Overland Partners – An Enscape Success Story

For over thirty years, Overland Partners has been blending art, technique and technology to foster community and potential across the globe. Founded in 1987 in San Antonio, Texas, the firm has been recognized time and again for its innovative and sustainable design. It regularly places among the top design firms in the United States, and has developed and supervised projects across the US and around the world. Through its design of museums, corporate headquarters, homeless shelters, universities and more, Overland has aimed to not only provide shelter, but also articulate the story of the community and further the collective exchange. And for the past few years, they have been able to use Enscape to achieve this goal.

In-House Communication

Overland Partners - Hemisphere Project

For Overland, incorporating Enscape into their workflow has above all cultivated internal communication. „We discovered Enscape about two years ago and we have not looked back since,” says Daniel Carpio, Overland’s Director of Technology.

Previously Overland’s workflow had been a longer, more demanding process. Carpio integrated Enscape into the design process and noticed that he was able to achieve maximum benefit through minimal changes. “You don’t actually have to change your workflow that much,” he says. “… Enscape easily plugs in and ties to all the softwares that we use every day.

This smooth integration has allowed Overland more effective internal communication, leading to more time for design.  As Overland Senior Principal Bob Shemwell puts it:  “We find that we can get to decision points earlier. We find that we can extend the length of time that we’re spending on design.” And this breathing room during the design process has wide-reaching benefits. Problems might not always be evident on a floor plan, or in a CAD software like Revit; in Enscape, however, it’s possible to recognize right away if a stair is too close to a wall, a light fixture is inconveniently placed, or a pipe is coming out of a wall. It cuts down on the reaction time and allows Overland to solve problems before they actually become problems.

Simple, Effective Presentation

Beyond the benefits to the internal process, Enscape has facilitated better communication between Overland and their clients. Presenting a design in a way that allows the client to fully understand the work is crucial to a project. “You have to curate the experience for the client so they don’t feel like they’re going to look foolish,”  Shemwell says. Enscape removes the need to explain floor plans in detail to clients who most likely have little experience reading them. As Carpio puts it: “They finally have a clear understanding of the reality of their project.” 

Overland Partners - Hemisphere Project

This clarity is often the deciding factor for the client. Still renderings can give an impression of the overall project, but the live Enscape walkthrough allows Overland to communicate the work in different atmospheric settings. For the client that will actually be living or working in the space, this is the most essential part of a design presentation: seeing the materials used, the light conditions and the general feeling of the space. “[Enscape will] allow us to put all the correct materials on; it’ll allow us to show the client what the bedroom will look like at a certain time of day,” details Steve Fong, Overland’s BIM Manager. “All these things are something that we can now study visually, that we could not do before and this is all within the last few years; this is something that’s very new to architecture.”

Joining Forces

Over the past years, a fruitful partnership has developed between Overland Partners and Enscape. When Carpio and Fong first heard about Enscape, they were wary of putting all their eggs in one basket. However, as soon as they began their trial period, they were convinced. “We could not believe what we were seeing,” Carpio says. “It was doing everything it said and more.”  Since those early days, Overland has worked ever more closely with Enscape and both sides have seen the benefits. “With Enscape we feel like we have a developer that works for us. They listen to us, they surprisingly implement all of the things that we asked for” says Carpio. “It feels like there’s this great partnership that we have with Enscape and I really, really value what they are doing to the AEC industry.”

Looking Forward

Overland Partners - Hemisphere Project

As Overland Partners continues to develop projects across the globe, Enscape is there to streamline their design and presentation process. “It’s a fundamental problem of the human condition,” says Shemwell, “…trying to communicate ideas effectively and for us Enscape and VR in general are one of those things where it creates the most equal experience for a client and a creator.” Whether it is facilitating internal communication, or clearly communicating a design to the client, Enscape supports Overland where they need it the most. As Shemwell puts it: “It’s technology, but, ultimately, it’s about people.”

Visit Overland Partners  on their Social Media Channels!

Facebook  | Twitter  | Instagram  | LinkedIn 

The post Overland Partners – An Enscape Success Story appeared first on Enscape.

Autodesk then introduced the Cloud Rendering, along with the ‘Stereo Panoramic Render’, which enabled us to enter into the world of Virtual Reality or ‘VR’, for the first time. We purchased some “Google Cardboard” VR viewers and were able to produce imagery that left our clients feeling as if they had a view to the future. We primarily used this as a finishes tool, allowing clients to experience certain areas of the project, and then talk through options once they were immersed into the space in VR. However, this process took time to re-render certain areas and certainly wasn’t a “user experience” that anyone would remember.

This has led us to where we are now; Enscape3D. Since our first steps into VR we have looked at many different software solutions including some pretty intensive programmes like Unreal Engine. Whilst this proved to be one of the better options, it involved learning a fairly complex package. That just wasn’t really sustainable for an entire office.

Virtual Reality and Visualisation

Someone in the office then stumbled across a video of the Enscape software. This was sent around the office. At first glance it looked to be just what we were looking for. We immediately downloaded a free trial and started to get to grips with it. Very soon, it became apparent that this was exactly what we needed, potentially for VR, but also for fast production of visualisations.

Using the add-on, Enscape loads straight from the Revit tool ribbon. Once your model is loaded into Enscape, you will see a direct representation of your model, and can start to walk around in real-time. The inclusion of ArchVision content is a real bonus as it brings people and vegetation to life. Flat 2D people and trees from Revit are interpreted into 3D models.

The ability to control shadows, sun, clouds, depth of field, and lens flare; all in real-time and all at the touch of a button is only a small amount of what Enscape can do. The ability to test materials, update your model and see the change immediately is a huge benefit. Client engagement meetings are now much more hands on. We take a laptop with Revit / Enscape installed, and take clients through the building. We can make changes there and then, and get client sign off because they can see and understand how something will look in the finished project.

Frequent updates from the Enscape team that are based on real-time user feedback is encouraging; they are listening to the users and reacting to make Enscape a one size fits all piece of software.

Co-ordination and Clash Detection

Whilst Enscape is great for visualisation and VR, it’s also a comprehensive addition to co-ordination and clash detection. Working within a BIM environment coordination is a major factor. Coordinating multiple consultant models including Structural and M&E is a complex task, for which we generally use Navisworks. However, having the ability to use Enscape in a coordination meeting and walk consultants around the issues, helps to articulate those problems in a way that Navisworks or Revit may not be able to.

As Architects, its paramount that the information we produce is on time, is of high quality, and is co-ordinated. Our clients need to be sure that their expectations will be met, and that there will be no surprises. With Enscape in our armour, we feel we are in a much stronger position to deliver on these promises.

We’re excited to see what Enscape3D has to offer in the future and will endeavour to provide user feedback along the way to help others.

Many thanks to Dan Smith for contributing this guest post!

The post Hunters South Architects & Enscape 3D appeared first on Enscape.

Devin Canton | Associate and BIM Manger | HMFH Architects | Cambridge, Massachusetts – United States

HMFH Architects improved their coordination and design review workflow by using Enscape. Being able to show the client what they are planning to do by easily exploring different design options helped them deliver a better overall quality.

About HMFH Architects

HMFH Architects was founded in 1969 as Hill Miller Friedlaender Hollander and quickly established a national reputation for thoughtful educational design and creating long lasting buildings. The firm grew rapidly, and in 1984 it was renamed HMFH Architects. Based in Cambridge, United States, the company offers services from architecture, master planning, campus planning, educational programming, interior design, graphic design, community engagement, and expert witness.

The interviewee, Devin Canton, is a project architect and BIM manager at HMFH Architects. He has been working in the industry for 16 years and at HMFH for eight years. He has been using Revit since 2008. At his current firm, they are exclusively using Revit for all of their projects. They use it starting from schematic design through project construction including presentations during the different stages of design and to fully explore construction documents.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hmfh-architects-inc./
Website: https://www.hmfh.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HMFHarch

Challenge – Quickly explore what you currently work on

Before using Enscape, HMFH Architects was mainly working with 3ds Max or traditional manual techniques to create renderings. They were satisfied with the results and the level of control in 3ds Max. However, using 3ds max for design exploration was not practical as each presentation quality render would take hours to create. According to Devin, “you are not able to just walk through your project to quickly explore what you are currently working on with 3ds Max.” Additionally, the company was using Revit to walk through their projects but the results were not smooth and satisfying enough to use Revit as a presentation tool for clients. HMFH Architects was looking for an easier-to-use solution, compared to 3ds Max, which creates better looking and more realistic results, compared to Revit.

The process to an easy to use visualization tool

HMFH Architects started to search for a solution that could be used in addition to 3ds Max, which they still use for final presentation renderings. They found out about Enscape in the Autodesk App Store and quickly decided to download it. While Enscape was not the only tool they tested, they soon realized the benefits of the Enscape plugin:

The other solutions were not as easy to use.
What is amazing about Enscape is that it is live within Revit.
No export is needed and you see the updates a couple of seconds later.
Devin Canton

After thoroughly testing Enscape and comparing it carefully with other solutions, HMFH Architects decided to buy several Enscape licenses. Now, the team is using the software as a design and coordination tool for all their projects.

How Enscape helped HMFH Architects

Since they implemented Enscape, HMFH Architects uses it in each project stage, from coordination to design. Enscape proves to be a useful tool, especially during coordination meetings with consultants. “Before we were using Enscape, it was hard to show our clients what we were planning to do.” Most clients find it difficult to understand their buildings through looking at architectural drawings. Having the ability to virtually walk through the spaces while pointing out the location on a plan makes it much easier for clients and consultants to understand our design intent.

Now, with Enscape, our clients are amazed with what we show them.
They are able to actually experience their project before it is even built.
Enscape helps us to do a better job.
Devin Canton

The ability to export a standalone file out of Enscape is another feature that helps the team of HMFH Architects. In this way their clients can explore the project on their own, which makes the coordination of any further steps or changes much easier.

