https://sketchfab.com

Sketchfab is a lot of fun. Its a hosting service for sharing & embedding 3d models on the web. Using webGL through a suitable browser, you can post 3d models online & share them with others. Sketchfab describe themselves as wanting to be the Youtube for 3D content. Its worth a look & good fun. It supports up to 27 native formats & I hear a rumour a Revit exporter might be on the way.

Check it out http://sketchfab.com/

This was little bit of experimentation: Vasari shuttle, exported to DWF & then uploaded to sketchfab

imperial shuttle(click to view in 3D)

More SAT fun - 3dsmax 2010 to Revit 2010

I have been experimenting with the SAT export from 3dsmax 2010 a bit more and thought I'd share these images with you, haven't a clue what they are!!! :-) The following where formed by.... A Geosphere hemisphere created in 3dsmax 2010 > exported as a SAT > imported into Revit concept mass family > each face sub-divided > curtain pattern panel family added to each sub-divided face > loaded into project environment and rendered using Zach Krons soft shadow technic.

3dsmax 2010 Connection Extension- SAT file export

I'm surprised this one got past me, but if you are a 3dsmax subscription customer you can download the new Connection Extension for 3dsmax 2010 and 3dsmax Design 2010. For me the highlight is the ability to finally export a SAT file from 3dsmax for use in Revit or Inventor. If the mesh in 3dsmax is watertight, then the resulting SAT file will be water tight, which means we can utilise this file in a Revit Mass to calculate floor areas and use the building maker tools.

In this example I created a torus knot in 3dsmax Design 2010.

I then exported the file; notice that ACIS SAT is now an option in the export menu after installing the extension.

You have a number of different options to choose from when exporting to SAT, including the ability to Export 3ds Max Nurb objects.

Once exported, you will receive a confirmation message to say that the export is complete.

In Revit, we can then import the resulting SAT file into a Mass Family or an Inplace family. Assuming the original 3dsmax mesh is watertight we are then able to cut floor plate and calculate areas from the mass.

The resulting model with floor plates, curtain wall system applied and rendered.

IFC2SKP

If you happen to own a copy of Sketchup and Revit this plugin is well worth taking a look. The IFC2SKP is in beta and is free to use. There are no time restrictions or limits.

http://www.ohyeahcad.com/ifc2skp/

As its still in beta, its a bit buggy, but it will allow you to import your Revit IFC format model into Sketchup. It does seem to work reasonable well; although if Sketchup crashes during import just do a restart and repeat the process, this is certainly the guidance that is provided in the help files and it worked for me.

Once you have the plugin installed in Sketchup, start by exporting you Revit model out as an IFC file.

In Sketchup under your plugins pull down menu you should find the IFC converter menu installed.
First select “show model” from the menu, a dialogue box will then open showing the various IFC settings; it’s worth setting the Content Identifier to Revit, then just import.

If it fails first time, give it another go, it will get there in the end. As I mentioned, this is beta software, but it’s certainly worth playing with if you are looking to import your model in to Sketchup to give it that hand drawn look.

Trouble importing almost orthogonal DXF and DWG's?

If you are having troubles importing DXF or DWG's which are almost orthogonal and are getting strange results, then this article by Nicolas Mangon and Wai Chu from the Autodesk Revit Structures product management team is for you.

http://bimandbeam.typepad.com/bim_beam/2007/08/blog-6-is-it-po.html

Autodesk Release Revit globe link plugin

I have finally got around to overhauling my blog and will hopefully be far more proactive!!!

Anyway, for those of you who can remember as far back as April this year, you will remember that Autodesk promised a Google Earth plug-in when Revit 2008 was released. After some delays, they have finally got around to releasing it. It is only available for Subscription users and you will need to download it from the Autodesk Subscription Center.

I've taken a look at it and it is very good. You can have the ability to import a Google Earth image into directly into Revit. This allows you to sketch over the top of this image, using it as a guide. You can then be assured that any geometry you place in relationship to the image will get passed back directly into Google Earth in the correct location. This is very similar to the way Sketchup and Google Earth work. In addition to this, you can export a KML/KMZ file from Google Earth and then import this into Revit and it will realign the project location with Google Earth location. You can then publish model from Revit back into Google Earth.

Also,when you publish your model a dialogue box appears which allows you to control which categories are passed back to Google Earth, which is helpful. In reality, if you have a large model you will not want to publish the whole model as its likely to push Google Earth over the edge! You may want to consider either setting up worksets or filters to the control any geometry you pass back to Google Earth.