Revit’s cloud rendering feature provides architects and designers with a powerful, efficient way to create high-quality visuals for presentations, stakeholder discussions, or client approvals. Leveraging Autodesk’s cloud-rendering capabilities allows users to save time, free up local computing resources, and create stunning images with customizable options, including panoramas, solar studies, and still images. How to navigate Revit cloud rendering, understand your options, and maximize its benefits.
Setting Up Your Cloud Rendering
To get started with cloud rendering in Revit, ensure you have a Revit project open and set the desired 3D view. Click on the “Render in Cloud” button in the “View” tab. This will launch a dialog with different options to customize your rendering output.
1. Output Type
Revit offers several rendering output types tailored to various visualization needs:
Still Image: Ideal for high-resolution, static images of a model, often used in presentations.
Panorama / Stereo Panorama: Creates an interactive 360-degree image, which is perfect for immersive experiences. Panoramas allow viewers to explore the space from a single vantage point, adding an engaging layer for clients.
Illuminance: Provides insights into artificial lighting, crucial for interior layouts where lighting is a priority.
2. Render Quality and Image Size
Cloud rendering allows you to adjust the render quality and image size by mega pixels, which directly impacts the quality and rendering time. Revit offers different megapixel options, ranging from Small (0.25MP) to Maximum (up to 16MP).
The render quality:
Standard: For quick previews or small images, you can use low resolution, which typically does not consume cloud credits. This is ideal when experimenting with different views or testing lighting adjustments.
Final: Producing high-quality images will require more cloud credits but results in crisper visuals. These options are best suited for final presentations or detailed visuals shared with clients or stakeholders.
Small and Medium Pixels on Standard Render Quality do not consume any cloud credits.
Cloud Rendering runs in the background, allowing you to continue working.
3. Time of Day and Location
Revit allows you to set specific times of day for solar studies, enabling accurate solar angles and shadow projections for any given location. Adjusting the time and date, particularly for solar studies, helps demonstrate how sunlight will interact with a building year-round.
In Revit > Navigate to:
- View Control Bar:
2. Turn on Sun Path
3. Adjust the Sun Settings (Contextual Modify Tab or Dialog Box) and do a solar study
With your location set and the sun setting adjusted to your specification, you can do a solar study on the 3D View which you rendered and render a Video Clip of your Solar Study.
To do a Solar Study Video Clip Rendering:
In Revit > View Tab > Cloud Rendering Drop Down Menu > Select Render Gallery
Select your Project on the web browser > Open your rendered still image > Select Solar Study on the icons above the rendering
Adjust the settings to your specification. Example: Time of Day & Aspect Ratio.
Solar Study: This option lets you visualize how sunlight interacts with the building at different times of the day and year. Solar studies are instrumental for understanding daylighting and its effects on the design.
Using Cloud Credits Efficiently
Autodesk’s cloud rendering service operates on cloud credits, a currency required for certain high-resolution renderings.
No Credits Required: Basic, low-pixel renderings generally do not consume cloud credits, making them a great option for draft-quality views or simple client previews.
Credit Consumption: Higher-resolution images, panoramas, and other complex renderings will consume cloud credits, as they demand more processing power. Ensure to track your credits for budgeting purposes, especially when working on larger projects.
To check your cloud credit balance, log into your Autodesk account, where you can monitor usage and purchase additional credits as needed.
Practical Tips for Cloud Rendering
1. Preview Locally: Before rendering in the cloud, use Revit’s local rendering options to preview your settings. This helps minimize unnecessary cloud renderings and save credits.
2. Optimize Materials and Lighting: Ensure that materials and lighting settings in your model are accurate, as these significantly affect rendering quality and times.
3. Render in Batches: If you need multiple images, consider setting up batch renderings. This allows you to schedule multiple views and render types to process consecutively in the cloud, streamlining workflow and credit usage.
Conclusion
Revit’s cloud-rendering feature offers versatile options that cater to various visualization needs, whether it’s producing still images, creating immersive panoramas, or analysing sunlight patterns through solar studies.
With careful credit management and an understanding of the different settings, cloud rendering becomes an invaluable tool for presenting design intent, enhancing client engagement, and achieving high-quality visuals without taxing your local computer resources.
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