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

February 1, 2018 by 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 by 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 by 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.

blog1

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.

blog2

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

Family and Detail Warehouse (F+DW)

June 5, 2017 by Leave a comment

When we launched Detail Warehouse in late 2015 our goal was to provide an extensive collection of native-built Revit details perfect for starting or bolstering your own internal library. The library boasts over 27,500 door, foundation, roof and window details across 50 sub-categories. Also included in the collection are nearly 1000 ready-to-use Revit Components which have been very popular.

The popularity of the components prompted us to continue to add additional Revit Families throughout 2016 including wood screws and sleeve anchors, concrete anchors and a comprehensive collection of AISC Steel Shapes improving over the OOTB (out of the box) content that ships with Revit.

We’re expanding the overall mission of Detail Warehouse to be the preeminent stock library of native-built non-manufacturer-specific Revit families, components and details. As such we’re changing the name to Family and Detail Warehouse (F+DW). When we think of how many times the same families are modeled over and over and over around the world it becomes clear that a great stock library that’s growing and improving would be a great service to the industry. With a Family and Detail Warehouse subscription you get access to just that, a collection of the most popular native-built families and details, ready-to-use or edit to supplement your needs.

Casework

The first major category we’ve tackled is Casework. Included in your F+DW subscription are dozens of casework families driven by thousands of Types providing you with the most extensive commercial collection of casework available. The casework library alone will save your team hundreds of hours should you opt to produce them yourself. We’ve done the heavy lifting for you! We’re not stopping there. An extensive collection of Doors is in production. We’d love to hear what you think would be helpful.

AVAIL

As you may already know the F+DW library is managed and delivered through our sister company platform AVAIL. AVAIL is an enterprise content & workflow management platform designed to help AECO firms organize, manage and deliver content within their organization. You can learn more about AVAIL at getavail.com.

F+DW subscribers can now take advantage of new advanced workflow features in AVAIL. With an AVAIL license you can now control distribution of F+DW “Channels” of content across your organization, control download access, and allow users to request Families by “Flagging” them which notifies admins of the request. The F+DW library of content comes pre-tagged within AVAIL making it easy to find the content you need quickly.

We hope you’ll find the expanded mission of the Family and Detail Warehouse and the AVAIL content & workflow management platform a welcomed addition to the industry and your firms ongoing content strategy.

Filed under Announcements, Products, Revit

Publish your own 3D+ RPCs!

March 15, 2017 by 2 Comments

Quite a while in the making, we’ve launched a new RPC Creator service that supports the creation of what we refer to as 3D+ RPCs. A 3D+ RPC means the RPC contains both texture and underlying geometry data. You’ve been experiencing 3D+ RPCs in the form of the RPC Automobiles we’ve been publishing for many years. More recently we began partnering with companies like AXYZ Design to publish their incredible people models as 3D+ RPCs. This new RPC Creator service is still in beta and can be found at labs.archvision.com.

Now you can convert your own geometric models into RPCs ready to place in your favorite modeling/visualization app such as Revit!

In order to make your own 3D+ RPCs using the new service you need to supply 3 essential pieces of information 1) geometry in the .obj format, 2) a master texture as a .jpg or .png, and 3) a 124 x 98 pixel preview image. That’s all you need. Upload each to the service and you’re handed back an RPC file in less than a minute.

Why?

In the early days of ArchVision we were in the visualization services business. One of the lessons I learned was that if you’re going for realism, the best visualizations were the ones with an inordinate amount of “detail”. For interior visualizations it was a very “inward” challenge in providing all the “stuff” other than the building itself that were needed to make the scene come alive and look “real”. For exterior scenes it was the opposite; you’d model the hell out of your building but when it came to visualizing it creating the “rest of the world” around it became a headache. Enter RPCs. RPC People were a great addition to those interiors. RPC Trees were great for creating a boundary for that exterior world (or hiding mediocre architecture 🙂 ) and RPC Automobiles helped fill those parking lots.

RPCs have some unique characteristics that have made them a popular way to add entourage and other “stuff” to your designs and improving your visualizations.

1) Convenient – with an RPC you never get a “missing texture” warning. All of the data required to render are included in the .rpc file.

