Wood is an amazing and versatile natural material we all love, in its natural setting, as carved figures and furniture or as finishes within buildings. This material has many characteristics such as species, finish and modern applications like plywood and glulam beams and columns. In this article I will share some tips on ways to represent wood optimally in Enscape.

This article will focus on developing wood materials in Revit, but many of the concepts also apply to SketchUp. For more on wood in SketchUp, be sure to check out this YouTube video by Architecture Inspirations called REALISTIC Wood Materials Tips and Tricks | Enscape for SketchUp . He does a great job of covering many important concepts in just six minutes! And many of his tips also apply to Revit indirectly.

1. Revit’s Wood Material
2. Revit Advanced Materials
3. Plywood Materials
4. Distressed Wood
5. Autodesk Provided Wood Texture And Bump Files
6. Generic Revit Materials
7. Painted Wood
8. Conclusion

First, we will look at some of the materials that come with Revit, how they are setup and how they look in Enscape. Then we will look at how to adjust these materials and, finally, create new ones.

High Quality Wood Textures

REVIT’S WOOD MATERIAL

Revit has a physically based material type for wood. Enscape understands this material type, which results in high quality images. This first image is based on the Wood Flooring material that comes with Revit. Looking at the material settings, you should note three helpful settings; Stain, Finish and Relief Pattern. These three settings can drastically change how the wood looks.

As you would guess, the Finish controls the roughness, or gloss, of the surface. But, compared to the advanced materials covered later, this is an all or nothing setting.

The Relief Pattern setting is able to simulate the three-dimensional nature of the material, like the joints between the boards and the recess along the gain. Similar to the Enscape material editor in SketchUp, this material type can base the wood grain on the albedo using the Based on Wood Grain option.

Wood flooring material – default settings

Wood flooring material – stain color applied

When Stain is checked, the Stain Color becomes available. Adjusting this value affects the overall color of the wood as shown below.

Wood flooring material – default settings

Wood flooring material – stain color settings

Wood flooring material – Bump height adjusted

In this next example, using the same wood-based Revit shader, a custom material is used. I downloaded this material from SketchUp Texture Club . Here you can download quality textures for free, and for a fee you get access to the highest quality versions. I downloaded the seamless texture shown below and applied it to a new wood-based Revit material.

Tip
When creating a new material, remember to click on the image preview and adjust the size.

Wood-based material with bump defined by woodgrain in the main texture (albedo)

Wood-based material with bump defined by woodgrain in the main texture (albedo)

REVIT ADVANCED MATERIALS

Now let’s look at Revit’s new advanced materials for representing wood. With this opaque shader type, you can achieve the best results, which is closest to Enscape’s own material settings found in SketchUp. A few examples, rendered in Enscape, are shown here.

Examples of Revit’s new advanced materials

Examples of Revit’s new advanced materials

One of the best ways to test a material is in context, as shown in the next two images. Here we have daylight, artificial light, various shades and shadows as well as reflections. Just testing a material in an empty model does not reveal the true character of the material. Notice the difference between the finished bamboo flooring and the unfinished plywood. Also, a larger area like this will quickly reveal any unwanted repeating patterns, which results from the seamless texture sample area being too small.

Revit advanced material - Bamboo

Revit advanced material – Unfinished plywood

PLYWOOD PANELS

In addition to the plywood panel shown above, Revit 2019 also provides two materials which represent the laminated layers at the edge of a panel. In the example below, I painted the edge material to make the plywood panel look more realistic.

Advanced plywood material with painted edges with painted edges

Detailed view - Advanced plywood material

DISTRESSED WOOD

Now let’s look at customizing a Revit material to get specific results. In this case, we want to represent an old wood floor with several scratch marks. Let’s say the client likes the aesthetic and desires to simply clean and seal it. The first step is finding a texture that matches the wood species. This Revit walnut material is pretty close. The default settings produce a matte finish, so adjusting the Roughness value gives us the clear coat finish we want.

Revit advanced material – Walnut with default settings

Revit advanced material – Walnut with roughness adjusted to 55

Next we need to modify the bump map to add the scratches. I opened the bump map used in the original walnut advanced material, made a copy and then added two new Photoshop layers. On one, I added the scratch marks and on the other, the joints between the boards. Here is the final bump file and the results in Enscape… amazing!

Final bump with scratches

Sample result in Enscape

Now let’s look at the result in context. The next two images embody the idea that this floor as been in service for many years, and in this sustainably remodeled project, it will have many more!

Walnut floor material with scratches

AUTODESK PROVIDED WOOD TEXTURE AND BUMP FILES

When looking for wood textures, you can start with the ones installed on your computer. The following image shows the search results for “wood” in this folder: C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Autodesk Shared\Materials\Textures\3\Mats. You may find textures here not associated with Revit materials, or are used in some other context, such as fencing or soffits, but could still fit your needs.

Tip
Be sure to use the textures in the “3” folder and not “1” or “2” as those are lower quality versions.

Search Autodesk Textures folder for “wood”

Notice in the detailed list above, I added the Dimensions column to the view. This helps to identify the higher quality images, likely associated with the new Revit 2019 advanced materials. When switching to the previews, the same sorting is still applied. Notice how the high-quality material are not square? You need to keep this in mind with setting the texture size in Revit.

Search Autodesk Textures Folder for “Wood”

Of course, there are many placing to find high quality textures. Some are discussed in the YouTube video linked above and some in the “Free Resources ” Enscape blog post.

GENERIC REVIT MATERIALS

In addition to the advanced and wood-based materials (i.e. shaders) we can also use the Generic material type. In the example below, the exterior wood shake siding, I use a Revit provided material and then fade the image so the custom color bleeds through; similar results can be achieved using the Tint option here as well. The result simulates a green colored stain where the color variation of the wood is telegraphed through the finish.

Exterior wood shakes material settings

Exterior wood shakes

PAINTED WOOD

In this final example, we will look at representing painted wood. This is done using an advanced material with no main image, just a color. Then, a woodgrain bump file is used for both the roughness and bump. The results can be seen in the following image. There are many cases where this level of detail cannot be appreciated, but when it can be seen, it makes for a very compelling visualization!

Painted wood - window shutter with woodgrain bump applied

CONCLUSION

With these tips in mind, creating the right wood material for a real-world design project becomes a simple task. These assets can then be saved in a custom Revit material library and used on other projects. And, if saved on a shared network, everyone on the team – or in the office – can benefit.

If you keep an eye out for it, you’ll notice that wood materials pop up all over your project. So it’s even more important that you make sure each material looks its best. In the end, you want to give your client the most realistic experience of their project, before the construction has even started. By paying special attention to your materials, you’ll be sure to blow them away. For more tips on how to make your materials even more accurate, check out my previous post about getting your albedo just right .

Give wood the love it deserves… make a quality material and render it in Enscape!

Dan Stine
He is an Author, Blogger, Educator,
BIM Administrator and Wisconsin registered architect.
He works full-time at LHB - a 250 person full-service design firm.

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/danstinemn

The post Best Practices: Wood in Architectural Design appeared first on Enscape.

Icon Asset Library

Let’s take a look at all of the features included in the Asset Library. The Asset Library can be opened via the Enscape dropdown menu or via the Asset Library icon, depending on your CAD program.

The Asset Library will open in as a separate window and show all available assets grouped by category. Click on a category to see the available assets. When you hover your mouse over an asset, you will see its name and a short description. At the top left you can also search for specific assets by name.

The main view of the Asset Library

Hover over the asset to view a description

Find assets by name in the search bar

Favorited assets are grouped together

Click just once to add an asset to your floor plan

The vegetation will appear as low-res geometry

Turn a remote terrace…

...into an intimate place to linger.

Place an asset on a face with one click

Continue clicking to place more of the same asset

Combine different assets to make your scene dynamic.

Carefully arrange figures to mimic real-life interactions

Assets in Rhino are shown as low-res geometry

A fall morning created in Rhino

Enscape assets represented in ArchiCAD view

Mix and match assets and backgrounds to create scenes.

The post Best Practices: Asset Library appeared first on Enscape.

Best Practices: Finding the Right Perspective

Finding the right perspective is an art, not a science, and we can all get better at it by understanding a few basic principles. For some this may be a refresher. But, given Enscape’s great support for students by offering their software for free, it seems fitting to offer this “fundamentals” article as a way of helping aspiring designers get the best possible results when creating still images. And, since I don’t work for Enscape, I do not feel bad about mentioning not all software is free to students

This article will look at the various view types and composition considerations, as well as problems to watch out for. The following image represents a well-composed image where the edges are framed, the many vertical elements are not aligned or overlapping, a subtle ‘depth of field’ is applied, and the viewpoint is at eye-level.

Example of a well-composed view

Because finding the right perspective is more of an art, some of what I am about to profess may not be the right answer for everyone. Even if you don’t agree with some of the aspects covered, the hope is that everyone reading this will find some value and firm up their personal understanding of what constitutes a great rendered image.

VIEW TYPES

There are three perspective types: 1-point, 2-point and 3-point as shown below. Enscape can create each of these view types. Additionally, your 3D modeling programs (Revit, SketchUp, Rhino and ArchiCAD) can display axonometric views.

Note
I am using a few hand sketches in this article to help tell the story. Even with an amazing tool like Enscape, a good designer still puts pen-to-paper to develop initial ideas. These sketches are from my book Chapters in Chapters in Architectural Drawing; Hand Sketching in a Digital World with co-author Steven H. McNeill.

Compare 1pt, 2pt and 3pt perspective (1)

Compare 1pt, 2pt and 3pt perspective (2)

In the next two images, you will notice a subtle difference between 2-point and 3-point perspective views. The point here is that, for 2-point perspective, the vertical lines are perfectly vertical. At the end of this article, you will see how the 2-point option is extremely helpful in the courthouse example.

Note that the horizon line is intentionally exposed in these images, and several like them in this article, to emphasis several fundamental concepts related to our topic at hand.

A 3-point perspective example (Mouseover for markup)

A 2-point perspective example (Mouseover for markup)

VANTAGE POINT

The vantage point from which a model is viewed is important to consider. Most people view architecture from the ground, standing on their feet, so that is the vantage point I prefer. In Enscape I will “fly” through the model looking for a good view, and then press the Spacebar to quickly set the vertical position at eye level; the exact height can be changed in Enscape Settings via the Spectator Height slider.

Aerial images also have their place, but it is important to keep in mind the extra work they often require. For example, compare the next two images, notice how much extra backdrop must be created, even with Enscape’s built-in environments. By contrast, there is a much smaller area to fill in for eye level views. From an eye level view, a large area of the backdrop is filled with sky, which Enscape handles well. Plus, just a few well-placed trees are sometimes all that is required to hide the horizon.

More backdrop required for Aerial vantagepoint (Mouseover for markup)

Easier to fill backdrop at eye level vantagepoint (Mouseover for markup)

Another thing to note about the vantage point of a view, when set at eye-level, is that all the people in the view often have their head aligned with the horizon line. This is a very helpful detail when hand sketching but can also help to spot an Enscape-view positioned in a way someone would not normally look at a space. Knowing this helps with the realism of a final still image.

Principals of sketching

For eye-level renderings, meaning the angle of the view is as if a person were standing on the ground, the heads of most people will be at the horizon line no matter where they are in the scene, as depicted in the sketch below. As you can see, some people are very close while others appear far in the distance, but most of them have their heads aligned with the horizon. The exceptions are when a person is sitting, on a different level, bending over or just shorter than the person they are standing next to.

Heads align with horizon in many cases

Here is the same concept visualized in Enscape. We have three people, all at a different distance from the viewer, but each of their heads are aligned with the horizon line.

Heads align with horizon (Mouseover for markup)

SCALE

Not only do people help to bring your sketches to life they also give the viewer a sense of scale. Continuing to look at the mechanics of a perspective, notice how we can use people in the scene as a sort of measuring stick, literally or subconsciously.

Entourage help set perspective scale

Here is the same concept visualized in Enscape. We can see how the woman’s body height can help us gage how tall the structure she is standing next to actually is. We can even project her height vertically and in perspective to, for example, place a 10’-0” (304cm) vertical line in the scene; each yellow line is the same height.

Adding people naturally helps discern scale (Mouseover for markup)

EXTERIOR APPLICATION

Poor example:
If you only had one image to provide, this would be considered a “poor” example, as this is not how a person would normally view this project and the backdrop needs a lot more work.

Exterior still image – Poor example

Good example:
Now we are on the ground, making the vantage point better than in the previous image. However, there are still things we can do to make it better.

Exterior still image – Good example

Better example:
In this case we have taken some artistic liberties and repositioned a tree, which does exist, so we have the sense of a branch framing the view in the upper left. This is a favorite technique in architectural visualization to ground the building and break up the vast amount of sky.

Exterior still image – Better example

Best example:
This last example incorporates all the previous features as well as a custom Depth of Field to draw the viewers focus to the important part of the image – the building; not the person in the foreground or the city beyond. This is also great when your specific project does not have a custom skybox for the site. Blurring out one of the built-in Enscape options can help avoid questions and confusion by the client.

