Split Pipes/Ducts into Standard Lengths in Revit

Many times when you are creating MEP models in Revit using native rfa families, it would be required to split the piping or ducting into some standard lengths based on the project requirement. This could be quite a tedious manual process to measure and split the pipes/ducts especially when it comes to sloped piping the exact standard split length seems to be hard to achieve.

This Dynamo workflow helps you to split Pipe or Duct networks into optimal Manufacturer’s lengths in Revit. Just run the script in Dynamo or Dynamo Player and select the model in a Revit view. It will auto-detect all the piping/ducting and split them into user-specified lengths. You can anytime make adjustments to the selection method.

Split Pipes/Ducts into Standard Lengths

Supported Versions
Revit 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
Dynamo 2.0.4 and above

Packages Required
GeniusLoci
Data-Shapes

Graph Instructions

  1. Simply run the script.
  2. The fitting (coupling/union) placed will be determined by the routing preference in Revit.
  3. The units for segment lengths should be entered as per the defined Project Units (UN) for Length in Revit. e.g.
    • If the unit of Length is mm in Revit, 1000 would mean 1000 mm.
    • If the unit of Length is feet and inches in Revit, 1000 would mean 1000 feet.
    • If the unit of Length is inches in Revit, 1000 would mean 1000 inches.

Thanks to Alban de Chasteigner for his amazing Genius Loci package for Dynamo.

WordPress compresses images, so the above picture might not be legible. Please see the screenshots in two parts below. Right click on the image and select ‘Open image in new tab’.

Script (Part 1/2)
Script (Part 2/2)

Revit Worksets in Navisworks and Filtering Elements

Ever wondered how to filter out elements in Autodesk Navisworks Manage by their Revit worksets?

Worksets in Navisworks can give you greater control over your model data. You can perform various filtering, formatting on the worksets. It is also easier to extract parametric data out of Navisworks when you have clearly defined worksets.

Workset Selection Sets

Worksets in Revit

Worksets in Revit

Steps: 

  1. Export the 3D model in NWC format. Remember to keep the “Close NWC/NWD files on load” checkbox ticked while saving as *.nwc. Without this checked, the file lock is on and you cannot overwrite the file unless you close the current Navisworks file where it is appended to.

Exporting as NWC

Exporting as *.nwc

2. Append the file in Navisworks Manage. Select any element and right-click and make sure that the Set Selection Resolution is kept as the First Object. It will make the object path start at the highest level of objects below the layer node, if applicable.

Set Selection Resolution setting

Set Selection Resolution setting

3. You can see all the property data of the selected Revit element from the Properties panel in the Home ribbon. This is for our viewing purpose.

Properties in Navisworks

Properties in Navisworks

4. Now open Selection Tree panel (Ctrl+F12), and select Properties from the drop down menu.

As worksets are a property of the elements, go to Element > Workset.
Here you can find all the worksets (only those that contain elements) from your Revit project.

Worksets selection

Workset Selection

5. You can right-click and tick Hide Unselected to isolate the elements of the specific workset.

Click on Selection Inspector and it will show all the elements of that particular workset. Click Save Selection for all the entities in Workset.

Save worksets as set

Save Selection for Workset

Now you can find all the worksets under the Sets in the Selection Tree. All the filtering and sorting could be performed on these worksets.

Workset Selection Sets

Workset Section Sets

Tip: To sort or filter elements of different categories based on their parametric values Find Items is a pretty handy feature.

Go to View > Windows > Find Items

Find Items

Find Items for filtering

You can search in the already defined worksets or other selection sets to narrow down the filtering.