This article will show you how to get the most out of Revit’s powerful graphic features incorporating all of the exciting few features in Revit 2013 and 2014. You will attain valuable tips, tricks, and time-proven visualization techniques to make your drawings look great!
You will learn to enhance nonrendered and rendered views with ‘out-of-the-box’ advanced graphic techniques as well as visually improve trees, plants, and people used in Revit for nonrendered views. You will learn more about adding photo backgrounds to renderings using a unique overlay approach, adding fully controllable gradient color (or photo) background behind multiple views, as well as tips for improving interior and exterior rendered views.
Finally, you will learn how to use ‘old world hand drafting’ techniques to add visual clarity to make your construction documents communicate seamlessly. Using poche, surface shading patterns, profiling, transparency, and toning techniques you will learn to create one-of-a-kind 3D graphical drawings.
Section I: Basic Graphic Communication Techniques
Project Wide Default Settings to Individual Overrides
Steven Shell explains object styles.
Object Styles: Project Wide Category Settings
Revit controls graphics based on a hierarchy, which starts from a program wide dialog box known as Object Styles, by category and then focuses all of the way down to individual line weights in a specific view. The Object Style dialog box below applies to all objects and elements in all views. This is where you first set all of your project wide visibility graphic preferences for Model Objects, then Annotation Objects, and then Imported Objects, which you then save to your Template.
Object Styles: View Override
Once you have set your global default settings, any individual view can be modified by using the View Overrides dialog box below, which controls the visibility graphics for an entire category, but only affects that specific view. These preferences should then be saved to your Template.
Object Styles: Individual Element Override
The individual element’s override dialog box below controls the visibility graphics for a specific element in a specific view.
Materials: Project Wide Default Settings
Revit controls the way materials look in all views, and types of views, from a program wide dialog box known as Materials, and can be overridden, duplicated or modified for additional materials as needed. In addition, one can copy all material settings from one project to another by using the Transfer Project Standards tool. All material settings should be saved to your Template.
Note: Starting in 2013, you can add Thermal and Physical Assets to any material.
Materials: Graphic Overrides for Specific Uses
In addition to defining a material’s settings for use in Renderings, you can modify a material for other non-traditional uses, such as to better communicate materials in your Construction Documents or early Presentations when using the standard Hidden Line view type.
For this example, when preparing cabinetry and millwork drawings, it is helpful to add a graphic Surface Pattern and a Cut Pattern to the wood (or laminate) material to better show the difference between materials. (This technique was originally known as ‘poche’ work and was added to the back side of a drawing sheet using a pink color pencil and blending it to highlight certain materials.) All additional or new materials should be saved to your Template.
For this example, when preparing a very preliminary design presentation, you may not want to show materials yet; however, it can be helpful to add a few select graphic Surface Patterns (Solid Color) to help indicate some materials and help the image communicate better than just a plan Hidden Line, or black and white view.
Other Types of Graphic Overrides for Specific Uses
In addition to defining a material’s settings for use in your drawings, you can modify an element so that it shows depth, or layering of object. This technique is used to layer a drawing in order to help communicate when an object is behind another object, set further back.
Lines: Project Wide Default Settings
Revit controls the way lines look in all views and types of views, from a program wide dialog box known as Line Styles, and can be added to, overridden, duplicated or modified for additional lines as needed. In addition, one can copy all line settings from one project to another by using the Transfer Project Standards tool. All line settings should be saved to your Template.
Lines: Modifying or Adding New Line Styles
From the program ‘Line Styles’ dialog box shown above, you can add or modify any line in order to create additional lines as needed. All line settings should be saved to your Template.
Lines: Modifying Individual Line Work in a Specific View
Using the Graphic Display Options Silhouette feature and the Line Tool overrides to provide individual Profiling as well as general line work improvements on an individual drawing.
Sketchy Lines: Modifying Individual Line Work in a Specific View
Use the Graphic Display Options Sketchy Lines feature, a hand-drawn look to an individual drawing including crossing lines at corners.
Sun Settings and Project Location: Project Wide Default Settings
Revit controls the project or site location in all views and types of views, from a program wide dialog box known as Location Weather and Site, and can be copied from one project to another by using the Transfer Project Standards tool. All project location and sun settings should be saved to your Template.
By setting the project’s location, the sun angles and settings can be used to accurately show the sun and shadow patterns for all views throughout the project, based on the physical orientation of a specific view. (This also requires that the project has been oriented to True North vs Project North.)
Phase Settings and Graphic Overrides
Revit controls the overall graphics for any view based on the Phase Filter Settings and Graphic Overrides for Phases which also can be copied from one project to another by using the Transfer Project Standards tool. These settings should be saved to your Template.
In order to improve visual clarity, it is necessary to create additional view filters as well as graphic overrides to the Phase Filter Settings. This is done by creating additional line types and styles to show specific phases better.
In the example above and below, a new phase filter (3) was created called Show Complete + Demo in order to create a coordination plan, which starts with the existing construction, then shows both the new and the demolition work simultaneously. This is helpful in showing how the new and demo work are related to the existing construction, especially during the design process. However, the out of the box demolition work graphics are very thin and need to be modified in order to communicate better. In the example below, the linework and pattern fills for New and Demo have been modified.
Section 2: Advanced Graphic Tools and Capabilities
Explore and Take Advantage of the Possibilities
Now that you have completely modelled and scheduled everything, the fun begins. It’s time to create your images and sheets.
Steven C. Shell graduated from the University of Arizona in 1982, and has had his own architectural firm in Tucson, Arizona for over 30 years. He has been using Revit Architecture exclusively for over 15 years and is the co-founder and co-chair of the Southern Arizona Revit Users Group. Mr. Shell is certified by Autodesk in Revit Architecture. He is a top-rated speaker at Autodesk University and lectures at the University of Arizona’s College of Architecture. He is an adjunct professor at Pima Community College. He has presented at all of the BIM workshops and has been the top-rated speaker at most of them. He has presented at eight Revit Technology Conferences (U.S., Canada, Australia, and Europe), where his classes are always voted in the top five and he was the top-rated speaker in Europe.
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