Revit Architecture Forum
Welcome to Autodesk’s Revit Architecture Forums. Share your knowledge, ask questions, and explore popular Revit Architecture topics.
cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Railing Visibility with Plan Region

24 REPLIES 24
Reply
Message 1 of 25
kmalawski
10056 Views, 24 Replies

Railing Visibility with Plan Region

I have two plans of a stair, the enlarged plan and the stair as it reads in the first floor plan.  My enlarged stair plan is cropped to just the extents of the stair. It is controlled by the view range, no plan regions. 

 

In contrast, to mimic the same view of the stair in my floor plan, I have placed a plan region around the stair & railings, it extends beyond the boundary of the stair to ensure its entirely included. The railings, however, will not show up despite being within the boundary of the view range - which is at an 8' cut plane with visibility to -5' below first floor level, the railings goes from first floor to 4' high, plus 2'-10" topping it out at 6'-10".

 

My VG settings are the same and I even temporarily applied the same view template to test if it works -- it doesnt. However, when I change the view range of the first floor plan, it shows my railings.  

 

Shouldn't the view range of this stair be controlled by the plan region that is encompassing it instead of the overall view range?

 

Can anyone explain this or provide a solution? I cannot change the view range of the entire first floor to 8'-0"

 

In the attached image, the floor plan is on the left, one railing is highlighted in blue for clarity, but it doesn't show up on the left otherwise. The top part of the rail, before the first riser, shows up, but nothing below it.

24 REPLIES 24
Message 2 of 25
subhra_civil
in reply to: kmalawski

Hi,

 

This problem is happening i think only for "View Range" Settings. Otherwise do one thing. Make your project in "Wireframe" mode or "Hidden" Mode. Then look what is happening in same "View Range" Settings.

 

Otherwise please send me your Revit File once to me for more clarification.

 

Thanks & regards,

Subhradeep Sen

Kolkata

India

Message 3 of 25
kmalawski
in reply to: subhra_civil

Subhra,

 

Thank you for your reply. I should note I am on Revit 2014 SP2 for the record.

 

The railing does not show up in wireframe or hidden line mode unfortunately. Also, a typical solution I use for issues such as this is to adjust the view range, apply linework with the linework tool, and shift back to the initial view range.  That does not seem to be working here.

 

I am aware that the issue is with view range, but why is the view range still an issue when the area is encompassed in a plan region?

 

I can post images, but unfortunately I cannot send out the model.

 

Thanks,

Kevin

Message 4 of 25
subhra_civil
in reply to: kmalawski

Hi,

 

Thanks for your reply. Just try to do one thing. On which floor level you have modelled the stair just go to next floor level. I think you will able to see both the railing on that level.

 

Thanks & regards,

Subhradeep Sen

kolkata

India

Message 5 of 25
kmalawski
in reply to: subhra_civil

Subhradeep,

On floor 2 which is above floor 1, I can see it all. However, if I set the plan region to floor 2, or even put the region's cut line at 1000' above, I still cannot see the tops of the rails. For some reason it forces me to change the cut plane of the view instead of the plan region - which the stair & railings are entirely contained within.

Thanks for your interest,
Kevin

Kevin C. Malawski, LEED AP
VSBA, LLC
4236 Main Street, Philadelphia, PA 19127
tel: (215) 487-0400 fax: (215) 487-2520
www.vsba.com
Message 6 of 25
subhra_civil
in reply to: kmalawski

Hi Kevin,

 

Thanks for your reply. Can u tell me what is the floor to floor height of your model?

 

Thanks & regards,

Subhradeep Sen

Kolkata

India

Message 7 of 25
Paul_F_Aubin
in reply to: kmalawski

In my experience, the plan regions are very fussy about how close they are to the stair and railing. I think you will have to enlarge the paln region bigger than you want it to be in order to get the railing to play along.  

paul

Paul F. Aubin




Paul F. Aubin Consulting Services, Inc.
Check out my books and training videos
paulaubin.com
Message 8 of 25
kmalawski
in reply to: Paul_F_Aubin

First off, I never thought I would be talking to Paul Aubin - love your books, always helped me out a lot.

Regarding the stairs, however, I tested that theory initially by placing the plan region way beyond the boundaries of the stairs/railings - approx. 30' beyond. I'm baffled by this. Is there anything in the view that would cause the model to default to view range of the view instead of the plan region?

Thank you,
Kevin

Kevin C. Malawski, LEED AP
VSBA, LLC
4236 Main Street, Philadelphia, PA 19127
tel: (215) 487-0400 fax: (215) 487-2520
www.vsba.com
Message 9 of 25
Paul_F_Aubin
in reply to: kmalawski

Thanks Kevin:

 

Glad you like the books. I appreciate the comments. 

 

Usually that does the trick for plan regions. Maybe it is the height settings. In other words, can you try lowering the bottom of the view range in the plan region and see if that helps? 

paul

Paul F. Aubin




Paul F. Aubin Consulting Services, Inc.
Check out my books and training videos
paulaubin.com
Message 10 of 25
kmalawski
in reply to: kmalawski

Thanks for the suggestions all. I tried this, but I did note that I can see the stairs and about 2/3 of the railing. I can't see the wall-mount extension of the railing, despite that being way in the middle of the plan region's view range.

 

If I shift the view range, I can see it. Strange.

 

I think the only solution for this is just to snap some detail lines to it. I tried shifting the view range and setting the linework tool to make them continuous solid lines, but when I switched the view range back, these weren't there. That usually works for objects that are beyond the view range (overhangs and fixtures) but Revit wasn't having any of it for this railing.

