{"id":340622,"date":"2018-11-08T10:35:39","date_gmt":"2018-11-08T18:35:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?post_type=blog&p=340622"},"modified":"2019-02-08T16:44:23","modified_gmt":"2019-02-09T00:44:23","slug":"coordinates-in-revit-for-use-in-arcgis","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-pro\/3d-gis\/coordinates-in-revit-for-use-in-arcgis","title":{"rendered":"Coordinates in Revit for use in ArcGIS"},"author":3611,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":""},"categories":[23771,23851],"tags":[35131,30371,250452,32911,176662],"industry":[],"product":[36561],"class_list":["post-340622","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-3d-gis","category-data-management","tag-autodesk","tag-bim","tag-geolocation","tag-georeferencing","tag-revit","product-arcgis-pro"],"acf":{"short_description":"Here is the easiest way I have found to establish coordinates in Revit so that it shows up correctly positioned in ArcGIS Pro.","flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Why does my Revit model display in ArcGIS Pro in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, or off the coast of Africa three times taller than it should be.\u00a0 Or, why does it span the entire European or African continent?\u00a0 Or, how did my Revit model show up on the map in the correct position?! The short answer to all these questions is that my Revit model needs to be geolocated or georeferenced\u00a0<\/em>to be positioned correctly in an ArcGIS map or scene.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":340632,"id":340632,"title":"BuildingE","filename":"BuildingE.png","filesize":423268,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2018\/10\/BuildingE.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-pro\/3d-gis\/coordinates-in-revit-for-use-in-arcgis\/buildinge","alt":"","author":"3611","description":"Revit Model In ArcGIS Pro","caption":"Revit Model In ArcGIS Pro","name":"buildinge","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":340622,"date":"2018-10-11 19:09:45","modified":"2018-10-11 19:10:20","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1920,"height":1078,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2018\/10\/BuildingE.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":120,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2018\/10\/BuildingE.png","medium-width":464,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2018\/10\/BuildingE.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":431,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2018\/10\/BuildingE.png","large-width":1920,"large-height":1078,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2018\/10\/BuildingE.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":862,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2018\/10\/BuildingE.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1078,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2018\/10\/BuildingE.png","card_image-width":826,"card_image-height":465,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2018\/10\/BuildingE.png","wide_image-width":1920,"wide_image-height":1078}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

This article outlines the method I use to specify the coordinate information in a Revit<\/em> file using Revit.\u00a0 <\/em>In a future article<\/a> I will address what I can do if I don\u2019t have access to Revit software, but still need to re-position my Revit model in ArcGIS Pro, a process we call georeferencing<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Positioning BIM Data In Revit for use in<\/em> ArcGIS<\/h3>\n

As an ArcGIS user , who is also a Revit user I know that I can directly read Revit files in ArcGIS Pro 2.2. \u00a0\u00a0I want my Revit-sourced data to be positioned correctly in an ArcGIS scene the first time it is opened up in ArcGIS. \u00a0\u00a0To do this I will establish coordinates in the Revit model that represent real world<\/em> coordinates.\u00a0 And I will properly record the coordinate system I used by including an esri .PRJ coordinate system definition file. \u00a0\u00a0My work includes two major steps:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. In order to establish the necessary information in Revit, I need the Revit Project Base Point<\/em>\u2019s coordinates and angle to true north<\/em> to represent numbers in some real real world\u00a0<\/i>coordinate system.<\/li>\n
  2. Because ArcGIS needs to know what real world\u00a0<\/i>coordinate system was used to establish the Project Base Point,<\/em> I \u201ctell\u201d ArcGIS the coordinate system I am using by including a .PRJ file that contains the coordinate system definition.\u00a0 \u00a0A .PRJ file is an ASCII file\u00a0 that contains the definition of\u00a0 the\u00a0 coordinate system used by a companion data file.\u00a0 The file name should be the same as the CAD or Revit model, but should have a .PRJ file extension.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    How do I actually do<\/em> the work in Revit?\u00a0 I can use the tools of Revit to establish the coordinates for my Revit model using a combination of various techniques for manipulating the clipped and un-clipped states of\u00a0 Revit Project Base Point<\/em> and Survey Point<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0 A description of all the options to manipulate these points are beyond the scope of this post.\u00a0 That said, I can use any technique where the Revit Project Base Point<\/em> reflects the X,Y,Z position and\u00a0 angle to true north\u00a0<\/em>where those coordinate values are\u00a0based on an Esri-supported coordinate system.\u00a0 I also need to notify ArcGIS which coordinate system I used, by obtaining a properly named .PRJ file.<\/p>\n

