A company that produces aluminium panels for commercial and residential projects approached us with a request to create a plug-in for Revit. They needed a solution which would allow facade panels to be accurately transferred to CNC machining.
At first glance, the task seemed straightforward—obtaining a projection of a volumetric object could even be done without a plug-in. However, the challenge was that we needed more than just a simple projection. It was necessary to 'unfold' the volumetric element, placing all its faces into one plane. It also became apparent that the detail level of 2D drawings was significantly higher than that of the model, as they are used for CNC cutting. As a result, our team decided against converting the volumetric geometry into a flat one. Instead, we opted to create a database containing the unfolded views for each type of panel.
The client had existing drawings in DWG format. However, editing these files in Revit proved to be impossible. Dividing the process between two applications was not a desirable solution.
Therefore, our specialists developed Revit families that visually matched the existing sketches while ensuring that the position of each line was controlled by the parameters of the family. This way, the user could create a panel of any size and obtain a correct unfolded view for it.
The creation of this plug-in for Revit involved collecting information about the families placed in the view and generating a table that lists all unique configurations (based on the sketch, dimensions, and coating).
Before exporting, views were created for each unfolded view, as well as one that contains all unique unfolded views. These views were exported in different formats—the general view is needed for drafting purposes, while the individual views are used for CNC machining.
The plug-in also included the ability to change the set of sketches. Instead of creating a new version of the product each time a new type of unfolded view appears, a family can simply be added to the storage file used by the plug-in.
What’s more, there was no need to create a new 3D family—linking to the sketch is done via a text parameter. One family can be used for several types of panels. Through this project, our team gained experience working with 2D families and exporting to CAD formats.
We are happy to create similar plug-ins for our future clients,or develop a new plug-in tailored to your unique needs!
P.S. Please write a short post for linkedin based on this case.
Here is a case study of one of our recent Revit plug-ins. We designed a plug-in for our client, an aluminium manufacturer for residential and commercial projects, to help them automate the production of drawings for CNC machining. It saved them hundreds of engineering hours per year.