Make early-stage design collaboration work with Speckle

The early stage for architects and engineers isn't just about Rhino massing but about clearly communicating your design to the Rhino and Revit teams, and quickly exploring different options. Speckle makes this process easier.

Speckle makes Rhino to Revit simple and clear

The most important thing in the early stages of design collaboration is to align on design intent.

Architects use Rhino to iterate on their conceptual geometry and Revit to create drawings (2D views) and coordinate with other teams to identify clashes and align models.

The challenge is that many users avoid Revit because native families can be complex and time-consuming to create. However, the good news is that during early design stages, workflows like checking alignment through 2D or 3D views typically don't require native families since the models are not that advanced yet.

Spekle simplifies views coordination and helps prevent miscommunication of design intent (like wondering if there's a beam or not) when working with multiple people.

How Rhino to Revit works in Speckle

There are two ways to go about it. But we recommend one of them more than the other!

Without categorization: In certain situations, you'd be okay with a Revit user receiving uncategorized model data from Rhino. It's best for quick referencing work, powered by publishing from the Rhino side using Speckle's connector plugged into Rhino, and receiving the geometry in Revit via the other connector.

With categorization: With this functionality now a part of Speckle's Rhino connector, you can categorize your conceptual geometry before you share it for reference.

When your model arrives in Revit through Speckle, those objects show up as DirectShapes (not native elements) in the correct category. Visibility settings are by view and categorized DirectShapes are shown or hidden accordingly, but they don't cut exactly like native elements in terms of line weight, or element joining, etc.

You’re getting:

• Rhino working in Revit views: Rhino model geometry now behaves well in views, following their category's visibility settings for each view.
• Fewer mistakes: Structural and MEP consultants know exactly what they’re looking at.
• Smooth handover to later phases: Placeholders can be more easily swapped for native Revit elements.

Rhino to Revit: How Speckle compares to alternatives

Any time categorized DirectShapes can do the trick for your early-design stage coordination, Speckle is the best solution.

It's faster than traditional file imports, easier to use than solutions like Rhino.Inside.Revit or Dynamo, requiring no Revit or Grasshopper knowledge, is more affordable than BEAM, and is outstandingly collaborative.

• Rhino.Inside.Revit requires that the coordination be done by the same person, using Grasshopper inside a Revit instance. This way, you can create native Revit elements, but it’s much more complicated to use than Speckle. In the early design stages, native Revit families are not essential to benefit from Revit views coordination. That's why Speckle provides everything you need and is much easier to use than Rhino.Inside.Revit.
• Dynamo can automate complex mappings and parameters—fantastic, but used by very advanced users.
• BEAM coordination will require the team to know Revit to make it work. The free version of BEAM is minimal, allowing for a maximum of 10 objects per import/export—monthly it's 45$. Speckle is free for up to 1 project and 5 models, with infinite objects per import/export.

Rhino to Rhino: Multiplayer design coordination with Speckle

With the Speckle connector installed on your team's Rhino desktop apps, collaborating on models has never been easier. You can publish and load Rhino models while preserving all original, native geometry—including layers, blocks, sublayers, colors, render materials, and groups.

Instead of sending huge files back and forth, you can publish only the objects your collaborators need, keeping work focused and priorities clear. While text, dimensions, and line styles aren’t supported yet, the workflow simplifies teamwork and coordination.

Multiple people can work on the same project simultaneously—one person on one level, another on a different level—without waiting for someone else to finish. Just be sure not to edit the same element at the same time. After making changes, you publish them so your colleagues receive a notification about the new version and can see the updates instantly.

Sharing native geometry makes it feel as if everyone is designing together, maintaining the integrity of the model while speeding up collaboration.

To wrap it up

Speckle helps teams work together smoothly right from the early design phases. It simplifies sharing designs, makes real-time collaboration seamless, and clearly communicates design ideas, effectively eliminating your bottlenecks.

Architects and engineers can dedicate more time to creating and refining, rather than juggling files. With Speckle, early-stage design coordination becomes not only more manageable but also smarter and more enjoyable.