Review: Topo Align - A Powerful Revit Plugin for Working with Topo Surfaces

Introduction

Revit is a widely used software application for architecture, engineering, and construction professionals. One of the challenges in working with Revit is managing and manipulating topography surfaces effectively. This is where the Topo Align plugin comes in. Designed to simplify and enhance the workflow associated with topo surfaces, Topo Align offers a suite of commands that make aligning and editing topography surfaces a breeze.

Align to Element

The "Align to Element" command in Topo Align is a game-changer when it comes to aligning topo surfaces or solids to specific elements such as walls, floors, roofs, or pads. With variable vertical offsets, you can avoid coincident surfaces and achieve precise alignments. The ability to align to individual edges and limited support for aligning topo surfaces to families further adds to the flexibility and versatility of this command. Although complex elements may require some manual processing, the overall results of this command are impressive.

Align to Topo

When it comes to shaping floors to match the contours of topo surfaces, the "Align to Topo" command is invaluable. By picking a topo surface and a floor, this command seamlessly adds points from the topo surface to the floor, resulting in a perfectly shaped floor. In versions 2024+, the floor is converted to a region on the topo solid, allowing for even more precise control over the final outcome. This command eliminates the need for tedious manual adjustments, saving time and effort in the design process.

Points from Lines

The "Points from Lines" command is a handy tool for grading regions of a site without manipulating the entire topo surface. By drawing model lines and arcs below the topo surface and projecting them onto the surface, additional topo points are created. This feature is particularly useful when you want to control specific areas of the site while preserving the rest of the topo surface. The option to remove existing topo points within the plan shape further enhances the precision of this command.

Points along Contours

Precise control over the proposed contour of a topo surface is made easy with the "Points along Contours" command. By drawing model lines as contour lines on levels or reference planes, you can define the desired contour shape. Alternatively, drawing the contours on a datum level below the topo and controlling the Z value of the points with the offset value enables greater flexibility. This command simplifies the process of creating topo points along the model lines at specified distances, resulting in accurate and well-defined contours.

Points at Intersection

The "Points at Intersection" command is a brilliant addition to the Topo Align plugin. This command allows you to add topo points to the surface when a selected face, such as a wall, floor, roof, or mass, intersects with the topo. By selecting the topo surface and the face, the command automatically creates topo points at the triangulated intersections. This feature is immensely useful for generating detailed and accurate representations of intersections, saving time and effort in the modeling process.

Reset Region

For those instances when you need to reverse the edits made to a part of a graded surface, the "Reset Region" command comes to the rescue. This command, which works in a plan view, removes internal topo points from an edited topo surface and copies the points from an existing topo surface within the picked area. This effectively acts as an "undo" for specific regions of a graded surface, providing a quick and efficient way to make adjustments. It is worth noting that boundary points are not reset, and proper naming of multiple topo surfaces is recommended for ease of selection.

Conclusion

Topo Align is undoubtedly a must-have Revit plugin for professionals working with topography surfaces. Its powerful commands and features make aligning, shaping, and manipulating topography surfaces a breeze. With the ability to align to elements, shape floors to match topography, create topo points from lines or contours, and add points at intersections, Topo Align streamlines the design process and enhances accuracy. Whether you're a seasoned Revit user or just getting started, Topo Align will undoubtedly revolutionize your workflow and save you valuable time and effort.