Rendering with AutoCAD using nXtRender

Transcription

R e nde ring with AutoC AD using nXtR e nde r
Rendering with AutoCAD using nXtRender
Copyright 2013 - Render Plus Systems
Title Page
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Title Page
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 - Getting Started
1.1 - R e nde ring O ve rvie w
1.2 - Download and Installation
1.3 - Lice nsing
Chapter 2 - Tutorials and Videos
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
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R e nde ring with AutoC AD
Installation Vide o
Lighting Basics Tutorial
Inte rior Lights Tutorial
nXtR e nde r Basic Mate rials Tutorial
Multipass re nde ring Vide o
Chapter 3 - The Basics
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6
3.7
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R e nde ring
Tone Mapping
C olor Maps
Adding and assigning m ate rials
Lighting
Adding lights
W ork ing with Plants
Chapter 4 - Beyond the Basics
4.1 - W ork ing with te x ture s
4.2 - W ork ing with de cals
4.3 - W ork ing with R e fle ction Shade rs
4.4 - Adding indire ct lighting to an e x te rior re nde ring
4.5 - C om bining daylighting and artificial lighting for an inte rior re nde ring
4.6 - W ork ing with HDR Is
4.7 - Lighting C hanne ls
4.8 - Using IES (photom e tric) lights
4.9 - R e nde ring Engine s
4.10 - C ontrolling te sse lation-- sm oothing curve d obje cts
4.11 - Using Archvision R PC with nXtR e nde r
4.12 - Using Te x ture d Me sh File s (3DS or O BJ) with nXtR e nde r
Chapter 5 - Lighting Palette
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4
5.5
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The
The
The
The
The
Sun Tab
Sk y Tab
Lights Tab
Back grounds Tab
Advance d Lighting tab
Chapter 6 - Materials Palette
6.1 - Mate rials Tab
6.2 - Advance d Mate rial Editor
6.3 - The Mate rial Tre e
Chapter 7 - Other Palettes
7.1 - R e nde r Se ttings
7.2 - O bje ct Prope rtie s
7.3 - The Advance d O bje ct Prope rtie s Tab
Chapter 8 - Walkabout and Animation
8.1 - W alk About
8.2 - 3D slide show anim ations
Chapter 9 - nXtRender Add-ons
9.1 - Back ground W izard
9.2 - Laye r Mate rial Sche m e s
9.3 - R e nde r R e ady Block s
Chapter 10 - Other Advanced Topics
10.1
10.2
10.3
10.4
10.5
10.6
10.7
10.8
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Using Burn
Im age Editor
Batch re nde ring
R e nde r Farm
C onve rting Le gacy AR 3/AR 4 Mate rial Librarie s
Using Le gacy AR 3/AR 4 Plants
Volum e tric Fog
Sub-surface Scatte ring
Chapter 11 - Troubleshooting
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Title Page
11.1 - R e nde ring has som e bright spots or "spe ck le " artifacts
11.2 - Mate rials assigne d by laye r are not appe aring in the re nde ring
11.3 - C rash occurs on 32-bit syste m (hi-re s or com ple x m ode l)
Chapter 12 - Miscellaneous
12.1 - Te chnical Spe cifications
12.2 - nXtR e nde r Platform s
12.3 - C ontact Inform ation
Index
Title Page
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Chapter 1 - Getting Started
nXtRender Getting Started
Ge t starte d with an ove rvie w of R e nde ring, Installation, Lice nsing and som e vide o tutorials.
Sala 020612 by Jorge Javie r Lara Dom inque z
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C hapte r 1 - Ge tting Starte d
nXtRender Rendering Overview
nXtR e nde r cre ate s stunning life -lik e im age s from AutoC AD m ode ls. nXtR e nde r use s R ay Tracing and photom e tric re nde ring
te chnologie s from inside AutoC AD to cre ate high-quality photo-re alistic im age s from 3D Mode ls.
R e nde ring by Surya Murali using nXt Engine
W ith nXtR e nde r, cre ating pre se ntation quality im age s from AutoC AD m ode ls is e asy. Sim ply add m ate rials, lights, sun, sk y
and the n re nde r the m ode l.
General Features
Easy to use , work s se am le ssly inside AutoC AD, and provide s a host of fe ature s that spe e d and sim plify im age re nde ring.
Use s both raytracing and Indire ct Lighting to cre ate sophisticate d single -fram e im age s and anim ations.
Autom atically calculate s indire ct light, hard and soft shadows, color ble e ding, re fle ctions, transluce ncy, transpare ncy,
re fraction, highlight, de pth of fie ld, and de pth atte nuation.
Supports m ultiproce ssors and back ground proce ssing.
Include s m athe m atically ge ne rate d 3-D plants with se asonal variation, giving re alistic plants, shadows, and re fle ctions.
W ork s inside AutoC AD. R e nde r change s to the m ode l im m e diate ly. You ne ve r ne e d to e x port or start ove r.
Progre ssive -re fine m e nt re nde ring algorithm s with on-scre e n pre vie w.
Save and re store plant, e x posure , sun and sk y, and e nvironm e nt se ttings.
Graphical library browse rs for m ate rials and plants.
R PC 3D O bje ct support.
Post-proce ssing for quick adjustm e nt of brightne ss, Lighting C hanne ls, fog, glare , and de pth of fie ld.
R e nde ring O ve rvie w - 1.1
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Download and Installation - 1.2
nXtRender for AutoCAD - Installation
Download
nXtR e nde r can be downloade d from :
http://nx tre nde r.com /download/
Installation
Afte r downloading nXtR e nde r for AutoC AD, run the installation.
W he n you ne x t start AutoC AD, type in the com m and: nXt
nXtRender Installation Video
W atch Vide o
www.youtube .com /watch?v=BrU4H64AsEI
In this Vide o, Danie l Hargre ave s of AccuStudio will show you how to download and install nXtR e nde r for re nde ring your
AutoC AD drawings.
nXtRender for AutoC AD is the re nde ring e ngine that allows you to e asily cre ate stunning, life -lik e im age s from your 3D
m ode ls inside AutoC AD and AutoC AD Archite cture . nXtR e nde r provide s the highe st quality in AutoC AD visualization solution
available today.
Additional
FAQ
nXtRender does not load
I type nXt at the command prompt but nXtRender does not load. Instead AutoCAD produces the error message Unknown Command
"nXt".
Norm ally nXtR e nde r re giste rs its com m ands with AutoC AD during installation. O n occasion, this m e chanism m ay fail. In this
case you will ne e d to m anually load nXtR e nde r the first tim e you run it in a particular ve rsion of AutoC AD. Use the following
proce dure :
1. Type _appload at the com m and line .
2. Navigate to the folde r whe re nXtR e nde r was installe d. This is norm ally C :\Program File s\AccuR e nde r nXt.
3. Se le ct one of the following file s de pe nding on your platform :
AccuR e nde r nXt.arx -O R - AccuR e nde r nXt64.arx (AutoC AD 2007 - 2009)
AccuR e nde r nXt_18_.arx -O R - AccuR e nde r nXt_18_64.arx (AutoC AD 2010 - 2012)
AccuR e nde r nXt_19_.arx -O R - AccuR e nde r nXt_19_64.arx (AutoC AD 2013 - 2015)
4. Pre ss Load
C he ck the AutoC AD com m and line to ve rify that the application loade d without e rror. At this point you should be able to type
nx t or ar5 to launch the application. You should not have to re pe at this proce dure again for this ve rsion of AutoC AD. Sim ply
typing nx t or ar5 at the com m and prom pt should cause nXtR e nde r to load. You m ay ne e d to re pe at this proce dure if you
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install anothe r ve rsion of AutoC AD.
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Licensing - 1.3
nXtRender for AutoCAD - Licensing
30 day free Trial
nXtR e nde r will run in full m ode (no wate rm ark s or lim itations) for 30 days. Afte r 30 days you will ne e d to purchase a lice nse
from :
http://nx tre nde r.com /purchase /
Licensing
Start AutoC AD and type in nXt
Use the se click to bring up the lice nse dialog:
Fill in the lice nsing inform ation and click "C he ck Lice nse and Validate "
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Lice nsing - 1.3
and fill out the form , e nte ring this lice nse code , com pany nam e e tc.
C lick C he ck Lice nse and Validate to obtain an Authorization C ode for your com pute r, for this application.
If, for som e re ason, you cannot use Validate O nline to ge t your Auth C ode : click R e port Proble m to e m ail the validation
inform ation to us, and we will se nd you an Auth C ode by e m ail.
(If you cannot se nd e m ails from this m achine , you can click C opy, copy the inform ation to the clipboard, paste it into a
docum e nt, transfe r it to anothe r m achine and e m ail it to us)
Lice nsing - 1.3
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Chapter 2 - Tutorials and Videos
nXtRender Tutorials and Videos
R e nde ring in AutoC AD
Installation Vide o
Inte rior Lights Tutorial
Basic Mate rials Tutorial
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C hapte r 2 - Tutorials and Vide os
Rendering with AutoCAD
W atch Vide o
In this vide o, Danie l shows you how re nde r your 3D m ode l using AutoC AD and the n how to ge t e ve n be tte r re sults using an
inte grate d add-on re nde re r nXtR e nde r.
nXtR e nde r (form ally calle d AccuR e nde r nXt) m ak e s it e asy to add lights, m ate rials, tre e s, back grounds, e tc. to ge t a
profe ssional re nde ring re sult quick ly from your AutoC AD m ode l.
Additional
R e nde ring with AutoC AD - 2.1
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Installation Video - 2.2
W atch Vide o
In this Vide o, Danie l Hargre ave s of AccuStudio will show you how to download and install nXtR e nde r for re nde ring your
AutoC AD drawings.
nXtRender for AutoC AD is the re nde ring e ngine that allows you to e asily cre ate stunning, life -lik e im age s from your 3D
m ode ls inside AutoC AD and AutoC AD Archite cture . nXtR e nde r provide s the highe st quality in AutoC AD visualization solution
available today.
Additional
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Installation Vide o - 2.2
nXtRender Lighting Basics Tutorial
This Lighting Basics Tutorial will show you how to do basic lighting in nXtR e nde r.
Lighting Basics Video
Lighting Basics Video
W atch Vide o
www.youtube .com /watch?v=A-u0z0XKn9k
In this Vide o, Danie l Hargre ave s of AccuStudio will show you how to use the lighting de faults to cre ate basic lighting conditions
for nXtR e nde r while re nde ring your AutoC AD drawings.
Lighting De faults m ak e it e asy to se t the lighting param e te rs for inte rior sce ne s, e x te rior sce ne s, or to chose studio for
re nde ring of individual obje cts without having to k now a lot about the de tails of lighting se ttings
Additional
Step 1 - Download Model
Download m ode l from : AccuStudio
Load the m ode l into AutoC AD and start nXt
Step 2 - Add a Ground Plane
Lighting Basics Tutorial - 2.3
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Go to the W idge t icon and se le ct Groundplane .
You'll be able to put a plane unde r your m ode l.
Step 3 - Render with Studio Lighting
C lick the double Down Arrow on the Lighting Tab to e x pand the tab.
The re are 4 pre se t lighting choice s - Studio, Ex te rior, Daylight and Inte rior Lighting - se le ct Studio.
C lick the gre e n car to start the re nde ring.
Le t it run for about 100 passe s.
Notice the subtle shadows unde r the e ave s and on the ground.
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Step 4 - Change the lighting to exterior
This is a single source of light lik e the sun le ts you change azim uth and altitude . W e 're going to stay with the de fault.
C lick the gre e n car and le t the re nde ring run for about fifty passe s.
W e will e x plore the othe r two se ttings - Inte rior Daylight and Inte rior Lighting - in anothe r Tutorial. The y work be st for inte rior
sce ne s with inte rior lights.
Step 5 - Use Model colors
Now le t's e x plore changing the m ode l to use m ode l colors and studio lights
Go to the re nde r se tting, click on the double down arrow, scroll to the bottom and put a che ck m ark ne st to Use object color.
Go back to lighting, m ak e sure studio lighting is se t, and click the gre e n car to be gin the re nde ring proce ss
Inste ad of an all-white m ode l, nXtR e nde r has loade d laye r colors into the m ode l. It will tak e m ore passe s to ge t a good
re nde ring with colors.
Le t it run for about 200 passe s.
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Notice that the back ground is in white . This is be cause the m ode l colors re spond to the lighting.
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nXtRender Interior Lights Tutorial
This Tutorial will show you show you how to use the lighting de faults to cre ate basic lighting conditions for nXtR e nde r while
re nde ring your AutoC AD drawings.
Lighting De faults m ak e it e asy to se t the lighting param e te rs for inte rior sce ne s, e x te rior sce ne s, or to chose studio for
re nde ring of individual obje cts without having to k now a lot about the de tails of lighting se ttings.
Interior Lights Video
W atch Vide o
www.youtube .com /watch?v=e fA5Z-sPGpg
In this Vide o, Danie l will show you how to conve rt e x isting ge om e try in your m ode l to lights, and to place ne w lam ps into your
m ode l using nXtR e nde r for AutoC AD.
Additional
Interior Lights Tutorial
Download Model
Download m ode l from : AccuStudio
Load the m ode l into AutoC AD and start nXt
Isolate Light Fixtures
C hange your vie w, and turn off othe r laye rs to isolate the light obje cts.
This will m ak e se le cting the lights m uch e asie r.
Inte rior Lights Tutorial - 2.4
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Interior Lights Tutorial - 2.4
Select and Name Light Objects
The re are two m e thods for cre ating lights. O ne is to cre ate a light source and place it in the m ode l. The othe r is to se le ct an
e x isting obje ct and give it light prope rtie s.
First, se le ct an e x isting obje ct and give it a nam e in this case ce iling light.
C ontinue pick ing the lights and giving the m nam e s
Mark Objects as Lights
O nce the y are all se le cte d and nam e d you can change the obje cts into lights by highlighting the m , right click ing, and se le cting
Prope rtie s.
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You can se t the wattage , or othe r prope rtie s as de sire d.
Render Scene with Lights
Turn all of your laye rs back on.
Se le ct the Inte rior Lighting De fault, and the n click on the gre e n car to be gin the re nde ring.
A good re nde ring with lights can tak e m any passe s to com ple te .
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Interior Lights Tutorial - 2.4
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nXtRender Basic Materials Tutorial
This tutorial will show you how to cre ate m ate rials and use m ate rials from librarie s using nXtR e nde r for AutoC AD. (form e rly
AccuR e nde r nXt)
C re ate a solid color m ate rial, cre ate a m ate rial with a te x ture , se le ct and place m ate rials from librarie s.
Creating and using Materials Video
W atch Vide o
www.youtube .com /watch?v=q0Dnl5Pnog4
In this Vide o, Danie l will show you how to cre ate m ate rials and use m ate rials from librarie s using nXtR e nde r for AutoC AD.
Additional
Basic Materials Tutorial
Download Model
You can download sam ple m ode ls for this vide o from accustudio.com /work shop/m ode ls
Load the m ode l into AutoC AD and launch nXtR e nde r (type nXt)
Materials Tab
C lick the double down arrow for m ate rials and you'll se e the re 's a sm all toolbar. W e 're going to focus on the first fe w icons.
You can e ithe r cre ate a ne w m ate rial, or load one from an e x isting source .
Create New Material
C lick the down arrow ne x t to little purple sphe re the re se ve ral m ate rial choice s.
Start with solid color.
nXtR e nde r Basic Mate rials Tutorial - 2.5
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nXtRender Basic Materials Tutorial - 2.5
This brings up the basic m ate rial dialog box
C lick on the gray or colore d square . This brings up the color whe e l.
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C lick in the color box you'll se e that the m ate rial change s in re al tim e .
So you have a ge ne ral ide a with a look lik e in your m ode l.
Create a Textured Material
C lick on the te x ture d icon it brings up a dialog box e s se le ct a bitm ap.
Se t the Scale of the bitm ap.
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The scale should re fle ct the re al world size that you ne e d for your bitm ap.
Set as Bump Map
C lick the Advance d button to load the Advance d Mate rial Editor.
C lick the Te x ture Tab.
Se t the Bum p Map value to 2.5.
This will incre ase the 3D e ffe ct of the te x ture d m ate rial.
Use Saved or Library Material
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C lick the Open icon to se le ct a m ate rie l from the disk .
You can download pre -m ade m ate rials from nXtR e nde r:
www.accure nde r.com /page /m ate rial-librarie s
or from AccuStudio.
[www.accustudio.com /e x change /m ate rials
Download som e m ate rials, and se le ct one from the disk .
The re are two ways to place m ate rials with nXtR e nde r.
Drag and Drop a Material
Drag a m ate rial from the m ate rial browse r to an obje ct in AutoC AD.
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Hove r ove r the obje ct and choose place m e nt by laye r or by obje ct.
Place m e nt by laye r will assign the m ate rial to all obje cts that are on the laye r.
Render Model
Afte r you finish assigning the m ate rials, re nde r a vie w of te m ode l.
Le t it run for about fifte e n passe s with daylight pre se ts.
If you happy with the m ate rials,the n re nde r any vie w you lik e .
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Multipass rendering Video
Mutli Pass Rendering Technology Video
W atch Vide o
www.youtube .com /watch?v=3o1oJv5l9Do
This vide o, tak e n from a W e binar for the nXtR e nde r/IR e nde r/AccuR e nde r nXt Engine e x plains som e of the advantage s of
m ulti-pass re nde ring.
Multi Pass re nde ring le ts you quick ly se e what your re nde ring is going to look lik e – afte r the first fe w passe s – and the e ithe r
change se ttings, or le t the re nde ring continue go ge t be tte r.
In this vide o Scott Davidson shows you how m ulti-pass re nde ring work s for nXtR e nde r for AutoC AD, R e vit or Sk e tchUp.
Multipass re nde ring Vide o - 2.6
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Chapter 3 - The Basics
nXtRender The Basics
Ge t Starte d with re nde ring, lights and m ate rials.
