I really hope someone has an answer for me because this problem is driving me nuts.

I am importing Revit models from Revit Structure 2010 into 3Ds Max Design 2010 and I can not get any lighting to illuminate my models other than a daylight system.

I have tried to illuminate the inside of the building using photometric free lights and standard omni lights.  In scene view, the lights seem to illuminate my objects but when I render the scene the only light comes from the outside.

Any help would be excellent.

Can you post more information about your scene setup?  What are your units set to?  Your units need to be correct in order for photometric lights to work properly.  If you have a room that is supposed to be 12 feet by 12 feet, then it should measure that size in your scene.

What are your exposure control settings, light settings, material setup?

3ds Max 2013, Maya 2013
Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit
Core i7, 12GB RAM
Nvidia Quadro FX 3700 (Driver 267.17)

I’ve done a little more experimenting based on the questions you asked me.  I have concluded that it is a problem with using a daylight system and photometric lights at the same time.  Maybe you can back this up with more knowledge.

Here is my standard workflow.
1.  Import FBX model from Revit Structure 2010.
2.  Assign materials from Max to most elements. I leave some from Revit if I like them.  Most materials are promaterials. Or standard materials with images and UVW maps applied.
3.  Create a daylight system.
4.  Render Exterior with great success.
5.  Try to put photometric lights on the interior. Get pissed off because I can’t see anything and eventually give up.

What I just did:
1.  Import FBX model from Revit Structure 2010.
2.  Assign materials from Max to most elements. I leave some from Revit if I like them.  Most materials are promaterials. Or standard materials with images and UVW maps applied.
3.  Placed photometric light on interior and did test rendering.  Scene lit up.

What I noticed:  When using a daylight system the exposure value gets set to 15.  This is too dark for a photometric light.  When just using the light, it sets the exposure value to 2 in the environment settings.  However, if the daylight system is still in place, it is way too bright and washes everything out.

So this begs the question - Can I have interior lighting AND a daylight system in place.  Or do I have to use a skylight portal?  If I use a sky portal will I still see my mental ray sky in the background?

See point #21: http://jeffpatton.net/forum/index.php/topic,4.0.html

Jeff Patton
My Website | mental ray materials & blog

Ah - I was too slow!  I was just about to paste to that exact point! :)

3ds Max 2013, Maya 2013
Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit
Core i7, 12GB RAM
Nvidia Quadro FX 3700 (Driver 267.17)

See the attached image…

3ds Max 2013, Maya 2013
Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit
Core i7, 12GB RAM
Nvidia Quadro FX 3700 (Driver 267.17)

	Attachment

I jacked up the intensity of the lights in the scene to about 30 million lumens.  There are 8 total.  This illuminates it pretty well, but it still leaves some to be desired.

The room is a pool natatorium that’s about 300 feet long.  I’m using 8 free point lights for it and it is taking forever to render even at 320x240 to get an idea as to what it will look like.

Any recommendation as to how to approach this?

It would help if you could post some screenshots of your render settings, light settings, and your actual geometry.  Or even better zip and upload your scene to here.

3ds Max 2013, Maya 2013
Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit
Core i7, 12GB RAM
Nvidia Quadro FX 3700 (Driver 267.17)