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Black screen after rendering

15 REPLIES 15
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Message 1 of 16
freelancette
12406 Views, 15 Replies

Black screen after rendering

Have been working on a building in Revit 2011 and have been rendering with sunlight only.  Rendering was working perfectly fine until I made some major changes.  Installed many downlights and wall washers, along with some material changes.  Suddenly the interior rendering is not working.  It pixilates, but all I get is a black screen.  Have tried many different variations and permutations of settings, including turning off all the lights, but cannot render.  However, the exterior rendering still works, but windows are too reflective.

 

I went back to an earlier version of the model and it still works.  Also, I opened the file on another computer at a design school and results were the same, so it is something in the file, not the computer.

 

Has anyone else had this problem?  Did I accidentally make a mistake somewhere in the settings?

15 REPLIES 15
Message 2 of 16
ccollins
in reply to: freelancette

This sounds like a lack of memory problem.

 

Artificial lights drastically affect the calculations and amount of both CPU and RAM required.

 

What are your OS and computer specs? If you are running 32 bit windows with only 4GB of RAM, you will not have much luck rendering complex interior scenes with lots of artificial lights.

 

Sun only requires much less computer resources, which is why the daytime scenes will render alot faster.

 

Another good tip:

Try using a Section Box to "clip" the scene so it renders only objects visible to the camera.

 

cheers

Cliff B. Collins
Registered Architect/BIM Manager
Thalden Boyd Emery Architects
St. Louis, MO
Message 3 of 16
freelancette
in reply to: freelancette

Thanks for your overview.  This is pretty much what I was thinking, however it previously rendered with sun only and now will not  render with sun only.  I have tried doing sun only with all  the lights turned off.  I am a relatively new Revit user and am wondering --- would Revit still calculate using lights even when the lights are turned off?  I guess I should test this by deleting all the lights, rather than turning them off.

 

Also, as I mentioned, I tried this render in the computer lab at an interior design school, which I assume has a pretty powerful computer, although I didn't bother to check the stats on it.  Will post the results of deleting the lights.

Message 4 of 16
freelancette
in reply to: freelancette

Hello again,

 

Well, I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit I did do something accidental that really messed things up.  I puzzled and puzzled, but the clue was that the exterior renderings still worked, albeit strangely, because the glass was too reflective.  I then remembered that I had been experimenting (I'm relatively new to Revit) with making a mirrored wall.  When I explored further, it turns out that I had accidentally changed ALL the system glass panels (windows, doors, storefronts) to mirror!  That's why the interiors were black.  No sun was getting in.  When I switched that back again, things were back to normal.  But what I discovered was that I needed to tinker quite a bit with the artificial lights to get them to the intensity I wanted.  Had to make a lot of changes, both to the lamps and the glass (in sconces.)

 

I will try your section box idea ... sounds like a good one, although haven't had a chance to do it yet.  The 32 bit system has to do for now, although am hoping to get something better in the after-Christmas sales (ho-ho-ho!) 

 

Thanks so much for your help!

Message 5 of 16
AntMc
in reply to: freelancette

For those following this thread . . . .

 

I had a similar problem with black perspective (i.e. camera) views, but for a different reason.

 

The pen weight for perspective line weights was set to 1000mm (a slipped decimal point!).

 

So whenever I went into, or printed, a perspective the 1 metre wide pens made everything black.

Message 6 of 16
tsanders
in reply to: freelancette

I am using Revits 2014.  My computer has 32G RAM and my OS is 64bit.  I am using the camara to view a room it is blacked out after rendering.  is there anything else it could be besides lack of RAM?

Message 7 of 16
freelancette
in reply to: tsanders

Hi,

 

I am curious to kmow what your light settings are.  Are you using artificial lights?

Message 8 of 16
tsanders
in reply to: freelancette

Yes I am using lights, and you can see them but everything else is still black

Travis M Sanders
CAD Operator
Gold Mechanical, Inc.
tsanders@goldmechanical.com
Message 9 of 16
freelancette
in reply to: tsanders

Hi,

 

If you can see the lights on in the rendering, but everything else is dark (?), then it looks like you need to use more and/or higher wattage lights.  How large is the room and which lights are you using?

Message 10 of 16
tsanders
in reply to: freelancette

The Room is 18'-11" by 14'-6" and the lights(2) are (Troffer light 2x4 Parabolic 2Lamp 120V)

Thanks

Travis M Sanders
CAD Operator
Gold Mechanical, Inc.
tsanders@goldmechanical.com
Message 11 of 16
freelancette
in reply to: tsanders

I recreated your room size and put 2 2x4s into the ceiling (just generic ones from in-the-box) -- attached is the result (with no materials assigned to walls, floor, etc.)  Is this the same level of darkness you get?  I think 2 lights for a room this size are not enough for a proper rendering.  Even though they are supposed to give a realistic result, I have found that you need higher wattage for good renderings.  I've also found that the commercial Revit models available on manufacturer's websites work very well and in some cases better than what Revit provides.

Message 12 of 16
tsanders
in reply to: freelancette

Thanks I'll give that a try

Travis M Sanders
CAD Operator
Gold Mechanical, Inc.
tsanders@goldmechanical.com
Message 13 of 16
rjm32
in reply to: tsanders

I encountered the same dark screen when trying to render interior views with artificial lights. The file had previous rendered quite well. When tsander65 provided specs that included  the Troffer light 2x4 Parabolic 2Lamp 120V, I had had a hunch that the lighting component might be at issue. 

 

I was using the same lighting fixture. I exchanged the Troffer light 2x4 Parabolic 2Lamp 120V for another troffer light (it had lens in the title) and the issue was resolved. Further scrutiny showed that the malfunctioning fixture was missing a component - the part that make the light! 

 

Since the Troffer 2x4 is so commonly used, I imagine a rogue file could wreak a lot of havoc. Good luck!

 

R. Militello, M Arch, LEED AP BD+C, CDT

Cornell University

 

 

 

Message 14 of 16
youngblut
in reply to: freelancette

Well this post is old, but will post my finding either way for future people that come across this issue.

 

This may not solve it for everyone, but i spent 45mins trying to resolve. Finally I closed my system and restarted, once I did that all issues disappeared. Seems there is a lag if your system has been open for an extended period of time. Sometimes it just needs to be restarted for functionality to return. You may also see issue with Materials and Sections when Revit has been open to long. (i mean more then 12hrs)

 

Again, may not resolve EVERYONE, but worth a shot before you drive yourself crazy. best of luck!

Message 15 of 16
ROTH7444
in reply to: freelancette

I had the issue where screen was black, but artificial lighting would show. 

 

I found that turning off my phase filter to none allowed sunlight to enter through the doors and windows again

Message 16 of 16
cbcarch
in reply to: ROTH7444

Or set Phase Filter to Show Complete in the 3D render View.

Cliff B. Collins
Registered Architect The Lamar Johnson Collaborative Architects-St. Louis, MO

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