Apartam e nto e n Los Naranjos by Ale jandro Te sta
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C hapte r 3 - The Basics
Rendering
Starting and Stopping a Rendering
C lick the R e nde r AutoC AD Vie wport button on the pale tte to initiate a re nde ring of the curre nt AutoC AD vie wport:
By de fault, the re nde ring proce ss will continue re fining the im age , pass by pass, until you te ll it to stop by pre ssing the Stop
R e nde ring button. This allows you to m anage the trade -off be twe e n tim e and quality. The longe r you allow the re nde ring to
continue , the m ore close ly it will re se m ble its fully-conve rge d or "corre ct" re sult. You can stop a re nde ring afte r se conds,
m inute s, hours or days. It's e ntire ly up to you.
Pre ssing the Pause R e nde ring button once will suspe nd the re nde ring afte r the curre nt pass is com ple te d. Pre ssing the sam e
button again will cause the re nde ring to te rm inate as soon as possible . A suspe nde d re nde ring can pick up whe re it le ft off by
using the C ontinue button. Pre ssing the C lose button on the window fram e im m e diate ly te rm inate s the re nde ring and close s
the display.
You can continue to work in AutoC AD while a re nde ring is active , by pre ssing the Minim ize button on the nXtR e nde r display.
The display can be re store d at any tim e by pre ssing the Show C urre nt R e nde ring button, or by using the W indows Task bar.
Additional Notes
nXtR e nde r produce s im age s by using re al world lum inance value s. The proce ss of conve rting lum inance value s to
displayable pix e ls is calle d Tone Mapping .
He re are som e sugge ste d num be r of passe s for a satisfactory re sult unde r a fe w diffe re nt sce narios (your actual
re sults m ay vary):
De fault e x te rior sce ne s, 10-15 passe s
Ex te riors with indire ct lighting, 25-50 passe s
Inte rior artificial light sim ulations, 25 passe s pe r se t of 8 lights
Inte rior daylight sim ulations, 50-100 passe s
Studio m ode ls, 10-15 passe s
If you do not want your re nde ring to continue inde finite ly, you can use the Passe s se tting on the R e nde r Se ttings tab
to se t an autom atic stopping point. A Passe s se tting of 0, the de fault, m e ans continue inde finite ly until m anual
te rrm ination.
An Autosave option is provide d in the R e nde r Se ttings tab to force nXtR e nde r to save your re nde ring pe riodically. This
m ay re sult in usable work e ve n afte r a powe r outage has inte rrupte d the proce ss. Se e Saving your R e nde ring, be low.
The status bar at the bottom of the nXtR e nde r display shows m ouse -ove r inform ation about e ach pix e l in the
re nde ring, including the R GB value (lum inance ) and the re sulting color afte r tone -m apping.
Rendering Resolution
Se t the re nde ring re solution in the R e nde r Se ttings tab of the nXtR e nde r pale tte . The Total Pix e ls option is an e asy way to
m atch the AutoC AD vie wport e x actly. The de fault se tting of 300,000 pix e ls provide s a good se tting for doing proofs or im age s
de stine d for the we b. 3,000,000 pix e ls or m ore m ay be re quire d for a final, printe d, im age .
Proce ssing tim e and m e m ory usage are dire ctly (line arly) re late d to the total num be r of pix e ls in your re nde ring. The highe r
the re solution, the longe r the re nde ring will tak e and the m ore m e m ory it will re quire .
Saving Your Rendering
The Save R e nde ring button allows you to save your re nde ring to se ve ral diffe re nt im age form ats. You can save to m ost
form ats while a re nde ring is in progre ss.
The Alpha channe l ve rsions of the file form ats are m e ant to be use d for high-quality com positing. Back grounds will appe ar
R e nde ring - 3.1
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Rendering - 3.1
black whe n the re nde ring is save d with Alpha channe l.
The .hdr and .e x r form ats store lum inance data dire ctly in a High Dynam ic R ange form at. Non-lum inance back grounds, such
as norm al photographs, will appe ar black whe n save d in one of the se form ats.
The .nXtIm age form at is the native im age form at of the nXtR e nde r re nde ring. It is the re com m e nde d form at for storing your
re nde rings, since it pre se rve s the m ost inform ation about your re nde ring. Im age s store d in this form at can be m anipulate d in
the nXt Im age Editor and spe cial FX can be adde d. From this e ditor, you can save to m any popular standard form ats,
including all of the form ats supporte d in nXtR e nde r. You can also save to Pirane si (.e px ) file form at.
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R e nde ring - 3.1
nXtRender Tone Mapping
Tone mapping is the proce ss of conve rting the lum inance data use d by nXtR e nde r into displayable or printable R GB pix e ls.
As you m ove your cursor ove r the nXtR e nde r R e nde ring scre e n, notice the num be rs on the status bar. The Value fie lds show
the actual data in the nXtR e nde r im age for the R e d, Gre e n, and Blue sub-channe ls. The data is lum inance , in units of
cande las pe r m e te r square d (cd/m ^2). The first thre e C olor fie lds show the re sulting R GB colors produce d afte r tone m apping, and displaye d in the im age . (The fourth C olor fie ld shows the Alpha, or transpare ncy channe l, which is use d for
com posting.)
The tone -m apping controls are locate d in the uppe r right corne r of the re nde r scre e n.
Brightness - The Brightne ss control is the m ost im portant.
Adjusts the ove rall brightne ss. For e x am ple , if a white surface in your m ode l is re nde ring gray, you can incre ase the
brightne ss until the surface appe ars white . O r, if your e x te rior sce ne se e m s ove re x pose d, you can de cre ase the
brightne ss until the sce ne appe ars m ore corre ct.
The de fault se tting is 100 — sm alle r num be rs produce dark e r im age s. For m ost re nde rings, sm all change s produce
notice able e ffe cts.
Burn - Burn change s the white point of the im age so that le ss than m ax brightne ss obje cts will m ap to white .
Se e : Using Burn
Saturation - C ontrols the am ount of color include d in the re nde ring.
Slide it to the le ft to cre ate a gray im age .
Tone Mapping - 3.2
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Color Maps - 3.3
nXtRender Color Maps
The Color' of e ach m ate rial is use d as the Base Color for re nde ring - m atte re fle ction and transpare ncy.
Color Settings for a new Solid Color Material
RGB Color
C om pute rs use R GB color value s to proje ct color onto the m onitor. Each pix e l on the m onitor can display a com bination of
the se thre e colors to display the de sire d re sult. The sam e color de finitions are also use d for othe r outputs - such as printing.
In nXtR e nde r we de scribe base colors using R GB, and the n the colors are m odifie d while re nde ring base d on lighting,
re fle ctions from othe r surface s, e tc. C olors with te x ture s usually use the colors in the te x ture im age . Howe ve r the Base C olor
can be ble nde d with the te x ture if de sire d.
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C olor Maps - 3.3
Adding and assigning materials
Material Basics
Adding Materials to a Drawing
Mate rials can be adde d to your drawing in m any ways. He re are a fe w:
Creating a new material
You can cre ate a ne w m ate rial by using the dropdown button on the Mate rials tab of the nXtR e nde r Pale tte . C hoose
the appropriate te m plate for your m ate rial. The appropriate Mate rial Editor will be invok e d. This m ate rial is store d in
the curre nt drawing only.
Load material from disk or library
Using the Ge t Mate rial from File button on the Mate rials Tab, you can im port .nXtMate rial file s for use in the curre nt
drawing. Many m ate rial file s are available for Download .
Drop material from Windows File Explorer
You can drag and drop an .nXtMate rial file dire ctly from e x plore r into your AutoC AD drawing.
Dropping a material from Windows File Explorer onto an object in AutoCAD:
Adding and assigning m ate rials - 3.4
- 34 -
Adding and assigning materials - 3.4
You are ask e d whe the r to assign the m ate rial by laye r or dire ctly to the obje ct, and also the m ate rial is adde d to the active
m ate rial list in the nXtR e nde r control pane l.
Assigning Materials to Objects and Layers
Mate rials can be assigne d to obje cts or laye rs in your drawing. If you use AutoC AD Archite cture (r) (form e rly Archite ctural
De sk top(r) or ADT) you can also assign m ate rials to AEC com pone nts.
There are many ways to assign a material to an object or layer. Here are a few:
Drag and drop a m ate rial from the pale tte onto an obje ct. You will have the choice of assigning the m ate rial to the
obje ct or two the obje ct's laye r.
Se le ct the m ate rial in que stion and use the Attach Mate rial to O bje cts button. This m e thod allows you to assign
m ate rials to individual face s of 3dsolids by using AutoC AD's sub-obje ct se le ction m e thods.
- 35 -
Drag and drop a m ate rial from the pale tte onto a laye r in the Laye r list.
Se le ct a m ate rial from the pale tte . Se le ct one or m ore laye rs from the laye r list. C lick the Attach Mate rial to Laye r
button.
Drag and drop the m ate rial file from Ex plore r dire ctly onto an obje ct in your drawing. This m e thod allows you to add
and assign a m ate rial in one ope ration. You will be prom pte d to choose the obje ct or the obje ct's laye r.
Assigning Materials to ACA Components
nXtR e nde r m ate rials are just AutoC AD m ate rials with som e additional data attache d to the m . If you use A utoCA D
A rchitecture (A CA ) you can attach an nXtRender material in the same way you would attach an A utoCA D native material.
For e x am ple , using Style Manage r, you can attach an nXtR e nde r m ate rial to an AEC m ate rial using the following proce dure :
Se le ct your m ate rial unde r Multi-Purpose O bje cts->Mate rial De finitions.
O n the Display Pope rtie s tab, click the Edit Display Prope rtie s button.
Use the R e nde r Mate rial popdown list to se le ct your nXtR e nde r m ate rial. The nXtR e nde r m ate rials will have a pre fix of
"AccuR e nde r-" be fore the m ate rial nam e .
- 36 -
Adding and assigning materials - 3.4
Video Tutorial
Creating and using Materials Video
W atch Vide o
www.youtube .com /watch?v=q0Dnl5Pnog4
Additional
Additional Notes
- 37 -
Use the AutoC AD _PURGE com m and to de le te unwante d, unuse d m ate rials from your drawing. Mate rials in use cannot
be de le te d.
Mate rial assignm e nts by obje ct tak e pre ce de nce ove r m ate rial assignm e nts by laye r.
Use the R e m ove Mate rial from O bje cts button to re m ove m ate rials assigne d by obje ct.
To re m ove a m ate rial assigne d by laye r, se le ct the laye r(s) from the Laye r list and click R e m ove Mate rial from Laye rs
- 38 -
Lighting - 3.5
nXtRender Lighting
nXtR e nde r is de signe d to sim ulate re al-world lighting. Use the following guide line s whe n lighting your m ode l:
Provide accurate inform ation whe ne ve r possible . Avoid using unre alistic inte nsity le ve ls for light source s.
Se t the units corre ctly for your drawing by using the AutoC AD _UNITS com m and. The lighting will not be corre ct
unle ss the units are corre ct. For e x am ple , if your drawing is in m illim e te rs, m ak e sure that m illim e te rs is
spe cifie d.
Adjust the ove rall brightne ss of your re nde ring by using the Brightne ss control on the re nde ring display. Do not
attempt to adjust the overall scene brightness by changing the intensity of all of the light sources. nXtR e nde r's
autom atic e x posure adjustm e nt will be work ing against you if you atte m pt to do this.
Lighting Presets
nXtR e nde r provide s four lighting pre se ts which can he lp ge t you starte d whe n de ciding how to light your m ode l. The re are
m any m ore lighting options available , but the pre se ts are ofte n sufficie nt for m any diffe re nt re nde rings. The Pre se ts popdown
list is available on the Lighting tab of the nXtR e nde r pale tte . C hoose the Pre se t which m ost close ly re se m ble s your sce ne :
Studio m im ics the lighting which m ight be found in a photographe r's studio. It is m ost use ful for re nde ring sm all
to m e dium size d obje cts in isolation.
Exterior is use d for daylight sim ulations of archite ctural e x te riors. A sun and natural sk y are sim ulate d.
Interior Daylight allows you to sim ulate an archite ctural inte rior during the day, lit by natural light.
Interior Lighting provide s a sim ulation of an archite ctural inte rior at night, lit by artificial lum inaire s.
Studio
The prim ary lighting is provide d by an high dynam ic range im age file (HDR I). The light from the HDR I has be e n artificially
dim m e d, to re se m ble the inte rior lighting le ve ls of the studio. You can m odify the HDR I se ttings and file on the Sk y tab. You
can add artificial lights to your sce ne using the Lights tab. The visible back ground in the Studio pre se t is black .
Exterior
The sun and sk y se ttings can be m odifie d on the Sun tab. You can spe cify sun angle s dire ctly or you can use ge ographical
location and date and tim e . The de fault visible back ground for this pre se t is the sim ulate d sk y.
Interior Daylight
Use Inte rior Lights as we ll as sun and sk y for lighting.
For an inte rior daylight sim ulation to work prope rly, you m ust use a transpare nt m ate rial to re pre se nt the glass in your
windows. Sun and sk y se ttings are sim ilar to the Ex te rior pre se t.
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Lighting - 3.5
Also, you m ust add artificial lights to your m ode l.
Se e : The Lights Tab
Interior Lighting
Use Inte rior Lights only.
For Inte rior Lighting to work prope rly, you m ust add artificial lights to your m ode l.
Se e : The Lights Tab
Additional Notes on Presets
Indire ct lighting, the lighting re fle cte d off of surface s, is on whe n one of the two inte rior pre se ts are se le cte d
and off for studio and e x te rior. This type of lighting is a ve ry significant com pone nt of an inte rior sim ulation.
For e x te riors and studio m ode ls the e ffe cts of indire ct lighting is m ore subtle . You can turn on indire ct lighting
for e x te riors and studio m ode ls if you want this additional re alism (at a substantial pe rform ance cost.)
Inte rior daylight m ode and e x te rior m ode do not have artificial lights e nable d. You can add artificial lights to
the se pre se ts if you wish by following the proce dure he re .
Night tim e re nde rings can be a little trick y. Se e this to ge t starte d.
Tutorials
Se e : nXtR e nde r Lighting Basics Tutorial
Lighting - 3.5
- 40 -
Adding lights - 3.6
Adding lights
Adding Lights to Your Model
Use the following proce dure to add an artificial light to your drawing:
Draw and position the obje ct which will se rve as your light source . O nce this obje ct is tagge d as a light source , it will
e m it light in the patte rn you choose .
Use the Ne w Light dropdown button on nXt's Lighting tab to se le ct a patte rn for your light. Four patte rns are available :
//O m nidire ctional// distribute s light in all dire ctions e qually.
The //Spot// patte rn provide s a be am which you can focus.
//Diffuse // provide s an approx im ation of a re ce sse d light with a diffuse r or baffle s.
The //Photom e tric// patte rn allows you to use a m anufacture r's .ie s goniom e try file to de scribe the distribution.
W he n prom pte d se le ct your obje ct (the Photom e tric patte rn will first prom pt you for your .ie s file .)
Provide a nam e for your light.
Hit e nte r to acce pt de fault value s for the othe r prom pts.
Additional Notes:
By de fault, all lights will dire ct the ir light straight down. De pe nding on your sce ne , you m ay ne e d to aim your light in a
diffe re nt dire ction. Be fore you be gin the aim ing proce ss, it is ofte n e asie r to have a targe t obje ct to snap to. R ight click
on the light in the list, and se le ct Aim < to aim your light. The diffe re nt patte rns will have diffe re nt prom pts to follow.
To change the prope rtie s of your light, right click on the light in the list and se le ct Prope rtie s.
C lick he re for additional inform ation on IES (Photom e tric) lights.
- 41 -
Adding lights - 3.6
Working with Plants
Working with Plants
nXtR e nde r include s a fun and powe rful plant ge ne rator which e fficie ntly ge ne rate s com ple x e ntourage obje cts during
re nde ring. The se plants have little im pact on drawing size ; only a place -holde r is k e pt in AutoC AD.
Two broad cate gorie s of plants are include d. Tre e -lik e plants (including shrubs and house plants) are distinct obje cts which are
inse rte d in spe cific locations. In addition, an e x isting AutoC AD obje ct can be tagge d as groundcove r to m ak e it appe ar to
sprout whe n re nde re d.
Creating Plants
R un nXtPlantEditor64.e x e or nXtPlantEditor64.e x e from the nXt folde r in Program file s to load the Plant Editor
Tree Editor usage
Plant Type
Se t the type from the File/New m e nu at the top.
The re are four tre e type s - Standard, Conifer, Broad C rown, Palm and C om ple x
(Do not use Groundcove r with R pTre e Mak e r).
W ork ing with Plants - 3.7
- 42 -
Working with Plants - 3.7
Each has diffe re nt se tting on the tabs of the tre e e ditor.
Play with the various se ttings to se e what the y do.
Trunk Settings
- 43 -
C hange the Param e te rs and se e the re sults at the le ft.
Foliage and Flowers
[[Im age :Tre e -e ditor-foliage .jpg|500px ]
You can click on the le af im age to se le ct a diffe re nt im age .
Flowers/Fruit
You can also add an im age to be use d as flowe rs or fruit
Leaf and Flower Images
You can se le ct ne w le ave s, trunk , e tc. by click ing on the im age .
You can also add your own le ave s and bark to the Plant Im age folde r and use the m for your custom tre e s.
- 44 -
Working with Plants - 3.7
RayTrace
C lick 'Start' on the R ayTrace drop down m e nu to se e a sam ple re nde ring of the tre e with foliage .
Use the m ouse and scroll-whe e l to on the im age to se t a ne w vie w be fore starting re nde ring if de sire d.
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Obtaining nXtRender Plants
nXtR e nde r com e s with a full-fe ature d, e asy to use , Plant Editor which e nable s you to cre ate your own plants. The Plant Editor
is locate d in the W indows Start m e nu, unde r the folde r nXt.
The re are also se ve ral online source s for nXtR e nde r plants, including the Plant Library and Mixed-Content Library se ctions of
the m ain nXtR e nde r we bsite :
http://www.accure nde r.com /page /conte nt-and-e ntourage
To Insert an nXtRender Plant:
Se le ct W idge ts->Plants->Add... from the nXtR e nde r pale tte m e nu bar
Se le ct the .ArPlant file you want to inse rt
Pick a Location for your plant in the drawing
C ance l or pick additional Locations for additional instance s of the sam e plant
To Tag an object as nXtRender Groundcover:
Se le ct W idge ts->Plants->Add Groundcove r from the nXtR e nde r pale tte m e nu bar
Se le ct the .ArGroundcove r file you want to inse rt
Se le ct the obje ct to tag
If you tag a 3D Solid obje ct as groundcove r, the groundcove r will tak e on a "topiary-lik e " appe arance .
