Inventor 2014 to Revit 2014

by Gareth Spencer

Let’s paint the picture here you’re the manufacturer (I am using Mechanical as my example but it could be anything) and you have been producing your modelling all you components in Inventor and your now being asked by your customers more and more for those components to be in Revit .rfa family. Now in the past you can export the component out as a .adsk file which can be opened in Revit, but the first issue is file size because the .adsk file is has every element modelled within it.

If you have read my colleagues (David) blog: Inventor 2014 BIM Exchange to Revit Family you would of seen he has looked at this and create an example video showing this.

Before when exporting the .adsk file from Inventor 2013 it was only a dumb solid with some information and no parametric constraints. You could have your connectors so you can add pipes or ducts. So in Revit you can select the element and explode it then turn it into a Revit family.

So Autodesk have now introduced some tools into Inventor which allows the user to create a Revit family (.rfa).

This means the file can be simplified and exported as a native Revit family with parametric. So you’re not taking across elements modelled that’s not needed in the Revit family. Then you’re not having to spend time remodelling the element again in Revit.

What does this really mean when you simplify your model?

• Remove Details: Simplify a model by removing recognized fillets, chamfers, or custom-selected faces.

•  Fill Voids: Cap holes and pockets with surface patches to fill model voids.

• Define Envelopes: Simplify a model by replacing selected components with box/cylindrical envelopes or creating simple Extrude features that represent their shape.

• Recognize Extrude: Features and convert them to Extrusions recognized by Revit.
• Recognize Revolve: Features and convert them to Revolutions recognized by Revit.
• Recognize Extrude: Features and convert them to Sweeps recognized by Revit.

File Size Improvements

Simple, Fast and Intelligent

Being able to supply the Revit users with a smaller file size that’s also a Revit families (.rfa). It’s not a dumb solid and it has parametric data included in the Revit families straight from Inventor, that the user can then schedule information out in his/hers Revit model.

It’s a big step in the right direction for the BIM workflow between the Manufactures and there customer who need to information in BIM format, i.e. Revit family.