view in Revit. This means changing the dwg file of a partial plan is not really changing any other information in any other dwg files. There is an expectation that it does...but it does not.

Rather than driving Revit to create better and better exports I'd prefer that AutoCAD got smarter about extracting what it wants from a Revit model. Consider the goal really isn't for a Revit project to end up as dwg files. Dwg files are really just a common format that lets other firms that are not using Revit interact with the project using their own software choice.

Clicks and Clacks

No, Not the Tappet Brothers

Last month I maligned the new interface with an example of how we are less efficient with the new UI. You may be familiar with the experience that "bad news runs on the cover page and the retraction runs on page six"??

I claimed that the only way you can access the Export Layer manager dialog was through a convoluted series of steps involving starting the export process. I was wrong..."shock, horror"!! I'm still doing chores around the house to make up for it!!

In my haste to make a point I missed a very subtle "arrow"!! If I had been more observant and patient I'd have seen this:


And a little more patience and this displays:


So this correction gets a "front page" or at least its own new post! Sorry folks!!

Revit MEP - Panel Schedule Export

Panel schedules are a very special schedule. It is really multiple "schedules" compiled into one. In fact they aren't even called or located with schedules, they are Reports. These reports and their data are pretty well "trapped" in Revit. Thus far I know that you can:

Export to a cad file (from a sheet)
Publish to a 2D DWF (from a sheet)
Print to a PDF (if you have a pdf driver)
Capture an image (if you have software or just print screen)

A cad file format will result in a 2D lines and text.

A 2D DWF will...well, be in dwf or dwfx format. It doesn't offer much from this point unless another application can do "something" with the DWFx format.

Printing to a PDF will result in a pdf but you may also find that Revit stores an html formatted version first in this folder location:

C:\Documents and Settings\YourUserName\Local Settings\Temp

Here's where it might get interesting. I was able to open this html file in the Open Office Writer application and it looked like this.

It is a table of data. Fwiw, I'm not currently using Office applications so I couldn't test bringing it into Excel or Word but I imagine you could have some success getting the data from the temp html file into them. When I tried to open the html file in Open Office Calc I got this.

You might also have some data extraction options if you use Adobe products but I'm not familiar with which one you'd need for the best options. I use Snag IT and there are some nice text capture add-ins for it that will permit you to select a panel view to extract the text but then you've got to spend some time reformatting.

They could make this easier?

Export To File Error - Illegal Characters in View/Project Names

I posted this at the HOK CAD Solutions blog regarding this issue today and I am providing a link here just in case you don't visit their blog...yet...

Keep it Legal!!

Phased by Your Exports?

When you export your project to dwg files do they lack the reference to the phases of your project? The default dwg/dgn export files do not include the information that Revit needs to specify the layers according to phase. It just so happens that there is a Autodesk Knowledge Base article that explains how to resolve this. If you want to search yourself, try the words "phase export" to get a link to the article. Too tired to click the link? Here's the text from the site:

Issue

You want to know how Demo, Existing, New, and Temporary layers are included when a file is exported to DWG and DGN.

Solution

The default export files, Layers-dgn-AIA.txt and exportLayers-dwg-AIA.txt, do not include appendices for -DEMO, -EXIST, -NEWW, or -TEMP layers for demolished, existing, new, and temporary objects in the model.

These definitions can be added to the templates by adding the following lines to the exportlayers-dwg-AIA.txt file (located in the Data directory):

Demolished -DEMO -DEMO
Existing -EXST -EXST
New -NEWW -NEWW
Temporary -TEMP -TEMP

The following lines can be added to the exportlayers-dgn-AIA.txt file (also located in the Data directory):

Demolished 50 1 50 1 -DEMO -DEMO
Existing 51 1 51 1 -EXIST -EXIST
New 54 1 54 1 -NEWW -NEWW
Temporary 58 1 58 1 -TEMP -TEMP

You can download [Link: RF111d01.txt] exportlayers-dwg-AIA.txt and/or [Link: RF111d02.txt] exportlayers-dgn-AIA.txt and copy them to your [Revit_install_directory]/Data directory.

Sorry you'll have to visit the site to get the files. The date published for this article says 20060405 but I know that I read it earlier than that this year, perhaps it's been modified? I seem to recall it being a couple years old.