Here are the slides from my Seattle Revit User Group (SeaRug) presentation back on Feb.17th, 2016

1. PACIFICAD
REVIT TO 3ds MAX
Physically Accurate Lighting With Revit and 3ds Max
PacifiCAD.com
Software – Training – Support – Consulting – IT Services
800-722-2621
Gregory Anderson – SR. Technical Specialist

2. Part I: Modeling and Lighting Setup
1) Sketching & Staging in Revit
I. Reference/look development/case study
II. Production Workflow
III. Visual Style Templates
IV. Managing Content
I. Linking furniture and downloading lights
V. Setting up Cameras
VI. Lighting & Rendering in Revit
2) Conceptual Model
I. Bind the Revit Link to respect Visual Template
II. Adjusting Material override in Phases
III. Rendering Clay Models in Revit
I. Mental Ray
I. Quality Settings
II. Autodesk Raytracer
3) Interoperability: Re-use data
I. How to control what gets exported
i. View dependent FBX export
ii. Visibility graphics (Hide unseen objects)
iii. Export as FBX
iv. Linking Revit File in 3ds Max (system units)
v. Model picture frames (see here) and export as .DWG
4) Global Illumination and Render Setup
I. Render without any custom settings to begin
II. Increase FG bounces and notice additional brightness
III. Increase number of photons and radius until room is covered in
light
IV. Merge near photons to smooth results
V. Turn on Final Gather for final quality

3. GREGORY ANDERSON
SR. TECHNICAL SPECIALIST REVIT & 3ds MAX
Experience:
20 years between working as an intern architect &
visualization artist/manager

4. GREGORY ANDERSON: PORTFOLIO
WHICH BUILDINGS ARE COMPUTER GENERATED?

5. GREGORY ANDERSON: PORTFOLIO

6. GREGORY ANDERSON: PORTFOLIO + WORKFLOW

7. GREGORY ANDERSON: PORTFOLIO + WORKFLOW

8. GREGORY ANDERSON: Beta Tester

9. GENERIC PRODUCT UPGRADED PRODUCT
• Multiple lighting layers
• High quality accessories and
professional staging
GREGORY ANDERSON: PORTFOLIO

10. SKETCHING & STAGING: Design Process
A & E M & E I.D.
Digital Sketch
Schematic
Design Phase
Conceptual Model
Design Development
Phase
Design Model
Construction
Documentation Phase
Post-Production & Construction
Administration Phase
**

11. SKETCHING & STAGING: Revit Visual Styles
Reference Photograph Revit Sketch

12. SKETCHING & STAGING: Revit Visual Styles
1) Using Visual Styles to Create Sketch
I. Browse to Class Project Directory and open Interior.rvt
II. Navigate to Project Browser and open Living Room view
III. Go to View Tab on Ribbon and select Close Hidden Views
IV. Go to View Control Bar and select Visual Styles
V. Go to Graphic Display Options
VI. Turn off Cast Shadows
VII. Enable Sketchy Lines and set both to 6 and select OK
VIII. Select Save As View Template
i. Name your New View Template
Visual Style: Hidden Line

13. SKETCHING TO RENDERING: Production Workflow
Adobe Photoshop
REVIT
TEXTURE
MAPS
3DS MAX
ARCH&DESIGN/VRAY
SCRIPT
PARAMETRIC
MODEL
Physical Camera
& Exposure
RENDERING
IES LIGHT DATA
DAYLIGHT
INVERSE GAMMA
CORRECTION
AUTODESK
MATERIALS
AUTOCAD SHOWCASE
CIVIL
3D
3rd party
3D Content
Vegetation
Furniture
MAYA
STINGRAY
COMPOSITE
3rd party
Render Engines
BIM IQ
NAVISWORKS

14. SKETCHING & STAGING: Case Study

15. PLUGINS & 3rd-PARTY TOOLS

16. SKETCHING & STAGING: LOD & LOD

17. SKETCHING & STAGING: Gathering Content

18. SKETCHING & STAGING: Production Workflow
REVIT
Application
PARAMETRIC
MODEL
IES LIGHT
DATA
DAYLIGHT
AUTODESK
MATERIALS PARAMETRIC
MODEL
IES LIGHT
DATA
DAYLIGHT
AUTODESK
MATERIALS

19. SKETCHING & STAGING: Viewport Lighting & Workflow

20. CONCEPTUAL MODELING: Grey-Shaded Renderings
1) Why grey override and how to set globally
I. Examples of lighting in grey-shade or clay renderings

21. 1) Using Phases To Set Line Graphics
I. Go to Manage Tab on Ribbon and select Phases
I. Phases provides a global way to control overrides
II. Select the bottom phase and on right-side click After under Insert
III. Label as Phase 1
IV. Select Graphic Overrides Tab and select Existing/Lines
V. Customize Existing Line Graphics settings for desired style and click OK
VI. OK all windows to see results
VII. Repeat steps 1-2 but select New/Lines and OK all windows
VIII. In the Properties Box experiment with setting view Phases
SKETCHING & STAGING: Revit Visual Styles

22. 1) Control Material Override with Phases
I. Go to Manage Tab on Ribbon and select Phases
II. Select Graphic Overrides Tab and select Existing/Material
III. The material is set to Phase-Exist and appears on the right side of the window
IV. Click on the Appearance tab to change material render properties and the look of the Realistic Visual Style
V. Click on the Graphics tab to change how the Shaded Visual Style of the material appears
SKETCHING & STAGING: Revit Visual Styles