A dditional notes on nXtRender Plants
Mak e sure the units are se t corre ctly for your drawing. The AutoC AD _UNITS com m and or _INSUNITS syste m variable
controls this.
nXtR e nde r Plants can be scale d, copie d, and rotate d.
W idge ts->Plants->R andom ize allows you to se le ct a group of plants and random ize the ir scale s and rotations
W idge ts->Plants->Id te lls you the nam e of a pre viously inse rte d plant
W idge ts->Plants->R e m ove Groundcove r allows you to "untag" an obje ct pre viously tagge d as groundcove r.
- 46 -
Chapter 4 - Beyond the Basics
nXtRender Beyond the Basics
He lp in work ing with te x ture s, de cal, HDR I sk ie s, R PC obje cts, e tc
HDR i Sk y for illum ination and re fle ction.
Livingroom by Jan Ve rze le n
- 47 -
C hapte r 4 - Be yond the Basics
Working with textures
Working With Textures Te x ture s allow the use r to m ap im age file s onto the surface of a m ate rial. The re are thre e ways to do
this.
1. For a sim ple te x ture m apping, go to Mate rials → Ne w Mate rial → Te x ture d… You will be prom pte d to se le ct an im age to
m ap to the surface of your m ate rial. If the im age doe s not tile we ll, you can se le ct Mirror Tile s to re m ove the se am s.
2. For a m ore sophisticate d te x ture d m ate rial, go to Mate rials → Ne w Mate rial → Te x ture Se t… This allows you to im port
third-party te x ture m aps that contain inform ation such as displace m e nt, norm al, or bum p m aps. Displace m e nt m aps
cause the m ate rial to have de pth, which com e s at a pe rform ance cost. For the appe arance of re lie f without this
pe rform ance cost, use norm al or bum p m aps.
3. For advance d options, e ithe r click the Advance d… button in the Te x ture Se t dialog, or go to Mate rials → Ne w Mate rial →
Advance d… and the n click on the Te x ture Maps tab. This inte rface allows you to control m ore de tails, such as the
he ight of the displace m e nt m apping or which colors are m ask e d. It also allows you to add m aps and m anually se t the
m ap type , e .g. Standard, or Displace m e nt. For m ore inform ation about advance d options, click he re .
Non-tiling te x ture s can also be applie d dire ctly to obje cts, bypassing the m ate rial altoge the r, by using de cals. W ork ing W ith
Te x ture s
W ork ing with te x ture s - 4.1
- 48 -
Working with decals - 4.2
Working with decals
Working with decals
De cals are non-tiling im age m aps which you apply dire ctly to obje cts (inste ad of indire ctly via the obje ct's m ate rial.) De cals
can be use d to re pre se nt a varie ty of visual phe nom e na, including a painting hung on the wall, labe ls on jars, printe d signs,
im age s on m onitors, e tc.
Use the following steps to apply a decal to an object:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Ex pand the O bje ct Prope rtie s tab on the nXt Pale tte
Se le ct the obje ct
R ight-click on the De cals list and se le ct Ne w
Se le ct e ithe r Planar or C ylindrical De cal as appropriate
Follow the prom pts at the com m and line (m ak e sure to Acce pt the de cal by pre ssing Ente r whe n finishe d)
The de cal will appe ar in the list anytim e the obje ct is se le cte d.
To remove a decal from an object:
1.
2.
3.
4.
R ight click on the de cal you wish to re m ove
Se le ct R e m ove
The de cal will no longe r appe ar in the list whe n the obje ct is se le cte d
To reposition an existing decal:
1. Ex pand the O bje ct Prope rtie s tab on the nXt Pale tte
2. Se le ct the obje ct
- 49 -
W ork ing with de cals - 4.2
3. R ight click on the de cal you wish to re position
4. Se le ct Edit Position and O rie ntation
5. Follow the prom pts to re position (m ak e sure to Acce pt the de cal by pre ssing Ente r whe n finishe d)
To change the surface properties of a decal:
1.
2.
3.
4.
R ight click on the de cal you wish to e dit
Se le ct Prope rtie s…
The De cal Prope rtie s dialog box will appe ar allowing you to change m any of the surface prope rtie s of your de cal.
W ork ing with de cals - 4.2
- 50 -
Working with Reflection Shaders - 4.3
Working with Reflection Shaders
Working with Reflection Shaders in the Advance d Mate rial Editor
Shade rs allow you to change the algorithm use d by nXtR e nde r whe n it calculate s re fle ctions. The de fault (Balance d) shade r is
the be st choice for m ost m ate rials. Howe ve r the re are tim e s whe n anothe r choice m ight offe r be tte r pe rform ance , conve rge
faste r, or produce fe we r artifacts in the proce ss.
Many of the shade rs de al spe cifically with how artificial light source s are re fle cte d in a m ate rial. The re are two fundam e ntal
algorithm s use d by nXtR e nde r to calculate the se re fle ctions. The first is a "ray casting" algorithm and the se cond is a
"highlight" algorithm . The se two algorithm s are m athe m atically e quivale nt and will e ve ntually produce ide ntical re sults.
R e fle ction Shade r choice s in nXtR e nde r are :
Balanced. This is the de fault shade r and is the corre ct choice for m ost situations. nXtR e nde r autom atically balance s
the two algorithm s base d on the Sharpne ss of the re fle ction.
Glossy. This shade r incre ase s the blurrine ss of the re fle ction and pre ve nts ray-casting e ntire ly. No obje ct or light
re fle ctions are calculate d. Use this shade r to incre ase pe rform ance and pre ve nt artifacts for m ate rials with ve ry blurry
re fle ctions. Som e re fle ctive subtle ty m ay be lost.
No Light Source Reflections. This shade r e x clude s ray-caste d re fle ctions of light source s. This is som e tim e s use ful in
pre ve nting "spe ck le " artifacts if your m ate rial is blurry and your sce ne contains sm all, bright, light source s.
No Light Source Reflections and No Highlights. This option e x clude s all re fle ctions of artificial light source s. O bje ct
re fle ctions are still calculate d.
No Highlights. O nly raycasting is use d to calculate re fle ctions of light source s. This shade r is use ful whe n light source s
are large and the surface in que stion is not too blurry. In the se case s, the highlight calculation can tak e a long tim e to
re solve .
Monte Carlo. O nly raycasting is use d to calculate re fle ctions of light source s. The raycasting occurs in an initially ve ry
noisy way, and gradually conve rge s to the corre ct solution. It is m ost use ful whe n the surface is not too blurry. Both
conve rge nce and fram e rate m ay slow whe n using this option.
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W ork ing with R e fle ction Shade rs - 4.3
W ork ing with R e fle ction Shade rs - 4.3
- 52 -
Adding indirect lighting to an exterior rendering - 4.4
Adding indirect lighting to an exterior rendering
A dding Indirect Lighting to an Exterior Rendering - using the e ffe ct of lighting re fle cte d from othe r surface s - can add som e
subtle ty and re alism to your e x te rior re nde ring. In particular, the unde rside s of ove rhanging fe ature s such as e ave s or
balconie s can be re nde re d m ore accurate ly whe n using indire ct lighting.
This subtle ty, howe ve r, com e s at a substantial pe rform ance cost. More passe s will be re quire d to re solve the im age , and e ach
pass will tak e longe r.
Use the following ste ps to e nable indire ct lighting for your e x te rior re nde ring:
1. O n the Lighting tab, se le ct the Ex te rior pre se t.
2. C he ck Show Advance d Tab.
3. O n the Advance d Tab, change Indire ct from O ff to Ex te rior.
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Adding indire ct lighting to an e x te rior re nde ring - 4.4
Combining daylighting and artificial lighting for an interior
rendering
By de fault, nXtR e nde r's Inte rior Daylight pre se t doe s not allow you to add artificial lights. To com bine both type s of lighting
use the following ste ps:
1. Se le ct the Inte rior Daylight pre se t on the Lighting Tab.
2. C he ck Show Advance d Tab
3. O n the Advance d Tab, change Lights from O ff to O n. The Lights Tab will appe ar and allow you to add lights to your
m ode l.
A dditional Notes:
Use accurate value s for your lights, daylight se ttings, and window glass if possible .
Be cause the sun and sk y are ve ry m uch brighte r than m ost lights, you m ay not se e a lot of e ffe ct from adding artificial
lighting to your daylit sce ne . This is norm al. Avoid the te m ptation to artificially boost the powe r of your light source s. It
is le gitim ate to turn the sun and sk y down som e what, as the se are base d on a cle ar, unim pe de d sk y. A m ulti-channe l
re nde ring m ay he lp you ge t the picture you want, while still pre se rving accurate data.
C om bining daylighting and artificial lighting for an inte rior re nde ring - 4.5
- 54 -
Working with HDRIs - 4.6
Working with HDRIs
High dynam ic range im age s (HDR Is) are 2D im age file s which contain a m uch broade r range of value s than what is norm ally
found in a standard im age file , such as a .jpg or .png. W he n the se im age s are produce d using a sphe rical proje ction, the y
can be use d to light m ode ls. If the value s containe d in the HDR are accurate , the n the lighting will be accurate . (Se e be low for
m ore inform ation on units.)
HDR Is can be use d in nXtR e nde r in m any diffe re nt ways. Two com m on use s for HDR I lighting are archite ctural (lighting a
building e x te rior) and studio (lighting a product using HDR I for am bie nt):
Using an HDRI to Light an Architectural Exterior
O n the Lighting Tab, se le ct the Ex te rior Pre se t.
C he ck Show Advance d Tab.
O n the Advance d Tab, turn the Sun O ff.
O n the Advance d Tab, change the Sk y from Auto to HDR I
At this point you can choose a spe cific HDR I using the Sk y Tab.
This proce dure use s the HDR I as a visible back ground to your re nde ring. This m ay re quire a high-re solution HDR I to avoid
pix e llation artifacts.
HDRi sky used for visual background, illumination and reflection:
Using an HDRI to Simulate Studio Lighting
O n the Lighting Tab, se le ct the Studio Pre se t.
C hoose a spe cific HDR I using the Sk y Tab.
This option use s a black back ground inste ad of visualizing the HDR I dire ctly. It also re duce s the inte nsity of the HDR I by a
factor of 20X to sim ulate indoor lighting conditions. ---
Additional Notes
nXtR e nde r assum e s that HDR Is contain radiance value s e x pre sse d in units of watts. All of the HDR Is available via our
we bsite are built this way unle ss othe rwise note d. Howe ve r, this is ofte n not the case with HDR Is from othe r source s.
The units in m any HDR Is are not calibrate d to re al-world units of any sort. The inte nsity of the se HDR Is m ay ne e d to
be adjuste d in orde r to achie ve prope r illum ination le ve ls. Se e the se ction on calibration be low.
- 55 -
W ork ing with HDR Is - 4.6
The re are m any diffe re nt ways to use HDR Is in nXt. In addition to the Sk y, a diffe re nt HDR I can be use d for e ach of
the thre e back ground channe ls: Visible , R e fle cte d, and R e fracte d Back ground. Use the Back grounds Tab, C hanne l
control to individually control e ach channe l.
Calibrating an HDRI sky
C re ate a ne w m ode l in AutoC AD and load nXtR e nde r
Se le ct the Ex te rior lighting pre se t
O n the Advance d Tab, change the Sk y to HDR I
O n the Sk y Tab se le ct your HDR I
Start W alk About
C hange the proje ction to Panoram a
Pre ss re nde r and stop the re nde ring afte r one or two passe s. W hat you now have is a re nde ring of your e ntire HDR I.
Move the cursor ove r the im age while obse rving the Value of e ach pix e l on the status line . The units are cd/m ^2. You
can zoom in on the im age if re quire d to e x am ine sm alle r se ctions in m ore de tail. He re are som e guide line s to he lp
you de te rm ine if the m ap ne e ds scaling:
The ave rage value for a cle ar sk y is approx im ate ly 8000 cd/m ^2
The ave rage value for an ove rcast sk y is approx im ate ly 2000 cd/m ^2
The are a around the sun can be quite bright. Value s of 100000 cd/m ^2 or m ore are not unre asonable . The
solar disk itse lf can be m uch brighte r than this.
For night sce ne s, light source s the m se lve s are bright. Value s of 3000 to 5000 cd/m ^2 are not uncom m on for
stre e tlam ps. The lum inance of the m oon is 2500 cd/m ^2. O the r obje cts should be quite dark . Value < 1
cd/m ^2 are com m on for obje cts lit only by e nvironm e ntal light.
If you de cide that your HDR I would be ne fit from scaling, use the Inte nsity se tting on the Sk y tab to e nte r your scale factor.
R e pe at the re nde ring above to validate your ne w se tting. Alte rnative ly, you can use Lighting C hanne ls to adjust the lighting
m ore inte ractive ly.
W ork ing with HDR Is - 4.6
- 56 -
Lighting Channels - 4.7
nXtRender Lighting Channels
Lighting Channels allow you to adjust m any aspe cts of the lighting in your re nde re d im age in re al-tim e , afte r the re nde ring
has be e n produce d. This is accom plishe d by allowing you to cre ate up to 8 lighting "channe ls" in the im age . Each light source
in the drawing, including the sun and sk y, can be assigne d to a channe l. O nce this im age is re nde re d and save d, e ach
channe l can be individually scale d in the Im age Editor . For e x am ple , using this capability, you can produce day and night
inte riors with a single re nde ring. The following five ste ps are ne ce ssary to produce and m anipulate a m ulti-channe l im age :
You m ust te ll nXtR e nde r how m any channe ls you want. Go to Lighting->Advance d->C hanne ls and se t the num be r
de sire d from 1 to 8. Each additional channe l you add re quire s an additional 12 byte s pe r pix e l inte rnally. This is a lot
of m e m ory, particularly for high re solution re nde rings. It m ay not be possible to com ple te your re nde ring on a 32 bit
syste m .
You m ust turn on all of the participating lights. Lights which are off will not contribute to the im age and will not be
scalable . Be cause you are re nde ring with m ore lights, it m ay tak e a little longe r. For e x am ple , to cre ate an inte rior
im age which contains both natural and artificial lights:
- 57 -
Lighting C hanne ls - 4.7
1. Se le ct the Inte rior Daylight pre se t.
2. Se le ct Lighting->Advance d->Lights->O n
You m ust te ll e ach light source which channe l it be longs to. By de fault, Sun and Sk y are se t to channe l 0, artificial
lights to channe l 1. The re are controls for e ach light source , including sun and sk y. Valid channe ls are 0-7.
Lighting Channel Names
Lighting C hanne l Nam e s m ak e it e asie r to k now which channe ls you are m odifying in the nXtIm age Editor.
R ight click on a light, se le ct Prope rtie s, The type in a nam e , afte r, or inste ad of a channe l num be r.
Adjusting Lighting Channels
Afte r re nde ring, you can m odify the inte nsity of lights in e ach channe l by click ing C hanne ls in the re nde ring window.
- 58 -
Lighting Channels - 4.7
As you adjust the channe ls, the tone -ope rator will com pe nsate . All of the tone m apping controls and rule s still apply. For
e x am ple , if you're trying to do a night and day e x te rior using the sam e re nde ring, you will alm ost ce rtainly ne e d to adjust the
tone -op brightne ss down for the night tim e sce ne .
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Using IES (photometric) lights
IES files (.ie s) are photom e try file s which de fine the distribution of light from a light source . The se file s are ofte n provide d by
lum inaire m anufacture rs. By using the IES file to de fine your distribution, rathe r than one of the standard distributions
available (i.e . om ni-dire ctional, diffuse , spot), you can m ore accurate ly de pict your lum inaire . In addition, the IES file can also
be use d to de fine the inte nsity of your lum inaire .
Use the following ste ps to attach an IES file distribution to a light source :
C re ate the light in the usual way.
R ight click on the light in the list and se le ct Prope rtie s... from the m e nu
C hange the Light Patte rn to Goniom e try File
C lick the Browse ... button and se le ct the .ie s file .
Norm ally you will want to use the file to de fine the inte nsity of the source as we ll. C lick the From File che ck box unde r
Brightne ss to do this.
A dditional Notes:
The vast m ajority of IES file s are k nown as "Type C " goniom e try file s. The se are supporte d by nXt. Type A file s are
occasionally use d by the autom obile industry to de fine he adlights, and type B file s are som e tim e s use d to de fine
floodlighting. Type A and B are not supporte d in nXt.
IES distributions alre ady include the e ffe cts of lum inaire e le m e nts such as baffle s, re fle ctors, and diffuse rs. It is
im portant to e x clude the se e le m e nts from the calculation by prope rly tagging the non-source parts of your lum inaire .
IES distributions are ofte n assym e trical, so the proce ss of aim ing the source include s not just a targe t, but a rotation
angle as we ll.
Using IES (photom e tric) lights - 4.8
- 60 -
Rendering Engines - 4.9
nXtRender Rendering Engines
The re are thre e re nde ring e ngine s. - Pack e t Mode , the Path Trace r, and the Hybrid Engine .
Pack e t Mode is the faste st for cre ating quick re nde rings. I doe s this by tak ing som e shortcuts on how light, re fle ction and
transpare ncy are proce sse d. The othe r e ngine s use a m ore pre cise algorithm to proce ss the e nd re sult for e ach pix e l, but
start out with a rough look ing im age for the first 100 or m ore passe s until the various calculations for adjace nt pix e ls start to
conve rge .
Rendering Engines
Packet Mode
Pack e t Mode afte r 68 passe s
The Packet Mode re nde ring e ngine provide s high quality re nde rings quick ly by approx im ating som e things light lighting and
re fle ction using 'pack e ts'. Proce sse s pack e ts of rays. This produce s a ve ry good re nde ring in the shorte st tim e .
The Pack e t Mode proce sse s pack e ts of rays, while the Path Trace r and Hybrid Engine proce ss individual light paths.
Be cause of som e shortcuts, such as Daylight Portals, and othe r aspe cts of the re nde ring proce ss, Pack e t Mode cre ate a
usable im age in fe we r passe s. Path Trace r ofte n re quire s m ore passe s be fore the im age ge ts sm ooth.
Path Tracer
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R e nde ring Engine s - 4.9
Path Trace r afte r 1500 passe s.
