9

Materials a nd Linked Revit Objects 453
IfyougiveanewnametotheexportedDWG,
theFileLinkManagerwillnotshowthatthe
currently linked file has been updated.
7. In 3ds Max, open t he File Link Manager and
review the Files panel. Select the updated file
link and click the Reload button — Tu rn on
Show Reload Options if you want to change
link settings.
The changed model reloads to 3ds Max and
changes made to the model in 3ds Max prior to
the reload are retained.
The
symbol means the DWG file has been
updated.
M ater ia ls a nd Li nk ed R ev it
Obj ects
When you export a DWG or DXF from Revit
projects, materials are translated into a format that
3ds Max can understand. Rev it creates materials
inthesameformatasusedbyArchitectural
Desktop, VIZ Render and 3ds Max. There are
two kinds of materials associated with the Revit
project; AccuRender materials and Revit materials.
When a Revit material references an AccuRender
material, the AccuRender material’s parameters
are used; otherwise, the Revit material p arameters
are used.
There is an important caveat to this. AccuRender
materials that reference a bitmap file are
translated in 3ds Max without any problems,
while AccuRender materials that are considered
“procedur al” are only translated at the most basic
level.
Therefore, an AccuRender material that uses a
bitmapimageinthebasetexturedefinitionwill
provide a more accurate translation to 3ds Max.
Note: There are some limitations on what is
translated b etween Revit/AccuRender materials
and 3ds Max m aterials because there is not a
one-to-one correlation b etween the two material
definitions.
Mater ial Assignments
The Revit DWG Expor ter puts embedded
information on each object it exports. Amongst
this information are identifiers specifying
material assignments. Rev it creates the same
kind of material definitions used by Architectural
Desktop, VIZ Render and 3ds Max. When
imported or linked, 3ds Max uses this information
to translate and maintain the material assig nment
totheresultingsceneobject.
Because the material identifier is embedded, if you
opened the DWG in AutoCAD, you would not see
the applied materials.
Revit offers many options for specifying a material
to an object or class of objects. Likewise, there
are many ways where material assignments can be
over ridden. The results you see in the 3ds Max
scene, in terms of how the materials are applied,
matchwhatyouseeintheRevitmodel.
Theexceptiontotherulewouldbeifmanyofthe
materials are AccuRender procedural materials. In
thesecases,youwillseeonlythediffusecolor.
Tex tur e Coordi nates
Material textures on imported or link ed objects
havethesameappearanceaswithinRevitor
AccuRender. Of course, the exception to this rule
is when AccuRender procedural textures are used.
When materials f rom Revit are v iewed in the
3ds Max Material Editor , you’ll notice that some
settings are not translated or they are not set as
you’re used to seeing in 3ds Max. For example,
if the texture map of a flooring material has a
rotation of 45 degrees in the Revit project, the