Stop Wondering and Start Coordinating – A Look at The Revit Coordinate System

I have had the pleasure of presenting information related to the Revit Coordinate System to several Revit Users Groups recently. The response has been very well received and, in fact, I've had a number of follow-up questions from customers regarding coordinate system workflows and "what if" scenarios. So with this in mind, the team and I decided it would be beneficial to post some of what I've had the pleasure of covering with these groups.

The specific presentation I want to share with you was put together for the May Seattle Revit User Group (SEA RUG) after receiving many technical support questions from customers who had issues aligning consultant models or needed more information on how the Revit Coordinate system compares to the AutoCAD coordinate system. Check out this video and learn more about the Revit Coordinate System and how to coordinate your models internally with your team, or externally with your consultants: A look at the Revit Coordinate System.

If you'd like a closer look at some of the datasets from the video, including the exercise of moving the Survey Point and Project Base Point, you may download the ZIP file here (Revit 2016 format).

I would also encourage you to check out my video: Resetting Shared Coordinates.

And if you find yourself curious about our Revit User Groups, visit our Ideate, Inc. events page and consider joining us next time.

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Sash Kazeminejad
AEC Senior Application Specialist 
Sash brings proficiency in Autodesk solutions including AutoCAD and Revit Architecture to Ideate customers. His industry experience includes project management, BIM Management, and design for Architectural firms in California, Montana and Oregon. He is LEED accredited professional and is on track to achieve California licensure with Oregon to follow. In his academic life, Sash was awarded a variety of college scholarships, earned a BA in Environmental Design, a MA in Architecture from Montana State University (MSU) and taught Building Information Modeling courses at MSU Gallatin College. As a Revit Architecture Autodesk Certified Instructor, Sash provides Revit Architecture training and support for AEC firms. Find him on twitter. 

Ideate Presents: Autodesk Digital Entertainment SF User Group - Nov 21st

Please join Ideate and Autodesk for a Digital Entertainment User Group meeting at the Autodesk Gallery; featuring updates across Autodesk’s Media & Entertainment product line.

• Thursday, November 21st  
• 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm
• Register Here

Autodesk will be detailing a slew of product updates, including extension releases, new products, and a glimpse into future tech. Product specialists Marcel de Jong and Mark Schoennagel will be on hand to answer all your questions and show you all about the latest developments in Maya, Maya LT, 3ds Max, SoftImage, MotionBuilder, Mudbox, Reality Capture, Xgen and more.

About the Presenters

Marcel de Jong is currently a senior technical specialist at Autodesk. Previously he worked as a designer and digital FX consultant for clients such as DreamQuest Images, Digital Domain, Pixar and Sony ImageWorks. He has a range of production experience on film projects and his design work has been published in magazines such CGW, ID magazine, and Popular Mechanics. He is also a co-founder of Gnomon, School of Visual Effects and won an IDEA award.

Gary M. Davis has been involved in providing CG for television, film, games and architectural visualization for over twenty years. He has authored several books and has lectured at numerous industry conferences. At Siggraph 2007, Davis was named an Autodesk 3ds Max Master and shortly thereafter, joined the Autodesk as a technical specialist for the Media and Entertainment division.

Mark Schoennagel is the long-time Softimage product evangelist for Autodesk, currently focusing on Softimage ICE for creating visual effects. During the infancy of the 3D industry, Mark worked for several advertising agencies and animation studios in Florida. Inspired by the growing 3D industry he relocated to Los Angeles in 1998 and has been working with large film and game studios ever since. Still focusing primarily on Softimage, Mark has also taken a keen interest in the 3D printing technologies using tools like Autodesk Mudbox and Inventor to create 3D prints.

Bob Palioca, @IdeateInc President, talks about events and community. @aiasf #SFRUG

We received an inquiry about the upcoming San Francisco Revit User Group and wanted to share a little insight on this, and other, Ideate events.

Q: Can you explain how your guest presentation by Stuart Cohen will relate to BIM/Revit? I was a long-time member of the [- -] RUG and have recently moved to San Francisco. [- -] RUG meetings were typically hosted by an AEC firm one evening every month. Local software vendors would provide some pizza and drinks. A couple of people from the AEC firm would present their current work and talk about software and workflow issues particular to their projects. Additionally there would often be another volunteer presenter who showed some tips or gave a tutorial on how to use some advanced features of Revit, or solve technical issues.

A: I wanted to personally answer the question about this month's San Francisco Revit User Group. The reason I have encouraged working with Transform is that I expect Ideate to lead beyond the products and processes we deal with on a day-to-day basis. We make connections with the greater issues our customers live in.

Here are a few links to learn about who we are connecting our community with at the February event:

> A bit about the Stuart Cohen, the speaker
> The basics of the TransForm organization
> The innovative certification process
> Key people and agencies linked to TransForm

Part of the value that we at Ideate bring to our community is "thought leadership”. Many times that will mean going beyond the project, model or BIM process and providing access to larger, more provoking discussions that are relevant in our communities. And as "information" for BIM matures, we will all be able to form a more tangible connection, driving more value for our mutual communities.

One reason that we are especially pleased to have Stuart join us for this event is because it is a key issue in all of our communities. And even though this particular event is being held in San Francisco, we challenge ourselves to work with similar organizations in San Jose, Sacramento, Portland and Seattle. Our events throughout the region are a way for us to serve our AEC community and provide value beyond just picks-and-clicks.

My goal is that once per quarter we continue to raise the bar with thought-provoking subjects that will help us to build strong links and strong communities. We will also continue with our core user groups that focus on AEC firm work, software and workflow issues.

Look forward to seeing you on February 9.

- Bob Palioca, President

Thank you, Bob. (We subsequently asked the writer who submitted the question to present at an upcoming user group. We'll keep you posted!)

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