Positioning a BIM Model using Geolocation

Cartesian coordinates are a way to pinpoint locations on the Earth's surface. They use a grid system that divides the world into zones, like slices of an orange, to make it easier to specify a location accurately.

Every UTM coordinate is composed of 3 main variables:

• Zone (only for some coordinate systems) - Predefined "slice" of the earth. Each zone has its own set of coordinates, making it simpler to communicate precise locations. 
• Easting (E/W) - Distance in meters of how far to the right a point is within its zone
• Northing (N/S) - Distance in meters of how far up it is from the equator.

You can use this system to quickly position your Revit (or other) models in your cmBuilder scenario and here is how:

1. Add your coordinate system to your cmBuilder project

1. Go to your project, and enter Project Settings → Coordinate Settings
2. The appropriate UTM zone is automatically added to all projects. You can delete it if you would like.
3. You can add a new coordinate system by clicking the Add button. You will need to search by part of the coordinate system name. If you need help with this, please reach out to us.

2. Geolocate your model

Once you have uploaded your model in your scenario, you can perform this step.

1. In your model sidesheet, access Move
2. Choose Project Origin
3. Change the Coordinate System to the one you intend to use for geolocation
4. Enter your coordinate values. Note that there are 3 different situations for locating your model:
   1. You have the Latitude & Longitude values for your model
   2. You have the Easting & Northing values for your model
   3. Your model's origin has an Easting & Northing of 0,0.
      • In Revit, you can identify #2 or #3 by the values of your project origin:
      • 
5. If you have situation #2, you will want to also apply your rotation to 0 in your coordinate system.
6. If you have situation #3, you should apply the Transform that is provided (it will adjust the position and rotation).
   • 

3. Auto-position additional models

Make sure to use the same IFC export settings for any other models in this project that are using the same coordinates so they will align in cmBuilder.

Once these models are imported, use the "Snap to position using Another Model" function to align models together: