PRESS RELEASE: ARCHVISION & AVAIL KICK OFF 2018 WITH ADDITIONS TO EXECUTIVE TEAM

February 1, 2018 Leave a comment

Lexington, KY – January 30, 2018 – AVAIL and ArchVision announced today that both companies have made new hires to augment their executive lineup. Corey Rubadue joins ArchVision as Chief Executive Officer and Jim Clifton joins AVAIL as Chief Operating Officer.

Mr. Rubadue has refined his knowledge of visualization development and software engineering during his experience with ASGVIS and Chaos Group. First-hand knowledge of the challenges faced in architecture led to the founding of ASGVIS in 2005 and pioneered the integration of the V-Ray renderer into SketchUp and Rhino. ASGVIS was acquired by Chaos Group in 2011 and Rubadue and his team continued to refine the software. In late 2016, he oversaw the launch of V-Ray for Revit. In August 2017, Rubadue founded Oonix Solutions LLC to expand his focus on visualization to support a broader range of technologies and applications.

“I’ve always had a great appreciation of the ArchVision technologies,” says Rubadue. “Joining ArchVision is a strategically aligned fit with where my professional sights are set.”

“Corey’s expansive experience in the visualization industry is unmatched and he brings a wealth of partner relationships he has developed over the past 15 years in the field. I’m looking forward to having Corey at the helm of ArchVision and know that he will lead the company to the next level”, said Randall Stevens, founder of ArchVision.

In Mr. Rubadue’s new role as ArchVision CEO, he will oversee Product and Content development, Sales, Marketing and Personnel.

Mr. Clifton comes to AVAIL most recently from Bluegrass Vascular Technologies where, as Chief Operating Officer/Founder, he developed technology from product concept to regulatory approval to initial market launch. With over twenty years experience in software product management, Jim provides energy, drive, and creative force to early stage, complex technologies.

“Jim’s experience with every phase of the product development process makes him the perfect candidate for his new role as Chief Operating Officer”, said Randall Stevens, CEO of AVAIL.

Mr. Clifton will focus on developing and refining AVAIL’s go-to-market process and provide oversight for Sales and Marketing, Operations and Finance.

About ArchVision

Founded in 1991, ArchVision improves design modeling and visualization with RPC technology that provides architectural entourage in the form of people, tree & plant and automobile content and environment clutter. The newest product to the ArchVision lineup, Family and Detail Warehouse, is a collection of over 27,500 Roof, Window, Door and Foundation details, available as native Revit Drafting Views and AutoCAD DWGs, with unlimited downloads. ArchVision currently serves customers located in over 100 countries. For more info visit www.archvision.com.

About AVAIL

AVAIL’s enterprise and content management software solution indexes content and helps users find it in new ways. Based in Lexington, KY, AVAIL grew out of a need for a better way for AECO professionals to access the voluminous content being managed across their enterprise. With over 50 combined years in the AEC industry, the AVAIL team is passionate about helping firms discover a new way to find and manage content. For more info visit www.getavail.com.

Filed under Announcements

Accessing RPC using AVAIL

January 18, 2018 Leave a comment

We have some exciting news to share! The RPC platform is preparing for major changes. We are already delivering new RPC content and giving you tools to create your own content but that’s only the beginning. We are also in the process of replacing the ArchVision Dashboard with AVAIL. Dashboard was our first content manager designed to help you be more successful. Our goal was to give you a tool to access, manage and create your RPC content quickly and easily. In short, Dashboard is one of the main inspirations driving AVAIL. So, what’s the big news?

RPC content can now be accessed via AVAIL!

As part of our first phase of development, we have made the majority of our RPC content accessible through the RPC|All Access Marketplace channel in AVAIL. See the instructions below for getting started. Moving forward we will continue to move current RPC content over to AVAIL as quickly as we can. We will continue adding brand new content as well. If you are using RPC’s then most likely you are a visual person. AVAIL’s easy-to-use interface makes finding ALL of your content faster. To see a full list of AVAIL features visit the AVAIL website.

