WE HAVE LUMEN!! - Twinmotion 2023 for Revit Update

 

Twinmotion 2023 for Revit just got a HUGE update...  We now have LUMEN!  What does this mean for you?  It means you have more realistic lighting, reflections, and shadows in REAL-TIME views... Check out this video for an overview of what Lumen looks like in Twnimotion and some tips/tricks to getting the most out of it... 

Click here to view the video now...

AI Rendering for Architects (Revit + Veras)

 

In this video I will be exploring AI rendering for architects with EvolveLab Veras and Autodesk Revit. AI image creation is no longer a gimmick where you can make goofy photos or NFTs, it is now a new and incredibly useful tool in your design process.  We all have books of inspirational works, idea boards, and our favorite projects or architects bookmarked.  Imagine being able to iterate through your idea boards DIRECTLY in your Revit models… 

Click here to view the video now....

And Some examples of the AI renderings I made testing out Veras:

Click here to view the video now....

V-Ray for Revit - The Ultimate Guide (w/Ana)

 

In the world of architectural visualization, V-Ray has always set the standard for the creating the highest quality renderings around.  V-Ray for Revit gives you those high quality rendering standards INSIDE of the the Revit platform.  

On this episode of BIM After Dark Live I was joined by Ana Lyubenova.  Ana is the V-Ray for Revit product manager with Chaos Group.  If there is ANYONE who will be able to show us the POWER of having the V-Ray rendering engine inside of Revit and answer your questions along the way, it is her.

We talked about what V-Ray is, what it means to be integrated with Revit, go through the workflow of using this powerful rendering engine along side your models, and talk about what new features are coming to V-Ray 5 for Revit soon!

Having not used V-Ray for Revit in quite some time, I am impressed with how much better the workflow is and how nicely it interacts with our clunky friend, Revit.

Twinmotion 2022.1 Preview Review (for Revit Users)

A couple weeks ago Twinmotion dropped a "preview" release of their upcoming 2022 version.  Initially, I was going to wait until the REAL release came out early next year to make a video about it... 

But, I couldn't wait....

Why...?

Two words: "Path Tracer".

Check out my review video above to find out what I am talking about and why I was so excited to share my favorite new features....

From Revit to Enscape - The Ultimate Review

I have been using Enscape since it was in beta and crashed more than it actually ran.  I have watched the company and software evolve over the last 4+ years.  I continue to use Enscape today and continue to be impressed by many aspects of the program.

With my recent reviews of Lumion 10 and Twinmtion 2020, plus the fact that I haven't really mentioned Enscape since 2017, I thought it was about time to review the latest version of Enscape (2.7) and some of the ways I use it.

Continue reading to see my review of Enscape and see some examples of how I use it on real-world projects...

From Revit to Twinmotion 2020 - The Ultimate Review

I first tried out Twinmotion back in 2012.  Eight years ago, real-time rendering programs were cool, but they were just that, cool.  You couldn't make an image that would pass as something reasonably realistic.  They were just too "game-y".

I ventured back into the world of real-time rendering back in 2015 with Lumion.  If you have been following this blog over the last five years you'd know how big of a fan I have become of Lumion (check out all the review and posts here).  But, you may have also noticed that my Lumion 9 and Lumion 10 reviews had a bit of frustration in them.

Well, my frustration at the latest release of Lumion and a demonstration I saw of Twinmotion 2020 made me want to take the proper time and give Twinmotion a try.

Therefore, I've spent the last 2 months using both Lumion 10 and Twinmotion 2019 to create renderings, animations, and project scenes. More recently, I've spent the last couple of weeks with an early copy of Twinmotion 2020!

Well, let's just say Twinmotion has been a refreshing change of pace and I am very impressed.

Keep reading to view my ultimate review of the new Twinmotion 2020...

"Revit-centric" Design Happy Hour Replay

Last week I published a blog post documenting how I use Revit within my design process.

Click here to check out the post and video from last week...

The video clearly struck a chord within the community and has quickly surpassed 20,000 views on YouTube alone.  I thought it would be fun to grab a cocktail, hop online, and chat with you to expand on some of the topics discussed in the "Making of Stilted Studios" video...

