Prepare Rhino Layers So the Classifier Maps Them Correctly

1. In Rhino, organize the model so each layer holds one element type only — all walls on a walls layer, all slabs on a floors layer, and so on. The classifier maps per layer, so a column sitting on the walls layer will be treated as a wall candidate.
2. Name layers with recognizable words — the tool auto-detects the type from the layer name, in English or Hebrew:
   • Wall: wall, partition, envelope · Curtain wall: curtain wall, glazing
   • Floor: floor, slab, deck · Roof: roof, ceiling, canopy
   • Column: column, pillar, post · Beam: beam, girder, joist, truss
   • Window / Door / Stair / Railing: those words in the name
   • Model line: grid, axis, centerline
3. Nested layers are fine — mapping is by full path (e.g. Building::Walls), and parent names count toward detection (Site::Trees still matches on "Site").
4. Model walls as thin vertical solids where you can. Single surfaces also work but carry no thickness — they get a 100 mm default unless you set the layer's Default thickness mm in the tool.
5. A room modeled as one closed solid ring is handled: the tool derives centerline walls with clean corners. A wall that twists or is double-curved cannot become a native Revit wall — put freeform geometry on its own layer and map it to Mass (it becomes a Generic-Model DirectShape that keeps the exact shape).
6. Hide context you never want exported (site trees, reference scans) — hidden layers are excluded by default; a checkbox in the tool lets you include them per import.
7. Load the .3dm into the Rhino → Revit tool and review the pre-filled mapping:
   1. Each layer row has a dropdown: Wall, Curtain wall, Floor, Roof, Column, Beam, Window, Door, Stair, Railing, Mass, Surface, or ignore.
   2. Use the Auto-detect option on a layer (or the reset-to-auto action) to re-run name detection after you rename layers.
   3. Optionally type a Revit type name per layer (auto-sized from the geometry if blank) and, for columns, a Revit family.
8. Your mapping is saved in the browser per file name — re-loading the same .3dm restores it, so invest in getting it right once.

Note: The layer mapping picks the element type, but the geometry of every object is still checked against it — a squat solid box mapped as Wall will be redirected to Column or Mass rather than becoming a 9-metre-thick "wall", so clean layers plus honest geometry is what produces a clean one-click import.

---

Taught in

• New for 2026 — first taught in BIM + Computational Workflow 2026. See also the Rhino2Revit tutorial.