CAD details

[lila]

what is the best way to import details from CAD? i imported a detail as its own legend view, scaled it, and then put it into my detail sheet which will have both CAD and revit made details. is this a good way to do it? are there potential problems to doing it this way? is there a better way?

[Scott D Davis]

it's better to make drafting views, and place your imported DWGs into them for placement onto sheets. This is one of the primary purposes for drafting views.

[lila]

OK. i can try that. i can't seem to figure out how to manipulate the line colors and weights however. any suggestions?

[davidcobi]

When you use legend views you can't reference the view to a detail callout on your plans. When you use a drafting view as scott suggested and place the drafting view on a sheet Revit will then automatically reference the detail sheet and number when you place a detail callout on your plans.

Detail Line weights and colors are controlled under Settings... Line Styles

[lila]

thank you for the suggestions, bringing them into drafting views is definitely the way to go. the only problem is that when i go to "settings/line styles" i only get one line style and when i changed it to black, it didn't change the colors for my imported detail. i also went into my "visibility graphics" window and went into the imported detail file, changed all the lines to be black but am still getting colors. any ideas?

[davidcobi]

When you import a DWG you can import it as Black and White, Preserve Colors, or Invert Colors. If you want to change the colors after it's imported goto VG... Imported Categories. Typically we bring in DWG as Black and White.

[lila]

thank you!

i am also wondering how i can call out a detail without it creating it since i am importing it from CAD and don't need revit to block one out. thus, are you able to insert the call out symbol without it referencing to a revit made detail?

[davidcobi]

Goto the View design bar... Section. You'll notice that you can select between a Building Section, Wall Section, and Detail View. Select the Detail View. In the options bar you'll notice that you can "Reference other view" (for referencing a drafting view that is already present). Place a Detail Section. Now goto View... Callout and place a Detail Callout. You'll notice that graphically they look different but they serve the same purpose and function in much the same way.

[lila]

thank you so much:)

[phyllisr]

it's better to make drafting views, and place your imported DWGs into them for placement onto sheets. This is one of the primary purposes for drafting views.
This is sort of the approach we have been using but found the results surprising very early in the migration process. We have back-pedaled and are making the effort to convert details to Revit as they are used in a project. The task is daunting but so is fixing an AutoCAD detail so Revit can interpret it correctly (depending on the circumstances).

Attached are a few pages clipped from a Tutorial I put together for our office showing potential problems with DWG imports. This might help others make good decisions about what to do when. Bear in mind that some problems are ADT-specific but not all. I blacked out a section with specific client references. I also deleted the middle section since the instructions were pretty EUA/ADT specific but I left the outline of the problems and a few examples.

What is missing from this tutorial is an explanation about xclips. One of my examples demonstrates the problem. This was a huge issue for us as we did many details with xclipped blocks to avoid extra drafting. Good example is a plan detail clipped from the overall floor plan. Add the AEC object complication and we had a bit of a mess.

Hope this helps others...

[phyllisr]

i can't seem to figure out how to manipulate the line colors and weights however. any suggestions?
Might try and create a DWS file in AutoCAD first, run the Standards Checker and be certain you have a good import TXT file that works for you. I created a TXT file that resides in the network since this is local OOTB. This way, you need not mess with the object styles in Revit at all. The Help Menu is a pretty decent resource for the Revit end. Have not looked back the the DWS information in AutoCAD for awhile but as I recall, that was pretty decent as well. May save you time globally.

And remember, Revit only recognizes (for example), layer A-Wall on a per-detail basis. If you import six details, A-Wall will be "defined" in object styles 6 separate times. That's why I like the DWS / Standards Checker / TXT approach before linking any file.

Hope this helps.

[Firmso]

Reference Link :

http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?p=544649#post544649

[phyllisr]

Reference Link :
Link has some very useful information. But rather than a drafting view with all details as suggested at the end, would it not make more sense to use the Revit 9 feature allowing import of an entire sheet or selected details? This way, all is prepared for a drafting view callout and it is not necessary to put extra effort into splitting the details after the fact.

Also, full and partial explode leave lots of residual junk (text and linestyles and filled regions and more). If you remember to delete and purge, it's not a problem but linestyles have to deleted one at a time as far as I know.

[s.messing]

Phyllis (and others),
Curious to hear your reaction to my approach to making a detail library.
http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?t=45694
To me it seems there are several major issues:
First, whatever we do in the short term needs to be at least mildly efficient. I am not going to condone having the users spend hours to make a couple of simple details.
Second, it needs to solve a long term goal. In other words, it will only work if the details are easily editable for the foreseeable future and could be used in many projects.
Third, the details need to be efficient themselves. As we continue to take on giant projects, we can't be plopping slow, fat little details onto sheets that make our files more lethargic than I am at 2 pm after the all you can eat Chinese food lunch buffet across the street.

Cheers,
Stephen