topic Re: Rendering Issues (ArchiCAD 23) in Visualization

Rendering Issues (ArchiCAD 23)

Anonymous — Thu, 11 May 2023 09:52:17 GMT

Please forgive me if this is a REPOST of a previous post.

I am a new user to ArchiCAD, and I am finding that my renders being generated from within ArchiCAD are less than ideal. At present, I am making use of the PhotoRender settings to show what my output will display like on screen. I am in the midst of a project that requires a complete detailed front elevation. And all of the available options through the PhotoRender dialog window are developing imagery that is far less than ideal for this end goal. The "3D/All" window shows a much richer presentation. My machine is an iMac 27" 5K. I am lost and searching for meaning here. Do I need to pursue throwing money into the ring for a paid for external rendering solution? One would think that the price of admission for ArchiCAD, the built-in solution would alone be adequate. Also, I am a wee-bit frustrated that Graphisoft does not have clearer instructions on how to generate cleaner output. For clarification purposes, I have a background in 3D and Visual Communications, so I am uncertain as to what is wrong here!

Re: Rendering Issues (ArchiCAD 23)

David Shorter — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 21:05:18 GMT

Hi
Not really sure I understand the issue here.
Can you show/provide an example of the quality you want to achieve and what you have been able to achieve so far?

Re: Rendering Issues (ArchiCAD 23)

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 21:31:22 GMT

Below is the example of a recent rendering, I have also added the settings. You will notice that the image is beyond blurry and doesn't look better than the '3D/All' window display output does on screen.

Re: Rendering Issues (ArchiCAD 23)

David Shorter — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 22:24:46 GMT

Hmmm .... I see/understand your issue.
what is your image size? This is a critical quality issue but larger images take longer to render.
You also have you quality set to 'low'
Producing high quality renders in ARCHICAD requires a different set of skills (from the basic ARCHICAD)
The starting point would be here 'https://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/user-guide/77201/'
There are a large number of online tutorials on YouTube, try 'archicad rendering techniques' as a google search.
Hope this helps

Re: Rendering Issues (ArchiCAD 23)

Lingwisyer — Wed, 04 Mar 2020 01:24:28 GMT

Have you tested the external render presets? Looks as if you have to much light...

Re: Rendering Issues (ArchiCAD 23)

vistasp — Wed, 04 Mar 2020 04:13:23 GMT

Try to begin with one of the presets like "Outdoor Daylight Medium" and take it from there.

Use the preview to check whether it gives you the kind of output you need before going through a full-blown render.

Try TwinMotion. It's fast (uses GPU instead of CPU), it's good, and the current version is free. Even the next version (when it launches) will be free for you because you have a licence for AC23. Check it out.

https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/twinmotion

Re: Rendering Issues (ArchiCAD 23)

Carstenem — Wed, 04 Mar 2020 06:25:31 GMT

The ARCHICAD default settings you can choose are only good for a quick start to get you a rough idea. Don't use the high presets they are useless and way too slow. As with all render engines it comes down to knowledge on how to use them. Unfortunately there is no "one click solution" in any render engine. I have created an intensive CineRender course which you are welcome to have a look at the link to see what you will learn.

Link: https://www.asmtechbase.com/courses

Cheers Carsten

Re: Rendering Issues (ArchiCAD 23)

Erwin Edel — Wed, 04 Mar 2020 14:19:20 GMT

I haven't used AC23 yet seriously and I know there are a few (minor) tweaks to Cinerender there, but the following has worked for me pretty much since AC18 when Cinerender was introduced.

Quick explanation of why I use these settings: we need quick renders for our clients and can expect to make them many times of the course of a project. As such I want them to not take more than 5 minutes for exterior renders.

As a starting point I use 'Outdoor Daylight Fast (Physical)' preset.
Before going into the Detailed Settings, I change the weather preset to 'Friendly Afternoon' and I tick 'Use ARCHICAD Sun Position'. This gives me some nice clouds and makes sure the sun is shining from the direction I want.
Now I got in to Detailed Settings (tickbox at the top).
If I'm using any indoor lighting I tick the 'Lamps' in 'Light Adjustments' and ussually set them at about 50 strenght for daytime renders.
In 'Environment' I go to 'Physical Sky' and under 'Clouds' in untick 'Cast Shadows'. This just adds render time and doesn't look that great.
If I feel that the render looks too flat I go to 'Effects' and tick 'Ambient Occlusion'. The default settings work ok for me. This does add some render time.
Under 'Global Illumination' I set the 'Secondary Method' to 'Radiosity Maps'. This gives an extra pass of GI and makes things look a bit better, without adding too much time to the render.
Then finally I go to 'Options' > 'General Options' and set 'Ray Threshold' to 0. This makes sure I get all the reflections I want. It does add a bit of render time. So feel free to play with the setting. IIt's a cut off value for reflection strength. It is set at 15 from the preset, which means below 15% light strength things are no longer reflected. As said, I feel it gives a bit of a flat look to my renders unless I set it to 0.
'Ray Depth' and 'Reflection Depth' I generally set both to 12. This means you can have 6 layers of glass panes (or other transparant things) before it stops rendering and is generally enough to see through the building if needed.

Finally always consider your render size. Most people will look at your render on some mobile device or HD screen, as such I find it a waste of time to render out at full sheet size. We do our renders at 195x135 mm at 300 dpi. This still prints out crisp when scaled up to A4 on our laser printer and looks great on mobile devices and HD screens.

Re: Rendering Issues (ArchiCAD 23)

Jp1138 — Wed, 04 Mar 2020 16:09:23 GMT

Some good advice here that could be applied to any new rendering software you use for the first time: it has lots of moving parts that can affect the result on surprising ways.

As vistasp said, I also recomend you to take a look at the free Twinmotion as a fast way to get work renderings - so fast that it´s real time.

Re: Rendering Issues (ArchiCAD 23)

Anonymous — Wed, 04 Mar 2020 16:55:49 GMT

Hi mine is a question, I'm new to this forum and use archicard for interior design projects. I'm using archicard 21 and have not been able to render. I get the message cinerender by Maxon add on unexpectedly closed. I have downloaded visual c++ redistributable but I've yet not been able to render any assistance?

Re: Rendering Issues (ArchiCAD 23)

Barry Kelly — Thu, 05 Mar 2020 01:11:24 GMT

Ella wrote:
Hi mine is a question, I'm new to this forum and use archicard for interior design projects. I'm using archicard 21 and have not been able to render. I get the message cinerender by Maxon add on unexpectedly closed. I have downloaded visual c++ redistributable but I've yet not been able to render any assistance?

Hello Ella Designs and welcome to the forum.

At the top of this page you will see an option to search the forum.
Try searching for "+cinerender +by +Maxon +unexpectedly +closed" (without the quotes but with the +s).
There are a few to look at which is why I have not posted a direct link to a post to fix your problem.
Hopefully they will give you some good suggestions.

Also make sure you have the latest build of version 21 installed (build 8002).

Barry.