For complex families with many overlapping geometries and text labels it can be difficult to make sure that all the visibility settings for each object in the family are properly set without loading the family into the project. This wastes a lot of valuable time - time that can now be saved thanks to the ability to quickly preview the elements that will be visible given the current view settings directly in the family environment.
“Preview Visibility”, a new feature in Revit Sunrise, is a temporary view state that is accessible in the Family Editor. The feature provides the ability to quickly visualize the effects of visibility controls of family objects without leaving the Family Editor.
The Preview Visibility tool applies the visibility settings of “Visibility/Graphics Overrides” and “Visible” parameters of each object in the family to the current view. These pre-existing parameters control whether the object appears in a view given the view direction, view detail level, cut state of the element, and type or instance properties of the family.
With Preview Visibility the effect of these settings can quickly be visualized right in the family environment.For example, take a window family with four distinct window types varying in material and configuration:
In the family editor, geometries for all the types are visible at the same time. In the image below on the left, even though Type 1 of the window family is active, the geometries for Type 1a, 2, and 2a are still visible. As you can see, it’s difficult to understand what Type 1 looks like. On the right, Preview Visibility is enabled and only geometries relevant to the active type are displayed.
Like other temporary view modes, the intention of the Preview Visibility is to allow you to continue working while the mode is enabled. This is why reference planes and dimensions are not hidden in this tool. The visibility of these elements can still be controlled using Visibility Graphics.
When enabling Preview Visibility in plan views, you are given the option to preview the family as if it is cut or in projection (not cut).
For those who would like to enable this functionality by default in family views, two Revit.ini settings are available to control default preview state when a view is opened.
[TemporaryViewModes]
PreviewFamilyVisibilityDefaultOnState = {0 | 1}
Controls whether family visibility preview is on by default when opening a family view.
PreviewFamilyVisibilityDefaultUncutStateInPlans = {0 | 1}
Controls the default Cut/Not Cut behavior in plan views.
Here’s one customer’s reaction: “I LOVE LOVE LOVE this feature. This is going to make my life so much easier! Best feature in a long time!”
Does this also work for the coarse medium and fine settings?
Posted by: Geert Vennix | September 16, 2015 at 05:26 AM