2) Fast – RPCs can be optimized to carry just the right amount of geometry and texture data to make your visualizations standout without bogging down your model. In some implementation such as 3dsMax, textures contained within RPCs dynamically scale themselves when loaded which optimizes the memory footprint required to load those RPCs (ie. you can efficiently stuff more into your scene)

3) Temporal – Context matters but has always been difficult in content creation. With the new 3D+ RPC Creator service you can designate separate geometry (referred to as the “Icon”) which is placed in the model and “swapped” out at render time with the full Mesh contained in the RPC. Internally we refer to these as the “Preview Mesh” and the “Render Mesh”. This dynamic swapping of data helps optimize what you see and when you see it and challenges the “one model suits all needs” mindset of content creation. This can be especially important in workflows like Revit > Visualization where the underlying model is important for one purpose (eg. documentation) but not well suited for another (eg. visualization)

4) Versatile – RPCs are supported by the world’s leading modeling and visualization platforms: Revit, 3dsMax, Autocad, Civil3D, SketchUp, FormZ, Modo, Rhino, Photoshop and more. Publish your content as an RPC and it’s ready-to-use on any of those platforms.

We look forward to hearing your feedback and seeing your results. You can even share your RPCs with the rest of the community in Stash!

Randall

Filed under Announcements, Innovations + Observations, Products

Local vs Cloud – A Limited Argument

November 10, 2015 by 1 Comment

Local_vs_CloudI’ll claim that when you’re talking about content management “local vs cloud” is a limited argument. In a broad sense it’s analogous to saying “now that we have cars you don’t need to walk”. If you’re in the business of selling cars (or cloud services) that argument might make sense. For most of course, reality dictates that you need to manage content across “all” environments. Sometimes the cloud makes sense but, for the foreseeable future, you will also have content on your local network. Even the most popular cloud storage solutions like Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, One Drive, you name it, cache a copy of the content locally.

Valid arguments for storing content in the cloud include 1) a need for external teams to have access to content, 2) consolidating content in one location, 3) making content accessible via the Internet, 4) “outsourcing” IT/storage.

For most people local versus cloud is largely a storage decision. If you have teams needing to access that content in the field there is indeed some good arguments for cloud storage but if most of the content is accessed at the desktop the cloud doesn’t solve many of the real content management problems those users encounter daily.

Another way to think about the challenge is to think in terms of Storage and Retrieval. I’ll make another claim… with regards to content management, storage isn’t the real problem, it’s largely a retrieval problem and going to the cloud does nothing to solve it. The graphic above was used in a class we presented at RTC Europe in Budapest a couple of weeks ago. It illustrates the challenge not only of your own content being stored locally and in the cloud but of trying to manage cloud-based content from 3rd parties that is being downloaded and stored in the your local environment.

At ArchVision we’re working on some unique solutions to the retrieval problem. We have a new content management platform named AVAIL that is attacking content retrieval in new ways and tackling the reality of managing content in a “blended” environment. I’ve blogged about how important we think context is to accessing content and how AVAIL is addressing some of those problems. If you’d like to keep track of our progress you can continue to follow this blog but you may also want to sign up for AVAIL notifications at avail.archvision.com. If you are planning to be at AU in Las Vegas in a couple of weeks be sure to stop by our booth #1213 for a sneak peek.

Filed under Innovations + Observations, Products, Revit Tagged with ,

DETAIL WAREHOUSE, AVAIL & PANOPLY

September 14, 2015 by Leave a comment

0014668DETAIL WAREHOUSE

ArchVision has just released a new content subscription service called DETAIL WAREHOUSE. The DETAIL WAREHOUSE provides access to over 27,500 native Revit Drafting Views designed to kick-start or supplement your in-house Revit standards library. The collection is comprised of foundation, door, window and roof details representing 50 sub-categories of construction details. In addition, you’ll also have access to nearly 1000 Revit Components.

The goal of DETAIL WAREHOUSE is to provide you with an efficient starting point and ongoing complement to your own internal library. For only $499 per year you can access the entire reference library drawing on what you need, when you need it. Learn more at DETAIL WAREHOUSE.

AVAIL

DW_AVAIL_ChannelsBesides offering the most extensive collection of Revit Drafting Views available anywhere, access to the DETAIL WAREHOUSE is provided via ArchVision’s innovative new content management platform called AVAIL. Through AVAIL, DETAIL WAREHOUSE subscribers can access foundation, door, window and roof “Channels” and search and download content closely matching their needs. A Properties Panel presents high-resolution previews of each Drafting View. AVAIL let’s users browse or search the content in a Channel but also offers an innovative new way to find content we call “Panoply”.

