I am sure this topic has been discussed in full detail. If so, please be so kind and point me in that direction.
I am graphic designer who has been using Sketchup early in the schematic design phase to help present concepts to our clients. We are finally utilizing BIM more in the office. The issue is our BIM guys essentially have to build their model from scratch. I was hoping to find a better system in which they could take my existing model and modify without little difficulty.
My questions are - Should I stick with Sketchup as my modeling tool? Has anyone found a better way to model in Sketchup that works better for Revit Models? Is there a better software currently in the market that does better job bridging the two programs (Form-It?) I realize one is more visualization software… and the other is a CAD software.
Do I need to just bite the bullet, and learn to model in Revit? I just feel that Sketchup is very efficient when it comes to knocking out conceptual ideas? However, I am finding it may not be helping my team in developing a concept into construction documents.
If I should stick with Revit… where are the resources to learn home to model better for the purposes of Revit.
Anyone experienced this dilemma. Thanks for your time!
SketchUp supports IFC4, if you model your components with the IFC classifications in place this makes it easier to move back and forth between Revit and SketchUp
There is a fundamental difference between SketchUp and Revit that makes collaboration somewhat troublesome. Revit is based on solid geometry while SketchUp models consist of faces. Revit can import SketchUp models (saved as an older version, I don’t know which one it currently supports) into its “mass models” or into the Family Editor, but the result is a sort of reference object, not editable Revit objects. Curved surfaces are rendered with all their facets and edges visible. The result is OK for a reference that is used for modelling Revit objects onto but as such not very usable. When DWG is used as the intermediary format, SketchUp solids can be imported into the Family Editor as Revit solids, but the thing about surface facetting still stands.
You can assign IFC classifications to the objects in the 3D Model. The SketchUp BIM model can be exported as IFC 2x3 or IFC 4. With Dynamo script(s) you could convert this export to a native Revit model.
