Custom Material Libraries from Max 2011?

[angelo]

I'd like to tweak mental ray materials in Max, save them to a user material library, then access them under Revit 2011’s Render Appearance Tab. Anyone have this work flow going yet? The goal is to get our "standard" material types into Revit so there is minimal tweaking for quick renderings done in Max Design. Revit only lists one "Autodesk Library" - where does it look for this file? Can we add other libraries?

I can’t find anything in the help files...

Angelo

[angelo]

Anybody? I did find under this folder some materials related to fbx:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Autodesk Shared\Materials2011

In some of the documentation, I noticed materials in Revit referred to as "Protein" vs. mental ray in Max. Are they really cross compatible, or do they all get translated during the fbx process?

Thanks for any insight.
Angelo

[cliff collins]

see this:

http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?t=117670

So far, it looks like it is not possible to tweak materials in Max, and then get them
back into Revit........

cheers

[angelo]

Thanks Cliff, here is what I found in help:


Render Appearance Library

The Render Appearance Library is a local, read-only library for render appearances. You assign render appearances to materials using the Materials dialog.
When you change the properties of a render appearance, the modified render appearance is stored as part of the project file. It is not stored in the read-only Render Appearance Library.
To share a modified render appearance with team members, click Manage tabhttp://docs.autodesk.com/REVIT/2011/ENU/images/ac.menuaro.gifSettings panelhttp://docs.autodesk.com/REVIT/2011/ENU/images/ac.menuaro.gif http://docs.autodesk.com/REVIT/2011/ENU/images/AEC/Revit/2011/UsersGuide/PNG/project_standards_transfer_16x16_True_Color_Alpha.png Transfer Project Standards. Be sure to also make available any custom bitmaps or image files used to define bump patterns or custom colors used by the render appearance.
What it comes down to is internal custom materials vs. Revit pointing to an external library. Tweaking materials in Revit and then having to use the transfer project standards is not a good work flow for teams - being able to point to an external appearance library that can be continuously updated is where I want to be. Even if we have to physically place new materials in a directory where Revit looks, that's fine with me.

[martijnderiet]

Well, I don't know Max but for Rervit it's not possible to shared tweaked materials unless you save them in your template or by transferring project settings. Simply because you're tweaking inside Revit and not the texture itself.
What you need is an external tool to modify your textures according to your wishes.

[angelo]

Well, I don't know Max but for Rervit it's not possible to shared tweaked materials unless you save them in your template or by transferring project settings. Simply because you're tweaking inside Revit and not the texture itself.
What you need is an external tool to modify your textures according to your wishes.

Martijn,

True for Revit Materials, but for the Appearance Tab, I think Revit is looking at an external library or directory. This is what I'd like to be able to modify/edit/update. Since the Autodesk Material Library is used across ACAD, Revit, and Max, we should be able to edit them separately, or share them somehow.

Angelo

[narlee]

Martijn,

True for Revit Materials, but for the Appearance Tab, I think Revit is looking at an external library or directory. This is what I'd like to be able to modify/edit/update. Since the Autodesk Material Library is used across ACAD, Revit, and Max, we should be able to edit them separately, or share them somehow.

Angelo

You would think so...Scott Davis was going to ask an "Autodesk Expert" if we could use Max materials in Revit. Haven't heard back, so I don't know how far up the priority list his request made it.

[Scott D Davis]

You would think so...Scott Davis was going to ask an "Autodesk Expert" if we could use Max materials in Revit. Haven't heard back, so I don't know how far up the priority list his request made it.

Still waiting to hear back! I'll follow up and let you know.

[martijnderiet]

Angelo,
I don't think you are actually CHANGING the textures in the Appearance Tab. You're changing the way they are presented. Therefore I don't think this change is saved anywhere else but in your project-template. So it doesn't matter which library is used.
Same with the custom textures you can use inside Revit by importing a jpg. I don't think you create a NEW texture. You just make an in-place copy of the default (generic) rendermaterial and edit this by pasting a picture on top off it. I always compare it to the way the Paint Bucket works inside Revit. You get a visual change but that's only a need tric, it's not really real.

Starting the 2011-version both libraries are the same. So all the standard max-materials are also available in Revit.
I do agree that it would be extremely nice if you could add materials to this shared library, or change existing materials (with the possibility of saving the changes you made), OR save ones custom materials from Revit to a library.
I know this is a possibility in Navisworks, but as far as I know it's not possible to use the NW-library in Revit.

[narlee]

Hmm. Interesting. Thanks, Martijn.