Interoperability Tutorials > Using Autodesk Revit >
Scene Management and Nighttime Lighting

In this lesson, first you use Layers and the Scene Explorer to organize the objects created in Revit, then you illuminate the beach house with artificial light so you can create nighttime renderings.

Set up the lesson:

- Continue working on your own scene file or open beachhouse_scene_management.max.

Prepare the scene for artificial illumination:

1. Press H and on the Select From Scene dialog, select the mr Sky Portal001 object.
2. On the Modify panel mr Skylight Portal Parameters rollout, turn off the Sky Portal.
3. Select the SunAndSky-002 object.
4. On the Daylight Parameters rollout, turn off the two Active toggles for Sunlight and Skylight.
5. From the main menu, choose Rendering Environment. On the Environment And Effects dialog Common Parameters rollout, turn off Use Map.
   NoteEven when the Sunlight and Skylight are turned off, the Environment Map associated with the Skylight affects the rendering, and can cause unwanted brightness in reflective highlights.
6. Close the Environment And Effects Dialog.

   Now the scene has no daylight illumination, and is ready to be lit by artificial lights.

Set up the Scene Explorer to reorganize Revit objects:

Now that you have bound the beach house geometry to the 3ds Max Design scene, you can use 3ds Max Design tools to organize it. First, you will place the furniture on a separate layer, so you can hide or unhide the furniture easily.

1. Right-click an empty area of the main toolbar, and from the drop-down menu, choose Layers.

   3ds Max Design opens the Layers toolbar. However, layer information is not included for geometry imported from an FBX file, so at present there are only two layers in the scene: the default, 0 layer, and a beachhouse layer that contains all the geometry, including lights, cameras, furniture, and the terrain and the building itself.

   You will use the 3ds Max Design Scene Explorer to improve this organization.

2. Keep the Layers toolbar open for now.
3. From the main menu, choose Tools New Scene Explorer.
4. In the Scene Explorer View field, rename the view Revit Data.

   In this view, you will reorganize data elements so you can work on the scene more easily. First, you add some columns so you can see more information about objects.

5. Right-click the column header and from the drop-down menu, choose Configure Columns.

   3ds Max Design opens a Configure Columns dialog.

6. Move the Configure Columns dialog to the right of the Scene Explorer window.
   TipIf you resize the Configure Columns dialog to make it taller vertically, it is easier to find the columns you want to add to the Scene Explorer.
7. If the Scene Explorer does not sow a Color column, drag the Color column from the Column Chooser dialog, and drop it on column header to the right of the Name column.

   3ds Max Design adds the Color column to the Scene Explorer.

8. Drag the right edge of the Scene Explorer window so you can see the new Color column. Move the Column Chooser dialog so you can see it, too.
   TipYou can resize individual columns by dragging their divider edges in the header.
9. In order, drag the following columns from the Configure Columns dialog to the column header. Drop each new column on top of the last one you added, so they line up in order from last to first.
   - Shadow On
   - Light On
   - Hidden
   - Revit Category (this column might already be present)
   - Type
   TipAfter you add a column, you also can move its position by dragging and dropping.
10. Close the Configure Columns dialog.

Move the furniture onto a separate layer:

1. On the Scene Explorer, click the plus-sign icon to expand the beachhouse.fbx entry that contains the geometry imported from Revit.
2. Click the Revit Category column header.

   Now all the objects that were imported from the Revit scene file are organized by category. Scroll so you can see the objects in the Furniture category.

3. Select the first furniture object in the list, hold down the Shift key, and then select the last furniture object to select it and all furniture objects in between.
4. Click the Hidden check box of the furniture object with the yellow highlight (the one you Shift+clicked). 3ds Max Design hides all the furniture objects. Click the Hidden check box again to unhide the furniture.
5. On the Layers toolbar, click (Create New Layer).

   3ds Max Design opens a Create New Layer dialog.

6. Name the new layer Furniture, leave Move Selection To New Layer turned on, then click OK.
7. On the Layers toolbar, open the Layers drop-down list.

   Now the furniture is on a Furniture layer of its own, apart from the other beachhouse objects. You can use Show/Hide, Select and other layer controls for these Revit objects, just as you can with objects created in 3ds Max Design.

8. Close the Layers toolbar.

Select the lights for artificial illumination:

You imported the Revit scene with its photometric lights turned off because you did not need them for daylight rendering. Now you can use the Scene Explorer to turn the lights back on with a simple click of the mouse.

1. On the Scene Explorer, click the Type column header so the light objects appear at the top of the objects list.
2. Click and Shift+click to select all the lights except for mr Sky Portal001 and SunAndSky-002 (which is actually a child of the Helper Compass001).
3. Click the Light On check box for the entry with the yellow highlight (the one you Shift+clicked).

   3ds Max Design turns on all the lights you selected.

   TipYou can also use the Light Lister to turn lights on and off, but in the Scene Explorer it is easier to select multiple light objects.
4. Close the Scene Explorer.
   NoteYou can redisplay any customized Scene Explorers, such as Revit Data, by choosing main menu Tools menu Saved Scene Explorers. A list of saved explorers appears as a submenu.

Render the interior at nighttime:

1. Activate the Camera002 viewport and click (Rendered Frame Window) to display the Rendered Frame window.
2. Click (Environment And Effects Dialog (Exposure Controls)) to display the Environment And Effects dialog.
3. On the mr Photographic Exposure Control rollout Exposure group, set Shutter Speed to 2 (1/2 Sec.) and Aperture to 2.8, a slower speed more suitable for nighttime lighting conditions.
4. On the Exposure Control rollout, click Render Preview.
   WarningDepending on your system, this preview can take about four minutes to render.
5. On the Rendered Frame Window, click Render to render your night scene.

   It can take a long time to render this scene, on some systems in the neighborhood of 1 1/2 hours, so if you do not wish to complete the rendering, click the Cancel button on the Rendering progress dialog, and view the result in the next illustration.

   The rendered result shows that while most of the light sources are illuminating the interior quite nicely, the kitchen light is too bright, washing out detail in the cabinets and appliances. But rather than go back and adjust the light intensity in Revit, you can use controls in 3ds Max Design to accomplish the same task.

6. Select the kitchen light, Pendant Light - Linear - 2 Lamp 48” - 120V 0, and in the Modify panel Dimming group, set the Resulting Intensity to 50 % (percent).

   This reduces light intensity from 5280 lumens to 2640.

7. On the Rendered Frame Window, clone the rendered frame, and then render the image again.

   A comparison of the results shows the effect of dimming the kitchen light. The details of the cabinets are easier to see, and there is less glare on the kitchen floor.

Save your work:

- Save the scene as my_beachhouse_nighttime.

Summary

You have learned how to take models created in Revit and bring them into 3ds Max Design to create professional-looking renderings.

If you wish, you can test your knowledge of the camera, lighting, and exposure techniques you followed in this tutorial by creating, then rendering the following views of the bungalow model.

Bedroom

Living room

Kitchen

NoteFor the nighttime scene beachhouse_final.max, we changed the color of the Ocean object to a dim bluish gray.

The Exterior view at night

All these views are set up and ready to render in the scene beachhouse_final.max.