WPCAD00017

December2010

PresenterRenderingwithNavisworks

When rendering with Navisworks, especially when rendering movies/animations, its

important to understand the implications of various settings on rendering times and
theimpactonRAM.Thisdocumentisintendedtoprovideanunderstandingofsomeof
therenderingconsiderations,andwherepossiblytoprovidetipsandtrickstoachieve
theoutputyourequireinanacceptabletime.

AllNavisworksUsers

MultiCoreMachines
Autodesk Navisworks software is singlethreaded and runs on a single processor. When rendering from
Navisworks you will therefore not achieve any direct benefit from using a machine with multiple
cores/processors. Indirect benefits may be achieved by allowing other applications (or additional Navisworks
sessions) to run on any additional cores/processors. However, be mindful of memory usage/requirements. See
below.

MemoryUsage
Ifworkingona32bitmachine,evenwiththe3GBswitchenabled,anyprocessislimitedto3GBRAM.Therefore,
ifyouareloadingalargedatasetwhichapproachesthismemorylimitwhenloaded,thentherewillbelittletono
memoryoverheadtoperformcomplexPresenterrenders.[IllcomebacktowhatImeanbyacomplexPresenter
renderlaterinthisdoc].Whenworkingwithlargedatasetshereareafewtips/optionsavailabletoyou:

Ensure your complete model is saved into the NWD format this is the most optimized format for
Navisworks,enablingtheapplicationtoutilizeitsownmemorymanagementfunctionality.

LimitthecomplexityofPresentereffectsIlldiscussthisinmoredetaillaterinthisdoc,butessentially
usesimplematerialsandlighting.

ExportanimationsasstillimagesratherthanexportinganAVI,whichneedstobestoredinmemoryin
itsentirety,exportingtosequentialstillimagescreatestheanimationoneframeatatime,loweringthe
requirement on memory. This method does however require the use of a third party application (e.g.
Photoshop)tostitchtheframestogethertocreateyourmoviefile.

64bitoperatingsystemsmovingtoa64bitoperatingsystemcanenableyoutosignificantlyincrease
theamountofRAMonyourmachine.However,beawarethatyourmotherboardwillusuallylimityou(to
say,8GBor16GB)ifyouresimplyupgradingRAM.

MinimumvsRecommendedSpecification
Presenter rendering is a processor intensive operation, so if you intend to render animations of large datasets
withcomplexlighting(discussedlaterinthisdoc)onaregularbasis,thenyoumaywishtoconsiderinvestingina
machinethatcanbededicatedtothisoperation.
Although the minimum requirements to run Navisworks software are quite low, a minimum spec machine will
struggletoloadlargedatasets(duetomemorylimitations)andifloaded,willstruggletoperformoperationssuch
as rendering and even navigating. If you are considering investing in a machine for Navisworks, the following
specificationsshouldbeconsidered:

IntelPentiumIV(orequivalent),3.0GHzorfaster
4GBRAMorgreaterforrendering(willrequire64bitOperatingSystemformorethan4GB)
OpenGLgraphicscard(essentialforrealtimenavigationoflargemodels)

Materials
ApplyinganyPresentermaterialswillhavesomeimpactonthetimeittakestorenderthescene.Itstherefore
advised to use material assignment with due consideration. Its recommend to only use materials where
necessary. For example, if you require reflections in windows, then applying a glass material will be necessary,
however if the reflection is not essential, then do not apply a material, simply change the colour of the glass
object(s)tosay,lightblue,andoverridethetransparencyuntilyoucanseethroughtheglass.Thisisalsotrueof
shiny materials such as polished aluminium/chrome. Although making all of your MEP services shiny may look
good,theywillreflectalloftheirsurroundingswhichincreasethecalculationsrequiredandthereforetherender
time. An alternative may be to make the majority of the MEP objects a pale grey colour, and apply a shiny
materialtoselectpiecesofequipmenttodressthescene.Thinklessismore.

SimpleLighting
Lighting and the shadows they cast create the biggest impact on rendering times. In order to keep rendering
timesdownyoushouldtrytokeeplightingsimple.Ifyouhaveacomplexmodel,thensimplelightingmayalsobe
preferredastheattentionismorefocusedonthemodel,ratherthanbeingdistractedbyshadowsandeffects.
Simplelightingisgenerallymoredesirableforanimationswheretheoutputislikelytoberecreatedonaregular
basisastheprojectprogresses.
AgoodstartingpointforsimplelightingistousetheStandardLightStudio(foundundertherecommendedlight
archive).Thisprovidesyouwiththreelightsources,whichyoucantweaktosuityourscene.
DoubleclickoneachlighttoopentheLightEditor.FromhereyoucanadjusttheIntensityvalue,whichwillmake
thatparticularlightsourcebrighter/dimmer.FortheStandardLightStudio,trysettingtheAmbientlightintensity
to 0.4, the Eye light intensity to 0.3, and the Distant light intensity to 1. Also for the Distant light try enabling
Shadows.TochangethepositionoftheDistantlight(tochangetheshadowsbeingcast),Irecommendsettingthe
focustothecenteroftheimageyourecreating,andthenOrbitingaroundthis(andzoomoutasnecessary),so

thatthecameraispositionedwhereyouwantthesuntobe,lookinginthedirectionyouwishtocastshadows.
RightclickontheDistantlightandselectPositionAsCamera.
Thisprovidesagoodsimplebaseforyourlightingthisasismaybeadequate,butyoumayalsowishtoadda
Pointlight,forexampletoanareaofthescenethatistoodark;oraSpotlighttohighlight,ordrawattentiontoa
specificareaofthescene.
Youmayalsowishtoconsiderchangingthecolourofanyofyourlightstocreateadifferenteffect.Onceyouhave
your base lighting, you will generally need to experiment with any additional lighting to create the effect you
require.Aswithmaterials,rememberthatlessismorewhenitcomestosimplelighting(andquickerrendering
times).

