Revit floor plan models

When preparing an Autodesk Revit model to import to the ArcGIS Indoors Information Model, you must adhere to certain requirements and best practices for Revit data preparation.

Georeference Revit models

Revit models must be georeferenced to ensure that the building and floor plan features are positioned and scaled correctly. The following steps are a high-level workflow to georeference Revit models:

  1. Define the projection for the Revit model. It should include both a horizontal coordinate system and a vertical coordinate system.
    Note:

    If the horizontal and vertical coordinate systems do not use metric units and you import 3D data to create a scene, you must project your data into a metric-based coordinate system before sharing the scene to your ArcGIS organization.

  2. If necessary, reposition the Revit model and save the georeference.

Projection files (.prj) and world files (.wld3) created during the georeferencing process must be saved in the same folder as the corresponding Revit file (.rvt) and have the same file name. Alternatively, if you have multiple Revit drawings with the same coordinate system or coordinate transformation, you can create universal projection and world files that apply to all the CAD and BIM files in the folder that don't already have associated coordinate files. To do so, rename the .prj file to esri_cad.prj and the .wld3 file to esri_cad.wld3.

Map Revit to the Indoors model

During import using the Import BIM To Indoor Dataset tool, the Indoors model is populated using the following elements and attributes from the BIM file workspace:

  • Facilities—Facilities are created from the Footprint polygon in the Floorplan dataset.
  • Levels—Levels are created based on Floor elements associated with the same BldgLevel property. You can inspect the features that will be included in the Floorplan_Polygon feature class in the Floorplan dataset when you open the Revit model in ArcGIS Pro.
  • Units—Units are created based on Room elements in the Revit model. Before import, ensure that all indoor spaces are modeled as Rooms in Revit to import them as units in the Indoors model. You can inspect the features that will be included in the Floorplan_Polygon feature class in the Floorplan dataset when you open the Revit model in ArcGIS Pro.

    Rooms are mapped to the Units feature class using the following information. Ensuring that fields are correctly populated in Revit before running the Import BIM To Indoor Dataset tool will help ensure accurate floor plan data.

    • The Name field for Rooms elements in Revit is used to populate the USE_TYPE field in the Units layer.
    • The Room Number field for Rooms elements in Revit is used to populate the NAME field in the Units layer.
    • The associated Building Level is used to populate the LEVEL_ID field.
    • You can map additional attributes from Rooms features to the Units layer, provided the fields already exist.
  • Details—Details are created based on elements from the following Revit families: Doors, Ramps, Stairs, Stair supports, Stair Landings, Columns, Structural Columns, Walls, Windows, and Curtain Wall Panels. Elements from these families that will be imported can be inspected in the Floorplan_Polyline feature class in the Floorplan dataset.
  • 3D facilities—Multipatch features are created in the Facilities 3D layer representing the facility shell of the building from the ExteriorShell feature class in the BIM file workspace. This feature is derived based on elements in the Revit model that have the Function property set to Exterior.
  • 3D units—Multipatch features are created in the Units 3D layer representing the footprint of objects in the Revit model's Rooms category.
    • The Name field for Rooms elements in Revit is used to populate the USE_TYPE field in the Units layer.
    • The Room Number field for Rooms elements in Revit is used to populate the NAME field in the Units layer.
    • The associated Building Level is used to populate the LEVEL_ID field.
  • 3D details—Multipatch features are created in the Details 3D layer from objects in the following Revit categories: Doors, Ramps, Stairs, Stair supports, Stair Landings, Columns, Structural Columns, Walls, Windows, and Curtain Wall Panels.
    • 3D elements must be associated to a level before running the Import BIM To Indoor Dataset tool.
    • During import, 3D features that span across multiple floors (such as walls or curtain panels) are sliced so that there is a 3D detail feature for each level across which the feature spans.

Properly attributing elements in the Revit model allows for accurate conversion using the Import BIM To Indoor Dataset tool.

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