Revit 2019 - Appearances (shader) detailed explanation needed

[JM_Koester]

Hi everyone,

I'm struggling to fully understand the new appearance/shader system, I assume it is some kind of PBR implementation.

I hope someone can help me out.

It is very helpful that legacy shaders are marked as such, however the first confusion comes when creating a new material and that material is using a legecy shader. Why is that the case and how can I create a new material without a legacy shader? I'm aware that I can replace the appearance with an existing non-legacy one.

By looking at the appearances in the library and a few websites, except Autodesk, I figured out that there are at least 4 different new shaders 

- metal

- dielectric

- clear coat

- transparent/refraction

I was not able to find any official information about the shaders, their settings and if there are any besides the 4 mentioned.

If we would be able to choose a shader when creating a new material, this would become much clearer. 

Now it is just guesswork, searching and trial&error.

Besides that it would be very helpful if channel packed images could be utilized or at least alpha channels.

[Viveka_CD · Accepted solution]

Hi @JM_Koester

Please check the documentation at this help link:

http://help.autodesk.com/view/ARENDERING/ENU/

The direct link for materials is this:
http://help.autodesk.com/view/ARENDERING/ENU/?guid=GUID-C8B55D63-2167-48FE-BBC3-F6C3758EE3EE

You can find defaults for the new materials when replacing an appearance:
Go to *Appearance Library->Miscellaneous->Base Materials*
There they can find the *Metal, Opaque, Transparent*, and *Layered* base classes.
The *Glazing* class was introduced a bit late and will appear in that group in a future update. For now, they need to get it from existing Glazing materials under:
*Appearance Library->Glazing*

You can also make a new material and just search the library for a new shader, or just replace the "old" shader asset on an existing material. When you duplicate and create a new material, it just uses the old existing shader asset, you have to manually replace the shader asset with a "new" shader asset.

As for settings, you can look here:

http://help.autodesk.com/view/RVT/2019/ENU/?guid=GUID-03A2730E-AAEE-42F6-88BC-3C9718B9F5DD

Hope that helps!

Please select the Accept as Solution button if my post solves your issue or answers your question. Likes welcome!

Regards,

[JM_Koester]

Thank you Viveka, this is what I was looking for.

[Viveka_CD]

Hi @JM_Koester

Thanks for your message and glad to hear that helped!

Regards,

[pieter7]

It is indeed hard to 'discover' these new features, and also cumbersome to go back and forth between the different PBR shaders (for example when you switch from Opaque to Metal you lose the heightmap settings).

There is a Revit Idea on making make these shaders a lot easier to use. Consider adding your vote if you agree:

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-ideas/easier-to-switch-between-different-type-of-shaders-adding...

[Viveka_CD]

Thanks for the link @pieter7 

I've voted and please pass this along to your coworkers to gain votes!

Regards,

[JM_Koester]

That would for sure be helpful, but I would rather have a universal shader like Disney Principled BRDF instead.

I actually don't quite understand why Autodesk did implement this 5 different base shaders. In addition to that the wording is a bit strange too, especially if you are already familiar with other programs utilizing PBR concept. e.g. Advanced Highlight Controls - Shape - Long Falloff... 

Excuse me, I don't want to sound like ranting.

[Viveka_CD]

Hi @JM_Koester

Your suggestions are welcome.

Please add your comments to the Ideas page link in post 5/7, it will help the ideas implementation team.

Regards,

[pieter7]

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@JM_Koester wrote:

That would for sure be helpful, but I would rather have a universal shader like Disney Principled BRDF instead.

I actually don't quite understand why Autodesk did implement this 5 different base shaders. In addition to that the wording is a bit strange too, especially if you are already familiar with other programs utilizing PBR concept. e.g. Advanced Highlight Controls - Shape - Long Falloff... 

Excuse me, I don't want to sound like ranting.

---

I 100% agree with rather having one shader! That would be even better. The other day I tried making a fabric material with brass knots on it (for a bench) and that's impossible right now because a material is either metal or opaque. If there was a slider metal/opaque to which we could add an image map we would have far greater control.

[Viveka_CD]

Hi @pieter7

Appreciate your feedback. Please add this comment to the Ideas page.

Regards,