In Revit, you can display building elements in visual styles that can help to improve your workflow and help you understand your models better. These Visual Styles help to visualize the model in stages from Conceptual to Realistic Design.
Revit provides five default visual styles:
Revit allows you to create custom visual styles with more options, for example, creating beautiful elevations, etc., which are great for presentation purposes. These custom view styles are created using Graphic Display Options that are view-based properties, which means these properties are applied only in one view.
In this blog, we will explore the important tips to master these Graphic Display Options.
Revit provides five default visual styles:
1. Using Anti – Aliasing Option
Aliasing occurs when the angled or the sloped line looks pixelated. To improve the quality of these lines, you should activate anti-aliasing by checking on the option ” Smooth Lines with Anti-Aliasing “, which is under Model Display Tab in the Graphics display option.
Activate “Smooth Lines with Anti – Aliasing”
With Anti – Aliasing”
Without Anti – Aliasing”
2. Activating Silhouette
The Silhouette Tool is used to give your views and drawings a sense of depth. Revit can determine the silhouette for each specific view in your project – be it an elevation, section, perspective, etc. In the Graphic Display Options Dialogue box, under the Model Display tab, select Silhouette line types for the Silhouette style and then click apply.
After applying silhouette edges to the model, there may be edges you do not want to display in silhouette. You can remove these lines as necessary. Go to Modify tab, in the View panel, click Linework Option to remove or change the Silhouettes to emphasize some elements in a view or a drawing.
3. Activate Caste Shadow
You can control the visibility as well as the depth of shadows on a view-by-view basis. In 3D views, elements can cast shadows more. So, they produce far more information about shadow analysis, natural lighting, shading requirements, etc.
For better results when studying the effect of light and shadows on a building and site, set the location of the site and turn on shadow display in a 3D view using the Graphics Display Option.
In Revit, there are two types of shadows: Cast Shadows and Ambient Shadows.
You can click on the small sphere icon on the View Control Bar to activate cast shadows. But the best way to do it is to go to the Graphic Display Options and under Shadows Tab, Activate Cast Shadows.
To provide subtle and more natural shadows for visualization purposes, you can change the Shadow Intensity under Lighting Tab to 15 instead of 80.
Modify Shadow for natural view
4. Activate Ambient Shadow
There is a second type of shadow available in Revit, called Ambient Shadows. They are used to copy the natural lighting condition from a cloudy sky and reflection from surrounding objects. Go to Graphics Display Options in the view settings. Go to the shadow option and check “Ambient Shadows”.
5. Using sketchy lines for conceptual views
Sketchy lines are used to produce a 3D View for Conceptual Design Stage. Because of this view, Clients can perceive how the design is evolving. 3D Views that are over-realistic should be kept for later stages in the design process. Go to Graphics Display Options, in Sketchy Lines Tab, Activate Sketchy Lines Option, and provide the degree of variability in the sketched lines and amount of endpoints extend beyond intersections.
Activate Sketchy Lines
6. Background Settings
For Revit Visualization, using this tool you can create a sky using colors and Revit will create the Gradient background automatically. Go to Graphics Display Options, in Background Tab, pick colors for sky and horizon.
Activate Gradient Background
To create a more realistic type of view, try using a .jpeg image for the background. Go to the Background tab and Select the Image Option. Choose any image you want for the background and then adjust the ratios, height, width, etc., according to the view size.
7. Activating Depth Cueing
The Depth Cueing is great for sections and elevations, where it helps to improve the view by giving the depths to the objects. To specify the depths and boundaries of the gradient effect, you need to move the slider controls. Objects fade with increasing distance from the Person. Here Near and Far values represent the percentage values away from the front and back view clip planes. To Specify the minimum intensity of model objects at the Fade End Location, you need to modify the “Fade Limit” slider. The higher value reduces the fade effect.
