Render fail, precise control of render image size?

[asksteevs]

So until a while ago I've had no problem rendering with whatever settings i like, even 600 dpi with no problems.  This still didn't yield large enough images though, about 2k at 3"x3.5" or so.

First question, how can I precisely control rendered image size, say 300dpi at 8"x10", etc., so as to have a precise effect on actual image resolution?

All of the sudden even at a low 75dpi Revit is wanting to output a 3kx4k image at around 24"x27", and the render process runs and processes as expected but yields nothing.  I see no progress, just the model, even though the render process has taken place.

What is causing this fail and how can I precisely control final image size?

Thanks in advance for your help.

[shawn]

I have my own rendering questions so I'm no expert, but while you're waiting for a more intelligent reply you might check a couple of things.

First is in the render dialog check to see if it's rendering to Print or rendering to Screen. This makes a huge difference in file size.

Next check the view scale in the view properties. This also has a huge effect on file size. It could be that the view scale was accidentally set at a more detailed scale.

As for the time out, maybe you're just being impatient. Large renders take a lot of time and your computer may appear to sleep or freeze during the process. You can also check your "processes" in the windows task maneger to see if anything is happening.

Good luck,

Shawn Graham

Design Consultant.

[asksteevs]

First off thanks for the reply.

I'm well aware of the screen/print setting, but was not aware that the view scale (logically) affected Print size.  I still just wish I could specifically render to, say, a 3000px by 2500px file with no need to jump through these hoops.  As for patience, I've been through plenty of renders at over an hour.  I'm not canceling the process, it is finishing with no rendering.

[scott_d_davis · Accepted solution]

The rendered image size is set by the crop region of the view.  Select the Crop Region, then look to the Options Bar to set the size of the crop region to your printed output size.  Then when you set the DPI in the render dialog box, you will see the size of the image l x w, DPI, and overall file size before you click the render button.

[asksteevs]

Thanks for your help.  It is still sort of a roundabout solution, but at least it gets me where I need to go.  Maybe for the next release it would be nice to be able to directly punch in a specific destination resolution and dpi in the render dialog.  😉

[shawn]

Maybe I'm not understanding your instructions, but when I select the region crop thing (???), the optinos bar shows nothing except the words: "modify render regions". There doesn't seem to be any connection between the options bar and render size. The only method I can find to alter the final size of the rendering is to modify the view scale in the view properties (after I"ve adjusted the crop region to show the view I want, that is).

What am I not getting?

[asksteevs]

With the crop region selected, you get a Size Crop option in the ribbon, which will give you this little dialog...  These settings along with the view scale and DPI settings in the render dialog (which can be any value you type in, by the way) are the only way to fiddle around to achieve specific pixel-dimension images.  Too bad it's not like Photoshop so you could just specify a view crop and say I want it X pixels by Y pixels at Z dpi and take out the hoops you need to jump through right now.  😉

[shawn]

Thank you very much.... I hate it when these simple little details, like where to find something on the interface, trip me up.

As for the esas of use you mention, I suppose we need to keep in mind that Revit is not really a rendering engine, it's more of a modeling and documention engine. In that respect it works pretty good. Ultimately if you do a lot of rendering I think you need a dedicated rendering computer with Max or ther rendering software installed on it. Also, I wonder if you couldn't use Photoshop to resize a tiff image and then just insert it back into the project. Another step yes, but that's the name of this game.

Good luck

Shawn.

[john.kinder]

WhyTF DOESN"T IT WORK THE EXACT SAME WAY IN THE CLOUD AS ON MY DESKTOP AND VISE VERSA?  That's stupid and lazy programming.  Tie all of the sh*t together so we don't have to reinvent the wheel EVERY time Autodesk comes up with a new gimic.  And if you are certified to represent Autodesk quit BSing around all of the questions and get to the core of what people are asking.  Your answers are bogus about 90% of the time and your Clients (unless it's just the stock holders now) walk away with nothing.  Stop giving them hope if you don't know the answer.  Sizing your crop to mess with your camera view and playing with inches on the screen is NOT an answer.  Users need the ability to change the DPI insependantly like every other graphics program out there.  Anything else is bogus because I loose my exact camera view.  Am I the only one with these sentiments? 

-John

[Evangraz]

The crop region only includes more area around the model. This does not help to increase the size of what you are trying to render, it only increases the context. It seems that there is no way to specify the output size of the image which is necessary when rendering any quality image for printing. Increasing the scale has no effect on the size of a perspective view, scales are for orthographic views only.

The only way that you can increase the size is to move your camera very close to the model and then widen the angle of the camera by increasing your crop size. This makes for very strange perspectives which are not realistic or usable. Using this method I have got some pretty good interior renders (as long as you dont stretch the angle too wide), but exterior renders are difficult to get high quality images. Mostly grainy images because of their small size.

I have concluded that Revit is only good for some interior renderings and if you want a good quality rendering, then use a different program. Ive wasted alot of time at work and now I am just realizing I cannot get a final image size that will work for this presentation.  

ONE THING I HAVE DISCOVERED THAT HELPS IS! : you can only choose up to 600 dpi, BUT you can type in that box up to 999 dpi. This will give you a little better image quality so that an image printed larger will look a little better. if you blow it up 2x it will be at 500 dpi and so forth. So theoretically it can be blown up, but this is still not as good as a program that will render a larger image. If it was larger the renderer could still process more detail.

[Evangraz]

Yeah the cloud renders a little differently and actually is giving me an error that says I can't log into Autodesk 360 right now. The cloud has different settings so you're never sure what you are going to get. They are can be good or better quality but difficult to be consistent. Also the cloud doesn't render "tints" on materials though, I think this is the case in older versions. All things that autodesk should fix, these are very expensive programs that people in the business rely heavily on.

[loboarch]

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@Evangraz wrote:

The crop region only includes more area around the model. This does not help to increase the size of what you are trying to render, it only increases the context. It seems that there is no way to specify the output size of the image which is necessary when rendering any quality image for printing. Increasing the scale has no effect on the size of a perspective view, scales are for orthographic views only.his is still not as good as a program that will render a larger image. If it was larger the renderer could still process more detail.

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This is not correct.  When you select the crop region of a prespective view you can change it in 2 ways:  Select the crop region of the perspective view and then select "Size Crop" on the contextural tab.  In the dialog the width and height are listed.  In the lower section of the box is a control for "Field of View" and one for "Scale".  If "Feild of View" is selected, when you change the width or height of the crop size it will as you say, "add more around the model".  If "Scale" is selected, when you change the width or height the crop region PROPORTIONS are maintained and changed in size, but the field of view (stuff you see) is not changed at all.  This effectivy makes the render image smaller or larger as required. 

[Evangraz]

That works! Thank you, I would have never figured that out.