Architectural Visualization in Revit
For several years it was common to hear the comment "Revit is great, but you can't render in it". That wasn't actually true, but over the last few years our rendering capabilities in the software have greatly improved. The image at the top of this article is a rendering of my model of Alberici headquarters in St Louis, Missouri. While not "perfect" it illustrates well what the software is capable of.
The next image was created at a slightly lower quality, so it's a little grainy. But for an image that only took a few minutes to render it's impressive and accurately communicates what the building looks like at that time of day.
The next image illustrates the rear of the building at dusk. If you examine it closely a few of the interior lights may look a little off, but that is a result of the way the lights were constructed and they can (and were) easily adjusted. This was a simple end of the day rendering to see how the building design was coming along.
Before you think I'm avoiding an interior rendering, I'm not. Let's take a look at the lower level.
Finally, I completed a low resolution rendering from the second floor at a different time of day.
Everything you see took one person (me) less than 8 days to complete. That includes material choices, lighting adjustments, creating the model from scratch, preparing an accurate site with contours, and even creating the parking garage on the other side of the courtyard. The bulk of the rendering could have been completed much sooner if I hadn't spent the time with the contours, parking garage, and various glass panels which can be seen in other renderings that I created of the interior space.
So if you hear "You can't render in Revit" or "You can't do realistic renderings in Revit" I hope this has convinced you that isn't true. There are other solutions which are faster or provide more finite control, so Revit isn't always the proper solution. But it certainly can get the job done if you need some quick still images to illustrate your design.
Great work, thank you. I use ArchCAD, and I am interested how Revit compares to ArchiCad in quick renderings.
Brian, en verdad un trabajo estupendo!!! felicidades
Pretty nice work. I love seeing decent renders in Revit. You should adjust your exposure control a bit. The "yard" photos are a little to dark, but overall it is a good use of Revit. There are also settings that you must turn on for inside glass scenarios. Without looking, they are in the advanced rendering dialog box. There are radio boxes called "use Windows as daylight portals". This allows the daylight energy to magically enter the glass. It gives more realistic shadows. Beware. Render time increase. I can't wait until Vray for Revit is in my hands. I love Vray for 3ds Max, but it is expensive and requires high end knowledge for installs.
Nice! Adding people and site entourage would add scale and friendliness to the environment if a client was to see it.
Good work Brian, I'm using revit in the same way, I think good renderings in revit comes down to personal skills, like with everything else.