Rendering With AutoCAD Using NXtRender

R e nde ring with AutoC AD using nXtR e nde rnXtRender Interior Lights TutorialThis Tutorial will show you show you how to use the lighting de faults to cre ate basic lighting conditions for nXtR e nde r whilere 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 forre nde ring of individual obje cts without having to k now a lot about the de tails of lighting se ttings.Interior Lights VideoW atch Vide owww.youtube .com /watch?v e fA5Z-sPGpgIn 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 yourm ode l using nXtR e nde r for AutoC AD.AdditionalInterior Lights TutorialDownload ModelDownload m ode l from : AccuStudioLoad the m ode l into AutoC AD and start nXtIsolate Light FixturesC 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- 18 -

Interior Lights Tutorial - 2.4Select and Name Light ObjectsThe 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 ane 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 sMark Objects as LightsO 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 ctingPrope rtie s.- 19 -Inte rior Lights Tutorial - 2.4

R e nde ring with AutoC AD using nXtR e nde rYou can se t the wattage , or othe r prope rtie s as de sire d.Render Scene with LightsTurn 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 .Inte rior Lights Tutorial - 2.4- 20 -

Interior Lights Tutorial - 2.4- 21 -Inte rior Lights Tutorial - 2.4

R e nde ring with AutoC AD using nXtR e nde rnXtRender Basic Materials TutorialThis 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 rlyAccuR 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 VideoW atch Vide owww.youtube .com /watch?v q0Dnl5Pnog4In 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.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.AdditionalBasic Materials TutorialDownload ModelYou can download sam ple m ode ls for this vide o from accustudio.com /work shop/m ode lsLoad the m ode l into AutoC AD and launch nXtR e nde r (type nXt)Materials TabC 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 MaterialC 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- 22 -

nXtRender Basic Materials Tutorial - 2.5This brings up the basic m ate rial dialog boxC lick on the gray or colore d square . This brings up the color whe e l.- 23 -nXtR e nde r Basic Mate rials Tutorial - 2.5

R e nde ring with AutoC AD using nXtR e nde rC 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 MaterialC 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.nXtR e nde r Basic Mate rials Tutorial - 2.5- 24 -

nXtRender Basic Materials Tutorial - 2.5The scale should re fle ct the re al world size that you ne e d for your bitm ap.Set as Bump MapC 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- 25 -nXtR e nde r Basic Mate rials Tutorial - 2.5

R e nde ring with AutoC AD using nXtR e nde rC 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 sor from AccuStudio.[www.accustudio.com /e x change /m ate rialsDownload 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 MaterialDrag a m ate rial from the m ate rial browse r to an obje ct in AutoC AD.nXtR e nde r Basic Mate rials Tutorial - 2.5- 26 -

nXtRender Basic Materials Tutorial - 2.5Hove 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 ModelAfte 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 .- 27 -nXtR e nde r Basic Mate rials Tutorial - 2.5

R e nde ring with AutoC AD using nXtR e nde rMultipass rendering VideoMutli Pass Rendering Technology VideoW atch Vide owww.youtube .com /watch?v 3o1oJv5l9DoThis 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 ofm 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 rchange 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- 28 -

Chapter 3 - The BasicsnXtRender The BasicsGe t Starte d with re nde ring, lights and m ate rials.Apartam e nto e n Los Naranjos by Ale jandro Te sta- 29 -C hapte r 3 - The Basics

R e nde ring with AutoC AD using nXtR e nde rRenderingStarting and Stopping a RenderingC 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 StopR 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 tocontinue , 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 ebutton 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 byusing 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 sthe 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 NotesnXtR 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 todisplayable 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 actualre sults m ay vary):De fault e x te rior sce ne s, 10-15 passe sEx te riors with indire ct lighting, 25-50 passe sInte rior artificial light sim ulations, 25 passe s pe r se t of 8 lightsInte rior daylight sim ulations, 50-100 passe sStudio m ode ls, 10-15 passe sIf 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 tabto 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 anualte 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. Thism 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 there nde ring, including the R GB value (lum inance ) and the re sulting color afte r tone -m apping.Rendering ResolutionSe 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 tom 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 sde 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 rthe 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 RenderingThe 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 ostform 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 arR e nde ring - 3.1- 30 -

Rendering - 3.1black 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, suchas 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 yourre 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 inthe 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.- 31 -R e nde ring - 3.1

R e nde ring with AutoC AD using nXtR e nde rnXtRender Tone MappingTone 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 showthe 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 ofcande 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 forcom 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 thebrightne 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 thebrightne 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 producenotice 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 BurnSaturation - 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- 32 -

Color Maps - 3.3nXtRender Color MapsThe 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 MaterialRGB ColorC 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 ofthe 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 olorcan be ble nde d with the te x ture if de sire d.- 33 -C olor Maps - 3.3

R e nde ring with AutoC AD using nXtR e nde rAdding and assigning materialsMaterial BasicsAdding Materials to a DrawingMate rials can be adde d to your drawing in m any ways. He re are a fe w:Creating a new materialYou 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 hoosethe 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 inthe curre nt drawing only.Load material from disk or libraryUsing 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 ntdrawing. Many m ate rial file s are available for Download .Drop material from Windows File ExplorerYou 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 - 3.4You 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 activem ate rial list in the nXtR e nde r control pane l.Assigning Materials to Objects and LayersMate 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 cturalDe 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 theobje 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 assignm ate rials to individual face s of 3dsolids by using AutoC AD's sub-obje ct se le ction m e thods.- 35 -Adding and assigning m ate rials - 3.4

R e nde ring with AutoC AD using nXtR e nde rDrag 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 rbutton.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 addand 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 ComponentsnXtR 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 DA 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 .Adding and assigning m ate rials - 3.4- 36 -

Adding and assigning materials - 3.4Video TutorialCreating and using Materials VideoW atch Vide owww.youtube .com /watch?v q0Dnl5Pnog4In 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.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.AdditionalAdditional Notes- 37 -Adding and assigning m ate rials - 3.4

R e nde ring with AutoC AD using nXtR e nde rUse 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 cannotbe 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 rsAdding and assigning m ate rials - 3.4- 38 -

Lighting - 3.5nXtRender LightingnXtR 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 ctunle 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 isspe 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 notattempt to adjust the overall scene

AutoCAD drawings. nXtRender for AutoCAD is the rendering engine that allows you to easily create stunning, life-like images from your 3D models inside AutoCAD and AutoCAD Architecture. nXtRender provides the highest quality in AutoCAD visualization solution available today. Additional