[cyberjuls]

Any news for the revit plugin? Since i have xsi plug, i can't complain anymore...

Just to know, because i'm starting to use it really intensivly. But anyway i can always go through xsi

c ya later

[muttlieb]

I would also like to know if there is any chance for a Revit plugin in the future.

[JCAddy]

Great now all the morons in the studio will be trying to do their own work.

[JTB]

I have been asking for a Revit plugin from the begining... Now, I am not so sure it is a priority... Revit has to become better to work with Maxwell...
For example, a full API and many import/export options.
Also general modeling capabilities...

[howdenx2]

I've been using Revit with 3dsMax and Maxwell for over a 1 year now - works just fine, yes a plugin would be nice but you get so much more when you use 3dsMax.... true UVW maps, true animation etc etc.... Give it a try "export to dwg (ascii solids) from revit" "file link" in 3dsMax... works like a charm

[VisualImpact]

Great now all the morons in the studio will be trying to do their own work.

first thing I thought of too.

[deesee]

According to this this pdf document, the new release of Revit, Revit Architecture 2009, will have an API for 3rd Party Developers.

Will it be possible to have a Maxwell plugin then?

[muttlieb]

deesee, Revit has had an API for a few releases now. Robert McNeel & Associates has released an alpha version of a Revit plugin for their new render technology, nXt. You can fill out an application to test the plugin (and see what others have been doing with it) here: http://nxt.accurender.com/forums/143.aspx It's still pretty primitive, but I've tried it out and it looks very promising. So if they can write a plugin for nXt, it seems a maxwell plugin should be possible.

[howdenx2]

I'm now on the Autodesk (ADN) and the API has changed considerably - if Nextlimit was to do a plug-in i'd be into it in a flash - we do all our work in Revit and now all of our work is rendered via Maxwell through 3DSMax...

[JTB]

Revit's communication problem is not only the API.
Revit cannot import/export basic 3d files like 3ds,obj,3dm,fbx,max... formats that most of them already belong to Autodesk....
I am a Revit user too and I constantly complain about this lack of communication.
Even the new Mental Ray feature... I have no seen any outdoors scene with trees, have you? Accurender has already released a new version that Autodesk could buy and use, much improved than the last one. After all, Revit had never the full version of AR.
I think that Mental Ray is a great step forward for Revit, Maxwell would be a trip to the stars.
But I wouldn't like to work with MXST.... Also, it is too early to use Revit for professional renderings because it lacks basic generic modeling commands and there is no 3rd party application for it, also multiprocessor support, instancing geometry, subobject handling.... etc....

The only possible thing to do now is to have a plugin RVT to MXS and then work with studio but this is not something very productive.

[howdenx2]

With Revit 2009 you will be able to export to FBX format soi see that as a major step forward for Revit....

http://www.rand.com/imaginit/1/rss/view ... L&guid=377

Can't wait for the release of 2009 now....

[deesee]

Great discussion all.

So it sounds like it COULD be possible, but not probable at this time.

JTB, I agree, Mental Ray is a great advancement compared to AR (have not seen latest version), but I've never used it, so I'm not familiar with it too much.

I don't know, sometimes I play with ArchiCAD and it's great to just do a test render in Maxwell without much hassle...I would love that for Revit.

[JTB]

With Revit 2009 you will be able to export to FBX format soi see that as a major step forward for Revit....

http://www.rand.com/imaginit/1/rss/view ... L&guid=377

Can't wait for the release of 2009 now....

Exactly, the key-word is export.... NOT import...
I think what we all need is to work with Revit and Maxwell.... Not Revit and MAX and Maxwell because we have this already!
So, can you show me a Revit reseller that sais to the customer that he has to pay 4500€ for Revit and then 5000€ more for Max? Nobody does that....

[JTB]

Great discussion all.

So it sounds like it COULD be possible, but not probable at this time.

JTB, I agree, Mental Ray is a great advancement compared to AR (have not seen latest version), but I've never used it, so I'm not familiar with it too much.

I don't know, sometimes I play with ArchiCAD and it's great to just do a test render in Maxwell without much hassle...I would love that for Revit.

I don't use Mental Ray too, but I have seen some great results...
My biggest problem is that I don't see any test scenes with Revit and Mental Ray that has trees or clipmaps or....
Just a building model and nothing else.... This simply an image... Nothing photorealistic about it.
That's why I think that Mental Ray is a step forward for Revit... Not for us...
At least a 3ds and OBJ export would be nice for MXST import, or any other cheap modeler that imports/exports 3ds and obj so that we can add
something.

What we should also thing of is that Revit is getting where we wanted 3 years ago....For example we don't have

1. Generic modeling tools
2. Sub-objects for material assignment
3. Import/export basic 3d file formats
4. 3d Site tools
5. UV assignment and bitmap display in shaded viewports
6. Nurbs
7. Multi core support
8. Instancing geometry and other nice stuff like modifiers
9. 3D site tools
10. Plugins and apps like we have in Max....

So, for modeling and rendering other than strictly building components, Revit is behind every other modeling app Autodesk owns... So, why do they keep selling Revit and Acad as a bundle and not Revit and Viz?