The Revit Clinic

Autodesk Cloud Rendering Hotfix released

Here is a list of what has been fixed. 

Cloud Rendering Web Portal: 

1. Re-render rendered the wrong view or had wrong thumbnail or view name.  We fixed two bugs in the gallery re-render feature. These should fix the wrong view re-render issues for new and previously uploaded files. 
2. Estimated time remaining information on progress bar.  The thumbnail progress bar remaining time estimate was not showing up when the mouse was hovering on it. 
3. Shorter view name in tooltip.  When you hover on a thumbnail in the gallery the pop-up that appears now displays the short version of the view name. 
4. Re-render email option added.  In the dialog that appears when re-rendering an image it's now possible to enable/disable the email notification 
5. Zoom sensitivity in panorama viewer.  We adjusted the zoom sensitivity in the panorama viewer.  There are slightly different behaviors depending on the browser used. That's expected. 
6. TIFF panoramas display.  Panoramas generated from TIFF images were not showing in the panorama viewer. 
7. Panorama size limited.  A Flash limitation in the Internet Explorer panorama viewer cannot display large panoramas.  Panoramas sizes are now capped for this reason and for overall system performance control.

Renderer:

1. Materials with bump set to 0 rendered black.  When a bump of relief map was set to 0 intensity the material was rendering black. 
2. Index of Refraction for Generic materials not working.  Generic materials had a fixed IOR of 1.5. Now we use the refraction parameter value correctly. 
3. Better rendering timeout estimation.  Some renderings were failing if they were taking longer than the estimated time. Now we allow extra time. 
4. Reflectivity parameters (equal values) error.  When Generic material reflectivity parameters were set to the same value the material was rendering incorrectly. 

Revit Add-in: 

1. Section box fix.  In some cases the section box was not cutting the geometry correctly when objects were visible in other non-sectioned views.  We now handle that case correctly. 

Download the add-in again and reinstall it to get this fix. 
http://rendering.cloud.autodesk.com 
New Rendering -> Download Rendering Add-in 

To download localized versions of the add-in, switch the page language before downloading (the option is a the bottom of the page). 

2012 UR2 and Autodesk Cloud

If you haven't seen it yet, UR2 is now available for Revit 2012 products:

Revit Architecture 2012

Revit Structure 2012

Revit MEP 2012

You can also view the readme and the update enhancement list (updated!) for this update.

Around the same time as the release of UR2 for 2012, we also annouced Autodesk Cloud.  Very exciting stuff.  

For Revit users, one of the coolest things is Rendering in the Cloud, which use to be on labs as Project Neon, but has graduated.  

Check this video by the one and only Lynn Allen

One of my favorite things about rendering in the cloud is the abilty to render panoramas.  If your wondering about access, there is a great resource that compares the benefits available. 

Unable to Override Imported SketchUp File Material in Revit

I want to expand on our previous post here, focusing specifically on a SketchUp® file being imported into a Revit in-place component.  You go through the process, but you are unable to override the Object Style > Imported Objects > Material.

It may not be immediately obvious in Revit, but if the SketchUp material [in use] has a texture image applied the Revit Object Style > Imported Objects > Material typically will not display.  A painted solid color material should display by default from SketchUp > Revit.  However a painted material using a texture image will not display in Revit:

If you run into geometry you cannot override in Revit, open the SketchUp file and check for materials in use which utilize texture images.  You can save a copy of the file, and delete the materials in the file leaving only the default.

Then in Revit if you re-import the file you should be able to override materials to each layer as expected.

Revision 3: Render Appearance Dialog Crash

We have added some additional information to the Crash when launching the Materials or Render Appearance Dialogs post to include some Revit 2012 specific links.  You can view the updated post here.

Also, the previous technical solution has been updated as well, available at the link below:

Revit 2011 or 2012 products crash when attempting to replace material render appearance

Revit 2012 Project Neon Rendering Service Error Message

Quick scenario for anyone who receives the following error message when attempting to render online with Project Neon for Revit 2012:

A problem occurred.  The rendering service could not complete your request.  <An authentication error occurred.>

The following process should resolve this behavior:

1.  Sign out of Revit 2012.  Verify this also signs you out of Project Neon by attempting to click the Web Services > My Render Gallery option.

2.  Clear your web browser’s cache \ temporary internet files.  For example, here is the process for Chrome and Internet Explorer.

3.  Sign-in to Project Neon first, by attempting to Render Online:

If prompted after, you can sign back into Revit 2012.

4.  Make sure you use the same login for both Revit 2012 and Project Neon.  By logging out, clearing the browser cache, and then logging into Project Neon first it should resolve the message.

If this does not resolve the issue please let us know!

Render Revit 2012 in the Cloud

You may have heard Project Neon now supports Revit 2012 cloud-based rendering; I would highly recommended checking out the Autodesk Labs post below:

Project Neon now supports Revit in addition to AutoCAD

Ambient Shadows Appear Distorted after a Linked Project is Mirrored

Let’s look at the following scenario:

You have a host project containing a linked project.  You copy an instance of the link and mirror it [maybe for an adjacent townhouse with a reversed floor plan].  Then in the view you turn on Graphic Display Options > Shadows > Show Ambient Shadows.  You notice the mirrored link instance ambient effect appears reversed or distorted where the original appears fine.

