Fit Baluster: Auto-Place Balusters from Point Cloud Data in Revit

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Old railings rarely have even spacing. With Fit Baluster you auto-place balusters on a Revit railing by clicking them in the point cloud, so the spacing matches the building.

Fit Baluster: auto-place balusters on a Revit railing from the scan

Why auto-place balusters from the scan

Measuring each gap and editing the baluster pattern by hand is slow. Instead, Fit Baluster reads the position of every baluster you click and adds it to the railing at that distance. As a result, the railing matches the scan even when the spacing changes along its length.

Before you start

  • Model the railing first, along the scanned handrail.
  • Use a view where you can see each baluster in the point cloud, such as an elevation or a 3D view.

Steps to auto-place balusters

  1. Click Fit Baluster (Zeta BIM tab › PointCloud Tools).
  2. Select the railing.
  3. Click the balusters in the point cloud one after another, along the railing.
  4. A small toolbar keeps you in control:
    • Finish keeps the balusters and stops (same as Esc).
    • Undo step removes the last baluster.
    • Cancel discards all balusters added in this session.
  5. The status line shows the distance from the previous baluster and how many you added.

Good to know

  • Pick in order along the railing. A pick behind the last baluster, or beyond the end of the railing, is skipped with a message.
  • The whole session is one step in Revit, so one Undo removes everything you added.
  • It works with the railing types in your project.

Video

Get ZetaBIM

ZetaBIM is a Revit plugin for scan-to-BIM teams. See the complete guide to the Revit point cloud plugin workflow. Download ZetaBIM to try it, browse more ZetaBIM tutorials, or watch the videos on the ZetaBIM YouTube channel.