2024 Toposolid - From Points?

[dbroad]

In 2023 and before, we could add points and they could be different elevations and the contours would be calculated.  In 2024, after adding boundaries, when adding points, if one point's elevation is changed, all the points change to the same elevation. What's going on?  I can't set independent elevations for points on a toposolid. Does anyone know how? Must I import contours for this to work?

[mhiserZFHXS]

No. You can still add points and apply specific elevations to them. I'm not sure why this would be giving you an issue.

[dbroad · Accepted solution]

• Must establish a sufficient thickness first.  
• Can't just add points. Must choose modify sub-elements first.
• Any attempt to create a point below the base elevation causes an error.

Thanks for your help.

[mhiserZFHXS]

• Must establish a sufficient thickness first.  - Right. Its a solid now, not a surface. A solid needs depth.
  
• Can't just add points. Must choose modify sub-elements first. - The "Add Point" option shows up for me when I select a toposurface. To modify points, yes, you have to select Modify Sub-Elements first. Pretty much everything in Revit works similarly.
  
• Any attempt to create a point below the base elevation causes an error. - Again, its a solid now instead of a surface. If you add a point below the base of the solid, there is no geometry for that point to model. If you need a lower point, edit the "structure" of the solid's type to make it thicker.
  

It'll take some getting used to, as its a new feature, but the issues you're all having are just about learning how it works. There are some more fundamental issues with toposolids I hope they figure out, but none of these are those things.

[halltony]

i think the toposolid feature is painful. in Australia we work off the Australian Height Datum which is based on the mean sea level which we use as 0 elevation. with a toposurface i could import a cad file with z coordinates & create a toposurface easily or the alternative was to create by placing points across a contour pattern on the site plan. Either way it was efficient. I find now with the toposolid its far more complex than it needs be. So far in my experience with toposolid - if you were to cut into the toposolid for a building pad on a sloping site it seems to pick the average fall line and the building pad is cut out perpendicular to that plane. and it seems to be ineditable once included.  Maybe its just me and having to get used to a new system but i think toposolid is not a worthwhile upgrade to Revit. 

[Alfredo_Medina]

Not all steps about the toposlids were forward. Some were backwards, in my opinion. Hopefully this will be improved in future updates. 

I did a video about this new topic. At the end of the video I assign a grade to each feature of toposolid, with my comments. 

This is the link to the video: https://youtu.be/vNNszAef3mE?si=JlOsMu9vJco98Asa

[ellison]

Alfred, I appreciated the thoroughness of your video, and agree with your summary points.  One of your requests, which has been echoed by many others, is for subdivisions with negative thickness - into the toposolid.  I want to share that one can achieve what appears to be a negative subdivision by simply creating a subdivision of greater thickness for "everything else", shown in green in this screen capture.  The toposolid only represents the dirt.  Although it'd be great to have a "negative" subdivision, I'm willing to live with the existing system if it means improvements elsewhere - particularly in the editing mode as you also noted.

 

[Base12]

Now in v2026, I'm trying to create a toposolid for a slope that covers 50 feet of elevation change. I made a toposolid 100' thick.  I tried making it variable thickness, and non-variable, both have the same problem.  I set the elevation for it at the highest elevation and am trying to add points along contour lines (a .jpg underlay) that get progressively lower at 10' intervals.  I tried it the other way, too placing it at the lowest elevation and working up.  Both have the same problems. 
Problem 1).  When I place points along the line at a prescribed elevation they go where I tell them to, let's say 7,800' but only the first contour line.  When I make the next contour line (7,790'), even if I prescribe the desired elevation in the new points, Revit places the point at whatever the resulting elevation is from the previous contour line (like 7,994'-3 11/32" or whatever).    
Problem 2) I could just go back and edit them after they're placed to adjust their elevation, but I can't select more than one point at a time. When I drag around the points, they do not get selected / do not respond to the selection. Ctl-clicking on them doesn't select them either so I can't 'batch change' a bulk of them at a time there are a thousand or more points needed and editing them one by one is a no-go, even if it did work because none of them stay put after I change the one next to it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[mhiserZFHXS]

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@Base12 wrote:

Problem 1).  When I place points along the line at a prescribed elevation they go where I tell them to, let's say 7,800' but only the first contour line.  When I make the next contour line (7,790'), even if I prescribe the desired elevation in the new points, Revit places the point at whatever the resulting elevation is from the previous contour line (like 7,994'-3 11/32" or whatever).    

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Are you on absolute and Elevation Base = Survey Point? Sounds to me like you might be on Along Surface. 

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@Base12 wrote:

Problem 2) I could just go back and edit them after they're placed to adjust their elevation, but I can't select more than one point at a time. When I drag around the points, they do not get selected / do not respond to the selection. Ctl-clicking on them doesn't select them either so I can't 'batch change' a bulk of them at a time there are a thousand or more points needed and editing them one by one is a no-go, even if it did work because none of them stay put after I change the one next to it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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I can select multiple points both by dragging a selection box and by ctrl clicking multiple points. Are you selecting "Modify Sub Elements" first? 

[Base12]

Aw geeze, I figured it would be something dumb like that.  Previously weren't those settings were on the other (left) side of the toolbars?  I was a) trying to make the elevation adjustments in the properties dialog and it was changing the elevation of the entire toposolid, and b), yes it was defaulting to relative to the surface, not absolute.  Thanks for the help!

[mhiserZFHXS]

I don't remember if they used to be available in the properties as well or not, but they've been up in the modify ribbon for as long as I can remember.