Creating Custom Assets for Enscape

Creating custom Enscape rendering assets quickly and easily removes every barrier from your design to realtime workflow!

The world has something like 7.8 billion people and counting. But one person developed an Enscape Asset Creator tool for the entire Enscape community that allows anyone to create custom Enscape assets. Pieter Schiettecatte is one-in-a-billion. :) Thanks Pieter!

The following tutorial is just under an hour long - including some time to get to know Pieter. Software doesn't just fall out of the sky. It comes from curious people that are trying to solve problems who refuse to take "no" for an answer.

Here's a list of ingredients in order of operation. You'll want to sign up and / or download each of the following:

• Sketchfab. Over 3 million models and as many registered users. Models can be downloaded for a price but many are free. For this tutorial we're going to download a free asset that's a photogrammetry scan of a pizza (link).
• Blender. Free and open source 3D modeling software that's become the favorite of 3D modelers around the world. Available for Windows, Linux and OSX. Blender also has some amazing textures to use in your design projects (link).
• Asset Creator Tool. Created by Pieter. The latest version is v1.3. It's being regularly updated so best to follow Pieter on Twitter and in the Enscape Forums for the latest version and development updates.
• Revit, SketchUp, Rhino, ArchiCAD and Vectorworks. Pick your favorite.
• Enscape. Fastest, easiest, least expensive and most beautiful real-time rendering in the world. That's a wonderful combination! :)

Step 1. Let's take a moment to get to know Pieter (15min). I'm on the back deck in Charlotte (hence the birds chirping and cicadas buzzing) and Pieter's in New York (hence the cupboards bumping and his daughter chatting). Pieter gives us the backstory on his personal journey and decision to come to NYC to be a BIM manager. What lead to his decision to use Enscape and eventually develop a custom tool for creating assets? Let's find out!

Part 2. Selecting the right file is important (15min). You can probably find a suitable model online. But not all models are created equally. Pieter walks us through his decision making process to selecting the right model as a starting point.

Part 3. Post production is key (15min). You're probably not going to be able to simply download a model for use in Enscape without inspecting the model suitability. It's more likely that you're going to spend a little time in post production to reduce the polycount and optimize the model for use in Enscape. You're probably going to want to download the model in the original format as well for a better starting point for in Blender. In the following segment we're going to open the file, remap materials, set the origin, rescale and optimize geometry.

Part 4: Creating the Enscape Asset (15min). One we've exported the model to formats that Enscape can use we'll launch the Enscape Asset Generator tool. Pieter walks us through the step by step process of adding the new model to your custom Enscape asset library. Once the process is complete he launches Revit to confirm the results work in Enscape. Don't forget to render a thumbnail as well. Success! :)

Part 5: Closing Thoughts (5min). How did Pieter learn how to do this. How did Pieter find the time? The answer might surprise you. We wrap up with some important best practices, feature requests for the Enscape team, future development plans and more. Thanks quarantine! :)

Finally, if you'd like to download the sample Blender and resulting Enscape asset created during this tutorial it's over here.

I sincerely hope this tips and tricks article helps you get the most your of Revit and Enscape. If you have any questions just send a message on Linkedin or in the comments field below. Enjoy! :)

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ReadThomas would love to help you succeed with Enscape! Simply email us for a brief demo for you and your team. If you purchase online, please let the Enscape team know that you heard about Enscape from Read Thomas. We're looking forward to providing you with complimentary training, implementation and support for Enscape! www.readthomas.com.