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 Trimble® 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 Trimble® SketchUp® for the design phase. Later use Revit for the detailed planning phase.

To use a Trimble® SketchUp® design in Revit, you can import a SKP file from Trimble® SketchUp® directly into Revit. As an alternative, you can use Trimble® 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 Trimble® SketchUp® design into a Revit project, use the following general process:

1. Use Revit to create a family.
2. Import the SKP 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