If you’re looking to learn the basics of how to explore and refine your designs using Enscape for Revit, then you’re in the right place! This getting started guide is based on the introductory follow-along tutorial below.
Enscape system requirements
Enscape for Revit supports Windows 10 or later for Revit, as well as SketchUp, Rhino, Archicad, and Vectorworks. You can see which versions we support here.
Please note that Enscape is not provided as a plugin for Revit LT since Revit only allows the addition of third-party plugins in the full version of the software. There are also known conflicts with two Revit plugins: Colorizer and Techviz. To avoid incompatibilities, please uninstall them before using Enscape.
Since Enscape uses ray tracing for real-time rendering, it relies heavily on your graphics card (GPU) to quickly render your Revit models. You will need an NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel Arc A310 with at least 4GB of dedicated VRAM (not shared) for Enscape to run.
It’s best practice to keep your graphics card driver updated to ensure Enscape runs smoothly. You can do this via the NVIDIA or AMD website. Here are the links: NVIDIA driver updates, and AMD driver updates.
Additional support and information:
How to download and install Enscape for Revit
To install Enscape, you will need the Enscape Installer. A link to it will be sent to you via email if you have signed up for a free trial, have applied for an educational license, or if you have purchased an Enscape license.
Before you run the installer, close Revit, start the installer and follow the instructions.
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Opening Enscape in Revit
After the Enscape installer has finished running and you have closed it, you should then be able to see Enscape appear within Revit as a top-level menu option. Clicking on ‘Enscape’ will make the Enscape ribbon visible.
💡Tip: If Enscape does not appear for some reason, you should try a fresh install of Enscape. This involves uninstalling Enscape, rebooting your machine, and then running the Enscape installer again.
How to start Enscape in Revit
Now that you have installed Enscape and opened up the toolbar, it’s time to open up your Revit project file. If you do not have a project file, you can download a free sample project from our website.
You will notice that, at first, not all the buttons are active. You will need to:
- Make sure you have at least one 3D view available in your project.
- Create and select a valid 3D view in Revit so that the start button in the Enscape ribbon bar is no longer grayed out.
- Press the start button in the Enscape ribbon.
The view’s associated phasing and design option is used for Enscape’s view.
You can leave Enscape open while you make changes in Revit (e.g., cross sections, materials, or geometric changes in the model). Your changes will then show up instantly in Enscape as a 3D-rendered view!
Enscape Help Menu
Enscape provides a Help Menu to help you use the plugin. To access it, press the H key or the question mark in the upper right of your Enscape window. Depending on what feature you are using, the appropriate hints and tips will be displayed.
These helpful tips will change as you navigate around Enscape and open different functions.
Navigating in Revit
As you navigate in Revit, Enscape can show the exact same view. To enable this, select Synchronize Views, which you can find in the Enscape ribbon. Any perspective/movement changes you make in Revit will immediately be shown in Enscape.
This functionality also allows navigation via Revit only, so you don't have to learn how to use Enscape’s navigation controls if you’d rather not (although they are similar).
To disable synchronized views, click the button again.
Here are the basic ways of navigating in Revit (and Enscape will follow along):
- Scroll the wheel on your mouse to move backward and forward.
- Hold down the middle mouse button to pan up, down, left, and right.
- Hold Shift and the middle mouse button to orbit around the model.
- Use the navigation wheel on the screen to move around.
Navigating in Enscape
Firstly, disable Synchronize Views in Revit by clicking on the button.
This is because with synchronization enabled, Enscape synchronizes the field of view as well. That's the amount of zoom that is applied to the camera from Revit. Also, if you were to leave synchronize views on, if you moved the camera just a little in Revit, your Enscape view would automatically reset to that location, too.
Here are the basic ways of navigating in Enscape:
- Scroll the wheel on your mouse to move backward and forward.
- Hold down the middle mouse button to pan up, down, left, and right.
- Click and hold the left mouse button to look around.
- Click the right mouse button and move the mouse to pivot and rotate around objects (this only works when you click on geometry, though. If you clicked on the sky, for example, nothing would move).
- Double-click on geometry to move to that point instantly.
How to render an image in Enscape for Revit
Rendering images in Revit is extremely fast and easy to achieve when you use Enscape.
