Wednesday, January 20, 2010

2-Mile Limitation (20 mile in Revit 2011)

This is worth echoing and I posted it on the Tips & Tricks AUGI Forum.

Getting around the 2 mile limitation when linking a CAD file (20 mile in Revit 2011)

DISCLAIMER: Be very careful when doing this as you can see severe display issues. Use at your own risk!

In Revit 2010, if you import/link a CAD file with entities that are more than 2 miles apart at the extremes, you will receive a warning and Revit won't let you finish the process. Basically everything in the file needs to fit on a 2 mile diameter "platter". Sometimes you could have a text attribute that is outside this imaginary circle that causes the issue. This tip has two parts to it: how to get around the limitation and how to clean your file so it works without workarounds.
I've been wanting to test out and write about the workaround for a while but I just came across a very well written tutorial so here it is! Thanks go to tonyisenhoff and phyllisr at EUA who shared this detailed tip here.

The second tip explains how to clean your file. Assuming you have a DWG file & Autocad, and you're sure your geometry fits on the proverbial "platter", do the following:

  1. With the file open, type the command "select" and at the prompt type "all";
  2. Now type "r" to remove objects and window your geometry. By doing this we're creating a selection set of offending objects, which sometimes are invisible. Click/spacebar/enter to exit the command;
  3. Now type "erase" and then at the prompt, type "p" (for previous). This selects the selection set completed in 2. Click/spacebar/enter to exit the command;
  4. Nothing in your file should be outside of the area you windowed, so save the file and link/import again in Revit. No error or warning should show up.

EDIT: As MrJackson commented, it's much easier and faster to hit CTRL-A to select all, then hold SHIFT while windowing the geometry you wish to keep. Then hit the DELETE key.

Also as of Revit 2011, the limitation has now been raised to a hefty 20 miles. Thanks Factory!


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7 comments:

MrJackson said...

It's much easier and faster to hit CTRL-A to select all, then hold SHIFT while windowing the geometry you wish to keep. Then hit the DELETE key.

Dave Baldacchino said...

Thanks sir! Haven't done CAD in a while so please forgive me :)

Elmo said...

Another solution to this is to save your autocad file to 2002 or earlier version of autocad and for some odd reason you are able to bring that file into Revit with no problems.

Dave Baldacchino said...

Ahhaaa thanks a lot for that tip! Wasn't aware of it.

Elmo said...

Hehe, another thing that was just highlighted to me due to this issue, is to go to your front elevation in Autocad and go zoom extents. You will then notice that a line will be way above the rest of the plans which is 2000 miles height! How annoying.

Dave Baldacchino said...

2000 miles?? That's 10 times further than the Space Station lol!

BTW, I updated the post since the limitation in 2011 is 20 miles.

Elmo said...

Yeah, hopefully this wont be an issue anymore with 2011. Although I tend to find that people always take their time going across to the newer versions.

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