As is often the case when working with manufacturers developing Revit content for the first time, there was a lot of discussion surrounding how and why Revit content is used by designers. Specifically, there was considerable time spent explaining the trade-off between modelling products to a high Level of Detail / Development (LOD) that accurately reflects the ‘real life’ aesthetics of the product and produces great renders vs Revit families that are a little less detailed but perform more efficiently in a project environment. Whilst the final Revit library created by IGS was done so to a higher LOD that we would normally be accustomed to, or recommend for most of our clients, Wilkhahn felt that their primary clientele – mostly high-end interior designers and architects designing workspaces – put a high priority on being able to utilise the 3D geometry in Revit to create aesthetically accurate renders as part of their design process.
Whilst the 3D geometry for the families was highly detailed, IGS implemented a number of creation techniques to ensure that the impact on performance of the families in a project environment was still satisfactory and not a hindrance.
Firstly, coarse, medium and fine details were set in 2D, with coarse being only a very basic representation to provide optimal performance when the model is being viewed in a more macro capacity.
IGS also utilised a 3D geometry creation method that allowed us to achieve the result Wilkhahn were looking for visually, one that standard Revit family modelling tools would not allow and without having a majorly adverse effect on file size. The process involved using Adaptive Components, then round tripping them back into furniture families so that the geometry remained Revit native, allowing for the application of visibility, materials and subcategories etc.