Revit modelling with ASTRA
From elevation drawings to a BIM model you open in Revit
Upload four elevations and get an IFC4 model of the building's exterior: walls with real openings, windows, doors, roof and storeys in the right categories, ready to open or link in Revit.
For Premium members · 15 to 40 coins a model · usually ready in a few minutes
• IFC4 · open BIM
• Walls, windows, doors, roof, storeys
• Open or link in Revit
• Archicad and Vectorworks too
Existing conditions in minutes, not days of tracing
Renovations, extensions and change-of-use projects start with the existing building, and the existing building usually starts as old drawings. ASTRA turns them into a measured BIM shell:
Walls, windows, doors, roof and slabs as building elements with types, not one frozen mesh
Floor levels read from the drawings become storeys, and each element sits on its storey
Walls drawn on their outside faces with the thickness inward, so outside sizes match the drawings
An open IFC4 file that Revit, Archicad, Vectorworks and free IFC viewers read
Four steps to an IFC model
Upload four elevations
One sheet with the four elevations or four images in any order; ASTRA works out which side is which. A floor plan is optional and fixes the footprint and the depth.
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Note the width and materials
Optional: the front width in metres, outside face to outside face, and notes on materials, number of floors or roof type.
Generate the IFC model
The model is usually ready in a few minutes; it keeps building if you leave the page.
Open or link the .ifc
In Revit choose File → Open → IFC, or Insert → Link IFC to place it in your own project.
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What comes into Revit
The IFC4 file holds the building's shell, element by element:
Walls
One wall per wall of the drawings, on a wall type per thickness (for example "Exterior wall 300 mm", one plaster layer), marked as external
Openings
Real openings that cut the walls, each filled by its window or door
Windows
Single, double or triple panel, with frame and glass, and a type per size (for example "Window 1500 x 1300, 2 panes")
Doors
Single or double; glazed doors with glazed leaves, garage doors as roll-up doors; a type per size
Roof
Roof planes as roof slabs in one roof element, flat or pitched, with the overhangs drawn
Gables and slabs
Gables as walls as thick as the wall below; base and floor slabs
Levels
Units and checks
Metres; our test models pass IfcOpenShell's IFC4 schema validation
Appearance
One storey per floor level (Ground floor, First floor and so on)
Plaster, roof, frame and door colours, and see-through glazing
Building elements with types, not one frozen shell
Add a Title
In Revit's own categories
Walls, windows, doors and roof come in as IFC elements in Revit's wall, window, door and roof categories.
Openings that cut
Windows and doors fill real openings in their walls, the way a BIM model expects them.
A type per size
Each wall thickness, window size and door size gets its own type, so you can check wall and opening counts and areas early in the project.
External walls marked as such
Walls are marked as external, with the outside faces on the drawn lines and the thickness inward.
Storeys you can work on
Ground floor, first floor and up: every element sits on the storey the drawings put it on.
Open it, or link it into your project
Two ways to use the IFC in Revit:
File → Open → IFC
Starts a new Revit project from the model: the quickest way to look at the building and measure it.
Insert → Link IFC
Places the model in your own project as a reference: trace over it, check against it or rebuild native elements on top.
Whether you can edit the elements like native Revit walls depends on your Revit version and import settings. Used as a measured reference, the model works in either way.
Old CAD and PDF drawings to BIM, without tracing
Most existing buildings arrive as a PDF set or old CAD files. ASTRA reads images of the elevations, so the path to a BIM model takes three steps:
Export the four elevation views as PNG or JPG, from the PDF pages or your CAD file
Upload them, with the floor plan if you have it, and enter the front width if you know it
Open the IFC in Revit, Archicad or any IFC4 tool
Only have plans, with no elevations? Turn a plan into a 3D view with ArchiVinci's Floor Plan Maker
An alternative to outsourced Revit modelling for the shell
When the job is the shell of an existing building, a modelling service and ASTRA do the same first step. Here is how they differ:
Turnaround
Cost
Scope
Changes
What you receive
Outsourced modelling service
Usually days, set by the provider
A quote per job
Whatever you order, interiors and MEP included
A new request
The file format you ordered
ASTRA
Usually a few minutes
15 to 40 coins per model
The shell: walls, openings, windows, doors, roof, slabs and storeys
Upload clearer drawings or add notes and generate again
IFC4 for Revit, plus .blend, .glb, .dae and five renders
Need interiors, structure or MEP as well? Start from the ASTRA shell and add them in Revit.
