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Revit Survey Point

 Technical information

The survey point is relevant when using the Revit plugin to upload models and/or drawings to Dalux.

Table of contents

  1. What is the Survey Point in Revit?
  2. What is the importance of the Survey Point for Dalux?
    1. Locate the coordinates
  3. How to fix synchronization issues between models using the Survey Point
  4. How to fix elevation issues using the Revit Survey Point

What is the Survey Point in Revit?

When creating a BIM model or drawing, the BIM software establishes a ‘Survey Point’ for the model as a reference point for positioning objects in relation to the model. It looks like this in Revit:

This point is usually located in Revit as (0,0,0) in the project coordinate system, but can however be manually changed and defined by the user. 

 

What is the importance of the Survey Point for Dalux?

When uploading models and drawings from Revit to Dalux, Dalux bases the location of the uploaded model on the (0,0,0) point of the Revit model file. This means that the survey coordinates in Revit translate directly to the coordinates in Dalux. It is not possible to choose another point as a coordinate base for the Revit plugin upload.

Example: The corner of the same building across all models needs to have the same coordinates. In the example below the corner of the building is located in N/S: 10000, E/W: -5000 in the architect's model:

(The red arrow and circle represent the distance from the survey point (0,0,0 in this case) to the point in which the building is located in Revit and will be located when uploaded to Dalux).

Locate the coordinates

To avoid synchronization issues with other models in the project, the other models will have to place the buildings in the same coordinate sets relative to the survey coordinates.

To make it easier, you can identify the coordinates by using the ' Spot Coordinate' tool in Revit located in the 'Annotate' ribbon:

(Click the image to enhance)

To find a coordinate set for a particular spot on a building, simply select the spot coordinate tool and then select a spot on the building:

These coordinates translate directly from Revit to Dalux in relation to the survey point. The result is that if you view a point in Revit it will be the same point in Dalux.

How to fix synchronization issues between models using the Survey Point

If your models are not synchronized due to the buildings being located in different locations, please follow the instructions below to attach the Survey Point to coordinates (0,0,0) for enhanced visualization of the starting point and move it to the same location.

 

  1. Find the Survey Point on a floor plan as shown below. If it's hidden, go to step 2.


  2. If the Survey Point is hidden, it can be toggled on in the 'Visibility/Graphics' settings (VG). When opened look for the 'Site' section and open it up. Now make sure that the 'Survey Point' option is toggled on:

(Click the image to enhance)

  1. Now move the Survey Point to (0,0,0) by selecting the Survey Point and then left-click on the coordinates and edit them to 0. After making sure the Survey point is located in (0,0,0), click on the little clip icon next to the Survey Point:

     Important!

    Make sure that the Survey Point is unclipped before attempting to move it. Trying to move it while it is clipped will NOT change its coordinates.

  2. With the Survey Point clipped to (0,0,0), move it using the 'Move' command to a specific point in the model. With the Survey Point clipped, it will also move the (0,0,0) point (this makes it easier to place it in the same location for all of the models). The easiest way to do this is to move it to the corner of a building to make sure that it is in the right location.
  3. Now repeat step 4 for all of the models for your project and make sure that they all have the Survey Point (and thus the (0,0,0) point) located in the same place.

With the Survey Points moved to the same location across all models, the models are thus aligned using the same coordinates and you can now aggregate them in Dalux.

The result when uploading to Dalux using the Revit plugin and having placed the Survey Point on the corner of the building will result in the model being located in (0,0,0):

(Click image to enhance)

How to fix elevation issues using the Revit Survey Point

If you are experiencing synchronization issues with the elevation/height (Z-axis) in Dalux, follow the guide below to use the Survey Point to fix it. The steps to fix elevation issues will mirror the fix used in the above section, by attaching the Survey Point to (0,0,0), moving it to your buildings, and thus moving the shared coordinates. The same principles apply if you want to work with any other elevation than 0 for your building.

  1. Find the Survey Point on a floor plan as shown below. If it's hidden, go to step 2 in the previous section to toggle the visibility.
  2. If your Survey Point is already at (0,0,0), clip it by clicking the clip icon to the top left of the Survey Point, if not see the previous section (section 3).
    Then move the Survey Point (and thus the shared coordinates) to the bottom line of your project buildings:

    If you want your Survey Point to be located at a certain point below your model, unclip the Survey Point again and move it down to the desired elevation (as shown in the GIF above)

  3. To make your spotted elevations and your levels reflect the new shared coordinates, you have to edit them. To do so:
    1. Click on the 'Spotted coordinate/level' and click 'Edit type'
    2. Then click on the 'Elevation Base' parameter under the 'Constraints' section
    3. Change it to 'Survey Point':

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