Linked Topography without BIM 360 Docs

[PowellDesign]

I was very pleased to finally see an effective method for linking Civil 3D surfaces to Revit Models - particularly one which doesn't involve the dreaded  'Create from Import' which almost always mis-aligns at least a few edges.

Finally - users will be able to transition from one piece of software which they pay Autodesk for to another which they also pay Autodesk for. Right?

Wrong. Instead BIM 360 Docs (and the desktop connector) are also needed to access this feature.

This is a real kick in the teeth to those of us who have been asking for this as a feature for years. I have no problem with including an option to do this through BIM 360 docs - but to expect everyone to pay an additional subscription in order to access something which has been on the *Revit* Roadmap (not the BIM 360 one) for years?

This is a very simple request - make the Link Topography function (and the Civil 3D Publish Surfaces function) available to All users - not just those who pay an additional BIM 360 subscription.  Allow for a locally published .dwg from C3D and local access to this in Revit via Link Topography.

[Anonymous]

The fact that this has gone unanswered for an entire year is despicable.  There is absolutely no reason for this to not be an option other than the fact that Autodesk greedily wants more money.

What a disappointment.

[SzyKo]

Fact-cats gotta fat up some more somehow 🤷‍♂️...

Good thing we don't have to subscribe to Autodesk for breathing 😅...

[stevenXGGTQ]

Agreed, it's absurd how much we're paying for Revit & Civil and we don't have the ability to make these programs work well with each other.

[a_kralkay]

Fall 2023 update... Still not even "accepted".

I work in an office with Revit users (building design, all disciplines) and Civil 3D users. We have absolutely no use for any cloud service. Let alone one that we have to pay extra for. I'm looking at a surface file on our server right now. I can open it on my computer in Civil 3d. Why do I need to pay to link this into Revit? If this isn't another blatant money grab from Autodesk, I'd love to hear why not. 

[stevenXGGTQ]

Yes, still frustrating, but in case it helps anyone, our small firm has successfully been using the Environment Tools "External Civil Data" feature.  In Civil, Output to LandXML.  In Revit, load or reload the surface into Revit.  For us, it is light-years better than the standard Autocad "Link Topography" feature, although it's not perfect.

Limitations: 

- Load/reload into Revit is speedy, but output from Civil is surprisingly slow. More triangles = more slow. Workaround: split your project into multiple surfaces and only export/import as necessary
- Upon reload into Revit, surface labels will be lost (slope labels, spot elevations, etc.).
- Objects hosted onto the surface may be deleted? I've had mixed results with this and I'm still not quite sure how it works. In my experience, most objects seem to be fine, but railings (aka fences) may be deleted without warning.

- The plug-in starts at $500/yr, but on the plus side, it has a lot of other useful features, and hopefully their topo modeling tools will surpass Civil at some point (for Arch/Landscape needs)