Oh, and with the enrollment of Volume 1 open this week it was a perfect time to talk about presentation techniques as well!

Thank you all who joined me live on Tuesday night (over 290 of you!) and for all the great questions!

For those of you who could not make it live here is the replay:

Revit & the Design Process - The Making of "Stilted Studios" (Sketching, Lumion, & More)

Way back in 2013 I created a free eBook called "Design:BIM - A Guide to Using Revit During the Design Process".  The eBook documented how I used Revit while designing buildings.

Believe it or not, the eBook has been downloaded 10,746 times! I know, crazy, right??

Although my general process is similar, some of the tools and methods have changed over the last six years.  So, I decided to document (in this blog post and a video, below) how I approached the design of a recent, and really exciting, project called "Stilted Studios".  I am really proud of this post/video and it is full of tips, tricks, tools, and techniques.  From Revit to Lumion to hand sketching...  You name it.

Additionally, there is some long overdue BIM After Dark - Volume 1 enrollment news at the end of the post...

Keep reading to learn about my design process and the BIM After Dark course news...

Case Study - Rocky Mountain Modern House

Even though this project is from a couple years back I’ve been wanting to use it as a case study and share it on the blog since it’s completion.

Why?

Because this project and the initial presentation illustrates all of the facets of Revit for presentation style graphics in one deliverable.  What I’d like to do in this blog post is break down the presentation page by page and give a little background on what technique, tip, or tick was used to produce the graphics (ie. floor plan, elevation, diagram, etc…).

First, I’d like to give a little background on the project itself …

Continue reading to view the “Rocky Mountain Modern” Case Study…

Revit Tutorial - Diagrams: "BIG" Style

The diagram has been a staple in the architecture community for as long as I could remember.  From 2-dimensional "parti" diagrams to full-on exploded axonometric diagrams, many techniques and styles have been used to describe our vision to the world.

A specific style of diagram has arisen thanks to the popularity of Rhino and Bjarke Ingels. This diagram is a blend between a 3-D form and a "parti" and truly is a great way to present your architectural concepts to the world.  It has the vector graphics feel of a graphic designer but the shading and composition of a "cel shaded" video game.

It looks something like this...

Well, guess what?  The image above was modeled and created directly in Revit and Revit only... No need to use Rhino, Grasshopper, Illustrator, or any other piece of software.  

Continue reading to learn how to make "BIG" style diagrams in Revit....

Revit Tutorial - Adding Depth to Your Elevations (Redux)

I posted a tutorial over five years ago that illustrated how to add some serious depth to your elevations in Revit (Click here to view that post and tutorial).  The concept of creating better looking elevations is clearly a pain point for many Revit users because the aforementioned video has been viewed nearly 27,000 times! Technically, this tutorial is still relevant and the technique can still be used today.  So be sure to check it out.

Fortunately, the process of adding depth and making better looking elevations is a lot easier thanks to a new feature in Revit (introduced in 2017) called "Depth Cueing".

I decided to not only create a new video tutorial about how to use depth cueing, but also dig into the feature and really understand how it works. 

Continue reading to view the new Adding Depth to Your Elevations tutorial and my notes on how it works...

BIM After Dark - Volume 1 : Course Closing + Discount

I created “BIM After Dark: Volume 1 - BIM Can Be Sexy” in the fall of 2013. Yes, I know, crazy. Almost five years ago!!

Well, needles to say, it is about time for a major update. Revit has added some great new features for presentation techniques, real-time software has come a long way (Enscape3D, Lumion, etc…). Therefore, this year I am bringing sexy back to BIM. In order to do so, I plan on taking Volume 1 down to work on the completely new version this summer.

On the day I am writing this post, 766 readers have downloaded and completed BIM After Dark - Volume 1. Also crazy, I know!

I wanted to make sure anyone who has been on the fence about Volume 1 had a chance to get the original version before I take it offline, and at a discount.

I plan on shutting down the Volume 1 cart and sales page this Friday, June 22nd, 2018 at 8 PM (EST).

