Chaos Envision: The Must-Know Visualization Tool for Every Architect

Architects and designers want tools that make their jobs easier without slowing them down. Chaos Envision promises just that—a fresh release from Chaos built on years of visualization know-how. In a recent ArchVision webinar, CEO Corey Rubadue and artist Shylo Silvenar walked through how Envision fits seamlessly into the everyday workflow of design professionals. Find every tip, trick, and workflow improvement shared in the video below.

The Evolution from Chaos Vantage to Envision

Chaos Envision didn’t appear overnight. Its core technology draws from years of work, starting with Chaos Vantage. After listening to community feedback during a lengthy beta, the developers refined Envision right up until its stable release—improving stability and expanding features to fit the needs of real-world designers.

Meet Shylo Silvenar: Your Guide to Envision

With over 14 years in architectural visualization, Shylo brings a practical approach. She’s worked in studios and on site, using Revit, Rhino, SketchUp, and rendering engines like V-Ray, Lumion, and Unreal Engine. Her focus? Solutions that save time and feel intuitive, even for busy teams.

Preparing Your Revit Model for Export

Start by creating a dedicated 3D view for rendering. Clean up the scene—hide extra items like topography or unused links to keep things efficient. If you’re working with linked models or have complex data, import them separately in Envision for more control. If a massive file slows you down, hide what you don’t need visible for the rendering.

Quick prep tips:

• Solo the active scene.
• Hide unnecessary geometry.
• Group linked models if you want extra flexibility in Envision.

Checking Materials Before Export

Good materials make all the difference in a render. Check that custom textures look correct in Revit before exporting. Use the built-in Cosmos library in Envision for basics like concrete or glass, and focus your attention on project-specific textures from manufacturers. If Revit’s preview render flags missing materials, review the list—skip what isn’t vital, but know what’s missing before you move on.

Exporting from Revit with Enscape

Exporting your scene through Enscape couldn’t be simpler. Use the V-Ray Scene Export tool, choose your 3D view, set your location, and save. If you see warnings or notifications during export, skip past them—small errors are easy to handle once inside Envision.

Importing and Setting Up in Envision

Envision greets users with an easy-access UI and onboarding screens for first-time setups. Importing a file is fast—just point to your VR Scene export and let it load. You can update models by swapping files or add new versions for comparison.

Keep in mind: cameras don’t import from Revit, so you’ll set them up fresh in Envision. When making cameras, lock them to avoid accidental movement, dial in aspect ratio and focal length (35mm is a good start), and use vertical tilt if you want two-point perspectives.

Fine-Tuning Environment and Lighting

Set the mood with weather effects—a few clicks add clouds, wind, and haze. Mix physically based lighting with HDRIs from Cosmos or your own files. Adjust sunlight by time zone and time of day for just-right shadows. Once you have a setup you like, save environment presets for future use or animation sequences.

Organizing Design Options with Variations

Envision’s variations system lets you test different design scenarios. The general variation is global—changes (like grouping objects) affect all other variations. Use additional variations to show alternate landscaping, facade treatments, or building massings. Make large changes in general, and tweak details in each design option.

Editing Materials and Geometry Inside Envision

Material tweaks are intuitive: use the eyedropper to select, then adjust colors or bump maps. If you’re scaling or animating a piece of geometry, and things move strangely, set the pivot point to the base or center, then scale again.

Need to move context elements such as people or trees? Just drag them where you want. Not all assets from Cosmos let you modify materials, but you can embed and adjust many textures. Create simple shapes (boxes, masses) directly in Envision—perfect for roughing out site context without toggling back to Revit.

The Cosmos Library: Assets at Your Fingertips

The Cosmos library comes packed with plants, people, vehicles, and everyday objects. Place and manipulate them just like any other 3D element. Some material editing is limited, but assets are high-quality and fit right in with professional scenes.

Scatter: Realistic Landscaping the Easy Way

For landscape renders, the scatter tool is a time-saver. Spread grass, flowers, or trees across surfaces. Control density, size, and spacing for a natural look. When adding trees with splines, hide heavy grass layers first for easier adjustments.

Basic Animation Setup: Camera and Environment

Duplicate cameras to animate between views or create flythroughs. The timeline makes positioning and movement simple—drag the camera, set your start and end frames, then let Envision animate the path. Environments can be animated too: save different sunlight or weather settings and transition through them for sun studies or seasonal animations.

Animating Objects and Characters

Move cars along spline paths, controlling speed with timeline adjustments. Place multiple building versions above or below ground to animate construction or reveal sequences—grouping keeps the workflow tidy. For people, use the Anima crowd simulation: set a path, and Envision populates it with walking characters. Organized grouping syncs their movement with larger building animations.

Rendering Still Images and Animation

Rendering is straightforward: Pick your camera, set resolution and render quality, and choose image or animation sequence. Envision comes with 13 channels for post-processing, supporting everything from simple stills to full-motion visuals. Quick drafts are speedy for checking composition; final renders polish your vision.

What Stands Out: Envision’s Strengths for Design

• Simple, accessible UI
• Fast learning curve
• Powerful, flexible animation workflows—even in tight timeframes
• Multi-format support for scenes from Revit, Rhino, SketchUp, and more
• An extensive, high-quality asset library built in

Tips for Smoother Projects

• Export from the angle you want to set up your first camera—it sometimes auto-aligns on import
• Save time by duplicating camera settings as templates
• Scatter grass before trees, or hide dense grass when applying tree splines
• Lower preview quality in big scenes to improve performance
• Use full screen (F11) to toggle camera, walk, or fly modes

To dive deeper, reach out to sales@archvision.com. The ArchVision team continues to test new features and share updates as Envision evolves.