See the video below to hear more from CEO Randall Stevens about the relationship between AVAIL, ArchVision and what the future holds for both companies.

Instructions

1. If you haven’t already downloaded AVAIL, do so here. If you already have a version of AVAIL, you will need to make sure you are using version 3.4.3 or above. You can check your version in AVAIL by clicking the Settings button .

2. Once you download and register AVAIL, launch Dashboard.

3. Click on the Browse Channels button  in AVAIL.

4. Click on the Marketplace tab, then click the “+” to subscribe to the RPC | All Access Channel.

5. Go back to your Channels    and find the RPC | All Access Channel in your list of Channels.

6. Simply click each piece of content to download.

 

Bar_Restaurant clutter in AVAIL

Filed under Announcements, Products

Revit File Naming Tips & Tricks

July 7, 2017 Leave a comment

In the development of Families, the choice of Object Styles, Graphics, and Identity Data usually receive careful attention, but the file name may be neglected. The inevitable result is eye/brain strain that may lead to slower read times, which slows production time,which leads to lower profits. Now we have your attention. After reading this post you will hopefully realize the need to implement well-defined, easy-to-read Family naming conventions to keep your projects running smoothly.

Keep it simple and spell it out

File names should be kept as short as possible as long as they convey their content. Avoid using dates, numbers and special codes. Instead, use simple abbreviation to decrease the numbers of letters in the words. The Door Families in the image below uses commonly understood architectural abbreviations used for naming the materials for door frames. “HM” is the abbreviation for Hollow Metal. A list of some common architectural abbreviations may be found here.

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Break it up to stack it up

Notice how the names in the sample above have the ability to stack up according to Revit Category then by the type of door (swing, sliding, overhead or rotating) with the number of panels and finally the material followed by the type of the frame. This type of hierarchy is easy to memorize as it is simple and literally spelled out to the user.

Note: It is acceptable – and may be useful – but not necessary to include the Family Category in the name, unless it is in one of the following Browser Categories: 

All Annotation (Tag, Title Block, etc.) fall under the same folder in the Project Browser.

Curtain Panels as they may be “converted” to Doors or Windows in the Family Editor.

Profiles as their Profile Usage may be “converted” in the Family Editor.

The next example uses Specialty Equipment abbreviation prefixes as it encompasses the largest selection of building products on any given project and often contains the largest number of Families located in the Project Browser. The first part of the name is based on AIA sheet order which may be found here. Next is the type of equipment, followed by the manufacturer and model number. By using simple organizational logic the eye is quickly directed to very specific names.

Note: The system used below uses CamelCase to spell out the name of the manufacturer. Feel free to use this on any of the conventions you may create as it is a real space saver.

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It is OK to use spaces

Unless you are using an operating system that does not support spaces, there is no reason you can’t use them! Reasons to not use spaces would be if you were pipelining Families or adding a Family to a URL for direct download as opposed to adding it to a zipped file. The bottom line is that Windows and Revit support spaces for Family names and that using spaces is easier on the eyes.

Final Checklist

  1. Keep names as short as possible so long as they convey their content.
  2. Use natural language instead of special codes like the MasterFormat.
  3. Use headline style, also known as title casing.
  4. Do not use Categories for naming unless it is absolutely necessary.
  5. Be creative when setting up your system based on stackability and users needs.
  6. Use hyphens (-) and or CamelCasing to create groups for formatting

 

The mission of Family and Detail Warehouse is to maintain the world’s best, non-manufacturer specific library of standard Revit Families and Details… so you don’t have to.

