by Dennis Collin
One benefit of Revit is how the software makes it so easy for users to produce near photo realistic images. Although the full Revit has an in-product renderer, it has disadvantages in that it ties down workstation CPU resources when time can be better spent doing other tasks. Therefore, for most rendering needs I encourage users to make use of the Cloud Rendering Utility.
The command packages the view that is being rendered up to the cloud. As well as still images, panoramic and illuminance (colour temperature) images can be produced.
Fig 1. Both Revit and Revit LT can render on the Cloud.
Most users miss some of the options and just render to the cloud, which is fine if just checking scene lighting and want to get an idea of the final output. However, the ‘Standard’ setting, marked is just a draft quality and images especially of an internal scene can look a bit blotchy due to the quick processing. Note the image below on the left, note the walls where they meet ceilings the surfaces look ‘blotchy’. Whereas the image below on the right looks cleaner. Not just matte surfaces but also transparent shiny surfaces like glass as well.
Fig 2. Draft render produced in less than a minute (Left), final render about 10 minutes (Right)
The cleaner image was produced by changing the quality of the Cloud render from ‘Standard’ to ‘Final’. Although the render takes longer to produce, the extra time is not prohibitive as the rendering is conducted on the cloud server and it is still possible to work on the local workstation.
Fig 3. Changing the render quality just before submitting the render job.
Once complete images can be viewed on the Cloud Render gallery. Quality settings can be compared and if necessary, a post processing correction can be applied to change the mood and quality of the final rendered scene.
Fig 5. Use the +/- button on the Cloud render environment to fine tune image settings.
Exposure changes the brightness of the image and saturation will bleach or saturate the scene with colour. Bloom settings can be used to ensure certain features light lights and LEDs have a fuzzy glow. With any of these settings small adjustments are all that are needed to make a good image that little bit better.
When printing to larger formats, the image size can be increased, beyond 2.25 mega pixels although the render job will cost Flex Tokens, depending upon size and quality. For most Revit projects the free large size should deliver a sufficient quality image.
Other products also have cloud rendering capability including 3ds Max, AutoCAD and Navisworks. The controls are similar across all packages.
Flex tokens can be used not just for cloud services like rendering but also for occasional product usage as well. At the time of writing a 100 Flex token package costs just under £300. Flex tokens do have a limited life span and expire 12 months after purchase. The number of Flex tokens available will be visible within the Autodesk Account page or when accessing a service like Cloud Rendering.