What is Revit data?

Revit is an Autodesk product that is used to create and work with building information modeling (BIM). It contains complex geometries and attribute information describing a building and its construction process. For example, the geometries contain complex data for objects such as walls and doors, allowing engineers to classify the objects with real-life information.

The Revit model is essentially all the parts of a structure assembled virtually in 3D and contains all the information to identify what and how these parts are built. Revit is often used to document BIM in organizations involved in the engineering, architecture, surveying, and construction industries.

ArcGIS Pro 2.6 supports Autodesk Revit 2015 through 2020 file formats (*.rvt). When earlier Revit files are accessed through ArcGIS Pro, they are temporarily upgraded to the latest Revit file format. For the best performance, permanently upgrade your Revit files to the latest supported version.

Building information modeling

Building information modeling is often a 3D computer-aided digital design for a real-world structure. Parts of the geometries in a building information model also contain the physical and logical characteristics of the built environment. The BIM portions of the geometries also contain the physical and logical characteristics of the built environment. The geometry will show a chair, but the attributes will contain the model, size, ID number, and so on.

Although it is possible to create BIM data that corresponds to the x,y coordinates of a projected grid zone, most BIM data is authored without this consideration. Typically, features are measured relative to other features using distances that have been measured at local ground elevations. You can georeference the Revit data to reposition them in ArcGIS.

Revit and BIM

Revit helps designers design, simulate, visualize, and collaborate to effectively create interconnected data to represent BIM. The data follows a schema so that it can be correctly interpreted by any organization or product. This allows a product such as ArcGIS Pro to use not only the geometries but also the properties from the drawings as attributes.

Related topics