To create a screenshot (a rendered view), first enable a preview of what your image will look like by turning on the Safe Frame view by clicking on the button shown below. This will hide the parts of the view that will be excluded from the screenshot so you can clearly see what will be rendered.
Adjust your view if needed by moving in Revit, then, once you are satisfied with your image, you can go ahead and click the Screenshot button in Enscape.
A window will pop up asking you where to save the image. Click save, and your image will be exported. Remember to disable the Safe Frame if you would like to return to exploring your full project.
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How to change the sun's position
Apart from changing the sun's angle directly through Revit, you can do it even quicker in Enscape by holding the shift key and right mouse button at the same time, and then moving the mouse. Moving the mouse left and right will change the sun's position forwards and backwards along its natural trajectory, which is determined by Revit’s sun settings and geolocation settings.
You can also press the keyboard keys U and I for the same effect. A small clock will appear in the bottom right-hand corner of your Enscape screen. It represents the daytime according to the data that’s syncronized from Revit.
💡Tip: To analyze the influence of the sun on each part of your design, enable the Light View mode. More on that below.
Changing visual effects in Enscape
Let’s look at how to change the visual appearance of your scenes in Enscape. Click on the Visual Settings icon at the top right-hand corner to see a window displaying various visual mode options and effects that can be applied to your renders. Here, you can choose from various artistic visual modes such as watercolor and sketch.
Sketch Mode
This visual mode recreates your rendering as a pen or pencil sketch. You can have black or white outlines, grayscale, or a colored rendering. You can also select either transparent glass or hatched shadows and select the type of outlines you’d like to appear.
Pen with hatched shadows enabled
Colored pencil sketch mode
Watercolor Mode
This transforms your scene into a watercolor painting, simulating watercolor effects to create a soft, blended look for your visualization.
There are a few options that allow you to adjust the various color settings:
- Color gradient: affects the number of colors and hues.
- Surface detail: adjusts the level of texture detail on surfaces.
- Bleeding effect: controls color overlap between surfaces.
- Transparent glass: enables the rendering of objects behind glass with lighter colors.
Watercolor mode example
💡Tip: When Watercolor or Sketch Mode is enabled, change the Exposure setting to affect the number of shadows that are shown.
You can also change the saturation and color temperature to affect your results.
White Mode
Another rendering style is White Mode, which changes all material colors in your scene to white to imitate a paper model.
💡Tip: Adjust the ‘Outlines’ just underneath the Mode setting to create a cartoon-like effect.
Polystyrol Mode
This mode renders all surfaces like a real polystyrol material, and it’s great to imitate a miniature model. When this mode is selected, an additional setting appears called Transmission that determines how much light is transmitted through the geometry. Like the White Mode and other visual modes, you can also adjust the outlines to help highlight specific shapes.
Polystyrol mode example
Light View Mode
This visual mode allows you to analyze the influence of the sun on each part of your design. Once you select and enable Light View mode, a heat map will appear, representing the Lux intensity on each surface. This mode is only visible in the Enscape rendering window and is not included in rendered images.
Light View with Outlines set to 25%
How to create a panorama
A panorama in Enscape is a spherical 360-degree image that shows the entire surrounding scene. It gives viewers a much more comprehensive view of a particular space and can help them to better understand a design.
There are two types of panoramas in Enscape: mono and stereo. Mono panoramas are the default type and will run well on any modern device that runs a Chrome or Firefox browser. This is particularly useful for clients who can open panoramas on their own devices without the need for Enscape software to be installed.
Stereo panoramas are the second type. They take much longer to render and can be used on mobile VR devices (such as Google Cardboard).
Exporting a panorama
Go to Visual Settings and click on the Output tab. Go down to Panorama, and select the resolution quality for your panorama (low, normal, high). Normal will produce a good-quality panorama quickly, with a resolution of 4096 x 8192 pixels. Note that higher-resolution panoramas will take longer to export.
Position yourself in the Enscape Viewport at the location where you want to capture the panorama. You can either click the Render Panorama button to export a Mono Panorama (default) or use the dropdown arrow next to it to select Stereo Panorama for viewing with devices like Google Cardboard. Your panorama will now be exported.
From Enscape 4.1.1 and above, all uploaded panoramas will be available on your Chaos Cloud Account. Once the Upload Management dialog is open in your CAD, it will display the Panorama tab by default. Here, you can further manage your panoramas, create virtual tours, and also generate QR codes for easy sharing and scanning.