Exterior still image – Best example

INTERIOR APPLICATION

Now, let’s move inside this same project and look at an example in the open kitchen.

Poor example:
Here, the field of view is too wide and there are no people to help define the scale of the space. The scale may be difficult to understand as it is so open; there are no visible doors or objects in the foreground. Let’s look at how we can make this perspective a little better.

Open kitchen still image – Poor example

Good example:
First, we change the Field of View and vantage point. Now we have an object in the foreground, the dining room table, which helps frame the view and convey scale.

Open kitchen still image – Good example

Better example:
Adding a few people helps bring the space to life and further implies scale. By the way, these high-quality examples in this article are from ArcvhVision’s RPC collection (AXYZ models).

Open kitchen still image – Better example

Best example:
Adjusting the Depth of Field draws attention to the kitchen while still making the foreground elements visible but not the focus.

Open kitchen still image – Best example

Courthouse foyer: Good representation of the bottom half of the space

Courthouse foyer: Good representation of the top half of the space

Good - Two-point perspective with 115-degree field of view

Better – Default exposure brightness and entourage added

Best – Custom exposure brightness and auto contrast

Dan Stine
He is an Author, Blogger, Educator,
BIM Administrator and Wisconsin registered architect.
He works full-time at LHB - a 250 person full-service design firm.

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/danstinemn

The post Best Practices: Finding the Right Perspective appeared first on Enscape.

Best practices: Glazing in Architectural Design

Glass is an amazing material which provides a barrier from the elements while allowing a visual connection to the beauty around us; it provides light and even desired warmth in the cold season. Glass, referred to as glazing in the context of architecture, is also aesthetically pleasing in many ways, including its reflective qualities.

Traditionally, glass was challenging to represent properly in architectural visualizations. Either the color or reflections where off, or the software and settings one had to know where too complicated for the average designer. Not that they had not done it before, or where not able to learn it, but the benefit to cost of time and budget just didn’t make sense on most projects.

Thankfully, Enscape is not your father’s rendering software. This contemporary real-time and physically based rendering software is always just a click away from within your Revit, SketchUp, Rhino or ArchiCAD software. The user settings are simple: more like the controls on a camera than a spaceship. With a few simple “reflection” adjustments within the menu we can have nearly perfect glazing.

Captivating exterior visualization with expansive glazing

The Big Picture

This article will cover the application of glazing within a Revit model. With the evolution of Revit materials, there are three primary ways to define glass: Generic, Glazing and now Advanced Materials in Revit 2019.

Understanding the differences between these options and how they look in Enscape is key to getting the realistic or aesthetic results you are looking for. The images above and below highlight the amazing results we can get from Enscape with just minimal effort. Not only that, but this effort is all encapsulated within the primary Revit model, not exported and refined in another format or copy of the model.

Dramatic interior rendering with beautiful glazing (Credit: Dan Stine, with assets of ArchVision/AXYZ)

It is also helpful to know that Enscape has a material definition for glazing, i.e. classic PBR: roughness, specular (F0), metallicness, etc., and they try to map the CAD’s material system onto these. However, by contrast, in Enscape’s own material editor in SketchUp, you get the maximum control over all parameters.

Glass in SketchUp

As just mentioned, SketchUp has the most options for glass when it comes to Enscape because the native materials are more limiting, supporting only a texture and transparency value, and thus there is a custom Enscape Material Editor. This editor, of course, corresponds directly to the rendering engine. Sort of like Apple making an OS for its own hardware, which removes the “middle-man” and lots of guesswork and unknowns.

When dealing with glass in SketchUp the Transparency Color and Reflection Roughness are key. The smoother the material (Roughness -> 0%), the more it will reflect its environment, whereas a rougher surface will diffuse incoming light. Here is an example in SketchUp showing three different glazing conditions and their respective settings.

Three glazing applications in SketchUp

Glass settings in SketchUp

Notice the railing’s glass panels have a pattern. This is defined by the Texture parameter, which allows you to control the transparency using a 2D image: a map. It refers to the opacity value, so a black area (which equals zero) on the image used will result in a perfectly transparent portion of the surface, while a white area will appear perfectly opaque. Grey areas will appear partially transparent, such as glass. If you load a colored image, Enscape will automatically convert it to black and white, so you don’t have to worry about that. The image can be inverted and resized as shown here.

Glass settings in SketchUp

The Refractive Index slider determines by which factor light is being bent when traveling through a transparent surface. You know this effect from looking at a glass of water or very thick glass. Air has a refractive index of 1.0, so light rays travel through it in a straight line. Water has an index of 1.33, while the index of window glass is 1.52. Diamonds, for a further example, have an index of 2.42: they bend light quite heavily. For architectural glazing, this value can be very low or zero for efficiency. Here we see the effect when adjusting the Refractive Index on the glass panels in the railing.

Glass railing with refractive index set to zero

Glass railing with a high refractive index value

As you can see, with just a few augments to the SketchUp materials in the Enscape Material Editor, some stunning results can be achieved. If you want to read more about working with materials in SketchUp, you can read this post I previously wrote: SketchUp Material Editor and Enhanced Materials in SketchUp

Glass in Revit

Using Autodesk Revit, we can also achieve amazing results in Enscape. However, Revit has multiple material shaders to reach similar results, with slight differences between them.

A Revit-provided template has the “Glass” material set to the Glazing shader option as shown in the settings below. But the Reflectance value is set quite low so the initial impact in Enscape can be disappointing at first. The range of reflectance can be seen in this comparative image, with a 100 setting on the left, 50 in the center and 0 on the right. The default in Revit is 15, which is closer to the example on the right which almost looks like there is no glass in the curtain wall system.

Comparing reflectance values for Revit’s glazing material (Credit: Dan Stine, with assets of ArchVision/AXYZ)

Revit’s advanced materials, introduced in Revit 2019, have different settings for the physically based glazing shader. It should be pointed out that this “glazing” material is different than the new advanced “glass” material. Unlike glass, light is not refracted for efficiency in glazing (as discussed in the previous SketchUp section). The result in Enscape is a surface which is always evident from any vantage point, and the reflective quality is good.

Glazing defined with Revit 2019 advanced material – special 'glazing' shader

Tip
There is currently a bug in the 2019 advanced material within Revit. In the material dialog, on the Graphics tab, if you check “Use Render Appearance” the Transparency is set to 0 (i.e. not transparent) and the Color to solid black.

It is interesting that the new advanced material has a Visual Transmittance (T-Vis or VLT) value. Anyone specifying glazing or involved in daylight analysis or calculations will be familiar with this real-world physical property.

Revit and Insight also use this information for energy analysis. However, I am not sure if this value, in the new advanced materials, is used for that just yet. The default value shown in this example, of about 20%, is far from a normal value. In the chart below we see the range is from about 60 – 90%. I am not sure if this value effects visualization as I have not done any testing in this area yet.

Visual Transmittance values for Revit’s glazing options in energy settings (table from Autodesk Help)

Name	Glazing Type Northern, Southern, Eastern, Western Walls	U-Value W/m^2K	U-Value BTU/hr-ft2-F	SHGC	VLT
Sgl Clr	Single Clear 6mm	6.17	1.09	0.81	0.88
Dbl Clr	Dbl Clear 6/13 Air	2.74	0.48	0.7	0.78
Dbl LoE	Dbl Low-E (e3=0.2)Clear 3/13 Air	1.99	0.35	0.73	0.74
Trp LoE	Trpl Low-E (e2=e5=0.1) Clr 3mm/6mm Air	1.55	0.27	0.47	0.66
Quad LoE	Quadruple LoE Films (88) 3mm/8mm Krypton	0.66	0.12	0.45	0.62

Here is an example of “plain” Glass, using the advanced materials, not the new glazing option. In this case, with the darker color selected, it looks pretty good and could be used to represent a spandrel panel – i.e. non-transparent glass panels, usually used between the ceiling and the floor above on all-glass curtain wall systems like the one in this example.

Glazing defined with Revit 2019 advanced material – regular ‘transparent’ shader

The next few images show various results possible within Revit, including a patterned bump map, transmissive color adjustments, as well as tint colors. The captions offer more details for each image.

Glazing material with bump pattern applied (Credit: Dan Stine, with assets of ArchVision/AXYZ)

Glazing ‘advanced’ material with light and dark Transmissive Color settings respectively (Credit: Dan Stine, with assets of ArchVision/AXYZ)

Glazing material with Custom Color applied to every other panel to show contrast (Credit: Dan Stine, with assets of ArchVision/AXYZ)

Conclusion

There is still much more that could be said about glass in buildings, or even in objects. But the information covered in this article should provide enough detail to achieve the beautiful results shown and additional variations by adjusting the related settings. Keep in mind, with Enscape open on a second monitor, many of these settings are visualized in real-time, making the process incredibly easy.

As glass is just an important part of architecture, it is truly exciting to see such dramatic results in a real-time rendering engine which also has a live link to our favorite 3D modeling environments.

For more inspiration, be sure to check out the Enscape Visualization Gallery to see what other customers are doing. If you have yet to give Enscape a try, download the free trial today and check it out with Revit, SketchUp, Rhino and/or ArchiCAD. If you are a student, be sure to take advantage of a free student license.

Dan Stine
He is an Author, Blogger, Educator,
BIM Administrator and Wisconsin registered architect.
He works full-time at LHB - a 250 person full-service design firm.

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/danstinemn

The post Best Practices: Glazing in Architectural Design appeared first on Enscape.

Best Practices for Emissive Materials in SketchUp

You may have seen my recent post about artificial light sources in SketchUp , in which I covered different techniques to realistically light your model. But there is another way of creating light in your projects: emissive materials. These self-illuminated materials emit light, but differently than artificial light sources, and can be used to create effects that you can’t achieve with artificial lights.

Making your material emissive turns it into a glowing light source, which you can assign to any shape and even add a texture to. This means you can be incredibly creative with emissive materials. They are often used on objects where some part should appear to glow, such as a television or computer screen, the brake lights of a car, or an exit sign. But you can also use them to create light in areas of your model where it might be impractical to use artificial lights: to create the effect of recessed ceiling lighting, for example.

It can be difficult to differentiate when to use emissive materials versus artificial lights; both have their benefits and drawbacks. Understanding when to use which type of light can take your project to the next level in terms of realism. In this post you’ll learn all about emissive materials, how to apply and adjust them using Enscape’s Material Editor in SketchUp, and their many different uses. This post show examples from SketchUp, but you can of course work with emissive materials in Revit, Rhino and ArchiCAD as well!

What Is an Emissive Material?

Emissive materials are self-illuminated materials, that is, materials that emit light across their surface. When an emissive material is used in a scene, it is rendered as a visible light source, and depending on the intensity you set, its glow can actually light up the surrounding area. The great advantage of emissive materials is that you can use them to create complex forms that glow; you can get really creative! Check out the picture below; I just created some shapes in SketchUp, and made the generic white material assigned to them emissive.

White material applied to simple geometry

The effect created by making the material emissive

Emissive materials belong to the global illumination calculation. Global illumination (GI) is an important element in the rendering of realistic scenes.  When light hits a surface, it does not simply end there, but bounces. With GI, these bounces result in an indirect light, which illuminates areas of your project that may not have artificial light or direct access to sunlight, like a long hallway or the corners of a room. Emissive materials are part of this GI calculation, meaning they emit indirect light. You won’t be able to use them to simulate a spotlight, but you can recreate the glow of a television screen, for example.

Let’s take a look at how you make a material emissive in SketchUp; with Enscape’s Material Editor, it just takes two clicks! First, open the Material Editor by clicking on the button in the Enscape ribbon, or by selecting Enscape Materials in the Enscape dropdown menu. Then use the native SketchUp pickup tool to select the material you would like to make emissive. This will allow you to adjust various settings relating to the material; to make it emissive, just check the box next to Self Illumination.

Check the Self Illumination box to make your material emissive

An emissive surface emitting white light and creating shadows

As you can see, the material surface emits a very bright light, which casts softer shadows. Emissive materials have one bounce less than artificial lights, which results in the light not being able to bounce around many corners. To change the brightness of the material, adjust the Luminance slider.

Tip
Global illumination is switched off in Enscape’s Draft Mode, so the light emitted by your emissive materials will no longer bounce. The surface will still be bright, as you can see in the image below, but the materials will no longer contribute to the overall lighting in your scene.

An emissive material contributing to the bounced light in the room

The same emissive material in draft mode

Tip
Emissive materials can be noisy and cause an effect known as fireflies. These types of surfaces cause artifacts commonly known as fireflies. If you encounter this effect, increase the size or decrease the brightness of your emissive surface. It is best to use emissive surfaces that are as large as possible to avoid noise.

What makes emissive materials so versatile is that you can illuminate both colors and textures. To apply a color to your emissive material, simply select a color from the drop down menu in the Enscape Materials Editor.

