Forums >> Revit Building >> Technical Support >> using CADMATIC files in Revit (2016)

iamian33

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Greetings.

Does anyone have experience with using CADMATIC files in Revit?  

We are working on a brewery and the owners process equipment is being developed by another firm using CADMATIC.  Currently we are receiving 3D AutoCAD files from them for use in our project model.  However this DWG is almost 400mb (purged) ... We are finding this a difficult object to use.  

We have purged this imported DWG and linkded it into a separate 'equipment' model, then linking it into our project.  When loaded, this equipment model is killing our project model's performance.  

Any suggestions?  Or better yet, any thoughts on how to have a functional/usable representation of the process equipment in our project model?

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Ian Shafer

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True North S&F Consultants

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WWHub

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I don't know what these models are but first question is why can't there be a much simplier representation of them?

As I have always advised, put imports and links in seperate worksets so you can use reduced workset loads to keep your performance.

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iamian33

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thank you for your response.  While I agree with simpler ... others seem to want to do things their own way - to meet their own needs.  Regardless of this lack of common ground, at times we need to work with this stuff.

Does anyone have any further suggestions on working with extremely large files?

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Ian Shafer

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Beaucoupnice

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Its a right pain to have to work with other design team members whom are using different softwares. We do it regularly. Their files are normally very large and highly cumbersome to use. So you are not alone.Ideally, the Employers Information Requirements or BIM Execution Plan written at project commencement should spell out what software the project team should all use. This means only consultants/ contractors/ subcontractors that use the right software can bid on the projects. It weeds out the more obscure ones (Like CADMATIC - I have never heard of that one!) and ensures everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet.But you are far beyond that point and my lecture is no help.We have worked with other 3D files imported into our Revit models that were exported from the non-native Revit softwares like you. Most of these files were IFC files. Try to ask for an IFC file exported from CADMATIC as IFC files are considered a platform neutral 3D model - so it should be able to shared with any software and most other softwares will export to IFC. I can't promise IFC files will be any smaller though as they are typically quite large anyway. If the person supplying the CADMATIC files cannot export to IFC then you can try to export the 3D DWG in AutoCAD to IFC. Revit will also import .dgn, .sat and .skp files.You could try in AutoCAD exporting a 3D DXF from the 3D DWG and try that but I suspect it may be the same size.You may need to devote more pre-import processing time to the AutoCAD file like deleting non-important content, simplifying the layering by making everything layer 0, purging, auditing, superpurging and overkilling. I don't agree with creating a separate engineering revit model with the 3D DWG content into, it just seems like adding on another layer of data. I would just link the 3D DWG straight in. You can control its presence using Manage Links easily enough.One thing you may need to consider is whether or not it is worthwhile creating a simplified version of their 3D DWG model that geometrically represents their element of work. This may either be an inplace family or separate families or a separate model. It may be a little more work but if it saves you time everytime you work on the project by reducing the project model file size then it might be worth considering.I wouldn;t

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iamian33

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thank you for your thoughts and suggestions.  I give them a try, (but I'll still keep my CAD files in a separate RVT file).  

Ian

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Ian Shafer

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True North S&F Consultants

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