When mirrored Revit may treat the geometry faces as they are inverted for the ambient calculation, so the results could appear different than the original.

There are 2 approaches I would recommend should you run into this behavior:

1.  Temporarily Bind the Mirrored Link Instance

For scenarios where you simply need to create a presentation image or similar, I would recommend temporarily binding the mirrored link instance in the project.

Select the link instance > Bind Link.  This will move the link instance into the project as a model group.  This should display the ambient shadow effect as expected.  Do not save the project when complete.

2.  Rotate Link Instance instead of Mirroring

If you can achieve a desired result through a series of link rotations instead, I would recommend this approach.  When rotated the ambient shadow calculation on the link geometry should match the original orientation link.

Updated: Render Appearance Dialog Crash

I made a few adjustments to the previous Crash when launching the Materials or Render Appearance Dialogs post to include some new information.  You can find the updated post here.

Creating Property Set Libraries in Revit 2012

Revit 2012 now allows you to create appearance property set libraries, and share them as needed.  I wanted to outline the process and where the associated files are created for reference:

You can create new libraries under Manage > Create New Library

Choose the location you wish to save the library file.  This can include network locations if desired.  This will create the library file, which has an .adsklib extension. From there you can drag property sets to the library, which will store them.

Once you create or open an existing library it will now appear on your library list.  

With the move to user-specific files for Revit 2012, once a user adds a library to Revit [technically you only have to initiate the dialog and the file is later created], the following file is created:

C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\Revit\Autodesk Revit Architecture 2012\MaterialBrowserConfig.xml

Each library a user adds is appended to this .xml file, along with the library path.  

You could technically copy and paste this .xml file between users should you wish to standardize shared libraries.  If you delete the file, any libraries you added no longer appear in your list.  The actual libraries [.adsklib file] still remain, only the user link to the library is gone.

If you paste in a new MaterialBrowserConfig.xml file, the libraries will immediately appear.  Revit 2012 does not have to be restarted; you can simply close and reopen the materials dialog.  Just make sure the Materials dialog is closed when you paste in the new .xml file, otherwise Revit will overwrite it again with the previous list.

Some additional information from the Help Documentation below:

Managing Property Set Libraries

Revit 2011 & 2012 Crash when launching the Materials or Render Appearance Dialogs

The typical behavior for this issue is an Autodesk Revit has stopped working error when you attempt to open the Materials or Render Appearance Library dialogs:

Revit 2012 Release

This issue should be improved with the Revit 2012 update 1 release; links are available below to download:

Revit Architecture 2012 UR1

Revit Structure 2012 UR1

Revit MEP 2012 UR1

Revit 2011 Release

For Revit 2011 utilizing the following troubleshooting process should resolve or reduce the occurrence of this behavior.

1.  Windows Tablet PC Input Service

Verify if there are any Services (Local) running called Tablet PC Input Service.  If so stop the service, launch Revit, and see if the crash persists.

2.  Wacom Tablet Drivers \ Service

Verify if there are any Services (Local) running similar to Wacom Consumer Touch Service.  If so stop the service, launch Revit, and see if the crash persists.  

If Revit still crashes, verify if the workstation has Wacom Tablet drivers.  Uninstall the driver if present in the Windows Control Panel to see if the crash persists.

3.  Windows Temp Folder

Close Revit 2011; then empty the contents of the Windows Temp folder at: 

%Temp%

You can copy \ paste the address above into a Windows Explorer path.

4.  Windows Accessibility

Verify if the workstation has any of the Microsoft Control Panel > Appearance and Personalization > Ease of Access Center tools enabled.

For example, with On-Screen Keyboard or Magnifier enabled Revit can crash at the Materials dialog in a similar manner.  If so, test disabling the access tools temporarily to see if the crash persists.

5.  Run as Admin

Right-click on the Revit 2011 shortcut > Run as Administrator.  See if the crash persists. 

6.  Simplified Startup

Restart Windows with Microsoft MSCONFIG > General, and do either a Diagnostic Startup or Selective Startup.  Verify if the crash occurs in a simplified environment.

If the issue persists, the following process will help us better understand if we are dealing with the same scenario.  If you are on Autodesk Subscription, I would recommend creating a support case with all of the information from this post.  If you are not on Subscription, please create a post on the Autodesk Revit Discussion Groups here referencing this information for additional assistance.

1.  If you log onto another workstation, and do the same process, does the crash occur?  Or is it simply isolated to this 1 workstation?

2.  Does the crash occur in a new project file, or is this isolated to a specific project file?

3.  What exact steps are you taking to cause the crash in the Materials Editor?

4.  Does the crash occur if you navigate to the materials dialog via different routes as follows:

[A]  Manage > Materials > Render Appearance > Replace
[B]  Select a wall > Edit Type > Structure Edit > Material > … > Render Appearance > Replace
[C]  Manage > Materials > Select “Wood” material > Render Appearance > Click down arrow next to Image > Edit Image

Image Example

Please include the following documents if creating a case:

• Latest Revit journal file from after the crash.  Journal locations here
• System Information .NFO file