How View Range Affects various Views and Elements

The blog Design ReForm posted a nice demo that shows how the view range settings are related in 3D space. I thought I'd tag on to it by creating a few that show how various view range settings affect different views. Just in case you don't have a spare 15 minutes, keep in mind that each video is between 3-5 minutes long. Jing's free version limits videos to no more than five minutes which is perfect for me because I don't want to do longer ones, I don't want to steal your attention for too long. As such I normally wouldn't put these together in one post but they are all related to each other, so I did. You don't have to watch them all now 8-).

The first video deals with plan views.

This next video is about ceiling plans and framing plans.

The last video is about site and roof plan views.

My session of Jing ran out of memory right as I was about to wrap the third video so I left it as is, lazy guy syndrome. I hope that between their video and these that view range starts to make more sense!

Added 11/05/09: Video Four of Four - View Range Top Offset of Primary Range

Conical Ceiling Condition

Another recent post at AUGI prompted this video. The question is how to make a cone shaped ceiling. You can listen and watch below.

This is the final result.

Revit Structure - No Ceiling Plan

Revit Structure does not have a tool to create a ceiling plan, not on the Design Bar.
Not on the Menu either...


The reason is that, for the most part, structural engineers don't use them. In another post I suggested that feature for feature we could get away with just owning Revit MEP and Structure and get everything that Architecture has. I mentioned the lack of ceiling plans as one negative and a comment left said that you can create a view oriented like a ceiling plan despite the lack of a specific tool for it. I finally remember to mention how... you create a new Floor Plan type and alter a setting as shown in this image.


"Ceiling Views" are looking "up"!

Quick Tip - Center a Ceiling

Perhaps it is obvious, perhaps not...

If you want recenter a ceiling grid in a room, assuming that it has been adjusted already but you need to change it again. Add a dimension string to the defining boundary walls and to one of the parallel grid lines, click the EQ control toggle. The grid repositions itself.

If you have a specific corridor width (say 6'-0") that a 2x2 or 2x4 ceiling should fit nicely in but it isn't in the correct spot, same trick but add a second reference to the other side of the same ceiling "panel" and use the EQ control toggle.
The result:

Dept. of Subtle - New Floor/Ceiling Plan Views

A subtle feature in the "New Plan" ("New RCP" for ceiling plans) dialog proved quite confusing to new users. In 2009 it has changed. This is the one I'm referring to.


This is the dialog that appears when you choose View menu > New > Floor Plan. In the past all the levels of the project were displayed in the floor/ceiling plan views window. If you selected a level that already had a plan view associated with it and left the check in the box...no view, no message, no nothing. It just looked like Revit didn't do anything. It didn't...because the check box says, "do not duplicate existing views". A little cryptic.

Now when you look at the plan view window only the levels that don't have a view associated with them are displayed. When you uncheck the check box all the levels of the project are displayed. Much better, even though I was confused at first for the opposite reason, irony.