Show site thickness in 3D View

Hey all got this one a few times... How do I show the 3D site's thickness in a 3D View? We all know that revit creates a 3D surface, but when viewing it in 3D, it only shows a surface edge and not a site thickness.

It is fairly simple though, we working once again with elements in Revit so every element has got some kind of element properties to it, so if its objects you can obviously use the hide and isolate tools.

1. To create the thickness you either create a copy of the 3D view or work in the default 3D view.

2. You then switch on the section box in view properties dialog.

3. You then use the section box grips to cut

slightly into your 3D surface until you see you Topography Cut pattern appears.

4. Next you select the Section Box, right click and select Hide in view.

And there you go Bobs your uncle…. Next you can now place your 3D site on a sheet with the section box hidden to give you a cool presentation of your topography.

Adding a new FILL PATTERN file to your Fill Patterns in Revit.

In this exercise we will be copying and pasting a existing custom *.pat file in the correct file directory and then importing that file or use in Revit Structure/ Architecture.

Save the file “revit-custom.pat” in the following directory:

C:\Program Files\Revit Architecture 2008\Program, or

C:\Program Files\Revit Structure 2008\Program, or

C:\Program Files\Revit MEP 2008\Program

After you have done that now we need to import the pattern into Revit Structure…

1. Start Revit Structure/ Architecture (if it’s not opened already) and click the Settings Drop Down on the Menu Bar and select Fill Patterns

2. After selecting the Fill Patterns… a fill patterns dialog appears and click Edit.

3. After clicking edit another dialog appears, the Modify Pattern Properties dialog appears.

· Select the custom option and the dialog changes, you need to give your hatch pattern a name by entering it in the Name text box and click the Import command button…

4. After clicking the import button a Import dialog appears and you need to navigate to the revit-custom.pat file so you can select the pattern you would like to import. Select the file and click open…

5. In the Modify Pattern Properties dialog, ensure that “COLUMN DASHED” is selected and click OK.

6. When clicking OK the imported fill pattern becomes part of the list and ready for use either in materials, object styles or as overrides in object styles.

That’s the end of this module…Have fun!