Their results

Overall the team of HMFH Architects solved coordination issues with consultants as well as improved internal communication. With Enscape they are able to explore different conditions, identify details, and consider other conditions of the project.

It is amazing how easily you can explore different project conditions with Enscape.
Devin Canton

The option to send an exported standalone file further improves coordination. “The ability to let people, who don’t know how to use Revit, have a look at the project on their own really streamlines our process.” After sharing standalone files with the team, we often use online meetings where we have the ability to walk through the spaces together. Then we can easily focus on the issues. For example, we would isolate the HVAC, ceilings and structure to better visualize those components.

The ease of use of Enscape enabled a seamless integration into the workflow of HMFH Architects.

The live link with Revit is a major advantage of Enscape.
Devin Canton

Example project

For this project, the “The Carver Elementary School”, the team used Enscape on a daily basis as a design and coordination tool. Although they were not able to apply Enscape from the beginning of the project, it soon became an important instrument to experience the design before it is built.

They came up with ideas and different design options and were able to make quick prints within seconds. Moreover, Devin emphasized the advantage of walking through the project to make sure everything is modeled correctly in order to finalize construction documents. In the end, the team was able to make better decisions that saved them a lot of time and money. Prior to using Enscape, we would encounter tricky details during the construction phase that would need to be resolved, now we are able to explore many more of these conditions during the design and documentation phases.

In this particular project, Enscape was only used internally. Devin mentioned, however, that other teams at HMFH are using Enscape in front of clients and they reported that clients love it.

Final remarks

Overall, Enscape is helping HMFH Architects in saving not just time but also money. Before using Enscape, design reviews required planning, and time for us to generate graphics. Now we can review our projects daily by easily having the ability to generate clear renderings and explore our buildings via live walkthroughs.

Because of Enscape we are able to
deliver a better project quality.
Devin Canton

Enscape allows the team of HMFH Architects to identify problematic areas and conditions. It enables them to deliver a better end-product. As Devin put it, “everyone in our office, even our consultants, has been very happy with Enscape and benefits from it. It is a great product that helps us along our work.”

Thank you Devin and HMFH Architects for your support and the honor of sharing your experience with us and our community!

Explore Enscape yourself and try it for free. Also, feel free to share this article with your friends and colleagues or give us a like!

The post HMFH Architects: Enscape helps us to do a better job appeared first on Enscape.

“When we discovered Enscape it changed our world!”

Craig Krawczyk | Principal | LIVE Design Group

Who’s Craig?

I have a bachelors degree in Architecture from Auburn University (1997). I’m a Principal and lead design architect at LIVE Design Group in Birmingham, Alabama. I’ve been with the company nearly 17 years and I’ve been working with Autodesk Revit since 2006 and Enscape since since the spring of 2016.

My primary focus has been to develop strategies and workflows in order to maximize the ability of BIM to create efficient and compelling design solutions. And when I’m not being an architect I’m a dad raising three daughters in Birmingham.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Craig_Krawczyk
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigkrawczyk

Why Enscape?

LIVE Design Group is a commercial architecture and interior design firm that was founded in 1987. We have a great deal of experience with projects of various typologies, sizes and complexities. Our specialties are assembly space design, such as contemporary worship centers, fine art theaters, gymnasiums, auditoriums and arenas.

Our LIVE design process is highly unique. We are less focused on the building and more on the process that creates a very client and service oriented methodology. We believe the earlier we can engage our clients, the better the outcome. Before our present process, we noticed the client was often confused by many rejected options and functions that can’t be understood within a specific design proposal. We discovered the client was confused because they were not part of the design process. We ultimately created the LIVE design process to give context and understanding to the client about the resulting design by deeply involving the client in the design process.

During our LIVE design sessions, we are modifying the design in real-time and
immediately validating the results with the client.
Craig Krawczyk 

Our LIVE design methodology allows us to collaborate and design live, with the client in the room along with the project team. This typically occurs with the client and other project stakeholders over a 1-2 day concentrated effort. During our LIVE design sessions, we are modifying the design in real-time and immediately validating the results with the client. Our process has evolved over the last 20 years from a highly analog to a completely digital workflow.

Overall, our LIVE design process is approached more like improvisational theater! Everything is tested in the model and everything is tried. The wonderful thing about this process is that it is far more successful and far less adversarial than your typical design development process that is hidden from the client. As the design program is being sculpted in 3-D blocks, we begin to pull building components from a vocabulary and vernacular that identifies and resonates with the client. Contractors in attendance will begin to immediately pull data from the schematic design.

We need to help the client accurately visualize the finished product.
Craig Krawczyk 

But our biggest challenge has been that Revit can be too “cartoony”, which doesn’t help the client accurately visualize the finished product. We needed lighting and shadow to really communicate and understand the spaces. Texture and material is also very important to our workshop process. The client would say they understood the building, but we really needed to help them explore the space and explore movement through the building to fully understand how the spaces will feel and function. Even though our early design studies are typically devoid of materials, the quality of light and shadow is exactly what we need.

Navigation in Revit isn’t ideal for our needs. We could drop in perspective cameras and orbit around the space. But visualization isn’t smooth and realistic. At best, we could take the project into a third-party application for rendering shaded shadow still images – but the workflow isn’t efficient. Anything less than real-time in real-time fails – whether you’re waiting for a rendering on the desktop or the cloud. Suffice to say, Enscape has completely revolutionized our process. There is a depth and quality in Enscape that you can’t get from any other application.

Enscape has completely revolutionized our process.
There is a depth and quality in Enscape that you
can’t get from any other application.
Craig Krawczyk 

The beauty of Enscape is that it doesn’t feel like a separate application from Revit. The results are beautiful and easy to navigate. As we make changes in Revit the Enscape environment updates automatically. We can modify the design in Revit and make other changes and Enscape updates without exporting. The navigation quality in Enscape is very responsive. Even when there’s no lights or materials in the project, Enscape is far superior without leaving Revit.

As you can imagine, a LIVE design process can be incredibly stressful – but it is also incredibly rewarding. I have never experienced the kind of rewarding, design feedback than I have received when collaborating with a client in the moment. It’s absolutely wonderful. At the end of the second day the client is literally high-fiving you and exclaiming, “I can’t believe what we have accomplished in two days”. Using Enscape, the client is far more engaged, far more excited and the process is far more satisfying. One client recently told us, “I don’t know why we do this any other way.” And we’ve got a client for life.

Thanks!

Glad to discuss how Enscape has dramatically improved our design process. When I say that “Enscape changed our world” it’s not an exaggeration!

Phil Read – Read|Thomas – Author

LinkedIn –                  www.linkedin.com/in/readphil
Read|Thomas –         www.readthomas.com

hello@readthomas.com

The post LIVE Design Group: The Earlier We Engage Our Clients The Better The Outcome appeared first on Enscape.

“From massing studies to finished renderings, Enscape allows us to completely integrate the design process like never before.”

Kimberly Fuhrman | BIM Manager | LSC Design

Who Are Kimberly and Travis?

[Kimberly] I got my technology start using CAD in civil engineering and architecture “way back when” and made the move to Revit about 10 years ago. Today, I have 23 years of in industry experience across both disciplines. This combination is pretty unique and it provides an integrated approach to building design. My background is particularly helpful within LSC design because we’re a multidisciplinary firm. My day to day work allows me focus on researching and implementing new companies and software, which I really enjoy. I’ve been with LSC since 2014.

[Travis] I got my architectural start when I was in elementary school! I really love drawing and art. By the time I got to high school, my counselor ask me what I liked to do. I told him, “I really like art and buildings” and he suggested I take a drafting class. My formal education began at Harrisburg Area Community College, where I attended for two semesters. Then I moved to Drexel University in Philadelphia. After graduating I began working for a civil engineering firm in Harrisburg. Although I’m a project manager I don’t just float above the technology– I actually use it on projects – you have to use the technology you’re talking about. I’ve been with LSC since 2012.

Twitter: www.twitter.com/LSCDesignInc
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/1199621

Why Enscape?

We’re a 50+ person architectural, civil and structural engineering firm. Although two thirds of our business is architectural related, we don’t specialize in any particular building typology. We’ve done churches, museums, conservatories, institutions, etc. Even private educational and higher educational projects as well as manufacturing, retail and health care.

What’s critically important to us is, “What does the client want and how are we visualizing and communicating that information?” At no point we want to show the client something that doesn’t fit within their budget and vision.

As far as technologies, our architecture and structural departments are strictly Revit. While we use Civil 3-D for civil engineering design, we started using Revit in 2008 for all of our architectural projects. It wasn’t a slow transition. We jumped in the deep end with both feet. One day the decision was made that all new projects were to start in Revit – and we haven’t looked back.

LSC is also very focused on the “I” in BIM. It’s not just about the design today and the construction tomorrow. We’re thinking ahead to the decades of operation and facility management. LSC takes a very long look at how technology can be used many years in the future.

It’s also very important to LSC to have a highly integrated design and production process. For many years we had a design department and another production department. The design department would focus on early design intent and renderings for visualizing the intent. Once design work was completed we pass it off to the production department. But the increasing complexity of projects and fast paced deadlines created a disconnect between intent and resolution that was incredibly disruptive and counterproductive to success.

With Revit, we have integrated the design and production teams and processes. Everyone on a project team is accountable from the very beginning. When we integrated the design and production process, we began doing a lot of rendering in Revit. But ultimately we discovered the process took too long. We began sending our projects to an external rendering service. But we soon realized the process took too long and it was difficult to control quality. Ultimately the process was also incredibly inflexible. We couldn’t accommodate necessary last-minute changes. So we started using the cloud for rendering.

But using the cloud for rendering is also too slow and disruptive. There is always a disconnect between what we were working on in Revit and what we’re presented in a finished rendering. The process was faster – but wasn’t fast enough. We still didn’t have time to re-render everything when we needed it.

