View graphics and the precedence stack

Every graphic question in Revit is a precedence question. Learn the stack and the answers become mechanical.

The precedence stack

From weakest to strongest. Something higher in the list always wins.

1. Object Styles          Manage → Object Styles
                          Project-wide defaults per category/subcategory.
 
2. View Template          Applied to a view; may lock properties.
 
3. Visibility/Graphics    VV or VG. This view's category on/off + overrides.
 
4. View Filters           Rule-based. Applied per view or via a template.
                          Evaluated in list order; first match wins per property.
 
5. Element override       Right-click → Override Graphics in View → Element.
                          Beats everything. The reason one wall is red.

There's also Halftone / Underlay, which applies on top of the resolved graphics, and linked model overrides, which are set on the RVT Links tab of VV and can be By Host View, By Linked View, or Custom.

Finding a rogue element override

Element overrides are invisible in any dialog that lists things — there's no "show me all overridden elements" panel. Options:

• Select the element → right-click → Override Graphics in View → By Element and clear it (there's a Reset button).
• View → Reveal Hidden Elements (RH) for hidden elements specifically — they show magenta.
• On a whole view: View → Visibility/Graphics won't help, but re-applying a view template with Include: V/G Overrides checked resets category-level overrides — not element-level ones.
• Nuclear option: Modify → View → Remove Overrides if your version has it, or select the elements and reset by element.

Object styles

Manage → Object Styles. Sets the default line weight, line colour, line pattern, and material for every category and subcategory, split into Projection (drawn as seen) and Cut (drawn where the view cuts it).

This is the project's graphic DNA. Firms set it once in the template and rarely touch it. If every wall in every view has the wrong line weight, this is where you look — not VV.

Line weights map to actual printed thicknesses in Manage → Additional Settings → Line Weights, per view scale. That table is why a weight-3 line prints differently at 1:50 and 1:200.

View range, properly

The four planes of a plan view:

Rules that follow:

• Elements intersecting the cut plane get their cut graphics.
• Elements entirely within the primary range but not cut get their projection graphics.
• Elements between Bottom and View Depth draw as <Beyond> — thin and faint.
• Elements above Top don't appear at all.

Symptoms:

• Low wall drawing thin → below the cut plane, so it's projected not cut.
• Clerestory window missing → above the cut plane. Fix with a plan region.
• Can't see the stair going down → set Bottom / View Depth to the level below.
• Floor below faintly visible → it's within View Depth. Usually intended.

Plan Region (View → Plan Views → Plan Region) is a sketched area with its own view range. The correct fix for split-level plans and clerestories.

Underlay (a view property) shows another level's model, greyed. Different mechanism from view depth, and it's a common source of "why is there a ghost plan under mine".

View templates

A named bundle of view settings. The single biggest lever on documentation consistency.

Create with View → View Templates → Create Template from Current View, or duplicate an existing one in View Templates → Manage.

The Include column in the template dialog is the important part. Uncheck a property and the template stops controlling it, so each view keeps its own. The canonical setup: include V/G, filters, detail level, and discipline; exclude crop region, scale (sometimes), and view range (sometimes).

When a view has a template assigned, controlled properties are greyed out in that view's Properties and in VV. That greying is the feature — it stops people making one-off changes.

You can also apply a template as a one-time action (right-click a view → Apply View Template, without assigning it), which stamps the settings and leaves the view editable.

Filters

View → Filters or VV → Filters → Edit/New.

Two kinds:

• Rule-based filter — categories + rules on parameter values. Dynamic; new matching elements pick it up automatically.
• Selection filter — a fixed set of elements you picked. Static; useful for arbitrary groupings that no rule can describe.

Rules support equals, contains, begins with, is greater than, is not associated with a level, and has a value / has no value. That last pair is excellent for QC — override every element missing a required parameter in bright magenta and the gaps become visible.

Gotchas:

• A filter can only test parameters that exist on all selected categories.
• Filters apply in list order; reorder with the arrows when two filters both override the same property.
• A filter with Visibility unchecked hides matching elements. That's a very effective and very confusing way to lose things — check the Filters tab in the disappearance checklist.

Scope boxes

A 3D box (View → Scope Box) that, when assigned to a view, crops it and controls which grids and levels appear.

• Assign via the view's Scope Box property.
• Grids and levels have an Extents property that can be Scope Box-driven, meaning each datum appears only in the views whose scope box it intersects.
• Essential for per-area plans, matchlines, and view references on large projects.

Detail level and discipline

• Detail level (Coarse / Medium / Fine) — families can carry different geometry per level. A coarse plan hides the fine stuff. Set by view or template.
• Discipline (Architectural / Structural / Mechanical / Electrical / Plumbing / Coordination) — changes default graphics and, importantly, hides other disciplines' elements or halftones them. A view set to Structural won't show your furniture, and you'll spend twenty minutes in VV before you notice.

The disappearance checklist

In order of real-world frequency:

1. View range / cut plane
2. Visibility/Graphics — category off, or a filter with visibility unchecked
3. Hidden element — press RH
4. Crop region or annotation crop
5. Phase / phase filter
6. Workset — closed, or not visible by default
7. Design option
8. Discipline / detail level
9. Link visibility — the RVT Links tab of VV
10. It's actually in a different view than you think

Only then consider that it was deleted.