 

Filed under General Tips & Tricks, Products, Revit, Tips, Tricks & Tutorials

Meet Jan Kokol of IMAGO Design

January 23, 2017 Leave a comment

user-spotlight_jan2017_jan_kokolJan Kokol, Ph.D., is leading his design and visualization company IMAGO Design and working as a design consultant for major design firms. In this collection of renderings from Kokol, the 3D images were modeled in Rhinoceros, then ArchVision RPCs were placed and rendered in 3ds Max with V-Ray. Post production was handled in Photoshop.

Though the software is powerful, Kokol says his biggest asset is sheer passion for his projects and continuing to learn new skills.

“I would say that it is important to love what you do,” said the Slovenia-born, Austria-based designer. “Always be very critical with your own work and do not hesitate to put in an extra amount of work in your project, if you believe it is going to look better.”

ovg_foyer1

Designed by Jan Kokol, here is a lobby space for OVG Real Estate on the M1 Berlin project.

Kokol encourages others to invest in learning and improving in technical knowledge, particularly in the 3D community where “there is so much technical knowledge shared.”

IMAGO Design is a computer graphics and design production studio specializing in architectural design, product development, visualizations, web design, illustrations and interactive environments. These are ideal settings for ArchVision RPC entourage to shine, and Kokol has done just that.

cafe_final_1_deliver_2_send_sun

Designed by Jan Kokol, here is the café view for OVG Real Estate on the M1 Berlin project.

RPCs translate well in virtual reality scenes like the ones that Kokol created below. The VR movies were done with V-Ray and 3ds Max, too, and then rendered as 360 degree spherical images.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9et220L568

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C570Y8V-TE&t=13s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CQvyedvwQs&t=5s

Kokol studied Architecture at the Technical University Graz, the Faculdade de Arquitectura Lisboa, the Chiba-Dai University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, GSD. Prior to starting his own company, Kokol was working for diverse international architecture firms such as Günther Domenig, Miralles Tagliabue, Opersis/Zaha Hadid and UNStudio.

Kokol can be reached at imagodesign.at or office@imagodesign.at.

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Want to see your firm featured? Share your project with us. Contact us at marketing@archvision.com.

Filed under User Spotlight

Pro-Viz Texture Collections Now Available in ArchVision RPC Format

April 21, 2015 Leave a comment

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ArchVision (Lexington, Kentucky USA) and 3dRender (Sheffield, UK) are pleased to announce a new partnership.  Effective immediately 3dRender’s Pro-Viz People collections now include RPC versions of the content.   The Pro-Viz People collections make available 500 high quality people textures as PNG, JPEG and now RPC, perfect for enhancing architectural renderings.

As RPC, users will experience a much simplified workflow in Revit, 3ds Max, Autocad, Microstation, FormZ, Rhino, Modo and Photoshop.  RPC enables one-click placement and drag & drop into select applications simplifying the workflow by removing the tedious process of creating native geometry and materials traditionally needed to get PNG & JPEG formatted textures into 3d models.

“We’re excited to partner with 3dRender on this new initiative to make the world’s best architectural entourage available as RPCs” said Randall Stevens, CEO of ArchVision.  “Having Pro-Viz People textures in the RPC file format will be a welcomed addition for thousands of RPC customers around the world.”provizcomplete500

The RPC platform not only enables dramatically simplified workflows for placing and managing architectural entourage in 3d models but also provides search & tagging of content inside ArchVision Dashboard, mass editing and placement tools, cloud rendering support and new non-photorealistic stylization of content inside Autodesk Revit via Entourage Workshop. The Pro-Viz RPCs will appear, pre-tagged, within ArchVision Dashboard for ease of organization and search.

“Publishing our extensive architectural texture collections as RPC makes our customers investment more valuable.  Features such as ArchVision’s new Entourage Workshop for Revit bring an entirely new capability to our collections” said Tim Barrett, Owner at 3dRender Ltd.

Use of the RPC platform requires a separate license available at archvision.com.  The Pro-Viz collections including the new RPC format are available for purchase at 3dRender.co.uk and at archvision.com.

