Creating a 3D Section View in Revit

Whether a building is complex or fairly simple, sometimes typical 2-dimensional views just don’t display what you really need to see.  Using a 3D view of a section through a building gives a better view of just what is going on inside the building.  Most 3-dimensional software packages have methods to create 3D section views, and you should take advantage of those when beneficial to you.

One method of creating a 3D section in Revit is by using an existing section as the determining location of the 3D section view.  This process is:

1. Create a 3D view by clicking on the Default 3D View command on the Create panel of the View tab.
2. Right-click on the {3D} view in the Project Browser and select Duplicate View -> Duplicate from the context-sensitive menu to create an identical view.  This will create a new 3D view named Copy of {3D}.
3. Make sure that the newly created 3D view is active.
4. Right-click on the ViewCube and select Orient to View -> Sections, then select the desired section view from the list of sections already placed in the model.  (This will make the 3D view look like it is a section view, but will still be considered a 3D view.)
5. Hold down the Shift key at the same time as the middle mouse button to orbit the view to display the 3D section as desired.
6. The 3D section location can be adjusted by either repeating steps 3, 4 and 5, or by adjusting the location of the section line in a plan view, elevation view, or another section view to display the section cut as desired in the 3D view.
7. Renaming the new 3D view is a good idea.  Right-click on the newly created 3D view named Copy of {3D} in the Project Browser and select Rename from the context-sensitive menu.  Name the 3D view with the same name as the section view that was just used with the 3D view.