Question for Revit, Sketchup, ArchiCAD users

[Arch-Angel]

My wife needs to combine come drafting plans from 3 sources - one has been done in Revit (her portion) one has been done in Sketchup, and one has been done in ArchiCAD.

I have NFI about any of those programs, but understand that she's probably just needing a file format that is universal and able to be opened by one/all of them.
Does anyone know if there is a common format for all three of those programs?

[Arch-Angel]

Originally Posted by Arch-Angel

My wife needs to combine come drafting plans from 3 sources - one has been done in Revit (her portion) one has been done in Sketchup, and one has been done in ArchiCAD.

I have NFI about any of those programs, but understand that she's probably just needing a file format that is universal and able to be opened by one/all of them.
Does anyone know if there is a common format for all three of those programs?

Hrmm, she might have found a solution - it seems as though an older version of Sketchup can open ArchiCAD files...

[KANNIS]

Export the file from Archicad as .IFC not sure if sketchup has ifc as an export option.

If you want to go further;
Open your original revit file and import the ifc's into the revit file. If it doesn't allow you to import the IFC files into the actual revit file she is working on ATM, she may need to open the ifc files separately, select the whole 3D, click copy, then paste the 3D into the revit file. Both the revit file and the ifc you work with need to be open at the same time. (bit tricky to explain, and a bit dodgy to be honest, but it should combine it all together)

Revit seems to have problems with importing other files. Archicad seems better when working in exporting/importing so I would expect her to have some problems. Good luck.

[Arch-Angel]

Originally Posted by KANNIS

Export the file from Archicad as .IFC not sure if sketchup has ifc as an export option.

If you want to go further;
Open your original revit file and import the ifc's into the revit file. If it doesn't allow you to import the IFC files into the actual revit file she is working on ATM, she may need to open the ifc files separately, select the whole 3D, click copy, then paste the 3D into the revit file. Both the revit file and the ifc you work with need to be open at the same time. (bit tricky to explain, and a bit dodgy to be honest, but it should combine it all together)

Revit seems to have problems with importing other files. Archicad seems better when working in exporting/importing so I would expect her to have some problems. Good luck.

Thanks mate, greatly appreciated!
I think she would prefer to be working in Archicad or Revit over Sketchup, so I'll pass on your info

[RichoB]

Maybe look into NavisWorks. I don't use it, but our Revit guys do.

[beerye]

Originally Posted by KANNIS

Export the file from Archicad as .IFC not sure if sketchup has ifc as an export option.

If you want to go further;
Open your original revit file and import the ifc's into the revit file. If it doesn't allow you to import the IFC files into the actual revit file she is working on ATM, she may need to open the ifc files separately, select the whole 3D, click copy, then paste the 3D into the revit file. Both the revit file and the ifc you work with need to be open at the same time. (bit tricky to explain, and a bit dodgy to be honest, but it should combine it all together)

Revit seems to have problems with importing other files. Archicad seems better when working in exporting/importing so I would expect her to have some problems. Good luck.

Nice, Thanks for info.

Will be import an IFC file in to ArchiCAD later today.

Hope it all works out

[KANNIS]

Originally Posted by beerye

Nice, Thanks for info.

Will be import an IFC file in to ArchiCAD later today.

Hope it all works out

Shouldn't be a problem for Archicad. Revit on the other hand tends to mess things up a little. Last time I did an IFC import I had to click ok to 15 warnings before it imported the 3D.

The only problem I have encountered is the sheets/views/elevations/sections and levels etc etc sometimes tend to disappear or not match the original drawing you exported from. So anyone who imports/exports .IFC files will need to possibly redo all of the above, it's pretty simple and gives you a fresh start to your new combined drawing.

[beerye]

Originally Posted by KANNIS

Shouldn't be a problem for Archicad. Revit on the other hand tends to mess things up a little. Last time I did an IFC import I had to click ok to 15 warnings before it imported the 3D.

The only problem I have encountered is the sheets/views/elevations/sections and levels etc etc sometimes tend to disappear or not match the original drawing you exported from. So anyone who imports/exports .IFC files will need to possibly redo all of the above, it's pretty simple and gives you a fresh start to your new combined drawing.

Thanks for the heads up.

should it take a long time to import the file?

[KANNIS]

Originally Posted by beerye

Thanks for the heads up.

should it take a long time to import the file?

Depends on your file size and how much detail your 3D has. It shouldn't take too long. From memory a 20mb IFC took me a few mins.