46. Improved Tree Model
Upgraded Revit tree with four seasons.
After making my improved tree symbol, I had to wonder, could I make it even better?
I like the graphic quality of the presentation landscape plans I make, but they are a lot of work with detail groups. The 3D plants that come standard with Revit are pretty good, but now that I have learned more about plant varieties, I realize they are really lacking in some features that I care about and they do not scale accurately — if you adjust the tree height, it will adjust the width, but not always how you want it.
I decided to tweak my base Revit* plant model to fix both issues.
*Revit is a 3D modeling software used by most architects.
Before and After
While it may not look like much, there is a lot to unpack here. My improved model is specific to the Japanese Cherry Tree Accolade variety. The base tree in Revit is called Japanese Flowering Cherry.
The first thing you might notice is how the shape of the before tree does not match the improved Japanese Cherry Tree Accolade model and the color of the fill. But wait, there’s more… see below.
Side note: I am not trying to make the most awesome accurate rendering of a tree, but I wanted a more accurate diagrammatic depiction of the tree. I think a diagram can be super helpful during planning, which is what I spend most of my time doing.
Technical Details
Here is how I did it.
Step 1: Drafting view of linework
Using drafting views, I create plan and elevation views of the tree.
For the plan, I copied the linework of my improved tree symbol for a Japanese Cherry Accolade at a 10 year size.
For the elevation, I roughly traced a photograph of the tree at the correct height and shape for a 10 year tree. I created a detail fill region with a diagrammatic color for the tree.
I then exported these drafting views as DWG’s.
Step 2: Import CAD and adjust lineweight
Open the family editor for the base Deciduous Tree Revit family.
Then import the CAD files.
In the floor plan view, I imported the plan symbol, centered it on the reference lines, and partially exploded it.
In the Back and Left Views, I imported the elevation symbol, but did not partially explode (that caused problems).
Under the Manage tab, I modified the object styles to get the linework to show up with the colors and line weights that I wanted in the plan view.
For the linework in the elevation view, this had to be overridden the visibility graphics of the main model; under VG > Imported Categories > Imports in Families > select to desired color.
Step 2: Convert linework to symbol lines
In plan view, convert all model linework to symbol lines; if you don’t do this, it will remain as a model element that can be obscured by other model elements in your Revit model.
Step 3: Create additional fill layers
I added additional color fill layers in order to get Spring, Summer, and Fall flower and foliage colors.
With each layer selected, I adjusted the visibility setting and created the desired label for the parameter. To do this click the equals sign in the Graphics section of Properties, this gets you access to the parameters menu where you can specify the name of the layer, I used the names Fall Color, Spring Color, and Summer Color.
Once you complete the above for all three fill color layers, your Family Types menu will show Yes/No tick boxes for the different seasons.
Step 4: Adjust visibility
Then adjust the visibility of the different elements in plan and elevation views.
The shadow graphic I only want to show up in my presentation views so I set those to only show up on “fine”. The 20 year growth line, I only want that to show up in my technical plan views, so I set it to only show up on “medium”.
To modify visibility, select each element type and modify the visibility settings found in the Modify Tab:
You can do this visibility adjustment for both symbolic lines and model lines, such as the imported DWG elements
Step 5: Save and Load
The last step was to save and load into my Revit file. Once in my main model, I deleted all of the other deciduous tree types from this new family. I will be creating unique tree families for each variety of tree in my model.
Results
By varying the view grade — course, medium, and fine — I can get three different results for the base symbol.
Then by toggling the visibility of the fill in my family type properties, I get all four seasons.
Another performance benefit I will get from this set up is avoiding the lag caused by detail groups. Ooh, I think this will be such an improvement!
Download
Interested in using my tree in your own model? Here is my link for the .rfa Revit Family.
Japanese Cherry Tree Accolade Revit Family
The next step is to make custom tree families for all the new trees in my garden.