Animation in Revit: Walkthroughs, Sun Studies & 360 GIFs

Updated October 2026: A Revit animation can be a walkthrough through your building, a sun study that moves shadows across the day, or a 360° turntable that spins the model on the spot. This Revit animation tutorial covers all three, shows how to export each one, and ends with the no-render trick for a lightweight 3D GIF. The steps below are checked against Autodesk’s Revit help, with a note wherever a release may look different.

Here is the video version of this tutorial, showing how to create a turntable animation in Revit:

Types of Animation in Revit

Revit has no single “animation” button. What you use depends on what you want to show. Pick the row that matches your goal, then jump to the steps.

3D GIFs and short turntables are a fun and engaging way to share information, and they present maximum visual detail in a short amount of time. Walkthroughs and sun studies are better when the client needs to understand space or light. You can combine them: export a walkthrough for the presentation and a 3D GIF for social media and messaging apps.

How to Create a Walkthrough Animation in Revit

Autodesk describes a walkthrough as a simulated tour of a site or building, made from camera positions placed along a path you draw. The path is built from camera frames and key frames, and a key frame is a frame where you can change the camera’s position and direction. This is the standard way to make an animation in Revit for client presentations.

Steps

1. Open a plan view, such as a floor plan or site plan. This is where you draw the camera path.
2. Go to View > Create > 3D View > Walkthrough.
3. Click in the plan to place the first camera point, then keep clicking to add key frames along the route. Check the camera height and level before you start, so the camera does not walk through a floor or ceiling.
4. Click Finish Walkthrough on the ribbon. Revit adds the walkthrough to the Project Browser.
5. To adjust the path, open the walkthrough view and use Edit Walkthrough on the ribbon. You can move key frames, change the target point and set where the camera looks.
6. In the Properties palette, open Walkthrough Frames to set the number of frames and the speed. Total duration depends on the number of frames and the frames per second.

Test the path in the viewport first. A smooth path with a small number of well-placed key frames almost always looks better than a path with many close points.

How to Export an Animation from Revit

Per Autodesk’s help, you can export a walkthrough as a video (AVI file) or as a series of images, so team members and clients who do not use Revit can see it.

1. Open the walkthrough view. If it is closed, double-click its name in the Project Browser.
2. Go to File > Export > Images and Animations > Walkthrough.
3. Under Output Length, choose All frames, or choose Frame range and enter the start and end frames. The total time updates as you change the frames per second.
4. Under Format, set the Visual Style, Dimensions and Zoom. If you choose Rendering as the visual style, Revit uses the rendering settings of the walkthrough view, which is much slower but gives a realistic result.
5. Click OK and name the file. If you export an AVI, pick a video compressor in the Video Compression dialog.

If you need the best possible quality, export an image series instead of an AVI and assemble it in a video editor. That avoids compression you cannot undo. For still renders, see how to render in Revit.

How to Make a Sun Study Animation in Revit

A solar study is an animation of how shadows move across your project. Autodesk lists two types: a single-day study shows the shadows on a given date over a period of time, and a multi-day study shows them across a date range, at one time of day or a range of times, with an interval of 1 hour, 1 day, 1 week or 1 month between frames.

1. Open a 2D or 3D view and turn Shadows on in the View Control Bar. Revit cannot export a solar study unless shadows are on.
2. Open Sun Settings from the View Control Bar and choose Single Day or Multi-Day.
3. Set the location, the date or date range, and the time range, then click OK.
4. Preview the frames with the controls on the Solar Study ribbon tab.
5. Go to File > Export > Images and Animations > Solar Study. AVI makes a standalone video, while formats such as PNG or JPEG save single frames.

For the sun path, labels and presentation drawings, see how to make a sun diagram in Revit.

How to Make a 360° Turntable Animation in Revit (3D GIF)

A walkthrough takes a path and render time. If you only want to show the model from every side, there is a quicker Revit animation: record the model turning with the ViewCube and save it as a looping GIF. It works in Revit, AutoCAD, Navisworks and other Autodesk software with a ViewCube, and you do not need a SpaceMouse or a third-party render engine.

It is simple and time-saving to record GIFs using the user interface, instead of using third-party engines and apps to render models. Sharing a 3D GIF on social media, messaging apps and portfolio pages lets people see the whole model without opening a file.

Step 1 – ScreenToGif

1. Download ScreenToGif (Portable Freeware) and launch it.
2. Align the recorder window with the viewport by dragging its borders.
3. Press on View Object Wheel in the navigation panel.

Step 2 – ViewCube

Autodesk’s help describes the ViewCube as the quick way to orient a 3D view: its corner, edge and face areas jump the model to a set viewing angle, and dragging it orbits the model. Clicking the same area repeatedly gives the same movement every time, which is what a clean Revit animation needs.

4. Right-click the object wheel > Select Full Navigational Wheel.
5. Select the window borders and drag them to the desired object in the 3D view.
6. Right-click the object wheel > Options > ViewCube > Uncheck “fit-to-view on view change”.
7. Click OK.

