Working with legacy CAD data for Revit Profile Families

by Dennis Collin

Question: What do I need to do to prepare a profile from AutoCAD for use in a Revit family?

Answer: Unfortunately many AutoCAD drawing files provided by manufacturers are not ideally configured to bring profile shapes directly into Revit or any modelling software. As a result, elements imported scale incorrectly and produce modelling error messages when utilised to create profiles either within the family or when being placed within a project.

These problems however can be corrected with some simple steps:

1. Ensure the required shape is in a clean tidy drawing.

2. Check the units have been set correctly. For typical profiles the unit type should be set to millimetres.

3. Check the shape has been properly drawn with line and arc segments drawn accurately using object snaps. This can be tested with the Join command in AutoCAD where a sequence of line segments can be converted to a polyline. Should a line not join with other geometry, the object should be investigated and redrawn so that when complete the profile displays as a single, closed boundary. This can be validated also the properties palette.

Alternatively, it may be quicker in some instances to redraw the profile within Revit.