"Revitize" Legacy Data

All your life work and collection of suitable CAD symbols that make your documents unique need not be wasted. “How do we Transfer our Legacy Data into Revit” Is a question I had in every training course I have given.

Not all Revit content or Families, have to be fully Parametric! We took the stand or view, that certain components unique to our block library need not be. For example, all the Plumbing fixtures such as WC’s, Urinals, Basins, Sinks and Baths, were taken straight from the Manufactures DWG library. We Load and place the exact component as per the manufacturers catalogue. Most Components that we have accumulated over the years have got plan, side and front views, and from these we build up multi-view components.

Before starting with importing the DWG’s it is advisable to clean them up and ensure that all lines in the DWG are on layer Zero. That way there is less to clean up in Revit, as all layer properties are transferred with the Dwg. This creates a lot of extra subcategories in the Object Styles that complicate matters when cleaning up the Revit family.

The key to transforming from Dwg to Revit Family, is to make it Revit or to “Revitize” it. By this I mean, perform a “Full Explode” of the Dwg, and change Dwg lines to Revit lines, plus get rid of any hint of Dwg in the file. The cleaner it is, the more Revit like it becomes.

Alternatively you can trace over the Dwg using Revit’s tools and delete the Dwg afterwards.
The simple trick is, is not to leave any remains of the Dwg behind. This just adds “BULK” to the Project. By doing a quick check on the Subcategories in the Object Styles, one can immediately tell if you didn’t clean your DWG to start with.You can delete the “Layers” from the Object Styles and any lines that were on those layers will change to the Default Family Category.

Do not create a Family by using the imported symbol and leaving it there. Revitize it and get rid of the DWG! It will come back and bite you on the ....at a later stage.

The objective here is to eventually move away from dwg entirely. I have been dwg free for a year now!!!
It’s all Revit or Bust!