PANOPLY

As you can imagine the terms and tags used to describe the construction details found in DETAIL WAREHOUSE can be complex making traditional search necessarily complicated. AVAIL solves that problem using our proprietary filtering technology called “Panoply”. At the core of Panoply is a concept we refer to as “contextual filtering”; allowing you to narrow the content being displayed in each Channel based on a pre-curated sets of relevant tags. As tags are selected Panoply reduces the relevant selection set providing you with a “dynamic path” of sorts for locating content.

Panoply is something you have to experience to appreciate. With just a few button clicks you can filter through thousands of pieces of content. AVAIL, with it’s integrated Panoply technology, is being developed to provide you with a robust solution for managing, publishing, and accessing content on your network in a user-friendly way. I refer to it as making content “human” again. No more archaic filename abbreviations or ridiculous file folder structures to stand in between you and the content you need. The centralized content on your network will be liberated, no longer the victim of traditional Windows file folders. We’ll be talking more about AVAIL and Panoply in the coming weeks.

If you’d like to learn more about AVAIL and be notified when updates are available visit avail.archvision.com.

DW_AVAIL_Panoply

Filed under Announcements, Innovations + Observations, Products, Revit

BCS / RTC Post Event Review

August 4, 2015 by Leave a comment

Whew… Blog PostArchVision was busy in July. Wednesday before last marked the inaugural Building Content Summit (BCS). The BCS was the day before the Revit Technology Conference (RTC) which was held in Washington, DC. I acted as co-chair for the BCS along with Parley Burnett of InView Labs (makers of Unifi). What an event!

The goal was to bring 50-100 manufacturers, arch firm content managers and software/service providers to talk about the ins and outs of “BIM Content”. We ended up with 104 attendees which read like a who’s who in the world of BIM from Anderson Windows, CertainTeed, Victaulic, Haworth, Autodesk, and Bentley to AECOM, HDR Architecture and Perkins + Will. We had a full day of speakers and small-group round-table discussions mapping out the many issues left to resolve in the BIM content world. Follow @rtcbcs for post-event info and plans for the next Building Content Summit. The event website can be found at http://www.rtcevents.com/bcs2015/.

So why was I involved? For those that hung around for the Revit Technology Conference and stopped by the ArchVision | Chaos Group | Cl3ver | IrisVR booth you got a sneak peak of why. Not only does ArchVision’s RPC file format and underlying delivery platform have an important role to play in the BIM ecosystem but we’re on our way to expanding our presence in the BIM world with some important new products.

First will be an exciting new BIM content collection called DETAIL WAREHOUSE. In the coming weeks ArchVision will release a library of ~25,000 (yes, you read that correctly) natively-built Revit Drafting Views of common, light-commercial building details (roofs, windows, doors and foundations). This subscription product will give you access to the industry’s most extensive collection of details. In addition to the details will be approximately 1000 new Revit Components. The combination provides a great way to start your Revit Standards library or augment your existing collection. Watch detailwarehouse.archvision.com for more info.

The big news from last week was the sneak peek at AVAIL, our game-changing content management platform. AVAIL is a content-agnostic, simple way to index the content on your WAN and consume it in new ways. AVAIL can be used to organize your company’s internal Revit Standards Library, inbound manufacturer content, your visualization group’s materials and textures, your marketing departments project photos and PDF cut-sheets and more! If you missed seeing it at RTC stay tuned for more details. All delivered through a modern, easy-to-use desktop application interface that finally makes finding and using your firms “content” a pleasure, not the nightmare you’ve had to endure trying to work with Windows file folders for managing content. Sound interesting? Watch avail.archvision.com for more details.

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

Summer of Content

June 10, 2015 by Leave a comment

U_K5Wi1sI’m pleased to announce that ArchVision is a Silver Sponsor of the 2015 Revit Technology Conference (RTC) in both North America and Europe where we’ll be showcasing some of our newest developments in late July (Washington, DC USA) and October (Budapest, Hungary).

Not content (see what I did there) with resting on our laurels the team at ArchVision has been working feverishly on some exciting new developments.

RPC

On the RPC front we’ll soon have a new update for Entourage Workshop that includes Autodesk Cloud Rendering support, support for RPC Planting families, and a new option for making 2D RPC geometry face the camera in Revit.

