NURBS on the other hand can be exported from Maya as. Maya offers mainly polygonal (meshes) and NURBS (surfaces) techniques, and while working with polygons is much better in terms of manipulating textures, there are some limitations when bringing polygonal objects into Revit that we will discuss later. Other 3D modeling programs including Maya, which will be the focus for this article, have more modeling techniques and tools that simplify the creation of organic 3D objects and allow the user to manipulate the way the texture is displayed (mapped) on the object. 3D Objects and Mappings in Other Programs The way Revit maps textures is extremely limited, since we cannot do much with the texture except to scale it, move it around, or tile it (or not tile it), and here is where imported objects can help us to get around this issue.
![autodesk viewer does not show textures autodesk viewer does not show textures](https://www.cad-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Autodesk_material_library.png)
While the texture is relatively good in the box shown below, all the other objects present some sort of distortion in the texture.ĭifferent native Revit objects with a checkerboard texture. In the image below, you can see different objects created in Revit mapped with a rectangular checkerboard texture that shows how the texture gets distorted, especially in the curved objects (not to mention the lack of continuity in the texture between the side faces and the top). While this way of mapping textures is great for a lot of orthogonal objects, in the case of organic objects, this way of mapping textures distorts the textures and visually distracts the viewer from an otherwise perfectly photorealistic render. In some cases, these objects are even mapped from six different sides: front, back, right, left, top, and right. Note that there are three different kinds of 3D objects that can be created (regardless of the software): solids, meshes and surfaces. Revit works with solid objects that are typically UV mapped depending on the tools you use to model them. Native Revit Geometry and Texture Mappingsīefore talking about creating organic objects in other 3D packages, it is important to understand how Revit works. The comforter on the left looks rigid and the textures do not map correctly between the sides and the top of the comforter.
![autodesk viewer does not show textures autodesk viewer does not show textures](https://venturebeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/screen-shot-2018-04-18-at-4-15-52-pm.jpg)
sat files, preserving their shapes and UV texture coordinates perfectly.Ĭomforter modeled in Revit using extrusions and sweeps (left) compared with a comforter modeled in Maya using cloth simulation and inserted into Revit (right). These imported objects can be UV mapped in the other 3D program and brought into Revit as. A hybrid Revit family can also be exclusively made out of best-looking imported objects (no native Revit objects at all).Īdditionally, you can use advanced features from other programs, like cloth simulations in Maya (which we will outline in this article) to create folds, creases, and details in 3D models of soft goods that are difficult to model manually, and then import them into Revit to create more natural-looking families.
![autodesk viewer does not show textures autodesk viewer does not show textures](https://paulaubin.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Pulse_Mat_001-300x259.png)
Related: Revit Families: A Step-By-Step Introduction with Paul Aubin Hybrid Revit Families and Their BenefitsĪ hybrid family combines native objects from Revit (like extrusions, blends, revolves, sweeps, and swept blends) with objects coming from other programs to achieve the best-looking family, both in terms of geometry and in terms of texture mappings. The purpose of this article is to understand the process of creating good hybrid organic families rather than outlining specific steps to follow or explaining how tools work (tutorial) to achieve a specific result. The lack of additional modeling techniques in Revit (like polygonal modeling or NURBS) available in other 3D programs like Maya, puts Revit at a disadvantage in terms of modeling complex objects, but luckily for us, we can combine the power of these other 3D programs with Revit to create hybrid families that are richer and more realistic looking (modeling-wise and texture-wise).īy understanding how Revit treats imported objects and learning how you can create the correct type of object to import into Revit, you will open the door to new possibilities and more creative projects that will potentialize your workflow while keeping it looking photorealistic. Creatively using these five tools will certainly help you to model most types of objects, but when it comes to soft goods (pillows, cushions, curtains, clothing, bedding, etc.) these five tools can be quite limited, not only because of the shapes you can create with them, but also because of the way Revit maps the textures on to them.
![autodesk viewer does not show textures autodesk viewer does not show textures](https://8020bim.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Best-Free-Revit-Viewer-a-Complete-Autodesk-Viewer-Users-Guide-1024x576.png)
Creating organic realistic families in Revit can be quite a challenging task since Revit families’ modeling options are limited to basically five tools: extrusions, revolves, blends, sweeps, and swept blends.