Fun fact: I wrote this post in-flight between Minneapolis and
Amsterdam, in route to visit my family's past Russian exchange students--and ultimately posted this from St. Petersburg, Russia. I had mentioned this impending trip
in a speaker spotlight interview for BILT-NA in Toronto.
There are a number of tips and tricks related to Revit’s
Section Box feature. I will share several of them in this post. Please add any additional tips you may have in the comments section below.
A Section Box can be activated in a 3D or Camera view via
Properties as shown in the image below.
Once activated, and selected, each of the six sides of the
Section Box can be adjusted using the grips. The grips are always centered on
each face.
In addition to the six grips, there is also a quick access
Rotation icon, see the image above.
For more control in sizing and rotating the Section Box, I
like to adjust it in plan, elevation and section views. You can make the
Section Box visible by selecting it in the 3D view and then using Ctrl+Tab to
step through the open views. This requires the plan or elevation view to
already be open. Additionally, the Section Box will become deselected if you
step into another project or family.
Another option is to open the plan or elevation view and then right-click on the 3D view in the Project Browser as shown in the image below.
Any 3D or Camera view with Section Box checked will show this option.
Once selected, you can drag a side to be more accurately
centered on a wall (in plan) or above/below a floor (in elevation).
When the Section Box is selected, in a plan view, use the
rotate command. The angled element in the next two images is a good example of
when rotating a Section Box can be helpful.
Finally, the Section Box can be used to save a lot of time
when rendering a still image in Revit. I talked about this in the ArchVision
webinar... click here to see my post about that and watch the recording.
Great article Dan! There's a popular revit idea on making those section box grips larger: https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-ideas/section-box-grips-are-too-small/idi-p/6433957
ReplyDeleteThanks for your post.i got a question. when i have it my plan view and 3d view open and select section box in 3d, it will show in plan view and i can grab and select it, but when i click rotate command, section box disappears from plan view and again i have to select it in 3d to make it visible in plan view. so i cant rotate it properly with the rotate command. i checked the visibility graphic and section box is ticked to show.so my assumption is that we cant see section box in plan view unless we make it visible from project browser as you said or by clicking on it in 3d. the point is that as far as it disappears when i hit rotate i cant rotate it by rotate command with my desired orientation.
ReplyDeletethere's a rotate sign on the corner of section box which doesn't rotate the section box accurately and i,m not sure how i can rotate with certain angle. can you help me please. thanks.
Thanks for the comment... I hope I was able to answer your question in today's post: https://bimchapters.blogspot.com/2020/04/revit-section-box-tips-and-tricks.html
DeleteWould be great if there was also a "Hide Section Box" option for the view, even greater if there was a hide and show option in the View Cube Menu, greater even still, if there was a dedicated toggle.
ReplyDeleteIs there a way to precisely adjust the section box? I'm trying to create floor specific 3D view but can not accurately adjust the box. It's painstaking (or OCD) to not be able to snap the edge to a floor level
ReplyDeleteNo, I do not think so. You can move it precisely if you toggle to a plan view, but since is cannot be started in a precise location that does not help.
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