2.4 v-ray_for_ants_2 If you were in Atlanta last month for the AIA annual convention and expo I’m sure you were as blown away as I was at Chaos Groups preview of VRay for Revit.  Our teams have been working together closely to make sure your RPCs flow through seamlessly.  They do!  Take a look at these images.  Your RPCs in Revit have never looked better than when they’re rendered with VRay.  If you missed AIA don’t miss RTC so you can see it for yourself!

If you haven’t stopped by the recently relaunched ArchVision Labs site you may have missed the news that we’ve been working on an RPC Plug-in for Sketchup!  Been a long time coming but it was worth the wait.  There are still a few things to get sorted out but we’ll be releasing this to existing customers for beta testing soon.  We’ve also begun working with 3rd party Sketchup rendering partners such as Podium and VRay to ensure smooth workflows.

It’s in the Details…

We’re working to expand our content offering beyond RPC.  First will be a collection of approximately 1,000 Revit Components.  The Component Warehouse will be the first “Channel” of non-RPC content available leveraging a new content platform we’ve been developing (more on this soon).  The components are easily browsed or searched.

Need Revit Drafting Views?  Detail Warehouse is a subscription “Channel” where a small yearly fee gains you access to a library of tens of thousands of Revit Drafting Views ready to customize to your particular needs.  The Detail Warehouse is a great way to get your own standards library off the ground or augment your existing library.

If you’re already registered for RTC be sure to stop by our booth on the exhibit floor to see all of these exciting new developments.  It’s not too late!  You can still register for RTC and be sure to register for our class: “Take Control of Your Assets (including Families and Drafting Views) – an RTC Lab!

Filed under Announcements, Innovations + Observations, Products, Revit Tagged with , , , , ,

Taming The Content Beast

May 20, 2015 by Leave a comment

with_the_lions_1Content is an insatiable beast. Demands are ever changing. As with most things, what worked yesterday is replaced by something that provides more value today.

At ArchVision we think of content in terms of flow, not something that’s static. While we continue to add new RPCs to your subscription plan we realize it is never enough. Though we try, it’s an impossible task to satisfy the thousands of unique needs of our customers across the globe.

Make

In order to best service and satisfy those varied needs we began investing in opening up the RPC Platform to encourage others to participate. We’ve always encouraged support for RPC content in the leading applications. The success of RPC begins and ends with broad support in what we call the “host” applications; the software you find critical to your daily workflow. Today you can use RPC content in 3ds Max, Autocad, Revit, Microstation, Rhino, FormZ, Modo, Photoshop and with the leading rendering solutions like V-Ray and Accurender. There’s rumor something might be in the works for SketchUp as well. Check out labs.archvision.com for more info.

Support for RPC in the host apps doesn’t quell the content appetite. We had to open RPC to anyone who wanted to take advantage of the tightly integrated workflow. We started this process several years ago by moving to a subscription business model. This allowed us to truly think of RPC content as a never ending flow available to subscribers and to look for others who may have content that could be delivered most effectively via RPC.

Last year we released a new and improved RPC Creator tool integrated with the ArchVision Dashboard. RPC Creator lets anyone drag and drop a PNG or TIFF formatted image onto Dashboard and instantly create an RPC. That ease of creating RPCs has brought thousands of new RPCs into existence over the past year.

As part of this initiative we were pleased to announce our first RPC Publishing partner, 3dRender, and the availability of their popular Pro-Viz People textures in the RPC format. We’ll be announcing additional partners in the coming months.

So now that we’ve got you making RPCs what’s the next logical step?

Share

Stash!We believe many of you will be willing to share the RPCs you’ve been making with the new RPC Creator tool. If every matted PNG or TIFF image could be converted to RPC it’s more likely you’ll be able to find just the right content to satisfy your needs.

So we’ve started an experiment we call Stash!. Stash! is a repository of RPCs you’ve created and offered to share with the community of RPC users around the world. It’s not fancy (yet) but gets the job done. All you need to do is hit the “Submit to Stash!” button and upload your Custom RPC. We’ll test the RPC and post your submission to Stash! to share with everyone.

If you haven’t visited Stash! you should check out some of the content your colleagues have contributed and add them to your collection. Better yet, if you’ve made something you think others would enjoy make your own contribution to Stash!

Randall

Filed under General Tips & Tricks, Innovations + Observations, Products Tagged with , , , , , , ,

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