Flex Duct Visibility

[mwaespy]

Hi All,

I'm still pretty new to Revit and am working on my demoltion plan. I drew in everything as existing and am now in the process of demolishing what's necessary. However, I've run into a graphics/visibility issue. When I set the portions of ductwork to demolition and they're disconnected from their trunk line, they no longer show up on plan. See the attached pictures (before and after) please. The pieces will still show up when I zoom in, but immediately disappear after the zoom in/out is completed. 

Object details:

 - Phase Created: Existing

 - Phase Demolished: Demolition 

View/Plan Details:

- Ceiling Plan (yes, the ductwork is above the ceiling)

- Phase Filter: Show Previous + Demo

- Phase: Demolition 

Thank you

[mwaespy]

I understand that now, thank you. At the end of the day, the contractor isn't going to care about the 3D model though, he/she is going to get a 2D drawing similar to what's produced in AutoCAD anyways. The fact that Revit can't produce something that's industry standard, at least where I am, is disappointing and makes the transition more difficult. The other person I've been talking to thinks it's the wrong way to produce MEP work in general based on his past comments I've come across. I'm trying to learn this program because it is the future and has potential. Things as simple as aligning two pieces of ductwork is a challenge in this program. 

[iainsavage]

Autocad is a drawing programme.

Revit is a modelling programme and is intended to be a digital representation of a real world scenario - in what 3D world does something closer to your eye get hidden by something further away?

If you want ducts to hide the elements below them then you need to use a floor plan and look downwards.

@RobDraw is correct on that.

There are ways of showing the ceiling grid in a floor plan:

• using an underlay which looks up - tricky to get this to work if the architecture is in a linked model though
• placing a floor plan and a RCP directly on top of each other on a sheet (turn off MEP elements in the RCP) and pin the views in position - this is the method which I find easiest.
• putting a ceiling grid pattern on the top surface of the ceiling and aligning it match the pattern on the bottom surface (these are just patterns, not actual tiles)
• putting a tile pattern on the floor and aligning it to match the ceiling grid.

Also, completely agreeing with @RobDraw , the best way to get a solution is to upload at least part of your model to allow it to be investigated.

[RobDraw]

Revit is not the future. It's been around for decades and possibly going to be replaced by next-generation programs sooner than you think. It's also fully capable of putting out quality documentation. 

When you put aside your AUTOCAD mentality and your misconceptions about RCPs, let me refer you to the big R as the first letter again, you will be able to get your desired output. With that said, Revit is not perfect and we all have had to make concessions in some areas, some more than others depending on what they are used to doing. 

Forget about the future and let us help you with the present using our experiences from the past. Wipe the slate clean and ask straight forward questions without extraneous comments about what you think should be the way things work. Be a sponge without holding on to what you consider the way things should be. 

[RobDraw]

BTW, contractors in this area are asking for Revit models in their contracts. If they are not provided, there is a premium charged for having to generate them in-house. In fact, Revit has fabrication parts which are used by contractors. 

Your future needs to catch up with the distant past.