Forums >> Revit Building >> Technical Support >> Revit Load Layers from Standard

HermanMunster

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Joined: Fri, Dec 13, 2013
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Once again I could not find an article that would explain this. I am creating a custom Layer Standard for export to AutoCAD from Revit. I have exported our template layer states from AutoCAD into excel and saved the excel file into a text file. Both files show colors and linetypes.

When I load the layer state into Revit no problem however everything populated but color id. I cannot get this to load at all.

Does anyone have a workaround or a solution for this?

Cheers

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Beaucoupnice

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Joined: Mon, Nov 19, 2007
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Revit is full of objects with each one assigned to a different category. Each object could be as simple as a 3D box, a wall made of many layers or a complex piece of mechanical plant. Revit can only assign 1 AutoCAD layer & colour to to a single category.

The outcome of this, is that when Revit exports to AutoCAD DWG format, it cannot achieve the typical settings seen in AutoCAD created DWGs (AutoCAD after all is made up thousands of individual lines, with each line capable of being placed on any layer and any colour)

So what do you do? Well you can do your best to setup the export from Revit to DWG settings to be as close as possible using the R Button - Export- Options - Export Settings DWG/DXF tool. Then you can export the Revit view/sheet to DWG and open the exported DWG in AutoCAD and change all exported lines to the correct layers/colour/linetype thickness. Doing these changes in AutoCAD though will take a heck of long time though and in my personal opinion I have to ask the question why bother? The DWG is being sent to someone else to use do their job. Why do their job for them - you've already drawn everything for them? Let them change all the lines to the right layers. Its their choice not to use the industry preferred software Revit and go old school with AutoCAD, why are you carrying their burden? If you have concerns that the DWG line thicknesses will not print correctly, then I should highlight that printing/plotting should only be done directly from Revit or from approved issued pdfs. DWGs from Revit are raw measureable content.

So what do I do? I go to R Button - Export- Options - Export Settings DWG/DXF tool - Under Layers Tab I choose the correct standard and thats that. I export to that and let whomever wants to use the DWG change the layers themselves. Job done.If you have to create an export setting to match an office set of standards rather than a ISO/BS set of export standards, then just go through the table in the Layers Tab and change everything there. It will only take you an hour or so.

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__________I'm the guy they come to when they didn't follow my recommended workflows.__________

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HermanMunster

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Joined: Fri, Dec 13, 2013
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Thank you for the reply however aside from all personal opinions of AutoCAD versus Revit I still would like to know why a custom layer text file does not bring in color id's like the exportlayers-dwg-AIA.txt default does.

Unless I am missing your point that the color id's are so diverse in AutoCAD it can't assign them in Revit. Load from file is pretty useless then. I have attaced a sample of the AutoCAD teams layer manager.

I am going to save in session and edit the default AIA to suit as many of our colors as possible.We are quite a large firm and our civil and some MEP consultants are still issuing in CAD for better or worse. It has to be done at some point.

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Importing Revit Layers into Auto CADD

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exporting to dwg - load layers from standards

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Converting Autocad Layers to Standard Revit Linework

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Creating a custom export layers.txt

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Standard Details In Revit [ 1 2 ]

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