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Creating videos
Within Enscape, there is a basic video editor that can create simple video walkthroughs of your projects. View a short tutorial here.
If you require more advanced animation capabilities and features, you should consider using Chaos Envision, which is currently in beta and compatible with Enscape. Envision is a 100% ray-tracing renderer that can enhance your Enscape visuals and help you create powerful architectural animations!
Using the Enscape Material Editor
Enscape includes a built-in Material Library and Material Editor, offering a selection of ready-to-use materials and maps. You can also import your own materials and replace them effortlessly.
To open the Enscape Material Editor, go to the Enscape toolbar and click on the Enscape Material Editor button.
Here, you can adjust your materials, including maps, colors, and roughness. You can also select the type of material that comes with pre-made qualities. The following types of materials can be chosen from:
- Generic: Suited for any materials that aren’t supposed to be rendered as grass blades, water surfaces, or have translucency applied.
- Carpet: Contains pre-built sprites that act like carpet fibers, which can be adjusted.
- Clearcoat: Imitates the type of paint that you find on car bodies.
- Foliage: If the Sun (not artificial lighting) is located behind said surface, it will be illuminated on both sides, common in nature.
- Glass: Transparent material with reflective properties, simulating the appearance of real glass surfaces.
- Grass: Contains sprites that represent grass material which animate when not at rest.
- Self-illuminated: Makes a material appear as if glowing and emitting actual light.
- Water: Acts as a liquid and animates when not at rest.
If you wish to import materials from the Enscape Material Library or from an external source (see this article for a list of great recommendations for where to find free realistic 3D textures), click on the three lines next to ‘Materials’.
Revit Filters and Enscape
Graphics Overrides in Revit let you apply filters and customize the visual appearance of objects. For example, you might want to display all north-facing walls in green and south-facing walls in red, or color-code MEP drawings so drainage lines are distinct from HVAC entry and exit systems, each with their own colors or display styles.
Starting with Enscape 4.2, these overrides can now be visualized directly within Enscape.
Check out this article for the top 10 uses of Revit Filters and Enscape and this knowledge base article to see how to set them up.
Additional support and information:
Enscape Asset Library
The Enscape Asset Library provides thousands of high-quality 3D models for you to add to your Revit model and scenes. You can find numerous options for vegetation, people, vehicles, decorative objects, and more.
You can access the library in two ways:
- The Revit toolbar: Accessible without running Enscape when using a Fixed Seat License. With a Floating License, a free seat must be available.
- Enscape Viewport UI toolbar: Accessible only when the Enscape Viewport is running.
Asset Library button in the Revit toolbar
Asset Library button in the Enscape Viewport UI
Assets can only be placed through the UI where the library was accessed. So if you are using Revit’s toolbar, you can only place assets in the Revit UI. And if you open up the Asset Library via the Enscape Viewport, then you can only place assets there.
Within the Asset Library, there are a few adjustable assets that allow you to customize their appearance once you have placed them in your project. To identify them, select the 'Adjustable' tag. There are two types: assets with variants (so a few different options of the same asset) and those allowing color or material customization. Some offer both options.
How to export an Exe/Web standalone
If you have an Enscape license (i.e., not a trial license), you can download an executable or web standalone file that allows you to easily share your entire rendered project with anyone.
These exports provide the end-user with a great overview of your project and allows them to independently walk around and explore it at their own pace. They will not be able to make any changes to the model.
Web standalone export
Once exported and shared, your clients can open a web standalone file on most devices without a high-end graphics card. There are a few limitations compared to the executable export, such as a maximum file size limit of 500MB.
To download a web standalone, simply navigate to and click the button highlighted below in the Enscape Viewport.
Executable standalone export
The .exe file provides the same experience and quality as you would find in Enscape, but does not require Enscape or Revit to run. It requires the same system requirements as Enscape itself and is VR-compatible.
Open Enscape and click on the Exe standalone button to export your file.
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Dive into extra learning
This is an introductory guide to Enscape for Revit, lightly covering the key features to help you get up and running with this simple-to-use real-time renderer. Remember to refer to the detailed video tutorial to see all of these features in action.
To further enhance your Enscape learning, here are some additional resources:
Happy rendering!
