Real Time Visualization Software and Revit

Luke had a post recently about Lumion so i figured I would respond with my own post instead of simply in his comments...

I have been testing out Lumion, Stadia3D, Artlantis, and Twinmotion for the last month or so and they all have their pros and cons in my opinion.  Lumion and Twinmotion take a bit of work to get a Revit model into.  Once the model is in the programs it takes even more work converting their materials to the software.  **Disclaimer** I have not been able to try the absolute latest Lumion exporter for Revit **

Artlantis is a tad bit easier with a direct plug-in exporter from Revit.  It carries the materials through so you can just select the Revit material and update it to the software's materials.

Stadia3D is by far the easiest connection with Revit.  What ever you see when you render in Revit is practically what you see in Stadia. It requires a tiny add-in to be installed and the rest is done in the cloud.  The quality of your video card is the only limit with the quality of the renderings...

I plan on using a variety of the aforementioned software's this upcoming semester and hopefully return to you all with some more in-depth analysis and results.

Have any of you had experiences with these pieces of software?  Am I missing one or two other?  Comment below!

SAuBIM - Code Calculations for Revit - On Sale!

In honor of the semester starting again SAuBIM is on sale for 30% off starting today and ending in one month...

Click here to get the software now for less than 14 dollars!  

Revit Tip - Short Wall Not Cutting

This was an interesting bug (or is it a bug) that was discovered while I helped a colleague on a project.  The building had a condition in which each classroom had a 4'-0" tall wall.  We wanted to show new walls with a poche (solid) fill.  The cut planes for the view were set to 3'-6"... The wall properties were set to the Top Constraint being "Unconnected" and the height was set at 4'-0".   The wall WOULD NOT show as cut and poche'd.  Well, upon further investigation it appears walls act funny with cut planes...   

In the image above the cut plane for this view is set to 3'-6".  The Walls on the left are set to "Unconnected" and their respective heights are underneath.  The walls on the right have a top constrain of "Level 2" which is set at 10'-0".  The walls on the right are then negatively offset.

Notice that the walls to the left, even though the cut plan is set at 3'-6" will not show as cut until they are at least 6'-0" tall!  While the walls on the left are the exact same height but are shown as cut because of their top constraints...

Weird??  I think so.

*** Edit ***  It looks like this is a "feature" in Revit called "Low Wall"...  Why...?  

Revit Tutorial - Split Sections in Revit

Found this little gem on Twitter...  A simple tutorial about how you can Split Sections...

Click here to see the tutorial...

Revit Tip - Color Stairs in Plan

A simple little tip from David Light over the the UK (that is why he spelled "color" like "colour" for your information... Blogger keeps telling me the "colour" is wrong, that must be a pain for Dave!).

Anyhow, many people create colored floor plans and things like stairs, some furniture, and some components will show as white.  Well, this is a simple way to change that..

Click here to see Dave's tip...

BIM Spectrum: Virtual Event

I just registered for this all day BIM event and I suggest you should too.  Looks like a day filled with some good information sessions and a keynote speech from Phil Bernstein.  

Click here to view the BIM Spectrum website.

Click here to register.

Click here to download a detailed agenda of all the sessions.  

The best part about it is that it is FREE!  

Future Plus Design - Gallery of Student Work

A colleague of mine sent me the link to a new website.  I will let their description do the talking but it looks promising.

We are a group of recent architecture school graduates. We know what it’s like to be in studio all night, working, trying to find that spark of inspiration. We know how great of a help it is to be able to talk to people about your ideas, to get feedback, see how their design process works, and what you can learn from them
With that in mind, we started this website. Even though your review might be over, there’s still more you can learn from your project, more you can implement in your next iteration. We want to create a space where you can share your work with an infinitely large community, like a studio with an ever growing student body. Show your stuff after your review, get feedback your critics might have missed, learn what someone else might have done to take the project in a different direction.
Right now, that is our goal here, to create a space where we can share projects and learn from each other. We have other ideas, and a broader scope for the future, but for the time being, we want to help get your projects out there, and help you with your projects.

I encourage you all to check it out (especially other students like myself).

Thanks for the link Dave!

New Revit Blog - RevitCAT

I always love adding new Revit blogs to my feed readers... And you should too.  Thanks to Steve for the first link to Tim's blog...

RevitCAT
Welcome to yet another blog about all things Revit. I do not intend to compete with all those other blogs out there, so I will only post occasionally - whenever I discover something that was not already documented elsewhere.


 There are already some cool videos up so check it out...

Good Luck RevitCAT!

Stadia 3D - Interactive Rendering with Revit

Robert Pogue, of Stadia 3D, reached out to me in an effort to get the word out about his technology.  I have to say... It is COOL.  It is very simple.  You download the addin and install it.  Open your Revit project and go to a 3D view.  Type in your registered email address and click the "bake with Stadia" icon. Within an hour or so you receive an email informing you that your rendering is done.  Download the .exe... Run it, and VIO LA!  Your model is FULLY rendered (artificial lighting and all) and you can interact with it just like you would a video game...


House Section from Robert Pogue on Vimeo.


Think of the possibilities.  Being able to render your entire building in the cloud and then interact with it... Select your favorite views and take screen shots or record your interaction as a walk through.  Awesome.  I fooled around with it quite a bit before posting about Stadia 3D here on the blog:

Screen shot of Stadia3D with Photoshop for Exposure.

Rendering Directly in Revit with Photoshop Post-Processing.

Click here and give it a try!  I promise you will be very excited and impressed (especially if you have a nice graphics card).  

