Materials by Filter

[agrieveson]

Is it possible to use Revit rule-based filters to override materials in V-Ray?

e.g. in the same way that rule-based filters can be used to override colours in a view to highlight a element by a particular parameter value etc.

[Ana Lyubenova]

I'm not quite sure if I understand correctly what you're asking. What confuses me is the "override materials in V-Ray" part, as V-Ray in Revit basically works the opposite way. So, I'm asking for a more detailed description here.

[agrieveson]

Sorry for the confusion, some context might be helpful here!

We are looking for a way to render cable trays and conduit in V-Ray with different materials applied dependant on type/associated parameters.

In Revit the only way to apply materials to cable trays is by object styles, which is a global setting.

To differentiate cable tray and conduit types on drawings we use filters controlled by parameters.

Is there any way to do something similar to enable different materials to be applied when rendering in V-Ray for Revit?

[Ana Lyubenova]

Can you send us a simplified Revit file containing your type of cable trays/conduits plus a filter?

As long as you have a Revit material assigned to the respective family type instances (say conduits), and that material changes based on the filter you apply, it can be associated with a V-Ray material in the Appearance Manager.
Respectively, both cable trays and conduit types will need to be assigned with different materials on Revit's end. Does this make sense or should I describe it in more detail?

[agrieveson]

I have emailed you a demo file as requested.

In the 3D view the cable trays are filtered using rule based filters linked to the service type system parameter. This is similar to how we filter containment in live projects, except that we use our own shared parameters.

Yes your explanation dose make sense, but unfortunately I do not think that it answers the question as it is not possible to assign a material by filter, nor is it possible to assign materials to cable trays or conduits in any other way than by object styles, which is global and would effect all types.

[Ana Lyubenova]

I checked the file and now I get what you're asking. Yeah, it is currently not possible, so I'm adding this as a feature request.

You basically want the ability to set the V-Ray material diffuse color based on what is set by the filters.

[agrieveson]

Yes, setting the diffuse colour could be a good solution to the problem.

What I was originally trying to suggest was adding additional global material overrides based on the filters, does that make sense?

[Ana Lyubenova]

Yeah, it does. We'll see how to handle it.