RevitPure’s first review of Enscape goes all the away back to 2017, which was called: 6 Reasons Enscape is the Best Revit Rendering Plug-In.

Since then, Enscape has only got even better! Make sure to check out the initial review if you are not familiar with the basic features and how to connect to Revit.

This article is a summary of the fun live session RevitPure had on YouTube with Josh Radle, a customer experience representative for Enscape. Check out the live video here:

1. Revamped User Interface

Being a graphic design casual fan, the new version is absolutely gorgeous. The new fonts, icons and branding are all very pleasing to the eyes. Good job! Here is the new logo:

In the old Enscape, you needed to constantly switch back to Revit to modify visual settings and take other actions.

The Enscape team improved the interface to be consistent with what you actually need. Visual settings are now directly in Enscape. Settings still in Revit usually implies interacting with the model, such as the assets menu.

The team also got rid of their mascot: Dr. Photon. Farewell, beautiful prince.

There is now an Help menu that displays all the commands.

2. Safe Frame Feature

Another great new feature is Safe Frame. click it to show the preview of the rendering. Black rectangles will fill out the non-visible parts of the rendering:

3. Easy to Use Sun Settings

A thing I’ve always absolutely loved about Enscape is how easy it is to use the sun settings. Just hold SHIFT, press the right mouse button and move the mouse up and down to change the time of the day.

With the new help tool to indicate the controls, I realized there were some sun controls I didn’t even know existed. You can modify the solar angle and the solar rotation using these keys:

Considering how much time I’ve spent messing on obscure menu to try to adjust the sun in other rendering tools, this is really easy to use and greatly appreciated.

4. Offline Enscape Assets

A while ago, Enscape introduced assets. One of the complaint I had about the system is how slow it was to load the assets. Preview images took a long time to show up.

The reason is that by default, assets are loaded from the web. To avoid the issue, you can simply click the small box called Offline Enscape Assets at the bottom of the menu.

All the assets will be downloaded to your computer, eliminating the load time.

5. Link Enscape Asset to Revit Family

With Enscape assets, you really need to be careful to hide them in all your construction documents. Inside Revit, they look like a bunch of Nintendo 64 polygons that you would never want to see in a presentation view.

Enscape now offers a cool solution to this issue: link an asset to a Revit family. That means you could use an existing bench family for example, and simply link the Enscape asset to it. You can keep the family look in your Revit views, but once inside Enscape, it will turn into a great looking asset.

To use this feature, place the Revit families. In the Enscape asset menu, click on the dots under an asset preview and select Link Revit Family to asset.

Then, you have to select the target family in this Enscape:

You can see compare how the bench looks in Revit vs Enscape.

6. Create Custom Assets

Not satisfied with the default assets of Enscape? You can create your own! Go the the custom assets tab and click on create new.

I won’t get into the nifty gritty stuff of creating an asset (check out the video for the full tutorial). If you are lazy, you can download pre-made free assets on websites such as cgtrader.com.

Stop making ugly views in Revit! Our DESIGN learning package for Revit will help you create gorgeous presentation documents. Check it out here:

7. Create 360 Panoramas, Share then with QR Code

No need to spend 5 paragraphs explaining this one: just click this link to view a 360 panorama created of the random wood restaurant pavilion:

https://api2.enscape3d.com/v3/view/3bb12f8e-d9c6-416b-a06a-26d8933adb74

You can also create a QR code. Use your phone to scan this:

Cool eh?

To do the same thing, first you need to create a 360 panorama. If you want to view your panorama in VR, select the stereo option.

Once the rendering is complete, click on the cloud image to upload it online.

8. Create .exe Files and Send them to Your Client

Do you want your client to have the whole Enscape experience? But obviously, the client probably doesn’t have an Enscape license. It’s possible to create a .exe file and send it to the client. For it to properly work, the computer still needs a decent computer card.

Simply click on the .exe export tool here:

Click here to download a .standalone exe file: Wood Pavilion .exe

9. Create a Web Standalone

If your client has a terrible computer with a terrible graphic card, you can instead use the web Standalone feature. Click on this link:
https://api2.enscape3d.com/v1/view/15509543-f675-4d97-a3f0-3c78fda11810

This basically recreates the Enscape experience, but on the web. Everything is rendered by Enscape, you just need a good Internet connection. The quality isn’t quite as good as the actual Enscape, but still pretty great.

10. Create a Video

Enscape video capabilities aren’t as advanced as some other rendering tools (*cough* Lumion *cough*), but they are getting there! Actually, creating videos is extremely simple, fast and efficient. Unless you want cars moving around your video, Enscape will most certainly perfect for you. Start by activating the video mode.

In here, we click once on the + button to create a new keyframe. Move your camera and click again: you’ve created a video path!

Then, you can select a keyframe (represented by the triangle shapes on the timeline) and modify the settings. For example, you can adjust the time of the day for the frame, creating a sun analysis animation:

The features are easy to use. You can set up your video in a few minutes. Check out the video RevitPure made into gif:

11. Collaborative Annotation

It is possible to collaborate inside of Enscape and to spot coordination issue. That’s making Enscape useful for field work. You can see the interface of the tool below.

We’ve create an issue called “Fix the wood connection”. Let’s click on it to see what is going on. The issue is represented on the model with a location marker. Then, you have a state, title and description of the issue.

There is also a comments section where you can praise or insult your teammates.

12. BIM Mode

Another cool feature is the ability to display BIM information from the Revit model. You can either have a look at all the elements, or click one to display specific information.

13. VR

Kept the coolest feature for last! The VR features alone are enough to justify the purchase of an Enscape license. It’s simply the best tool for real-time VR… Unless you want to spend 1000 hours in Unreal Engine. Look out at how cool Josh is with his Oculus Rift:

With Enscape VR, you can actually walk and teleport in your model, in real-time. Most rendering tools only allow stereo 360 panoramas. You could be making live changes to the model and the person in VR would see them instantly.

Lumion vs. Enscape?

One of the question we got asked in the chat (and that put Josh in an awkward spot) is: What is better, Lumion or Enscape? First, both tools are great! I do have a soft spot for Enscape, but Lumion has some minor features that Enscape still lacks:

• Lighting fixtures assets that actually creates lighting.

• Animating objects (moving car and people) in videos

• Some additional camera settings when creating renderings.

• Limited environment settings. Lumion has a lot of different grasses and environment you can mess around with.

• The Enscape assets library is growing every day, but it’s hard to compete with Lumion.

At the same time, it becomes an apple and orange comparison because Lumion is using an external editor and file to add assets, while in Enscape, everything is done through your Revit model. I would say the transition from Revit to Enscape is definitely more smooth, while Lumion requires a few extra steps and tinkering. Creating a great looking rendering can be done much faster in Enscape than it can be done in Lumion. Also, the VR mode in Enscape is the best in the industry.

Conclusion: I would go with Enscape most of the time for it’s speed, ease of use and killer VR mode. I might go for Lumion if I need fancy videos with cars and people moving around.

We’re not done my friend. Revit is dark and full of mysteries. Do you want to unlock more hidden features and unleash infinite beauty? Check out our DESIGN package. It contains tips to master Revit graphic features. You will also learn how to create beautiful materials, gorgeous renderings and much more. Download the sample chapter about 3D views.

This article was originally published on RevitPure’s blog and has been republished here with permission.

cover image © pexels