23. 1) Setting up cameras in Revit
I. Go to Interior.rvt
II. Go to Project Browser and right click on Floor plans – Level 1
III. Make a duplicate and rename view to Level 1 Staged Furniture
IV. Close all other views
V. Select the furniture group and right click, then Hide in View then Elements
VI. Go to View Tab on Ribbon and select 3D View then Camera
VII. Click once to set camera location and click again to set location of target
VIII. The newly created camera view will open automatically
IX. To adjust the view hold down Shift then hit W to toggle the Steering Wheel
SKETCHING & STAGING: Setup Cameras and Frame Shots

24. Mental Ray Revit: 0 min 50 sec
Preset: Medium
Mental Ray Revit: 3 min 10 sec
Preset: High
Mental Ray Revit: 14 min 47 sec
Preset: Best
CONCEPTUAL MODELING: Rendering In Revit

25. Mental Ray Custom Settings
CONCEPTUAL MODELING: Rendering In Revit
1) Render Quality Settings
I. On the View Control Bar select Show Rendering Dialog
II. Under Quality/Settings select Edit…
III. Click on Copy To Custom
IV. Go To Daylight Portal Options and Select Windows/Doors/Curtain
Walls Then Click OK

26. Autodesk Raytracer Revit: 0 min 29 sec
Preset: Medium
Autodesk Raytracer Revit: 2 min 59 sec
Preset: High
Autodesk Raytracer Revit: 53 min 55 sec
Preset: Best
CONCEPTUAL MODELING: Rendering In Revit

27. Mental Ray Revit: Preset: Custom
Custom Lights:
Shader: Autodesk
Autodesk Raytracer Revit: Preset: Best
Custom Lights:
Shader: Autodesk
CONCEPTUAL MODELING: Rendering In Revit

28. CONCEPTUAL MODELING: Rendering In Revit

29. Mental Ray Revit: 3 min 04 sec
Preset: Medium
Mental Ray Revit: 12 min 31 sec
Preset: High
Mental Ray Revit: 40 min 46 sec
Preset: Best
CONCEPTUAL MODELING: Rendering In Revit

30. Autodesk Raytracer Revit: 0 min 38 sec
Preset: Medium
Autodesk Raytracer Revit: 3 min 16 sec
Preset: High
Autodesk Raytracer Revit: 1 hr. 17 min
Preset: Best
CONCEPTUAL MODELING: Rendering In Revit

31. SKETCHING TO RENDERING: Production Workflow
REVIT
PARAMETRIC
MODEL
3DS MAX
ARCH&DESIGN/VRAY
SCRIPT
Physical Camera
& Exposure
RENDERING
IES LIGHT
DATA
DAYLIGHT
AUTODESK
MATERIALS
3D
Vegetation

32. INTEROPERABILITY: FBX Export

33. CONCEPTUAL MODELING: Global Illumination
Photons: 20K
Radius: 4”
Sky Portals: OFF
Merge Photons: OFF
Photons: 20K
Radius: 4”
Sky Portals: ON
Merge Photons: OFF
Photons: 120K
Radius: 4”
Sky Portals: ON
Merge Photons: OFF

34. CONCEPTUAL MODELING: Global Illumination
Photons: 120K
Radius: 1’-0”
Sky Portals: ON
Merge Photons: OFF
Photons: 1.2M
Radius: 1’-0”
Sky Portals: ON
Merge Photons: OFF
Photons: 120K
Radius: 1’-0”
Sky Portals: ON
Merge Photons: ON 4”

35. CONCEPTUAL MODELING: Global Illumination
Mental Ray Max: 5 min 17 sec
Sample Quality: Unified 1.0/128
Preset: Custom
Custom Lights: Portals 32 Samples
Shader: Arch & Design
Ambient Occlusion Samples: 16

36. CONCEPTUAL MODELING: Global Illumination
Mental Ray Max: 3 min 02 sec
Sample Quality: Unified 0.5/128
Preset: Custom
Custom Lights: Portals 32 Samples
Shader: Arch & Design
Ambient Occlusion Samples: 16

37. CONCEPTUAL MODELING: Global Illumination
Mental Ray Max: 2 min 36 sec
Sample Quality: Unified 0.25/128
Preset: Custom
Custom Lights: Portals 32 Samples
Shader: Arch & Design
Ambient Occlusion Samples: 16

38. Autodesk 360 Interactive Viewer

39. DESIGN MODELING: Viewport Lighting in Workflow
Cloud Services
Time: 4 Minutes
Local Computer
Time: 58 Minutes

40. DESIGN MODELING: Camera/Lighting/Material Updates

41. DESIGN MODELING: Billions of Polygons

42. DESIGN MODELING: DBR With Mental Ray

43. DESIGN MODELING: DBR With Mental Ray

44. DESIGN MODELING: DBR With Mental Ray

45. DESIGN MODELING: GPU/CPU NVidia Iray

46. DESIGN MODELING: Network Rendering Backburner/Iray Server

47. PACIFICAD VISUALIZATION SERVICES: Ways We Engage
1) OVER THE WEB TRAINING
a) Client Data
b) Remotely Control Workstation (Recommend Camtasia)
2) ON-SITE TRAINING
a) Client Data
b) Hardware/Software Setup
3) CUSTOM WORKSHOPS (Typically 1-Day)
a) Client Data
b) Recommended for small groups
4) OUTSOURCING
5) Fundamental to Advanced 3-Day Classes
1) Generic Data
2) Covers broader topics of software