Why do we use Revit? Because we want instant feedback and coordination. But if you think about it, we still allow for a different set of expectations about rendering and experiencing the project. Why is that? Why have a separate team of visualization “specialists”. Why not experience design decisions while you work as soon as possible – just like Revit? Ultimately, we needed a process that worked side-by-side with Revit and we finally found it with Enscape.

When we’re early in the design process we don’t want to show the client something that appears too realistic or finished. Paper mode is great going into meetings with clients early in the process. We used to create sketches by hand to give the impression that the design wasn’t too finished. Papermode in Enscape replaces this time-consuming in manual process of showing concepts that don’t appear too finished.

Once the project settles down and we know about more about materials, fixtures and other features of the building we can create more realistic, finished renderings. In Enscape, we’re able to do this nearly instantly. We’ve stopped using cloud credits for creating finished renderings. We only occasionally use cloud credits for energy analysis. But if Enscape was able to visualize energy analysis and other data, we probably stop using cloud credits altogether.

The other advantage of using Enscape is that we’ve been able to keep all of this work in-house. This allows a much higher level of control and quality. Whether it’s creating interior or exterior renderings or even cut away sections of buildings – we’re doing it all in Enscape.

We have been waiting for a process that is fast, flexible and high quality – and one more thing – inexpensive. Enscape gives us all of these features and more. Navigation alone is far more fluid and intuitive then Revit. And we like how Enscape doesn’t feel like another application. Nobody has time to learn another complicated rendering application. Enscape is just another tab inside Revit.

Thanks!

You’re very welcome. We’re incredibly excited to be using Enscape I look forward to the broad adoption of Enscape in the AED industry. Let’s catch up in a few months and we’ll give you an update. Or better yet – let’s catch up at Autodesk University!

Phil Read – Read|Thomas – Author

LinkedIn –                  www.linkedin.com/in/readphil
Read|Thomas –         www.readthomas.com

hello@readthomas.com

The post LSC Design: Higher Quality, Lower Cost and Faster. appeared first on Enscape.

Jeremy Ward | Building Designer | Cayas Architects | Brisbane – Australia

Cayas Architects improved not only their rendering process but also the way they communicated to clients by using Enscape. Modifying parts of the project in Revit and directly exploring the changes in Enscape totally helped them to better evaluate different design and visualizations options.

About Cayas Architects

Founded in 2009, Cayas Architects is a small design company with a total of five highly motivated and creative employees. It is specialized in projects for the hospitality industry, multi-residential and commercial buildings in Queensland, NSW and Victoria – Australia. Based in Wilston, Queensland, the company offers services from the pre-purchase consultation and master planning up to full service concept design, 3D modelling, project management, interior design and contract administration. They focus on providing innovative designs and cost effective solutions of the highest quality.

The interviewee, Jeremy Ward, is a building designer at Cayas Architects. He has been working in the industry for 12 years and has always been passionate about architecture. Jeremy started to work with AutoCAD but discovered Revit at a former company. He has been using Revit for seven years till today. However, when Jeremy started to work at Cayas Architects, they were still working with 2D. Jeremy wanted to implement Revit there as well – “There was the need to change to 3D”. He has succeeded and Cayas Architects is entirely working with Revit now – a very good job, Jeremy!

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/cayasarchitects
Website: www.cayasarchitects.com.au

Challenge – You cannot visualize well with Revit

For several years, Cayas Architects were using Revit or 3ds Max to create renderings, but according to Jeremy, “With Revit you cannot visualize as well as you would like to show to your clients. The results with 3ds Max are fine but it requires more technical skills to get the best results out of it. And you could spend days in 3ds Max to create a single image.”

This time-consuming work on creating 3D visuals did not meet their expectations: “Our goal was to produce high quality visuals very fast, to present our ideas to clients.” The team of Cayas Architects was also looking for a better alternative demonstrating their work to them – instead of just showing the floor plans, they wanted the clients to really experience their work. In this context, the team was also aiming for a way to include Virtual Reality (VR) into their workflow. “We wanted to offer our clients a more emotional and mind-blowing experience of their project, before it is even built.”

The process to a more emotional and mind-blowing experience

Cayas Architects started to search on the Internet for a solution that would work as an interface between Revit and VR and they found Enscape:

Enscape stood out against all the others and as it delivered everything we needed.
We wanted to increase efficiency for visualizations and save a lot of time.
With Enscape we achieved all we had in mind. It is phenomenal!
Jeremy Ward

While testing Enscape they directly loved the high quality of the renderings and the simple integration in Revit. The fact that you can keep working on one platform and require nearly no training to use Enscape was perfect. “Give your colleague a maximum of 30 minutes and he is able to walk through the project. This is amazing!” The Oculus connectivity was another factor that convinced Cayas Architects about Enscape – “having an interface between Revit and VR was an important thing we were looking for.”

How Enscape helped Cayas Architects

Cayas Architects use Enscape in three ways: As an evaluation tool during design phases, as an effective communication and presentation tool for clients.

1. Evaluation of design options

Cayas Architects primarily use Enscape in the different design phases during the whole project. They especially value the option to have Revit on one screen and Enscape on the second. This is a great way to present their work to their client in every stage of the project. Easy and quick modifications of every part of the project are possible to explore the changes directly in Enscape, even in front of clients. “This helps us to better evaluate different design options internally and together with the client.”

2. Client communication

In addition to evaluation, Cayas Architects use Enscape for their client communication, by sending them a standalone file of the project. “Actually, once our clients experience their project in Enscape, they prefer to see less of floor plans and more of the design progress in Enscape.” This way the client communication is much easier and clients are happy to walk through their project on their own.
As an additional service, Cayas Architects use Enscape for their clients’ marketing communication. They send them Enscape renderings, which are used for their marketing purposes. Therefore, a win-win for both parties.

3. Presentation of project stages and results

Finally, Cayas Architects use Enscape to present the various stages of the project to their clients. They are now able to easily present their progress to clients by inviting them to the office. “Before, we showed them floor plans on the screen, which for many people is difficult to fully understand. Now, with Enscape, we virtually walk through the project with them and our clients love it!”

Their results

Overall the team of Cayas Architects saved a lot of time for their 3D visualizations since they are using Enscape, and as Jeremy said, “saving time in our business equals saving money!”

Being able to visualize your design in every stage of the project is the outstanding advantage of Enscape.
Jeremy Ward

Additionally, Enscape fits into their workflow really well. As they can keep on working in Revit, the advantages of Enscape can be achieved seamlessly.

When Cayas Architects finally receive their Oculus equipment, they are thrilled to show their clients an extraordinary 3D walkthrough. “We see value in providing our clients with a state of the art experience by offering them a virtual reality walkthrough in their project.”

Example project

Cayas Architects also shared their experience with Enscape during one of their projects – The Lions Richlands Sports Club – Brisbane. This project included a complete refurbishment and extension of the existing club. It is a large building and the whole project was heavily interior design focused.

For this project, the team used Enscape at every planning stage, starting with the concept design, through detail design to the whole planning approval process. Additionally, they used Enscape for their clients’ marketing communication, so that the club could put images in magazines and newspapers.

Enscape was most useful during the design development and detail design phase of the project.
It was an effortless way to show the client what we are planning to do.
And it was successful!
Jeremy Ward

For Cayas Architects it was great to visualize all Revit materials, which in turn helped them to get their materials in place – “As soon as you press the button it’s all there, which is incredible.”

The icing on the top: The client loved it as well. “They’ve never seen something like this before.” The client was accustomed to see floor plans or small static images but a virtual walkthrough of their project was completely new to them. As Jeremy told us, “they were so keen to use Enscape regularly, they even got themselves a better computer to use it in-house!” This meant that the team was able to constantly send them updated models as a standalone file as they wanted to see the design progress all the time in Enscape.

Enscape was pretty helpful during this project.
It saved us a lot of time and made the communication with the client extremely efficient.
Jeremy Ward

Final remarks

According to Jeremy, Cayas Architects was able to save 75% of their time to produce 3D visualizations by using Enscape.

It cuts down so much time, it’s unbelievable.
Thank you for providing such a great tool!
Jeremy Ward

Thank you Jeremy and Cayas Architects for your support and the honor of sharing your experience with us and our community!

Explore Enscape yourself and try it for free. Also, feel free to share this article with your friends and colleagues or give us a like!

The post Cayas Architects: Clients only want to see the progress in Enscape appeared first on Enscape.

“Enscape gives you the advantage of spending more time designing and exploring.”

Connor Gatzke | Architectural Student | Iowa State U

Who’s Connor?

I’m a second-generation Revit user. I grew up around Revit for as long as I can remember. My dad is architect Mike Gatzke – a well known early Revit adopter and architectural instructor. My earliest memories are of my dad using Revit around 2004 to design our house. At the time I was only nine years old and Revit was way over my head. I was just intrigued by its use as a medium for ideas from the head to be generated and constructed into something that can be experienced in physical reality. Like a lot of kids my age interested in 3D, my earliest design interest came from drawing, SketchUp and Minecraft.

When I was a senior in high school I decided to take some design classes. We started out using Chief Architect, which in my opinion was a total waste of time. It didn’t get interesting until we started learning how to use AutoCAD and Revit. And of course I had the advantage of being able to ask my dad technical questions! I ended up using Revit to enter an affordable housing competition during my senior year and the final project turned out really well. Becoming a finalist in the competition was a big confidence booster for me.

When it was time for college my dad really wanted to make sure I was aware of the facts of architecture school and the profession: long hours, late nights and other economic realities. My initial visits to Iowa State were spent checking out the engineering program. I didn’t have as much of a passion for engineering but I had a knack for math and knew it would be better pay. My final visit was checking out the design programs there and architecture just seemed like the perfect fit.

My freshman year I did design work which I had to put together into a portfolio to apply into the very competitive architecture program at ISU. Getting the acceptance letter into the program is one of my favorite memories. I’m 21 years old and will be starting my fourth year of college (third year of architecture school) this fall at Iowa State. I plan on finishing my fifth year and then getting my masters degree.

Web: www.cgatzke.com
Snapchat: connor.gatzke
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/connor-gatzke-3990a7126

Why Enscape?

