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Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Revit Tip - Interior Rendering Shows Black (Lights Won't Turn On)


Over the last four years of writing on this blog I cannot tell you how many times I have gotten an email about this.  I have no idea why it took me so long to publish it in a post...

Generically speaking, the email goes like this:

"I have an interior rendering with lights and when I render the view the room is black"

To which I reply:

"Are the lights on? Is the render set to use artificial lights?  What light family are you using?" etc...

By the second or third email I will usually have them send me the Revit file, knowing full well what the problem is going to be.  Your camera is in the wall!  Say what?? ...

That's right... Your camera is inside a wall or some other model element.

Revit has this quirky little bug (even in the latest version, 2014) where you can place a camera that is technically inside of an element and still see the view.

Image A
Image B
Notice anything different between the two images above?!  No?  Well, here is a screen shot of their camera placement in plan view:

Image A

Image B

Notice where the cameras are placed?  If I try to render image A's view I get a black screen.  If I render Image B's view I get a rendering.  But the viewport displays a view!  I have no idea why Revit shows an image when it's camera is inside of an object but it does.

In conclusion, next time your try to render a scene and it renders all black check your cameras location.





Comments (10)

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My theory is that the front clipping plane is set in front of the camera, hiding the tiny piece of geometry that would otherwise obscure the view...
Brilliant. So glad I found this website before I pulled my hair out.
When I was first learning Revit, I made a mirror (but did not duplicate the material) and inadvertently changed all the glass in the building to mirrored. It took me quite a while to figure out why I was getting a "black rendering" -- there was no light coming in through the windows.
The gods of Revit should just benefit us with a new default mode for the camera that ignores/see-thru entities within a 18 inches/half meter or so of the lens. if for some strange reason anyone would want it differently, then it would be as simple as removing the check from the box.
1 reply · active 602 weeks ago
Great tip, thanks, Leonie
the cherry on top's avatar

the cherry on top · 593 weeks ago

lovely tip, but i would like to add that the reason why Revit allows you to see image A in the model type screen even though the camera is set behind the wall IS BECAUSE 99% of the time the wall blocking your shot is selected as hidden within the camera view. and when rendering Revit does not allow anything to be hidden. so either delete the wall blocking or move your camera ahead of it.
Cheers......
Hello, I am trying to test some renderings in Revit 2014, and they are coming up black. I have tried both indoor and outdoor renderings, adjusted the time and location in the rendering settings box, and I am Rendering at exterior, sun only. I have created new views to render as well as testing existing ones. No matter what I do my renderings turn out black. I have even tried adjusting the exposure after the rendering is complete. Do you have any idea about what is going on?
Hhahaha! Oh my god thank you!
JP Bernier's avatar

JP Bernier · 377 weeks ago

Holy smokes, brilliant and simple solution!!

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