Twinmotion for Revit: What is it and how to use it

This year July 12, 2022, Epic Games has released Twinmotion 2022.1.  Twinmotion which is a rendering software supported by the unreal engine, is now integrated with Revit.  Epic and Autodesk has solidified their partnership in 2008 so the two companies have been working hand in hand for quite a while now.  Twinmotion is supported by Revit versions 2019 and above.  Revit 2023.1 will be the first version of Revit to automatically have Twinmotion integrated as a plugin.

For previous versions of Revit 2019 to 2023, Twinmotion can be manually integrated into Revit as a plug-in using the Datasmith file format.  This can be done by following the steps found here on the Twinmotion website There have been two updates for Twinmotion that have been released this year, versions 2022.2 and 2023.1.  Let us take a closer look at what each version update has to offer.

Twinmotion 2022.2 has quite a few new features.  These features include:

  • Sketchfab Library Integration

  • Tiled Rendering for High-Resolution Export

  • Physics-based asset placement tool

https://www.twinmotion.com/docs/en-US/SharingAndCollaborating/TwinmotionCloud/viewing-content-twinmotion-cloud/viewing-presentations/

  • Motion Sensor Support for Presentations

https://www.twinmotion.com/docs/en-US/SharingAndCollaborating/TwinmotionCloud/viewing-content-twinmotion-cloud/viewing-presentations/

  • VRAM Usage User Warning

https://www.twinmotion.com/docs/en-US/ExploringTheUserInterface/the-twinmotion-scene-graph-panel/the-statistics-in-twinmotion/gpu-ram-diagnostics-in-twinmotion

  • Export Formats for Images and Panoramas

https://www.twinmotion.com/docs/en-US/UsingTwinmotion/working-with-media/creating-and-exporting-media-assets/images-and-panoramas/export-settings-for-images-and-panoramas-in-twinmotion/

Supported files are as follows; .udatasmith, .gltf, .glb, .fbx, .skp, .obj, .c4d, .3ds, .dae, .dxf, .iv, .lw, .lwb, .lwm, .lwo, .lws, .lxo, .ply, .stl, .wrl, .wrl97, .vrml, .x.

https://www.twinmotion.com/docs/en-US/UsingTwinmotion/working-with-media/creating-and-exporting-media-assets/videos-in-twinmotion/export-settings-for-videos-in-twinmotion/

  • Near Clipping Plane

  • Extended Field of View

  • Focal Length Setting in the Media Tab

  • New Navigation Speeds

  • New Navigation Presets

  • New Shortcuts

  • Transform Panel Improvements

  • 16K Resolution Panorama Output

  • Mesh Size

  • Scene Graph Improvements

  • Handle Textures from Cache (Direct Link)

  • Identifying Light Types in the Scene Graph and Viewport

  • Breadcrumbs in Libraries

  • Gizmo Colors

  • Texture Compression

  • Windows 11 Support
    • Twinmotion is officially supporting Windows 11
  • macOS Monterey Support
    • Twinmotion is officially supporting macOS Monterey

Twinmotion 2023.1 preview was just recently released on November 16, 2022.  This update has added many new features and has increased the functionality and usability of the software.  The new features included in this update are as follows:

  • Unreal Engine 5.0 Support

  • Home Panel and Templates

  • New File Format

  • Added New Materials for the Product Design Industry

  • New Glass Base Materials

  • Datasmith Exporter

  • Disable Gizmo Automatic Camera-facing Orientation

  • 2019 File Support Deprecation

-  Twinmotion 2019 and previous year files can no longer be converted and opened in Twinmotion 2023.1.  To open files from Twinmotion 2019 and older, you must convert it in the previous Twinmotion versions 2020-2022 and before converting it in Twinmotion 2023.1

  • Merging of Deprecated 2018 and 2019 Files is Disabled

https://www.twinmotion.com/docs/en-US/twinmotion-release-notes/twinmotion-2023.1-preview-1-release-notes/

  • Cycloramas

  • LED Wall

  • Car Paint Material Library

  • Opacity Map

  • Color Correction

  • Level of Metalness on Materials

  • Path Tracer Improvement

  • Replace Container

  • Pivot Edit Rotation

  • OpenXR

-  Meta (formerly Oculus)

-  SteamVR

-  ViveVR

-  Windows Mixed Reality

-  Varjo

https://www.twinmotion.com/docs/en-US/twinmotion-release-notes/twinmotion-2023.1-preview-1-release-notes/

  • Support for Varjo VR Headsets

-  Twinmotion 2023.1 now supports the following Varjo VR Headsets:

1)  Varjo Aero

2)  Varjo VR-3

3)  Varjo XR-3

To conclude, Twinmotion has a lot to offer for AEC professionals.  Its collaboration with Autodesk allows users to create high quality renders for their Revit models.  The integration in the latest update makes it even easier for Revit users to access Twinmotion.

About the Author

Ramsey Sufian

BSD Applications Expert<br><br>Construction Professional, graduated from Kennesaw State University with a Bachelor of Science in Construction Management. I have the ability to learn new software and new skill quickly. I'm familiar with AutoCAD, Revit, Onscreen Takeoff, Bluebeam, CostX, and other Building Information Modeling software.

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