The studio professor I had my first semester in the program preferred everything be hand drafted. It definitely took much longer. I found that kind of frustrating– using the computer isn’t cheating. If anything using 3D makes the design process harder because you quickly become accountable for the entire design rather than isolated plans, sections and elevations. I really wish my early studio professors let us embrace Revit sooner.

The second year of architectural school I was using Revit on a regular basis. Rather than make the design process easier, Revit simply gives you more time to improve your design earlier. At that point, professors pretty much wanted images to be printed out rather than displayed on screen. So I’d export from Revit and put trace paper over the images. Then my professor and I could sit down and draw overtop those images, “redlining” any necessary design modifications. It was a strange kind of hybrid digital process that often impeded my design development.

I only learned about Enscape at the start of last semester. My dad had forwarded me a link to an article he thought I would find interesting. Needless to say, I did. I started using Enscape right away. There really wasn’t any learning curve since you’re actually doing everything in Revit and simply exploring in Enscape. My competition partner was also much more happy to use Enscape rather than having to learn another rendering tool. As a result, we were fortunate enough to entirely bypass the process of “click and wait” to render in Revit. This gave us an advantage of spending more time designing and exploring. Our project turned out much better because of Enscape.

For anyone that’s been to architectural school, you know it’s a pretty competitive environment. As a result, we kept Enscape very close to the chest. It was kind of our secret weapon. Students not using Revit envied the ease of rendering we had with Enscape. Enscape allowed us to explore the project from any direction and make adjustments while immediately seeing the results in a high quality and real-time rendered model.

When another student was using Max, SketchUp or Rhino, they were constantly jumping between different applications to get things done. Getting renderings out of any of those tools was a painful process that required a lot of time and patience – something in short supply during architecture school.

I recall once hearing a professor admonish their students, “Do a rendering every night before you go to sleep – and then it’ll be done when you wake up”. In other words, you are pretty much a sitting duck for 8+ hours while your computer puts all of its power into generating a single still image.

As Caleb and I were working on our spring design competition, we weren’t having any of that. Other students would start rendering days before the deadline. They still had post production to do in a Photoshop! As final review day approached, other students would ask, “When are you going to start doing your renderings?” We just kept refining the design and quietly reviewed the results in Enscape.

We owe the success of our final project to being able to review the project and make changes in a live, fully rendered view. Our professors were really interested in our working process. We’d walk through the design with them in Enscape in realtime and show options to them during a live review. Our professors really loved the ability to resolve issues in the moment and at a far higher level of detail and feedback.

If there were more extensive changes that had to be made, we could quickly and painlessly screenshot the Enscape image and print it off for him to draw on top of. The whole process took less than a minute. Good luck doing that with another rendering program!

When it was finally time to export our final images, Enscape really pulled through. Our final presentation board size was 44″ x 14′. On it, we had a 6k render from Enscape which was 2′ x 4′. We were able to save the image from Enscape in under five minutes. If you’re using Revit, it only makes sense to use Enscape.

Thanks!

Glad to chat and looking forward to using Enscape on my design projects next year. I’ll keep uploading images to my online portfolio. Please check in from time to time!

Phil Read – Read|Thomas – Author

LinkedIn –                  www.linkedin.com/in/readphil
Read|Thomas –         www.readthomas.com

hello@readthomas.com

The post Connor Gatzke: If You’re Using Revit It Only Makes Sense To Use Enscape. appeared first on Enscape.

“We were not doing renderings in Revit prior to Enscape. We simply didn’t have time to push the rendering button and wait.”

Dave Wilde | VDC Operations | Aspen Group

Who’s Dave?

I’m a Senior Architect and Virtual Design Manager for the Aspen Group, a 40-person, fully integrated design/build/furnish firm headquartered outside of Chicago, Illinois. Aspen Group started more than a decade ago. We’re exclusively focused on serving the church and ministry market, primarily working with churches in the Midwest and Southeast regions.

I have more than 25 years experience in the architectural profession, and I’ve been using Revit since 2009. At Aspen, we use Revit throughout the project development, and we engage with MEP and Structural partners in Revit as well. We do as much virtual coordination as possible prior to construction.

Churches are incredibly personal spaces that have to adapt to meet a wide variety of uses for multiple generations. Because of our design/build/furnish approach, we have the unique experience and ability to carefully shepherd the building process from concept to completion. Fit, finish, detail, and budget are all Incredibly important to us and our clients.

Twitter: www.twitter.com/Aspen_Group
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/davidhwilde

Why Enscape?

We take pride in the amount of detail that we put into our Revit projects, including finish products so the client can visualize what the actual materials will look like in their new space. But prior to using Enscape, we weren’t doing renderings in Revit. We simply didn’t have time to push the rendering button and wait.

As a result, we used to outsource rendering of still images, but the turnaround was never fast enough. Additionally, still images don’t fully communicate the design–they’re simply frozen snapshots.

Revit allows for robust coordination, but it lacks in the ability to visually explore designs with the owner. Enscape, however, has solved this problem. We’re using Enscape from early design visualization through high-resolution, finished explorations.

We’re also using Revit to indicate material selection much sooner than we did previously. For our projects, materials and lighting are incredibly strategic. And clearly communicating our design decisions to committees is always a challenge. Enscape helps us visualize designs with actual materials, flooring, and finishes. Clients can ask to see variations within the context of the virtual space, so Enscape helps create a flowing and flexible process.

Most importantly, we’re not spending time learning to use another stand-alone application. What we present to the client in Enscape is simply a byproduct of what we are doing in Revit, rather than a disconnected, separate, or parallel process.

We always design to the budget, and Enscape helps us display materials, finishes, and content so that the client can interact with and respond to actual finish choices, furnishings, colors, and lighting that fall within their budget. Simply being able to adjust the lumen and indirect lighting within landscape when we present designs using Enscape is amazing—quite frankly it blows the clients mind!

When we work with a church, we create a roadmap to help them understand what they can afford. We also have to create a variety of worship environments that can accommodate multiple uses and generations. Communicating all of this design information is incredibly complex, but we’re having a blast using Enscape to help do this.

In the end, you can’t simply show your client pictures. You have to help everyone involved begin to experience the space while pointing out issues that impact fit, finish, and pricing. This is not about rendering—it’s about understanding. It’s about creating a compelling and complete decision-making process that gives the client confidence to move forward.

We’ve understood for a long time that in order to communicate design concepts properly, we need to convey information within context. You can’t show the client a material board and then point to a colored floor plan and expect them to piece it all together in their head. Maybe that was fine 5 years ago, but not anymore. The client may say they understand, but in our experience, they often were picturing something different. These misunderstandings eventually create a lot of stress for everyone involved.

For the first time, Enscape helps us help the client really understand and experience the project before the design is built. In fact, we had a meeting a few weeks ago where we were able to get sign off on 150 decisions in about 3 hours. Not only did Enscape save everyone involved enormous stress, time, and money, but we’re confident that the client really understands what the final product will look like.

To put it another way, Revit is great for coordinating—but Enscape is great at communicating and inspiring. The client and project team need to explore and experience the space before the design is built. As far as we’re concerned there’s no other way to do this than Enscape.

Thanks!

Our mission at Aspen Group is to create space for ministry impact. Enscape has become an important part of our overall workflow and a key tool for helping us accomplish this. We’re grateful for this incredible technology.

Phil Read – Read|Thomas – Author

LinkedIn –                  www.linkedin.com/in/readphil
Read|Thomas –         www.readthomas.com

hello@readthomas.com

The post Aspen Group: Revit Is Great For Coordinating; Enscape Is Great For Inspiring appeared first on Enscape.

“Enscape could replace any rendering engine for interiors visualization.”

Nick Craver | WGM Design | Charlotte, NC

Who’s Nick?

I’m an architect and 3D BIM specialist with WGM Design in Charlotte, North Carolina (www.wgmdesign.com). I graduated from the University of North Carolina Charlotte with a degree in architecture in 2001. Initially I went into graphic design but soon after moved into construction. I was hired by WGM 2004 and started using Revit in 2007.

During my time at UNCC I started working in 3D with Form*Z. Since then have learned to use a number of 3D modeling tools. To me, all the various 3D tools are pretty much the same. The advantage with Revit is that I also get control the final product and documentation at the same time as I’m modeling the building.

Twitter: www.twitter.com/WGMDesignInc
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/nick-craver-883483a

Why Enscape?

As I mentioned before, WGM began using Revit in 2007. We do a wide array of projects. Our present focus is on commercial interior up-fits, private educational and religious projects. We’re not a very large firm – but I don’t consider this a disadvantage. Think of it this way: every large firm is really made of small teams, just like us. But our size gives us the advantage of being flexible when it comes to experimenting with and using new technology. Our fast adoption of Enscape (enscape3d.com) immediately helped our clients schedules by significantly reducing rendering times.

I’m not exaggerating when I say that it can take a large firm two weeks just to install a new application that someone wants to try out on a project. It’s almost like large firms have meetings just to schedule meetings! On the other hand, we’re encouraged to try new things. We can discover a new technology on Friday and begin using it on Monday. This is exactly what happened when we first saw Enscape.

Within the first day of using Enscape, I was publishing images from a university project to be used by the project manager for presentation with a client. I believe this kind of agility and attention to detail is what gives WGM an enormous competitive advantage over firms literally hundreds of times our size. When clients call us they’re immediately talking to the person working on their project. This kind of client focus is our key value – we don’t have all the layers and politics.

Clients love our ability to use Revit from the earliest point in design and Enscape helps us communicate and experience our designs like never before. We like to model everything the camera sees – even down to detailed fixtures and light switches. This attention to detail really brings the project to life.

With Enscape, we’re not doing anything different. We’re basically using Revit like we’ve always used Revit as if we were going to create still image renderings. If anything, I’m using Revit better than before because I’m more aware of how materials and lighting will look when the project is built and finished. But instead of waiting 8 to 10 hours for a 4K rendering to complete in Revit, I’m able to produce a better quality image in under five minutes with Enscape.