The Path Tracer proce sse s individual light paths This re quire s m ore passe s, but produce s be tte r re sults.
The Path Tracer can provide a be tte r quality finishe d product for m any m ode ls (with a sim ple r se tup), but doe s so at the
e x pe nse of a m ore com ple x and tim e -consum ing calculation. The Path Trace r be gins by displaying a ve ry grainy or "noisy"
im age which gradually re fine s and be com e s sm ooth. This proce ss is k nown as conve rge nce . Som e sce ne s will conve rge ve ry
quick ly, othe rs will tak e m any hours.
The Hybrid Engine
- 62 -
Rendering Engines - 4.9
Hybrid Engine ate r 625 passe s.
The Hybrid Engine is faste r pe r pass than the Path Trace r, and has spe cial proce ssing of C austics for transpare nt and re fle ctive
surface s.
This wate r sce ne was re nde re d for 625 passe s - nine hours - with the Hybrid Engine :
Rendering Speed
In m any case s individual passe s in Path Trace r or the Hybrid Engine are faste r than Pack e t Mode , howe ve r the ove rall
re nde ring proce ss m ay tak e longe r to com ple te , be cause you will ofte n ne e d m any, m any m ore passe s to achie ve a good
re sult.
As 16-core (or m ore ) proce ssors be com e available , the n it will m ak e m ore se nse to use a m any, m any pass re nde ring
solution.
Additional Notes
In ge ne ral, im age s re nde re d using the Path Trace r will tak e longe r to conve rge than im age s re nde re d using the
Standard m e thod. Inte rior daylight sim ulations, particularly those sce ne s whe re the windows are re lative ly sm all, m ay
tak e m uch longe r. O n the othe r hand, the Path Trace r is le ss se nsitive to instancing, plants, and displace m e nt m aps.
Mode ls which re ly he avily on the se fe ature s m ay actually conve rge faste r using the Path Trace r.
The standard Pack e t Trace r algorithm produce s a ve ry high-quality sim ulation. For m any m ode ls, the diffe re nce in
quality be twe e n the Pack e t Trace r m e thod and the Path Trace r can be ve ry subtle , particularly if indire ct lighting is
e nable d. The diffe re nce in quality m ay not be worth the e x tra proce ssing tim e .
The Path Trace r is alm ost always e asie r to configure and se t up than the Pack e t Trace r m e thod. Advance d se ttings
such as re fle ction shade rs, daylight portals, and am bie nt lighting, are not use d whe n the Path Trace r e ngine is
se le cte d.
C e rtain advance d e ffe cts, such as caustics or blurry transm ission, can be calculate d with be tte r accuracy using the Path
Trace r.
Slower Convergence
- 63 -
Be cause of som e shortcuts, such as Daylight Portals , and othe r aspe cts of the re nde ring proce ss, Packet Mode cre ate a
usable im age in fe we r passe s. Path Tracer ofte n re quire s m ore passe s be fore the im age ge ts sm ooth. In m any case s
individual passe s in Path Trace r are faste r, howe ve r the ove rall re nde ring proce ss m ay tak e longe r to com ple te .
- 64 -
Controlling tesselation-- smoothing curved objects - 4.10
Controlling tesselation-- smoothing curved objects
nXtR e nde r approx im ate s curve d solids with m e she s. You can control the de nsity of the se m e she s by using a com bination of
AutoC AD's _FAC ETR ES syste m variable and the Tesselation se tting on nXtR e nde r's O bje ct Prope rtie s tab. The se two value s act
toge the r. The product of the two de te rm ine the de nsity of the m e sh. Highe r value s produce de nse r m e she s. The se will appe ar
sm oothe r, but will re quire m ore m e m ory and re nde ring tim e .
A dditional Notes
_FAC ETR ES ope rate s globally and will affe ct all curve d obje cts in your drawing. The Te sse lation prope rty can be
applie d to individual obje cts. The Te sse lation prope rty is use d by nXtR e nde r only and doe s not affe ct the
AutoC AD display.
nXtR e nde r doe s not re spond to _VIEW R ES e x ce pt for the W alk About display.
Se e AutoC AD He lp for m ore inform ation on _FAC ETR ES and _VIEW R ES.
- 65 -
C ontrolling te sse lation-- sm oothing curve d obje cts - 4.10
Using Archvision RPC with nXtRender
R PC s (®) are im age -base d "e ntourage " obje cts which can be inse rte d into your drawing and re nde re d. Popular R PC obje cts
include pe ople , cars, and plants. Som e R PC s are 2D "cutout" obje cts which autom atically orie nt the m se lve s to a vie w. O the rs
are 3D te x ture d m ode ls.
R PC C ar re nde ring with nXtR e nde r
In orde r to use ArchVision R PC s in nXtR e nde r you m ust download and install the plugin for Autode sk AutoC AD / AutoC AD
Archite cture from ArchVision's we bsite . Be sure to install the ve rsion of the plugin which m ost close ly corre sponds to your
ve rsion of AutoC AD or AC A. The plugin provide s an inte rface within AutoC AD for downloading, inse rting, and e diting conte nt.
A dditional Notes
Always use the RPC's "Cast Reflections" switch when working in nXtRender. Shadows and re fle ctions will not be corre ct
unle ss this switch is se t.
A "post-proce ss" plugin is also available for Adobe Photoshop(r). Since R PC s are pre lit, be tte r re sults can ofte n be
obtaine d by inse rting the m into finishe d re nde rings.
Pirane si (®) also offe rs dire ct support for R PC s
R PC s inse rte d into AutoC AD also work prope rly with the AutoC AD native _R ENDER com m and.
Using Archvision R PC with nXtR e nde r - 4.11
- 66 -
Using Textured Mesh Files (3DS or OBJ) with nXtRender - 4.12
Using Textured Mesh Files (3DS or OBJ) with nXtRender
nXtR e nde r allows you to im port m e she s with te x ture coordinate s we lde d to the ve rtice s. The se type s of m e she s are com m only
use d for "e ntourage " obje cts, such as 3D pe ople or plants. Many diffe re nt software pack age s can cre ate the se m e she s, and
m any re ady-m ade obje cts are available online . C urre nt file support include s .obj and .3ds. This feature is not available in
AutoCAD 2007.
To Import a Textured Mesh Object:
Mak e sure your m e sh file , its m ate rial library (if .obj), and any te x ture file s are locate d in the sam e folde r.
From the W idge ts m e nu, se le ct Te x ture d Me sh O bje cts->Add...
W he n prom pte d, pick a location for the obje cts.
Your obje ct, its m ate rials, and its te x ture s will all be im porte d.
Additional Notes:
AutoC AD m ay have trouble de aling with large m e she s. It is strongly sugge ste d that you se t
_SELEC TIO NPR EVIEW to 0 whe n de aling with the se , since the se le ction pre vie w m e chanism doe s not work we ll
with large m e she s.
Most m e sh obje cts can be e x plode d once into individual m e she s.
You m ay ne e d to scale the m e sh once inse rte d.
The se m e she s are nXtR e nde r custom obje cts. Mak e sure nXtR e nde r is loade d whe n conve rting a drawing from
2010 form at to 2007 form at. The se will be prox y obje cts whe n nXtR e nde r is not pre se nt.
A single grip and obje ct snap point is provide d. O snap re sponds to "inse rt" or "ne are st".
Te x ture d m e sh obje cts are store d as nXtR e nde r custom obe jcts. The y can be m ove d, scale d, copie d, de le te d-- but the y
cannot be othe rwise e dite d and diffe re nt m ate rials cannot be assigne d to diffe re nt m e she s. Using the proce dure be low, you
can conve rt this custom nXtR e nde r obje ct to one or m ore native AutoC AD "polyface " m e she s. If you do this, you will lose the
ve rte x te x ture coordinate inform ation. This is ge ne rally not advise d for obje cts with com ple x te x ture m apping such as pe ople
or plants. Howe ve r, it m ay be advantage ous to do this for othe r m ode ls, such as furniture . O nce conve rte d, you can use
native AutoC AD e diting tools, m ate rials and m apping assignm e nts, e tc..
To Convert a Textured Mesh Object:
From the W idge ts m e nu, se le ct Te x ture d Me sh O bje cts->C onve rt to AutoC AD Me sh <
Se le ct the custom obje cts you would lik e to conve rt
A dditional Notes:
Me she s in AutoC AD are lim ite d to 65,535 ve rtice s. Any m e sh which e x ce e ds that lim itation will not survive the
conve rsion proce ss. This is not a proble m with the 3ds form at, which share s the sam e lim itation, but m ay be a
proble m for obj m e she s.
- 67 -
Using Te x ture d Me sh File s (3DS or O BJ) with nXtR e nde r - 4.12
nXtRender Lighting Palette
Use the Lighting Palette to e nte r inform ation about the sun, sk y or artificial lights.
Lighting e ffe cts the brightne ss and shading of obje cts in you m ode l, and is use d for highlight re fle ctions on shiny surface s.
Im age by k ingjin
C hapte r 5 - Lighting Pale tte
- 68 -
The Sun Tab - 5.1
The Sun Tab
The Sun tab contains the controls for alte ring the param e te rs of the autom atic sk y pre se t. The sun is a dire ctional light source
infinite ly far from the m ode l. The controls for the sun spe cify its dire ction using sphe rical coordinate s.
A zimuth is a m e asure of horizontal rotation clock wise from north.
A ltitude is a m e asure of ve rtical rotation up and down, whe re ze ro is at the horizon.
By che ck ing the Specify A ngles Directly box , the se value s can be input m anually. The othe r option is for nXtR e nde r to
autom atically calculate the corre ct angle s base d on date , tim e , and location inform ation.
O the r sk y se ttings in the Sun tab are :
Cloudiness
Sun Intensity
Sun Highlight
Sun Channel
Sky Intensity
Skylight Saturation
Sky Channel
- 69 -
The Sun Tab - 5.1
The Sky Tab
The Sky Tab allows the use r to use a high dynam ic range im age (HDR I) for lighting. For m ore inform ation on how this is
done , click he re : W ork ing with HDR Is
The Sk y Tab only appe ars whe n Studio Lighting Pre se t is se le cte d.
File :NXtR e nde r Sk y Tab.jpg 300px
HDRi Parameters
Intensity
Saturation - 0.0 for gre y scale , 1.0 for full color
For inte rior sce ne s, se t to 0.0 so illum ination from windows is not colore d.
Channel - Lighting for the C hanne l for the Sk y
Blur
A ngle
The Sk y Tab - 5.2
- 70 -
The Lights Tab - 5.3
The Lights Tab
Use the following proce dure to add an artificial light to your drawing:
Draw and position the obje ct which will se rve as your light source . O nce this obje ct is tagge d as a light source , it will
e m it light in the patte rn you choose .
Use the Ne w Light dropdown button on nXtR e nde r's Lighting tab to se le ct a patte rn for your light. Four patte rns are
available :
Omnidirectional distribute s light in all dire ctions e qually.
The Spot patte rn provide s a be am which you can focus.
Diffuse provide s an approx im ation of a re ce sse d light with a diffuse r or baffle s.
The Photometric patte rn allows you to use a m anufacture r's .ie s goniom e try file to de scribe the
distribution.
W he n prom pte d se le ct your obje ct (the Photom e tric patte rn will first prom pt you for your .ie s file .)
Provide a nam e for your light.
Hit e nte r to acce pt de fault value s for the othe r prom pts.
Additional Notes:
By de fault, all lights will dire ct the ir light straight down. De pe nding on your sce ne , you m ay ne e d to aim your light in a
diffe re nt dire ction. Be fore you be gin the aim ing proce ss, it is ofte n e asie r to have a targe t obje ct to snap to. R ight click
on the light in the list, and se le ct Aim < to aim your light. The diffe re nt patte rns will have diffe re nt prom pts to follow.
To change the prope rtie s of your light, right click on the light in the list and se le ct Prope rtie s.
C lick he re for additional inform ation on using IES (photom e tric) lights .
Video Tutorial
Interior Lights Video
- 71 -
W atch Vide o
www.youtube .com /watch?v=e fA5Z-sPGpg
In this Vide o, Danie l will show you how to conve rt e x isting ge om e try in your m ode l to lights, and to place ne w lam ps into your
m ode l using nXtR e nde r for AutoC AD.
Additional
- 72 -
The Backgrounds Tab - 5.4
The Backgrounds Tab
Se le ct a back ground im age and se t param e te rs.
Channel: Visible , R e fle cte d or R e fracte d.
You can se t the sam e im age for or a diffe re nt im age for e ach.
Type: C olor and Im age , HDR i or Sk y
- 73 -
The Back grounds Tab - 5.4
Intensity
Gradient - Solid C olor, 2 C olor Gradie nt or 3 C olor Gradie nt
W he n you se le ct a gradie nt type , you can e nte r the colors to use
Color - solid color for back ground
Use Image
Im age for Back ground. You can se le ct an im age and se t a scale and offse t to position it.
Projection - Planar, C ylindrical, or Sphe rical.
For Planar Proje ction, you can se t the scale and offse t to adjust the im age :
XScale
YScale
XOffset
YOffset
O the r Proje ctions have sim ilar se ttings.
The Back grounds Tab - 5.4
- 74 -
The Advanced Lighting tab - 5.5
The Advanced Lighting tab
The A dvanced Lighting Tab provide s m ore de taile d options for controlling lights.
- 75 -
The Advance d Lighting tab - 5.5
- 76 -
The Advanced Lighting tab - 5.5
Its controls are :
Engine - Standard (Pack e t Mode ), Path Trace r, or Hybrid. Se e : nXtR e nde r R e nde ring Engine s
Sky. This de fine s a he m isphe rical light source , infinite ly far away from your m ode l. The re are four options for Sk y
lighting: O ff, Auto, HDR i , and C olor and Im age . The autom atic Sk y provide s an analytical m ode l base d on re al-world
sk y conditions. The param e te rs for autom atic Sk y can be adjuste d on the Sun tab.
Sun. The Sun is a dire ctional light source infinite ly far away from the m ode l. The Sun control allows the Sun to be
turne d on and off.
Studio Brightness. Studio Brightne ss re duce s the brightne ss of the Sun and Sk y by a factor of 20, m im ick ing the
inte rior lighting le ve ls of a photographe r's studio.
Lights. This e nable s and disable s artificial lighting.
Indirect. This is the lighting re fle cte d off of surface s. By de fault, it is on for inte rior lighting pre se ts and off for
e x te riors and studio m ode ls. It is also possible to turn on indire ct lighting for e x te rior re nde rings.
Indirect Bounces. This controls the num be r of re fle ctions cause d by an indire ct light, ranging from one to four.
Color Bleed. C olor Ble e d controls the am ount of color transfe r associate d with e ach indire ct bounce . It varie s from ze ro
to one .
A mbient. - High, Me dium or Low
A utomatic Daylight Portals. A daylight portal is an ope ning for Sun and Sk y lighting for an inte rior re nde ring.
Autom atic Daylight Portals se ts all transpare nt m ate rials as daylight portals.
Monte Carlo Reflections. This che ck box is inte nde d to re solve blurry re fle ctions containing sm all, bright are as. This
com e s at a pe rform ance cost. The standard re fle ction algorithm alm ost always conve rge s faste r, e ve n with blurry
re fle ctions.
Disable caustics
Reflective Bounces.
Refractive Bounces.
Lights Per Pass. A spe cifie d num be r of lights are re nde re d e ach pass. Incre asing the Lights Pe r Pass incre ase s the
inform ation containe d in e ach pass, but re quire s m ore tim e pe r pass.
Channels. This controls the num be r of channe ls for m ulti-channe l re nde ring.
material Glow Channel
Fog
O nly available with Path Trace r or Hybrid Engine .
Enabled
Scattering - controls the probability of the light e ncounte ring a particle in the fog boundary. Highe r num be rs produce
de nse r fogs. The de fault of 20% is ade quate for m any use s.
Scattering Direction - controls how the light is scatte re d. Value s > 0 produce forward scatte ring. Value s < 0 produce
back ward scatte ring, sim ilar to re fle ction. The de fault of 0.2 produce s a patte rn which re se m ble s wate r drople ts
suspe nde d in air.
- 77 -
A bsorption - is the probability of light be ing absorbe d in the fog boundary. Highe r num be rs produce dark e r fogs. This
is norm ally le ft at 0%.
Fog Color
If Scatte ring or Absorption is too high, the n you m ay just ge t a dark re nde ring with no light passing through.
- 78 -
Chapter 6 - Materials Palette
Materials Palette
Use the Materials Palette to e nte r inform ation about the m ate rials - colors, te x ture s, re fle ction, e tc.
- 79 -
C hapte r 6 - Mate rials Pale tte
Materials Tab
Materials Tab
Icons across the Top:
New Material - Se le ct a ne w m ate rial from one of the standard type s.
Get Material from File - Browse the disk for a .ArMate rial file to load into the drawing.
Save Material to a File - Save the se le cte d m ate rial in the List of Mate rial onto the disk
Edit Material - Edit the se le cte d m ate rial using the Advance d Mate rial Editor
A ttach Material to Objects - Attach the se le cte d m ate rial to one or m ore obje cts in the drawing.
Remove Material from Objects - se le ct an obje ct in the drawing and re m ove any m ate rials from it.
Material Mapping - Se le ct an obje ct and de fine spe cial m apping - Box , Planar, C ylindrical, e tc.
Quick Mapping - Map m ate rial by origin and ax e s
Ne w Mate rial Type s:
Mate rials Tab - 6.1
- 80 -
Materials Tab - 6.1
Ne w Mate rial Type s
List of Materials in Model
The se are the m ate rials you have cre ate d, or loade d from librarie s on the disk .
Drag any m ate rial onto an obje ct in the m ode l to place - e ithe r on that obje ct - or on all obje cts in the sam e laye r.
Drag any m ate rial onto the Laye r list be low to assign it to that laye r.
Layers and Material Assignments
This lists the laye rs in your m ode l, and any m ate rials assigne d to that laye r.
Drag any m ate rial from the m ate rial list above onto a laye r nam e to assign it to that laye r.
Video Tutorial
- 81 -
Mate rials Tab - 6.1
Advanced Material Editor
The A dvanced Material Editor allows the use r to control m any spe cific characte ristics of the ir m ate rial. It is organize d into four
tabs.
