How & When to use Detail Views or Callouts or Sections
In order to understand what Type of View to use, its important to first understand the differences.
In Revit, we have the standard concepts of:
Floor Plan
Elevation
Section
Reflected Ceiling Plan
From there we can create further Callout or Sections of these Views at an increasing scale… A Callout is not a View Type itself, but rather a method to create/reference a View.
Detail Views
In addition to these we also have the concept of a Detail View. Detail Views can be created by:
Callouts from any Floor Plan, Elevation or Section
Section from any Floor Plan, Elevation or Section
Floor Plan
Elevation
Section
NOTE:
As shown above, there is no such thing as a Floor Plan-Detail View or a Section-Detail View. A Detail View is its own View Type which can be in any orientation and as such the View Type choices display consistently across all the different creation modes (Floor Plan Callout, Elevation/Section Callout, Section).
A Section can be changed to a Detail View, but not vice versa.
Before deciding to use a Detail View its important to understand some of the special caveats/limitations of this unique View Type.
Can only do in a Detail View
Stairs/Railings are displayed as cut 3D models in Detail View Plans as opposed to the conventional 2D representation used in standard Plans.
Can assign both a Callout and Section Tag Type as they can be either a Plan or Section View
Section Detail Callout views are potentially visible in Section views other than their parent view. They behave as if they have a hard-coded “Show in Intersecting Views” property. They might be visible under the following conditions:
The callout view crop boundary is wholly within the crop boundary of the other section view
The callout view section line is within the Clipping Distance of the other section view
There are no other scale-related, category visibility or filters hiding them.
Cannot do in a Detail View
You cannot orientate a 3D View to match the orientation of a Detail View
Cannot have Dependant Views created
Cannot be reverted back to a Floor Plan or Section (the view would need to be recreated)
Cannot have an Underlay applied
Stair Path Arrows don’t work
Symbols nested into families likes switches/power outlets are not visible
Cannot have Depth Cueing applied
Use the Floor Plan View Range display smarts for View Depth and Above Cut Plane.
View Property comparisons
A Detail View Section and a Section have identical View Properties as does a Detail View Callout and a Section Callout.
Detail View - Section
Section
A Detail View Floor Plan and Floor Plan have numerous differences in their Properties.
Detail View - Floor Plan/Section Callout
Floor Plan Callout
The main items to note here are:
As the callout can be applied as a Section/Elevation/Floor Plan the View Range is controlled using Offsets from the Cut/Projection Plane rather than a Level. This means you do not have Top or View Depth Ranges to work with. As such you will not see elements with the <Beyond> Line style or elements such as Casework/Windows/Generic Models that are above the Cut Plane.
System Color Schemes cannot be applied.
Underlays cannot be applied.
Other items of note:
Sections can be changed to Detail Views but not vice versa
No other View Types allow changing to Detail Views.
Detail Views cannot be changed to any other View Type
Detail Views are shown in their own section in the Project Browser
Only Detail Views can be created within a Detail View
When to use a Detail View?
A good rule of thumb to apply is based upon the scale and type of detail. Coarser scale views (1:50 and above) should have little to no need for any 2D embellishment of the model. These views should use standard Sections/Elevations/Floor Plans. Once you reach 1:20 or finer detail, more 2D embellishment is required and the limitations of Detail Views don’t really effect what are starting to become more 2D Views.
Not all details should be extracted directly from the model. The problem with taking a detail from the model, means that a design change could cause the detail to be ruined. For standardised/typical details, like a Window Sill detail that you don’t want to be tweaking every time a small adjustment is made to the position of the wall or window, a Drafting View makes more sense.
For details that are unique and should be reviewed with a design change, these should remain as model extracts.
Scale | Detail Type | View Type |
|---|---|---|
Coarser than or equal to 1:50 | Model Details | Floor Plan/Elevation/Section |
Finer than or equal to 1:20 | Model Details | Detail View |
Finer than or equal to 1:10 | Standard/Typical Details | Drafting View |