topic Re: Plan region not working as expected in Revit MEP Forum

Plan region not working as expected

EKey — Thu, 06 Oct 2016 20:24:18 GMT

Hi,

Here is a sample building with two rooms on Level 1 (one is open to above), and a mezzanine room.

I want to create a first floor reflected ceiling plan and show piping P1 and P2. Piping P3 should not appear on that plan view.

I use a "plan region" for to do that, but it doesn't work: the P3 piping is still visible, but fittings disappear.

The plan region feature never works for me as I expect. Can I make it working as I need?

Here is an attached sample project. I would be appreciated if somebody can fix the RCP view there.

Thank you,

Re: Plan region not working as expected

fabiosato — Sat, 08 Oct 2016 00:19:49 GMT

Hello,

It is normal behavior when the fittings are within the view depth range but outside of main range to become invisible, while pipes are visible, as expected.

The view range does not work well with MEP categories.

A workaround is to hide the components you don´t want to show, not the best way.

Re: Plan region not working as expected

EKey — Sat, 08 Oct 2016 00:34:24 GMT

So, it is not intended for MEP elements. It's sad. 😞

Re: Plan region not working as expected

Anonymous — Wed, 07 Jun 2017 01:57:44 GMT

Playing around with the issue, I found following facts which guided me to a better solution and perhaps something that Autodesk needs to improve;

Within mechanical objects, this only affects some ducts, duct accessories and apparently whatever is longitudinal. Perhaps cable trays and pipes as well.
Only objects close to plan region edges are affected. How close depends on object’s length.
Objects with angle greater than 45 from the closest plan region’s edge are not affected.

Solution;

If object can be sliced in smaller pieces, making the object shorter may resolve the issue. Again how short depends on how far the object is from plan region’s edge.
If the plan region’s edge can be dragged further from objects, that may resolve the issue.
Changing the plan region’s boundary so that it makes an angle larger than 45 with the object may also resolve the issue.

If this helped solve your issue - remember to 'accept as solution' to help other find answers!

Re: Plan region not working as expected

Anonymous — Wed, 07 Jun 2017 05:49:44 GMT

The reason why your plan region doesn't is that the direction of view in the RCP is looking upward while the Plan region is looking downward.

In your case you're using RCP with a cut plane 1200 looking upward (through your roof level) which means you can see elements from level 1 with 1200 elevation through the roof level and placing a plan region in mezz. level with a cut plane of 1200 looking downward which means your plan region is showing elements from mezzanine with 1200 elevation through the level 1.

In plan region you're not supposed to see the pipes however you are working in RCP plan and view range (looking upward) which mean you can see the element through roof level. In that conflict the plan region feature never works as you expected.

Using RCP you have to hide the components you don´t want to show just like @fabiosato mentioned earlier

Using Floor Plan to achieve that view.

Re: Plan region not working as expected

EKey — Fri, 09 Jun 2017 13:24:40 GMT

@Anonymous

<<Using Floor Plan to achieve that view.>>

Sorry, I need to resolve the RCP view problem. The Floor Plan has problems as well which can be discussed in another thread.

Your post confirms that the Plan Region functionality can't achieve the required result. Thank you.

Re: Plan region not working as expected

kadmonkee — Fri, 09 Jun 2017 16:13:01 GMT

create 2 separate views for your ceiling, with an overlap or datum for reference.

adjust your view range for each view to get the result you want.

view 1 displays the low portion

view 2 displays the high portion

overlay them onto your sheet

Re: Plan region not working as expected

EKey — Mon, 12 Jun 2017 17:10:48 GMT

@kadmonkee

Thank you for the suggestion with separated views. It is a good workaround. But I want Autodesk makes the plan region working as it should. Hope they read the forum

Re: Plan region not working as expected

kadmonkee — Mon, 12 Jun 2017 17:28:13 GMT

it is a problem that we all have dealt with in the past.

not sure how Autodesk is approaching this or not so we can only make things work for what we need

your welcome.

Re: Plan region not working as expected

Jakub_Manek — Fri, 02 Nov 2018 12:32:55 GMT

It's 2018-11-02. Using Revit 2018. The issue is still there. It's just embarrassing.

Re: Plan region not working as expected

RobDraw — Fri, 02 Nov 2018 12:49:50 GMT

@Jakub_Manek wrote:
It's 2018-11-02. Using Revit 2018. The issue is still there. It's just embarrassing.

Being embarrassed by Revit's shortcomings is kind out of the scope of this discussion.

What do you do to get the graphic result that you are looking for?

Re: Plan region not working as expected

Jakub_Manek — Fri, 02 Nov 2018 13:22:13 GMT

The issue is:

1. I would assume that everything within the Plan Region will behave consistently as set up by Plan Regions View Range.

2. Unfortunately it is not true. For this size if objects and scale 1:1000 the Plan Regions Frame had to be spaced away from the objects for almost 8500mm.

3. <8500mm shows incorrect objects. >8500mm shows correctly.

4. I could get away with that this time... with a workaround.

Re: Plan region not working as expected

RobDraw — Fri, 02 Nov 2018 13:39:57 GMT

Yeah, that is pretty much what the OP said.

Being careful to not have plan regions close to objects is helpful but may cause other issues and was already stated.

What else have you found to be helpful?

Re: Plan region not working as expected

Jakub_Manek — Fri, 02 Nov 2018 14:38:55 GMT

Thank you Rob,

Unfortunately I didn't find any other workaround that would increase precision.

Quick google shows blog notes about issues with Plan Region tool dating back to at least 2013...

There is nothing else to discuss I'm afraid, just hope Plan Region will be fixed soon (so the tool does what it promises with uncompromising precision).

Re: Plan region not working as expected

RobDraw — Fri, 02 Nov 2018 14:44:35 GMT

@Jakub_Manek wrote:
Thank you Rob,
Unfortunately I didn't find any other workaround that would increase precision.
Quick google shows blog notes about issues with Plan Region tool dating back to at least 2013...

There is nothing else to discuss I'm afraid, just hope Plan Region will be fixed soon (so the tool does what it promises with uncompromising precision).

Yeah, it goes back a long time and little has changed. I don't recall seeing it on Augie's wish list but I haven't been through them all yet.

Re: Plan region not working as expected

jbrr27 — Fri, 24 Apr 2020 23:46:15 GMT

"If the plan region’s edge can be dragged further from objects, that may resolve the issue."

This worked for me with an architectural object (a clerestory window).

Re: Plan region not working as expected

EKey — Sat, 25 Apr 2020 12:30:02 GMT

I think the distance from the Plan Region is driven by the Mechanical Settings:

The gap size in given in paper space. The real life distance from a linear element (pipe, duct, conduit, etc.)to the Plan Region edge depends on the view scale. For scale 1:100 it would be 160 mm. If we want to change the view scale to 1:1000 then we should increase the distance from the linear element to 1600 mm.

Re: Plan region not working as expected

zaynalikhan_001 — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 11:53:57 GMT

Is you issue resolved now? If yes please let me know how