Revit Steel Connections not showing in views? Check the display settings!

By Dennis Collin

Revit has had steel connection detailing tools for several years and these features have been improved upon for each release. However, on occasion, the detailing elements don’t always display in views.

As with any display issue in Revit, the non-display of elements can be due to several reasons. The first thing to check is the Model Category visibility within Visibility Graphics Overrides. Check the connection sub-categories under Structural connections, check elements like bolts, plates, sheer studs etc have been enabled.

If the subcategories are enabled, check if any view filters have been applied or are active within the view. This is quite likely if some, but not all, connections are apparent. Select the filters tab and examine any filters that have been applied to the view. If the visibility option has been unticked then this could be the reason for the non-display of structural (or any other) component.

If the filters tab is empty or none of the filters are enabled, check the reveal hidden elements button, it is possible that a colleague has applied a manual display override to selected details. This is considered poor practice and for better consistency and workflow view filters should be used to hide any items within a view.

Another likely reason for steel connections not showing in a view is the level of detail setting. Steel connections being of a detail type will only show in FINE level of detail, regardless of category and filter settings.

As with any display issues in Revit, the quickest and easiest way to resolve display issues within a Revit project is to use View Templates. Either apply a company standard view template to the offending view, or locate a view where the elements display as expected. Create a view template from that view and then apply the newly created template to the view where the steel connections are not displayed. As well as category, filter and level of detail control, view templates can also correct or reset settings such as view range, worksets and linked file display and visibility.

View templates and display settings are major topics on all Cadline’s Revit training courses. For further information visit https://training.cadline.co.uk/ and have your questions answered on Cadline’s Live Chat environment.