Chapter 20 • Importing and Coordinating Revit Models 854 FIGURE 20.10 Changing to Copy Original Type FIGURE 20.11 Clicking Finish Now that we have a relationship with the structural model, it is time to put this relationship to the test and generate a coordination alert. I suppose you could say that the honeymoon is over! Coordination Alert Suddenly we have been thrust into a completely different way of working. We have a structural model inserted into our architectural model that will bark at us every Activating Copy Monitor 855 time something changes. There’s nothing wrong with that. Sure, occasionally there will be some annoyances, but these occasional annoyances are a small con- cession for being truly tied in with the structure. When something changes in the structural model that is involved with an active monitor, you will be alerted. This alert will occur when you either open your model, or when you reload the linked Revit file. To review the coordination alert, follow this procedure: 1. Save and close your model. 2. Open the NER-37_STRUCTURAL.rvt model. 3. In the NER-37_STRUCTURAL.rvt model, open the Level 2 structural view; then move grid A to the left so it is in alignment with the beam located between grids 2.10 and 3.1, as shown in Figure 20.12. FIGURE 20.12 Moving grid A 4. Save the model and close. 5. Open the architectural model. When it opens, you may get the warn- ing shown in Figure 20.13. Chapter 20 • Importing and Coordinating Revit Models 856 6. Click OK to continue opening the model. 7. Go to Level 1. 8. Select the link (you may have to hover your mouse over one of the grids and press the Tab key). FIGURE 20.13 The Coordination alert 9. On the Monitor panel of the Modify | RVT Links tab, click the Coordination Review button, as shown in Figure 20.14. FIGURE 20.14 The Coordination Review button on the Monitor panel of the Modify | RVT Links tab 10. In the Coordination Review dialog, expand the category for the Grids (under the New/Unresolved category), as shown in Figure 20.15. 11. Expand the Grid Moved category. TIP The category that says Grid Moved is the actual alteration that occurred in the structural model. Finally! Somebody is telling us what they changed without fear of us getting mad at them. Activating Copy Monitor 857 12. To the right of the Grid Moved category, you will see an Action col- umn. Click into the cell that says Postpone and look at the list. You will see four categories: Reject Reject will postpone the change. Each time you run a coordination review, this instance will be listed as rejected. You will still have a chance to modify the instance at a later date. Accept Difference Accept Difference basically skips the error. You will still be able to change it at a later date. Rename Rename will take action. If the difference is the name (which it is in this case), Revit will rename the grid. If the grid moves, Revit will move the grid for you. (Basically any modifica- tion that needs to be made can be automatically made right here.) 13. Select Modify Grid ‘A’. FIGURE 20.15 Telling Revit to automatically move the grid NOTE You can also add a comment pertaining to the change. Typically it is a note to yourself, but in some situations, you will need it when you are involved in friendly discussions about who started the chain of events. Chapter 20 • Importing and Coordinating Revit Models 858 14. Click the Create Report button at the bottom of the dialog. 15. Save the HTML file to a location where you can find it. 16. Click OK in the Coordination Review dialog. (Notice that grid A moved.) 17. Open Windows Explorer, find the HTML report, and open it. This gives you an uneditable report on the coordination effort that just occurred. 18. Close the report. 19. Save the model. 20. To check and see if there are any more issues, click the Coordination Review ➢ Select Link button on the Coordinate panel of the Collaborate tab, as shown in Figure 20.16. 21. Select the linked structural model. The report should be empty. FIGURE 20.16 The Coordination Review button on the Coordinate panel of the Collaborate tab A coordination report is an excellent way to track changes, but we are alerted of these changes only if we have the elements copied and monitored. So, how are we supposed to know if other elements are colliding with one another? This question is answered by using the Interference Detection function built into Revit. Running Interference Detection 859 Running Interference Detection What came first? The chicken or the egg? That’s a tough call. Another tough call is if the beam comes before the duct or wall. Ask a structural engineer, and he will answer that the beam does in fact come before the wall, door, and any other architectural appointment. On the opposite hand, the architect will request to move or eliminate a structural component altogether. But, the fact is, if the architect and the structural engineer are having this argument, that means they know there is an interference, and their disagreement about the chicken and the egg is actually a good thing. You use the interference detection within Revit to keep the contractor from ask- ing the question. If the contractor is asking questions, then we have a problem, don’t we? This means a collision occurred that nobody caught. Don’t worry—you can still have the chicken argument, only it is now called litigation. To use interference detection, you do not have to do anything more than open a single dialog. In this dialog, you can select specific elements that you are worried about colliding. Of course, in true Revit form, you can create a report and even zoom in on the issue. The objective of the following activity is to find some clashes between the architectural model and the structural model: 1. On the Coordinate panel of the Collaborate tab, click the Interference Check ➢ Run Interference Check button, as shown in Figure 20.17. FIGURE 20.17 The Run Interference Check button on the Coordinate panel of the Collaborate tab Chapter 20 • Importing and Coordinating Revit Models 860 2. In the panel to the left of the Interference Check dialog that opens, select Current Project as the Categories From setting. 