Thinking of trying out Rhino...workflow to Revit?

Rhino Rhino for Windows
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First post here.I’m a longtime Sketchup power user as an architectural designer. I’m very comfortable with Sketchup and since i don’t deal with many complex curved surfaces (aside from landscape TINs), the platform has been great for my work. I have an inexpensive render engine attached and it works fine for quick halfway-decent results. For serious work, the model will go out to Lumion for rendering.

My firm is probably fairly typical in our approach/workflow. All the initial building and site design is done in Sketchup. At some point in early to mid-SD, we transition from Sketchup to Revit. the Revit guys are NOT designers. They are nuts and bolts guys and gals who don’t care much for design intricacies or nuances. So the transition from Sketchup world to Revit world is harsh…both in terms of Schematic Design continuum and with respect to attitudes (“now we can dump the crappy Sketchuip and really model this thing”)
Invariable the subsequent modelling very frequently lacks detail and glosses over or omits aspects of he design such as 2 planes of masonry being slightly out of plane, lightness of glazing components, omitting custom structural elements such as columns and custom-fabricated trusses in favor of standard columns and bar-joists, eliminating subtle curves, and so forth. The argument is “hey that’s too complicated…besides, you know what I have to do in Revit to model what you’re talking about???” Well Im rather sick of hearing that this multi-thousand-dollar software can’t adequately model my rather simple sketchup concepts without major headaches and time.

so rather than me abandoning the sketchup model because the production team now has a model under their control…I’l like to maintain more fluidity between the two platforms. It would be great to have some parametrics and intelligence in the concept design tool that allows more frequent import/export of models so they can get my recent revisions and have it “take” in Revit. And I can get their Revit model without dealing with trillions of odd bits of geometry back in my sketchup world that slows me to a crawl. (as an aside, it’s interesting to see how revit constructs geometry…intersections of walls, window jambs, trim sweeps and so forth. You think Revit is so highly parametric and precise but when you can see the actual geometry results in the Sketchup import, it’s astounding. Thousands of entities in the simplest detail or intersection and no means to group into logical working assemblies.

So- to get to the point- will Rhino allow this workflow to go back-and-forth more efficiently or should I just stick to the old sketchup? Ie, is a “concept mass” the same in Revit whether incomes in from Sketchup or from Rhino? And incidentally, do I have to get to be an expert in Grasshopper to make that really happen more?

Thank you in advance for any input.

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Quick answer…probably not. Unless you use grasshopper instead of sketchup and there is a revit plugin that will enable a smooth transition. Adding a 3rd modelling application into the workflow will probably complicate the process.

Longer answer…this sounds more like a problem of what can be designed versus what can be built within budget. Communication between the designer and CAD/engineer is key. No point designing something complicated if it’ll blow the budget. Likewise, if the client wants complicated, is willing to pay for it and everyone is onboard, then go for gold, but still talk to the person who has to put it on paper to communicate with the fabricator.

As an aside, not knowing anything about revit, surely there’s a way to develop “simple” custom metal fabrication in revit.

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Yeah maybe I’m not clear. We do communicate…and it really isn’t a case of me as designer creating concepts that cannot be built effectively on budget. The designs are guided and modified during SD through discussions with partner and project manager. So the goals are realistic. It’s just that REvit is a cumbersome tool sometimes and the technical crew doesn’t want to have to spend modelling time on something they deem unworthy. Usually the project manager will get involved and tell them they just need to do it.

I used to work in Revit. i know that a lot of modeling can be a true PITA so I feel their pain. But we’re not going to do simple box buildings just because that’s easier to model.

Anyway- this is sort of a side discussion. I was really hoping that embedded parametrics in a Rhino model would facilitate going back and forth between revit and Rhino easier. Sounds like it’s the same sort of scenario as working with Sketchup.

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Naw, Revit is great for general documentation but when when it comes to fabrication its either Rhino or Catia for us – with the future being all Rhino.

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Hi @blackdog709, are you aware of VisualARQ for Rhino, it’s a plug-in that gives Rhino BIM tools. It can export and import IFC to Revit. Maybe it’s worth taking a look.

Here you have video showing how to go to Revit

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Here are a few other GH-Revit interop solutions that you could take a closer look at: