From Revit to Twinmotion - What You *NEED* to Know (Replay)

 

In this episode of BIM After Dark Live I will be sharing my experience of using Revit to Twinmotion for the last three years. 

By now, you have probably heard the news about a strategic partnership between Autodesk and Epic with the goal of better integrating Revit and Twinmotion.  One of the benefits of this partnership will apparently be ALL Revit users getting access to Twinmotion as part of their subscription to Revit.  With that in mind, I thought it would be timely for me to share some of my tips, tricks, and processes honed over the last three years of using Revit and Twinmotion together.... 

Click here to view the replay of episode 81 now... 

Also, as mentioned, here are my current Twinmotion light and sun settings (for NON-path traced views):

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 Unreal Engine (Replay) w/Carl Gibson

 

As expected, last night's episode of BIM After Dark Live was a ton of fun!

Many of you have tuned into my Twinmotion and Revit tutorials, streams, and tips... Many of you may not know that Twinmotion runs on a gaming engine called "Unreal".

On this episode of BIM After Dark Live I was joined by Carl Gibson as he ran through the process of getting your Revit models into the Unreal Engine environment for renderings, animations, and VR!   

Some of the topics Carl touched on are:

-Summary of tools needed (Revit, Unreal Engine, Datasmith Exporters)

-Prepping a model for Datasmith

-Importing into UE

-DataPrep graph for model optimization, material replacement, etc.

-Setting up a project for VR.

If you have been wanting to learn the process of getting your model's into Unreal or are curious as to what Unreal can do for you, be sure to check out the replay below...

"Real-Time Rumble" - Live Happy Hour Tomorrow

You may have noticed my last few posts have been reviews of "real-time" rendering programs.  If you haven't check out my Lumion 10, Twinmotion, and Enscape reviews.

I know many of you may be stuck in the house, like myself, so I thought it was a good time to have another BIM After Dark Happy Hour!  I'll be going live tomorrow at 4PM (EST).

The topic of discussion will be "real-time rendering".  I'd love to have some questions to start the session going ahead of time.  

So please, reply to this email (or comment on the blog post) with some real-time rendering questions.

Click here to set a reminder for the YouTube live stream...

(Don't forget to subscribe to my channel as well).

See you all online tomorrow!

Lumion 9 Review - Real Skies, Real Grass, Real Problems...?

A couple of things to note before you read my review of Lumion 9 to provide a little context and history.

First, I have been an avid Lumion user and fan for over five years now. It has been, and continues to be, my main software for renderings and videos.

Second, I have reviewed previous version of Lumion and you should read those before reading this review. They provide my commentary on features that still exist in Lumion and give you a sense of how the software has grown:

Lumion Reviews Over the Years:

Lumion 5.0 - From Revit to Lumion: The Ultimate Review

Lumion 7.0 - From Revit to Lumion: The Ultimate Review (Revisited)

Lumion 8.0 - From Revit to Lumion: The Ultimate Review #3

Finally, be sure to read/view this entire review (especially the conclusion). When I review a software on the blog I have two rules: It must be a software that I have used to a significant capacity (ie. completed actual projects on it and had a chance to really “dig in”), and it must be an honest review (no holding back, even if the company offers me a “review copy”, etc…).

So, here we go...

From Revit to Lumion - The Ultimate Review #3 (Lumion 8 Pro)

"HOLY SH**!"

Those were my first two words when pressing render for the first time in Lumion 8 Pro.  

I have been taking my time getting to know the new release before posting a review.  Today is the day.  In this post I will highlight my favorite new features and why I love them.  I will also talk about my wish-list items (in hope that maybe the next go around will address them). 

But, before you read through the review below you should take a minute to check out my previous reviews of Lumion 6 and 7.  This is a continuation of the series and some of the thoughts and feedback I give on my workflow, process, and opinions of the older versions are still valid.... Also, in the previous posts I give some background on why I started using Lumion and what it was like.

Click here to view my Lumion 5 Review...

Click here to view my Lumion 7 Review...

Now, continue reading to hear about my favorite new enhancements and features in Lumion 8...

Lumion 8 - Teaser Image ...

Click to enlarge.... Like, for real... Click it....

I downloaded Lumion 8 last week and am beyond impressed with the the new updates, features, and settings... 

In fact, I have been so impressed that I could not wait to finish my thorough review before sharing at least an image with you all! 

While I am in the process of completing my review post about Lumion 8 Pro I want you all to click the image above and see the comparison (or contrast!) between the two versions.  The images above are raw renderings of one of my projects (modeled in Revit).  

I hope you all can see why I am so excited about this release...

What do you think?!

Also, you can follow the trail of my previous two Lumion reviews here and here...

Lumion 2.2 Released - FREE FOR STUDENTS!

Great news for my fellow students...  We get to use Lumion for FREE!

Click here to read more about the new Lumion 2.2
Click here to sign up for Lumion 2.2 FREE as a Student or Teacher....

P.S.  Artlantis also has a Student download...

Now... How about Autodesk cranks up their cloud rendering units for us students...?  No?

Stadia 3D for Revit 2013 - Real Time Visualization

I have mentioned Stadia 3D multiple times in the past and I will continue to post about it as the software grows.  Robert is a great guy and I love what he is doing over at Stadia 3D and I hope you all get a chance to try it out...

Check out previous posts here, here, and here...

Click here to download the Stadia 3D Plugin for Revit 2013 and start your trial now...

Click here to visit the Stadia 3D Website.

Feel free to email Robert and let him know what you think or any questions you have: rp@stadia3d.com

Stadia Updates - HDR and Real Time Rendering

I have posted about Stadia in the past and continue ongoing emails with the developer, Robert.  Robert let me know that there will be a new release of Stadia pending and it has some major enhancements.  One of the coolest things that separates Stadia from the other Real Time Visualization software for Revit is Robert's strong belief that the visualization should seamlessly integrate with Revit and not require any extra steps.

I cannot tell you all of the improvements as of yet but here are some before and after Stadia Interactive Renderings for your pleasure:

• Test Model on current Stadia Platform.
• Test Model on NEW Future Stadia Platform.

Click here to view Stadia's website and try it today!

Quest 3D 5.0 - Real Time Visualization

Referring back to my posts about Real Time Rendering/Visualization software you can see how many competitors are hitting the market.  Well, here is another one!



Quest3D lets everyone create compelling 3D fly-throughs and interactive presentations.


Version 5 now offers an amazingly easy off the shelf visualization engine.
In minutes you can be up to speed with your project and quikly send an executable to your client.
"The holy grail is to combine an of-the-shelf product with the power of writing your own software.", says Remko Jacobs, CTO of Act-3D. "We bundled amazing real-time 3D rendering technology, solid importing and export to an executable in one convenient package."


"This is an exciting release for everyone.", continues Ferry Marcellis, CEO of Act-3D. "The interactive materials and lighting are more realistic than ever before. We could only have dreamed about this not so long ago. These days, however, we effortlessly amaze the audience with jaw dropping skies, water and landscapes."


Marcellis: "Act-3D believes that Quest3D 5.0 is the number one real-time 3D development solution for the PC platform. This is the reason why we also use it as our in-house development tool. The result is the immensely popular and ground breaking architectural movie software, Lumion."...


.....Click here to read more and check it out....