Apply Revit materials to imported SketchUp objects

[Bill Gilliss]

Google Warehouse is sometimes too tempting to resist, so here is the procedure I use to assign Revit materials to imported SketchUp objects.

In SketchUp:
1. Erase everything in the file except the object(s) you want to export to Revit.
2. Move the object(s) to the axis origin to make placement easier in Revit.
3. Assign approximate materials to all faces. The colors you assign here will show up in the Shaded and Consistent Colors visual styles in Revit.
4. Faces that share a material in SketchUp will also share it in Revit.
5. Save the SKP file.

In Revit:
1. Open the Family Editor to create a new family of the appropriate type (entourage, furniture, etc.).
2. Insert > Import > Import CAD > set file type to .SKP and select the SketchUp file (all the rendering materials come in as gray).
3. Save the family with an explicit name like “Breuer Chair.”
4. Set the visual style to Realistic.
5. In Manage > Materials, assign easily distinguishable different colors to all the gray materials that start with “Render Material...”, using Appearance > Appearance Properties > Generic > Color.
6. After you see what parts of the object use which color, rename the materials appropriately, like “Breuer Chair-chrome”, “Breuer Chair-seat.” Be very specific with these material names, especially if importing numerous similar items; which chair family does the material “Chair leg” apply to? I always make the material name start with the family name for editing ease later.
7. Edit the materials as needed using Manage > Materials.

[Patrick Schroeder]

This thread answered my first Revit question(s) very precisely.

[rbcameron1]

What if you reload the family (and didn't save those changes) at a later point and happen to choose the wrong "Overwrite the existing version" or "Overwrite the existing version and its parameters"...? Does it override your materials in the project?