AUTODESK REVIT

MODULAR TRAINING_MODULE_03
BY BINIYAM B. (PPAR)

VISIBILITY CONTROL, CATEGORIZATION &

MODEL DEVELOPMENT METHODOLOGY
VISIBILITY CONTROL AND CATEGORIZATION

 Objectives
 During this module, the following learning
objectives will be covered.
• Exploring the graphical appearance of published
output
o Project defaults
o View-specific overrides
o Individual object control
o Line-by-line tweaking
• Understand the categorization of elements
• Look at the application of materials, textures,
patterns, colors, pen thicknesses and line-styles
VISIBILITY CONTROL AND CATEGORIZATION

 Notes
 The graphical control of Revit output can be summarized into four topics:
1. Project settings – Line Weights, Line Patterns, Materials and Textures, etc and how they come together in the Line
Styles and Object Styles associated with each category, on a project-wide basis.
2. View - specific Visibility / Graphics Override of the project-wide category settings are explored as a means of
tweaking view preparation. The creation and use of View Filters as a means of defining and applying common settings
quickly and efficiently.
3. Objects - within each view, the graphics associated with individual elements can be overruled by right-click menu or
criteria-filtered selection. Options include control of visibility and transparency; line weights, patterns and colours; cut
and projection fill patterns.
4. Line - the linework tool is used to override particular lines that define the edges and details of individual objects
within specific views.
PROJECT SETTINGS
Tools ribbon > Manage tab > select the Additional settings > Line Weight
 Used to define the corporate
identity; through various styles and
settings which are applied as
defaults to elements in every view.

 Line Weights
 The Line Weights table allows the
specification of line thicknesses
which adjust to suit the scale of the
view.
PROJECT SETTINGS
Tools ribbon > Manage tab > select the Additional settings > Line Pattern

 Line Patterns
 Made up of a sequence of dashes,
spaces and dots, the line patterns
may be used throughout the model
environment.
PROJECT SETTINGS
Tools ribbon > Manage tab > select the Additional settings > Line Pattern

 Line Styles
 Bringing together the above Line
Weights and Line Patterns and
adding color, users can create Line-
Styles to specify the appearance of
any line-work used in all aspects.
 You can always add and edit your
own line-styles to suit popular
requirements.
PROJECT SETTINGS
Tools ribbon > Manage
 Material Library tab > Materials
 The Materials dialogue can be
launched directly from the Manage
tab or alternatively, the dialogue can
also be accessed by assigning a
material to an element or sub-
element.
 When a material is applied to an
element or surface, it defines the
shading color, cut pattern and surface
pattern of the object, as well as the
potential for a photo-realistic render
texture and meta-data associated with
the material.
PROJECT SETTINGS

 Material Library - Graphics

 The graphics are important however and so we first
need to understand that the material library and the
render texture library are two distinct concepts.
PROJECT SETTINGS

 Material Library - Data

 In addition to the graphical characteristics of the
materials, the material browser tabs also provide access
to text-based parameters.
 These parameters can cover information which is
required for including in the document set, such as
annotation and schedules; they can also be used to
collate analytical data for output to 3rd part
applications such as structural or environmental
analysis tools.
PROJECT SETTINGS

 Texture Library
 The render appearance of a material is based upon a
texture assigned from the provided Revit library, a 3rd
party supplied library or a user-created alternative.
PROJECT SETTINGS

 Project-Wide Object Styles

 The Object Styles dialogue allows for
characteristics to be applied to these
categories and sub-categories to define the
default graphical appearance of elements that
preside within this data structure.
PROJECT SETTINGS

 View Specific Overrides

 Having used the above information to define the defaults for a project we can then look
towards the override options that exist to customize the appearance of views, allowing us
to achieve a desired aesthetic.
 View Specific Category Overrides
 First and foremost, the Visibility Graphics dialogue box affects only the view from which it
was launched either by using the default keyboard shortcuts VV or VG; via the button
found on the View tab; or via the View Properties Palette.
PROJECT SETTINGS