A little tip, press ALT when launching the .EXE file and you can make the rendering values higher or lower.

Reminder - The Revit Kid Challenge No.3

Just a reminder that we are only 3 days away from the submission date for The Revit Kid Challenge No. 3

So go check it out and put yourself in the running to win 2 licenses of SAuBIM - Code Calculations for Revit!

Revit Tip - Exclude from View Template

This is a nice feature than many people skip over.

When you are Applying a view template you can pick and chosen any of categories or filters you would like or not like to copy into the new view...

See other View Template tutorials here...

VEO Video Preview from M-Six

The VEO and M-SIX has been buzzing around quite a bit as of lately... Well, I received an email with a link to a nice video that finally begins to spill the beans!

Click here to view the videos and introduce yourself to VEO!

Click here to follow M-SIX via LinkedIn...

Very cool...  I can't wait to try this stuff out.

The Revit Kid.com! Challenge No.3 - 3Form Alta Shape

 I have to model these in work and as I begin to dive into making them I thought it would be fun to have you, my readers, give it a shot.  The shapes will be ceiling hung but I think it would be best as a faced based family.

There is only one rule... The family has to be made COMPLETELY in Revit.

3 Form Shapes - Alta:
Alta* shapes ceiling feature with three small panels
• (3) Small shapes: 24" × 45", 42" × 45", 43" × 42"
• Varia Ecoresin C3, 1/4" gauge
• Ceiling-mounted Alta shapes create unique canopy effect
• Each shape requires (3) supports (can be shared)
• Holes drilled
• Smaller scale for more intimate spaces
• 3 week lead time

More information here...

Of course, you are welcome to do more research on your own.

Prize: The winner of this challenge will be awarded TWO free licenses of SAuBIM - Code Calculation in Revit v1.0.

See the previous two challenges here... 

Email Revit Family Files to:  Jeff@TheRevitKid.com

Deadline:  Sunday January 15 th, 2012 at 10:00 PM ET.

Project Browser Research - Submit Images of Your Browser!

Autodesk Labs are looking for you to send a screenshot of your fully expanded project browser for research...

Click here to view the post and help the Lab research...

Autodesk Learning Center

Pretty cool little site that popped up within the Autodesk Education Community... Looks like anyone can use it.  The web site features a product selection and search field.  It looks to me like it searches many different sources including the Autodesk Wiki.

Check it out for yourself!  What do you think?

Revit Tutorial - Stained Glass Windows

Here is a little something I discovered while created a Chapel this past semester.  I noticed there were lots of forum posts out there searching for the best way to create stained glass in Revit.  This was not to difficult and yielded some awesome results...

Topics Covered:

• Creating stained glass material and bump pattern.
• Applying stained glass material.
• Rendering stained glass in a curtain wall and a window.
• Day, Night, and Interior views of the stained glass.

Click here to see the tutorial via YouTube
Click here to see the tutorial via Screencast

Curtain Wall Corners

Just a thought.... What if the mullions at curtain wall corners automatically cleaned up to the corner mullion type...

This....

Not this...

Am I just dreaming??

Cloud Rendering... Use your 25!

I got very excited when this email came in....

The trial you are currently using was made available—for a limited period of time—as a token of appreciation to those who tested Project Neon on Autodesk Labs. This exclusive trial ends December 31, 2011. However, because we are so pleased with the feedback we continue to receive from users like you, Autodesk has decided to offer a new trial! The new trial -- which will be open to anyone beginning January 3, 2012 -- offers 15 cloud units at no cost.*

Sweet!  15 more free cloud renderings to use!!!  .... But wait... there is more...

On January 3, the number of cloud units available to you will re-set to 15. Any unused cloud units from your previous trial will expire and will no longer be available.

WTF?? So if I still have 20 cloud renderings left I will lose 5 of them come January 3rd?  You're kidding right?  All this time I thought my 20 cloud renderings I have been saving for next semester would spike up to 35!

Damn.... This better mean  a new, less exclusive, version of The Cloud Rendering Service will be coming out soon...

Tell Autodesk how you feel about this...

Revit Tip - Duplicate WITH Dependent

This is a simple little tip.  If you want to duplicate a floor plan and its dependent views follow these steps:

1. Find the main view you want to copy and Duplicate (I used Duplicate with Details because I wanted the room names copied over.)
2. While you have the new view as your Active view (you can tell because the new view will be in BOLD letters in the Project Browser), right click on the original view. Then click on "Apply Dependent Views". It will ask you if you want to apply the dependent views to the new view that you just renamed. Click on Yes.
3. Rename views as needed.

Found in the AUGI Forums...

Sadly, this cannot be done between Floor Plan and Reflected Ceiling Plans due to the inability to mess with System Families in Revit... Would be awesome to be able to duplicate and then convert a floor plan to a reflected ceiling plan...

The Revit Kid on Twitter

I have had a Twitter account for quite some time but have not been using it the way I should...  As in, I have not followed a single person or "tweeted" beyond the blog "feed"... Well, that is going to change.  I am now following people and responding/tweeting BEYOND the blog.

So please, feel free to follow me and tweet me!!

ARSights - Augmented Reality Update

I posted a while ago about this new technology and it just keeps getting better.  I had messed around with the demo way back when and it is very cool. I need to invest in a detached webcam and really start to explore it.

I really wish they had a more direct relationship to Revit but through a series of export/import drills you can get a Revit model in it for sure.  I will do a write up about how to do that in a later post.  For now, enjoy the future... All I keep thinking about is using this in school and handing a little piece of paper to the jurors and then asking them to just look at the screen:



Click here to visit their site and check it out!