Emissive surface emitting a blue color

Match you color values for identical colors

Tip
To exactly match your material’s color to the color that is emitted as light, simply copy the color value out of the Advanced tab of the albedo color drop down menu into the same space in the emissive color menu.

Now check out what it looks like if you apply texture. For this example I have applied a wood floor as my texture, to emphasize the effect. It’s up to you whether to match the color of the light emitted to the color of the material itself. The generic white light that is emitted will still be slightly tinted to the color of the texture. If you would like the effect to be more intense, you can adjust the color of the light emitted, as I have done below.

Apply a texture and match the color

The texture applied to an emissive material with also glow

Emissive materials do have certain drawbacks. Occasionally, if the geometry you applied an emissive material to is not visible on screen, the light emitted by the surface may not contribute to the actual light level in the scene. For example, if you apply an emissive material to some geometry and then turn the camera so that it is no longer in view, the light being emitted by the surface might not show. If this occurs, try changing your camera perspective until part of the geometry is visible again, and the light will return.

How to Use Emissive Materials

One great way to use them to boost your scene’s realism is to apply them to digital screens. Have you ever looked at a rendered scene of a living room with a television, or an office full of computer monitors and felt there was something a little off? That’s because in real life, we are surrounded by glowing screens. Applying a low level emissive material can give your scene the authenticity it needs. Check out the living room below. It already looks pretty great, but the television and tablet appear a bit flat.

Select the texture on the screen using the pickup tool. You will see it in the albedo section of the Enscape Materials Editor. Just enable Self Illumination, and the screen will glow. Play around with the brightness; you probably won’t need it to be so bright that it contributes to the overall light level of the room – just bright enough to give off a visible glow. Depending on the situation, you can adjust the color of the light emitted to match. Above I did this with the television, but left the tablet with the default white light. Get creative!

A comfortable living room scene

Check out that reflection on the coffee table!

Another way to apply emissive materials to enhance the authenticity of your scene is to apply them to small glowing elements we see every day. One of my favorite new ways to use emissive materials is to enhance car models. The car below is meant to be idling in the main drive, but none of its lights are illuminated, detracting from the realness of the scene. Illuminate a few materials, and it looks like it could drive away before your eyes.

Tip
Use emissive materials in combination with artificial lights. Enscape doesn't render the actual source of artificial light, just the result: you won't see the point the light originates from, but you will see the light hitting part of your scene. Make the geometry inside the light fixture emissive to achieve a realistic lighting effect, without any post-production.

Just a little touch of light…

can make your scene much more authentic!

Emissive materials are also perfect when you want to create a lighting effect similar to an LED light, or for lighting up areas that are tricky to get to with artificial lights. Take for example recessed ceiling lighting, or LED lights that are installed along the tops of cabinets. These types of lights are seen both in residential houses and in office buildings or stores.

Achieving this effect with artificial lights can be time consuming, and might not give you the result you are looking for. Instead, try using emissive materials. It’s usually quick and easy, because the geometry already exists. Just apply an emissive material to the right spot, and it will give the effect of an LED light rail installed in a recessed space.

Tip
Emissive materials, along with any applied colors or textures, will be visible in reflections, unlike other types of indirect light. However, it is not possible to guarantee 100% accuracy in reflections; the more geometry that is involved, the less likely it is that the reflections will be accurate, for performance reasons. So if reflections are an important part of your scene, keep it simple.

Emissive Versus Artificial

So what is it important to consider when weighing emissive materials against artificial lights? Oftentimes it is not entirely clear which type of light might be the best for your situation. Take a look at the table below for a quick overview.

	Emissive	Artificial light
Shape and Size	Illuminate every possible surface and shape	Restricted to certain types and sizes (Spot, sphere, rectangle, disk, linear)
Light	Potentially noisy, especially if powerful and small	Almost noise free
Shadows	Rather blurry	Sharper
Bounce light	Needs one indirect bounce to be visible at all	Directly visible, therefore have one indirect bounce more than emissive
Customization	Change the color and apply a texture to illuminate	Only color can be changed
Performance	Cause less performance strain than artificial lights	Many artificial light sources can impact your real-time performance
Visibility	Light can appear to turn off if the camera does not see the source	Light is always visible, even if the camera is not facing the source
Light Level Adjustments	Must be individually dimmed or brightened	Can be collectively turned on and off via the Enscape Setting menu
Source	Emits light, and shows where the light is emitted from	Emits light, but shows no visible source

Size and Shape: Emissive materials can be applied to any size or shape of geometry. There is basically no limit to your creativity! Artificial lights, on the other hand, have pre-defined shapes and sizes.

Light: Diffuse light is potentially very noisy, especially if the emissive surface is small and bright. In these situations, it’s a better idea to use an area or point light, as artificial lights are virtually noise free.

Shadows: The light emitted by self-illuminated materials casts fuzzier, very blurry shadows. If you are looking for sharp, clean differentiations between light and dark, you might try a spot light instead.

Bounce light: The light given off by emissive materials has one bounce less than artificial lights. This results in the light not being able to bounce around many corners. Artificial lights bounce one time more and are therefore generally brighter.

Customization: You can apply a color to your artificial lights if you want to create a certain atmosphere or effect. However, emissive materials allow you to illuminate not only a color, but also an applied texture, leaving no limit on your creativity.

Performance: Placing many artificial light sources in your project can impact your performance, even if you have a top of the line graphics card. Using emissive materials to replace artificial light sources can improve your performance if you find your project lagging.

Visibility: It can be the case that the light from emissive materials seems to turn off when the source is not directly visible to the camera. You might find that if the light source is behind the camera, the emitted light will disappear as well. The light cast by artificial lights is always visible.

Light Level Adjustments: You can adjust the individual brightness of you artificial lights, but if you want them to be collectively brighter, or turn them all off, you can do this using the Light Brightness slider in the Advanced tab of the Enscape Settings menu. This setting does not affect emissive materials: if you want to dim or turn them off, you’ll need to adjust each material’s settings individually.

Source: Emissive materials emit light and show where the light is being emitted from; their light source is visible. With artificial lights, you will only see the light emitted, but not the source of that light in the form of a point or shape.

Rendering by Enscape Forum User Tas_1985

Conclusion

Emissive materials have numerous benefits, and can transform your project in terms of realism. They are easy to apply, and even easier to customize. Using emissive materials to make your screens glow and to achieve the effect of LED lighting is an easy way to add interesting elements to your project that draw the eye and spark the imagination. In terms of client presentations, it’s not simply about showing the project: it’s about creating and presenting a surrounding they could actually see themselves in. And with emissive materials, creating this world doesn’t have to take forever.

Finding the right combination and balance of emissive materials and artificial lights can be the difference between peaking your client’s interest, and making their dream project a reality. It’s important to know when to best use which type of light to achieve the effect you are going for. Take the time to carefully consider which light will serve you best, and you’ll end up blowing them away.

The post Best Practices for Emissive Materials in SketchUp appeared first on Enscape.

A rendering technique nearly perfected in the gaming world is the understanding and application of Albedo to their materials. The result is a consistent, more realistic effect throughout all your images and projects.

It is fruitful to continue to develop your skills professionally. This is true in any profession, but even more so in the AEC space, given the complexity of the built environment: materials, costs, science, health, environment, art, efficiency, human comfort and much more. There are small things that can be done to make the results even more appealing and realistic. Albedo is one of them.

It’s important to know the meaning behind the colors if you want to create consistent renderings. For example, the brightness relation of concrete, paper and snow can be easily mixed up and lead to implausible images. It becomes obvious for vegetation if you use unrealistic greens. Using albedo reference images or tables ensures that your materials are physically correct and if you’re still unhappy with the result, it might be a better idea to change the lighting conditions.

Let’s start with a high-level overview of what this somewhat uncommon thing called albedo is.

Albedo is similar to, but not exactly the same as, luminance which measures the brightness of light reflected off a surface. It is scaled by the materials albedo – a darker surface reflects less light, hence causing less luminance. We use the terms luminance and illuminance in lighting design along with specific surface reflectance values.

For albedo, the amount of light reflected depends on the surface. For example, fresh asphalt is very dark and reflects little light; 0.04 (RGB 59-59-59). At the other end of the spectrum we have fresh snow which is a light color and reflects a lot of light; 0.80 – 0.90 (RGB 243-243-243).

Going briefly back to the comparison with lighting design and surface reflectance: some material manufacturers publish surface reflectance values for their products. For example, USG makes ceiling products in North America and have published Light Reflectance – a listing of the surface reflectance values for their products. Here, you will notice the ceiling components are mostly white and have a high light reflectance value between 0.81 – 0.89.

Example surface reflectance values for USG ceiling systems

The fundamental principal is the same between albedo and reflectance/luminance, in that darker colors result in a lower number (less reflective) and higher numbers indicate lighter colors (more reflective).

Why does the concept of albedo matter in architectural visualization? Let’s take a look at a simple office rendering, comparing a bad and good image in terms of albedo.

Looking at the first image below, something just doesn’t look right. It is not believable nor realistic. We know what the image represents – it’s an office space. But can you tell what’s wrong? The whites are too white, the grass is too dark and the mousepad is solid black.

Now compare this with the albedo-corrected image. The whites are softer, the grass is natural and even the mouse pad looks better. When the proper albedo is applied, the combination of all elements will look more realistic from any view and lighting condition. We no longer need to compensate for a poor rendering engine by using full whites/blacks and other tricks. We can now focus on the physical environment and its measured attributes.

Unrealistic image due to wrong albedo

More realistic image due to correct albedo

Scientists have measured and documented the albedo of many materials. And, by the way, astronomers measure albedo of planets and asteroids to help understand surface composition. Gaming developers have done a great job of applying those results in the development of Physically Based Shader (PBS) materials to increase the level or realism and consistency in their game environments. We can and should do the same in architecture!

Here is one simple list of albedo values for a few materials spread out across the full spectrum between 0.00 and 1.00. The links provided below offer more detailed charts.

Enscape rendered image depicting the base-range of the full albedo spectrum

I highly recommend you read what some of the gaming designers have written. Marcos Borregales published a nice reference on his blog Technical Art Adventures here: PBR – Albedo Cheat Sheet.

Unity offers this interesting document on representing dark materials, Materials authoring guidelines 1: dark dielectric materials (PDF). This document starts with the following introduction: “With the large adoption of Physically Based Shading, game materials parameters changed and replaced diffuse color with Albedo. This parameter represents the characteristic color of an object, and is independent from the lighting conditions. It can be measured and a lot of documents have appeared online, giving reference values for Albedo. Most of them recommend using a range of albedo comprised between 50 and 243 (in 8 bit sRGB).”

Finally, for reference material, if you really want to get into the “weeds” on this topic you should also read these two posts by Sébastien Lagarde:
• DONTNOD Physically based rendering chart for Unreal Engine 4  
• Feeding a physically based shading model 

One last comment on these charts is that they are listed in various formats, such as 0-1, RGB, sRGB and a three-digit number representing the RGB average. If they provide a color swatch, I will sometimes use Photoshop’s color picker tool to sample the RGB value for entry into Revit or SketchUp.

Enscape encourages designers to consider the proper albedo to generate more consistent and realistic imagery. Thus, this blog post! You will even see the term used within Enscape’s Material Editor in SketchUp as shown in the image below. In this context, albedo refers to the main texture or color, from which the albedo value can be derived and compared to the “standards” charts previously mentioned.

Enscape Material Editor with Albedo Settings in SketchUp

A good example, using a regular challenge introduced by a default Revit material used by many, is grass. The image below contrasts the two default Revit-provided grass materials, left and right, with a custom material using a standard albedo in the center. The second image below is the raster image shipped with Revit for grass. It is easy to see how this texture is way to dark to represent the average grass in a rendering.

Comparing grass in Revit

Default Revit grass texture

In the second image, with corrected albedo for grass, the overall image feels more natural. Notice even the grass visible through the building does a better job of fulfilling the design intent compared to the first image, which leaves the backside of the building looking dark and even stormy.

I will admit that the grass is still not perfect in this image. This is an academic example using a solid color for Enscape to sample. In the near future, I have some exciting tips to share about making grass more natural looking through randomness of color within the extents of the grassy areas.

Wrong albedo – grass too dark

Corrected albedo – grass more realistic

Albedo might seem like an insignificant setting, but in fact it has a big impact on the believability of your renders. The game industry understood this and applies albedo consistently to achieve realistic effects. We can and should do the same in architecture!

It can be a challenge finding an albedo standard for all materials we use. But, with a firm understanding of the concept and application of the basics, we can make some assumptions which will result in beautiful images which will impress our clients and peers. Please check the tables and links in this article – save them to your bookmarks to find them easily.

Dan Stine
He is an Author, Blogger, Educator,
BIM Administrator and Wisconsin registered architect.
He works full-time at LHB – a 250 person full-service design firm.

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/danstinemn

The post Best Practices: Albedo in Architectural Design appeared first on Enscape.

