Rendering & Materials in Revit 2011

There are a number of additions and changes to the rendering toolset & user interface for the 2011 release.  I wanted to organize some of this information below which I hope is helpful…

Render with a background image

This was a much requested feature in Revit 2009 and 2010 which has been implemented in Revit 2011.  I’ve included the technical solution link below:

Rendering with a background image in Revit 2011 products

Render Processor Core Limit

The 4 core rendering processor limit has been lifted for 2011; I have included a technical solution below on this issue:

Rendering processor core limit for Revit 2011 products

Materials > Render Appearance User Interface

There are some additional options for materials and the user interface has been retooled for the Materials > Render Appearance page.  I have included an example image below:

Revit 2011 Render Appearance Larger Image

Realistic Visual Style

You can now view materials in the active view in Revit 2011 products by utilizing the Visual Style > Realistic.

 

It is important to note that hardware acceleration must be enabled to utilize this feature.

Protein 2.0 Appearances

Revit 2011 products use Protein 2.0 appearances, in single project library.  This increases the interoperability between products such as 3ds Max/Design 2011.  One item to keep in mind is that when exporting FBX files they must be opened in a 2011 compatible application to see these materials, textures and lights.

Additional information is also listed in the technical solution below:

Materials and lights in Revit 2011 FBX file not visible in 2010 applications