Speckle Tutorials: Rhino & Revit connectors
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In order to be able to use Speckle with each different software (e.g Rhino or Revit), you should have firstly downloaded and installed the respective connector for it. You can see how in: Speckle 2: Download the Speckle Connectors.
Compatible Versions
Revit 2019/2020/2021
Rhino 6/7
The common characteristic between the connectors for Rhino & Revit is that they both use the Speckle Desktop User Interface in order to browse through the streams and send/receive the data. In this regard, they differ from the Speckle connectors for Grasshopper & Dynamo which use the same principles but they apply a node-based approach.
Speckle for Rhino
How to get started
Type ‘Speckle’ in the Command Line and the Speckle Interface will appear. From there you can browse the streams that are connected to your account, create a new stream or add one using its streamID.
Next to each stream, you will find the buttons in order to:
a. See the Stream in the Speckle Web App.
b. Send Data to the Stream.
c. Receive Data from the Stream.
Important to note: If you do not have your account connected, you will not be able to see your streams. Make sure you connect your Speckle account through the Speckle Manager.
Data Exchange
Send data
1. Click on the ‘Send’ button.
2. Select the geometries you want to send from Rhino.
3. Use the highlighted buttons to define your stream selection (By browsing on top of each tab you can see their function description).
4. Press ‘Quick Send’ to send your geometries in the cloud.
Important to note:
1. In case you want to send a whole layer from Rhino, you should right-click on the name of the layer » Select Objects.
2. Apply ‘Save’ in case you want to save the selection setup. However, it needs to be highlighted that in this regard the data is not directly sent to the Speckle platform! The selection setup is just saved in order to be sent in a later stage.
Receive Data
1. Click on the ‘Receive’ button.
2. In the tabs ‘Branch’ and ‘Commit’, you can specify the exact data you want to extract. You can choose the specific branch but also the specific model version (commit) that you want to extract every time.
3. Press ‘Quick Receive’ to receive the requested geometries.
Important to note:
a. Apply ‘Save’ in case you want to save the selection setup. However, it needs to be highlighted that in this regard the selection is not directly received from the Speckle platform, so you will not be able to see it in your file. The selection is just saved in order for you to come back and receive it at a later stage.
b. Each time you receive data, they will be automatically stored in a new layer in your Rhino file in order to be easily selected and not interfere with the rest of the model. Afterwards, you should manually replace the old elements in the model and assign it to the respective layers so that, in the end, the updated version is incorporated.
You can see more in
Rhino BIM
It is an important feature of Speckle for Rhino and serves for assigning BIM tags, such as walls and floors, to the geometries sent from Rhino. In this regard, the elements will not be sent as simple geometry but directly as a BIM component and they will get assigned in the respective category in Revit.
Important to note: The family type, such as Basic Wall or Single Flush Door cannot be specified and, therefore, the first available family type will be assigned to the elements in Revit. This feature is available through Speckle for Grasshopper so it is recommended to use that in case you want to transfer also these properties.
You can find the Rhino BIM components in:
Tools » Options » Toolbars » File » Import Toolbars » SpeckleConnectorRhino.
See a detailed description about how to use them in https://speckle.guide/user/rhino.html#rhino-bim.
Speckle for Revit
How to get started
As already discussed, Speckle for Revit has a similar interface as Speckle for Rhino. In Revit, you can open the Speckle User interface by clicking ‘Revit connector’ in the Add-ins tab.
In order to send and receive data, you should follow the same principles as described above, in Data Exchange.
Important to note:
1. When sending data created in Revit through Speckle, it will always be sent as a mesh. Although this does not create any problems when receiving the data in Rhino, you should remember to transform the meshes into polysurfaces if you need to send them back to Revit. Otherwise, they will not appear in your Revit model since Revit can only receive polysurfaces.
2. In case that data is transferred between files that use different metric units, Speckle will convert its size so that the overall dimensions of the elements are always kept the same.
3. Similarly to Speckle for Rhino, the data should be manually replaced from the user upon receiving. However, there are some cases when the elements will be automatically updated. See more details in https://speckle.guide/user/revit.html#updating-elements
Filters
One important feature of the Speckle for Revit connector is the ability to select the data which are going to be sent based on their properties. In this regard, when you are inside the ‘Send’ tab you can browse in the drop-down menu and apply different filters in the selection:
1. Category filter
You can select all the elements that belong to a specific Revit category, such as ceilings or columns. It needs to be highlighted that, in this regard, all the visible and non-visible elements that fulfill this criterion will be sent.
2. View filter
You can select all the visible elements included in a view.
3. Project info
You can select all the types of project information, such as levels or element properties.
4. Parameters
You can select all the elements that fulfill a specific parameter. It needs to be underlined that different parameter options may appear based on the properties of the elements that are included in the model each time.
