View Range - the mystery solved!

OK.. I finally have a grasp on the settings of the VIEW RANGE. They have eluded me for quite some time.. but I finally got it. So here you go.

There are 4 settings. TOP, CUT, BOTTOM and VIEW DEPTH.

Well, as it turns out, the only 2 you need to pay attention to is the CUT and BOTTOM. The other two are for special viewing needs.

First, the values must always be in ascending order.. meaning the VIEW DEPTH will always be the lowest value and TOP will always be the highest value. (duplicate valuses are allowed.)

Next, CUT is just that.. it cuts thru things. Certain elements can't be cut thru though (furniture, specialty equiptment, etc.) and will always show their top surface.

BOTTOM is the base of your view.. so you can't see past that. Stairs are an exception, they will show the steps below because they 'started' in your view range.

OK.. if you for some reason want to see things that exist ABOVE the CUT.. you must lift the TOP to either intersect or pass them. The only caveat is.. it only works on Windows, Casework and Generic Models.  Weird, but that's the skinny.

Lastly.. if you for some reason want to see things that exist BELOW the BOTTOM.. you must lower the VIEW DEPTH to either intersect or pass them. This works on all objects. They will be visible and will be using the linestyle named 'beyond'. Which can be set to any line style you want (solid, dashed, etc.). The only weirdness here is, some families have thier own special rules with respect to the CUT PLANE. Example: floors will turn on if within 4' of the VIEW DEPTH value. 

So it's less of a science.. it's more like artwork.

Enjoy.

(We'll talk about Reflected Ceiling Plans later!)

Sites - SketchUp to Revit

Part of our current workflow is to create a schematic model in SketchUp - which often includes the site.  Many client meetings occur as the team is busy convincing them of our great design.. Once they make a decision on a direction to proceed.. we often turn the SketchUp model into a Revit model to take the design to the next level.

We don't need to scrap the entire SketchUp model to proceed. The buildings need to be recreated using Revit geometry.. but the site can be used to create one in Revit. Often we use geographical topo data from the civil engineers, but we can also use the SketchUp model site.

Here below is a quick shot of a sample Sketchup site. It may have roads, sidewalks, etc on it. We need to isolate the site by turning off (hide) all buildings, entourage, etc.  Then export to DWG.

Linking the DWG into Revit and then using the Site>Toposurface tools, we can generate a full 3D site inside Revit. It takes a little gymnastics to get the roads and walks separated to sub-regions.. but we have to do that with the geo data from civil also.  We can then control the materials in Revit for our construction documents and renderings.

So there you have it. You can use the SketchUp site and turn it into a Revit site for your next project.