Plan regions have no effect on Topography??

[rganter.97143]

I have a site with a number of subregions. The site slopes and the upper part therefore shows cut earth because it's above the cut plane. Creating a plan region with a higher cut plane has no effect whatsoever on the topo. Is this a bug?

[Dimitri Harvalias]

Not a bug, but really annoying :?
This is the way it works. You'll have to create filled regions or use some other workaround to get the graphic appearance to be as you want it.

You'll also notice that pads can also cause some issues when dealing with multiple levels.
http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?t=62771&highlight=topo+pad

[rganter.97143]

Thanks, Dimitri, definitely a wish list item in my book. I think we'll stick to doing the site work in Autocad for a while to come. Still, I like to do rough site in Revit for 3d views and renderings and show a little of the site in the 1st floor plan. Oh well. . .

[Steve_Stafford]

Plan Regions are not designed to alter toposurface. That just isn't the problem they were designed to solve.

You could try creating a view of the toposurface from a higher vantage point that doesn't include showing the building. Then overlay this view with the view of the building (overlay on a sheet that is) at the level you want without the toposurface. This way the two views give you the whole but permit the two different cut planes you really need. If you set the toposurface view to wireframe it should give you the look you want, guessing what that really is, though.

Fwiw, I prefer to use a separate model for site stuff so I can configure a specific view for showing it in the building model. I just link the site model into the building and vice versa. It also makes for easy adjustment to their relationships if necessary and easy to establish true north and elevations.

[Dimitri Harvalias]

Plan Regions are not designed to alter toposurface. That just isn't the problem they were designed to solve..

Steve, I'm not sure if Roland wanted the cut plane to alter the toposurface, just work the same way it does in other views allowing us to use one view with multiple cut planes.

Roland, don't bail to ACAD. Go with the Steve's suggestion to keep it all real and live. Since you're doing the work in Revit anyways don't introduce the ACAD disonnect.

[Steve_Stafford]

...Steve, I'm not sure if Roland wanted the cut plane to alter the toposurface, just work the same way it does in other views allowing us to use one view with multiple cut planes...That's why I responded. Plan Regions were not designed to alter every element in a view, they were made to resolve very specific issues. Toposurfaces were not part of the equation. They were designed to affect walls, roofs and the elements they host. They can also alter the cutplane for a stair if the plan region completely surrounds the stair.

I'm not saying they should never do so (work on toposurfaces), just that they weren't designed to.

[rganter.97143]

Thanks, Steve, I think I'll try to do the next project with the site in a linked project.

Still, I doubt that we'll use Revit for more than rudimentary site display in 3d and to show the grade line at the bottom the elevations until the site tools improve. We often have Civil consultants for much of that work anyhow and it's less work to just use their Acad drawings. And the biggest drawbacks in Revit: no easy way to show curbs and other site details on complex sloped sites, no direct manipulation of grade lines.

Roland

[Alex Page]

What about having a 'cut-plane' of the view above the topography and doing a plan region around your house? (ie: reverse the logic)

[rganter.97143]

I like the idea! Gotta try that some time.

[luigi]

It's nice to have the site work in 3D, and I am a big proponent to increase our site tools to achieve this...but most people, and I am not necessarily including you Rolander...., but most people, without Revit, will do a 2D representation of a site plan...all lines, hatches, etc...

Why not use Revit in the same way? Create a site plan in 2D...you can still have the 3d info, as much as you think is needed for the 3D views, etc....but everything else is in 2D....in its own view...

I like to do 3D sites (actually love them), but I never think it is worth doing the curbs in 3D(and similar)....but if there was a quick easy way to do them in 3D I would do it...because then it would conform to the Revit way of doing things....but until then....I do what I can in 3D, which is more than any other software I would be using for showing a site plan, and what isn't easy, I just do in 2D, which is visible only in that view.....(unless I need to have 2D representation in multiple views, then I would use a special set of Model lines that I can turn on/off in visibility. If I need filled regions in multiple views, then I group them and copy them from view to view (2D views) and deal with only 1 group, when I need to change things...

If my alternative is to do 2D site plan, then I would do it in Revit, since I can do much much more with that 2D info than with what I can do with Autocad....but I digress...

Take care,

[mmodernc]

site tools could be a really great plus for revit if they worked
i have tried my darndest but things like this send me cuckoo