SketchUp & Revit Bidirectional Interoperability with EvolveLAB Helix

[BenGuler]

Helix: Bidirectional Interoperability with Revit

Hi Everyone!

We’ve been improving our Helix interoperability tool, that allows SketchUp and Revit to synchronize bidirectionally. Helix can convert SketchUp object into native Revit families, and can also convert meshes to Revit meshes with clean edges and textured materials.

SketchUp versions supported: 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
Revit versions supported: 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024

We would love to hear how this can improve your interoperability workflows, and whether there are feature requests or any other comments.

Features

SketchUp 2 Revit

• Native Categories: Walls, Curtain Walls, Floors, Roofs, Ceilings, Pipes, Doors, Windows, Topography
• Additional Mesh Categories: Generic Model, Casework, Entourage, Furniture, Furniture Systems, Railings, Site, Light Fixtures, Planting, Specialty Equipment, Mechanical Equipment, Plumbing Fixtures, Columns
• Clean meshes in Revit without additional triangulation, allowing geometry to be used for documentation and visualization
• Create Revit materials with textures
• SketchUp materials can be mapped to Revit materials
• Model health warnings
• Map content by tag or material
• Helix starter families with instance parameter calculation for door & window heights and widths
• Smart mesh based family instancing, preserving components and groups in Revit families
• Model update tracking, where Revit model only updates if geometry changed in SketchUp when re-syncing

Revit 2 SketchUp

• Revit geometry optimized for workable (push/pull-able) output
• Revit geometry mesh count optimized for performance while retaining original form
• Materials converted from Revit
• Revit materials can be mapped to SketchUp materials
• Convert Revit levels to SketchUp planes tagged as levels

Feature Roadmap

We are constantly updating Helix, and want our users to be aware of what’s in the works. The feature roadmap is public, and open to suggestions. We will cross out completed features with every new release.

Latest Release

Our latest release can be found here: Helix Releases
The release posts include the installer download link, that runs as a trial for 15 days.

Workflow Examples

On our forums page, we have a few posts on Helix workflow examples:

Convert SketchUp Model to Native Revit BIM

Rendering In Revit High Poly Furniture Converted from SketchUp 3D Warehouse

Bring Site Content into Revit from SketchUp with Textures using Google Street View and Photomatching!

Herman Miller Light Fixture from SketchUp to an Existing Revit Project

Convert SketchUp 3D Warehouse Component to Revit

Align SketchUp 3D Warehouse Component To Existing Revit Model

Convert SketchUp Point Cloud Mesh to Revit 3d Object for Documentation

Quick Start Guide

We have a quick start guide that shows how to convert SketchUp walls, floors, roofs, doors and windows to native elements.

EvolveLAB Helix Quick-Start Guide

Feedback

Let us know if you have any feedback on the features, roadmap, or other comments below. You can also visit the Helix Forums for more. We’re eager to hear your thoughts and how we can improve this solution for your interoperability needs.

If you are interested in trying Helix, you can visit our Helix page

[RTCool]

I find a lot of manufacturers provide Revit symbols of their products and nothing else, at least in 3D. Will this allow a SketchUp user who isn’t a Revit user to import those symbols as a SU component?

[Anssi]

RFA files might be a problem if they aren’t inserted in a RVT model.

[BenGuler]

@RTCool - that’s definitely possible! The example below shows a Revit family of Teknion furniture cluster converted to SketchUp. The geometry in SketchUp is workable (push/pull-able) and with optimized triangulation on the curved surfaces.

I should also note that if the only workflow needed is to get Revit content into SketchUp, Trimble is working on a Revit importer that does not need a running licensed version of Revit on the machine (just needs the *.rvt file). Check out more here: Testers wanted for a Revit to SketchUp Converter Beta Program

If the workflow is reversed, then Helix can really help with this process. For example, the 3D Warehouse has a lot of content that manufacturers have not created for Revit. Below is an IKEA table converted to Revit from SketchUp, using the mesh conversion. The Revit linework is clean without unnecessary triangulation that the current Revit importer has for SketchUp. Also, the materials from SketchUp are converted into Revit materials and applied.

[BenGuler]

yep - generally the forms in a family are not processed with Helix. However, if you’re in a family that has other families nested into it, the nested families do transfer over. See below:

[BenGuler]

Download latest version here: Helix Installer

We have two Helix releases: 2.10.0 & 2.11.0.
Check out the relevant updates below.

Features

• 20x speed increase for larger models when importing a Revit model into SketchUp
• added warning dialog if the export from Revit fails, including the error reason
• New OBJ based import method with texture mapping (SketchUp to Revit)!
  • Available for SketchUp 2022 and above
  • Available for Revit 2023 and above
• Revit 2024 Support!
• SketchUp 2023 Support!

Bug Fixes

• export from Revit to SketchUp stability
• fixed bug where DXF and OBJ based family host levels could not be changed
• fixed bug where any level hosted elements would have a host level jump to a level further below due to rounding.
• material mapping stability from SketchUp to Revit for DXF families
  • fixed bug with mapped materials not being applied to DXF families in Revit
  • allowed material mappings and non-mapped materials to be case insensitive
  • fixed issue with materials that have white spaces in SketchUp to map onto Revit materials that cannot have white spaces

Known Issues

• Revit elements from linked models do not transfer into SketchUp
• When using OBJ mapping, elements that are nested and mapped have a translation issue, when the origin of that nested component does not use the default location

20x Speed Increase for Importing Revit into SketchUp

gif below is sped up, but timer is accurate

Revit to SketchUp Export Stability

Material Mapping Stability

Material Texture Mapping Import From SketchUp to Revit

Download latest version here: Helix Installer

[BenGuler]

2.12, 2.13 & 2.14 Helix Releases

Download latest version here: Helix Installer

Features

• SketchUp 2024 Support

Revit → SketchUp

• Creating SketchUp Materials with Textures from Revit Materials
  
  
• Material name from Revit to SketchUp
• Create SketchUp tags from Revit Categories
  

Stability

• Fixed DWG to Revit Pipe bug. ref: Helix DWG to Revit Not doing anything - #21 by Daniel
• Fixed Revit to SketchUp incorrect flat face when face loop included a spline. ref: Generic models in Revit missing when exported to Sketchup
  
  
• Fixed bug for Revit to SketchUp import where the Revit geometry did not have any materials assigned. ref: Generic models in Revit missing when exported to Sketchup
• Revit to SketchUp stability updates. ref: Failed to Export Model

Security Updates

• Updated the security privileges for the Helix Hub Windows Service
• The Helix Hub now runs as a LocalService instead of a LocalSystem
• To upgrade:
  • uninstall Helix
  • manually remove all the files in this directory: C:\ProgramData\EvolveLAB\Helix
  • install the new version using the link in the post above

Release Links

Helix - Release 2.12.0
Helix - Release 2.13.1
Helix - Release 2.14.0