With the typical rendering process in Revit, you set up your camera along with all the other settings, while trying to “imagine” what the final product will look like. But with Enscape, you can see the final rendering before you create the image. You can even tweak the image settings in the live view and get an immediate feedback before saving the image. This advantage alone completely side steps time-consuming postproduction in Photoshop.

I’ve used a lot of rendering tools – including 3ds Max. I’m not exaggerating when I say that Enscape could replace any rendering engine for interiors visualization. But with Enscape you have the advantage of actually being able to explore your project from any angle and lighting condition.

To be honest, I really don’t like a lot of the materials that come out of the box with Revit. So I typically modify and customize my materials. And this is what gives Enscape powerful simplicity. When I’m changing materials lighting in Revit I can immediately see the results in Enscape. No more pushing the rendering button and waiting to see if I’ve made the right decision.

I really like Enscape’s simplicity with navigation. The PC game-like controls make it so easy to navigate the design model.

Thanks!

Glad we were able to talk about our experience with using Enscape. Let’s keep in touch and I’ll be sure to send over some more images from time to time for you guys to post on Twitter. Just don’t forget to mention where they came from – WGM Design in Charlotte, NC!

Phil Read – Read|Thomas – Author

LinkedIn –                  www.linkedin.com/in/readphil
Read|Thomas –         www.readthomas.com

hello@readthomas.com

The post WGM Design: Enscape helps us communicate & experience our designs like never before appeared first on Enscape.

Live renderers offer the flexibility and speed that the design industry needs along with the freedom for designers to fully immerse themselves within their projects.

Traditionally, renders were generated from setting a static camera view within a 3D computer model. To be successful, they needed 3D geometry, materiality and light to merge into a photorealistic image. An image capable of selling an idea to a client.

These static renders were born from designers translating their flat 2D content into 3D, using modelling software like 3ds Max.

However, the design industry evolves fast. Soon, designers shifted from 2D software like AutoCAD, into 3D BIM software. Revit soon took the VHS crown, leaving Betamax softwares floundering in its wake. As a one-stop-shop for design, Revit offered all the tools.

With 3D modelling at its core, Revit intelligently integrated objects with data to output 2D documentation, schedules and photorealistic renders. By doing all the work in one software, content only needed to be modelled once. Work-rate efficiency and multi-disciplinary coordination improved to reduce risk. Multiple work-streams were merged into one, as we made the model intelligence work harder.

But, we were still locked down to that single camera view and idly waited while our renders slowly processed. We needed greater freedom and though Revit helped us geometrically unify building objects, we were still locked out from experiencing first-hand, the wonderful spaces we had created. AutoDesk, the creators of Revit, had shown us the sun but forgotten to remove our sunglasses. They had given us a precision 3D modelling tool that when combined with good construction techniques, could be used to generate 2D documents like plans, elevations and sections. We could hybridise by overlaying our 3D model views with 2D content like notes, dimensions and materiality to enable developmental conversations between the details and the 3D model.

But the door to explore was yet to be opened.

We were frustrated. While Revit finished rendering each tiny pixel, our work-stream bottlenecked and deadlines surged forward.

So we invested big money in visualisation grade computers, we utilised idle network processing power to create our own in-office render farms and we rented cloud based render farms like AutoDesk’s A360 to compress time.

But still we were locked into that static 3D view. Forced to wait until the cake was baked before knowing if it tasted good.

Our 3D modelling deserved more than this constricted procedure. Our rendering method needed to be as free as the nature of design itself. The fixed camera needed to dismount. Our eyes needed to become immersed in our created realities. We needed to infinitely explore each cranny of our design to find that perfect vantage point. We had a right to discover that undiscovered perfect view.

And then out of the blue arrived the live renderer.

With a click of a button, a fully rendered 3D model was immediately generated.

An office crowd drew nearly as fast.

We looked around and saw the materials used in the Revit model. A red face brick was too dark, so we lightened it in Revit and immediately it updated in the live renderer.

With a single mouse sweep, the sun moved to late afternoon and we watch as shadows waltzed live across the beautifully rendered marble floor.

We turn and the distant kitchen lures us forward, so with a keyboard click we walk towards it. The journey time seems long so consider ways of shifting the kitchen closer.

An emotional sense of relief emerges as we walk beneath a vacuous double height living space only to be suddenly blinded by direct sun coming through a roof-light. We make a mental note to shift it later.

We see a junction between a curtain wall, a balustrade and a bulkhead that would make Mondrian weep and we leap back in Revit to realign the elements. The live renderer automatically updates to match the Revit model and our eyes are at peace once again.

We hit the space bar and take flight to maintain a close external orbit around the project only to notice a parapet and its flashing awkwardly meeting an adjoining feature clad wall. Though not visible on the main elevations, its position is prominent from the pedestrian entrance approach and had we not seen it with the live renderer, it would have driven us to drink seeing it after it was built.

As we explore the live rendered model, we screen capture numerous views, each rendered with materials, radiating sunlight and perfectly draped in shadow. Our design is now spoilt for choice.

Photoshop will not be opened today and there will be plenty of time for tea.

Thank you Enscape3D.

The post Live Renderers. The Freedom Our Designs Deserve – Morrow Brady | McAdam Design appeared first on Enscape.

“Enscape not only cuts down on hours spent producing renderings, but is offering project teams the ability to instantly experience the spaces they are designing while they work.”

Ian Siegel and Paul Renner | BIM Practice Specialists | Kohn Pedersen Fox

Who’s Ian and Paul?

We’re BIM Practice Specialists at Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF) Architects in New York (www.kpf.com). The most enjoyable part of our work is finding solutions for teams of designers and architects that improve their problem-solving, modeling, design, and documentation processes.

Ian Siegel:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ian_siegel
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/siegelian

Paul Renner:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/pmrphotography
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pmrvisuals

Why Enscape?

Our design technology team has always recognized that rendering is an inefficient process. A typical rendering workflow usually requires a project be exported from the model authoring software – usually Revit or Rhino – into another application for rendering, followed by several hours spent preparing the model (materials, lighting, camera setup) just to hit the render button. While the finished results of this process are spectacular, it takes too long, can be extremely tedious, and does not accommodate rapid and last minute design changes.

When we first took Enscape (enscape3d.com) for a test drive, we were immediately impressed with how little time and effort was required to walk through our fully-rendered model like we were playing a video game, and producing high-resolution renderings was just a matter of clicking a button. In many ways, we saw Enscape as a tool that would help us get more mileage out of our Revit projects and reap more of the benefits of our investment in BIM.

We’re still in the process of rolling out Enscape, but so far, interest has been positive and organic. Once in a while, Paul will invite an entire design team over to his desk to let them take turns viewing their project in Enscape through the Oculus VR headset. In fact, one project team enjoyed this immersive experience of their project for the first time a few days before a major milestone deadline – it was refreshing for them to take a break from their work on two-dimensional drawings to move throughout the space and be reminded how their project is so breathtaking.

Although there’s been a tremendous amount of buzz recently around Virtual Reality, there are still plenty of people who have never experienced the technology. About a week or two ago, we pulled a site model of New York City from another application into Revit and highlighted the buildings in the city designed by KPF. This week we’re going to display the model in our gallery and fire up Enscape with the Oculus VR headset plugged in for anybody in the office to take their first virtual walk around town. So far, it’s been a great way of demonstrating the potential for VR to the handful of people who have asked about it, but we’re looking forward to introducing this technology to people who have only heard of VR and never seen it in action.

We’ve discovered we’re using Enscape as a kind of “digital prototyping” tool. For example, we now rotate through multiple design options for wall systems and lobby interiors in Enscape, all within the live Revit model. Any changes we make to the model update automatically and immediately in Enscape. We don’t feel like we’re rendering – it’s more like we’re exploring.

Our BIM team expects Enscape to continue to catch on very quickly at KPF because it’s easy for a user to pick it up and start exploring. Enscape doesn’t feel like it’s an additional software to deal with, it feels more like another viewport in Revit that contains a live-rendered 3D view. We’ve recommended a few settings to help designers achieve the KPF rendering “look and feel”, but the user interface and navigation is intuitive enough that we don’t expect a need for training.

We’re pleased to see that Enscape has added to the ability to export projects in a stand-alone viewing environment. This should really help with project reviews and client presentations that don’t require Revit.

As much as we love the “M” in BIM – the Model – the real power is in the “I” – the Information. We think Enscape can help us do a great job of experiencing the model and visualizing the data simultaneously.

Thanks!

You’re very welcome! We hope we can touch base in a couple of weeks and give you an update on KPF’s global rollout and share some more images!

Phil Read – Read|Thomas – Author

LinkedIn –                  www.linkedin.com/in/readphil
Read|Thomas –         www.readthomas.com

hello@readthomas.com

The post Kohn Pedersen Fox: A New Way To Experience BIM appeared first on Enscape.

“Rendering is dead. We need to visualize, explore and discover from any and every angle.”

Richard Lopez | VDC Manager | Hensel Phelps

Who’s Richard?

I work in Denver Colorado as the VC manager for Hensel Phelps Construction. I have an architectural background and although not licensed to have worked on a variety of large projects in the design build industry. I’ve also worked in the reseller space doing Revit training. I’ve been working with Hensel Phelps since the spring of 2010.

Primary job function at Hensel Phelps is to train staff and work with project teams to really dial in the architectural models. This means a lot of collaboration with superintendents. I also work a lot on the marketing side helping to prepare visuals and high and marketing images for proposals. I’ll typically prepare a lot of interior renderings for medical projects, high-end office buildings and hotel/hospitality. The bottom line is we need to show what it’s going to look like it before it’s built.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/omegalopez713
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-lopez-60aa574

Why Enscape?

Previous to using in Enscape I prepare a lot of walk-throughs in game engines. Not just for architectural work but also to review structural models. But once I started using Enscape, I’ve never looked back. Using Enscape, I’m able to quickly and easily give the project team an overall idea and then very quickly and easily focus in on the details. With very little effort I can produce fantastic results.

