ADT to Revit conversion problem

[ron.sanpedro]

We have an old project coming back on line, and I am trying to figure out if there is any viable way to convert it to Revit from the ADT it was started in.
Basically, we have multiple floors of an existing building, with thousands of pieces of furniture that have been given move coordination numbers. Each number is in an attribute in an ADT multi-view block.
We would need to bring this into Revit, and convert the ADT attribute to an Instance Parameter, and have the value for each piece of furniture be applied automatically. Then we would need to tag every piece of furniture, probably in multiple views as that move coordination number is needed in almost every plan view, which is not how Revit "thinks".
And all this needs to be done on almost no fee. ;)
We are in a quandary, because we have fully converted to Revit. And yet this project, while certainly architectural, just seems like something that Revit is going to be a total failure for. But we also don't want to start setting the precedent of falling back to ADT.
So, can anyone offer some insight as to a way to make this switch relatively painlessly, or am I correct that Revit just isn't up to this specific task and we need to pay for a new seat of ADT so we can get this thing out the door?
Most of the problem on this specific project is the conversion, but I fully expect more move coordination projects, and finding a way to make use of Revit's strengths would be nice. So my second question is, is anyone using Revit as a move coordination tool, and how are you going about it? Any gotchas that have bitten you? Or are we the ground breakers here and we are on our own to figure out how to use Revit this way?

Thanks,
Gordon

[dbaldacchino]

I tried migrating a project from ADT to Revit using IFC and posted about it here. Far from seamless and we only had walls, doors and windows to deal with (was still unfinished; part of the team was re-creating existing conditions from a zillion drawings). I don't think there is a viable solution, except re-drawing :banghead:

[ron.sanpedro]

I tried migrating a project from ADT to Revit using IFC and posted about it here. Far from seamless and we only had walls, doors and windows to deal with (was still unfinished; part of the team was re-creating existing conditions from a zillion drawings). I don't think there is a viable solution, except re-drawing :banghead:

Kind of what I figured. I am sure we could pay to have some programming done, to automate the process, but unless we know we are actually going to have to repeat the conversion process that is probably wasted money.
I just dread going to the Business Office and requesting a new seat of ADT, when in fact the opposite direction is where we all want to be going.

Best,
Gordon

[dbaldacchino]

Just link in the dwg and re-create ;) You won't need a seat of ADT this way....I know, that's too much work though. The plan I was dealing with wasn't a full modle, just walls at 8'. Using the IFC export plugin in ADT gave us something to work with, although there was a lot to be done once we got it in Revit (all doors were imported as unique named types/families etc.). That's where filters came in handy to quickly select doors of a certian width/height and change them to one unique Revit door family etc.

[ron.sanpedro]

Just link in the dwg and re-create ;) You won't need a seat of ADT this way....I know, that's too much work though. The plan I was dealing with wasn't a full modle, just walls at 8'. Using the IFC export plugin in ADT gave us something to work with, although there was a lot to be done once we got it in Revit (all doors were imported as unique named types/families etc.). That's where filters came in handy to quickly select doors of a certian width/height and change them to one unique Revit door family etc.

Well, I looked into the IFC Export plugin, and all I found was one for R2006 and earlier, and of course I have ADT 2007 :(. Seems to me that Autodesk should supply this, rather than depending on a third party who is a version behind much of the time.

Definitely frustrating. But even if I could IFC export I would have a problem with the fact that the inventory numbers in ADT are actually just text on this project, not attributes (in violation of office standards) so we would need to manually plug in all the inventory numbers, for every chair, desk, filing cabinet, monitor, computer, phone, printer, fax,...
In other words, Aiiiiiiii!

Fun to be had by all, I suspect.

Best,
Gordon