Main Tab
Color - se t the color or m ate rials without a te x ture .
Reflective Finish and Highlight' The two slide rs com bine to de fine the am ount of re fle ction and the sharpne ss of re fle ction.
Highlight Color
Metallic - highlight are re fle cte d in the color of the re fle ctive m ate rial.
White - highlights are in W hite
Custom - highlights are in a custom color.
Se e : Me tallic R e fle ction
Glossy - highlights are othe r re fle ctions are blurry.
Se e : * Glossy R e fle ction
Intensity of the re fle ction. 1.000 is fully re fle ctive .
Sharpness - value s le ss than 1.000 cre ate blurry re fle ctions
Fresnel - se ts the am ount of Fre sne l R e fle ction .
Advance d Mate rial Editor - 6.2
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Advanced Material Editor - 6.2
The Fre sne l se tting is use ful for glossy m ate rials, not transpare nt one s.
The Fre sne l se tting affe cts only re fle ctive m ate rials. It controls an e ffe ct k nown as fre sne l re fle ction of conductors. If
your m ate rial is not 100% transpare nt, the n this se tting m ay com e into play
Fresnel reflectivity of conductors m ode ls the te nde ncy of m any m ate rials to be com e m ore spe cular (m irror-lik e ) at
glancing angle s, while re taining m ore m atte prope rtie s at pe rpe ndicular vie wing angle s.
See also
Mate rial Se ttings - R e fle ction
Highlighting
Fre sne l R e fle ction
Transparency Tab
The Transpare ncy tab of the Advance d Mate rial Editor controls a num be r of diffe re nt prope rtie s associate d with light passing
through a m ate rial.
Intensity. This affe cts how transpare nt the m ate rial is.
IOR. Inde x O f R e fraction de te rm ine s both the re fle ctivity of the m ate rial and how re fractive it is. C ontrols the am ount
that light is distorte d as it passe s through thick glass.
The highe r the IO R , the le ss transpare nt and the m ore re fle ctive the glass is. Lowe r value s of IO R will re sult in m ore
light on the inside .
Translucency. This is a m e asure of diffusion. High transluce ncy produce s a "sandblaste d" e ffe ct, since m ore light is
scatte re d random ly through the m ate rial. Allows light to pass through the m ate rial, but not visibility - as with a lam p
shade .
A ttenuation. This is a m e asure of the loss of inte nsity of light as it passe s through the m ate rial. Sunglasse s, for
e x am ple , have a high atte nuation.
Dispersion. This controls how m uch light is split into its com pone nt wave le ngths.
Saturation. This de te rm ine s the am ount of dispe rsion.
No Daylight Portal. This che ck box pre ve nts the m ate rial from be com ing a source of sunlight for an inte rior re nde ring.
Glow. This cre ate s the illusion of illum ination. Se ts Se lf Glow - the face glows, but doe s not illum inate othe r surface s.
Texture Tab
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The Te x ture Maps tab contains a num be r of options for alte ring te x ture s as we ll as an orde re d list of the m aps be ing use d.
The controls for adding and re m oving m aps, as we ll as re -orde ring the m , are at the top of this list.
The four tabs be low the m ap list are :
Main. C ontrols for the scale of the tiling, re placing the curre nt m ap, and changing the m ap type , are locate d he re .
De pe nding on the choice of m ap type , the re are additional controls. For standard m aps, the use r is able to se t
Stre ngth (how cle ar the te x ture is) and Bum p, which use s the m ap's gradie nt to cre ate the appe arance of de pth.
Norm al m aps only have a bum p control. For displace m e nt m aps, the use r can alte r he ight, face t size , and z-offse t.
Masking. By de fault, the alpha channe l will be m ask e d. By se le cting "C olor" inste ad of "Alpha," it is possible to m ask
any R GB value . The Transpare nt che ck box se ts the m ask e d color to transpare nt. The R e ve rse che ck box m ask s
e ve rything but the m ask e d color. Blur de te rm ine s the m agnitude of partial m ask ing around the m ask e d color, and
Se nsitivity m e asure s the size of the are a around the color that is also m ask e d.
Channels. The controls for channe l m anipulation are locate d he re . Inve rt C hanne ls switche s R GB value s, so dark
be com e s light, blue be com e s orange , e tc. The C olor che ck box turns all colors on and off. Spe cular Inte nsity m ak e s
the m ate rial m ore re fle ctive and m irror-lik e . Spe cular C olor ble nds the highlight color (unde r the Main tab of the
m ate rial e ditor) and the te x ture m ap's color for spe cular re fle ctions.
Orientation. R otation rotate s the tile s, O ffse t X and Y m ove the tile s around on the surface of the m ate rial.:
You can place up to 4 te x ture im age s on your m ate rial.
You can spe cify spe cial e ffe cts for additional te x ture s - such as ble nding m ate rials, or using the se cond m ate rial as a Bum p
Map
Bumps Tab
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Advanced Material Editor - 6.2
Se ts spe cial proce dural bum p type s. Each bum p type has its own param e te rs.
The Bum ps tab provide s options for cre ating the appe arance of a spe cific k ind of surface without using displace m e nt m aps or
re quiring the use r to provide any additional m aps. The patte rns offe re d are : Sandpape r, R ubble , W rink le d, Marble d, and
Pyram id. W he n one of the bum p m aps is che ck e d, additional controls be com e available . Stre ngth controls the appe arance of
de pth. Scale controls the proportional size of the bum ps.
Se e : Proce dural Bum p Maps
Special Blends
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Som e m ate rials, such as Solid W ood are cre ate d by ble nding se ve ral sub-te x ture s.
This fe ature is m ostly undocum e nte d. The be st way to use it is to choose an e x isting m ate rial and to try to change the
se ttings to achie ve the de sire d e ffe ct.
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The Material Tree - 6.3
The Material Tree
The Mate rial Tre e allows the use r to com bine two "pare nt" m ate rials base d on a spe cific m e thod, cre ating a com ple x "child"
m ate rial. Two "child" m ate rials can be com bine d in the sam e way, yie lding a m ore e laborate m ate rial.
The m e thods for com bining two m ate rials are :
Marble. C onsists of alte rnating slabs of ve in and base m ate rials. This is a 3D patte rn de fine d for all points in space .
Granite. Produce s a spotte d patte rn. The spots are solid pock e ts of m ate rial e m be dde d in a base m ate rial.
Wood. This com bination m e thod produce s conce ntric cylinde rs of alte rnating base and ring m ate rial. For re alistic
re sults, it is im portant to m ap corre ctly.
Blend. This is a sim ple option to com bine two base m ate rials and control the proportion of e ach one .
A ngular Blend. This ble nds two m ate rials from diffe re nt vie wing angle s. It is use ful for m ate rials that are re fle ctive at
glancing angle s and not re fle ctive at 90 de gre e s. Howe ve r, Fre sne l e ffe cts are a physically-base d way of producing
sim ilar e ffe cts.
Tile. This is a 2D proce dure that com bine s two m ate rials - one as a tile and the othe r as the joint be twe e n tile s.
Fractal.
De pe nding on which proce dure is se le cte d, diffe re nt controls are available to the use r. Marble , W ood, Granite , and Fractal all
draw from the sam e se t of controls. The y are :
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The Mate rial Tre e - 6.3
Feature. The ratio be twe e n base and stripe , spot, or ring is acce sse d through this control. It varie s be twe e n 0 and 1.
Lowe r value s m e an a highe r ratio of base to fe ature .
Blend. This controls how m uch partial com bination of the two m ate rials occurs.
Bump. C re ate s the appe arance of bum pine ss. It range s from -1 to 1. Ne gative value s m ak e the base appe ar concave ,
while positive value s m ak e it appe ar to stick out.
Turbulence. This is available for only m arble and wood. It de te rm ine s how chaotic the fe ature s are . A value of 0
produce s pe rfe ct rings. Highe r value s distort and twist the se rings.
Octaves.
A bsolute Value.
Veneer. This che ck box applie s a 2D surface ve ne e r inste ad of a 3D ble nd of m ate rials.
Scale.:
The Mate rial Tre e - 6.3
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Chapter 7 - Other Palettes
Other Palettes
Use the Render Settings Palette to e nte r inform ation about the re nde ring.
Use the Object Properties Pallette] to set special rendering properties for objects.
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C hapte r 7 - O the r Pale tte s
Render Settings
R e nde r Se ttings - 7.1
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Render Settings - 7.1
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The re are thre e options for de te rm ining re solution: Vie wport, Pix e ls, and Print. Vie wport allows the use r to se t the num be r of
total pix e ls. nXtR e nde r's de fault se tting of 300,000 pix e ls is ofte n sufficie nt for proofs or im age s going to the we b. 3,000,000
or m ore m ay be re quire d for a final, printe d im age . Pix e ls allows the use r to se t re solution for both X and Y ax e s.
Depth of Field
This e ffe ct cre ate s a de pth of fie ld blur that m im ics a photographe r's le ns. A le ns can only focus pre cise ly at e x actly one
distance , but the de cre ase in sharpne ss is gradual around the focal distance , cre ating an are a that is acce ptably sharp.
"Stre ngth" controls the size of this are a. A stre ngth of ze ro m e ans that the e ntire im age is sharp. Incre asing the stre ngth
m ak e s the are as outside the focal distance m ore blurry and m ak e s the are a in focus sm alle r. "Focal Distance " se ts the
distance for the de pth of fie ld.
Use Plants - unche ck to suppre ss the re nde ring of Tre e Editor plants
Use Materials - unche ck to re nde r without nXtR e nde r m ate rial te x ture s or colors.
Use Object Colors - che ck to re nde r AutoC AD m ate rials using the ir AutoC AD colors.
This is only active it Use Materials is che ck e d.
Passes - stop re nde ring afte r this m any m asse s if not 0
A utomatically Save Rendering Every - save a re nde ring afte r e ach XXX passe s.
Browse - se t path and file nam e for autosave file .
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Object Properties - 7.2
Object Properties
Object Properties
se t spe cial lighting, transpare ncy and re nde ring prope rtie s of groups, com pone nts and face s.
O bje ct Prope rtie s can be use d to m ak e any face or obje ct act as a light source , or to se t othe r spe cial
prope rtie s.
Object Properties are prope rtie s place d dire ctly on m ode l e ntitie s to spe cify re nde ring prope rtie s of the e ntitie s.
Se ttings which are be tte r se t on a m ate rial, are de fine d using the Mate rial W izard
To se t obje ct prope rtie s, right click on a face , group, or com pone nts and se le ct IRender Object Properties. The re are two
classe s of O bje ct Prope rtie s - Lighting and O the r O bje ct Prope rtie s.
Lighting
C ause s this e ntity to act as a light.
Light Type
None - do not tre at this obje ct as a light.
Diffuse / One Sided - all light goe s in one dire ction. This should be use d for ce iling lights and othe r are a lights.
Omni-Directional or Isotropic (all dire ctions)
Spotlight - should only be use d for the le ns of a spotlight.
Light direction (C om pone nt or Group)
Spotlight and Diffuse light ne e ds to have a dire ction.
For lights assigne d to face s the dire ction will always be a pe rpe ndicular from the front side of the face .
For com pone nts and groups, you can assign the dire ction base d on the ax e s of the com pone nt, or the transform ation
of the group. If you cre ate a spot light which points down (in the ne gative blue ax is of the com pone nt, the n se le ct Blue for the Light dire ction.
Intensity - In watts or lum e ns
Spot Lamp Settings
Beam A ngle - For Spot lights - se e Be am Angle
Field A ngle - For Spot lights - se e Fie ld Angle
The color of the light will be de te rm ine d by the color of the Sk e tchUp e ntity.
Other Object Properties
Se t the value s de sire d:
Daylight Portal - Produce s re alistic sun and daylight e ffe cts from windows.
Se e : Daylight Portal
Caustics - C re ate s caustic re fraction of light for a transpare nt obje ct.
Se e C austic Illum ination
Thick - Mark s glass as cre ate d from m ore than just a single face .
Se e Thin - Thick
Invisible - the obje ct will be se nt to the re nde re r, but m ark e d as invisible .
Se e : Invisible
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O bje ct Prope rtie s - 7.2
A lpha - You can m ark obje cts as Alpha C hanne l, and the y will appe ar invisible but shadows cast on the m will appe ar.
This can be use d to le t your m ode l cast shadows on walls or ne arby buildings, and the n paste the re nde re d im age and
the shadows on top of a photographic back ground.
Se e : IR e nde r Alpha Im age s
Ground Cover
Se e : Ground C ove r for de fining and assigning Ground C ove r foliage to a surface .
Object Properties vs Material Settings
Som e obje ct prope rtie s - such as thin/thick glass can be se t e ithe r on a m ate rial, or dire ctly on an obje ct.
The advantage of se tting the prope rty on the m ate rial, is that you can cre ate a m ate rial - e .g. ThinGlass - and place it on all
thin glass obje cts.
The advantage of se tting the prope rty dire ctly on the face of the glass, is that you can the n se t an Sk e tchUp m ate rial on the
glass and it will re nde r as thin glass without having to m ak e a ne w (thin) m ate rial for e ach color of glass which you want to
use .
O bje ct Prope rtie s - 7.2
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The Advanced Object Properties Tab - 7.3
The Advanced Object Properties Tab
The A dvanced Object Properties Tab controls a num be r of se ttings that can be turne d on and off, as we ll as a control for
te sse llation.
Thin
Daylight Portal
Caustics
Alpha Channel
Faceted
Reverse Normals
Monte Carlo Reflections
Gather
Tessellation controls how m any flat face s are use d to cre ate the appe arance of curvature . A highe r value m e ans
m ore face s, re sulting in a be tte r approx im ation of curvature .:
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The Advance d O bje ct Prope rtie s Tab - 7.3
WalkAbout
The WalkA bout inte rface provide s a varie ty of se rvice s e ncapsulate d into a single nXtR e nde r utility. Its basic functions
include :
An alte rnative to AutoC AD vie wing and navigation com m ands, including an intuitive walk -through m ode .
Fix e d aspe ct ratio vie wports so that e x act vie ws can be re plicate d consiste ntly, e ve n across diffe re nt m achine s.
An inte ractive im age back ground inte rface for placing m ode ls into photographs.
Som e advance d fe ature s can only be acce sse d through the W alk About inte rface . The se include :
Additional proje ctions not found in AutoC AD, such as two-point pe rspe ctive s and panoram as.
A batch proce ssor which allows you to calculate and save m ultiple re nde rings in a single se ssion.
3D Slide Show-- an e asy to use ye t sophisticate d anim ation e ngine .
A sun study anim ation e ngine .
The ability to re nde r a re ctangular re gion of your vie w.:
W alk About - 8.1
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3D slide show animations - 8.2
3D slide show animations
3D slide shows are m ade by re nde ring transitional vie ws be twe e n vie ws that have be e n save d by the use r. The output is a
num be r of im age s (.png) that form a slide show anim ation that transitions from one save d vie w to the ne x t. To cre ate a 3D
slide show, go to the W alk About inte rface and save at le ast two vie ws of the m ode l. This is done with the "Save C urre nt Vie w"
button.\\
O nce m ultiple vie ws have be e n save d, click the "3D Slide Show Anim ation" button, to the right of the "Save C urre nt Vie w"
button.
This le ads to the 3D Slide Show dialog box . It contains an orde re d list of the diffe re nt vie ws, as we ll as controls labe le d
"Transition (Se conds)" and "De lay (Se conds)." The se affe ct the le ngth of the transitions be twe e n vie ws, and the tim e spe nt at
e ach save d vie w, re spe ctive ly. This dialog box also contains thre e additional tabs, which are :
Quality. Since 3D Slide Shows re quire m any re nde rings, the de fault re solution is lowe r than for a still im age , as
is the num be r of passe s pe r im age . Fram e s pe r se cond controls the fram e rate for the transitions. This m e ans
that m ore fram e s will be re nde re d, giving the anim ation a sm oothe r fe e l.
Exposure.
Output.
The "Pre vie w" button shows what the anim ation will look lik e with the curre nt se ttings. "R e nde r" will re nde r the output im age s,
and "Farm " use s the nXtR e nde r R e nde r Farm to produce the output im age s.
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3D slide show anim ations - 8.2
nXtRender Add-ons
The se A dd-ons for nXtRender are available as a se parate download.
Download and Installation
Afte r the y are installe d, the y will appe ar on the Plugins R ibbon, or you can type in the com m and dire ctly:
RPS_A C_RENDER_REA DY - nXtR e nde r R e nde r R e ady lights and othe r obje cts
C hapte r 9 - nXtR e nde r Add-ons
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Background Wizard - 9.1
nXtRender Background Wizard
The nXtRender Background Wizard is use d to e asily position back ground im age s and HDR i sk ie s be hind your Sk e tchUp
m ode l be fore re nde ring.
You can download the nXtR e nde r Add-ons from :
nXtR e nde r Add-ons
Afte r the y are installe d, the y will appe ar on the Plugins R ibbon, or you can type in: RPS_A C_RENDER_REA DY
The nXtR e nde r Add-ons can be download from : Add-ons for nXtR e nde r.
Background Positioning
The Back ground W izard m ak e s it e asy to position your re nde re d m ode l in a back ground, and to re m e m be r the se ttings for
future re nde rings.
In this sam ple , we loade d a back ground im age which did not m atch the pe rspe ctive of the curre nt AutoC ASD vie w.\
By loading the back ground wizard, we are able to se e the back ground im age both be hind the AutoC AD vie w, and through the
transpare nt windows. By dragging the handle s on the back ground im age , we can ge t the m atching we want.
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Back ground W izard - 9.1
And the n, we we re -re nde r the m ode l, we ge t a back ground which aligns with the curre nt vie w.
- 100 -
Using Background Wizard
First se le ct the vie w and back ground im age you want from the nXtR e nde r pane l
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From the nXtR e nde r R ibbon, se le ct Image Wizard
This will load the Back ground W izard showing the AutoC AD vie w supe rim pose d ove r the back ground im age .
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Background Positioning
The se value s show the offse ts and scale s which are applie d to the re nde ring e ngine whe n positioning the back ground.
Maintain A spect Ratio
if this is che ck e d, the n the whe n stre tching the im age , the original aspe ct ration will be m aintaine d.