Drawings, not laser scans
ASTRA works from elevation drawings, not from point clouds. When you already have the drawings, no survey scan is needed to get a measured 3D starting point; when the drawings may be out of date, check the model against your survey before relying on it.
Measured, then checked against your drawings
The scale comes from the most reliable source on the drawings:
1.
The front width you enter, which sets the exact scale
2.
The dimension lines on the elevations
3.
The level marks, which also become the storeys
4.
A scale bar, never a written ratio alone
In our tests with dimensioned drawings, outside sizes and openings matched to the centimetre. A second AI pass compares the renders with your drawings: anything it cannot confirm turns the status into "Ready · check", with the list of what to look at. Always check the model before relying on it for construction.
Open BIM: IFC4 beyond Revit
IFC4 is the open BIM standard of buildingSMART (ISO 16739-1), so the model is not locked to one tool:
Archicad and Vectorworks open the same file
Free IFC viewers show it to anyone on the project
SketchUp Pro imports it with its classes and storeys
Where your drawings go
Drawings and models are private to your account; only you can start or see your models.
Drawings are read by OpenAI's GPT-6 Astra; the model is built in sandboxed processes with no network access.
Downloads go through links that expire after 5 minutes.
Drawings and models are deleted automatically after 7 days.
The engine runs on AWS, with a serverless API, isolated worker containers and private storage.
Pricing for Premium members
Access
Premium members, with a Premium plan or pass.
Per model
40 coins are held when the model starts; you pay what it actually cost, 15 to 40 coins, and the rest returns to your balance. A typical house costs 15.
Fair use
Currently one model at a time and up to 10 a day; files are kept for 7 days.
Failed models
Cost nothing: all 40 coins come back.
Revit modelling with ASTRA: questions and answers
Is it a Revit (.rvt) file?
No. It is an IFC4 file, the open BIM format that Revit opens or links directly. A native .rvt export is not available.
Are the walls native, editable Revit walls?
They come in as IFC elements in Revit's wall, window, door and roof categories. Use them as a measured reference, or rebuild native elements on top; editing them like native walls depends on your Revit version and import settings.
Is ASTRA a Revit plugin?
No. ASTRA runs in your browser on archivinci.com, and you open or link the IFC file it gives you in Revit. Nothing is installed in Revit.
Does the model cover the inside of the building or the structure?
No. It is the shell only: walls, openings, windows, doors, roof, slabs and storeys.
Does the IFC work with Archicad or Vectorworks?
Yes. Any tool that reads IFC4 opens it.
How accurate is the model?
It takes its scale from the drawings: dimension lines first, then level marks, then a scale bar, never a written ratio such as 1:100 alone. Enter the front width and the model is built at exactly that width. The result shows the model's size and where its scale came from. Always check it before relying on it for construction.
Can ASTRA work from a laser scan or a point cloud?
No. ASTRA reads elevation drawings. It is a drawing-to-model engine, not a scan-to-BIM service.
Do I also get Blender and SketchUp files?
Yes. Every model comes with .blend, .glb, .dae and .ifc files and five renders in one zip, whichever module you start from; the Revit module offers the IFC first.
What happens to my drawings after the model is built?
They stay private to your account, are processed in isolated, sandboxed steps and are deleted with the model after 7 days.
What does a Revit model cost?
Starting a model holds 40 coins. When it is done you pay what it cost, at least 15 and at most 40 coins (a typical house: 15), and the rest comes straight back. A model that cannot be finished costs nothing. Premium members only.
The same model, two more ways
Start your next renovation from a measured BIM shell
Upload four elevations, press Generate and open the IFC in Revit in a few minutes.
Revit is a trademark of Autodesk, Inc., SketchUp of Trimble Inc. and Blender of the Blender Foundation. GPT-6 Astra is a model made by OpenAI. ArchiVinci is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of them.