Very nice post. As you know, our kubit PointCloud provides tools for working with the cloud data within AutoCAD and we are always getting the “Revit Question” from our customers and many attendees at these conferences. A simple answer for many people to understand is by saying “no, Revit does not work with cloud data.” We tell people this as well but only to drop the illusions that Revit will currently handle large volumes of points (millions/billions). There are a few work flows for working with data in Revit but currently the only way to work with the points directly inside is by importing small portions. This of course puts users back at the normal limitations of Revit (Few hundred thousand points). We teach our users that are desperate to work in Revit to multi-contour or multi-slice the cloud into various pieces in AutoCAD with PointCloud and then export the points as AutoCAD points. They can then bring them into Revit. This cuts down the number of points being utilized and gives the user a decent base of the design.

I was approached by a firm at AU this year that claimed to have modeled a building in Revit from cloud data. The truth is ,they had sliced a floor plan, measured the elevation of the building and stretched the floor plan. In the end, only a few hundred thousand of the millions of points scanned for the building were used. Seems wasteful but it worked.

There is no doubt that the community is knocking on Autodesk’s door for a cloud/Revit solution. I think it is only a matter of time before the engine created for AutoCAD will work with other Autodesk products. First, they have to work out the AutoCAD side of things, then its on to more. Just my opinion though. Again, great post. Talk to you soon.

Scott Diaz