3. Select Doors and Stairs from the list, as shown in Figure 20.18. 4. In the Categories From menu to the right, select the NER-37_ STRUCTURAL.rvt file. 5. Select Structural Framing and Structural Columns (see Figure 20.18). 6. Click OK. 7. The Interference Report dialog will show where we have a collision (it looks like all of our stairs are safe). Click on Doors : Double-Flush 72 ″ × 84″. 8. At the bottom of the dialog, click the Show button (see Figure 20.19). 9. Revit will zoom right in on the issue. Click the Export button. 10. Click the Export button and save the report in the same directory as the coordination report. 11. Click Close. FIGURE 20.18 Selecting the components to find in the interference report Importing and Exporting CAD Formats 861 FIGURE 20.119 The offending items are discovered! Wh a t do yo u Me a n , Cl o s e ? We di d n’t Fix an y t h i n g ! Yes, that’s right—we only identified the issue. Revit does not breach into another model to fix your consultant’s work. It does, however, give you a specific, detailed report for your meeting. Remember, Revit doesn’t negate the need for open discussion during a project. Boy! That is some good stuff. Lucky for you, your consultants are all up and running on Revit! Oh, they aren’t? Now what kind of world are we living in here? It’s true. Your consultants aren’t all going to be on Revit. If you’re lucky, one in ten uses Revit in the capacity where they are ready to share a model with you. This is okay—don’t panic. We are still in a great position. We can easily import AutoCAD (or MicroStation), and we can export our model just as easily. Importing and Exporting CAD Formats The first process we will delve into is the process of importing an AutoCAD structural floor plan. Although we have imported CAD in this book numerous times, we have yet to do so in the context of a coordinated floor plan. The mind- set is a little different. And why is that? It is because we now care about where Chapter 20 • Importing and Coordinating Revit Models 862 this AutoCAD drawing lands in relationship to our model, and we care also about maintaining that relationship. For the CAD file used in the following procedure, go to the book’s web page at www.sybex.com/go/revit2011ner. From there you can browse to Chapter 20 and find the file called NER-37.rvt. You will also need to locate the model called NER-37_STRUCTURAL.dwg. Save this file in a location where you can retrieve it. The objective of the following procedure is to import an AutoCAD 2D floor plan, and pin down its coordinates. 1. Go to the Level 1 floor plan. 2. Right click on the Level 1 view in the Project Browser, and click Duplicate ➢ Duplicate With Detailing, as shown in Figure 20.20. 3. Rename the new view Level 1 CAD Coordination. 4. Open the new view. 5. Type VG (for Visibility Graphics). 6. Click the Revit Links tab. FIGURE 20.20 Duplicating the view 7. Uncheck the NER-37_STRUCTURAL.rvt model. 8. Click OK. 9. On the Link panel of the Insert tab, click the Link CAD button, as shown in Figure 20.21. Sometimes, Revit will produce a warn- ing that you are pasting a view that references itself. This is an erroneous warning. Click Delete Element(s) and Revit will let you proceed. Importing and Exporting CAD Formats 863 FIGURE 20.21 The Link CAD button on the Link panel of the Insert tab 10. At the bottom of the Link CAD Formats dialog, click the Current View Only check box. 11. Set Colors to Black And White. 12. Set Layers to All. 13. Set Import Units to Auto-Detect. 14. Set Positioning to Auto - Origin To Origin. 15. Click Open. 16. On the View Control bar, click the Wireframe button so you can see the AutoCAD structure, as shown in Figure 20.22. FIGURE 20.22 Clicking the Wireframe button on the View Control bar The next step is to make sure that the coordinates in our Revit model stay true in the DWG file. With one simple procedure, we can publish the coordinates of the Revit model to the DWG file to ensure accuracy while importing. 1. On the Project Location panel of the Manage tab, click Coordinates ➢ Publish Coordinates, as shown in Figure 20.23. 2. Select the AutoCAD link by left-clicking on it in the view. . Monitor 855 time something changes. There’s nothing wrong with that. Sure, occasionally there will be some annoyances, but these occasional annoyances are a small con- cession for being truly tied in. identified the issue. Revit does not breach into another model to fix your consultant’s work. It does, however, give you a specific, detailed report for your meeting. Remember, Revit doesn’t negate. and running on Revit! Oh, they aren’t? Now what kind of world are we living in here? It’s true. Your consultants aren’t all going to be on Revit. If you’re lucky, one in ten uses Revit in the