Photometry guide

How to use an IES file in a Revit lighting family

To use an IES file in a Revit family, pair it with the matching text ACIS SAT geometry. The IES describes how the luminaire distributes light but does not contain its 3D housing. BIMMER places and aims the Revit light source, assigns the IES photometric web and carries relevant product values into a Revit 2025+ RFA.

, lighting-product designer and BIMMER developer Updated

Direct support status

InputDirectly accepted?Required action
IES LM-63 fileYesUse the measured file for the exact product, optic and operating condition.
LDT / EULUMDATNoObtain a valid IES version from the photometric lab or a trusted conversion workflow first.
IES without geometryNoPair it with the matching text SAT luminaire model.
Text SAT plus IESYesThis is the complete BIMMER input pair.

The BIMMER workflow

  1. Select the IES measured for the exact catalogue code, beam, lumen package and optic—not a visually similar product.
  2. Validate the file and review extracted values such as lamp lumens and electrical data; resolve malformed headers or impossible values.
  3. Pair the IES with the matching text SAT in a BIMMER row and confirm the intended light-emitting body.
  4. Generate, then inspect the photometric web direction and Type Properties in Revit.
Revit family showing the light source and photometric distribution
First-party output evidence: the generated RFA with its light source and photometric distribution in Revit. See the complete BIMMER tutorial.

IES file to Revit family: geometry is still required

IES LM-63 data records luminous intensity around a source and related metadata. It can make a Revit light calculate and render like the measured luminaire, but it cannot show the housing, aperture, bracket or mounting detail. That geometry comes from CAD.

This distinction is why “convert IES to BIM” is incomplete. A manufacturer-quality family combines a simplified coordination model with the measured distribution and structured parameters.

Variant control matters

One housing may have narrow, medium and wide optics, several colour temperatures and different lumen packages. Keep the CAD-to-IES pairing explicit. BIMMER batch rows can reuse one SAT across several IES files, but each output is still a distinct family generated from a known pair.

Common failures and what to change

The family emits in the wrong direction.

Check how the emitting body is oriented and first in the model tree, then verify the IES coordinate convention in Revit.

Calculated output does not match the datasheet.

Confirm the exact IES variant and review its lumens/watts metadata; do not substitute a family-level “typical” file.

The IES parser rejects the file.

Request a standards-compliant LM-63 export from the laboratory rather than hand-editing measurement rows.

Questions manufacturers ask

Can I convert an IES file to a Revit file or RFA?

Not from IES alone. The IES supplies photometry but no product geometry, so BIMMER requires a matching text SAT model as well.

Can one SAT be paired with several IES files?

Yes. Put one SAT and several matching IES variants in a batch row; BIMMER creates one family for each SAT × IES pair.

Primary references