Comparison of the Top 6 Revit Rendering Plugins

The main goal of this article is to compare native Revit rendering plug-ins with their advantages and disadvantages so as to determine the best rendering plug-in.

VRAY

Many people adore the old-fashioned ray-tracing plug-in VRAY. It's not very impressive, let's face it. VRAY is not a good choice for someone who presses for time. An interesting choice might be making custom textures and post-processing the image if you have a lot of time to spare.

Advantage

1. An extremely precise and customizable rendering tool.

Disadvantage

1. There is nothing beautiful about default textures. You may have to work long and hard to create your own textures.
2. For a realistic sky with clouds, you need Photoshop.
3. An unattractive default entourage appears in Revit by default.

Autodesk Cloud Rendering

When you continue to work on your Revit model, you can create renderings on the Autodesk server using Autodesk Cloud Rendering. There's usually a slight improvement in the cloud rendering tool over the native rendering tool.

Advantage

1. Colors look good.
2. Shadows look great.
3. It's an interesting reflection.

Disadvantage

1. There is a terrible sky that needs to be photo shopped out.
2. It would be nice if some elements were sharper, such as those on the right side.
3. It is not always easy to deal with cloud rendering services.

Revit Native Rendering

While the Revit native rendering isn't as exciting as the Cloud rendering, it is a good alternative to this. With this tool, you need to put in a lot of work in Photoshop to create an image that you like.

Advantage

1. There is no need to purchase additional software as it is built into Revit.

Disadvantage

1. I feel like it's outdated.
2. A limited range of rendering options.
3. It would be nice to have global illumination when it comes to lighting.
4. The creation of renderings can be time-consuming.
5. There is a terrible sky that needs to be photo shopped out.
6. Colors and shadows are flat, and reflections are dull.

ENSCAPE

It only took a few minutes to create and adjust the rendering. Testing and using the settings in ENSCAPE is very easy. You can quickly create a decent-looking view using the global illumination and auto-exposure tools.

Advantage

1. Stunning sky that didn't require Photoshop.
2. Automatically replaced with great-looking Revit family entourage.
3. Colors that stand out.
4. This exposure provides just enough light on the shaded side while providing great global illumination.
5. I found your reflections fascinating.
6. Control of settings and intuitive interface.

Disadvantage

1. The choice of trees or people you want to be in the entourage is limited.

LUMION

There is a large library of objects, characters, and cars. Animations can be created with it. Something is lacking in this rendering. Translating textures is difficult with the default ones. The entourage does not seem as real as it did in ENSCAPE. Despite having incredible results with LUMION, setting up, adjusting textures, and choosing the right camera settings usually takes more time.

Advantage

1. The library has amazing objects, trees, and people.
2. It's fun and exciting to use.
3. No Photoshop needed to create good-looking skies, grass and environments.

Disadvantage

1. There can be some confusion with the user interface.
2. There are no impressive default textures.

TWINMOTION

There are many similarities between TWINMOTION and LUMION. The user interface looks like that of a video game. Objects, trees, and people are all featured in their libraries. A good rendering of either of them takes a similar amount of time.

TWINMOTION remains an interesting alternative, although LUMION might have an edge. However, there is not much detail in the shadows or reflections in the default rendering test. The camera settings and textures of LUMION must adjust extensively to get a realistic result.

Advantage

1. An entourage library or decent trees.
2. Interaction with the user is fun.
3. Good textures.

Disadvantage

1. A strange cloud formation.
2. A shadow and a reflection are odd.

Verdict

The above assessment examines the main features of a variety of Revit rendering tools. There is no comprehensive review here, just an overview of the options. Essentially, it highlights the available features out of the box. Many of the rendering tools produce amazing results if you are willing to invest countless hours. But ENSCAPE is the optimal tool when time is limited when creating a great rendering. These other tools are great, but setting up the textures and camera settings can take more time. A decent alternative if you limit by time is the Autodesk cloud rendering service.