Chapter 12

Visualization

Visualization in Revit Architecture—or with any tool (even a pencil)—isn't an exact science. It still requires a patient, aesthetic eye. The computer just does what you tell it to do, so many times users become frustrated because they don't know what they're trying to accomplish. But inexperienced users are often doubly frustrated because they don't know how to accomplish something. And so they set about trying to learn how to do a task.

Learning how to do a particular thing with a rendering tool is fine; it's part of a successful process. But we often find that people believe that the key to creating successful visualizations is the ability to make something seem “real”—or even “hyper-real”—and this is the goal of their learning process. Unfortunately, this is the first mistake (of many). If your goal is to make your renderings more realistic and believable, you'll quickly come to a dead end.

The most important thing you can do to successfully visualize your work starts with one thing: listen. That's right—it's your ears that make you a great artist! You need to be able to understand what your client is trying to accomplish, because you're not really trying to visualize something—you're trying to communicate something for someone else. First learn to listen, and you'll understand what your client needs to communicate. And you'll be far more successful!

In this chapter, you'll learn to:

• Create real-time and rendered analytic visualizations
• Render emotive photorealistic visualizations
• Understand the importance of sequencing your visualization workflow