Imported image will not show in 3D view

[space_spikes]

Hi, I've searched the forum for similar threads but didn't find any explanation to my problem.

Here goes:
I've imported a .jpg file and scaled it in "floor 1 view". It's a picture of a pretty big area seen from above. I've made box shaped houses to show where new houses can be built in the area.
When I turn on the 3D view the image is no where to be found, just the houses which now looks like scattered stars without any idea behind at all. The box for raster images is checked in the visibility menu.

Isn't it possible to see the image in 3D?

[sjsl]

Just tried it. You cannot import into 3d its greyed out.

[sbrown]

Not possible without doing a rendering and attaching the image as a decal.

[twiceroadsfool]

Yup, what Scott Said.

Raster Images can only be scene in their views (the Plan you put it in).

Decals can be placed on Floors, but they dont show the image until you render, making it tricky to size them correctly. What i do is this:

Place the image in the floor plan, and scale it appropriately. Then place the decal, and scale it so that it is the exact same size as the Raster Image. Then go to your 3D view and render it, and itll probably be oriented the wrong way, lol. But, its sized correctly, so simply rotate it and snap the corner to the corner of the aster image.

[nrubens_99]

Not sure if this is possible, and have not tried it yet. Try importing the image into a DWG file then link that file into the 3d view. ? Let us know if it works.

[Jay Zallan]

Also there may be an issue when the image won't scale up enough to fit the area needed (such as a large, site-size, decal). We had this issue and had to edit the decals down to multiple tiles, outside of Revit)...
Hope this helps.

[space_spikes]

Thanks guys. Just came back from Zürich longing to read this thread! I'll try it right ahead!

[space_spikes]

Ok here goes.

Twiceroadsfool: I imported the raster image in "level 1 view", then made a floor and scaled it to the seize of the raster image. Pretty hard to get it 100% accurate....

Then I put a decal on the floor (the same raster image) just to realize what vjdx said about multiple tiles - I couldn't scale it enough. So I had to break it down into 4 tiles instead, easy job with my excellent Photoshop skills.... ^_^
Although it became even harder to get it 100% accurate...

The next problem was to know where to put my linked houses. The ones I wanted to show on the map from the beginning which resulted in this problem. So again in "level 1 view": turned off floor plans in the vis. menu and temporarily just hid the decals. Voila - the big raster image appeared and I could easily place my houses on the right spot.

First time I worked with links as well. If you import them in 3D they wont show in floor view but it works perfectly the other way around. Makes me think of xrefs in AutoCAD: you have to import xrefs in model view because it wont work in layout.

To sum up the problem.... 1 colleague said: why don't you do it in 3DS Max instead? - much easier to get a big site map accurate. Well I guess he's right, it is easier - but at least I got it to work... nothing is impossible in Revit... some things are just a bit harder to accomplish.

By the way: I didn't encounter any problem when I rendered the decals. All were correctly rotated.


1. Before rendering: check the 4 tiles.
2. After a 50% 72 dpi rendering, pretty good after all.

[space_spikes]

Not sure if this is possible, and have not tried it yet. Try importing the image into a DWG file then link that file into the 3d view. ? Let us know if it works.

Forgot to answer that in my long post. No: it didn't work. I saw the image on the thumbnail when I imported the dwg but it didn't show in Revit... too bad.

[snurresprett9]

Revit blows... for this kind of thing. In SketchUp this would be so easy! You could even drape your image over a 3D terrain. Come on Revit development team; you are way behind the others in coolness!

[Teresa.Martin]

Hi! You can drag an image over a 3d view in the Sheet. However, this would mean that the image comes in flat (not in perspective) so it would probably not work with your particular problem unless you want to tweak it in Photoshop, etc.
Sorry I could not be more helpful.

[twaldock]

Thanks Teresa,
That works a treat for a situation where we want to see the view out of a vindow, as long as the image is a photo taken from the same location as the Revit camera - we just placed the image on a drafting view and put it on the sheet. You have to put the image view on the sheet before the 3D camera view so you get the right sort order (unless anyone knows how to "move to front/back" on a sheet?) - then you can see the view through the windows.
All without rendering.
Thanks again.

[t1.shep]

Revit blows... for this kind of thing. In SketchUp this would be so easy! You could even drape your image over a 3D terrain. Come on Revit development team; you are way behind the others in coolness!

I second this!

[t1.shep]

Does anyone know if it is possible to make a family that has an image on it, then load the family into a project an have the image show in 3d non-rendered views?
Say I have a billboard, but I don't want to render the scene, just a shaded 3d view. Could I build the billboard as a separate family with an image mapped onto the surface and have that all come into the new project?
I'm guessing no, that Revit can not show any image file in a 3d non-rendered view.

[josh.made4worship]

I don't think you can do this, if I remember correctly I read this somewhere else.

[twiceroadsfool]

Nope, it wont work... You wont get an image to show up in a 3d view without rendering, without a really ugly workaround (read: skewing the image in PS and sticking it on a sheet, as Teresa indicated last year).

The decal thing doesnt work that poorly though...

[Jay Zallan]

In addition to lobbying ADSK for this functionality; one approach to get "something" into a family (AKA: workaround) at this time, in my opinion would be to:

Use a graphics suite such as the Adobe or Corel suites and use their vectorization tools to get a line drawing of the image (if possible), then create extrusions based on those lines.-or-
Freehand the extrusions in RVT, using an image as needed. :smile:consider the use of model lines, symbolic lines, etc. in both of the above, obviously...
-and-
Add materials to the solids, as necessary...-and; after putting these into the project-
lobby ADSK, since some Architects (LOL) use images in their...ummm...images...hmmm.
rinse
repeat
:wink:.