New Tool Lets you Navigate a BIM Model and See it as if in the Real World
Earlier this week, as a member of the Autodesk AEC Bloggers Council, we got a sneak peek at Stingray, a powerful engine that can be used by AEC professionals to make BIM-informed 3D visualizations in 3ds Max fully interactive in a real-time environment. In plain English, it means that building designers using Revit can go anywhere in the BIM model and see everything as you would in the physical world.
Stingray has its origins in 3D gaming software and is built on the Bitsquid engine, which Autodesk acquired last summer.
For building designers this is a big deal because it creates connected workflows with 3ds Max, which already supports a BIM process. Using a live link feature any changes made in 3ds Max are immediately applied within Stingray.
Here are a few visuals from Autodesk that explain how it works:
Building designers using Autodesk Revit software have had the ability to easily import models into 3ds Max to create photo-real images and animations to communicate design intent. It’s a workflow that’s been widely accepted in the AEC industry and plays an integral part in the design process. Now, with the Stingray engine, Revit models can be brought into 3ds Max to be made visually stunning and then imported to the Stingray engine to be made fully interactive, allowing users to explore “what if” design changes in a compelling visual environment not unlike a first person walk-about in a physical building. The real advantage of this is that it allows designers, owners and stakeholders to access and visualize a building model in real-time to fully understand the scale, feel and experience of the building before construction starts.
As a powerful real-time rendering engine, Stingray offers a first step towards a connected future where software like Revit, 3ds Max and 3D environments like the Stingray engine, work seamlessly together to allow users to truly understand a design. By allowing real-time control, design changes and challenges may be quickly communicated in a compelling, visual way.
“We are opening a new door in the way buildings will be designed now and in the future that allows a live, interactive connection to designs,” said Amar Hanspal, Senior Vice President, Autodesk. “Imagine being able to meet your stakeholders for a tour of your building design model in a virtual space while collaborating to inform the design process. We are excited about this technology as it will help enable better decisions to be made prior to construction, where it gets really expensive to make changes.”
More Information, Pricing and Availability
For more about the Stingray engine and how it is fueling a new design process for AEC professionals, visit http://autodesklivedesign.com and check out the video below:
Stingray is expected to be available as a desktop subscription download starting August 19. For more about Stingray, including availability and subscription pricing information, visit http://www.autodesk.com/stingray.
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