How do you elevate your model, and create an experience the viewer will never forget? Lighting is crucial to creating not only realistic scenes, but also to leaving a lasting impression and conveying a certain feeling. All lights are not equal, and it is not surprising that many users are in the dark about which light best suits their needs. This post will provide an overview of the lighting options available via the Enscape Objects window in SketchUp: spot light, sphere light, rectangular light, disk light and linear light.

The aim is to provide you with useful information and helpful tips to take your scenes to the next level. For a more focused, but equally illuminating discussion of lighting techniques in SketchUp, take a look at Dan Stine’s blog post on the topic. He recently also wrote a similar post for Revit users. Let’s get started!

There are five different lights you can add via this window:

• spot lights
• sphere lights
• rectangular lights
• disk lights
• linear lights

Once you successfully add a light to your project, you will be able to fine-tune various settings for the individual lights in this window. In addition to lights, this window also allows you to add sound sources and proxies to your model.

Let’s take a closer look at the five different lights you can add in SketchUp. All of the lights can be placed with the easy 2-Click System; even if you’ve never placed an Enscape light before, you can learn it in seconds! It is important to note that while Enscape has a good performance impact in relation to lights, real-time rendering can’t process an unlimited number of light sources. How smoothly your project runs comes down to a combination of your hardware, the size of your project, and the number of lights. The number and intensity of your light sources will impact the performance greatly, especially if the lights overlap.

A spot light is fairly self-explanatory; it functions similarly to a spot light in real life and provides a very direct source of light. A spot light is a cone of light which emits light from a single point in one direction (Image 1). By changing how wide the cone angle is, you can control how much of your scene is actually illuminated. The width of the cone can also determine whether the light is hard or soft.
Practical uses for spot lights include store displays, desk lamps, street lights or stage lighting. They can also be used in a scene to create dramatic lighting effects, as they are useful for creating an obvious falloff from light to dark.

Placing a Spot Light

To add a spot light, select it in the Enscape Objects window. I’m going to place a spot light in my project to add a bit of drama to a rooftop terrace. There is already geometry in place representing light fixtures along the edge of the roof.

1. Light cone of a spot light

2. Placed spot light and Objects window with adjustable settings

A spot light can be placed with four clicks: two to determine the endpoint and two to determine the direction of the light cone . Click once to place the endpoint of your light. You can then decide whether to slide the light along a certain axis. Do so and click again to affix the light source. On the third click, you will have the opportunity to determine the point you want to illuminate. Adjust to the desired point and click one last time.

You will see the light represented as geometry in SketchUp (Image 2). As soon as you have placed the spot light, you will be able to edit two settings in the Enscape Objects window: Luminous Intensity and Beam Angle. The Luminous Intensity slider allows you to adjust the brightness and maximal range of the light, measured in candelas. The Beam Angle slider controls the width of the beam, in degrees. If you have an IES profile you would like to use, you can load it via the Enscape Objects window by clicking Load IES profile.
Check out what our spot light looks like on the roof (Image 3). Kind of lonely, right?

3. Single spot light

4. Four spot lights placed using Copy/Paste

Copying ensures that lights that should look the same have identical settings, without any extra effort (Image 4). You can also group your light geometry together with the components or fixtures they are placed in. This way, you can quickly place lamps that already contain a light source. Just select the elements while holding the Shift key, then right click on one of them and select Make Group.

Let’s take a look at the sphere light next. In its default state, the Enscape sphere light is a point light, which sends light out from a single point in space, equally in all directions. In this way, the effect it gives is similar to a common incandescent light bulb. Sphere lights are useful not only because they can simulate light sources like light bulbs or candles, but also because they can be used to light areas with a gentle falloff in all directions.

Placing a Sphere Light

Most sphere lights can be placed with just two clicks. The scene below doesn’t currently contain any light sources (Image 5). But say I want to place a sphere light into the lamp next to the couch, so that the room will be illuminated even if I change the time of day to night.

5. Empty light fixture in SketchUp

6. Placed sphere light at night

Click Sphere in the Enscape Objects window. Click once to place the endpoint of your light, then click again to place the light (Image 7). You will now see the light source geometry in the lamp (Image 8).

7. Placing the endpoint of a sphere light

8. Sphere light geometry

When you have placed the geometry, you will again be able to edit the luminous intensity, to avoid being blinded by the light. With the sphere light you also have the option of adjusting the Light Source Radius slider. This controls the size of the source in meters, though this is only visible in reflections.

Now that the sphere light has been placed, the lamp will appear to be on at night in Enscape, as you can see above (Image 6). The sphere light effectively mimics how this type of lamp would light a room in reality.

Next up are two similar lights: the rectangular and disk lights. These are area lights; this means that they do not emit light from one, infinitely small point in space, like the spot or point light. Instead, they emit light across their surfaces uniformly, resulting quite literally in an entire area of light. Because an area light emits from across its entire surface, it tends to produce light that is softer and more subtle than other lights. It produces a diffuse light with softer, less dramatic shadows (Image 9).

Because of this, an area light has ample uses. Perhaps the most tangible use case example of an area light is to create a florescent light fixture, like the ones you find in any office building. Similar practical applications include light banks, backlit panels, and florescent tube lights, but they can also be used for more atmospheric lighting, for instance light shining in through a window.

9. One rectangular area light illuminating a dining room

10. Light beam of a rectangular light

Because these two lights are so similar, I will mainly refer to the rectangular light in the below examples. The only difference between the two is the shape of the beam.

You can place the rectangular light using the same 2-Click system described above for spot lights. The beam, however, looks different from a spot light. Check it out below. As you can see below, both ends of the beam are rectangular, and the face from which the light emits covers a much bigger area than a spot light, which ends in a single point (Image 10).

Placing the rectangular light allows you to adjust three settings in the Enscape Objects window (Image 11). The first is Luminous Power, which controls the brightness and range of the light; it is measured in lumens. Additionally, you can define the Length and the Width of the light source in meters via the Objects window. The maximum size for a rectangular light is 3 meters by 3 meters.

11. Rectangular light window

12. Editing a placed rectangular light

Let’s take a closer look at the controls you have in regards to editing your lights after placing them. Double clicking on the light will enable the edit mode (Image 12).

By clicking any of the red squares located along the edges of the rectangle (1), you are able to adjust the width or length of the area light, just like in the Enscape Objects window. The advantage of doing it by hand is that you have the ability to match the size of the light exactly to the light fixture you want to place it in, especially if you don’t know the measurement of the fixture in meters.

Clicking the middle red square (2) will allow you to move the face of the light source around, if you decide it should be placed a little differently. You can also move any of the lights by selecting it and clicking Move Light in the Enscape Objects window. You can adjust the angle of the beam by clicking the square at the end of it (3). Clicking the magenta square (4) will allow you to rotate the face of the light source.

So what else can you use rectangular lights for, other than the practical uses of filling light fixtures? Obviously it is worthwhile to light your model meticulously, so that when you are showing it to a client, you are prepared for any eventuality. The client might want to see what the house looks like at night, and if you haven’t added lights, there won’t be anything to see.

But even with Enscape’s easy 2-Click system, it can take some dedicated time to light a model, especially if it is very large. Area lights are perfect if you want to take a quick screenshot of your model at night, but don’t have the time to add too many lights.

Take a look at our model below (Image 13). It currently only has the lights we added on the roof and in the living room. It’s pretty hard to see anything at all.

13. Exterior view at night

14. Exterior view at night with four area lights

Now take a look at this second screenshot (Image 14). In this one, I have added four rectangular lights, one each in the bedrooms and kitchen. Looks a lot better, right? And it took no time at all to get this image ready to screenshot.

The fourth light in Enscape’s arsenal is the linear light. It resembles a fluorescent tube in shape and can only be scaled in length, which can be adjusted in the Enscape Objects window or by editing the source itself (Image 15 and 16). Again, you can also set the luminous intensity of a linear light.

15. Geometry of a linear light

16. Adjustable settings for a linear light

The linear light can be placed with two clicks, like the sphere light. After you place it initially, you can define the length and rotate it to fit the scene. The placement of your linear light will affect where the light shines: the shadows along the length are soft, while the shadows on each end of the light are somewhat more focused. Below I have placed a linear light in our SketchUp model to show you what I mean (Image 17 and 18). Most of the light is emitted along the length, rather than from the ends of the light.

17. A long linear light

18. Light emitted by a linear light

19. Colored linear lights in SketchUp

20. Rendered view of Image 19

Here I’ve added some linear lights to the pond in our model for a glowing effect (Image 19 and 20). You can use this feature to achieve a more decorative effect, like the one above, but also to add realism to your model. If you are trying to match your 3D model to a real-life lighting concept, you can use the paint bucket tool to mimic the crisp white of an LED lamp, or the yellowish glow of an incandescent bulb.

You can then check the box next to Self-Illumination to make the material emissive. Use the Luminance slider to adjust the emission intensity; the maximum intensity is 100,000 candelas. You can also assign a color to the material.
Check back to the blog soon to see a dedicated blog post on emissive materials!

However, do not forget to check out this wonderful Video from The Rendering Essentials about Interior Lighting and Colored Lighting:

You can implement and combine the Enscape lights I have presented in limitless ways to take your model to the next level. Whether you are shooting for extreme realism or dramatic scenes, light is one of the easiest ways to achieve your goal. Place a few, quick sources to light up the rooms in your model for a screenshot. Or, take the time to develop dedicated lighting for each room; this will wow your client during a walk-through presentation. Your models are already stunning by themselves, but adding lights elevates the experience for the viewer.

The best part is that integrating lighting into your workflow doesn’t have to be complicated, if you follow the tips you have learned in this post. In fact, you probably knew how to do all of these things already, before reading the post. Now just apply that to your Enscape lights! Place your lights just in front of your geometry with the quick 2-Click system. Duplicate identical lights quickly by copying and pasting them. Double click a light to edit it immediately, and use the ESC key to abandon changes if you make a mistake. If you prefer, you can use the native SketchUp tools to rotate or move your lights. And, don’t forget to add some color with the paint bucket tool!

However, don’t take my word for it: to test out Enscape lights yourself, just download our 14 day free trial here. I’m sure you will find it enlightening!

The post Best Practices: Lighting in SketchUp appeared first on Enscape.

When navigating a model in real-time is not practical, or you want a pre-scripted path that aligns with your talking points, then creating a video  is the solution. For example, I recently worked in my firm’s booth in the exhibit hall at a regional conference to promote our design services. We have a large flat screen television, on a floor stand, which was used to play a continuously looped Enscape-generated video (straight off a USB drive plugged directly into the TV). This eye-catching medium proved to be very engaging and prompted several questions, thus serving its purpose to engage attendees in a meaningful conversation about the work we do.

This article will cover the powerful video creation features and workflows found within the Enscape plugin. Enscape has a great, recently improved workflow for developing a video. I will be using Autodesk Revit, but the way in which this functionality was implemented into Enscape allows it to work the same in SketchUp, Rhino and ArchiCAD as well. If you’re not an Enscape user yet, sign up for the free trial.

Overview about the best practices for Video Creation:

1. The Big Picture
2. Video Editor – Creating a Path
3. Keyframe Editor – Editing the Path
4. Quick Feature Overview
5. Save and Load a Path
6. Export Settings
7. Export Video
8. Conclusion

Enscape’s Video Commands | Enscape Keyframes and Path

In the editor shown below you can add your different keyframes (step “A”). In addition to morphing the view direction, keyframes allow other options such as time of day (step “B”). The duration between keyframes can be adjusted by setting an explicit timestamp.

Enscape’s Video and Keyframe Editors

To finish the “big picture” overview: once the path is defined the video may be previewed in Enscape using the Preview Video command. If everything looks good, then use the Export Video command to make an MP4 which can be hosted online or shared.

The Video Editor also has options to delete all keyframes and to control camera movement; Shaky camera and Easing in/out. I like the latter option, which starts and finishes the video at a nice slower speed along the camera path. The Shaky camera option simulates the natural movement noticeable when recording a video with a handheld camcorder, which might be used for an informal presentation.
Tip: Be sure to save your path before closing Enscape, otherwise it will be lost.

Enscape’s Video Editor

The path may need to be modified to adjust the view direction or avoid colliding with objects in the scene. Enscape makes this easy by allowing us to select keyframes and then visually adjust them. This process can be started within the 3D view or via the Timeline in the Video Editor. In the 3D view, hover your cursor over a camera (i.e. a keyframe) until it turns green (see next image) and then click. Notice how the camera path has arrows on it, indicating the direction of travel. Once in the Keyframe Editor, you have several reference lines and controls, as shown next. A keyframe can also be accessed/edited by clicking on the triangles on the Timeline (see image above again).

Selecting a Keyframe

Editing a Keyframe

Keyframe shows options applied

 

When a keyframe option has been overridden, a graphic appears next to each one as a reminder. In the example below, three of the four override options have been applied to this keyframe; field of view, time of day and timestamp.

