Importing Files from SketchUp

Trimble® SketchUp® is a general purpose modeling and visualization tool. Revit uses building information modeling (BIM), in which building elements understand their relationship to each other.

When working on a design project, you can use both products to leverage the unique strengths of each. For example:

• If you want to model an initial design pass or quickly model a single element, start with SketchUp. Later, use Revit to refine the design.
• If you want to design entire building masses and then associate real building elements to them, use SketchUp for the design phase. Later use Revit for the detailed planning phase.

To use a SketchUp design in Revit, you can import a SKP file from SketchUp directly into Revit. As an alternative, you can use SketchUp to export a DWG file, and then import that DWG file into Revit. You could also link a SKP file to the Revit project, instead of importing it.

To incorporate a SketchUp design into a Revit project, use the following general process:

1. Use Revit to create a family.
2. Import the SketchUp file into the family.
3. If you created the family outside the project, load the family into the project.

Related topic

• Importing Massing Studies from Other Applications