Here is a question that I see asked often:
We are trying to do a daylight analysis that includes some frosted glass or “kalwall” style skylights which diffuse the light into the space. We can get the VLT (Visible Light Transmittance) values easy enough. However, is there some way to accurately (or semi-accurately) account for the [...]
I recently wrote a document for Autodesk about the typical steps around the usage of mental ray in 3ds Max for architectural visualization workflows. I thought I would share it here since it may benefit many 3ds Max users, especially beginners.
My goal was to create a document where the main features of 3ds Max are [...]
Manufacturer-based glazing data
Several glass manufacturers provide optical data to the Windows® operating system and Daylight Group of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (http://windows.lbl.gov).
This group maintains a database and publishes this data via a program called Optics 5. From Optics 5 you can then export a Radiance Material (*.rad file), which can be interpreted
as mental ray [...]
This tool is an assistant which controls the date and time of a Daylight System object for key moments in the year.
It will also control Text objects to display the current Time and Date of the Daylight System:
Here is a video demonstrating its usage:
You can download the tool here.
If you noticed that the location of your Daylight System object created by FBX Import in 3ds Max does not match the project coordinates of Revit, this is a simple thing to fix.
In Revit, go in the 3D view you will export to FBX
Edit the Graphic Display Options
Specify a Location and Time that matches your [...]
Have you ever wanted to display the material and layer names of objects in the 3ds Max Scene Explorer like this?
This can be done with a relatively simple MAXScript that you must install under the \Scripts\Startup directory of your 3ds Max installation.
By doing so, the script will execute each time 3ds Max is launched and will [...]
When you File Link a complex DWG model in 3ds Max, you might want to consider leveraging the Layers Filters feature from AutoCAD as well as the “skip frozen” layers from File Link. With a little bit of standardization, you can streamline your AutoCAD to 3ds Max workflow and gain efficiency.
This video demonstrates how to do [...]
When you launch a floating dialog in 3ds Max such as the Material Editor or the Render Panel you may wonder where it is and how to bring it back.
This usually happens when you changed your Desktop Resolution and re-launched 3ds max.
What causes this problem?
The root of the problem comes from the fact that last [...]
If you happen to edit mental ray shaders or MaxScripts in UltraEdit, you may appreciate the attached color coding file.
Click here to download the Wordfile.txt file for UltraEdit (Right Click | Save Target As…)
Install it in your UltraEdit installation folder:
When opening a mi file you should see something like this:
If you are doing lighting analysis with 3ds Max Design using photometric files there are a few things that can affect the results of your simulations to keep in mind. Its not because someone gave you a photometric file (typically an *.ies file) that this is an ”accurate” one.
Always verify your data otherwise your project can go wrong [...]
If you import an FBX model from Revit in 3ds Max you will most likely see more polygonal edges than expected. Those are not extra polygons, it is simply that generally, 3ds Max hides adjacent edges by default. In the case of FBX import, meshes are created with all edges being visible – and the viewport [...]
The problem:
In Revit you can schedule floor areas and estimate material quantities required for construction. However, if you want to optimize quantities and placement of building supplies to reduce waste that might not be enough. Pricing estimates might not be accurate either.
To resolve this problem, I wanted to draw each plywood sheet and dry-wall sheet in place so I [...]
People complain about the fact that FBX files exported by Revit are too large.
The size of the FBX files exported by Revit is influenced by the following aspects:
Model size:
Obviously, the more details in your 3D view, the larger it will be. There is not much you can do about it besides controlling the way your [...]
Xrite’s Color Munki allows for calibrating monitors and measuring spectral samples. This is an excellent tool for measuring colors of materials and finishes for improved accuracy in computer renderings and simulations.
The measured color palettes can be exported from the Color Munki software as *.CxF files and read back in 3ds Max with the help of a script that I [...]
MacroScript files for 3ds Max Design 2009 created to improve the workflow of lighting analysis projects.
