by John Flanagan
Revit Visibility Hierarchy
Revit gives the user a number of ways to override the display of an element. It may not always be clear which method “wins” over another method, but there is a visibility hierarchy. This list may not cover every possible scenario but does include common overrides.
- Line Work Tool
- Override Graphics in View > By Element > Halftone
- Graphic Display Options – Silhouette Edges
- Override Graphics in View > By Element
- View Filters
- View Depth – “Beyond” Line Style
- Phasing Graphic Overrides
- Visibility / Graphic Overrides > Override Host Layers > Cut Line Styles
- Visibility / Graphic Overrides > Projection \ Cut Lines
- Project Object Styles
In this blog we will compare Visibility Graphic Overrides and Object Styles.
Visibility Graphic Overrides (VG)
Type VG to open the Visibility Graphic Overrides dialogue box. Visibility Graphic Overrides lets you customise the visibility of elements on a view by view basis.
Object Styles
Manage tab>Settings Panel>Object Styles. Object styles are global not view specific. Override a element here such as a lineweight and it changes it in the entire project. You can use object styles to control the appearance of components and subcomponents. Object styles are applied in every view and can be overridden in a particular view by modifying the Visibility/Graphics settings. Object styles allow you to control the appearance of multiple component types.
For example, there are often multiple window types within a project. The client may not be certain of the exact window frame colour to use and may want to see renderings of various options. Rather than continually modify the type properties of each window type, you can set the window frame material to By Category. You can then change the material in the Object Styles dialog and apply it to all window types.