Interior points of topography incorrect after adjusting survey point height.

[Mark_Engwirda]

Maybe someone can tell me where I am going wrong here.

Problem
Base height of a building needs to be adjusted to suit the relative level of a topography surface.

Solution
Base level height is adjusted by moving the "survey point triangle" in the locked mode and now the building height reflects the desired elevation height of the building.

Issue
The topography has also moved up/down by the same height.

Solution
Adjust the topography object up/down to match the correct building height. The topography surface now indicates the correct surface level heights as does the building.

Main Issue
When editing the topography the interior points do not reflect the topography surface heights.
They are now incorrect by the amount we changed the survey point triangle or the amount we moved the topograpy surface.

This is a very large issue when editing a complex topography.

Main Solution Required
How do we stop the topography from moving up/down when adjusting the relative height of the building using the "survey point triangle" or how do we make the interior points match the topography surface heights after adjusting the building height moving the "survey point triangle".

[Alfredo_Medina]

It is strongly not recommended to move the survey point when it is locked. Usually, it is not necessary to move it, except when you adquire coordinates from a civil .dwg file; in that case the survey point will be moved automatically to the origin of the .dwg file. This is a topic that requires some more explanations. Let me search for a link to another post of mine, for reference...

Post # 2 in this other thread might help:

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/Revit-Architecture/DWG-files-coming-into-Revit-in-wrong-place/m-p/4479...

[Mark_Engwirda]

Thanks Alfredo

It has also been suggested to use the "relocate the project" but that does
exactly the same thing.

I don't mind doing either or another if any of them provides the solution.

Its only my opinion but when either of these options are used, the
topography should adjust its coordinates or interior points to reflect that
change.

That would make it nice and simple.

[Alfredo_Medina]

The elevation of the points of the topography can be measured from the survey point elevation. But, for the spot elevation to report the correct elevation, the tag has to be modified to read the elevation from survey point. The default value is from project base point. This applies to contour labels, spot elevation, and level symbols.

[Mark_Engwirda]

Sorry Alfredo, I am talking about the interior points of the topography when in edit mode, those little black dots that make up the topography itself. The spot levels or any other tags as you say can have there settings changed from relative to project mode.

I am talking about the topography and nothing else.

Because Revit moves the topography up/down with the building when relocating it up/down the topography is not in the correct place so you have to physically move it to the intended height.

Here is the glitch

Applying contour tags set to survey point does show the intended heights but.... When you go to edit the topography the interior points (the little black things) are all incorrect.

This is ok for a simple topography but for large complex ones it is a bit of a disaster.

Please read my last post on thoughts how this could be fixed by Autodesk or if you know a solution I would be grateful to hear about it.

[Alfredo_Medina]

Yes, those points are always relative to a base elevation, not the actual elevation. There is a way to do it in the way you want it, and it was well explained by Jeff Hanson (from Autodesk) some time ago in the Augi forums. I tried but could not find the link. Most likely, he will post here soon and provide you with the link.

[Mark_Engwirda]

Thanks Alfredo, your time is much appreciated.

[loboarch]

I think this is the thread at AUGI Alf was referring to.

http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?139601-I-am-still-having-trouble-with-the-project-elevation

Alf, you remember my posts better than I do.    I think there was a video showing this on the WikiHelp but it was in the community section so it was not transferred to the new help platform.  

[Mark_Engwirda · Accepted solution]

Thanks Guys

I had a good read of the linked topics you provided and I have seenall of  these solutions before.
In essence they are work arounds and  are not always a practical solution.

We don't know when a contour survey might be introduced into the project or for whatever reason the project height might change through tinkering in the design phase, so to be able to adjust the topography as easily as possible is what I think we should aim for.

Look at the Elephant in the room: and that is how Revit treats a topography when doing a "relocate the project". The topography should not move, it's that simple. You are moving the building height to suit the topography so the topography should stay put.

Alternatively and it might be a little less correct in concept but a simpler idea to introduce is to make the interior points reflect true survey point heights rather than project base heights when editing a Topography or perhaps have a way to swap from one to another.

Could I stick my neck out and say a little bit of dabbling in the software engineer's department would make life easier for everyone who edits topography in Revit.

If someone says it cant be be done, I say find a way