Creating Elevation Views in Revit Structure: Bracing and Moment Frames Tutorial

Welcome to this comprehensive guide on creating structural elevations in Revit Structure. Having mastered the fundamentals of detailing and successfully placed details within your project sheets, we'll now advance to a critical next phase: generating precise elevation views from your brace frames and moment frames. This workflow represents a cornerstone skill for structural engineers and designers working in today's collaborative BIM environment.

Let's begin by establishing our workspace. First, zoom into your target area and double-click to activate the view—a fundamental step that enables entity selection and manipulation within your project environment.

You'll recognize an activated view by your ability to select and interact with project elements. With our view properly activated, we can proceed to the core elevation creation process.

Navigate to the View tab and locate the Create panel—your command center for generating new project views. Within this panel, you'll find the Elevations dropdown, which reveals two distinct elevation types that serve different structural documentation purposes.

The first option, Framing Elevation, specializes in displaying vertical bracing systems and their connections. The second, Building Elevation, generates comprehensive elevation views of the entire building structure. For our current moment frame documentation, Building Elevation provides the optimal foundation. Select this option and observe how the delineation arrow appears on the wall's top surface.

Pay attention to the arrow's behavior as you move your cursor: positioning beyond the grid places the arrow on the wall's underside, ensuring consistent elevation views throughout your building documentation. This systematic approach maintains visual coherence across your entire drawing set.

Position your elevation marker in a clear, unobstructed area that allows adequate workspace for subsequent modifications. Once placed, press Escape to exit the placement command and transition into elevation refinement mode.

Now we'll optimize the elevation for professional documentation standards. Begin by addressing the default naming convention. When you select the elevation marker, Revit displays a view box that defines the elevation's visible range—this boundary directly impacts what appears in your final documentation.

Before renaming, let's refine the view boundaries for optimal clarity. Click and drag the horizontal bar to adjust the elevation's width, then utilize the end controls to fine-tune the boundaries. Precision here is crucial: grab the actual control points rather than the boundary lines to avoid inadvertently moving the entire view box.

With boundaries properly adjusted, access the Properties panel and modify the View Name field. Change the default name to "MF1" (Moment Frame 1)—a clear, professional naming convention that facilitates project navigation and coordination. This systematic approach becomes invaluable as project complexity increases.

Notice how the elevation marker immediately reflects your naming change. We'll use Moment Frame 1 as our detailed example, providing you with the methodology to efficiently complete Moment Frames 2, 3, and 4. Following moment frame completion, we'll address brace frame creation before advancing to final sheet placement—a comprehensive workflow that mirrors real-world project development.

Double-click the downward-pointing elevation arrow to open your moment frame elevation view. This action transitions you from plan view into the elevation workspace where detailed structural documentation occurs.

You'll initially see the architectural model overlaying your structural elements—a common occurrence in integrated BIM workflows that requires immediate attention. To isolate the structural components, type "VV" to access Visibility/Graphics settings, navigate to Revit Links, and set the architectural model visibility to "Off." This step ensures clear structural documentation without architectural interference.

Your moment frame elevation now displays in coarse detail level—insufficient for professional structural documentation. Change the detail level to "Fine" to reveal essential structural elements including beams, columns, connections, and member relationships. Additionally, adjust the scale to 1/4" = 1'-0", a standard that provides excellent detail clarity while maintaining drawing efficiency.

With proper detail level and scale established, we'll streamline the view by removing non-essential elements. This cleanup process transforms a cluttered elevation into a focused structural document suitable for construction documentation and coordination.

Select all visible elements, then access the Filter tool in the Selection panel. This powerful feature allows precise control over element visibility, enabling you to create clean, purposeful drawings that communicate design intent effectively.

The filter dialog reveals all available element categories. Strategically disable elements that don't contribute to moment frame documentation: turn off floor openings, floors, reference planes, cutouts, roofs, shaft openings, beam systems, joists, and walls. Retain grids, levels, structural columns, foundations, and framing girders—elements essential for structural understanding and coordination.

After confirming your selections, right-click the filtered elements and select "Hide in View > Elements." This action removes visual clutter while preserving the underlying model integrity—a non-destructive editing approach that maintains project coordination capabilities.

Fine-tune the elevation boundaries by adjusting the viewport extents. When working within the viewport, grid elements display their 3D properties, allowing comprehensive project coordination. However, for 2D documentation purposes, extend grid lines beyond the viewport boundary to access their 2D properties, enabling view-specific adjustments without affecting the overall project model.

Position grid lines appropriately, extending them below unused roof levels to automatically hide unnecessary elements. This technique demonstrates Revit's intelligent display management—elements beyond the viewport boundary don't appear in the final documentation.

Address level annotations using the Temporary Hide/Isolate feature, a powerful tool for managing complex element selection and visibility. Select level elements, use "Select All Instances > Visible in View" to capture all related elements, then apply the Temporary Hide/Isolate function to clean up the workspace systematically.

Continue this methodical cleanup process with structural girders and any extraneous elements. For instance, if nailers appear on beam tops, select one nailer, use "Select All Instances" to identify all similar elements, then hide them collectively. This batch processing approach significantly accelerates the documentation workflow while ensuring consistency across your drawing set.

The result is a clean, professional moment frame elevation containing only essential structural elements. Reset the Temporary Hide/Isolate tool to restore any elements you wish to retain, then save your project to preserve these view-specific settings.

Consider disabling the crop region visibility using the "Hide Crop Region" tool—while this remains a personal preference, many professionals prefer clean elevation presentations without visible viewport boundaries in their final documentation.

Make final adjustments to grid line extents, remembering that modifications outside the viewport affect only the current view, preserving model integrity while optimizing drawing clarity.

Your first moment frame elevation is now complete and ready for professional documentation. Apply this comprehensive methodology to create Moment Frames 2, 3, and 4, maintaining consistency in naming conventions, detail levels, and element visibility settings. In our next session, we'll explore interior brace frame creation, building upon these foundational skills to complete your structural elevation documentation workflow.