Revit 2022 – 3D View Backgrounds

By John Flanagan

Introduction

The title image is a perspective view of a park landscape created during a recent training session. The realistic visual style, shadows and a sky jpeg background were then added.

To specify a background for a 3D view, on the View Control Bar, click the Visual Style icon and click Graphic Display Options.

Background Options

Option 1: Sky Background

When you select Sky as the background for a 3D view, you can specify the colour to use for the ground. The sky colour is affected by the sun settings specified for the view.

Option 2: Gradient Background

In a 3D view, a gradient background is a blend between the horizon colour and the sky colour. When you select Gradient as the background for a 3D view, you can specify colours for the sky, horizon and ground.

Option 3: Image Background

To display clouds, mountains or other landscapes as part of the 3D view, select image for its background. Navigate to the image and specify its scale and offset.

Note:

When you export the view to an image or to a 2D DWF file, the background is included. When you export the view to a 3D DWF file, the background is not included.

The three images included in this blog were created in a recent training session using the default advanced Revit model for the main building. The toposurface (landscape) was generated from an imported CAD survey and site components were added using Revit site tools.