creating topography in revit

[shershahbacha9]

Hello experienced people !!

I want to create a topography in Autodesk Revit from elevation data (or any other kind of data).

Basically what i want to do is to take data from Google earth , USGS or any other source specifically for Germany ,which has more accurate data and make that area's topography in Revit so that when i place my building in Revit over that area , i have an idea of cut and fill or have an idea of which of my building suits this topography.

My preference is using Revit alone for both builidng and topography

or i can use Civil 3D for topography and then import that topography to Revit.

PS : Sorry for long post but i thought full description is necessary to write to have in mind why i want to build topography in Revit.

Your help in this regard of assisting me to create topography and also which source will be more reliable for getting data, will be highly appreciated.

[Anonymous]

We use an add-in called CadtoEarth which gets data from Cesium to create a topography in Revit.  I've also tried Plex-Earth, which seems to be more accurate.  However, if you want anything that's accurate for Cut and Fill calculations or accurate site information, the only reliable method is to use data produced by a land surveyor.

[shershahbacha9]

i have to do this in revit and then compare the result to one with surveyor so that which one is realistic. 

cesium is source of getting data as Google earth or USGS ?

Also you mentioned two methods and said the 2nd is more reliable , will it also be more accurate considering area germany

[Anonymous]

I cannot say whether it will be more accurate in Germany or not, but I have done some experiments in our area.

The image below shows a Revit topo created from the two sources that I referred to.  The photo shows the actual site. 

From what I've found out, the data sources vary - Google Earth obtains data from satellites and aircraft.

Ge-terrain is another add-in that can be used.  CADToEarth is the only free one from what I've seen.  Infraworks also can be used to create topo-surfaces.  It was previously possible using Sketchup, but this is no longer possible, as Google Earth won't make their data available.  CADto Earth also had a Google Earth option before, but this is also no longer possible.

[shershahbacha9]

Yes , you are right . from picture it can be seen plex-earth seems more accurate than cad-earth . All these three plugins gets their data from google earth ? 

[Anonymous]

I'm not totally sure - but I think that none get their data from Google Earth anymore, as it is no longer available.

[shershahbacha9]

From which source they get their data because its of great significance for me to know.