About the Rendering Workflow

About the Rendering Workflow

Lights and materials can be added to a 3D model before photorealistic image is rendered with the program's renderer. 

The following outlines the basic process of setting up a 3D model and rendering a photorealistic image from a scene. 
Task
Related Commands
Create a 3D model containing the objects to be rendered with 3D solids, surfaces, meshes, and 3D faces. 
3DFACE, 3DMESH, BOX, CONE, CYLINDER, EDGESURF, EXTRUDE, LOFT, MESH, PFACE, PLANESURF, POLYSOLID, PRESSPULL, PYRAMID, REVOLVE, REVSURF, RULESURF, SPHERE, SURFBLEND, SURFNETWORK, SURFOFFSET, SURFPATCH, SWEEP, TABSURF, TORUS, WEDGE
Define the views of the 3D model to render. Use named views for consistency and to make switching views easier. 
VIEW
Assign a background to the current view. 
BACKGROUND, VIEW
Create materials to be attached to 3D objects. 
MATBROWSEROPEN, MATEDITOROPEN
Attach materials to 3D objects directly or by layer. 
MATERIALASSIGN, MATERIALATTACH
Add user-defined lights or use default lighting. 
The LIGHTINGUNITS system variable must be set to 1 or 2. 
Enable image-based lighting as an alternative to default lighting, or to fill an entire scene with light and eliminate dark areas. 
DISTANTLIGHT, FREESPOT, FREEWEB, LIGHT, POINTLIGHT, SPOTLIGHT, TARGETPOINT, WEBLIGHT, RENDEREXPOSURE
Optionally, enable and define settings for the Sun & Sky based lighting when rendering indoor or outdoor architectural scenes. 
The LIGHTINGUNITS system variable must be set to 1 or 2. 
SUNPROPERTIES
Set the Low render preset current. 
RENDERPRESETS
Render a region of the 3D model to test the attached materials and lighting. 
RENDERCROP
Adjust the materials and lighting in the scene based on the results of the test rendering. 

Set the rendering environment and exposure settings. 
RENDEREXPOSURE
Create another test rendering; make any desired changes to the materials, lighting, and general rendering environment settings. 

Set a render preset with the best rendering quality desired current and create the final rendered image. 
RENDER, RENDERPRESETS
Save the rendered image to a raster image file. 
RENDER, SAVEIMG
Powered by AutoCAD®

    • Related Articles

    • About Rendering

      A realistic rendering of a 3D model can often give a product team or prospective client a clearer vision of a conceptual design than a plotted drawing.  Rendering is the process of creating a raster image based on the 3D objects in a scene. A ...

    • Basic Rendering Settings

      Basic Render SettingsTo access the render settings, click on the Visual Style menu icon the tool strip, and then click on the Rendering Settings icon. The Render Presets Manager will allow you to change the settings for rendering. Common adjustments ...

    • Add New Rendering Materials in Toolbox

      Rendering materials are customizable. As you can see in the screenshot below, the rendering materials are split into Main and Sub Categories to categorize the materials for manageability.  The material categories with the materials they contain are ...

    • About Rendering a View or Region within a Viewport

      You can render the entire current view or a region within the current viewport.  Render a View The default rendering procedure is to render all objects in the current view of a drawing. While the rendering process is faster when you render an area of ...

    • AutoCAD Keyboard Commands

      Learning how to use AutoCAD keyboard commands can help you work faster and improve your efficiency. This article lists the abbreviated commands that can be used in AutoCAD (Toolbox). Toggle General Features Ctrl+G Toggle Grid Ctrl+E Cycle isometric ...

    • Recent Articles

    • Toolbox Release Notes | Build 25.1.0213.641

      The following release notes apply to Toolbox build 25.1.0213.641. Stay Down Nesting Additions 3 new settings have been added to Stay Down Nesting, to resolve specific issues with routes and connectors that have been reported: Fig. 1: New options in ...

    • Toolbox Release Notes: Year of 2024

      This document will catalog all releases for Microvellum Toolbox software builds that were released in the year 2024. This encompasses builds 24.1.0104.641 to 24.1.1206.641. Toolbox Release Notes | Build 24.1.1206.641 The following release notes apply ...

    • Toolbox Release Notes | Build 25.1.0129.641

      The following release notes apply to Toolbox build 25.1.0129.641. SMA Fixes A wide variety of issues with the Solid Model Analyzer have been resolved. Multiple modifications to existing interfaces or settings have been made to improve precision and ...

    • Microvellum Foundation Library Release Notes | Build 25.0124

      The following release notes apply to Microvellum Foundation Library build 25.0124. Additions Added Century Components Waste Bins, Vanity Organizers, and Base Cabinet Organizers. 11”, 14”, 17” Signature Series Bottom Mount 34qt & 50qt. 4”, 5”, 6”, 9”, ...

    • SQL Server Backups

      This article will list out the various types of backups you can create for databases hosted on an SQL Server, explore methods for creating backups manually and automatically, as well as list software/services that may assist you with backing up your ...