import 3d polyline, use as sweep path

[Maverick91]

I have a 3d polyline that I've generated from a corridor in Civil-3d. How can I use this pline as a path for a sweep?

TIA

[Bill Gilliss]

I have a 3d polyline that I've generated from a corridor in Civil-3d. How can I use this pline as a path for a sweep?

TIA

Different application, same problem. When designing a lighting fixture family that contained a helical metal tube, I knew that I'd have to create the helix in AutoCAD (like your 3D polyline), but found that Revit would not select as the path for a sweep (or even as Pick Lines for model lines) any segments in the imported CAD file other than 2D ones in the current work plane. Long story short, I created the helix AND the tube swept along it in AutoCAD, and imported that into the Revit family. If your sweep does not need to interact with anything else in the Revit model (end conditions, voids, joins), this approach might work for you.

[Bill Gilliss]

I have a 3d polyline that I've generated from a corridor in Civil-3d. How can I use this pline as a path for a sweep?

TIA

Okay, I got it! Starting with an AutoCAD 3dpolyline anyway. See if this also works starting with Civil-3D.

1. In Civil-3D, create a 3D solid by extruding a simple rectangle along the 3D polyline with the Path option, with one corner of the rectangle touching the pline.
2. Link (or Import) the resulting 3D solid into Revit.
3. Create the sweep in Revit using the Pick 3D Edges option to define the path, picking the edge segments corresponding to the original 3D polyline. Place your profile as appropriate.
4. Delete the original linked solid.

Be careful when picking the 3D edges that you don't miss a very short one or pick the same one twice - Revit will flag the error and it's hard to tell where the problem is.

[david_peterson]

If you need to create something helical in Revit, or something that changes elevation along a curved path, you can use a Swept Blend.
Create the profile of the object you want. Draw the start and end point of the curve. Use the same Profile for the start and end, but change the elevation.
Not as good and extruded a shape along a 3d path in autocad, but it should do the job. You might just need to split it up a bit.
Option b is to create an adaptive, but that may not get you the results you're looking for either.