Project Base Point: what does this do now?

[ron.sanpedro]

I am having some trouble really understanding the value of the new Project Base Point.

Moving the Project Base Point does not in fact change where 0,0 is in exported DWGs. I had hoped that I could wait till a building grid had been established, then move PBP and get DWG exports that would put 0,0 at the A1 grid intersection. Not so it seems.

Also, I moved PBP in my Arch file, after already linking Arch into Struct and doing some copy/monitor. This seems to mimick the real workflow we usually experience. I then expected to be able to Aquire from Arch and see PBP move in Struct. No such luck. The two seem to be independent. So only Survey Point is actually shared, and Project Base Point has no relationship to exported DWG origin. So what purpose does PBP actually serve?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Gordon

[jeffh]

You can check out this Skill Builder. It shows the relationship between a project base point and the survey point. It may help you understand how these are to be used together. The first video in the series show the use of these 2 points.

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?siteID=123112&id=13734321&linkID=9243097

[ron.sanpedro]

You can check out this Skill Builder. It shows the relationship between a project base point and the survey point. It may help you understand how these are to be used together. The first video in the series show the use of these 2 points.

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?siteID=123112&id=13734321&linkID=9243097

Jeff, thanks for the link. I will see if that clarifies anything.

One comment on the Skill Builders however. As far as I can tell, there is no forward/back, fast forward/rewind type functionality, at least in IE 8. Nor a Pause function. This makes for a very frustrating experience, as I just started to watch, got interupted with a question, couldn't pause, couldn't rewind, and couldn't fast forward after starting over. So now I get to watch the non applicable first part again. All in all, pretty much a major FAIL from a UI standpoint. Flash and DHTML both allow for this kind of UI stuff, so why not include it?

Thanks,
Gordon

[jeffh]

It is part of the IE window when I run from the link? (running IE 8 ) The controls are included. Not sure why you are not seeing them?

[ron.sanpedro]

It is part of the IE window when I run from the link? (running IE 8 ) The controls are included. Not sure why you are not seeing them?

Interesting. It looks like the vid is 4:3 formatted, and my paired 19" 1440X900 widescreen doesn't have enough vertical realestate to see the bottom of the vid where the UI is. And since everything is locked down I can't resize or even scroll down to the UI. Any reason this has to be a locked down thing? Why not just make a streaming video that uses internet standards and provides flexability?

Thanks,
Gordon

[jeffh]

I believe these were published at the recomended screen resolution for Revit. We chose to publish at full resolution so the interface could be seen easily.

[ron.sanpedro]

I believe these were published at the recomended screen resolution for Revit. We chose to publish at full resolution so the interface could be seen easily.

OK, but that is Recomended, not Required, and honestly some of us think Revit works better in a wide screen format, even with all the wasted screen realestate up top. So by publishing the video at a large 4:3 ratio, with no resizing control or scrolling mechanism, you have something that is useless not just to an office like mine that has standardized (for the moment ;) on 19" wide screen monitors, but is useless to the vast majority of laptops or netbooks, both of which are a place I can see someone watching training videos. But if it was published as a regular streaming video I could resize it if needed, while those with appropriate screens could watch at full size no problem. Just seems to me to be a great argument for doing it using web standards rather than locking everything up in a one size fits all assumption that is good for many, perhaps even most, but very bad for the rest. Oh well, it is what it is. ;) Browser agnostic web standards ain't something I ever see Autodesk going to.
Bit of a tangent anyway. ;)

Thanks,
Gordon

[ron.sanpedro]

Jeff,
has the video perhaps been "updated" recently? I rewatched the first one, and Project Base Point is not addressed at all. The Survey Point is addressed, which I understand to be an improved UI for Shared Coordinates. But I still don't understand what Project Base Point does if it has no effect on where the internal origin is?

Thanks,
Gordon

[jeffh]

Sorry the Skill Builder video did not work out for you.

The project base point role has not really changed the point is just more visible now. You can adjust this point to do something like making your level indicators read starting at 100' for example instead of 0' or the true elevation. Manipulating the project base point would let you do this. The Revit Clinic blog also did an article on using the survey point and project base point, you may want to take a look at that article for more information.

http://revitclinic.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/06/page/2/

[ron.sanpedro]

Sorry the Skill Builder video did not work out for you.

The project base point role has not really changed the point is just more visible now. You can adjust this point to do something like making your level indicators read starting at 100' for example instead of 0' or the true elevation. Manipulating the project base point would let you do this. The Revit Clinic blog also did an article on using the survey point and project base point, you may want to take a look at that article for more information.

http://revitclinic.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/06/page/2/

So it will change the base point in Revit, but not change the 0,0 in exported DWGs, while before the basepoint was 0,0, and neither could be moved? Certainly seems like a good (and easy) addition for 2011 would be getting 0,0 to adjust.
I admit, being able to change between abstract values for project elevation is certainly a step forward.

Thanks!
Gordon

[Steve_Stafford]

Fundamentally nothing has really changed...


There is a project origin which can't be changed and we must build our model within 1 mile of this origin (2 mile diameter).
There is a project base point which allows you to pretend that your project is at a different elevation or orientation (by pretend I mean that the model does not really move).
There is a shared coordinate (survey point) that allows you to establish a common position relative to another project or dwg file.


If the goal is to get coordinates aligned then shared coordinates (survey point) are the ticket.