Extract Topo Points and Contour Lines

Topography in Revit can be tricky to manage for a number of reasons, but I would say the most limiting factor is that you can only input points (meaning, you cannot input contour lines or a mesh). If you do use a mesh or 3D lines to create a Topo, Revit simply takes the points from those elements and gives you no control in the generated mesh and contours.

This can be fairly frustrating, particularly if you are accustomed to Civil 3D, where you have control over these elements. Unfortunately, this is an issue that is hard-coded into Revit Topos, so until Autodesk decides to fix the Revit surface engine there isn’t much you can do (besides use other elements, which can be a partial solution).

Once the Topo is generated, you can extract the contour lines and underlying mesh elements by exporting a 3D view to dwg. And with Dynamo, you can extract all three Topo elements (points, contour lines, and mesh) entirely within Revit.

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Sorting Points

As follow-up to a previous post, Plant Connector Detail Lines via Dynamo, a reader suggested that the plantings could be sorted a few different ways, including by x and y coordinate values and by distance from another point. I thought these were both good ideas, so I went ahead and made a few nodes that can do just that.

Today’s Landform update has a few new nodes, including Points.SortByDistance and Continue reading

Placing and Modifying Topo Points

I just got back from RTC Europe on Monday, and as a landscape designer I went in with the expectation that there would not be many sessions that would apply directly to the landscape. And in general, that was the case.

However, there was one very applicable session- a Topography lab taught by Joe Banks, from BVN in Brisbane, Australia. I was quite impressed with both the content and overall presentation of the class; Joe is a really funny guy and he has a fair amount of experience working with Topography. And I even learned a few things about placing and modifying Topo points…

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