What’s been surprising is that even the superintendents are buying into using Enscape. They know how gaming works. They’re using these kinds of tools with their kids and even their grand-kids. The superintendents are not holding back, they’re really engaging.

In some ways using Enscape is better clash detection then some other purpose built class detection tools out there. Enscape is much more immersive, while the other tools are not. I get that being able to simply push a button to find clashes is a great idea. But in the real world it’s much more subtle, where you simply need to walk around and find problems. That’s where Enscape really shines.

I’ve also stopped using other rendering tools and now rely on Revit. Images from Enscape are very fast and look amazing and I don’t have to spend time in post-production. I zoom around live with the marketing team and when they see an image they’d like to have for rendering we just stop and I save an HD image in about 15 seconds.

The owners really love it too. In one particular case, I was working on a very high-end 42 story building and the finishes were very important to the owner. We were paying particular attention to very fine details and how materials wrapped. Even the edges of tile and grout had to match reveals in the wall which ultimately could be followed up to tiling in the ceiling. Everything had to be resolved before design was complete.

By using Enscape, we were making changes in Revit and visualizing the results on-the-fly. As we were in the meeting the owner exclaims, “This is amazing! What program are you using?” What I didn’t tell anyone was that I had no training. I’d downloaded the Enscape trial the night before. That’s how easy it is to use Enscape. At the end of the meeting, the owner states, “Wow you guys are doing exactly what we want.” There’s no better validation of success.

Being able to make changes in the Revit model and immediately see the results in Enscape is one of the reasons Enscape makes more sense than a “clash detection” program. We’re working on the construction model live in Revit. The other benefit is that people are willing to spend more time in Revit. Getting the model, the lighting and and the materials right is a worthwhile investment when you can see the results side-by-side with to your Revit model. It’s not about rendering, it’s about real world.

Using Enscape has been a great win for me. No more Exporting. No more Showcase. No more Max. No extra material libraries. No more complicated workflow. I think Enscape is a total game changer and I’m not kidding when I say I could see Enscape replacing Navisworks.

How I keep coming back to this but it’s really important. Clash detection isn’t just about clashes and you can’t push a button to figure things out. The great thing about Enscape is that it makes the project discoverable. You can walk around in the real world and discover problems that aren’t clashes.

The real beauty of Enscape is that anyone can pick it up and use it. I hope that never changes.

Thanks!

Really glad we were able to chat. I’m really looking forward to see Enscape develop in terms of features and functions. But I’m also looking forward to seeing Escape develop in terms of passionate user community. These guys really deserve to be successful, so anything I can do to help get out the word is great.

Phil Read – Read|Thomas – Author

LinkedIn –                  www.linkedin.com/in/readphil
Read|Thomas –         www.readthomas.com

hello@readthomas.com

The post Hensel Phelps Construction: No more Complicated Workflow – Enscape is a total game changer appeared first on Enscape.

“Enscape breaks the shackles of 2D rendering & animation.”

Kathy Kajaks | Associate, BIM-CAD Manager | Stephenson Engineering Ltd

Who’s Alex?

I’m a VDC engineer for McCarthy Building Companies, a national general contractor. My career started in architecture and engineering, but I moved to the “C” part of the AEC industry at the beginning of 2015. McCarthy has nearly 2000 employees and is dedicated to providing an Exceptional Client Experience.

This mindset provides a lot of freedom when finding solutions that have to satisfy multiple problems. It gives me the freedom to combine the right software with the right hardware and the right team. This is an incredibly important point – the right solution is not about technology: it’s about the team and the added value in terms of experience and expectations.

McCarthy performs a lot of work, and we need to be able to show highly technical conditions before they’re built as realistically as possible. With the pace of change on our projects, we don’t have time to create renderings.

The other challenge is a resistance by the design team to create detailed visualizations early to avoid showing something that is not feasible to achieve in scope or budget. To overcome this challenge, we simply set expectations and explain that things aren’t always going to be resolved every step of the way.

In other words, we don’t always need to have the entire building designed to understand how to solve a problem. Sometimes we just need virtual mockups and rapid design iterations. Enscape is fantastic at helping explain the pieces and parts that ultimately make up the whole.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/McCarthyBuild
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mccarthy-building-companies-inc

Why Enscape?

The experience inside of Enscape (enscape3d.com) is incredibly polished. And if you consider the price point it doesn’t make sense not to use it. At the speed things move we don’t often have time to train people to use complex tools just before a major deadline. Enscape requires practically no training. If you can figure out how to use Revit then using Enscape is a no-brainer.

Using Enscape is not about real-time. In fact, I think that the term “real-time” is overused. We don’t have time to use real-time. But we have time to use Enscape. The fact that Enscape works side-by-side with Revit doesn’t make it feel like we’re using another separate application. It’s more like Revit finally has the functionality that it’s been missing all of these years.

For what we do, Enscape breaks the shackles of 2-D rendering and animations. In fact, when you think about it, both 2-D renderings and animations are fixed, static environments. On the other hand Enscape allows us to lose the barriers between merely visualizing something and really experiencing something. If a client needs a finished image, I can export it right there in the moment. That alone completely eliminates confusion about what the client is going to get when they request a rendering.

Another thing is that software companies that started out creating real-time visualization tools are now trying to do too much. On the other hand Enscape is focusing on one thing: be amazing at visualization. I’ve already got clash, measuring and other coordination tools in other applications. And none of those other coordination tools match what Enscape is doing in terms beautiful visualization.

Keep in mind that Enscape is also incredibly valuable when used side-by-side with Revit. When I’m in design review mode, I keep and Enscape open on one screen and Revit on the other. I’ll make a few design decisions in Revit and then explore and validate them in Enscape.

Thanks!

You’re very welcome! Let’s follow up in a couple of weeks and I’ll give you an update on our rollout of Enscape in 2016.

Phil Read – Read|Thomas – Author

LinkedIn –                  www.linkedin.com/in/readphil
Read|Thomas –         www.readthomas.com

hello@readthomas.com

The post Stephenson Engineering Ltd: Virtual Mock-Ups and Rapid Design Iteration appeared first on Enscape.

“Enscape has completely changed how we showcase our work.”

Kathy Kajaks | Associate, BIM-CAD Manager | Stephenson Engineering Ltd

Who’s Stephenson Engineering?

Stephenson Engineering is a 100+ strong Canadian structural engineering firm with offices in Calgary, Ottawa and Toronto. We started out as a small firm in Toronto in 1969. As of 2015 we have completed over 7,500 projects that represent some of the most complex structural projects in Canada.

Stephenson began using Revit Structure around 2006 and rapidly transitioned completely to Revit. Moving to Revit made complete sense to us as engineers in terms of collaboration, coordination and overall increase in productivity.

Twitter: www.twitter.com/stephensoneng
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/stephenson-engineering-ltd
Web: www.stephenson-eng.com

Why Enscape?

Our BIM development team at Stephenson was looking for a method to produce renderings of our structural models based on three parameters: the tool had to render quickly, someone outside of a drafting / engineering background had to be able to use it and the final product had to lend context to our work via realism.

In 2015 we brought Damian Mellin, Stephenson’s Communications Director into the BIM development team. With his creative background working with 3D design and pre-visualization software he understood that it was important to develop our own dynamic high quality images for our marketing, pursuit visualizations and creating presentation slides for PowerPoint.

When we looked into traditional rendering the processes take entirely too long. By the time you finish just a few project renderings the design changes and you have to re-render. We tried to speed up the process by exporting from Revit and rendering in Max but that just complicates the process even more.

When we discovered Brian Mackey raving about Enscape (enscape3d.com) on his blog (www.bdmackeyconsulting.com/blog) we were cautiously optimistic. It wasn’t long after we downloaded the trial and tested Enscape on a few of our projects that we purchased our first network license.

In the process we discovered Enscape motivates our design teams to do better work in Revit because any flaws are quickly discovered. You might think that it’s hard to get structural engineers excited about real-time visualization with Enscape. But you would be wrong! Enscape is user-friendly, fast and incredibly easy to use. It’s the first time we can remember our engineers being excited about rendering.

Even the principals of the firm are impressed. Their first question after seeing renderings we created was, “How long did this take?” Asking how long something took is a common question among engineers. So, when they found out each image took about 60 seconds they were amazed.

One of our first Enscape images ended up on the cover of our marketing brochure. We also showcase images from Enscape on the homepage of our company’s website. Enscape has completely changed the way we view real-time visualization and photorealistic renderings. This might be hard to imagine but our structural engineers are actually excited about making renderings in Enscape.

Enscape takes away all the stress from creating beautiful visualizations. We’re able to play with the time of day, materials and even reflections in real time. When we get everything in the view just right we export the image. There’s no guess work involved – and saving the high quality rendering takes about a minute. Once the rendering is complete there’s no Photoshop. Enscape produces beautiful renderings without the need for time-consuming postproduction.

Not only are we using Enscape to create practically all of our project renderings, we’ve begun using it to walk to through our projects in real time with the client, our contractors and our design partners.

Thanks!

Glad we were able to chat. Please keep Enscape beautiful and simple – and don’t get bought by you know who!

Phil Read – Read|Thomas – Author

LinkedIn –                  www.linkedin.com/in/readphil
Read|Thomas –         www.readthomas.com

hello@readthomas.com

The post Stephenson Engineering Ltd: We’re Structural Engineers. There’s No Time To Render. But We Have Time for Enscape. appeared first on Enscape.

“Enscape helps you use Revit more thoughtfully. The feedback makes you go to the next level of detail.”

Brian Mackey | Owner | BDMackey Consulting

Who’s Brian?

I’m an independent information modeling consultant from Denver, Colorado. My professional start was in woodworking and construction. Over the years I have gained a great deal of practical experience that allows me to find unique approaches for each of my clients to help them advance their workflows and become more efficient and profitable.

