Rendering
When rendering for long periods of time ensure that:
1. The PC does not turn off by itself through power settings
2. Ensure the updates do not automatically restart the PC by altering the working hours of the
PC.
3. Autodesk Provide a Cloud rendering Services it costs roughly 1 cloud credit per megapixel of
rendering.
4. Cloud Credits are sold in a pack of 100 for $100 (USD) as of 17/10/2016
Navisworks
Applying Materials to pipes
Under render select Autodesk Rendering and select material
In the selection tree select the items you wish to apply the material to and then right click
the material and press assign material.
Animations can be done live by pressing the record button or can be done by saving
checkpoints in the form of viewpoints the animation will move to each check point in a
smooth manor.
Saving animations as an .avi file will most likely result in a very large video file which will not
run on the usual media players. Best to output the results into multiple images and
compiling them into a video using windows movie maker.
The create light function under ‘Autodesk Rendering ‘ allows for the creation of sunlight as
well as interior lighting, of which intensity, colour, location and direction can be
manipulated.
3DS Max
Basic Modelling and scene setup
When rendering using 3DS Max the AutoCAD/Plant 3D model can be imported directly to
the program:
Press ALT + W to toggle between 1 viewport and 4 viewports
Camera Paths can be drawn using the Shapes button
Shapes can be manipulated using these buttons:
Create a camera with target as shown:
o The camera will focus on the target at all times, hold and drag to create the camera:
Move the target so that it faces the object of interest (can be done by simply moving the
pointer to the target or in the motions tab can be done using pick target)
Under motion, expand assign controller, select position and click assign controller, and select
path constraints
Scroll down and select add path and choose the circle
Speed of the camera can be altered by selecting the camera from the tree and clicking on
the curve editor
Frames is the number of frames to use per animation and will determine the speed of the
camera, value denotes the position within the animation ie 0 = animation start, 100 =
animation finished.
Under time configuration change the end time to that of the number of frames within the
animation
Tip: holding alt and middle mouse allows for rotation within the model, also holding shift
whilst moving an object will copy the object, select instance in order to link the copied shape
with the original i.e. if a property on the first item changes it will change for the other items
too.
Lighting, Sky and materials
In the Systems tab select daylight:
Pick a point for the compass and drag to generate the compass then click again to position
the sun
o UNVERIFIED: I believe the compass determines the horizon lines
Clicking the modifier tab allows us to edit the sun:
Change position to manual to allow manipulation of the sun
Additional lights may be created by selecting the lights tab select photometric and free
light, place anywhere.
You will notice the light will now not work this is due to the intensity of the light not being
high enough to overcome the light of the sun.
Ensure the appropriate settings have been enabled for lights and backgrounds:
Click ‘m’ to open the material editor, and select a blank material sphere and press get
materials
Choose material from drop down, this will assign the material to the sphere, then select the
model you want apply the material to and click the assign material to selection button next
to get material.
In render setup global illumination -> under advanced change noise filtering to standard
Moving back to common under time output, select single to render a single frame or active
segment to render all of the animation or range to render a certain range of frames
Larger the output size the longer it will take to render typically 1 frame at 480x270 = 10mins
render,1270x720 = 30mins, 1920x1080 = 60mins
In Common -> under render output choose a target destination of the render, selecting
multiple frames and choosing an image file format will render each frame as its own image,
while choosing a video format will produce a rendered video.
o It is usually best to render as still images as this will allow for some progress to be
retained in instances where the rendering process fails.
