Symbolic lines not showing beneath my countertop

[Anonymous]

I used the "Vanity Cabinet-Double Door & 4 Drawer.rfa" family that came with the Revit program.  There are symbolic lines drawn on the ground floor reference plane that are supposed to show dashed beneath the countertop.  No matter what I do they don't show.  There was a masked region in the family (which I deleted) but it made no difference.  I've checked my visibility graphics and everything seems to be in order. What is going on here and how can I fix  it?

[ToanDN]

It shows correctly here using the OOTB cabinet and countertop families.  Maybe share your countertop families here.

[Anonymous]

Here are the families for the cabinet and the "Vanity Counter Top w Square Sink Hole.rfa".  I noticed that in my existing plans it was showing correctly so it might have something to do with the countertop family?  For that reason I've also included the existing countertop family that is working "Counter Top.rfa"

Thanks for looking!!

[Anonymous]

EXISTING - SHOWING DASHED LINE OF CABINET BELOW

PROPOSED - NOT SHOWING DASHED LINE OF CABINET BELOW

 

 

[ToanDN]

Your dashed line is currently host by Top ref plane of the cabinet, which is still below the countertop.  Add a reference plan presenting the countertop elevation and change the dashed line to be hosted by this plane.  See the plane on the elevation of the family attached.

[Lachlan-JWP]

Check your Phasing Graphic Override settings. They may be making some existing elements solid that appear transparent in an existing view.

[Anonymous]

I see that what you did worked but I'm not understanding exactly what you did and I'm not able able to re-create it.  I'm also not understanding why if I draw  symbolic lines the "ground floor" plane it doesn't show up in plan view underneath the cabinet.

[RDAOU · Accepted solution]

@Anonymous 

Common sense and logic... You draw a line on a piece of paper >> you grab a 2nd piece of paper and place it on top of the first where you drew the line. Would you still be able to see that line?

Same principle. You are concealing the Hidden line drawn on the top plan (Highlighted in red) of the vanity unit with the Counter top

Ie: Simply add a new reference plane higher than the top of the vanity (Highlighted Blue)  height value = Vanity Unit Height + Counter Top thickness)

Alternatively, instead of line work in the vanity family,

• Either place them in the counter top family
• Or do not use hidden lines at all in the families and use reveal hidden line in the main model 

[gujral.jasleen]

Make sure ‘Show hidden lines’ parameter value is set to ‘All’ (in properties or view template as desired, always check the model category and subcategory have hidden lines checked for the ones you want to show) and to show the upper cabinets (check to activate Overhead lines in model categories), remove the Underlay and set Range base level to ‘None’. Hope this helps

[jordanlatta]

Sorry to revive an old thread, but here is some additional clarity on this topic that I've discovered after struggling with it for a while.

First of all, the reason the OOTB countertop does not obscure these dashed lines is because the solid geometry in that family is set to "not visible" in plan view.... so of course you can see anything below the counter height. This is not ideal for me, so I am looking for a workaround that uses symbolic lines in the cabinet family rather than making the countertop invisible and then adding a masking region like the OOTB family uses.

Second, the workaround mentioned in the posts above (placing dashed lines in a cabinet family on a reference plane above counter height) only works for model lines, not symbolic lines. Any model line drawn in the air above a countertop will of course appear just fine. However, using symbolic lines set to "Draw in Foreground" in the cabinet family only makes the symbolic lines draw on top of things in that one family, not on top of any other family placed above it like a countertop or sink or upper cabinet, etc. This is true even if you put the symbolic lines on a reference plane above the countertop height. These are 2d objects, so Revit does not care how "high" they are. To get around this, you need to make Revit think that the cabinet is taller than the counter. Then, any symbolic lines you draw will appear above the countertop, too.

1) Draw some model lines in the cabinet family above the countertop height (these could be the outline of the cabinet, for instance... or just a single line along the wall side of the cabinet)

2) Hide those model lines by unticking the "visible" checkbox in the properties panel

3) Draw symbolic lines in the cabinet family to your heart's content, and check the "Draw in Foreground" button

4) Load into project. Boom! Now you don't have unsightly 3d model lines showing up in all your 3d views, but you also have symbolic lines that you can set on a dashed subcategory that shows up in only your plan views.

I was hoping to avoid this style of workaround, which is a common way for people to fix visibility issues in Revit families... but unfortunately the "Draw in Foreground" tickbox is not as powerful as I had hoped.