 Reveal Hidden elements

 light bulb icon third from the right, and pressing it will halftone all currently visible items in
the view, whilst revealing in pink, any items which have been switched off by whichever
means. A pink border and label in the top-left of the view window acts as a reminder that
the tool is in use and a hidden item can be selected to use the option to Unhide in View.
 Adjacent to the light bulb on the view control bar, is an icon resembling a pair of glasses
which provides access to the temporary Hide and Isolate options. As the name suggests,
this tool facilitates the removal of superfluous information during modelling in congested
areas.
PROJECT SETTINGS

 View Specific Element Overrides

 In addition to the view specific category overrides already
discussed, the right-click menu provides the option to apply
element overrides to the selected object or objects.
PROJECT SETTINGS

 View Specific Criteria Filtered Overrides

 Filtering can be applied to any parameter and
can be used to identify elements from within a
single category or across several categories, if
they meet the criteria laid down by the filter
rules. The
PROJECT SETTINGS

 Linework Tool
 This tool is available in 2D and 3D views of the
model and allows for view-specific changes to
each line defining an object, providing the
ultimate control over the graphical appearance
of individual objects in a view.
 This is often used to highlight an object; show
depth to a view by enhancing those objects
closest to the foreground; or removing
unwanted lines between adjacent or joined
objects.
EXERCISE

 The following exercises provide several practical examples of manipulating a variety of the basic settings
which collectively provide control over what appears on published drawings, and what it looks like. It is
important to understand those factors which have an impact on the style and visual appearance of
drawings and other graphics.
EXERCISE

1. Open the starter file WFP-RAC-04–[Link] and

navigate to and open Floor Plans: Ground Floor
2. In the Properties palette, select the Edit button adjacent
to Visibility/Graphics Overrides.
3. In the Model Categories tab, un-tick the box adjacent to
Furniture
4. Click OK and notice that the furniture is now hidden in the
Floor Plan.
EXERCISE

5. Select one of the Grids and right-click, then Select All

Instances, Visible in View
6. Right-click again and Override Graphics in View, By
Element
EXERCISE

7. Change the color of the grids to Red and OK

8. On the View Control Bar at the base of the screen area set
the Scale to 1:100 and the Detail Level to Coarse
EXERCISE

9. Back in the screen area, use the keyboard shortcut VV to

launch the Visibility/Graphics Overrides dialogue
10. From the Annotation Categories tab, override the
attributes of the Dimensions to Halftone, OK
EXERCISE

11. From the View tab, Graphics panel, View Templates drop-
down, select Create Template from Current View
12. Set the Name to WF Floorplan and OK
EXERCISE

13. OK to accept all the defaults

EXERCISE

14. Navigate to and open Floor Plans: First Floor

15. In the View tab, View Templates drop-down, select Apply
Template Properties to Current View
16. Select WF Floorplan from the list, and OK
VISIBILITY CONTROL AND CATEGORIZATION MODULE_03

 End of Module….Questions???
MODEL DEVELOPMENT METHODOLOGY
MODEL DEVELOPMENT METHODOLOGY

 Objectives
 The key objective of this best practice module is to promote the idea
that users should opt for less 3D geometry, rather than more, as the
efficiency of the BIM is largely defined by the performance of the
components contained within.
MODEL DEVELOPMENT METHODOLOGY

 Is BIM just about 3D?

 Depending on which articles and white papers you might have
read or heard of, the number of D’s seems to grow by the day,
with less agreement the higher you go. For the practical purposes
of BIM, there are six that have relative industry agreement:
1D A point
2D Line drawing
3D Modelled solids and surfaces
4D Time and sequence
5D Costing
6D Ongoing facility management
MODEL DEVELOPMENT METHODOLOGY

 BIM methodology can assist in this effort by

improving collaborative communication and
by drawing closer parallels between the
virtual concept and the built reality, thereby
highlighting clashes and construction issues.
MODEL DEVELOPMENT METHODOLOGY

 The acronym LOD in the industry which can refer to either

the Level of Development or the Level of Detail, which
effectively mean the same thing and aim to clarify the
expectation in terms of information granularity.
 These LOD's either as Grades 0 to 5 or the US-based AIA
LOD 100 to 500. Whichever system or terminology is
chosen is irrelevant so long as all stakeholders in a project
fully understand the deliverables at each stage. This is
usually documented in the Project BIM Execution Plan.
MODEL DEVELOPMENT METHODOLOGY
MODEL DEVELOPMENT METHODOLOGY
MODEL DEVELOPMENT METHODOLOGY