topic Re: Material Transparency in Revit Architecture Forum

Material Transparency

tagee — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 16:36:12 GMT

I have revit 2018 LT.

I am trying to get any of the glass materials to render transparent in Hidden Line view. I.e. glass shower door and curtain panels, so that it shows what is behind it with gray lines. And i dont want to have to override graphics in view every time my firm shows an elevation of a window. That is what view templates are for. What am I doing wrong? The graphic appearance of the glass material applied to the wall/panel/window (not render appearance, yes i know the difference) is set to 75% transparency but its still a solid white wall.

Re: Material Transparency

barthbradley — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 17:02:46 GMT

A glass shower door family?

Transparency in Elevation and 3D View is set in the family (on Options Bar).

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/revit-products/learn-explore/caas/simplecontent/content/revit-windows-transparent-glass-elevation-views.html

Re: Material Transparency

Sahay_R — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 18:25:53 GMT

Set transparency in the Material -

Re: Material Transparency

tagee — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 18:28:24 GMT

as i stated in my post, i have the material transparency set to 75% - just like you highlighted, in the exact location you highlighted. but thanks or trying.

Re: Material Transparency

barthbradley — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 18:43:02 GMT

@tagee: are you saying that my suggestion didn't resolve your issue either? Post your file and we'll take a look at it.

...OH! I just noticed that you said "RENDER". The Render "Appearance" Tab setting are what you want to adjust; not the "Graphics" Tab settings.

Re: Material Transparency

tagee — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 19:17:16 GMT

this helps a lot, i will use this info to go from here. Though i am searching for a general answer, as i made a 1" generic wall type that the structure is only part and is glass - for glass shower walls, and im not seeing how this link to windows can apply to that, but i will try to make some custom families that do the same?

Re: Material Transparency

Sahay_R — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 19:19:15 GMT

Post the file - at least the family.

Re: Material Transparency

tagee — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 19:19:20 GMT

@barthbradley no I replied to the other comment with that, i replied to your comment saying it was helpful and i will try figuring something out from there!

Re: Material Transparency

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 20:08:04 GMT

While 3D views do, elevations will not show transparency. Ever. Doesn't matter the material properties.

Yes, you can make the opening cuts transparent in door and window families using the options bar check mark. This is an all or nothing see-thru visibility, not a gradient of transparency. Then you also have to un-check visibility for subcategories (like window glass) that you don't want to see. This is not the same as making the glass semi-transparent.

For curtain walls and glass shower doors, only way to do what you are asking is to override surface transparency of the element in each view. You can automate this by adding a View Filter to your View Template. Unfortunately, Revit LT does not have View Filters.

Re: Material Transparency

barthbradley — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 20:26:24 GMT

...pretty much what is stated in the Link I provided above. @tagee, did you follow the steps in that Link?

Re: Material Transparency

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 20:42:49 GMT

@barthbradley Not really saying what you're saying. Your link implies he can do what he's asking. I'm saying explicitly he cannot. To make glass semi-transparent in elevation with Revit LT, he will have to do it manually per view.

Re: Material Transparency

barthbradley — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 20:46:16 GMT

Actually, it doesn't. Re-read it.

Step #8: Go to Visibility Graphics for your elevation view and make sure that the Glass subcategory under the Window category is unchecked.

Re: Material Transparency

dm0144 — Tue, 15 Feb 2022 08:15:23 GMT

@Sahay_R It didn't work for me adjusting the Transparency for the material, as you suggested.

I have multiple glass element in different categories and families so this approach would be most efficient in achieving transparency for all glass elements.

Re: Material Transparency

leonard.roussel — Tue, 11 Apr 2023 22:15:17 GMT

For me it was "translucency" and not "transparency" that did the trick.. not sure why...

Re: Material Transparency

ClassicDTM — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 01:53:54 GMT

In the elevation view for curtain walls, I selected the window-pane by tapping TAB until it is selected, then I hide the category so it showed what's behind the windows without hiding the mullions or other parts of the window.