At the first woodworking company I worked, I was really the only person even able to use the computers we had available. This was back when AutoCAD was first coming on the scene. To utilize the technology, the company decided I was the best person to attend a few community college courses to learn AutoCAD, which then led to CNC programming. I took to the technology and new workflows quite easily. As a result I quickly discovered that much of the work I was producing (mostly shop drawings) were more accurate than what architects were providing.

Eventually one of the architectural firms I often worked with offered me a position in their office. I took the position but due to my non-formal training, I quickly discovered that I had to overcome some amount of bias working among architects. Fortunately, I eventually transitioned to an architecture firm that valued my construction experience.

Eventually, my experience at these firms lead me to work for Autodesk reseller beginning in 2004, not long after the Revit acquisition. I remember when I first saw Revit. I thought, “Wow – Revit is going to completely change the industry.” I soon started using Revit and took to it even easier than when I learned AutoCAD. I stopped using AutoCAD in 2005 and I have never looked back.

During my time at the reseller I trained over 1,000 AEC professionals. Most were in the greater Denver area, but many in other regions of the country. In this time I developed countless relationships with various firms and was able to build on my knowledge and practical experience through helping those firms to learn and find their most profitable workflows.

I met my wife in 2009. Desirée is a structural engineer who grew up in her father’s GC firm. She was familiar with working in and running a family business. Desirée encouraged me to pursue my aspirations of moving beyond the reseller basic-level training and we opened BD Mackey Consulting in 2011. I have discovered that running my own business includes a great deal of stress, but also has numerous advantages. I am able to direct my work so I stay challenged, and therefore interested. One should never underestimate the detrimental nature of boredom! My clients hire me to solve interesting, high-level problems that are ever-changing.

Ultimately, this means I’m able work for the best clients, on the most interesting projects, and really enjoy what I do. In addition to my consulting work, I’m a pretty regular speaker at BIM conferences. I teach classes at RTC, BIM Workshops, and Autodesk University. I also am a member of the leadership committee for our local users group.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/therevitgeek
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mackeybrian
Company: www.bdmackeyconsulting.com

Why Enscape?

When I first saw Enscape (enscape3d.com) my thoughts were, “Holy crap this is cool!” It’s important to understand that many clients don’t have the time to use Revit to render. Even when rendering in the cloud is fast, it’s not fast enough and not very intuitive. The trial and error of rendering to see what your rendering will look like is a terrible workflow.

This is why I think Enscape has an advantage over Revit’s own rendering engine. Not only is it faster than cloud rendering, the user always knows exactly what the finished rendering will look like prior to saving the image.

Another reason I like Enscape is because it helps to use Revit more thoughtfully. The real-time feedback prompts the user to go to the next level of detail in Revit. As a bonus, the information is kept within Revit.

Let’s be honest, it is not particularly easy to explore Revit projects natively within Revit. Sure, there are navigation tools, but typically the user is on the outside looking in, and the visual quality while navigating in Revit leaves a lot to be desired.

Buildings are meant to be inhabited and Enscape allows the user to practically experience the inside of the building before it’s built. I’ve observed that clients love the immediate feedback, and they gain a sense validation that the design is headed the right direction. The camera tracking tool is enormously useful for giving context in Revit from the view in Enscape.

Whatever the Enscape team does, please don’t become another DWF viewer. I used to love that tool but then it got really bloated and overcomplicated. As a result, I basically stopped using DWF. I don’t need another coordination tool. I don’t need another measuring tool. Keep Enscape user-friendly and simple. People love Enscape for what it does: beautiful and easy to explore real-time experience. Enscape does not have to solve every problem to be successful. Keep improving on what Enscape already does.

Thanks!

I am glad we were able to chat. I hope our brief discussion will result in people downloading the trial and testing Enscape on their own projects. Once that happens, I don’t believe they’ll ever go back.

Phil Read – Read|Thomas – Author

LinkedIn –                  www.linkedin.com/in/readphil
Read|Thomas –         www.readthomas.com

hello@readthomas.com

The post BDMackey Consulting: Better And Faster Than Cloud Rendering appeared first on Enscape.

Who’s Chris?

During the last decade and a half, I’ve learned that Revit shouldn’t be limited to design coordination and production. I’ve got first hand experience taking Revit files to CNC fabrication for millwork, casework, stairs and timber frame structures. The process is completely digital and eliminates the need for on-site as-built measurements or fabrication. The fit and finish tolerances are exceptionally high.

Even though I’m a firm of one, I’m very competitive (I even play ice hockey in my spare time). Architecture technology has evolved to the point that it’s not about having a large team but rather an integrated process that delivers high value and great design for demanding clients. I assemble my teams based on project requirements, then we collaborate from design through fabrication across wide geographies using a best-of-breed approach that offers on-demand expertise. I’m convinced this is the future of architecture, fabrication and construction. Over the next decade I expect to see the construction process actually evolving into more of an assemblage process.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Chris_Kozub

Why Enscape?

The value of Enscape (enscape3d.com) is the immediacy of feedback. Clients are becoming increasingly less tolerant of being unable to visualize a change as soon as that change has been made. Enscape allows me to help the client experience design changes and options on-the-fly in order to get a decision and then quickly move forward.

However, Enscape is not just about visualization, but about quality-control. It’s about being able to exceed client expectations. The client needs a real world level of detail that gives them a very clear and understandable image of the finished product. For the contractor, we’re able to demonstrate finish conditions that are surprisingly realistic.

Using Enscape is about making the project “real’ for the client. As much as they understand plans, sections, and elevations – or even 3-D for that matter – there is still a lot of confusion until they feel like they are “inside” the space in first person mode. I’ve used this approach for the site, the building and interiors in terms of entourage, finishes, fixtures and equipment. As an added benefit I no longer spend hours every week creating still image renderings. The real-time quality of Enscape in terms of lighting, materials and reflectively is nothing short of phenomenal.

Some design decisions are dependent on other design decisions and the client wants to be part of the process in terms of look, function and experience. Using Enscape, I’m able to quickly show the various phases and design options. This is more about communicating flexibility and process so that we can move on to the next level of detail. It’s more like digital rapid prototyping than real-time visualization.

If we need to explore various design changes, Enscape allows us to do that on the fly and then immediately see the results. This gives a lot of confidence to the client in terms of experiencing the space before it’s finished and avoids surprises or other changes leading up to and during construction. During reviews I simply export an image once we have client approval in order to memorialize decisions.

Overall, it’s about staying ahead of the schedule, particularly on a fast-paced design-build project. By using Enscape, client and contractor confidence is higher and the stress of having to make ambiguous decisions is removed.

I prefer the types of projects where we’re able to fabricate offsite and assemble on-site. We begin by modeling to very high level of detail in Revit. To keep file size down we might even fabricate the casework and millwork as a linked file limited to a single room. This linked file is then sent to the fabricator, who overlays the Revit model and typically remodels in their software that allows for CNC fabrication (Inventor, Solid Works, etc). Once they have completed remodeling in their software, they send us a copy of the file as a DWG or IFC file. Then we link their file into Revit in order to validate tolerances.

Once we give the fabricator go-ahead on their model, they fabricate, finish and pre-assemble entirely off-site. When they are certain that everything fits together properly we give them the go ahead to disassemble and travel for on-site assembly. Not only does this allow incredibly tight finishes but in some cases creates a digital shop drawing review process.

If Escape never changed I would still keep buying it because it’s worth it. It’s unbelievably easy to use and takes away so many other time-consuming processes from pre-design to fabrication validation. That said, I wouldn’t mind the ability to batch export 3D views of renderings from Revit. But in the meantime, the ability to export virtual walk-through environments has proved very helpful.

I don’t think Enscape should go down the road of trying to do too much and then not doing it well. Stick with immersive visualization and be the best. I don’t need more measuring tools. I don’t need more clash detection tools. All that kind of stuff is already in Revit or other applications that I use. I’d love to see Enscape be the best real-time design exploration tool in the world.

I’ve been using Revit and exploring real-time for over a decade and this is the first real-time expiration tool that has impressed my kids. While using Enscape, my kids told me (for the very first time, mind you) that my expensive BIM tools might actually be more interesting than Minecraft!

Thanks!

Very glad that we were able to catch-up. Check in next quarter of 2016 and I’ll give you an update on how we’re using Enscape.

Phil Read – Read|Thomas – Author

LinkedIn –                  www.linkedin.com/in/readphil
Read|Thomas –         www.readthomas.com

hello@readthomas.com

The post Vernacular Design: It’s Not Just About Visualization. It’s About Quality Control. appeared first on Enscape.

Who’s Rumen?

I’m a licensed, LEED Accredited and NCARB Certified Architect working in California. After graduating in 2008, I discovered that success in one area can support my interests in other opportunities. So I’m involved in several ventures simultaneously. In addition to teaching at local colleges Mt. San Antonio College and El Camino College, I’m running an architectural practice, Seeds Studios. My wife and I run a philanthropic organization. I also enjoy supporting the family restaurant. All of these various ventures really keep me energized! Being involved in several opportunities at once never get boring!

I picked up Revit pretty quickly in 2008 while in design school. At that time, there wasn’t much support from professors or other students so I pretty much had to figure it out myself. It didn’t take long to realize that using Revit in architectural school made perfect sense. There were huge time savings in producing plans, elevations, and sections directly within a single application rather than use separate programs like AutoCAD, SketchUp, Rhino, Photoshop, etc. I soon was submitting all of my work in Revit.

Overall, I find the daily demands of taking on many, various interests to be more joyful than the settling for one thing and not being interested enough. I’m really enthusiastic about what I do and the impact I can have doing many things successfully I hope!

Twitter: @seedsstudios
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rumeneremiyskis

Why Enscape?

