When you work on a large project in Revit probably you meet with visibility issues many times. Here we present some usual settings that can lead to confusion in your views.
The very common visibility issues in Revit are: the element is invisible but you assume it is set to be visible; vice versa, the element is visible but you assume it is set to be invisible; the element representation isn’t that what you expected. Unfortunately, there are a lot of settings that can cause these issues, and Revit doesn’t provide an easy automatic way to find it.
- View Template or Visibility Graphics Override dialog box. Of course, you first need to check your VG settings for the view.
- Reset VG overrides. When you remove view template from a view, the VG overrides don’t reset automatically. You need to create another view template with the overrides cleared. Check only the categories you want to remove the override from, and apply template to the view.
- “Include” option. It is very important to check all of your parameters that you want to include in the View Template, and un-check parameters that you want to set out of the template.
- Filters in legends. Revit doesn’t support filters and graphic overrides in Legend views although the Filters tab is available.
- Elements are manually hidden in view. The best practice is to never use “Hide Elements in View” command (except in special cases), because it is difficult to manage objects that are manually hidden. And only the person who used the command immediately knows that elements are hidden this way. To unhide these elements, you can use “Reveal Hidden Elements” command, or free add-in Unhide Elements in View for Revit which is enhanced “Reveal Hidden Elements” command.
- View range. An inappropriate view range is the very common issue. Check all four view range planes: top plane, cut plane, bottom plane, and view depth.
- Windows and doors. Take into account that visibility of windows and doors families in your plan views depends on cut plane adjusted in the families’ plan view. Their cut view in the project isn’t determined by cut plane defined in project views, so they can be displayed in a way that you didn’t expected.
- Floors or slabs. Floor or slab may be visible in a plan views even if you set the view range above. The reason is that it is partially above the view depth. View depth should not include any part of the floor or slab if you want to make it invisible. Also for some reason Revit will show these families if they are within 4 feet (app. 1.21 meters) of the bottom clip. The bottom clip should be more than 4 feet above the floor or slab.
- Visibility overrides. Check if your visibility setting is overridden by other visibility settings. For example, you can set visibility for some model category but override it with filters. Revit will not inform you if some visibility setting is overridden so you should find it yourself.
- Override by element. Maybe the graphic display of a specific element was changed manually using the “Override by element” function. You can use the same function to reset the graphic display settings.
- Phase. Element can be placed in wrong Phase. If the current view doesn’t display that phase the element will not be visible too.
- Black elements in shaded 3D views. Elements may appear black in shaded and realistic 3D views, but you expect to see its own material which color is other than black. You need to create new phase filter (Manage -> Phases), set “By Category” display for the elements in the Existing phase, and apply that phase filter to the 3D view.
- Design option. If you use design options in the project, maybe you search for an element that is not in your primary design option. In that case the element will not be visible. Also all elements that are in a design options are not editable or selectable until you activate that design option.
- Worksets. Maybe element is placed in a workset that is turned off. Or maybe workset is turned on, but it is hidden in VG (check “Worksets” tab in VG). Of course, worksets are available only if you work in a workshared model.
- Worksets from nested links. When you close a workset in a linked model (Manage Links -> Manage Worksets) the elements within that workset will still be visible. You need to name worksets identically in all models, or use “By Linked View” option and specify view from the linked model where the workset was closed.
- “Hide at scales coarser than” parameter. Checking this instance parameter can cause your sections not to be visible in views with specified scales.
- Non-cuttable families. Some Revit families (for example Furniture, MEP equipment and fixtures, planting, etc.) are visible as whole geometry in plan and section views even if cut plane or section line intersects these families. Make sure that your families are in cuttable family category (such as doors, windows, casework, columns, etc.). In Revit 2023, these four family categories became cuttable: Furniture, Furniture Systems, Specialty Equipment, and Plumbing Fixtures. For a full list of non-cuttable families visit About Non-Cuttable Families.
- Model elements as “real” BIM elements. The good practice is to never model elements as generic (except in special cases) but only as “smart” elements. Take into account that BIM software isn’t same as SketchUp.