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About ArchVision Inc.

ArchVision’s mission is to improve design modeling and visualization with content and content management software solutions. We do that in several ways. Our RPC (Rich Photorealistic Content) technology provides render-friendly, image-based architectural entourage primarily in the form of people, tree & plant, and automobile content to customers around the world. RPC was selected by Autodesk as the default tree & planting solution that ships with Revit.  ArchVision’s Dashboard content management platform provides content organization and search tools for managing vast amounts of design content as well as plug-in and license management.

RPC has become the defacto-standard solution for managing architectural entourage with support for the leading modeling and visualization platforms and solutions including Autodesk Autocad, Autodesk Revit, Autodesk 3ds Max, Bentley Microstation, Robert McNeel & Associates Rhino 3D, The Foundry Modo, Autodessys FormZ, Chaos Group V-Ray, Accurender nXT and Adobe Photoshop.

For additional company or product information or to inquire about the RPC SDK, contact ArchVision at +1 859.252.3118 or email support@archvision.com.

About 3dRender Ltd

3dRender Ltd is the creator and distributor of Pro-Viz(TM) 3D texture and image entourage products, designed specifically for use in high-end architectural visualization.

Our Pro-Viz(TM) products are used by thousands of CG artists worldwide, along with many of the industry’s leading architects and visualization studios, including Foster+Partners, Red-Vertex, Atkins Global, WZMH Architects, VisualWorks, LAUBlab KG (the creators of VRAYforC4D) & many others.

Filed under Announcements, Products Tagged with , , , , ,

Fresh Update: V-Ray 3.0 for 3ds Max Now Supports 3ds Max 2015

May 29, 2014 Leave a comment

V-Ray_Andrey-Kobushenko

A new update for V-Ray 3.0 for 3ds Max 2015 is now available for download. In addition to support for 3ds Max 2015, Chaos Group has added a new VrayPointParticleMtl material. This is a free update for current V-Ray 3.0 for 3ds Max users.

This update also includes:

  • V-Ray: Added option to the .vrmesh exporter to automatically create a Multi/Sub-Object material when exporting multiple objects in a single file
  • V-Ray RT CPU: Added lights include/exclude list support
  • V-Ray RT: Implemented showing Safe Frame when rendering in a viewport
  • VRayProxy: Added option to render particles as points
  • VRayProxy: Added option to enable/disable Alembic full names support in visibility lists
  • V-Ray MetaballsVRayProxy: Added support for hair and particles color channels from Alembic
  • VRayProxy: Make the “Animation offset” parameter animatable

    • To purchase additional licenses or for more information, please visit: ArchVision.com for the latest on feature update availability. Click product version for current purchase options.

    Licensed users may access the update directly from Chaos Group here.

    Filed under Announcements, Products Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

    V-Ray 3.0 Enables up to 5x Faster Rendering and a New Flexible Licensing System

    February 27, 2014 Leave a comment

    Courtesy Chaos Group | Fin Design

    Courtesy Chaos Group | Fin Design

    Chaos Group’s V-Ray 3.0 is a complete solution for lighting, shading, and rendering and is built to handle production at any size. V-Ray 3.0 seamlessly integrates into your workflow and provides the flexibility and control you need and want.

    V-Ray 3.0 introduces new licensing choices and plans to enable you and your team to get exactly what you need:

    Workstation Licenses
    In V-Ray 3.0 the User licenses and Render Nodes are licensed separately. This unifies licensing across applications and reduces the cost for individual User licenses.

    Universal Render Nodes
    A major part of the V-Ray roadmap includes the development of universal V-Ray assets that can be shared across multiple 3D platforms. With the release of V-Ray 3.0, universal V-Ray Render Nodes support distributed rendering and network rendering on multiple host applications.

    What this means to users:
    When you purchase an upgrade or a full license, you receive a GUI workstation license and a render node license to enable rendering on your workstation or a render node. You now have the flexibility to purchase additional render nodes to align with your rendering requirements. It’s that easy.