I can’t imagine working any other way. Enscape (enscape3d.com) is completely integrated with my Revit workflow. I don’t have time to push the rendering button and then wait. I need to be able to show my clients the design in a way that makes complete sense to them. The kind of work I do is very personal and the client wants to be completely involved. Enscape gives me and the client the ability to experience the space from any angle as we would in real life. This is really important to build confidence and understanding for the client and everyone involved. It demonstrates I’m really thinking about the project in a holistic way.

Even early on in a project, Enscape allows me to show the client what the space will feel like before committing to materials or other finishes. Once we get to the material stage, we’re able to quickly look at alternative options, as well as fixtures, finishes, and furnishing. Enscape allows us to really get down to the details. This saves the client time and money by seeing the space as it will be built. Enscape helps them to make informed decisions. Revit’s really great at quantities and coordination, but really lacks a user friendly client experience without heavy rendering times.

The other thing I like is to keep my workflow really streamlined. The fewer clicks the more efficient and effective. I’d rather leverage a few tools to do a lot, rather than a lot of tools to do a little. In so many ways, Enscape is an extension of Revit as opposed to another application. And the learning curve is incredibly small.

My typical workflow is to use two screens, with Revit open on one screen and Enscape open on the other. The client can see plans, sections and elevations on one screen and the realistic, explorable view on the other. It’s the best of both worlds. Once you’ve used Enscape, there is no going back. And the same goes for the client. Showing the client their project in Revit is just not enough. They need to walk through it in Enscape to really experience it.

The greatest thing about Enscape is knowing that what I’m showing a client is actually what is inside their Revit project. In many cases, I’m doing presentations over a screen-share and may only show the Enscape view. Revit is happily running in the background and when I need to make changes they immediately update in Enscape for the client’s approval.

The bottom line is that I want to provide a great design through effective collaboration while giving the client a real peace of mind. Enscape removes any uncertainty about the the design and overall project before it’s built. Enscape completely supports the motto of Seeds Studios: “We help owners see the forest before planting the seeds.”

I think the power of Enscape is the combination of beautiful, amazing graphics with ease-of-use. I don’t need Enscape to become a coordination tool. Coordination comes intuitively through just using Enscape. Keep the focus on clear, precise and beautiful visualization.

Thanks!

Glad we had the chance to chat about how Enscape is really helping improve collaboration between me, my consultants, and my clients. I’m excited to see what’s in store for the future of Enscape!

Phil Read – Read|Thomas – Author

LinkedIn –                  www.linkedin.com/in/readphil
Read|Thomas –         www.readthomas.com

hello@readthomas.com

The post Seeds Studios: Removing Uncertainty By Experience the Design Before It’s Built appeared first on Enscape.

Who’s Don?

I’m Don Bokmiller, senior VDC and BIM coordinator for Robins & Morton Construction. I’m located in the Charlotte, North Carolina and primarily work on projects around the southeast. However, Robins & Morton is a national firm and we have projects all over the US.

My background is actually in electrical engineering. I’ve been using Revit since 2005. I’m also the author of “Mastering Autodesk Revit MEP”, which is Autodesk’s official courseware for Revit MEP. I’m also an active speaker and have spoken at Autodesk University and RTC North America.

One of the great things about living in the southeast is that I can enjoy great riding weather practically year round. So if you can’t find me at work I’m probably out riding my 2012 Harley-Davidson. And you can find me on Twitter over here.

Why Enscape?

I use Enscape for three reasons: ease of use, speed, and savings. While Robins & Morton does a wide variety of project types, I am severely focused on medical work. For medical projects to be successful it’s essential that everyone on the project team have a very clear understanding of how everything has to work together and function. Not only the core building systems, but also the fixed immovable equipment needs to be properly located. 3-D is great, but we need to really experience how the space will be used.

Enscape gives us the ability to quickly discover and eliminate unforeseen coordination issues. For example, sometimes Revit users inadvertently mirror rooms or equipment in the process of quickly laying out the building. This makes perfect sense in a 2-D CAD world but not in Revit. Mirroring medical spaces can create nasty problems when a piece of equipment is mirrored and but the configuration doesn’t actually exist in the real world. By allowing us to faithfully and realistically explore the building, Enscape helps us discover these kinds of problems that could easily cost us a lot of time and money and set the project back.

At the end of the day, words and drawings aren’t complete as physical mockups. Physical mockups cost a lot of time money. Just imagine the cost of flying a project team to a single location to review one physical mockup! Enscape allows us to do this digitally as well as save us the expense and time of travel by doing the project review online.

Mockups also give us an idea of how systems will fit together. But we need to save the time and expense of building physical mockups because physical mockups can’t be easily be changed. For medical projects to be successful, I need everyone to be clear and agree on where things are going to go and remove any confusion about what’s being proposed. I need to be able to show projects at the highest level of detail with any material or finish option as necessary. Enscape allows us to do this quickly and easily.

The beauty of Enscape is that you don’t have to really prepare the Revit model in any way – you simply start Enscape. Enscape is the WYSIWYG of real time. If I need to make a change in the middle of a meeting, it updates instantly in Enscape. This helps everyone visualize the finished condition, explore alternate layouts of equipment or MEP systems and then quickly move onto the next issue.

When the customer wants to be more immersed, Oculus headsets work great. The standalone Enscape *.exe file is really awesome when the customer wants to be able to review something at their own pace.

Enscape works great running side-by-side with Revit. The moment anyone tells me I should export something to the “cloud” to see my project in real-time you’ve lost my attention. Nobody has time to export their Revit project to the cloud and wait for it to process and hope to get something back when the customer is sitting there and waiting.

Thanks!

Glad we were able to discuss how Enscape is helping us collaborate better and faster with our design and construction partners. Don’t hesitate to call if you have any other questions!

Phil Read – Read|Thomas – Author

LinkedIn –                  www.linkedin.com/in/readphil
Read|Thomas –         www.readthomas.com

hello@readthomas.com

The post Robins & Morton Construction: 3D in Revit Is Not Enough. You Still Need to Experience the Space. appeared first on Enscape.

Revit & RPA Design:

“In healthcare, seconds can literally mean the difference between life and death. But we also want to care about the seconds from careful design decisions that can make a difference between a satisfying or stressful day as a nurse, doctor or other healthcare professional,” states Jacob D’Albora of RPA Design in Charlotte, North Carolina.

RPA Design embraced the decision to fully move to Revit in 2007 and hasn’t looked back. But it’s not just about Revit or any particular application but about RPA’s commitment to embrace technology as an integrated process that integrates teams – not simply technologies. According to D’Albora, “For example, our interior design is never an afterthought. Interior design is fully integrated from the very start. Jumping into Revit made perfect sense for us because were able to show key architectural features in context with materials and finishes as well as fixtures and equipment.”

Autodesk Revit

But after nearly a decade using BIM, RPA came to the realization that 3D is not enough. “Revit does an amazing job of helping everyone understand the constructibility of the building,” recalls D’Albora. “But we can’t wait until a building is finished to receive important feedback on the actual experience of working day-to-day inside a stressful healthcare environment.”

BIM and technology consultant Read | Thomas selected RPA Design as an early pilot partner with Enscape. “I’ll admit I was pretty skeptical at first.” D’Albora continues, “Technology can be such a distraction and RPA wants to avoid the kind workflow that forces people into becoming single application experts.”

“But when I saw Enscape for the first time – and then tried it for myself – I was completely blown away! We don’t to do anything different and there’s practically no training.” D’Albora continues, “Someone installs the plugin, opens Revit and starts Enscape.  Then I’ll put Revit on one screen and Enscape on the other. I’ll show them how to navigate and that’s pretty much it. And the results in Enscape are nothing short of beautiful.”

According to Jacob, the challenge is that design decisions are often built upon other previous decisions and without on-going feedback the project team risks having to stressfully roll back design in order to move forward. RPA needed a way to eliminate the kind of disruptive redesign that comes from not communicating frequently enough to each other, to their health care user groups and to the client.

Revit and Enscape

“Enscape is such a great way to experience on-the-fly design options, materials, finishes and other ideas. Whether it’s just for yourself, with your design team or even right in front of the client,” says D’Albora. “There’s an instant gratification and joy we experience when we bring our designs to life with Enscape.”

“Suffice to say that we’ve been searching for a way to immerse our end users and really help them experience the design. During this search we’ve spent more hours rendering than I care to remember.” claims D’Albora. “The final results of still image rendering might look amazing but the process is actually terrible. Ask anyone who renders as as much as we do. The constant tweaking of materials and lights, the anxious waiting – not to mention canceling renders midway through because something important about the design changed. The rendering process makes you feel miserable!”

Enscape does away with the horrible rendering process and replaces it with the ability to freely explore. “I can’t explain it – someone just has to experience it,” exclaims Jacob. “There’s a mind-gasm when you get to experience the design. Is is it okay if I say that?” D’Albora adds laughing.

As a matter of fact, RPA Design has been using Enscape as part of their RPA Pulse Initiative. In this scenario RPA uses Revit and Enscape side-by-side in order to simultaneously understand and experience the design with healthcare endusers and other project stakeholders. An example of this side by side design workflow and validation can be view on the RPA Pulse Vimeo site.

“The directors of RPA love Enscape! When Dave or Rick walk over to review a design they’ve stopped looking at Revit. They’re looking at Enscape.” D’Albora continues, “It may look like real-time computer games – but we are very serious about the customer’s experience. Enscape is allowing everyone to have the instant satisfaction of really experiencing the space.”

“But one more thing,” says D’Albora. “We’re are actually having a lot of fun in the process.”

“We’re regularly reminded by RPA leadership that great design is not only about building a building – it’s about building a lasting and long term relationship. That’s what RPA is all about.” D’Albora concludes, “Enscape is a critical part of that relationship.”

To contact RPA Design:

Jacob D’Albora
RPA Design
(704) 887-3500
jacob.dalbora@rpadesign.net

Phil Read – Read|Thomas – Author

LinkedIn –                  www.linkedin.com/in/readphil
Read|Thomas –         www.readthomas.com

hello@readthomas.com

The post Revit & RPA Design: Successfully Closing the Gap appeared first on Enscape.