Shadow not being cast in elevation Revit LT

[Eatoughls]

I am trying to show the shadows cast by another building in elevation at certain times of day and on a specific date.

It works fine in a 3D view, however, in elevation, with the building casting the shadow behind me, it does not show the shadow. It will only show shadows cast by it's own elements.

It is as though, if you can't see the building casting the shadow (in that view), there is nothing to cast the shadow.

Any help would be appreciated.

[Viveka_CD]

Hi @Eatoughls

I see that you are visiting as a new member. Welcome to the Autodesk Community!

You can control the visibility of the shadows on a view-by-view basis. Make sure your shadows are turned on in your elevation view.

• On the View Control Bar, click Shadows Off/OnShadows On.
• On the View Control Bar, click Visual StyleGraphic Display Options. In the Graphic Display Options dialog, under Shadows, select Cast Shadows, and click OK.
• See Image below for reference

To adjust the intensity of sun, indirect light, or shadows

• On the View Control Bar, click Visual StyleGraphic Display Options.
• In the Graphic Display Options dialog, under Lighting, move the Sun slider or enter a value between 0 and 100 to change the brightness of the direct light.
• For Ambient Light, move the slider or enter a value between 0 and 100 to change the brightness of the ambient light.
• Under Shadows, move the Shadow slider or enter a value between 0 and 100 to change the darkness of the shadows.

Let me know if this resolves your issue.

Please select the Accept as Solution button if my post solves your issue or answers your question. Kudos welcome.

[Eatoughls]

Thank you for your help, however, those settings were already on. It just
doesn't seem to take into account that there is another building casting
shadows on it in elevation.
The only thing I can think of is to see where the shadow hits the building
in the 3D view and then draw a filled region on the elevation to look like
it, i.e. fudge it!

[Anonymous]

Can I see the settings you're talking about?

[Anonymous]

Hello @Eatoughls

For you to achieve the shadow based on your 3D model. You have set your section lighting settings same with the lighting settings of your 3D/perspective.

sample setting in 3d model

sample settings for section/elevation

In this cased the Sun settings for each views were the same and the projections of shadows were also the same.

So, the cast of shadow you will see in your 3D model also the same with the sections.

[Eatoughls]

Thanks arjay.eco.

The settings were the same as far as I could tell.

Revit seems to do quite a few things very oddly/annoyingly. I wouldn't be surprised if the program just won't do it.

The shadows cast in your picture look like they were cast by the elements in the model.

Trouble with my scenario is that I want the shadows cast by the new building which is no longer in the view as it is behind me if I was looking at the elevation. If I could get between the buildings in the 3D view and still see the shadows that would work but I can't get between the buildings.

If I apply a section box in 3D and cut out the new building, the shadows disappear altogether as if the building is no longer there (you can see the shadows getting smaller until the whole building is disappears). That's why I am thinking that this software is not going to do what I want (or what the council wants for the development application!).

Perhaps it's something that Autodesk needs to deal with.

Thanks for your help anyway.

[ToanDN · Accepted solution]

@Eatoughls

I know about this problem.  It does not matter how you setup the lighting orientation, elements behind the section/elevation cut plane don't cast shadow as if they don't exist. A workaround is place a camera at the location and set the camera view to the elevation view, then you will see the shadow of the element behind the camera.  But it is not a true elevation, but a 3d view, so you can assign a scale to the view along with other limitations of 3d views.

Below is an example, from top down: plan, elevation with element behind the scene, elevation with all elements in front, 3d camera view with element behind the scene.

[chrisplyler]

I suggest another work-around solution:

Take the section view extents and increase its size enough to capture the existing building that is necessary to cast the desired shadow. Then you reasonably trace that shadow while you're drawing a detail region to fake it. Then you can move your section view extents back to where they belong.

[Viveka_CD · Accepted solution]

Hi @Eatoughls

Sorry to hear that the shadow settings didn't help.

Can you try the following steps and let us know if you are still able to see your shadows?

Set up a camera 3D view, then orient to the elevation. This is more like a one-point perspective. 

Select View -> Orient -> To Other View, then select your elevation.

If you find this post has solved your problem, please click on 'Accept as solution' to help others with similar questions. - Thank you.

[Viveka_CD]

Hi @Eatoughls

I just wanted to follow up here, any progress on this issue?

Please mark any posts that help with "Accept as Solution" and thanks!

[Eatoughls]

Hi Viveka_CD,

Thanks very much for your help. The shadow elevation was good enough in the end. It required quite a lot of fiddling with but I just needed to do the one drawing and then change the sun settings.

Best regards,

Lydia

[Eatoughls]

Thanks very much ToanDN. Very much appreciated.

It looks satisfactory after a lot of fiddling with (there was quite a bit of distortion as the viewer is very close) and it's not to scale but at least it shows how the shadows change clearly.

Best regards,

Lydia

[Eatoughls]

Hi Chrisplyer,

Thank you for your suggestion,

That's the only way to do it for a scaled elevation I guess.

The 3D/elevation others suggested suffices for just showing shadow changes.

Best regards,

Lydia

[Viveka_CD]

Hi @Eatoughls

Thanks for getting back to us. I'm glad to hear that you were able to resolve the issue. Appreciate the fact that you replied to everyone who has helped and that their suggestions were helpful for your project! 

Thank you @chrisplyler, @Anonymous and @ToanDN looking forward to your continued participation!

@Eatoughls Please reach out if you have any additional questions and good luck with your project!

Regards,

[chrisplyler]

Hello Viveka,

Thank-you for thanking me. I'm glad to hear that you are glad to hear that lydia was able to resolve the issue.

Please don't hesitate to reach out again if you have any more specialized technical support pleasantries that are applicable to this old thread.

Sincerely,

Chris Plyler, President

Sarcastic Reply Department

[Viveka_CD]

Well @chrisplyler you cracked me up this morning!