Revit and RPC Archvision Content

This tip is fresh out of the CADsoft Consulting tech support department. I hope it helps out anyone who may be running into the same issue.

Several RPC (Rich Photorealistic Content) files ship with Revit and are a great way to add entourage (trees, shrubs, people, etc.) to liven up your scenes. If you use only the RPCs that come with Revit, you shouldn’t have any trouble rendering out your scene.

However, if you have any additional RPCs, that you have created yourself or purchased from Archvision, you will need to install the Archvision Content Manager and properly configure it so that the plugin can verify that you have licenses for the RPCs you are attempting to use. You can find detailed instructions on how to set this up at

Here are the instructions from the Revit help file:

1. Install and configure the ACM. This utility is available free from http://acm.archvision.com. For instructions, see the ArchVision Content Manager Help (http://acm.archvision.com/help).Now you must specify the location of the ACM so that Revit Architecture can access the additional RPC content.
2. In Revit Architecture, click Options.
3. In the Options dialog, click the Rendering tab.
4. Under ArchVision Content Manager Location, select Local.
5. For Executable Location, specify the location of the ACM executable file (rpcACMapp.exe).By default, Revit Architecture attempts to connect to the ACM using the IP address 127.0.0.1 (the local host) and port 14931. If it cannot connect to the ACM there, it attempts to start the ACM executable that you specify here.
6. Click OK.

Happy rendering!

See the FBX Link Feature for 3ds Max 2011 and Revit 2011

In a previous post, I shared some details about a feature that has been introduced in 3ds Max 2011 that has long been on the wishlist: FBX linking, instead of having a static import. In an architectural studio, the person creating the Revit model and the artist producing the rendering in Max are often two different people. It would be great if the Revit model were 100% finished before it gets handed off to the visualization specialist, but this is never the case. The artist is  expected to start producing great looking images right away, but is getting new updated models all the time. When ProMaterials were introduced in Revit a few years back, we were excited about them, but most studios didn’t use them because they only come across into Max if you export as FBX from Revit, and FBX files couldn’t be linked. Because of that one little hangup, many artists continued to export to DWG since these files could be linked and updated much more easily when the building changed.

Well, with the 2011 release, we don’t have to settle. Check out this great Autodesk video that shows this new feature in action:

Revit 2011 Renders with Unlimited Cores!

Unlimited Cores!

If you’ve used Revit for producing high quality renders, you know it’s capable of great results. The problem was that it was slow, slow, S-L-O-W! Revit 2009 and Revit 2010 were limited to using a maximum of 4 cores for rendering purposes. Even if your multi-processor, multi-core workstation was a screaming powerhouse, it would be severely throttled when rendering in Revit. Because of this, many artists would export to DWG or FBX and render in 3ds Max.

Well, hold on because with Revit 2011, this hurdle has been smashed! We can now utilize every processor and every core for rendering right in native Revit! Your rendering life just got a whole lot easier!