Field of View(move slider across picture)

Time of Day(move slider across picture)

Depth of Field(move slider across picture)

4. Quick feature overview:

Field of view defines what is visible at a particular position and orientation in space. Chose the angle of the area captured through the camera to influence the atmosphere of your scene.

Set the time of day by choosing the desired hour of day in the editor; the lighting will be changed accordingly. Enhance your project by fine-tuning where the daylight falls in every scene.

Depth of field determines the focal point in your video. You can either use the center of the screen as an automatic focus or set a target distance. Use this feature to increase emphasis on a specific part of the scene. Have a look at more of Enscape’s features right here .

Video Path traveling between Floors

Keyframe added mid-way up the Stairs to better define Path

Dan Stine
He is an Author, Blogger, Educator,
BIM Administrator and Wisconsin registered architect.
He works full-time at LHB – a 250 person full-service design firm.

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/danstinemn

The post Best Practices: Video Creation in Enscape appeared first on Enscape.

Architectural visualization can often incorporate water, whether as an integral feature like a swimming pool, or as an indirect detail, such as an adjacent lake. In either case, this amazing element can help set the tone or mood of a graphic, when implemented correctly.

This article will discuss the ways in which Enscape can deliver a stunning result in real-time! Whether for a static image  replete with reflections and refracted light, or a livelier video  of turbulence on the water’s surface, the result is sure to please any viewer.

Revit has a built-in water material. This means things like transparency and refraction are not adjustable options, due to the material properties being based on real-world physical properties. The various built-in options are listed below.

Water Types:
• Swimming Pool
• Generic Reflecting Pool
• Generic Stream/River
• Generic Pond /Lake
• Generic Sea/Ocean

Water Colors:
• Tropical
• Algae/Green
• Murky/Brown
• Custom

Water Wave Height:
• Value between 0.0 – 5.0

Tint:
• RGB color

Water with tropical color

Various combinations of these settings will produce unique results. In the image below are four examples, featuring from left to right: Swimming Pool, Stream/River + Murky/Brown, Lake/Pond, and Sea/Ocean + Tropical. Combine the water settings to match the real-world condition you wish to depict. For example, an ocean-front property would naturally have the Sea/Ocean water type selected. However, the designer could choose any setting they want for dramatic effect when appropriate.

It is interesting to note that even though the Wave Height setting is the same for each of the images below, except the first one, the reflections are all different. Whenever Enscape renders water on the screen, it randomizes the water’s surface, resulting in a natural look.

Compare Water Types, from left to right: Pool, Murky River, Lake and Tropical Ocean

When working within Revit, the water material is a physically-based material with water-specific settings, as described above. Additionally, all Revit materials have an overriding Tint option. The Tint setting can be used to make water look as if a colored dye has been added; think the Chicago River on St. Patrick’s Day in the USA. The RGB color can manually specify the additional absorption by particles or dirt in the water, where white equals clear water with it’s natural, slightly blue absorption properties.

Tint Water Color | Red Tint Applied to Water Material

The following image shows how the wave height, or its turbulence, can be controlled. Here we have the two extremes, one near zero, and another at 50%: 0.0, 0.50, 2.5 and 5.0. It is possible to have multiple wave heights within the same project by creating additional materials. This way it is possible to represent a glass of still water on the dining room and then a more active adjacent body of water, such as a river or lake, in the same project.

Compare Turbulence Values: 0.0, 0.5, 2.5 and 5.0

Seeing the results in the context of real-world projects is perhaps the most compelling way to appreciate water in architectural design. The following video is a high school swimming pool. The water is set to a low wave height of 0.5, to give it just enough turbulence to liven up the water’s surface with light and reflections. The video also depicts the natural movement of the water when navigating a model on screen or as recorded in the MP4 video.

Before moving on, make a note of the lighting on the water’s surface as well as the increased transparency for deeper water. Also, most of the materials in this model have been updated with Revit 2019’s new advanced materials. Also, keep an eye out for the reflections that appear on the narrow multi-colored floor tiles in the video.

Combine Enscape’s realistic water and grass  features to achieve dramatic scenes in non-architectural works. The following model is 100% Revit and Enscape without any post production. This project was created in just a few hours, as an example of a park restoration project planned together with a landscape architect. The four images below are the same, except with various wave height values applied. This image uses RPC’s , Megascan  content, SketchUp’s 3D Warehouse  content and one of Enscape’s built-in skyboxes . Also, the sun rays are emphasized by an increased fog setting from the Enscape Settings menu. As you can see, the results are simply astounding:

Wave Height Setting: 0.0

Wave Height Setting: 0.5

Wave Height Setting: 2.5

Wave Height Setting: 5.0

SketchUp Example

When working in SketchUp, the Enscape Materials  dialog also supports various controls used to represent water similar to the examples already shown. This sample project, used to create the image below, was created using various downloaded components from 3D Warehouse followed by making a few adjustments to those materials.

Water Material Settings in SketchUp | Nice Scene with Water Elements in SketchUp

Water is an amazing element in architectural design. With the right combination of water type, color, wave height and turbulence, you can not only create more realistic renderings but also control the mood of your scenes much more effectively.

With surprisingly little effort, and even less time to process (think real-time,) a Revit, SketchUp, Rhino, or ArchiCAD model can truly come alive with water elements, even in a still image. Oh, and wait until you see this water in VR – simply amazing!

Dan Stine
He is an Author, Blogger, Educator,
BIM Administrator and Wisconsin registered architect.
He works full-time at LHB – a 250 person full-service design firm.

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/danstinemn

The post Best Practices: Water in Architectural Design appeared first on Enscape.

Best Practices: How to use executables for presentation

Perhaps the most important part of an architect’s process is presenting a design to the client. This is what all your hard work is leading up to, and a good presentation can make or break your client’s approval. But 2D plans don’t exactly paint a picture in the mind, your CAD software is lost on your client, and you don’t want to overwhelm with too many static renderings.

What you do want is to offer your client an effortless, yet unforgettable experience, which allows them to focus on the details that are important to them. This is just what Enscape’s standalone export (executable) offers: complexity without complication.

One little file offers endless possibilities. The standalone can be used as the basis for a formal presentation, or sent during the design process for quick evaluations. It allows you to catch problems earlier by communicating the design to the client more often. There is no software to learn and the client can open the standalone on their own hardware, as it does not require an Enscape subscription to run. These benefits and many more will be covered in this post.

It couldn’t be easier to export a standalone model of your Enscape simulation. It takes just two clicks: one to start Enscape, and one to export the model. All of the fine-tuned settings you had active prior to exporting will be included in the standalone. After this, the possibilities are endless. You can keep the file for your own records, or send it to a client for evaluation.

How to export a standalone file in the Enscape menu

The beauty of standalone files is how easy they are to run. The machine on which the client wants to view the model must meet Enscape’s system requirements . however, no additional software of any kind is needed! The EXE provides the same experience and quality that Enscape does, but does not require Enscape, Revit, SketchUp, ArchiCAD or Rhino to run. This is what makes the standalones such an excellent tool for client interaction. And the Enscape controls  are incredibly intuitive; all instructions are listed right on the screen.

Upon opening the standalone, you will find that it has an integrated settings menu which allows to adjust the standalone like never before. These are limited to necessary, yet useful functions, and are incredibly simple to adjust. Of course, any settings you had active prior to exporting the model will also be active in the EXE. The adjustable settings offer you and your client the ability to spontaneously view the model under different conditions in a way simply not possible with static renderings. Let take a closer look at all the available settings.

You can easily pin and unpin the Settings menu in the standalone file

The tab to open the Settings menu is located on the left side of the screen, about one third of the way down. When it is hidden, you will only see a translucent bar. Hover your pointer over the tab, and it will automatically expand. If you click the pin icon, the menu will stay open while you move around. Click the icon again, and the menu will close.

In this menu you can turn virtual reality, light view and white mode on and off, and adjust the rendering quality and the thickness of the outlines.

Like so many things in Enscape, it only takes one click to enable Virtual Reality in the standalone. The machine that the model is being viewed on must fulfill Enscape’s virtual reality system requirements . Enscape currently supports the following head mounted displays: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Windows Mixed Reality Headsets such as the Samsung Odyssey. The software needed to run Enscape with the individual headsets (Steam, Steam VR, Oculus runtime) is also required to run the standalone in VR. But as soon as this is set up, you can enable virtual reality and allow your client to explore the project like never before!

Virtual reality with just one click – also in the standalone

Virtual reality in the EXE looks exactly the same as running VR natively in Enscape. After setting up your hardware and enabling VR, you will be able to navigate the Virtual Reality Settings menu, which allows you to turn white mode on and off, adjust the thickness of the outlines and set the time of day, all from inside VR. Additionally, you can access your favorite views and turn the minimap on and off. Enscape also supports taking screenshots while in VR. You can either take a snapshot of your current view, or frame up a screenshot using a virtual camera. Screenshots are queued and rendered upon leaving virtual reality. Giving your clients the opportunity to view the model in virtual reality creates a commanding and distinctive moment they will never forget.

This is now one of the most useful adjustable settings: You can define the rendering quality from within the standalone, and change it freely. The same four options are available as in the native Enscape:

You can choose the best rendering quality for the given hardware equipment

This is a powerful setting, especially in relation to client interaction. Enscape has certain system requirements necessary to run, and client machines don’t always have top tier graphics cards, as they simply don’t need them. This is often an issue that does not arise until the client tries to open the file. With this new setting, there is no need to export a new EXE file; the client can simply adjust the rendering quality to find which setting allows them to run Enscape fluently.

Adjusting the rendering quality can go a long way towards viewing the Enscape model on machines that might not be meant for running such a demanding program. This feature is also especially useful for early stages in the project when high quality graphics are secondary. You can also use this feature in conjunction with virtual reality. Toggle the slider to find the quality that works best with your headset and hardware. This allows you to spontaneously switch to virtual reality, without having to switch machines.

Enabling white mode  will display your model void of any materials. Depending on where you are in the design process, you might want the client to simply focus on the architectural forms of your project, and not worry about colors and materials just yet. This is what white mode is perfect for. It displays a work in progress clearly as an unfinished model, rendering everything with a uniform white color. Try combining white mode with heavy outlines for a stylized, graphic look. Adjust the thickness of your outlines in white mode or normal mode via the Outlines slider.

You can enable white mode from within the standalone and adjust outlines.

If you’d like to show your client a light analysis of the model, you can do this by enabling light view. This option will display how many lux are falling onto each surface. Enable light view and adjust the time of day to see how your model interacts with the light at any given time. The time of day feature is unchanged in the new version of the standalone, however, in combination with the new features, changing the time of day can drastically affect how your client sees the project. Simply hold the shift key while clicking the right mouse button, and keep an eye on the bottom right corner of the screen; you will see a clock that shows the exact time.

On the right side of the standalone screen, you will find the Favorite Views menu. It can be opened in the same way as the Settings menu: by hovering your pointer over the translucent tab. This feature simplifies moving around your model, and makes it easy for your client to find certain views. Clicking on the thumbnail preview will smoothly transport you to that location in the model. The animated transitions allow you to keep an overview of your location within the project as a whole. A double click will transport you directly to the desired spot.

Defined views will be automatically included as thumbnail images.

The views you wish to include in your standalone must be designated before it is exported. But, again, this only takes one click. Simply decide which views you would like to include and mark them as favorites by clicking the star next to their name in the Enscape view drop down menu.

When you have done this, these views will be automatically included as thumbnail images in the expandable sidebar menu. Please note that while the Setting menu is always included, the Views menu only appears if views have been designated prior to export. You can either click on the thumbnails, or use the Page Up and Page Down keys to switch views, even when the menu is not open. The possibilities for client presentations with this menu are endless. The views are exported with your time of day settings in Enscape, so you could for instance save different variants of the same view to quickly show one area in your model in different lighting situations.

The most straightforward application of the standalone export is for presentations. In a formal client meeting, the standalone simplifies your presentation down to the most salient features, delivered in a stunning display. You can use it to avoid overwhelming the client with your CAD software; streamline your delivery by only having one window open. During formal presentations, you can use the favorite views to choreograph your proposal, only showing the client the preselected views you want them to see. Alternatively, you can explore the whole project in the standalone, and leave yourself room for spontaneity in your pitch.

Between formal presentations, standalones are a straightforward way to give your client updates on changes or developments inside the model. Simply send your client the EXE file, and allow them the freedom to explore the model at their leisure. This is constructive for both sides, because it allows you to catch problems earlier by communicating the design to the client more frequently.

Documentation also becomes effortless through EXE exports. It is the simplest way to track changes in your project, and be able to access earlier versions for comparison. Enhance your workflow by periodically saving your model, enabling you to revert to it for reference without having to search through your CAD program. Leave your client with an unmistakable record of your work, even after the project is completed. Here you can check the other available export options .

Any settings you have active prior to exporting are included in the EXE – and this includes your customization features . You can define your own loading screen, overlay image, window icon and caption text. In the standalone, the overlay image and loading screen are particularly effective.