    WARNING<\/u>: <\/strong>Modifying the coordinates of a Revit file should only be done when you understand the full implications that that change will have on collaboration and the BIM processes in your organization. \u00a0Although not required by ArcGIS, the Revit Survey Point<\/em> might have some significant meaning in your Revit model or it may not.\u00a0 To keep the Survey Point<\/em>\u00a0 and Project Base Points properly related to the my Revit Model I will take care to update them together as described below. \u00a0If I don\u2019t want to change the coordinates of my Revit data, or I don\u2019t have access to Revit, I can accomplish the re-positioning of Revit models without modifying the coordinates of my Revit Models using the georeferencing capability of ArcGIS Pro instead.<\/p>\n

    That said, as a Revit user who wants to modify the coordinates of my Revit file so that it will be properly positioned in ArcGIS,\u00a0 I find the following is the easiest method in Revit to accomplish my task:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. I un-clip<\/em> the Survey Point<\/em> and then use the SPECIFY COORDINATES AT POINT command on the\u00a0Coordinates<\/em> pull down menu of the Revit Manage<\/em> Ribbon tab. Using this tool, I enter the real-world coordinates with the proper elevation<\/strong>, and angle to true north<\/em> for some known point in my Revit Model (any known<\/em> point).\u00a0 The coordinates of the point and angle I enter should be some known<\/em> place in the Revit model and its position on the earth according to the coordinate system I am referencing.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0If I chose to leave the Survey Point<\/em> \u201cclipped\u201d I accomplish the same thing but my Revit Survey Point<\/em> will retain its old less-meaningful coordinates relative to my new global coordinates.\u00a0 When I want the Survey Point<\/em> and Project Base Point<\/em> to end up in the same relative position to one another and the model I will un-clip<\/em> the Survey Point<\/em> before using the SPECIFY COORDINATES AT POINT command.<\/li>\n
    2. I must know in advance what that coordinates should be,<\/em> by surveying the point in the real world<\/em>, or by some other means known to me. The coordinate system values and .PRJ file\u00a0 you use\u00a0 must match the display units of your Revit model.\u00a0 Because of this you will never be using a global coordinate system of Lat\/Long since Revit models are never created using Lat\/Long or decimal degrees as the drawing units.\u00a0 (Note: This is why your model might by default cover all of Africa without georeferencing or when you fail to provide a valid .PRJ file, because the default coordinates system of a global projection definition for a global scene has units of Lat\/Long but your Revit model never will).
      \nNote<\/u>: If I want to update the coordinates of multiple Revit models that I have linked<\/em> to this Revit model, I can use the PUBLISH COORDINATES tool in Revit to push the changes I make to my coordinates in this Model to all my linked models.\u00a0 If I want the Survey Point<\/em> in those models to update relative to the changes to the Project Base Point<\/em>\u00a0 and the model, I would want to have those linked models saved with their Survey Point<\/em> Un-clipped <\/em>as well.\u00a0 Otherwise the position of the Survey Poin<\/em>t in those models will retain their less meaningful original coordinate values\u2026 like 0,0,0 etc\u2026<\/li>\n
    3. After updating the model and being careful to note the coordinate system of the point I entered, I can include a\u00a0 .PRJ\u00a0 file or I can select that coordinate system definition in ArcGIS after loading my Revit model in ArcGIS Pro.\u00a0 If I choose to define the coordinate projection definition in ArcGIS Pro my Revit model will load correctly into place only \u2026after<\/em><\/strong> running the ArcGIS Pro DEFINE PROJECTION tool from the Manage<\/em> tab of the ArcGIS Pro Building<\/em> Ribbon menu.\u00a0 \u2026Or<\/strong>, I can obtain a copy of an Esri .PRJ file containing the coordinate file definition\u00a0 and\u00a0 include it in the same file directory with the same filename as my Revit file, with the .PRJ extension.\u00a0 \u00a0Note<\/u>: If all my Revit models in a file folder will be using the same .PRJ file definition I can alternately include just a single .PRJ file, named “ESRI_CAD.prj”<\/em> that contains my coordinate file definition.\u00a0 By providing the properly named \u201c.PRJ\u201d<\/em> file I can skip the DEFINE PROJECTION tool when adding Revit files to ArcGIS Pro because it is read by ArcGIS Pro automatically if it exists in the same file folder as the Revit file.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"youtube","start_time":"0","end_time":"","youtube_video_url":"