 

Thanks,

Kevin

Message 11 of 25
jwampler19125
in reply to: kmalawski

Kevin - I was having this same problem, and it seems like the only solution was to cut the railing where the plan region ends, so it is completely inside of the plan region.  Then it appears.  Hope you found a solution for your project. 

Message 12 of 25
CADiva
in reply to: jwampler19125

 

I am having a similar problem with a basic u-shaped stair.  I have the cut plan of the plan region set to 11'-0" above the first floor as I want to see most of the stair, but not all of it.  The upper railing sections look great, but I have a separate handrail only for one side of the lower flight, which cuts off at about 4'-0" (i.e. the master cut plan for the view).  All the stair and railings are inside the plan region.  I was able to get the railing to show right if I changed the cut plan to above the railings on the 2nd floor, but then the stair looked wrong for a first floor plan view and it showed stuff from the second floor I don't want in a first floor plan view.

 

What I finally came up with was to change the railing visibility graphics to show the <Above> rails and make them solid fine lines, then use the linework tool to "hide" the rails I don't want to see.  Not the ideal solution as the "above" rail doesn't mask the risers.

 

Attached are a plan and a 3D view.  The railing shows just right in the 3D, but the plan view is not as good.

 

Message 13 of 25
ndsmaug
in reply to: CADiva

...by the way this is STILL an issue in 2016, Autodesk...The railing is cut at some random height and refuses to show its full extent no matter what I do.  I've tried moving the plan region, extending the plan region, adjusting the view ranges based on both Level 1 and Level 2.  Sad the only thing left to do is punt and draw detail lines...

Plan region railings.JPG

Tags (2)
Message 14 of 25
Paul_F_Aubin
in reply to: ndsmaug

Its a little tough to see what's supposed to happen there. Is that the bottom of the bleachers? Do you have a section cut showing the railing and where it starts and stops? 

paul

Paul F. Aubin




Paul F. Aubin Consulting Services, Inc.
Check out my books and training videos
paulaubin.com
Message 15 of 25
ndsmaug
in reply to: Paul_F_Aubin

Paul,

(Totally fangirling out right now, but trying to play it cool...and trust me I'm not the type of person to use the word "fangirling", so this is awesome)  Here is the section.  There is a perimeter guardrail/handrail beyond with and intermediate handrail in the forgroung that is in middle of the run.  The railings run the entire length of the stair, however in the lower level plan given all the different plan region configurations I tried, it appears to cut the railings off to show nothing above approximately 1 foot above Level 1.  The upper landing is 4 feet above Level 1 and the top of the rail is 42" above that.  It's strange because each plan has a view template associated with it that has the top set at 7'-4" and the cut plane set at 4 feet above the associated level.  The view depth and bottom are also set to 0'-0" below the associated level.  So the railings don't seem to be reacting to the view template view range OR the plan region view range.  

 

Plan region railings section.JPG

Message 16 of 25
Paul_F_Aubin
in reply to: ndsmaug

@ndsmaug

 

Kind of you to say. 

 

So, as you have noticed, railings can be finicky. There are a few things to look at: 

1. Even though the railing appears at a certain level, it is possible that the work plane of the sketch is a different level. While this does not guarantee misbehavior, it doesn't help either. to check this, go to a 3D view and then edit the sketch. You can try copying and pasting the sketch a new railing on the correct level if it is on the wrong one. 

2. Looking at your plan again, it might be as simple as having your "above" elements turned off in VG. (Or one of the other components possibly). 

aboveRailings.png

3. Sometimes I can force it to behave by editing the sketch, stretch the rail endpoint an inch or so. Finish, then go back in and stretch it back. Not guaranteed to work, but sometimes it does the trick.

 

Finally, I have not tried this. But new in 2017 you can host railings to the top of walls or just about anything else. So you might get better results attaching it to the top of a wall instead of a stair... Not sure but worth a try. That is if you have 2017. 

 

Hope that helps. 

paul

Paul F. Aubin




Paul F. Aubin Consulting Services, Inc.
Check out my books and training videos
paulaubin.com
Message 17 of 25
ndsmaug
in reply to: Paul_F_Aubin

You are very welcome!

 

Well, I gave all of that a try.  The railing sketch is definitely associated with Level 1.  I even deleted the rails, reset the work plane, and starting from scratch, but unfortuantely, no dice even with a new railing.  I don't know what the issued could be.  I've concluded this entire project is "of the Devil", so this condition not being able to be resolved is just one more thing.  We are resolved to keep working in Revit 2016 for the time being until we get through with bidding the project to contractors, so that means (gasp) linework in the plan for now.  (Even though as a hardcore BIM person I hate it's come to this.) We may upgrade to 2017 after we're under construction.  

 

Thanks for the helpful feedback!!!

Message 18 of 25
Paul_F_Aubin
in reply to: ndsmaug

Huge bummer. Sorry none of that worked. If you want to post the file, I can take a look. But I understand if that is not possible. 

paul

Paul F. Aubin




Paul F. Aubin Consulting Services, Inc.
Check out my books and training videos
paulaubin.com
Message 19 of 25
BDMackey
in reply to: Paul_F_Aubin

A question I would have is the railing constructed of Rail Structure, Handrails, or Top Rails?  I ask because they do have different issues with display graphics.

Message 20 of 25
Paul_F_Aubin
in reply to: BDMackey

Good thought Brian. I knew you would think of something I forgot... 

paul

Paul F. Aubin




Paul F. Aubin Consulting Services, Inc.
Check out my books and training videos
paulaubin.com

Can't find what you're looking for? Ask the community or share your knowledge.

Post to forums  

Rail Community


Autodesk Design & Make Report