ComplexLighting
Morecomplexlightingcanbeusedforrenderingsthatarerequiredforpresentation/marketingpurposes,where
theoutputislikelytobemoreofaoneoff.Thisisduetotheadditionaltimeitwilltaketorendertheoutput,
whichyouwouldgenerallynotbeabletoachieveonaregularbasis.
Navisworks supports the use of High Dynamic Range Images (HDRI) for background effects (where the
backgroundmovesasyounavigatearoundthemodel)andlighting(forrealworldlightingandshadowcasting).
There are a couple of HDRI options provided with Navisworks, though more can be found on the web (e.g.
http://www.doschdesign.com/products/hdri/).ThisisalsoreferredtoasEnvironmentlighting(andbackgrounds).
AgoodstartingpointforcomplexlightingistousetheEnvironmentLightStudio(foundundertherecommended
light archive). This provides you with a general Ambient light and the default Environment light (which uses a
defaultcityHDRimage).
DoubleclickontheEnvironmentlighttoopentheLightEditor.Fromhereyoucanadjustvariousoptionstotweak
thelighting.

ClickontheEnvironmentEditbuttonifyouwishtouseadifferentHDRimage(simplybrowsetotheFileName
ofyourchoice).
NumberofSamplesisakeyoptionfordeterminingtherendertimeandalsothequalityoftheeffectyoullcreate
withenvironmentlighting.Increasingthesampleratetosay,800willcreateaverygoodoutputwithverydetailed
reflectionsandsubtleshadows,howeveritwilltakealongtimetorenderasingleframe,whichneedstobeborn
inmindwhenrenderingananimationofhundreds/thousandsofframes.Youmaybeabletoreducethesample
ratetosay,50toprovideadequateresultswhilstachievingamoreacceptablerenderingtime.Thedistanceofthe
camerafromthemodelwillplayaroleinthis.Ifyouareclosetothemodel,thenitslikelyyoullneedahigher
number of samples as youll be able to see the detail much more clearly. If further away from the model, the
detailislessclear,enablingyoutousealowersamplenumber.
Intensityisanotheroptionyoumayneedtoadjustslightly.Tryrenderingthescenehavingsettheotheroptions
andadjusttheIntensityasnecessary(increasingtosay,2tomakethescenebrighter,forexample).
AnothertipformostAECmodelsistoenabletheUseUpperHemisphereOnlyoptionifyouhaveagroundplane,
thereisobviouslynoneedtoberenderinganylightingbelowground.

OtherConsiderations

IfyouareunabletoexportanAVIduetorunningoutofmemory,thenasmentionedearlierinthisdoc,it
you may choose to export the animation as sequential still. A further option available to you is to split
your animation into sections, and render each section on separate machines. This isnt a particularly
elegant solution, rather a workaround to create a manual render farm. Take a 2year TimeLiner
simulation for example. You could create four NWD files, each one limited to six months of the
simulation.Thesecouldtheneachberenderedonseparatemachinesandstitchedbacktogether(using
thirdpartyeditingsoftware).

Forlongeranimations,youmayalsowishtoconsiderOpenGLrenderedoutputasthisismuchquickerto
render.Youwillnotseeshadowsandreflectionswiththismethod;howeveryoucanseebasicmaterials.
TryincreasingtheAntiAliasinglevelforimprovedquality.

NotethatwhenrenderingaTimeLinersimulation,itsnotpossibletoincludethedate/timeoverlayinthe
output.ThiscanonlybeincludedwhenrenderingusingtheOpenGLoutput.

Whenrenderingpartsofananimationonseparatemachines,ensurethattherequiredviewpointissaved
inthefilesothattheyallstitchbacktogethercorrectly.Thiscanbeachievedbysettingthewindowsize
(themainviewwithinNavisworks,nottheapplicationwindow)tobethesameaspectratioasthefinal
output. This option is found under View > Window Size. Using this option makes the view as big as
possible (taking toolbars etc into account), whilst maintaining the same aspect ratio as the desired
output.Oncethewindowsizeisset,thenclickonyoursavedviewpointwhatyousee,shouldbeexactly
whatyougetintheoutput.

Thisisalsoausefultechniquewhencomposingyourviewpointinthefirstplace,asagainyouseeexactly
whatyouregoingtogetinyouroutput.

Beforeexportinganyanimation,itsagoodideatotryexportingastillimageofthesceneatthedesired
resolution.Thisservestwopurposes,firstlytocheckthattheoptionsyouveselectedaresatisfactory,and
secondly as a still image is effectively a single frame of your animation, you can see how long the still
takestorender,andthenmultiplythisbytheframespersecond(FPS)andthedurationoftheanimation
(inseconds),togetanideaofhowlongthecompleteanimationmaytake.