Export 3D View to 2D DWF

By the time you read this, I will already be away on my holiday in Andalusia.
Still, I thought I could drop off this last post before I leave.

We looked at various aspects of DWF export in the past, such as the

unique id
assigned to elements, the

view definition
, and the

export filenames
used.

Here is another quick question on DWF export handled by Saikat Bhattacharya that may be of general interest:

Question: Is it possible to use the Revit API to export a 3D view in Revit to a 2D page in the generated DWF file?
I tried using both DWFX2DExportOptions and DWF2DExportOptions, and both generate a 3D DWF when I export a 3D view from Revit.

Answer: When working from the Revit user interface, 3D views are always exported to 3D DWF files, and plans and elevations as sheets in 2D DWF ones.
As usual in Revit, the functionality provided by the API parallels the product functionality, so I do not see a way to export 3D Revit models into 2D DWF sheets using the API.
As a quick test, you can play around with the Revit SDK ImportExport sample, where you can select a 3D view and choose 2D DWF as the output format.
You still get a 3D representation of the model in DWF, and not a 2D sheet.
As a workaround, though, you can always create a sheet in the Revit model containing the 2D representation of the 3D view.
If you export this sheet into DWF, the resulting file will represent the 3D view as a 2D sheet in DWF format.
Here is an example of using this workaround:

2D DWF sheet displaying 3D Revit View

Many thanks to Saikat for this solution!


Comments

5 responses to “Export 3D View to 2D DWF”

  1. Hi Jeremy,
    Here i want to know that in Revit API 2011 we do not have
    “DWF2DExportOptions” or “DWF3DExportOptions” but i can have “DWFXExportOptions”. Using this if i exported my one of the view like” Level1″ of 2D one. It has some room element and other elements inside that room. After exporting to DWF i am not able to select Room even i have written the code
    options.ExportingAreas = true;
    Is anything accessory to provide input so that i will get room selection in DWF.
    Thanks
    Sandeep

  2. Hi Sandeep,
    Correct, the Revit API DWF export options were consolidated into DWFExportOptions and DWFXExportOptions.
    I don’t now about the DWF selection, though.
    Cheers, Jeremy.

  3. Hi Jeremy,
    Thanks for quick reply. May be its true that exporting levels in DWF by manually also, not giving selection of Rooms. Hope we will get it next version of Revit :-)
    Thanks
    Sandeep

  4. Dear Sandeep,
    My pleasure. Ok, if it is not in the user interface, it will hardly happen through the API either. Well, please make sure it is entered in the Revit API wish list, then, when the time comes this year:
    http://thebuildingcoder.typepad.com/blog/2010/05/api-wishlist-survey.html
    There is also a Revit API wish list managed by AUGI:
    http://thebuildingcoder.typepad.com/blog/2009/10/revit-api-forums.html
    Cheers, Jeremy.

  5. Thank you very much Jeremy,
    I do not know about the surveys and other blogs like “AUGI”.It will help me a lot.
    For sure i will post my wish list very soon.
    Thanks
    Sandeep

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