Insert the logo to cultivate your company’s corporate identity

Use the overlay image feature to add an image to your screen. This could be your company logo, or the name of the working architect. Use a personalized image for the loading screen. The customization settings are a great way to bring your standalone in line with your corporate identity.

Both features can be easily defined in the Customization tab of the Enscape Settings menu. Simply select an image by clicking the folder icon. If you decide you want to remove any of the customization features, simply uncheck the box next to the feature.

Now that you have spent some time getting to know the standalone and all of its features, you have perhaps already seen how this tool can benefit you personally. Document your design process without interrupting your workflow by saving standalones along the way. Send your client more frequent updates, and offer them a way to better understand their project. Engage your clients more fully during meetings by breaking away from typical presentation displays. In short, make the design process easier for you and your client.

The beauty of Enscape has always been its simplicity, and the standalone is no different. Just a few clicks, and your clients can explore their project in a way simply not possible with static renderings. Without software to install or programs to learn, they can focus on what is important: your design. And you can offer this opportunity in less than a minute; a small EXE with vast potential, a world of possibilities in one click.

The post Best Practices: How to use executables for presentation appeared first on Enscape.

When using Autodesk Revit, it is very easy to open a 3D view and then start Enscape to begin exploring your project in a photorealistic real-time environment. This post will mention a few things you might consider in Revit to streamline your Enscape experience and make it more accurate. These tips will not only aid in your firm’s internal design process, but also facilitate smooth and effective meetings  with your client or project stakeholders.

First, let’s talk about some challenges we face using the default Revit settings. Using Revit’s installed advanced sample project, we open the Default 3D view, as shown below, and start Enscape. Once in Enscape, the model looks nice; we see realistic reflections  on the glass and interior lighting . We might use Shift + Right click & Drag to adjust the time of day to brighten things up a bit.

Sample project in Revit

Sample project in Enscape with default settings

Depending on a few settings in Revit, we may notice some elements don’t look quite right or are altogether missing. For example, as one approaches this entry canopy shown in the next image, the client might say “I love the cantilevered roof” while the structural engineer follows up with “where are my columns and bar joists?”. At this point you must tell the client the project budget could not possibly afford such a design and let the structural engineer know your photorealistic portrayal of the design is missing elements. Revit’s Detail Level for the view you started Enscape from influences what appears in the scene. If the Detail Level is set to Coarse, there may be many things missing throughout your model – just as they are in your Revit view. Let’s see how the scene changes when we adjust the Revit view from Coarse to Medium.

Course – structural elements missing

Change Revit’s Detail Level to Medium

With the Detail Level in Revit set to Medium we can now see the columns, but the bar joists are missing the webbing. Now let’s try changing the Detail Level from Medium to Fine. We can see all the structural components for the project; the columns, bar joists and joist webbing. Thus, it is important to set the Detail Level to Fine to ensure everything shows up in Enscape. Other than users having older graphics cards , I have not come across a project, in terms of size, geometry and textures used, where I had to use Detail Level at Coarse or Medium to manage system resources–Enscape does a great job at managing system resources itself.

Medium – structural joist webbing missing

Fine – All elements now show properly

To save time and ensure all elements are visible in Enscape, consider creating a dedicated 3D view in Revit, from which to start Enscape. In this view, do the following:

• Name it. For example: Enscape –Exterior – Main
• Detail Level: Fine
• Visual Style: Anything but Realistic
  • Realistic makes the view/Revit slow, and “realistic” is Enscape’s job!
• Sun Settings (see first image below):
  • Solar Study: Still
  • Settings:
    • Location: Select project location on Earth(see second image below)
    • Set Date and Time
  • Visibility/Graphic Overrides:
    • Model tab (see third image below);
      • Turn on, or off, what you want to appear in Enscape
    • Analytical tab (see fourth image below):
      • Turn off this entire section for this view
      • FYI: This is for structural analysis and energy modelling

Sun Settings to adjust for a given Revit view

Setting location on Earth for Revit project

Element visibility control for a given Revit view

Analytical Element visibility control

In addition to the Location, which is a project-wide setting (not just a view setting) you must also set True North for Enscape to depict the sun and shadows accurately. This can be accomplished from any plan view as shown in the following image.

Once True North is adjusted, notice the shadows look a lot different in Enscape; notice the two side-by-side comparisons below. And if the main entry seems too dark for mid-June at noon, then perhaps the design needs to change. The designer nor the client would be able to make an informed decision unless they see the daylight, shade and shadow portrayed accurately. Not only is True North important for visualization, but it is also key in Revit and Autodesk Insight’s energy modeling workflow.

Original default settings

Shadows now accurate for project location and true north

Original default settings

Shadows now accurate for project location and true north

If your priority at some point is not concerned with true natural light angle, but on nice looks instead, you can also temporarily move the sun orthogonally to its natural trajectory. To do this, press Shift + U / I or CTRL + U / I. To reset its position, press [Pos1].

When creating a dedicated Enscape view with all the settings properly adjusted , you can confidently launch Enscape at any time for an internal design review or client meeting. Just agree within your team that the “Enscape” views should never be modified in Revit—meaning, someone should never use those special views to hide all the structure and roof elements to get a better look at the model in Revit.

Let’s take a look at an interior example. When a Revit view has Detail Level set to Coarse, we notice the casework hardware is missing as seen in the Enscape generated image below. When the same view has the Detail Level set to Fine, we see all the hardware appear in Enscape.

Course – Casework hardware missing

Fine – Casework hardware now showing

In case you are new to Revit, in the Family Editor, each 3D element can be tied to a specific Detail Level setting as shown in the next image.

Element Visibility Settings within Family Editor

In addition to have a primary view from which to launch Enscape, you can create additional convenience views. These views can be used to efficiently walk a client through a project; as quickly accessible waypoints. We can have camera views and cropped 3D views (using a Section Box). Again, including “Enscape” in the name will keep them organized, safe from modification and easy to use. The image below shows a possible naming convention for even greater view organization and ease of project navigation. With Enscape open, clicking a view from the Enscape tab in Revit, as shown below, the Enscape viewer will instantly update to that location.

TIP: Selecting the star next to a view(s) will include that view(s) in Enscape’s Presentation Mode within the Enscape viewer.

Saved Revit Views

Same Views in Enscape

On the Enscape tab, selecting a View with a Section Box enabled will update the Enscape view to have the same crop. Not only is this a good way to discuss your talking points about this space with the client, but this can also enhance Enscape performance as there is less geometry and textures to process.

View cropped with section box in Enscape

Keep in mind that a Revit view’s Phasing and Design Option settings will have an impact on what is displayed in Enscape, as well.

A final point about Revit views relates to ones created by Enscape. Clicking the Create View button on the Enscape tab results in a Revit view being created to match the currently composed Enscape view. Keep in mind, based on certain Revit settings, this view may not have the Detail Level and other settings discussed in this article, set properly. So, be sure to circle back into Revit and make those changes.

Creating a saved view in Revit based on current Enscape view

While it is certainly possible to enjoy your project in Enscape with nearly zero effort, there are a few steps you can take to make the process more predictable and accurate. A standard 3D view for Enscape can even be created in your Revit template to set a precedence for additional views once a project is started. Applying these simple techniques to your project will aid the entire design team when it comes to developing, reviewing and presenting the design.

Dan Stine
He is an Author, Blogger, Educator,
BIM Administrator and Wisconsin registered architect.
He works full-time at LHB – a 250 person full-service design firm.

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/danstinemn

The post Best Practices for Revit project setup appeared first on Enscape.

When a Revit model has materials  set up correctly and properly placed lighting fixtures, it will look great in Enscape without changing any of the default settings . For example, the image below was saved using the default settings. Simply starting Enscape in Autodesk Revit can produce beautiful graphics like this without any user input.

Revit model with default Enscape settings with daylight

This is great, but what about models in the schematic design phase that do not have materials fully developed yet or lighting fixtures placed? Or what if I want to explore the plenum space, for a project in the construction document phase, to look for structural or MEP issues? You may find that the space is too dark. This post will address these questions.

To better understand the issue, we will look at a space with no windows or lighting fixtures. As shown in the next image, this example will also use the default generic wall, one of the walls found in the templates provided with Revit, around the perimeter of the room. Enscape usually does a good job illuminating a scene even when it does not have lighting fixtures or materials applied; it works similar to the auto exposure on a camera. However, when we open our test model in Enscape it looks like this:

Revit view of subject model

Example of dark image

This image is way too dark by default. Let’s take a look at why the walls are so dark. The generic wall’s material is set to By Category, which means it uses the material assigned in the Object Types dialog (if one has been assigned).

Default wall material settings

Object Style settings

Looking at Object Types, the ‘Default Wall’ material is assigned to the wall Category. Interrogating that material, we see the Appearance asset, which is what Enscape uses by default in a Revit Material, is set to a rather dark color.

Just like in the real world, and in lighting analysis applications, lighter colors reflect more light than darker colors. Thus, when Enscape is applying ambient lighting and calculating exposure, the result is the dark image above.

What happens if we delete the material assigned to the wall category in Object Types? In this case, there would be no material associated with the walls under consideration. What does Enscape do when no material exists? Does it apply the less-than-awesome grey tone we often see in Revit itself? When a surface does not have a material, Enscape applies a white tone as shown in the image below.

Only the wall material was changed in this image

It is not uncommon for a family to not have a material associated with it, as materials can be freely deleted in a Revit project; you can even delete the last material with no warnings. Enscape deals with Loadable Families the same way, applying an aesthetically pleasing white tone.

Ok, that makes sense. But what if my design or client dictates the walls are a darker color? There are a couple of ways to deal with this. As mentioned at the beginning of this post, proper materials and lights almost always result in a nice image. So, just to make this point again, here is what the space would look like by just adding lights and not changing any Enscape settings or adjusting the wall material:

Only lighting fixtures added to the scene

If you are not ready to place light fixtures, or your MEP consultant has not added them to their model yet, you can still quickly get a decent looking image from Enscape. If we open the Enscape Settings dialog from within Revit, we can use the Rendering Quality setting to adjust overall image quality as seen here:

Adjusting rendering quality

Enscape settings in the previous image:
1. Rendering Setting: Draft
2. Rendering Setting: Medium
3. Rendering Setting: High

For some users, realistic lighting and high quality graphics are secondary. If you don’t want to spend time on lighting your scene at this point, consider setting the rendering quality to “Draft” mode for an evenly lit display of your project.

The Ambient Brightness slider in the Image tab of the Enscape settings can be used to brighten a scene. Not only that, but the occluded regions remain darker to emphasize the geometry and depth. This cannot be done in Photoshop! Making changes in the settings dialog results in an instant update in Enscape. Here is what Ambient Brightness and Auto Contrast looks like. The image gets a little better if we check Auto Contrast as seen in the left side of the composite image. Notice how this change enhanced the quality of the flooring as well.

Adjusting contrast and ambient brightness

Enscape settings in the previous image:
4. Ambient Brightness 100% plus Auto Contrast
5. Ambient Brightness 100%
6. Ambient Brightness 75%

Another option, without changing Ambient Brightness, is to manually adjust the Exposure Brightness setting as shown here:

Adjusting auto exposure

Auto exposure result

Here is a video highlighting the steps used to improve ambient lighting of the interior scene:

The next two images show the same space which has been further developed; windows and lighting fixtures have been added. The first image has the darker walls and the second has a lighter option.

Final image with lights and windows with darker wall finish

Final image with lights and windows with white wall finish

Another similar issue is exploring Plenum spaces in Enscape. When you are in a watertight ceiling space with various structural and MEP materials, the settings described above can help. We will look at one example and introduce a time saving option.
In the next image below, with the Enscape settings completely reset, this is what we see in a plenum space filled with pipes, ducts and structural elements. Way too dark!

Initial view of enclosed plenum space

Simply adjusting the Auto Exposure makes the image look pretty good.

Exposure brightness modified in plenum space

Now, if we go back into the occupiable parts of the building, the image will be way too bright. We would have to turn Auto Exposure back on.

Scene overexposed due to previous plenum space settings

Using Enscape’s saved settings option  (see image below) will streamline the effort to switch back and forth when needed.

Spaces lit with natural daylight, electric lighting and/or employing lighter color materials will automatically look good in Enscape. When these elements are lacking, Enscape has settings we can use to quickly compensate and still achieve quality images that will convey our design intent faster than any other product on the market today.

Consider using these techniques to present your design live in front of your client using Enscape. They will be impressed by the quality of the real-time rendering experience, as well as empowered to explore portions of the project which are important in that moment. If you have not yet given Enscape a try, download the trial today and bring your Revit, SketchUp, Rhino or ArchiCAD model to life. Things will never be the same again!

Dan Stine
He is an Author, Blogger, Educator,
BIM Administrator and Wisconsin registered architect.
He works full-time at LHB – a 250 person full-service design firm.