Distortion
O ff - Back ground is always re ctangular
Pe rspe ctive - R ight and Le ft side can be e x pande d or re duce d to product a pe rspe ctive e ffe ct.
Full - all four corne r points can be change d inde pe nde ntly
Reset Position
R e se ts to the de fault scale and offse t
background Image filters
Apply som e sim ple filte rs to the back ground im age .
Zoom Background Images
Zoom ,In, Soom O ut, Zoom All, Zoom to re nde re d are a only
Show only render area
W he n not che ck e d you can se e the full back ground im age , outside of the re nde re d im age , and use the handle s to
stre tch or scale the back ground.
Show model as Wire-frame
This can m ak e it e asie r to se e the back ground im age be hind the m ode l.
Opacity
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Mak e s the AutoC AD im age m ore transpare nt so you can se e the back ground be tte r be hind it.
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Layer Material Schemes - 9.2
Layer Material Schemes
Layer Material Schemes is a fe ature of nXtRender for AutoC AD.
It is use d to e asily save and re load assignm e nts of nXtR e nde r Mate rials to m ode ls.
Loading The Wizard
In ve rsions of AutoC AD with a ribbon, you can load the Laye r Mate rial Sche m e s from the R ibbon.
O r you can just type in nXt_Layer_Materials
For AutoC AD 2010 and 2011, which do not have a R ibbon, you will ne e d to load one of the se AR X m odule s be fore the
functions will work :
nXtRender_load_R18.arx
or
nXtRender_load_R18_x64.arx (for 64 bit m achine s)
The se m odule s can be loade d from a sub-folde r nam e d RPS_BIN whe re ve r you have AccuR e nde r nXt installe d, usually:
C:\Program Files\A ccuRender nXt\RPS_BIN
Display Panes
Saved Schemes
The le ft hand colum n is use d to se le ct e ithe r the C urre nt Drawing, or a Laye r Mate rial Sche m e save d in the Library to apply to
the m ode l.
Afte r se le cting a save d sche m e , or using Browse to se le ct a sche m e with W indows File Ex plore r, the Laye r Assignm e nts save d
in the sche m e , and thum bnails of the m ate rials in the sche m e are displaye d in the two right hand colum ns.
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Laye r Mate rial Sche m e s - 9.2
Browse - se le ct a save d Sche m e from anywhe re on the disk , not just the Laye r Mate rial Sche m e Library.
Options - change the location of the library of sche m e s. This is use ful if you want to save sche m e s on a ne twork drive to
share with othe r use rs.
Layer Material Scheme
The laye rs and m ate rials in the curre nt sche m e are displaye d in the ce nte r pane . You cannot m ak e any change s he re , but
you can se e which m ate rials will be applie d to e ach laye r.
Show A ll Layers - Norm ally only the laye rs containe d in the sche m e are displaye d. Show A ll Layers will display all laye rs in
your m ode l.
Thumbnails
The right Hand Pane displays thum bnails of the m ate rials save d in the Sche m e .
Save - Afte r click ing A pply, or afte r se le cting Current Drawing in the le ft hand pane , you can save the sche m e to the Laye r
Sche m e Library, or anywhe re e lse you lik e .
A pply - will apply the se le cte d Laye r Sche m e to the C urre nt Drawing. Mate rials for laye rs not containe d in the sche m e will not
be change d,
Close - close the W izard without m ak ing additional change s.
Saving a new Scheme
Afte r you click Save, whe n the C urre nt Drawing is se le cte d in the le ft hand Pane ), you can e ite r save the sche m e to a library,
or use Save As to save it anywhe re on the disk .
Scheme Libraries
The initial library location is in the W indows AppData sche m e , unde r nXtRender/Material Schemes, you can use the Settings
button or the Change Library Location button on thhe Save dialog, to spe cify a ne w location for the librarie s.
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Layer Material Schemes - 9.2
- 107 -
nXtRender Render Ready
nXtRender Ready block s are have light and m ate rial se ttings alre ady save d in the block s so you can place the m in AutoC AD
and re nde r the m without having to add lighting and othe r param e te rs.
You can download the nXtR e nde r Add-ons from :
nXtR e nde r Add-ons
Afte r the y are installe d, the y will appe ar on the Plugins R ibbon, or you can type in: RPS_A C_RENDER_REA DY
The nXtR e nde r Add-ons can be download from : Add-ons for nXtR e nde r.
Here are some ceiling lights:
R e nde r R e ady Block s - 9.3
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Render Ready Blocks - 9.3
Here are some other lights:
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Rendering with nXtRender
Afte r click ing Create/Place and re nde ring the m ode l, he re are the download lights in action.
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Render Ready Blocks - 9.3
Notes
Som e lights, such as the wall lights will re quire you to se t the AutoC AD UC S to the de sire d wall for place m e nt.
C urre ntly, if you re -install nXtR e nde r, you will ne e d to re -install the nXtR e nde r Add-ons as we ll.
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Using Burn
Burn change s the white point of the im age so that le ss than m ax brightne ss obje cts will m ap to white . He re are thre e im age s
all with e x actly the sam e lum inance data but diffe re nt e x posure (tone m apping) se ttings.
First, with no m odifications to the tone m apping you can se e that the ave rage color m aps to gray:
W ith the brightne ss crank e d up to 0.4 we can ge t rid of som e of the "grayne ss" of the im age . Think of this as inte ntionally
ove re x posing a photo a little :
Using Burn - 10.1
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Using Burn - 10.1
Finally, adding som e burn can re ally m ak e a big diffe re nce in the brighte r re gions of the im age -- in this case I use d 0.5.
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Using Burn - 10.1
The am ount of burn you'll use varie s quite a bit from sce ne to sce ne - The re are no good rule s of thum b he re .
Using Burn - 10.1
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Image Editor - 10.2
nXtRender Image Editor
The nXtR e nde r Im age Editor is a powe rful stand-alone utility which can e dit native im age file s (.nXtIm age ) produce d by any of
the nXtR e nde r platform s. The se native file s re tain all of the inform ation gathe re d during re nde ring. Launch the Editor from
the Start m e nu's nXtR e nde r folde r.
Using the Editor, you can:
Adjust the tone ope rator se ttings
C hange the inte nsity of any lighting channe l
Add spe cial, im age -base d, e ffe cts such as Haze or De pth Blur
Save a tone -m appe d im age in a popular form at such as .jpg or .png
Save the lum inance inform ation to an HDR form at
Vie w and save additional m ask e d channe ls (alpha, distance , m ate rial) for use in advance d com positing
Save a Pirane si(c) file form at (*.e px ) which can be use d to cre ate non photo-re alistic re nde ring
Use Im age Arithm e tic for task s such as stitching toge the r an im age which has be e n ge ne rate d by se parate
node s on the re nde r farm .
Save the Lighting Se ttings use d to ge ne rate this re nde ring. The se Lighting Se ttings can the n be use d to
ge ne rate m ore re nde rings.
Afte r saving your re nde ring re sults as an .nXtIm age , use the File ->O pe n... m e nu to load the im age into the e ditor.
As you m ove your cursor ove r the im age , the status bar displays the following inform ation about e ach pix e l:
The pix e l coordinate , m e asure d from the lowe r le ft corne r
The re sulting color and alpha in R GBA form at of the pix e l afte r tone -m apping
The actual lum inance value store d in e ach pix e l as R GB and single channe l Y. This is the dire ct re sult of the
lighting calculation. If accurate lighting inform ation was use d to produce the re nde ring, the se value s will have
units of cande las/m ^2.
The distance of e ach pix e l from the vie we r in m e te rs. Ne gative value s indicate a back ground pix e l.
The nam e of the m ate rial use d to re nde r the pix e l.
nXtIm age file s contain thre e additional channe ls which can be use d as m ask s for advance d com positing in m ost bitm ap
e ditors. The se channe ls carry alpha (transpare ncy), distance , and m ate rial inform ation for e ach pix e l, e ncode d in a gray-scale
im age . Each channe l can be vie we d and save d to a .png file .
Use the Vie w pulldown to vie w e ach m ask channe l. Use the File ->Save Mask option to save a m ask channe l to a .png im age .
Additional notes:
The Alpha channe l can be include d with a tone -m appe d im age by se le cting a file form at w/ Alpha whe n saving a
tone -m appe d im age .
Distance and Mate rials channe ls are not anti-aliase d and m ay show som e hard-e dge d artifacts. Adding a sm all
am ount of Gaussian blur to a m ask be fore using it m ay he lp softe n the se e dge s.
The Mate rials channe l will only unique ly e ncode 255 diffe re nt m ate rials. If your drawing contains m ore m ate rials
than that, som e m ask colors will re pe at.
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Im age Editor - 10.2
nXtRender Batch
nXtRender Batch
Batch Rendering is a re nde ring m ode which e x ports the m ode l to a file , and the n re nde rs the file in a
se parate proce ss.
It has 3 m ain use s and be ne fits.
1. Large Models - Mode ls which are too large to re nde r dire ctly from Sk e tchUp can be re nde re d in
batch m ode .
2. A nimation - Batch m ode is use d for anim ation, be cause anim ations ne e d to load and re load the
m ode l whe n the re are laye r change s, and be cause anim ations typically tak e a long tim e to re nde r.
3. Network Rendering - The e ntire folde r containing the re nde ring inform ation and file s can be
acce sse d across a ne twork , or copie d to a thum b drive or anothe r m achine and use d to re nde r the
m ode l.
nXtRender Batch Rendering e x ports the m ode l to a file , and the n re nde rs the file in a se parate proce ss.
It has 3 m ain use s and be ne fits.
1. Large Models - Mode ls which are too large to re nde r dire ctly from Sk e tchUp can be re nde re d in batch m ode . Batch
R e nde ring can proce ss m ode ls which are 2 to 5 tim e s large r than Dire ct R e nde ring.
2. A nimation - Batch m ode is use d for anim ation, be cause anim ations ne e d to load and re load the m ode l whe n the re
are laye r change s, and be cause anim ations typically tak e a long tim e to re nde r.
3. Network Rendering - The e ntire folde r containing the re nde ring inform ation and file s can be acce sse d across a
ne twork , or copie d to a thum b drive or anothe r m achine and use d to re nde r the m ode l.
nXtRender Toolbar Functions
These are the functions for each of the buttons on the Render Dialog Toolbar:
- Load the A bout dialog
- Im age Filte rs and Tone O pe rator - Adjust Im age Brightne ss, C ontrast, Burn, and Saturation or apply othe r
filte rs.
- Brightness Control - Adjust the brightne ss without loading the Tone O pe rator
dialog
Batch re nde ring - 10.3
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Batch rendering - 10.3
- Save the re nde re d im age to a JPEG or PNG file . Se e : Saving R e nde re d Im age
- C opy re nde re d im age to clipboard
- Zoom All - This button will toggle the re nde r display be twe e n showing the actual pix e ls and filling the
curre nt window.
- Vie w R otate - C hange Vie w and re -re nde r.
- R e nde r Se tup Dialog - C hange Se tup O ptions be fore re starting the re nde re r.
- R e nde r Mate rial Dialog - C hange Mate rials be fore re starting the re nde re r.
Afte r changing Se tup O ptions or Mate rials, use the Start R e nde r button
to se e the change s.
- Lighting C hanne ls - adjust the inte nsity of sun, sk y or groups of lights dire ctly.
- Im age Effe cts - Switch to nXtIm age Form at for spe cial e ffe cts - R e al Tim e Haze , De pth Blur and Glare
- R e sum e R e nde ring - Use the R e sum e button to add m ore passe s to a re nde ring which has be e n
com ple te d. Se e : R e sum e R e nde ring .
- Start R e nde ring - This button is re d while the re nde re r is proce ssing. It will turn gre e n whe n the re nde ring
in finishe d. C lick on the re d button to stop the re nde ring. C lick on the gre e n button to re start the re nde ring.
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Settings
C lick Batch Rendering Settings pn the R e nde r Se tup W izard to change the de fault folde r or be havior.
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Folder to Use
Batch R e nde ring store s e ve rything ne e de d to re nde r the drawing in a folde r on your disk . This le ts you re nde r the drawing
from a ne twork m achine , or re nde r it late r if de sire d.
Standard - the standard folde r is store d in your W indows te m porary folde r. It is re use d e ve ry tim e you start a Batch
R e nde ring. The folde r is nXt_Batch.
Model Name - the Batch R e nde ring folde r nam e is base d on the nam e of the curre nt Sk e tchUp m ode l.
Custom - you can e nte r your own nam e and location for the Batch R e nde ring folde r.
For Batch Rendering on a Network Computer, se le ct Custom and save the re nde ring inform ation on a drive on your com pute r
which is acce ssible by the ne twork com pute r, or save it dire ctly onto the ne twork com pute r.
Action to tak when batch data complete
The se cond two options cause a pause in the re nde ring proce ss so that you can start the re nde ring on a se parate ne twork
m achine , or de lay the start of the re nde ring, if de sire d.
Start batch rendering - the re nde ring is autom atically starte d afte r the data is e x tracte d from your Sk e tchUp m ode l.
Load this dialog before rendering - this dialog is re -loade d be fore re nde ring so that you can se t the Batch R e nde ring
folde r.
Notify me that data is ready - A m e ssage box is loade d to show that the data is re ady.
Import option changes from Batch Rendering Window
W he n you m ak e change s to your re nde ring se ttings, m ate rials, e tc. from the R e nde ring window, the se can be re loade d back
into Sk e tchUp. (Assum ing you are still work ing on the sam e m ode l in Sk e tchUp).
Load dialog to ask - Sk e tchup will load a dialog ask ing if you want to im port any change s m ade while re nde rings.
A lways load changes - Always load the change s into the Sk e tchUp m ode l without ask ing first.
Never Load changes - Do not load the dialog and do not load any change s back into Sk e tchUp.
Network Rendering
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This m e ssage will appe ar if you che ck : Notify me that data is ready on the Batch
R e nde ring Se tup Dialog.
R e m ote R e nde ring
External Rendering e x ports the m ode l to a file , and the n re nde rs the file in a se parate proce ss.
This allows you to m ak e change s to the Sk e tchUp m ode l wihtout having to wait for the re nde ring to
com ple te
Afte r e x tracting the data from the Sk e tchUp m ode l, you can acce ss the e ntire folde r containing the re nde ring inform ation and
file s across a ne twork , or copy the folde r to a thum b drive or anothe r m achine and use it to re nde r the m ode l.
If you che ck : Notify me that data is ready on the Batch R e nde ring Se tup Dialog you will be prom pte d whe n the batch data is
re ad, and you can start the re nde ring on the re m ote m achine . a DO S .BAT file is cre ate d in the batch re nde ring folde r which
will start the re nde ring for you.
Installations
nXtRender: You must install nXtRender in the same location on a network machine if you want to render from the network
machine. You do not need to install SketchUp and you do not need to authorize nXtRender for the batch rendering network
machine.
SketchUp: You do not need to install SketchUp on the remote machine.
RPC:: If you are using RPC objects, you will need to install the ArchVision Content Manager on the network machine.
Licensing
nXtRender: You do not need to license nXtRender of the Remote Machine.
Batch Rendering Editor
You can e dit m ate rials or options in the Batch R e nde re r, and re -re nde r the m ode l without re turning to Sk e tchUp and the n
re load the change s back into Sk e tchUp.
Se e : Batch R e nde ring Editor
Licensing for Batch Rendering
You do not ne e d a lice nse for a Batch R e nde ring m achine .
You ne e d a lice nse for e ach m achine which is running the 3D Mode lle r and wants to acce ss nXtR e nde r from within the 3D
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Mode l.
You do not ne e d a lice nse for m achine s which are use d only to pe rform the re nde rings using the Batch R e nde ring proce ss. As
long as the se m achine s do not ne e d to acce ss nXtR e nde r from within AutoC AD, Sk e tchUp or R e vit - the y do not ne e d a
lice nse .
Render Farms
A R e nde r Farm consists of a group of ne twork e d com pute rs work ing toge the r to com ple te large re nde ring task s. R e nde r farm s
proce e d sile ntly, without graphically displaying the re nde rings as the y progre ss, or you can run the R e nde r Farm Display tool
to display parts of the im age as the y are com ple te d. Using the R e nde r Farm allows you to use m ore com pute powe r for
le ngthy task s at the e x pe nse of som e inte ractivity.
Se e : R e nde r Farm
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nXtRender Render Farm
A R e nde r Farm consists of a group of ne twork e d com pute rs work ing toge the r to com ple te large re nde ring task s. Norm ally,
re nde r farm s proce e d sile ntly, without graphically displaying the re nde rings as the y progre ss. R e nde ring in this m anne r allows
you to use m ore com pute r powe r for le ngthy task s at the e x pe nse of som e inte ractivity.\\ Many third-party re nde r farm
products are curre ntly available . The nXtR e nde r R e nde r Farm Software allows you to work with one of the se , or you can se t up
a sim ple re nde r farm just using the software provide d. The nXtRender Render Farm Software is sold separately from the
nXtR e nde r platform plugins, such as AccuR e nde r nXt. The software itse lf is platform inde pe nde nt; AutoC AD is not re quire d on
com pute rs which will only be use d for re nde ring farm ing.
The nXtR e nde r R e nde r Farm include s two basic pie ce s of software :
nXtFarm e r.e x e (nXtFarm e r64.e x e ) is a sm all program that runs on e ach ne twork re nde ring station and waits for jobs to
be ge ne rate d.
nXtFarm Monitor.e x e (nXtFarm Monitor64.e x e ) is an apple t that shows you the state of your re nde r farm and provide s
som e sim ple control tools.
The following proce dure s apply to nXtR e nde r's include d re nde r farm . If you are planning to use third-party re nde r farm
software , som e of the se proce dure s will be diffe re nt.
C re ate a share d folde r for use by the re nde r farm . All of the ne twork re nde ring com pute rs m ust have re ad/write acce ss to this
folde r. The share d folde r should have a lot of available disk space to store both data (input) and im age s (output.) 20 - 200
GB of available storage are re com m e nde d. You m ust pe rform the following four ste ps on each com pute r you plan to use in the
re nde r farm , including any nXtR e nde r work stations which will subm it jobs to the re nde r farm :
Install the nXtR e nde r R e nde r Farm Software .
From the Start m e nu, run the R e nde r Farm e r on e ach m achine . The R e nde r Farm e r will appe ar as an icon in the
syste m tray.
