Exporting from Revit to VisualAnalysis

The VARevitLink makes use of Revit’s Analytical Model as the structure to export. Therefore, it is critical that you take the time to ensure your Revit Analytical Model is well defined. Please consult the Revit documentation for managing the Analytical Model if you have questions about this.

Selecting the Export .vap option with an active Revit project will allow you to generate a .vap file to be used in VisualAnalysis. The Export Dialog is shown in Figure 2, and will become active when the Export command is chosen.

Figure 2: Export Dialog

Analytical Model Counts	Displays a summary of the items in Revit’s Analytical Model.
Default Member Options	This information will be used when an analytical member cannot be matched in VA. Source: The member source to use for Revit members with undefined sections or sections that cannot be matched. Type: The member section type to use for Revit members with undefined sections or sections that cannot be matched. Material: The default material to use for Revit members if the defined material cannot be matched.
Default Panel Options	This information will be used when properties of an analytical panel cannot be matched in VA. Floor Material: The default material to use for Revit panels with a Structural Role = 'Floor' if the defined material cannot be matched. Panel Material: The default material to use for Revit panels with a Structural Role other than 'Floor' or 'Wall' if the defined material cannot be matched. Wall Material: The default material to use for Revit panels with a Structural Role = 'Wall' if the defined material cannot be matched.
User Preferences	The options outlined above can be saved to a User Preference file that will persist these values from session to session. The default value is 'Yes'.

After the Export Parameters have been set, select OK to save a .vap file of the project. After the .vap file is created, a Summary of the Export operation will display, similar to the one shown in Figure 3 below. The Summary will note the members and areas that were exported, as well as those that could not be exported, if any.

Figure 3 - Example Export Summary

Member Naming

In an attempt to facilitate cross-referencing the VA and Revit model, members created within VA will be named as follows:

When the Revit analytical member has a physical association, the 'Mark' parameter will be tried first.
If #1 does not yield a valid name, the 'Comments' parameter of the analytical member will be tried.
If #1 or #2 do not yield a valid name, a default name will be chosen for the VA member.