Well, here we are: the chapter you’ve probably been chomping at the bit to get into—and for good reason. The output that you create from this chapter will make your bosses and, better yet, your clients get behind your presentations. As I always say, none of this software is any good if you can’t capture the work to begin with. That being said, in this chapter we’ll focus on creating renderings, adding animations, and providing solar studies based on a project’s geographical location.
The first item we need to tackle is how to go about creating an exterior rendering. Just trying to address the subject of rendering as a whole would convolute the matter. The thing is, when you create a rendering, lighting obviously plays a major role. Day lighting and artificial lighting are two completely different beasts; one will influence the effect of the other. For example, if you’re rendering an exterior scene, there are bound to be windows. If this rendering appears at night or at dusk, the interior lights will be turned on.
The objective of the first section of this chapter is to create a rendering from the exterior of a building using day-lighting scenes, sky, and shadowing to create the rendering you need.
In the previous chapter, you completed one of the most difficult tasks when it comes to creating a proper exterior rendering: rotating a building in terms of true north. It stands to reason that your rendering won’t be accurate if you have a glass curtain wall that is facing north but still have sunlight pouring through it.
To get started, open the model you’ve been working on. If you missed the previous chapter, go to the book’s web page at www.sybex.com/go/revit2012ner. From there, you can browse to Chapter 19 and find the file called NER-30.rvt.
The objective of the first procedure is to create a camera view that you can use for your first rendering. You’ll then adjust the view controls and look at the sunlight effects. Follow along:
1. In the Project Browser, open the Level 1 floor plan.
2. Zoom in on the corridor area in the middle of the building.
3. Add some curtain walls to the corridors, as shown in Figure 19.1. (Come on, I know you can do it.) These are Level 1 to Level 3 with a -6˝ (-152mm) offset from Level 3. You can use the Curtain Wall Storefront.
4. On the View tab, select 3D View Camera.
5. Create a camera view of the area shown in Figure 19.1.
6. When the view opens, rename it Rendering View Corridor.
7. Open the Rendering View Corridor view (it should open automatically).
8. Select the crop region, and widen the view as shown in Figure 19.2.
9. In the View Control bar, set Detail Level to Fine.
FIGURE 19.1Add the curtain walls, and create the camera view.
10. Change Visual Style to Realistic.
11. In the Properties dialog, click the Edit button in the Graphic Display Options row (see Figure 19.2).
12. In the Graphic Display Options dialog, click Cast Shadows and Ambient Lighting.
13. Turn on the Gradient background (at the bottom of the dialog).
14. Click the […] button to the right of the Sun Setting field (at the top of the dialog in the Lighting area). Doing so brings up the Sun Settings dialog.
FIGURE 19.2Selecting Graphic Display Options and changing the crop region
15. Make sure the Still choice is selected for Solar Study, and choose your geographic location for the settings Date, Time, and Location. (I chose Syracuse, NY, and my birthday [05/10 is the default].) You can change these settings if you would like (see Figure 19.3).
In the Rendering dialog, you’ll see quite a few choices. The choices will vary depending on the scene you’re trying to capture. The next procedure will move through the Rendering dialog from top to bottom.
At the top of the Rendering dialog is a Render button. This is the last button you’ll click: it starts the rendering process. For the rest, follow these steps:
1. For Output Settings, set Resolution to Printer and 300 DPI.
2. In the Lighting category, set Scheme to Exterior: Sun Only.
3. Set Sun to Sunlight From Top Right by clicking the […] button in the Sun Settings row. You’ll need to change Solar Study to Lighting to get this choice.
4. In the Background category, set Style to Sky: Few Clouds (see Figure 19.5).
5. Click the Rendering button. After the scene is rendered, it should appear similar to Figure 19.6.
So you waited half your day for this rendering to complete. If you’re like me, you then carefully move your mouse around, wondering how long it will be before something happens and you lose your rendering.
The next procedure will look at how to save the rendering to the model, and also how to export the rendering to an image. Follow these steps:
1. In the Rendering dialog, click the Save To Project button, as shown in Figure 19.7.
2. Call the new rendering view Exterior Rendering at Corridor; then click OK.
3. Click the Export button.
4. Save the file somewhere you can retrieve it. You can choose whatever file format you prefer.
5. At the bottom of the Rendering dialog, in the Display section, click Show The Model. The rendering reverts back to the original graphics style.
6. Click the Show The Rendering button. The rendering reappears.
Camera.