R ight click on the icon and se le ct R e store . A window title nXtR e nde r Farm e r should appe ar.
Se le ct O ptions->Path... from the m e nu and se le ct the path to the re nde r farm . The Farm e r window can now be
m inim ize d to the tray.
The R e nde r Farm is now configure d. To ve rify that the farm e r m achine s are re sponding run the R e nde r Farm Monitor from the
Start m e nu on any of the work stations. The m achine s should appe ar in the uppe r list box . If you wish to e x clude a m achine
from participating in the re nde r farm , you can se le ct it, right click , and choose Suspe nd.
Updating the Render Farm Software
All participating com pute rs m ust be update d be fore a ne w job can be subm itte d to the farm . Use the following proce dure :
W ait for any active farm jobs to com ple te be fore be ginning your update .
For e ach participating com pute r:
- If the render farm is currently running, close down the Render Farmer by
right-clicking on the tray icon and se
- Install the nXtR e nde r R e nde r Farm Software .
- R un the R e nde r Farm e r from the Start Me nu. The tray icon should appe ar.
C urre ntly, thre e type s of jobs can be subm itte d to the re nde r farm for proce ssing by m ultiple com pute rs: Single Im age s from
W alk About, Batch Jobs, and 3D Slide Shows.
Single Images
Single vie ws can be split into "slice s" and distribute d to m ultiple m achine s. O nce the job is com ple te , the se slice s can be
re constructe d into a single im age using the nXtR e nde r Im age Editor.
Pe rform the following ste ps to subm it a single im age job to the re nde r farm :
Launch W alk About and configure your re nde ring and vie w.
Pre ss the R e nde r Farm button on the W alk About toolbar.
Nam e the job or acce pt the de fault. The date and tim e is autom atically pre -pe nde d to the nam e you choose . A subfolde r for the job is cre ate d in the R e nde r Farm share d folde r. An O utput folde r is also cre ate d in the ne w job folde r.
C hoose to e ithe r run the job "now", "late r", or "afte r" a sche dule d tim e . If you choose "late r" you will ne e d to use the
R e nde r Farm - 10.4
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Render Farm - 10.4
nXtR e nde r R e nde r Farm Monitor to m anually start the job.
Afte r the job is com ple te , output can be found in the job's O utput folde r. To re construct the output into a single im age use
the following ste ps:
O pe n the nXtR e nde r Im age Editor.
Load the first im age of the se que nce , 000000.nXtIm age
From the m e nu, se le ct Im age ->Arithm e tic->Add
Se le ct all of the othe r im age s in the se que nce (do not se le ct 000000.nXtIm age again or it will be counte d twice )
Batch Jobs
Each batch task will be re nde re d by a single m achine .
Pe rform the following ste ps to subm it a Batch job to the re nde r farm :
C onfigure your Batch task s in the usual way.
Pre ss the Farm ... button on the Batch DB.
Afte r the job is com ple te , output can be found in the job's O utput folde r. The output form at from Batch jobs is always
.nXtIm age .
Slide Show
Each transition be twe e n two slide s will be re nde re d by a single m achine . For e x am ple , a slide show with five slide s will have
four transitions and will produce four task s for the re nde r farm .
Pe rform the following ste ps to subm it a 3D Slide Show job to the re nde r farm :
C onfigure your 3D Slide Show in the usual way.
Pre ss the Farm ... button on the 3D Slide Show DB.
Afte r the job is com ple te , output can be found in the job's O utput folde r. The output form at from 3D Slide Show jobs is always
png. Your alpha channe l choice will be pre se rve d.
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R e nde r Farm - 10.4
Converting legacy (AR3 - AR4) material libraries
O nline he lp hom e
Converting Legacy AR3/AR4 Libraries
Mate rial librarie s use d by the AccuR e nde r 3 and 4 fam ily of products cannot be use d by nXt dire ctly. The se m ust be conve rte d
to folde rs and .nXtMate rial file s be fore the y can im porte d into nXt.
Standard AR3/AR4 Libraries
The standard librarie s have be e n conve rte d and are available for download He re .
http://nx tre nde r.com /download/
Your custom AR3/AR4 Libraries
To conve rt your custom AR 3/AR 4 m ate rial librarie s use the tool provide d on the W idge ts m e nu of the AutoC AD pale tte
calle d Convert Legacy AR Material Library. This tool will conve rt your m ate rial library file into standard folde rs and e le m e ntal
m ate rial file s, which can the n be im porte d into your drawing. Be cause the nXt e ngine is ve ry diffe re nt than pre vious AR
e ngine s, som e m ate rials m ay re quire som e additional m anual work .
Additional Notes
If a AR 3/AR 4 ve rsion of AccuR e nde r has ne ve r be e n installe d on your m achine , you will ne e d to te ll nXt whe re it can find the
te x ture s use d by your AR 3/AR 4 m ate rials. This is ofte n the case with ne w 64-bit m achine s. Pre ssing the O ptions button on the
nXt pale tte will allow you to e nte r the se arch path to your te x ture s.
C onve rting Le gacy AR 3/AR 4 Mate rial Librarie s - 10.5
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Using Legacy AR3/AR4 Plants - 10.6
Using Legacy AR3-AR4 Plants
Using Legacy AR3/AR4 Plants
Plants cre ate d in AccuR e nde r 3 or 4 m ay be adde d to a drawing by using the Add Legacy Plant... option in the Widgets->Plants
pulldown.
Navigate to a folde r which contains an AR 3/AR 4 .plib file . C lick on the file nam e to load the library.
Se le ct a plant, and click OK.
Se le ct a location for your plant.
The plant will be place d in the drawing as a wire fram e , stick figure .
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Using Le gacy AR 3/AR 4 Plants - 10.6
O nce your AR 3/AR 4 plant has be e n inse rte d, you can e dit a fe w se ttings of the plant using the Edit Legacy Plant option.
Additional notes on AR3/AR4 Plants
Groundcover and Vines
AR 3/AR 4 groundcove r and vine s are not available in nXtR e nde r.
Search Paths for images, etc.
If you are using AR 3/AR 4 plants and do not have AccuR e nde r 3 or 4 installe d, you will ne e d to m anually add all of the se arch
paths ne ce ssary for your plants. (Use the O ptions ite m on the m e nu bar to add se arch paths.)
The ne ce ssary paths include the path to the plant library, the path to the plant m ate rial library, and the paths to any te x ture s
or opacity m aps re quire d by the AR 3/AR 4 plant.
Missing AR 3/AR 4 plant m ate rials during re nde ring is alm ost always due to m issing se arch path inform ation. This issue is
particularly re le vant for 64 bit syste m s, since the se will not have had pre vious installations of AccuR e nde r.
Existing Drawings
AR 3/AR 4 drawings with plants alre ady inse rte d should work subje ct to the re strictions above .
No Library Conversion
AR 3/AR 4 plants are ve ry diffe re nt than the ne w nXtR e nde r plants. C urre ntly you cannot conve rt AR 3/AR 4 plants to
nXtR e nde r plants.
Using Le gacy AR 3/AR 4 Plants - 10.6
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Volumetric Fog - 10.7
Volumetric Fog
Volumetric fog allows the atm osphe re surrounding your m ode l to participate in the lighting calculation. Effe cts such as "sun
stre ak s" or "light be am s" can be accurate ly m ode le d using this e ffe ct. Tips on achie ving both of the se spe cific phe nom e na
are discusse d be low.
Nighttim e fog sce ne - se e Nighttim e Fog Tips be low. (It took about 1,000 passe s for this re nde ring to conve rge and sm ooth out
C hick Inn Mode l courte sy of Muse um Mak e r - Se e : Sk e tching Ypsi
FAQ - Why can't I see any fog
W he n we first use d fog, we didn't se e any e ithe r. W e have fix e d, or adde d warnings, for m any of the thing we ran into. But
this list m ay he lp.
Most of the se ite m s are discusse d late r in the Volumetric Fog Article
1. Enable Volumetric Fog on the Fog Setup Tab
If you forge t this ste p you will not ge t any fog.
2. Use the Path Tracer Engine
W e have adde d som e warnings if you try to re nde r with Fog e nable d, but not the Path Trace r Engine .
3. Don't use Section Planes
The re is curre ntly a bug whe re Fog doe s not work whe n vie we d through a se ction plane . You will ne e d to hide or de le te
ge om e try inste ad if you want to se e through walls, e tc. until we ge t this fix e d.
4. Wait long enough so that the lights creating the fog appear
The de fault is for only 1/3 of the lights to appe ar in e ach pass, so wait 6 to 10 passe s be fore you give up on the fog.
5. Make sure Scattering is set properly
Scatte ring is the am oun that light is scatte re d by the fog. If you don't se e any fog, se t it to 50%. You can raise or
lowe r it late r once you are able to se e the fog.
6. Don't set values too high - If Scatte ring or Absorption is too high, the n you m ay just ge t a dark re nde ring with no light
passing through.
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Volum e tric Fog - 10.7
7. Check the Fog Boundary
For m y first re nde ring I did not se t the fog boundary. Since the n we have adde d som e de fault boundarie s - such as
the m ode l boundary.
8. Make sure the fog boundary does not intersect any other faces.
W e have m ade the de fault boundary 5% large r than the m ode l. If you se t your own boundary, m ak e sure the re are
not any coplanar face s in th m ode l which inte rse ct the boundary.
To enable volumetric fog
Volum e tric fog re quire s the Path Trace r , it is not available in the standard e ngine .
O n the Lights Tab , click the Enable box in the Fog group.
Afte r you e nable fog a box will appe ar in your m ode l. This box controls the e x te nt of the fog. It can be stre tche d using
grip points, scale d, rotate d, and m ove d.
Path Tracer Engine
Volum e tric Fog re quire s the nXt Path Trace r e ngine .
This e ngine can cre ate spe cial e ffe cts lik e fog, but doe s so at the e x pe nse of a m ore com ple x and tim e -consum ing
calculation. The Path Trace r be gins by displaying a ve ry grainy or "noisy" im age which gradually re fine s and be com e s sm ooth.
This proce ss is k nown as conve rge nce . Som e sce ne s will conve rge ve ry quick ly, othe rs will tak e m any hours.
Afte r just a fe w passe s, the im age appe ars quite noisy, but m ay be sufficie nt to de te rm ine if the sce ne is se t up prope rly. I
will usually tak e 100's 0r 1,000's of passe s to ge t a good final im age . Each pass is faste r than with the Pack e t Mode Engine ,
but it will still usually tak e longe r to ge t a use able re sult with the Patch Trace r.
10 passe s - e arly on the re nde ring has a lot of
unre solve d pix e ls. The final im age is be ginning to
tak e shape but will ne e d m any m ore passe s be fore it
is com ple te .
250 passe s - you can se e how this is going to work ,
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and stop the re nde ring if you want to m ak e change s.
But it will probably tak e about 1,000 passe s to ge t a
good im age with fog.
1000 passe s - afte r about 1,000 passe s the sce ne
has conve rge d fairly we ll.
Smoothness Filters
Use of the sm oothne ss filte rs, include d in IR e nde r nXt, can also he lp re solve the im age .
This two im age s are spot lights in haze , afte r 250 passe s.
The one the le ft is the im age s as re nde re d, the one on the right has a 3x 3 Gaussian Sm oothne ss filte r applie d.
The sm oothne ss he lps conve rge the pix e ls, and the slight blurrine ss it adds is acce ptable in a foggy sce ne .
250 passe s - original im age
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250 passe s with Gaussian 3x 3 Sm oothne ss filte r
applie d.
This is the sam e sce ne , re nde re d for 1,000 passe s without a sm oothne ss filte r. The e x tra passe s de finite ly cre ate a
sm oothe r, m ore com ple te im age .
Fog Boundary
The Fog calculations re quire a boundary to de te rm ine whe re to apply the fog e ffe ct.
A radio button is supplie d for two sim ple case s - se tting the boundary to the database e x tre m a, and se tting the boundary to
the e x tre m a plus cam e ra.
In this lighthouse e x am ple , the database e x tre m a do not work we ll - be cause the database itse lf was so sm all:
- 130 -
Boundary se t to database e x tre m a (plus 10%) afte r 50 passe s. This
doe s not achie ve the e ffe ct de sire d.
Face adde d to Sk e tchUp to de fine ne w m ode l e x tre m a for fog.
- 131 -
Boundary se t to database e x tre m a - with adde d are a to de fine the fog
boundary.
Settings
Enable Volumetric Fog - re m e m be r to also se le ct the Path Trace r Engine .
Fog Color - The C olor Swatch allows you to change the scatte ring color, norm ally se t to white .
Scattering - controls the probability of the light e ncounte ring a particle in the fog boundary. Highe r num be rs produce
- 132 -
de nse r fogs. The de fault of 20% is ade quate for m any use s.
A bsorption - is the probability of light be ing absorbe d in the fog boundary. Highe r num be rs produce dark e r fogs. This
is norm ally le ft at 0%.
Scattering Direction - controls how the light is scatte re d. Value s > 0 produce forward scatte ring. Value s < 0 produce
back ward scatte ring, sim ilar to re fle ction. The de fault of 0.2 produce s a patte rn which re se m ble s wate r drople ts
suspe nde d in air.
Tips for various conditions
Nighttime Fog
For this im age , we se t:
Scatte ring: 40%
Absorption: 5%
Scatte r Dire ction: 0.15
Lighting channe ls we re use d to adjust the inte nsity of the stre e t light and signs while re nde rings.
The sign on top of the building and the sign at the right we re illum inate d as lights (using O bje ct Prope rtie s or Mate ril
Illum ination)
The othe r signs we re illum inate d using se lf-glow.
- 133 -
Lighting Channels
O ne of the othe r nice fe ature s for a nighttim e sce ne lik e this was the use of Lighting C hanne ls . I was able to assign se parate
channe ls to groups of lights, and the n balance the m while re nde ring and afte r the re nde ring was com ple te . This is m uch
e asie r than having to change the inte nsity of the lights and re -re nde r to se e the e ffe ct.
Exterior 'Sun Streaks'
Ex te rior Volum e tric Fog
C re ate a m ulti-channe l re nde ring and place the sun on one channe l and the sk y on anothe r.
- 134 -
Using the C hanne ls dialog box , turn the sk y down to 0.2. (The particle s in the air will act as your "sk y". The standard
sk y m ode l is not accurate whe n re pre se nting ve ry "low" sk ie s.)
C hange the sun dire ction so your m ode l is lit from be hind. Sun stre ak s will usually only be visible in the dark are as of
your m ode l. Add tre e s or othe r shade producing obje cts.
Interior Light through Window
Use lighting channe ls to lowe r sk y inte nsity - to e m phasize the sun stre ak s.
Se t scatte ring to 40% and the n raise or lowe r if ne e de d
Staine d Glass e x am ple
Interior "Light Beams"
This effect often requires a long time to properly resolve. It m ay be im practical for som e sce ne s.
Use low de nsity fog. Se t Scatte ring to 20% as a start.
Use focuse d lighting, such as spot lights with narrow cone s.
- 135 -
Inte rior Volum e tric Fog
- 136 -
Sub-surface Scattering - 10.8
Sub-surface Scattering
Sub-surface Scattering is an advance d m ate rial prope rty found only in the Advance d Mate rial Editor on the Transpare ncy
Page . Using this e ffe ct, light is pe rm itte d to pe ne trate the surface of your obje ct and scatte r in any dire ction. Many transluce nt
m ate rials can be m ode le d using this e ffe ct. C e rtain surface s, such as stone or sk in can be re alistically "softe ne d" by allowing
the light to pe ne trate a short distance .
The lighting in nXtR e nde r norm ally occurs only at the surface of obje cts. Subsurface scatte ring is e sse ntially a volum e tric
te chnique , whe re inte ractions also occur within the m e dium . It's re quire d to accurate ly m ode l m ate rials which we think of as
"transluce nt". It's also he lpful with m ate rials whe re the light pe ne trate s the surface a little bit-- such as the m arble dragons-and the n scatte rs on its way out. The fe e l of the im age s above would be ve ry difficult to achie ve without this te chnology.
Dragon O bje cts with varying le ve ls of Sub-surface Scatte ring
Settings
Sub-surface Scatte ring re quire s the Path Trace r to fully re alize this e ffe ct. It is only partially im ple m e nte d in the
standard e ngine .
Scatte ring controls the probability of the light e ncounte ring a particle pe r unit le ngth. Units can be ce ntim e te rs
(de fault), m e te rs, or m illim te rs. Highe r num be rs produce m ore scatte ring.
Scatte ring Dire ction controls how the light is scatte re d. Value s > 0 produce forward scatte ring. Value s < 0 produce
back ward scatte ring, sim ilar to re fle ction. The de fault of 0.0 produce s an isotropic scatte ring patte rn which.
Absorption is the probability of light be ing absorbe d pe r unit le ngth. Highe r num be rs produce dark e r m ate rials.
Additional Notes
The m ate rial m ust have som e transpare ncy in orde r for sub-surface scatte ring to tak e place .
This is a volum e tric e ffe ct. The obje cts with this m ate rial attache d m ust be solid or "space e nclosing" for this to work
prope rly. "Thin" obje cts should be tagge d using O bje ct Prope rtie s. O bje cts tagge d as thin will use standard
transluce ncy as de fine d by the Scatte ring se tting (unitle ss in this case .)
- 137 -
Sub-surface Scatte ring - 10.8
Speckle Artifacts
Speckle A rtifacts
Bright spot, or speckle artifacts som e tim e occur during the re nde ring proce ss. Two com m on cause s of this artifact, and the ir
solutions, are discusse d be low.
Blurry Reflection of Light Sources
This proble m is usually associate d with inte rior re nde rings whe re the light source s are sm all. The surface s e x hibiting the
artifact typically have blurry re fle ctions. The re are thre e ste ps you can tak e to m itigate or e lim inate this artifact:
You can tag the m ate rial in que stion as Glossy in the Material Wizard . This will pre ve nt the surface from having any
ray-caste d re fle ctions at all and should e lim inate the proble m and provide be tte r ove rall pe rform ance . Using this switch
m ay cause som e loss of subtle ty. For m any sce ne s, howe ve r, this is not notice able . It m ay be he lpful to incre ase
re fle ctive Sharpne ss som e what afte r che ck ing the Glossy box . Se e : Glossy R e fle ction
You can tag the m ate rial as No Light Source Reflections. This will allow ray-caste d re fle ctions, but will e x clude light
source s from appe aring in the re fle ctions. This solution will not im prove pe rform ance , but will allow the surface to re tain
m ore subtle re fle ctions than if you we re to use the Glossy switch.
