How to Set Up Revit View Templates and Forma Project Templates

In Autodesk’s Revit 2021 and Revit 2024 help documentation, view templates are described as a way to manage the visibility and graphic settings of model views consistently. Autodesk Forma project templates help administrators create multiple projects with similar settings. This guide covers the essential steps, from organizing drawing, presentation, and coordination views in Revit to preparing shared configurations for new projects in Forma.

What do Revit view templates standardize?

View templates let you apply many visibility and graphic properties to a view at once. Settings are managed at the project level. When the same template is assigned to multiple views, they share a consistent visual style. For example, you can create a template to make floor plans in a construction document set look alike. Changes to the template are reflected in the views that use it.

Focusing on a single use case when creating a template makes the process easier. Autodesk’s examples include construction documents, presentations, coordination, and working views. In an office, this separation helps manage settings for different output types without mixing them up.

Create and apply templates in Revit

1. Prepare a sample view. Set up the visibility and graphic style you want in a view. Using it as a starting point makes the intended visual result of the template clear.

2. Create the template. From the View Templates drop-down on the View tab, choose Create Template from Current View. This creates a template based on the current view’s settings.

3. Edit the template if needed. The Manage View Templates command in the same menu lets you access and change the properties of project templates, as well as create new ones. Review which view properties are controlled by the template. Autodesk notes that other view properties, such as scale, shadows, and phase status, can also be included.

4. Assign it to an existing view. Choose a template from the View Template property in the Properties Palette, or apply one to the current view using Apply Template Properties to Current View. Only templates compatible with the view type are listed, so check the view type if the template you need does not appear.

5. Apply it automatically to new views. A template can be assigned in the Identity Data section of a view type. When a new view of that type is created, the template is applied automatically. This removes the need to select a template for every new view.

6. Choose the dependency setting to suit your needs. If a template is assigned as dependent on the view type, its settings are locked on the view; you must remove the template to change them. When deciding how an existing view should be affected by a template, weigh the need to preserve standards against the need for individual adjustments.

For a quick check of a view managed by a template, use Temporary View Properties. When enabled, a purple border appears around the view. Once temporary adjustments are complete, click the same button to turn off the mode and return to the assigned template’s settings. This lets you make brief checks or coordinate without changing the underlying template.

View types and office standards

In Revit, view types help determine how new views are organized and which template they start with. In an example from Autodesk’s Revit 2024 documentation, an existing view type is duplicated, given a new name, and assigned a view template. Separating a view type used for construction document elevations from one intended for client presentations is one way to keep the Project Browser organized.

A template may not be applied automatically to an existing view that was not just created. In that case, you need to assign the template separately in the view’s properties. Autodesk’s video note says the demonstration was recorded in Revit 2021 and that the interface or functionality may differ in newer versions. The basic concepts on the Revit 2021 help page are covered in this guide; check how the menus appear in your current version.

Storing templates as part of project templates or transferring them to other projects with the Transfer Project Standards tool can help establish consistency across an office. That way, view standards do not need to be built from scratch in every new project.

Configure Autodesk Forma project templates

Forma project templates let administrators start repeat projects with similar settings. According to Autodesk’s help page, templates can be created from scratch or from an existing project. The basic steps are:

1. In Hub Admin, open the Project templates tool on the left and choose Create project template.

2. Select either Create blank template or Create template from existing project, then proceed to Next. Starting from an existing project uses its configurations as a foundation.

3. Name the template and create it using Create template. Then add template members and edit the contents.

4. Publish the template to make it available. According to Autodesk, a published template is one that project members can use when creating a new project. If needed, it can later be unpublished, archived, or restored from the archive.

In Forma Build, open the template and switch to the Build section in the product selector. Select the tool to configure from the left panel. The documentation lists Sheets, Files, Issues, Forms, RFIs, Submittals, Assets, and Reports. For example, you can create form templates for Forms or import them from past Build projects, PlanGrid, and BIM 360 Field Management. For Issues, you can configure types, custom fields, root causes, permissions, and statuses; for RFI, you can configure permissions, types, custom fields, and advanced settings.

Report templates, schedules, and settings can also be configured in a project template; most report settings are transferred to the new project. However, Autodesk notes that some features are not supported. These include the asset detail report template, the option to save to Files, and some filters. Before publishing, confirm on the relevant Forma help page that each tool you need is supported.

Common mistakes

• Assuming a template controls every view property without checking the controlled fields in the view properties dialog.

• Overlooking the need for individual adjustments later when choosing template dependency.

• Expecting a template tied to a view type to apply automatically to an existing view as well.

• Assuming every setting added to a Forma Build template will carry over to a new project; some settings are not supported.

• Preparing a Forma template but forgetting to publish it; an unpublished template is not available for general project creation.

For architecture and interior design teams, Revit templates help keep plans, sections, and presentation views consistent within a project. For visualization teams, they help separate views created for different purposes. Forma templates are useful for teams that need to standardize recurring project management tool settings. In Revit, the key considerations are interface differences between versions and template dependency; in Forma, they are tool-specific support limitations and publication status. The sources do not provide hardware requirements or pricing for these features, so no specific values should be assumed.