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/danstinemn

The post Best Practices for Lighting and Exposure appeared first on Enscape.

The fundamentals of creating a Revit material  are fairly straightforward; create a new material, assign a texture and render in Enscape. However, there are a number of additional options which can have subtle to profound effects on your results. This post will explore some options as they relate to making stone and masonry more realistic in appearance when creating still images , 3d panoramas or exploring in virtual reality via Enscape’s real-time rendering engine.

Enscape rendered sample Revit project with stone and brick

Close-up view showing the rich textures presented by Enscape

To pragmatically show just what each setting does, we will start with the most basic material settings and then make small changes, one at a time, to see what effect they have on the rendering in Enscape.

Basic example with stone image used

Stone material image selected

As already stated, creating a material and selecting an image file is pretty basic. In the image below, this is all that was done. It certainly conveys the design intent; i.e. a certain stone style, color and size. There is nothing wrong with this early on, while material selection is still fluid. However, at some point the materials would benefit from a few simple adjustments to make things look more realistic.

Here are the current settings, in Revit’s Material Browser dialog, for the stone material assigned to the wall. This material is called Stone and has a JPG image selected.

Because we are using an image file, the pattern and color are defined for us. If we want a slightly different stone color we need to either find another JPG file or use the Tint option. In our example, we tick Tint and modify the color. Notice, the result is a shift of the entire image, not just the mortar or just the stone.

Tint color applied

Specifying a Tint color

Another option, on the Appearance tab, is Finish. For Masonry, we have Matte, Glossy and Unfinished. In the image below, the Glossy setting is not ideal as we can see a clear reflection of the adjacent pool and concrete wall. The stone is not reflective… however, it did darken up the mortar joints.

Stone wall with an unrealistic glossy finish

Applying a glossy finish to the stone material

The scale of the stone or brick must be considered to ensure a realistic appearance. To verify the scale, click on the image preview as shown below; note, my preview area is small because I am using a 4K monitor with Window’s DPI scaling adjusted accordingly (this is essentially a bug).

In the Texture Editor dialog, the Width and Height can be entered. The required values vary based on how much of stone/brick appears in the image. Click the chain-link icon to allow the two values to be modified independently.

Adjusting the scale of the stone

Stone with relief pattern applied

Selecting a relief pattern

Back in Revit’s Material Browser, we can select an image and specify the Amount, which is “how much of depth do you want?”.

The bump/relief image can just be the original image file, or, for better results, a customized version of the original. More on this later…

The next two images highlight the lighting effect within the material when the conditions change; in this case the time of day. Keep in mind that the Revit wall is perfectly flush.

Shade and shadow based on the current Sun angle

Another Sun angle

Another material which benefits from similar settings is masonry; Brick and CMU. Right away we can see the shadow lines added for each brick relative to the directional lighting in the scene.

In addition to size, another important aspect of masonry is “coursing”: the vertical position of the material based on how it is built. Even if you don’t need this for construction documentation, consider applying a Model-based surface pattern to the wall (on the Graphics tab). Doing so allows you to reposition the Appearance Asset (i.e. the brick image) on the surface. Simply tab in to select the model pattern and then move/rotate it as needed within any non-realistic Revit view.

In the image shown next, the surface pattern was selected and moved vertically so a horizontal mortar joint aligns with the adjacent cast-in-place (CIP) concrete wall. When the Sun angle changes , the effect on the surface adjusts as well.

Brick repositioned vertically

A different Sun angle

Brick detail from two Sun angles

The next image shows the main brick texture on the left (a simple JPG file). To the right, are two options for bump/relief images; one just focuses on representing recessed mortar joints. The far-right option also highlights the imperfections on the surface of the brick. The nice thing about these two options, compared to just using the original image for the bump/relief pattern, is that there is much more contrast in the image. The way a bump/relief works is that the darker areas are recessed and the lighter areas are closer to unchanged – with white not changed. Thus, when using the original image, the ability to control depth is more limiting.

Brick pattern image and relief pattern options

Using Enscape’s ability to animate daylighting, we can better understand the impact these settings have on a material.

If you did use the original image file for the bump/relief, you would want to use Invert Image via the Texture Editor (which is the same place where you can set the scale of the material). In this image, the mortar is lighter than the brick so the shade/shadow embellishments would not look quite right.

This next tip is from my friend, and early Revit adopter Scott Brown, from the BECK Group in their Florida office. An easy way to show clean and consistent joints, as seen in the next image, is to use Revit’s Cutout feature.

Stone cap with joints

Apply cutout image to define joints

The Cutout feature is not available within the physically accurate Masonry material, so we must use a Generic one as shown in the image above on the right. Use the Replace This Asset icon in the upper right if you need to change that setting. The image selected is an all-white image with a solid black vertical line on the far right; this can easily be created in Photoshop.

Here is our overall image with the brick and stone cap. From a distance, some of the detail may not be visible. But for close-ups and large, high-resolution images, this detail will come out and have a positive impact on the overall quality of the composition.

Final image example

If you have some examples showcasing your use of these settings, please share; post on Twitter and add @Enscape3D. Be sure to also follow Enscape on Twitter!

Dan Stine
He is an Author, Blogger, Educator,
BIM Administrator and Wisconsin registered architect.
He works full-time at LHB – a 250 person full-service design firm.

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/danstinemn

The post Best Practices for Revit Materials with Enscape; Stone and Masonry appeared first on Enscape.

Do you want to make your visualizations more realistic or meaningful to your client?

You may have client specific images, wayfinding graphics or entire adjacent buildings to depict. If you are using Enscape with Autodesk® Revit, then this article will empower you to achieve this effect.

Placing an independent image in Revit is done using the Decal command. This is a great way to present framed art and other embellishments in your renderings. In previous posts we covered ways to use RPC content  to embellish your scenes with people, cars, trees and general clutter. Decals are supported in Enscapes Real-Time Rendering environment, including panorama  and
Virtual Reality . This article will show several examples of Decals placed in Revit models and how they help to create a more realistic image in Enscape through context and clutter.

When LHB was designing its new LEED® CI Platinum office space in Minneapolis, I created several rendered images which included many Decals in Revit. This index can be used with the following images to understand how and where Decals were placed in the Revit model.

1. Computer monitors – Each screen has a different image for added realism
2. Marketing boards – Firm projects on aluminum panels suspended with aircraft cable in front of glass panels
3. Exit Sign – This was added over a linked MEP model element
4. Printed project drawing – An image of a print from a real project for added realism
5. Television screen – An image from the current lobby graphics at the time
6. Sketch pin-ups – Scanned sketches to make the space look “lived in”

Please pay attention to the interactivity of the following graphics in this blog post. For desktop view you can use mouseover and for mobile view you can click on the images to see the annotated Decals.

LHB Minneapolis office relocation project – one; different forms of decals

LHB Minneapolis office relocation project – two; different forms of decals

LHB Minneapolis office relocation project – three; different forms of decals

LHB Minneapolis office relocation project – four; different forms of decals

LHB Minneapolis office relocation project – five; different forms of decals

LHB Minneapolis office relocation project – six; different forms of decals

These images use ArchVision, AXYZ and custom RPC content throughout to create a more lively space. Keep in mind that decals, like Revit materials , are externally referenced material. Thus, the images must stay with the Revit model or they will appear missing when the model is opened.

Now we will take a look at another Revit model and how it is using decals. In the first image below, notice the posters on the wall, they are decals. Additionally, the vinyl bird graphics on the interior glass wall are also decals. These bird graphics use the decal’s Cutout feature.

This index can be used with the following images to understand how and where Decals were placed in the Revit model.

1. Framed Artwork – Each frame has a different image for added realism
2. Vinyl Graphics – Used for wayfinding, signage, aesthetic effect
3. Transparent Graphic – Special example of transparent decal
4. Site Context – Photo of adjacent existing building

Office perspective showing various decals

Here are the settings available in Revit’s Decal Types dialog. The main settings for the wall poster example are the external image to use and the Finish; Matte, Semi-gloss, Gloss, High gloss, custom.

Decal setting for wall posters

The main settings for the vinyl bird graphics are the external image to use, Finish; and another external image to use for the Cutout. In the cutout image, black completely removes areas from the first image and other colors add various levels of transparency to the original image. Note, that any transparency in a PNG file is not used in Revit or Enscape in the context of decals.

Decal setting for bird cutouts

The next image shows the same decals plus a very large one outside the building. This decal uses a photograph of an actual adjacent existing building to provide more realism to the presentation. This Enscape generated image has the Depth of Field value adjusted to slightly blur out the background.

Different perspective on office showing decal of adjacent building

The various effects of the decal’s Finish settings can be seen in this next image. Plus, the white bird is slightly transparent as it uses a cutout with a black outline and a gray center, not white. Also notice another decal is used to add the calendar on the back wall. You can partially see the calendar through the white bird. The birds set to a High-gloss finish are reflecting their surroundings.

Multiple decals with different transparency and glossiness

Decal result on a brick wall; balloons

This next graphic is from a Revit Materials handout for a presentation I did at the Revit Technology Conference (now BILT) in Singapore. This example shows the Decal result on a brick wall rather than glass.

 

Expanding on this example, here are the birds applied to the wall. The bottom example, a hand sketch, shows how this technique can be used to add graphics to a markerboard.

 

By the way, this hand sketch is from my book (co-author Steven McNeill): Interior Design Using Hand Sketching, SketchUp, and Photoshop .

Decal result on a brick wall; birds

Decal result on a room wall; hand sketch

As mentioned above, you can use Decals to represent the entire facade of a building, similar to what can be done in SketchUp. You cannot stretch the image out of a rectangular shape, but that could be done ahead of time in Photoshop. This is great for representing adjacent buildings as shown in the previous image. Portions of the image not filling the Decal’s host are not visible as shown in the next two images.

Notice in the first image below, there is adjacent buildings showing up above the building under consideration. We could crop this out in Photoshop, but as you will see in the next image, it is not really necessary.

Facade of a building used as decal

Facade of a building – Decal adjusted in properties

When the Decal is selected, its corners can be dragged to change its size. The width and height values are also editable via Revit’s Properties. Notice the portion of Decal above the building is not visible as it is outside the simple extrusion representing the adjacent existing building. For Comparison, see the photosphere rendering of the Superior Street Reconstruction Project .

Here is an example of the properties available when a Decal is selected in Revit. Notice the Width and Height are shown in Properties and on the Options Bar.

Width and height settings for decals

The great thing about a post like this is that the images largely speak for themselves. And is that not a goal in all our architectural presentations, as we are not always standing by to answer questions when someone views them? If one reflects on the images in this post again, but imagines them without decals, we can understand the enormous consequence they have on the resultant aesthetic of the composition.

Thus, it is easy to see how Decals in Revit can add to the realistic and lively nature within Enscapes Real-Time Rendering and virtual reality environment. If you have some great examples to share, please post on Twitter and add @Enscape3D. Be sure to also follow the same on Twitter to be inspired by what others are doing… I know I do!

Dan Stine
He is an Author, Blogger, Educator,
BIM Administrator and Wisconsin registered architect.
He works full-time at LHB – a 250 person full-service design firm.

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/danstinemn 

The post Best Practices for using Revit Decals with Enscape appeared first on Enscape.

Dan Stine
He is an Author, Blogger, Educator,
BIM Administrator and Wisconsin registered architect.
He works full-time at LHB – a 250 person full-service design firm.

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/danstinemn

The post Best Practices – Using Virtual Reality for Project Presentations with Enscape appeared first on Enscape.

Dan Stine
He is an Author, Blogger, Educator,
BIM Administrator and Wisconsin registered architect.
He works full-time at LHB – a 250 person full-service design firm.

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/danstinemn

The post Best Practices for Lights and Materials in SketchUp appeared first on Enscape.

In a recent post , I discussed the free and subscription-based RPC content  from ArchVision as well as the Enscape replacement content. In this post, I am excited to share a couple ways in which you can create your own content. The process includes a cloud-based tool by ArchVision and an example of a full scale 3D scanner with one of Enscape’s resellers here in the United States.

AXYZ RPC Content

Before getting into the custom content, I must mention something overlooked in the previous RPC content post. ArchVision also sells RPC content created by AXYZ. As seen in the first image below, this is also the content Enscape uses when replacing the basic RPC content.

The AXYZ content is quite nice as shown in the next two images. Each pack comes with eight actors in groupings such as medical, student, exercising, etc.

The two images above are screen-grabs from the downloadable Enscape EXE file, which lets you navigate the 3D content to preview it – and this does not require Enscape on your computer! You can see the download link just below the price, in the first image above. Give it a try!

Related links:

• See all the Archivision RPC content: https://archvision.com/rpc/ 
• Sample content pack (Enscape EXE): Click Here 

Custom 2D RPC Content

The easiest option to accomplish on your own, is to create a 2D RPC using a single photo. This does not have the same level of realism in Revit and Enscape, but can still be pretty nice. As we will see in a moment, the RPC element is designed to always face the camera in Revit and Enscape.