Keep reading to see why you should download BIM After Dark - Volume 1 today (before it is gone!)...

Revit Tutorial - Line Weights and Silhouettes

There area  few things to keep in mind when creating "illustrated" graphics with Revit.  What do I mean by "illustrated" graphics?  I mean anything exported out of Revit as an image file for use in presentations or other mediums.  For example, diagrammatic images (like the one below) or maybe images like the exploded axons in this post...

Example Diagrammatic Image...

I thought I would put together a simple post that helps shed some light onto how you can control line weights and "vector" looking graphics in Revit.  Believe it or not, one of the best ways to control your graphics is using the view scale...  

Continue reading to find out what the heck I am talking about...

V-Ray for Revit : A Case Study

I have been publishing content on this blog for over seven years.  Until now, I have never featured a "guest" or "guest post".  Sure, there may have been links to other awesome content people have created, but nothing like this.  It's that good.  The author of this case study is my good buddy (and previous cubicle neighbor), Sam Davis.  Sam now works for JCJ Architecture. 

When I got back from RTCNA last year, Sam and I had some lengthy discussions about the announcement of "V-Ray for Revit".  He mentioned that he planned on trying it out when he got the link from Chaos Group (getting the download link took forever...).  A few weeks had gone by and we didn't discuss it again.  Then, out of nowhere, Sam sends me the first draft of his case study on V-Ray for Revit (Beta).  Sam did an excellent job evaluating the beta release, comparing it to current standards, and communicating his findings...  Well done, Sam, and thanks for letting me share it with my audience, exclusively.

Continue reading to view Sam's incredibly in-depth case study on the V-Ray to Revit Beta release...

"BIM After Dark" - Coming soon...

CLICK HERE - BIM After Dark is LIVE NOW!

Ironically, my last post about adding depth to your elevations leads into this post perfectly...  For some time now I have been wanting to put together a comprehensive series of videos that inhabits all of the value this site has had to offer over the past four years.  For those of you who took the Revit Kid Reader's survey I posted last month you may have an idea about what is coming next.

I would like to formally introduce you all to "BIM After Dark".  BIM After Dark (or "BAD" for easier typing) is a video series (and more) I will be producing that combines the simplicity of my video tutorials with a structured curriculum on a set topic.  Every video will be brand new and the topics will be extremely focused.

Derived from the late nights I spent perfecting the techniques illustrated in the tutorials, "BIM After Dark" is a new brand and adventure I am extremely excited for.  You may be thinking, "Why not use The Revit Kid branding for the series?"  There are two main reasons: 1) The series will utilize an array of software, not just Revit. 2) Directly selling anything on a registered trademarked domain ("Revit") can only lead to problems down the road (especially with Big Brother watching so closely these days).



The name also allows for expansion of the brand down the road.  Many of you visit this site after office hours and look to expand your knowledge with the tools of our trade. Perhaps, in the future, BAD can become a live webinar or in-person experience after office hours (hence, "After Dark").

The first video of the series will focus primarily on my presentation techniques.  I want to prove to the world that "BIM can be sexy..."  Over the years I have shared many different presentations and graphics I have produced (education and professional) but I have only made a few videos and tutorials about how they were created.  From hand sketches, to Revit, to 3DS Max, and Photoshop, I will use real-world examples and show you all of my presentation techniques (some examples of the variety of what I have done over the last few years can be seen on my personal website here).  Additionally, for the first time ever, I will be packaging tons of sample files, example files, and projects with the episodes.

Here is a Promotional Video I had created to lay it all out....



If you are interested in following my progress, release dates, and bonus information, please sign up for the BIM After Dark newsletter.

CLICK HERE - BIM After Dark is LIVE NOW!

Lastly, I want to thank every one of my readers for following the blog.  Whether you are just discovering the blog or have been following me for years you are the reason I keep it going.  The launch of BAD will not stop me from posting free videos and information here on The Revit Kid.com.  I love you all and will continue my dedication to this website and the community abroad.

As always, feel free to contact me or comment below.

With my utmost gratitude,

- Jeffrey A. Pinheiro AKA "The Revit Kid"