Another enhancement in Revit 2022 is the file support, allowing Revit to collaborate with other software. Until now, Revit supports quite a lot of file formats. However, in the BIM context, it still needs many improvements. The highlight in this area is the ability to export 2D PDF format and collaboration with FormIt enhancement.
Exporting to 2D PDF
Creating a PDF file from Revit is an issue for Revit users. Unlike AutoCAD that already has PDF printer driver OOTB, Revit doesn’t have that luxury. To make a PDF file, we need to install a PDF printer driver from 3rd party. And from my experience, most of the drivers are not suitable to print Revit drawings. It has bad performance if you print a bunch of drawings with many details at once.
Now we can make 2D PDF (no 3D PDF support) from Revit by using File> Export> PDF tool. Revit doesn’t use print tool like AutoCAD, but using export.
The options to export PDF file is similar with the Print tool. However, we have more options here. It would be great if the Print dialog has those options, right?
Pilihan untuk mengekspor PDF ini mirip dengan print, jadi cukup mudah dipahami. Ada beberapa pilihan yang tidak ada di perintah print. Sepertinya perintah print juga perlu pilihan-pilihan tersebut bukan?
3D Sketch and Send to Revit from FormIt Pro
FormIt is a sketching tool that is very intuitive to use for making organic forms. It is not easy to create it in Revit, so having an option to create it in FormIt is a big deal.
If you have access to AEC Collection, then you have access to Revit and FormIt Pro. You can use them both during your design process.
First, you can send the Revit model to FormIt as a reference. The tool in Revit ribbon> Massing & Site tab> Conceptual Mass panel> 3D Sketch.
You have option to send all of the model to FormIt, or only elements that you need to use as a reference. Of course, you need to select elements first before using this tool.
In FormIt, you can create the form that you want.
After you finished, you can send the element to Revit. Revit will only import the element that was not originally come from Revit.
The element that you created in FormIt will be shown in Revit.
Even it seems it is a great solution to help us create a complex element in Revit, the reality is the element is only for visual purposes. You can’t create a schedule from that element.
Probably in the future version, we can see FormIt elements can be Revit elements directly. Allowing us to count the elements in a schedule. But until now, we only can use it for visuals only.
Importing FormIt Element as a CAD Element
In the older versions, we can only import the FormIt model as a mass. In Revit 2022, you can import it as a CAD file. You can use the Import CAD tool. Using this tool, the elements that you imported will be treated like other CAD formats. Similar to importing a 3D DWG file.
Now in the Import CAD file types, you can use axm format (FormIt file).
Link Rhino 3DM
We can import the Rhino file format (3dm) for several versions now. However, in Revit 2022 we can start using it as a linked file.
When you collaborate with Rhino users, it helps. Using import is not really my preferred method. It’s not easy when we have design changes. You need to delete the old elements and reimport the file. But using a linked file, we only need to reload the file.
Which One is Your Favorite?
For me, it’s the export to 2D PDF. This feature should be in Revit many years ago. Having a 3rd party PDF driver has a lot of performance issues. The only one that I tried that works very well is Bluebeam. However, purchasing Bluebeam only to print PDFs from Revit seems unnecessary.
But what about you? Which one is your favorite?