Rendering in Revit and the Cloud

I've always been a little disappointed with Revit's rendering capabilities, I've always said that Revit is not really a rendering tool and that you should use another program, such as 3ds Max, if you want a really good rendering. Rendering in the cloud is a great idea but the material selection is a hit and miss at best.

Autodesk are continuing to work on improving it's cloud rendering capabilities as well as the Revit rendering engine but I have just realised it's the user (ME!) and not the program.

The renderings below are of a project were currently working on and was done using Revit, the Cloud... and a little of both!

Well done Alisha!

Sc

Autodesk's Photo Editing and Sharing software... Pixlr

So way back in 2011 Autodesk purchased a photo editing and sharing company called Pixlr
Pixlr's tools are designed so users can easily create, edit and share images on a social network such as Facebook and Flickr etc. 

Autodesk software users (including SketchBook) are able to read and write image files such as PXD and exchange these files while maintaining the file integrity... such as layers.

Pixlr has some awesome image editing tools that are free and easy to use online.... 
Anyway.. the reason I mention this is that I finally got around to adding the Pixlr app to my Google Chrome...  

When it first came out that Autodesk bought Pixlr I thought that was a weird acquisition by Autodesk.. but after thinking about it Autodesk is collecting tools that we can use as part of our design development. 

After all who doesn't touch up their renderings with a little "Photoshop"?

Sc

 

Revit to Showcase

I just found this great document by DCCADD on importing Revit models into Showcase.
It explains how to bring it into Showcase via 3DsMax in a way that you can work with the Revit materials as well as explore design options.

It will take you step by step through the process, really one of the best instructional documents I've read in quite some time...

Here's an image of my model in Revit, realistic Visual Style.

Aghhhh.... it takes soooo long to bring into Showcase!!!!

This is what it looks like in Showcase with a background and Ray Trace.
Looks great but is slow and clunky on my laptop....I'm sure with a powerful desktop it'll perform much better.

One benefit I do like is being able to change materials in Showcase...

There is a direct export from Revit under "Suite Workflows".
The document explains how to use both methods of importing into Showcase.

Not sure if we'll use is as typically when presenting were either doing it from a laptop or "remoting" into a computer....We'll see...

Sc

Cloud Rendering Vs Revit Rendering

I love the Cloud rendering feature Autodesk offers to Subscription members!
It's fast and easy to use.

BUT!.......

The materials when rendered in the cloud don't match the same materials in Revit!
The reason for this is that the cloud rendering engine is different from the Mental Ray that we get in Revit.

Here is a sample of a rendering in Revit, it was set to "Best" and the file is one of the Revit sample file we get.

Rendering created in Revit

 

 

 

Here is the rendering created using Autodesk Cloud Rendering.

 

Rendering in the Cloud

 

Big difference eh!

 

I don't mind the difference in Quality, I expect a better quality product from the Cloud..... but I don't expect such a big difference in how the materials are interpreted, especially coming from the same company... Really, Autodesk should have looked at this before offering the service.

 

This really limits how much we will be using this service, if we cant trust how the materials are going to display it negates the speed and efficiency of the service. We spend time on selecting the right material according to how it shows up when we render and sending it to the Cloud every time we want to check a material becomes inefficient.

 

Subsequently we will only render in the Cloud now when materials and colours are not crucial.

 

Sc

 



Using Decals

Want to really impress your clients and give them the feeling that you really look at every detail just for them...! Or make your interior renderings look more realistic.

Every great residential designer will visit their client to see their lifestyle, particular furniture tastes and styles so they can get a better feel and understanding of their client. While you are there take lots of photos to refer back too, also take some good straight on photos of their artwork on their walls.

You can then use these images in your interior renderings and really impress your client.

Here's how......

·         Find a picture or adjust your photo to suit. Crop out any borders etc, don't worry too much about the size of the image just as ling as it's not fuzzy or too big a file.

·         If you don't already have a Picture Frame family get one...! Autodesk Seek has some, load it into your project and adjust the size of the frame to suit your image, ie: 5' wide by 4' high.

·         Flip to a elevation where you can see the picture frame such as a section or elevation, create a temporary one if you need too.

·         In the Insert Tab under the Link panel you'll find the drop down for Decals.

·         First you'll need to create a Decal Type. In this dialog box create a new type and give it a name, select the source file of your image and make any adjustments required to Brightness, Reflectivity, Transparency, finish etc...

·         After you have created a Decal type you can now use the Place Decal tool. Under the type properties select your Decal Type you just created.

·         Place the decal in the host picture frame, you can adjust the width and height before placing the decal on the options bar, or after you place the decal select the decal and you can adjust the width and height.

 Locking proportions is always a great idea.

·         Now you have placed your Decal you wont be able to see it unless you render the view or change your visual Style To Realistic.

Place a camera view and Render it to wow your clients, colleagues and boss...

Background Image for Renderings

So you have this great model and you have 3D views that the client love....but... they have a fantastic view you want to accurately display while appearing to be standing on their balcony. Or they want to see how the building will look on their site so you can accurately place the building.

You have some photograph's of the site that you can use so bring them into your model!

Here is a (quick) example of a finished product. Here I created a camera view looking out over the balcony. camera placement is important, luckily you can always move the camera around to get the right angle to suit your image.

On the Rendering dialog box under the Background style you  can specify your image.

Here you can customize the image and the position of the image by adjusting the offset and scaling the with and height etc.

You can manipulate location of the image only from this dialog box.

Run the rendering in a low or Draft mode or render a region if you have a large view.  Make any changes to the location of the image or the situation of the camera to get a realistic appearance.

Here is a quick one I did, doesn't look too bad and the clients love this, it adds a sense of realism for them.

Things to look out for, look where the sun is in your photo, you may want to adjust your location and time of day under the Shadows setting to match your photo. Nothing worse than seeing the sun in your photo and seeing the shadows on what would be the sunny side of the building.

Take a bunch of site photos if possible taking into consideration the location of the house and the features of the view. Think of where you have placed the Camera View and try to replicate that location on site.

Remember if you are rendering a project that you have light sources in and your using interior lighting, create a  artificial lighting set where you can basically turn off the lights you wont need in your rendering, otherwise Revit will have to take into consideration all of the lights even if they will not affect your rendering, this will speed up your rendering process. Don't make Revit work any harder that it has too...

This also works great for interior views where you want to show the view through the windows, say from laying on the bed in the master bedroom, or standing in the kitchen looking out.....