    Purchase Options
    Workstation and Bundle Licenses available here.

    Have more questions?
    We can provide quotes to you for your studio, assist with set-up planning and help you determine what will best meet your needs. Contact us at support@archvision.com or call us Monday – Friday, 9am-5pm ET, +1 859.252.3118 ext 103.

    Filed under Announcements

    V-Ray 3.0 Launches: Faster Ray Tracing and Rendering Performance

    February 4, 2014 Leave a comment

    Image Credit: Artwork by FAMA, Courtesy Chaos Group

    Image Credit: Artwork by FAMA, Courtesy Chaos Group

    V-Ray 3.0 introduces a powerful set of new features and improvements. If you’ve been waiting to upgrade, now is the time to invest in an improved production-focused rendering engine:

    Artist-friendly Controls
    Designed with new and experienced users in mind, V-Ray 3.0 offers a simplified user interface with fast access to common settings.

    Render set up is now faster and easier with V-Ray 3.0’s Quick Settings. Artists can choose from a variety of production presets and fine tune quality with slider controls. And a new V-Ray Toolbar puts all popular V-Ray tools in one place.

    Faster Ray Tracing and Rendering Performance
    Optimizations to V-Ray’s ray tracing core make rendering in V-Ray 3.0 significantly faster. Depending on scene complexity beta users are reporting speed increases up to 5X.

    Faster Feedback
    Using a powerful path-tracing engine, V-Ray 3.0’s new Progressive Image Sampler delivers instant feedback to artists and makes look development faster and more intuitive.

    An improved V-Ray Frame Buffer adds Lens Effects and advanced color corrections for Contrast, HSL, and Color Balance.

    Production-Focused Tools
    New tools designed to give artists more control and flexibility include Max Ray Intensity, Probabilistic Light Sampling, Reflection/Refraction Trace Sets, and Render Mask to specify exact render regions with an object selection or image mask.

    Open Source Workflows
    Support for open source tools and formats include Alembic 1.5, Deep Images and OpenEXR 2.0, programmable OSL shaders, and advanced color management with OpenColorIO.

    V-Ray 3.0 also introduces new licensing and pricing policy:

    Here are the highlights:

    • Universal render nodes to be used across multiple 3D platforms (V-Ray 3.0 for 3ds Max and Maya will be the first tools to support the universal render nodes).

    • Workstation Licenses to reduce the cost for an individual user license.

    Purchase Options
    Workstation and Bundle Licenses available here.

    Have more questions?
    We can provide quotes to you for your studio, assist with set-up planning and help you determine what will best meet your needs. Contact us at support@archvision.com or call us Monday – Friday, 9am-5pm ET, +1 859.252.3118 ext 117.

    Filed under Announcements, Products Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

    Add a License Promotion to Celebrate the New Year

    December 31, 2013 Leave a comment

    ArchVision

    Thanks for helping make 2013 a great year! It has certainly been a busy one. We’re excited about all of the new projects in the works for 2014. We couldn’t have done it without you. To say thank you and help boost your license pool ArchVision is offering a special promotion to add additional licenses and save.

    Use the following promotion codes at archvision.com checkout to add an ArchVision Software License.

    ADDAUSER to add a user license for $149

    ADDAFLOAT to add a floating license for $299

    Limited time offer valid through January 10th. License renews at regular price.

    Filed under Announcements, Products Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

    Learn How to Render RPCs in Autodesk 360 RaaS

    December 11, 2013 Leave a comment

    Join us tomorrow December 12, 2013, 2:00 pm EST for a live webinar – Rendering RPCs in RaaS. We’ll show just how easy it is! View it here: http://archvision.com/live #A360 #AU2013 topics.

    ArchVIsion December Webinars

    Filed under Announcements, Products Tagged with , , , , , , , , , ,

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