Exporting to 3ds Max

When you have completed the initial design, layout, and modeling of a project in Revit, you can use Autodesk® 3ds Max® or Autodesk® 3ds Max® Design to produce high-end renderings and add final details.

• 3ds Max is a professional 3D animation package that provides additional animation, modeling, and workflow functionality for the most complex problems in design visualization and visual effects.
• 3ds Max Design is a 3D design visualization solution for architects, engineers, designers, and visualization specialists. It is designed for interoperability with FBX® files from Revit, preserving model geometry, lights, materials, camera settings, and other metadata from a Revit project. With Revit and 3ds Max Design working together, designers can extend the building information modeling process to include design visualization.

Note: For simplicity, the following topics refer to 3ds Max, but this information also applies to 3ds Max Design.

You can export a 3D view from a Revit project to an FBX file, and import the file into 3ds Max. In 3ds Max, you can then create sophisticated renderings of the design to share with clients. The FBX file format passes rendering information to 3ds Max, including lights, render appearances, sky settings, and material assignments for the 3D view. By preserving this information during the export process, Revit maintains a high degree of fidelity and reduces the amount of work required in 3ds Max.

If you are using Autodesk Revit in a suite, you can use a suite workflow to simplify the process of exporting to 3ds Max. See Suite workflows.