You can use the Monte-Carlo re fle ction se tting, e ithe r globally or locally in O bje ct Prope rtie s. This option will be slowe r
and re quire m ore proce ssing to re solve .
Solar Highlights
This proble m is typically se e n on e x te rior re nde rings whe n the Sun Highlight se tting is use d. You can m itigate or e lim inate the
artifact by se tting this to a sm alle r value . Se e : Sk y Se tup Tab and Sun Highlight
R e nde ring has som e bright spots or "spe ck le " artifacts - 11.1
- 138 -
Materials assigned by layer are not appearing in the rendering - 11.2
Materials assigned by layer are not appearing in the rendering
If you assign a m ate rial to an obje ct's laye r, but the obje ct continue s to re nde r as if it doe s not have a m ate rial assignm e nt
(or as if it has a diffe re nt m ate rial assignm e nt) use the following proce dure :
Se le ct the offe nding obje ct(s)
C lick the "R e m ove Mate rial from O bje cts" button on the nXtR e nde r Mate rial Tab
R e pe at the re nde ring
The by-laye r m ate rial assignm e nt should now appe ar.
A dditional Notes
O lde r m ode ls, or m ode ls cre ate d by 3rd party software , ofte n contain obje cts or sub-obje cts whose m ate rial is
liste d as "Global" inste ad of "ByLaye r". The proce dure above must be use d on the se obje cts be fore a laye r
assignm e nt will be visible .
The syste m variable _C MATER IAL controls the de fault m ate rial for ne wly cre ate d obje cts. It should be se t to
"ByLaye r".
Using the AutoC AD com m m and for re m oving m ate rials from obje cts (locate d on the AutoC AD Mate rials Pale tte ),
will also work .
- 139 -
Mate rials assigne d by laye r are not appe aring in the re nde ring - 11.2
Crash occurs on 32-bit system (hi-res or complex model)
nXtR e nde r is a m e m ory-inte nsive application which m ay e x ce e d the lim itations of a 32- bit syste m unde r ce rtain situations.
W he n the se lim itations are approache d or e x ce e de d nXtR e nde r m ay be com e unstable . The se situations include , but are not
lim ite d to:
C om ple x ge om e try (e ithe r a lot of obje cts or obje cts which ge ne rate m any face s)
nXtR e nde r Plants
High re solution re nde ring
Use of Lighting C hanne ls
High re solution te x ture s
Avoiding or re ducing som e of the se case s m ay allow you to re nde r your sce ne .
64 Bit Considerations
nXtR e nde r, will on 32 bit syste m s. But will work m uch be tte r on a 64 bit syste m with at le ast 4 GB R AM
Speed
Most m ode ls will re nde r faste r and be tte r on a 64-bit syste m .
Note : The Vide o card is not use d for re nde ring in nXtR e nde r and will not e ffe ct re nde ring spe e d or pe rform ance .
64 bit syste m s allow you to add m ore than 4GB of physical m e m ory to a m achine -- this will re sult in pe rform ance be ne fits for
all of your apps., including 32 bit one s.
Model Size
64 bit syste m s can run m uch large r data se ts (m ore de taile d m ode ls-- hi-re s re nde rings, e tc.). The y are not subje ct to the
2GB pe r-proce ss addre ss space proble m . This proble m is so significant in the Sk e tchUp, AutoC AD and R hino worlds that we
wouldn't re com m e nd a 32 bit syste m to anyone look ing for a ne w m achine for the se purpose s. The Sk e tchUp world is m ore
com plicate d since Sk e tchUp doe s not have a 64 bit ve rsion.
File Locations
Program s, such as Sk e tchUp, which norm ally install into Program Files on 32 bit systems, install into Program Files (x86) on 32
bit syste m s. So m any re fe re nce s in the docum e ntation which re fe r to typical installation locations, such as C:\Program Files\ will
be locate d in a diffe re nt location on the 64-bit syste m s. (Usually C:\Program Files (x86))
A dditional Notes
Incre asing physical m e m ory or swap file space will have no effect on this proble m . The lim itation is inhe re nt to
32-bit syste m s. 64-bit syste m s do not have this proble m .
nXtR e nde r is m ore m e m ory-inte nsive than pre vious ve rsions. Som e m ode ls which re nde re d using le gacy
ve rsions m ay not re nde r using nXt.:
C rash occurs on 32-bit syste m (hi-re s or com ple x m ode l) - 11.3
- 140 -
Technical Specifications - 12.1
Technical Specifications
Core
Physically-base d lum inance calculation
C hoice of Pack e t Mode , Path Trace r or Hybrid [[nXtR e nde r R e nde ring Engine s|R e nde ring Engine s]
Progre ssive re fine m e nt algorithm
64-bit ve rsion for m assive data se ts
Multiprocessing
Paralle l algorithm s e fficie ntly use all available core s
Ne ar-line ar pe rform ance incre ase W R T num be r of core s
Ve ctor-base d calculation using SSE
R e nde r farm support (single and m ultiple im age s)
Lighting
Analytical sk y and sun
HDR i im age -base d lighting
Up to e ight Lighting C hanne ls
IES file support
Lum inance value s available for all surface s
R e fractive and re fle ctive caustics
Autom atic daylight portals for e fficie nt inte rior daylight sim ulations
Materials
Efficie nt displace m e nt m apping with low m e m ory ove rhe ad
Norm al and bum p m apping
Te x ture se t support
Proce dural te x ture s and bum ps
Blurry transpare ncy and glossy re fle ction
Fully assignable to AC A com pone nts
Entourage
3D plant e ditor and library
Te x ture d m e sh obje ct support (O BJ and 3DS form at)
R PC ™ support
Ready-made Content
Fractal Tre e s
Mate rial Library
HDR i Back grounds
Camera
Pe rspe ctive
2-Point Pe rspe ctive
O rthographic
Panoram ic
Accurate de pth of fie ld
Image Editor and Output
Lighting channe l m anipulation
Post-proce ss fx lik e re al-tim e de pth of fie ld, haze , and ve iling glare .
Im age arithm e tic
Pirane si™ support
HDR and EXR high dynam ic range output
Mask , m ate rial, and distance channe ls
Autom atic alpha-com positing
A nimation
- 141 -
Te chnical Spe cifications - 12.1
Easy to use 3D slide show anim ation
Path-base d anim ation
Te chnical Spe cifications - 12.1
- 142 -
nXtRender Platforms - 12.2
nXtRender Platforms
The nXtR e nde r Engine - base d on AccuR e nde r nXt - is available for the se platofrm s:
nXtR e nde r for AutoC AD
IR e nde r nXt for Sk e tchUp
AccuR e nde r nXt for R e vit
Flam ingo nXt for R hino
- 143 -
nXtR e nde r Platform s - 12.2
nXtRender Contact Information
nXtRender is a re nde ring e ngine de ve lope d by R e nde r Plus Syste m s and R oy Hirsk owitz and Associate s for cre ating
PhotoR e alistic Im age s from 3D Mode ls.
nXtR e nde r is curre ntly offe re d for: Sk e tchUp , AutoC AD , and R e vit
For Support, visit our Forum at nXtR e nde r.com
Render Plus Systems, Inc.
6436 S. Q ue be c St
Suite 260
C e nte nnial, C o 80111
Em ail: support@re nde rplus.com
W e bsite : nXtR e nde r for AutoC AD: nXtR e nde r.com
W e bsite : Sk e tchUp Products: re nde rplus.com
C ontact Inform ation - 12.3
- 144 -
Index
Index
-- 3 -3D slide show animations, 8.2
-- A -Absorption, 5.5, 10.7
Add-ons nXtRender, Chapter 9
Adding and assigning materials, 3.4
indirect lighting exterior rendering, 4.4
lights, 3.6
Advanced Material Editor, 6.2
Alpha, 7.2
Altitude, 5.1
Always load changes, 10.3
Ambient., 5.5
Angle, 5.2
Animation, 10.3
Walkabout and, Chapter 8
animations 3D slide show, 8.2
appear Wait long enough so that lights creating fog, 10.7
area Show only render, 9.1
artifacts Rendering has some bright spots or "speckle", 11.1
ask Load dialog, 10.3
Attach Material Objects, 6.1
Attenuation., 6.2
AutoCAD Rendering, 2.1
Automatic Daylight Portals., 5.5
Automatically Save Rendering Every, 7.1
Azimuth, 5.1
-- B -background Image filters, 9.1
Positioning, 9.1
Wizard, 9.1
Balanced, 4.3
Basics Beyond, Chapter 4
The, Chapter 3
Batch rendering, 10.3
Beyond Basics, Chapter 4
Bleed. Color, 5.5
Blocks Render Ready, 9.3
Blur, 5.2
Bounces. Indirect, 5.5
Reflective, 5.5
Refractive, 5.5
Boundary Check Fog, 10.7
Brightness, 3.2
Brightness. Studio, 5.5
Browse, 7.1
Burn, 3.2
Using, 10.1
-- C -Carlo Monte, 4.3
Caustics, 7.2
Disable, 5.5
changes Always load, 10.3
Never Load, 10.3
Channel, 5.2, 5.4
material Glow, 5.5
Sky, 5.1
- 145 -
Inde x
Sun, 5.1
Channels Lighting, 4.7
Channels., 5.5
Check Fog Boundary, 10.7
Cloudiness, 5.1
Color, 5.4
Bleed., 5.5
Fog, 5.5, 10.7
Maps, 3.3
Colors Use Object, 7.1
Combining daylighting and artificial lighting for interior rendering, 4.5
Contact Information, 12.3
Controlling tesselation-- smoothing curved objects, 4.10
Converting Legacy AR3/AR4 Material Libraries, 10.5
Crash occurs on 32-bit system (hi-res or complex model), 11.3
Custom, 10.3
-- D -Daylight Portal, 7.2
decals Working, 4.2
Diffuse, 5.3
direction Light, 7.2
Scattering, 5.5, 10.7
Disable caustics, 5.5
Dispersion., 6.2
Distortion, 9.1
Don't set values too high, 10.7
use Section Planes, 10.7
Download and Installation, 1.2
-- E -Edit Material, 6.1
Editor Advanced Material, 6.2
Image, 10.2
Enable Volumetric Fog, 10.7
Volumetric Fog on Fog Setup Tab, 10.7
Enabled, 5.5
Engine, 5.5
Use Path Tracer, 10.7
Engines Rendering, 4.9
Every Automatically Save Rendering, 7.1
-- F -faces. Make sure fog boundary does not intersect any other, 10.7
Farm Render, 10.4
File Get Material from, 6.1
Save Material, 6.1
filters background Image, 9.1
Fog Color, 5.5, 10.7
Enable Volumetric, 10.7
Volumetric, 10.7
-- G -Get Material from File, 6.1
Getting Started, Chapter 1
Glossy, 4.3
Glow., 6.2
Gradient, 5.4
-- H -Inde x
- 146 -
Index
HDRIs Working, 4.6
high Don't set values too, 10.7
Highlight Sun, 5.1
Highlights No, 4.3
No Light Source Reflections and No, 4.3
-- I -Image Editor, 10.2
Images Zoom Background, 9.1
Indirect Bounces., 5.5
Indirect., 5.5
Information Contact, 12.3
Installation Download and, 1.2
Video, 2.2
Intensity, 5.2, 5.4, 7.2
Sky, 5.1
Sun, 5.1
Intensity., 6.2
Interior Lights Tutorial, 2.4
Invisible, 7.2
IOR., 6.2
-- L -Large Models, 10.3
Layer Material Schemes, 9.2
Libraries Converting Legacy AR3/AR4 Material, 10.5
Licensing, 1.3
Light direction, 7.2
Type, 7.2
Lighting, 3.5
Basics Tutorial, 2.3
Channels, 4.7
Palette, Chapter 5
lights Adding, 3.6
Per Pass., 5.5
Using IES (photometric), 4.8
Lights., 5.5
Load dialog ask, 10.3
this dialog before rendering, 10.3
-- M -Maintain Aspect Ratio, 9.1
Make sure fog boundary does not intersect any other faces., 10.7
sure Scattering is set properly, 10.7
Mapping Material, 6.1
Quick, 6.1
Tone, 3.2
Maps Color, 3.3
Material Edit, 6.1
Glow Channel, 5.5
Mapping, 6.1
New, 6.1
materials Adding and assigning, 3.4
assigned by layer are not appearing in rendering, 11.2
Palette, Chapter 6
Tab, 6.1
Use, 7.1
Miscellaneous, Chapter 12
Model Name, 10.3
model) Crash occurs on 32-bit system (hi-res or complex, 11.3
Models Large, 10.3
Monte Carlo, 4.3
Carlo Reflections., 5.5
Multipass rendering Video, 2.6
- 147 -
Inde x
-- N -Name Model, 10.3
Network Rendering, 10.3
Never Load changes, 10.3
New Material, 6.1
No Daylight Portal., 6.2
Highlights, 4.3
Light Source Reflections, 4.3
Light Source Reflections and No Highlights, 4.3
Notify me that data is ready, 10.3
nXtRender Add-ons, Chapter 9
Basic Materials Tutorial, 2.5
Platforms, 12.2
Using Archvision RPC, 4.11
Using Textured Mesh Files (3DS or OBJ), 4.12
-- O -Object Properties, 7.2
Objects Attach Material, 6.1
Controlling tesselation-- smoothing curved, 4.10
Remove Material from, 6.1
Omnidirectional, 5.3
Opacity, 9.1
Other Advanced Topics, Chapter 10
Palettes, Chapter 7
Overview Rendering, 1.1
-- P -Palette Lighting, Chapter 5
Materials, Chapter 6
Palettes Other, Chapter 7
Pass. Lights Per, 5.5
Passes, 7.1
Planes Don't use Section, 10.7
Plants Use, 7.1
Using Legacy AR3/AR4, 10.6
Working, 3.7
Platforms nXtRender, 12.2
Portal Daylight, 7.2
Portal. No Daylight, 6.2
Portals. Automatic Daylight, 5.5
Position Reset, 9.1
Positioning Background, 9.1
Projection, 5.4
properly Make sure Scattering is set, 10.7
Properties Object, 7.2
-- Q -Quick Mapping, 6.1
-- R -Ratio Maintain Aspect, 9.1
ready Notify me that data is, 10.3
Reflections No Light Source, 4.3
Reflections. Monte Carlo, 5.5
Reflective Bounces., 5.5
Refractive Bounces., 5.5
Inde x
- 148 -
Index
Remove Material from Objects, 6.1
Render Farm, 10.4
Ready Blocks, 9.3
Settings, 7.1
Rendering, 3.1
Adding indirect lighting exterior, 4.4
AutoCAD, 2.1
Batch, 10.3
Combining daylighting and artificial lighting for interior, 4.5
Engines, 4.9
has some bright spots or "speckle" artifacts, 11.1
Load this dialog before, 10.3
Materials assigned by layer are not appearing in, 11.2
Network, 10.3
Overview, 1.1
Start batch, 10.3
Reset Position, 9.1
resolve. This effect often requires long time properly, 10.7
RPS_AC_RENDER_READY, Chapter 9
-- S -Saturation, 3.2, 5.2
Skylight, 5.1
Saturation., 6.2
Save Material File, 6.1
Scattering, 5.5, 10.7
Direction, 5.5, 10.7
Sub-surface, 10.8
Schemes Layer Material, 9.2
Settings Render, 7.1
Spot Lamp, 7.2
Shaders Working Reflection, 4.3
Show model as Wire-frame, 9.1
only render area, 9.1
Sky Channel, 5.1
Intensity, 5.1
Sky., 5.5
Skylight Saturation, 5.1
Specifications Technical, 12.1
Spot Lamp Settings, 7.2
Standard, 10.3
Start batch rendering, 10.3
Started Getting, Chapter 1
Studio Brightness., 5.5
Sub-surface Scattering, 10.8
Sun Channel, 5.1
Highlight, 5.1
Intensity, 5.1
Sun., 5.5
-- T -Tab Enable Volumetric Fog on Fog Setup, 10.7
Materials, 6.1
The Advanced Lighting, 5.5
The Advanced Object Properties, 7.3
The Backgrounds, 5.4
The Lights, 5.3
The Sky, 5.2
The Sun, 5.1
Technical Specifications, 12.1
textures Working, 4.1
The Advanced Lighting tab, 5.5
Advanced Object Properties Tab, 7.3
Backgrounds Tab, 5.4
Basics, Chapter 3
Lights Tab, 5.3
Material Tree, 6.3
Sky Tab, 5.2
Sun Tab, 5.1
Thick, 7.2
This effect often requires long time properly resolve., 10.7
- 149 -
Inde x
Tone Mapping, 3.2
Topics Other Advanced, Chapter 10
Translucency., 6.2
Tree The Material, 6.3
Troubleshooting, Chapter 11
Tutorial Interior Lights, 2.4
Lighting Basics, 2.3
nXtRender Basic Materials, 2.5
Tutorials and Videos, Chapter 2
Type, 5.4
Light, 7.2
-- U -Use Materials, 7.1
Object Colors, 7.1
Path Tracer Engine, 10.7
Plants, 7.1
Using Archvision RPC nXtRender, 4.11
Burn, 10.1
IES (photometric) lights, 4.8
Legacy AR3/AR4 Plants, 10.6
Textured Mesh Files (3DS or OBJ) nXtRender, 4.12
-- V -Video Installation, 2.2
Multipass rendering, 2.6
Videos Tutorials and, Chapter 2
Volumetric Fog, 10.7
-- W -Wait long enough so that lights creating fog appear, 10.7
WalkAbout, 8.1
and Animation, Chapter 8
Wire-frame Show model as, 9.1
Wizard Background, 9.1
Working decals, 4.2
HDRIs, 4.6
Plants, 3.7
Reflection Shaders, 4.3
textures, 4.1
-- X -XOffset, 5.4
XScale, 5.4
-- Y -YOffset, 5.4
YScale, 5.4
-- Z -Zoom Background Images, 9.1
Inde x
- 150 -

Rendering with AutoCAD using nXtRender

Transcription

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