Deactivating this feature prevents the pivot point from being reset to its central default position when you use the ViewCube for navigation. Without it, the model jumps between frames and the animation will not loop smoothly. If the model is not centered, select it before you start: Autodesk’s help notes that the center of rotation is the center of all model geometry, but a selected object becomes the center of rotation instead.

8. In the ScreenToGif overlay window, click Record.
9. Place the cursor on an upper edge of the ViewCube and click 4 times (Isometric transition).
10. Stop the recorder of ScreenToGif.
11. Go to the Edit tab > Remove Duplicates > Similarity %: 90 > click Apply.

✨ Tip: Try reducing the similarity percentage to %85.

Step 3 – 3D GIF Transparency

12. Go to the File tab > Check Enable Transparency > select the color to be displayed as transparent.
13. Drag the cross sign under “Drag this to sample color” to the background color.
14. Click Ok.
15. Scroll down to select the location under the File panel.
16. Click Save.

How to apply a green screen:

1. Go to File tab > Options > Colors > Background.
2. Set the color to green to apply a green screen behind your model.

Use the color picker in ScreenToGif to select the background color. (Replace green with a color that does not appear in your model, or the model itself will turn transparent.)

Learn more about transparency in Revit.

Smooth Revit Animation with Fusion Style Orbit in Autodesk Viewer

If you want a continuous orbit instead of stepped ViewCube clicks, publish the 3D view to Autodesk Viewer and record the spin in your browser.

1. Go to the Collaborate tab > click Publish Settings.
2. Leave only the 3D view selected in the menu.
3. Click Save & Close.
4. Go to the Collaborate tab > click Shared Views.

5. Click New Shared View > Assign a name for the shared view > Click Share.
6. Wait until the link is generated, and then click View in Browser.
7. In the top bar, open the Settings tab > Navigation pan > toggle the Fusion-style orbit.
8. Reduce the size of the window so that it records inside the circular boundary.
9. Start the capture in ScreenToGif.
10. Click and drag the horizontal line on the sides of the model.
11. Follow the recording, Remove Duplicates, transparency and save steps (8-16) in the 3D GIF section above.

✨ Tip: More than 60 formats of 2D/3D files are viewable in Autodesk Viewer.

The only drawback with this method is the visible cross that follows the pivot point when you activate the fusion-style orbit.

Zoom as much as possible before recording to have the highest resolution out of the captured footage.

How to Share and Convert Your Revit Animation

The view cube provides consistent transitions. We use these transitions to capture individual images and then edit them as video frames using ScreenToGif.

GetKap works for iOS devices. You can even record a video and convert it to a GIF via EzGIF. The same works for a walkthrough: export the AVI, then convert a short section to a GIF for social media.

Upload the file to Giphy or EzGIF. Right-click the online animation on the screen and save it. Now you have a 3D GIF that you can share with everyone!

Revit Animation Troubleshooting

Use a walkthrough to tour a space, a solar study to show light, and a ViewCube turntable GIF when you want a fast 360° Revit animation to share. Whichever you choose, test the path or frames first and export once.

FAQs

How do I make an animation in Revit?

Create a walkthrough from View > 3D View > Walkthrough by clicking a camera path on a plan view, then export it from File > Export > Images and Animations > Walkthrough. For moving shadows use a Solar Study, and for a quick 360° spin record the ViewCube with ScreenToGif.

How do I export an animation from Revit?

Open the walkthrough view and use File > Export > Images and Animations > Walkthrough. Choose all frames or a frame range, set the visual style and size, and save as an AVI or an image series. Solar studies export from the same menu.

How do I make a 360 turntable animation in Revit?

Turn off “fit-to-view on view change” in the ViewCube options, record the viewport with ScreenToGif, and click an upper edge of the ViewCube 4 times. Then remove duplicate frames, enable transparency and save the GIF.

Can I make a Revit animation without rendering?

Yes. A ViewCube turntable recorded with ScreenToGif, or a walkthrough exported with a simple visual style, needs no render engine. Rendering is only used if you choose the Rendering visual style when exporting.

How do I turn a Revit animation into a GIF?

Record the turntable directly in ScreenToGif, or export a walkthrough to AVI and convert it with EzGIF. Remove duplicate frames in ScreenToGif to keep the file small.

Is there a Revit practice file for this tutorial?

Yes. The Revit project file for this lesson is available to Mashyo members on Patreon for $5.5/month, together with the practice files for the other Mashyo tutorials. You can cancel at any time. Open the Revit animation practice file on Patreon.

Mohamed Fakhry

Mohamed Fakhry has helped thousands of architects and designers find their next project with step-by-step guidance on his blog, mashyo.com. About Mohamed

His journey began during his university years when he recognized the need for information-rich 3D models to accelerate learning and improve production processes. Now, Mohamed shares his expertise through Revit tutorials that are accessible to all.