To start with, simply take a well-lit photo of someone or something. For this post, I took several photos of myself in various “sports fan” poses as seen in the next image. I used Photoshop’s magnetic select tool to quickly outline my body and delete the background to create a transparent background.

Now that you are done laughing at my poses, you will notice we are easily able to use Photoshop, or some other image editing program, to change the color of my shirt as shown below. I intentionally wore a solid color shirt which makes it easier to select and edit. Note that “AVAIL”, the letters on my shirt, is the content management tool offered by ArchVision (subtle plug). You could also apply the jersey for a specific sports team. Of course, for a real project you would be taking photos of several different people. But when trying to fill the bleachers or stadium with hundreds of people, having a few duplicates will not be noticed. Using these lightweight 2D RPCs will also be less of a burden on Revit and Enscape when using a lot of them, and viewed from a distance.

In just a few minutes, at home, I set up a camera on a tripod, positioned a shop light and a floor lamp on the subject area as seen in the next image. Now I can take several photos in various poses, to use in my renderings and live walkthroughs in Enscape’s real-time environment.

With your properly formatted image, a png file with transparent background, head to https://labs.archvision.com/ . Log in and follow the three simple steps shown in the following image. BTW, the ArchVision account is free to create and this process does not cost anything!

You now have an RPC file which is about 1MB in size. Copy this file to your RPC folder defined in Preferences à Configure Paths in the ArchVision Dashboard app. The ArchVision Dashboard  is also free, you just don’t see the subscription-based content if you have not paid for that. Once the RPC files are copied to the correct folder on your computer, they will show up in the Custom RPCs tab in Dashboard. Simply drag and drop the custom RPCs from Dashboard to Revit to place them in your model (this requires the ArchVision add-in for Revit, which is also free) for the drag and drop functionality to work.

Speaking of fans in bleachers, here are a few Enscape rendered views of my custom RPC spread around! Even in this match with low spectator turnout, the fact that I used the same RPCs multiple times is not immediately obvious.

In these four fan-bleachers scenes I also included the Archvision sample RPC; click here  to download. The point here is to highlight the fact that from this distance we cannot tell the difference between the high-quality 3D content and our custom ones.

As already mentioned, the custom 2D RPC content will always face the camera. Below, I saved an Enscape rendering from two vantagepoints, of the same scene without any modifications, which highlights this fact. In some cases, certain content, such as sitting people or vehicles, may look odd from some angles.

Again, to contrast the custom 2D content, these last two “fan” examples also have an ArchVision RPC (boy in wheelchair) and the AXYZ sample actor. You will notice those two high quality RPCs do not turn with the camera.

Given the lively and dynamic nature of Enscape, it is only fitting to also show how the custom RPCs follow the camera in a real-time screen capture!

Before leaving the topic of custom 2d content, consider another variation on the concept; hand sketched entourage. Using the same process just described, you can develop a set of abstract RPC content… the image below shows a sketch in Photoshop with a transparent background.

These sketchy RPCs can be used to, perhaps, focus more on the architecture than the life-like entourage. In the following image, I have added one realistic 3D RPC and my new sketchy person.

The sketchy entourage also shows up in the Dashboard app…

There are websites with lots of 2D entourage already setup with transparent backgrounds, ready to be turned into 2D RPC content. One such site is: https://immediateentourage.com/  You can also search Google, in Image mode, to find lots of specific photos. You just need to be careful about copyrights when pulling content from the internet.

Related links:

• ArchVision RPC Creator: https://creator.archvision.com 
• ArchVision Dashboard: https://www.archvision.com/rpc/main 

Custom 3D RPC Content

In addition to creating 2D custom content, we can also create high quality 3D content. Unlike the 2D process, creating custom 3D content requires some help. The results are amazing in Enscape, as you will soon see… and, keep in mind this process could be used for people, animals, furniture and more!

Enscape reseller , Cad Technology Center (CTC) owns a store called ME3D in the Mall of America  (one of the largest malls in North America) where they scan individuals or small groups and create colored 3D prints; think, 3D family portrait! Here is a photo of the storefront in the mall.

Helping me out with this post, Kiefer Paulson (on the right) who is trained in animation and gaming design. On the left, is Sam Dusbabek, the store manager.

The magic to their process is the large full-scale object scanner shown below. I simply stepped into the center and held a pose for about 3 seconds.

There are lights and scanners all around the subject, which instantly captures the pose from several angles.

A second scan, which is all part of the 3-second pose, captures a special pattern projected on the subject, which I assume helps in canceling out the background and defining how the texture maps to the mesh.

As soon as you walk out of the scanner you can see the results on a screen, as shown below.

With the scan data in hand, Kiefer opens the model in Autodesk Maya and then Autodesk Mudbox to make any necessary touchups. Some areas, like the armpits, are not fully visible to the scan heads, so they need some adjustments.

Notice the area between my arm and torso needs some clean up? This is done in Mudbox.

Given Kiefer’s background, and the fact that he does this a lot, I asked him if he could add a few pounds to my scanned model… the following video shows is mad skills!

Now we are ready to create the RPC. The steps are nearly the same as described above, using the ArchVision Labs tool.

What is needed:

• 124 x 98 pixel .bmp Preview Image
• .obj file
• .jpg/.png texture file

We use the wizard to select all the required files and upload them as shown here.

The result is an RPC we can download and place in our RPC folder, which then populates in Dashboard as shown below!

The next four images show the new 3D RPC rendered in Enscape from multiple vantagepoints.

I love the detail, with the pattern in my shirt, the wrinkles in my pants and even the wrinkles next to my closed eye. This custom family casts shadows and shows up in reflections.

For more options on creating custom RPC content, be sure to check out the following link. They even have step-by-step instructions on using 3DS Max to turn any file from the SketchUp Warehouse into an RPC.

Step by step ArchVision instructions: https://help.archvision.com/creation/tutorials/creatorarchvisioncom.html 

Talking with Randall Stevens, CEO of ArchVision, he tells me some clients are even using their RPC creator to make entire context buildings to populate around a Revit model. They are also working to move the functionality of Dashboard to Avail to streamline their user’s experience. This means that Dashboard will go away at some point.

Related links:

• Cad Technology Center (Enscape reseller): https://cadtechnologycenter.com/ 
• Me3D Store in MOA: https://me3dstore.com/ 
  • $55 US for just a scan and model cleanup!
• Google Cardbaord View: https://panorama.enscape3d.com/view/cbnpkncl/ 
• ArchVision PRC Creator: https://creator.archvision.com 
• ArchVision Dashboard: https://www.archvision.com/rpc/main 

ArchVision Stash!

Finally, ArchVision has created a site to share custom RPC content – it is called Stash. But, they have also placed a few of their newer RPC families there. For example, the table placeware and Coke can, shown in the Enscape rendered views below, can be downloaded from Stash!

Related links:

• ArchVision Stash: https://labs.archvision.com/stash/ 
• Enscape: //learn.enscape3d.com/ 

In conclusion, the ability to create custom RPC content and develop unique images and real-time experiences in Enscape presents an opportunity to set your work apart from the competition and impress your client.

Dan Stine
He is an Author, Blogger, Educator,
BIM Administrator and Wisconsin registered architect.
He works full-time at LHB – a 250 person full-service design firm.

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/danstinemn 

The post Best Practices for Custom RPC Content appeared first on Enscape.

Autodesk Revit has a feature called Design Options, which manages different designs in the same location. This feature can be used with Enscape – and this post will discuss two workflows. First, we will look at the primary way in which the tool is meant to be used—that is, managing different design solutions. Secondly, the use of secondary design options to manage the visibility of visualization embellishments such as entourage and clutter. In both cases, the results in Enscape can be fantastic.

Design Options for Design Options

Where Revit’s Phasing is used to manage different designs, which occur at different times, Design Options are used to manage different designs at the same time—where only one is ultimately selected and constructed.

Specifically, this feature can be used in the early phase of a project to promote two or more solutions to your client. Another use is to develop and manage add or deduct alternates, which are incorporated into the Construction Documents (CD). In this second case, after the bidding has finished, the client selects which option they want (usually based on what they can afford) and, subsequently, selected portions (i.e. options) become part of the contract between the contractor and the client.

The next two Enscape generated images compare two design options as viewed from the same vantagepoint. Using Design Options along with Enscape can really help both the design team and the client in the design solution optimization process.

Here is a short video switching back and forth between the two options to highlight the differences, but also the Enscape image quality.

The design teams can benefit from using Enscape in that they will be more confidant in the options they show the client—it is amazing what I have found in 3D that was not readily evident in plan and elevation views. And with the ease in which we can navigate and interrogate the design in Enscape, it is very helpful to that end.

Clearly, the benefit to the client is the instant and highly realistic representation of the options they are expected to select from. Often, clients do not have training or experience reading and interpreting 2D floor plans, ceiling plans, elevations and sections. Revit’s 3D views and renderings can certainly help, but the quality and fluidity of the Enscape workflow can be a gamechanger… and may even result in repeat commissions from a happy and impressed client.

The next two images show the same two design options represented in plan view. Just looking at a plan view, as the designer, we may not readily recall the exposed duct or consider the door alignment with the vertical joints in the interior glass panels above. Leaving Enscape open most of the time, on a second monitor, while working with the 3D model in Revit, can quickly illuminate subtle design issues earlier and therefore reduce effort which would have otherwise been wasted until these items were discovered.

Floor plan view of Design Option A

Floor plan view of Design Option B

The next image shows how this Design Option is defined in Revit’s Design Options dialog. Later in this article I will cover how we can manage views with Design Options in mind to save time, both in Revit and Enscape.

Design Options dialog

Design Options for Entourage Management

I love the next workflow I am about to discuss and use it all the time. This is what I like to call a “Fail-Safe” way of managing Entourage and Clutter for rendered scenes or Enscape experiences. Using this method, the active Revit model — I.e. in the middle of the CD phase for example — can have all the RPC and custom families used to embellish the scene without the worry of something appearing in the formal prints used for bidding.

FYI: Elements in secondary design options will not appear in schedules either.

Design Options always contain a single Primary option (see the next image). This is the design which appears everywhere by default; plans, sections, elevations and 3D views. This is usually the design teams favorite option or the base bid option when used for alternates. With this in mind, we can leave this Option empty so nothing shows up everywhere!

Creating a Secondary design option called Active in Rendered Views, we can place all the RPC content here to have better control over where and when it appears across all Revit views.

Design Options dialog

With two Design Options, each with two Options, we now have four combinations of what can be seen in any given 3D view in Revit and Enscape as seen in the next collage.

With all the entourage and clutter safely contained in a secondary design option, our other views now look much clearer (see next image). The distracting elements will not appear in any view unless someone goes out of their way to do so.

Floor Plan Example with no Clutter

Design Option View Management

The edit mode for Design Options is controlled via the options bar. Picking from this list will temporarily activate the selected design option in all views in the Revit project. While in this mode, you can make changes to the design option and add new elements.

Main Design Option controls in Revit

We can also adjust which Option is shown in a given view, even when the Design Option edit mode is not active. In Revit’s Visibility/Graphics Overrides dialog for any 3D view, we see a Design Options tab (only when Design Options exists in a project). Here we can select which Option this view should show. Notice, in the image below, when set to “Automatic” the Primary design option will be displayed.

FYI: If you look back at the Design Options dialog, you see there is a command to change which Design Option is current—thus, you can dynamically change what appears in all views using this knowledge.

The image below shows the Design Option for the first example above. We could duplicate the floor plan view and have one showing Option A and another showing Options B. This would allow each option to appear side-by-side on the same sheet and make it easy to toggle between them in Enscape.

View specific Design Option controls in Revit

The next image shows a design option used as a clutter control mechanism, which has been named so everyone on the team can know what this Design Option is used for. All other views set to Automatic will show the empty (primary) option.

Managing clutter with design options

FYI: When a view has a specific design option selected, the design option Edit Mode will not change this view.

When we have separate views with design options preset, we can quickly toggle between them in Enscape. This is great for day-to-day design and for efficiency when meeting with your client.

Toggling between design options in Enscape

The current Enscape composition can be saved in Revit. As we will see in a moment, these saved views can then be placed on a sheet.

Save an Enscape Image in Revit

These saved views show up in the Renderings node, as shown I the following image. Notice, here too, we have two copies of the Level one floor plan view, which have been cropped to just show the area related to the design option.

Design option views in Revit

When hard copies, presentation boards or leave-behinds are required, we can compose the design option plan views and Enscape generated static renderings on a sheet and create a PDF or print.

In conclusion, Enscape can be an asset when working with design options in Revit. Additionally, using Design Options to manage clutter, you can keep everything in a single model and be more efficient.

Dan Stine
He is an Author, Blogger, Educator,
BIM Administrator and Wisconsin registered architect.
He works full-time at LHB – a 250 person full-service design firm.

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/danstinemn

The post Best Practices for Revit´s Design Options appeared first on Enscape.