VIMTREK: an Architectural Game Changer

Interactive Modeling Software Transforms the DesignBuild Process

TORONTO (October 2011)—SMARTBIM and Vizerra are pleased to launch their new collaborative software project, VIMTrek, at the Greenbuild Exposition and Conference in Toronto. The VIMTrek software can convert a fully BIM detailed standard Revit® design file into an immersive collaborative 3D environment in under five minutes, while retaining the BIM data.

Architects, designers, contractors, and the media are invited to come to the VIMTrek booth, 631N, at Greenbuild and experience the breakthrough program in person. Using innovative technology, the VIMTrek application is able to rapidly convert Autodesk Revit designs into immersive, beautifully rendered, and interactive environments, and then share these over the Internet.

The idea came from advanced technologies in the video gaming industry, where hyper‐fast rendering algorithms are required to produce the immersive and highly detailed environments. The industry standard architectural rendering techniques, which convert design drafts into photorealistic visuals, typically involve a laborious and time‐consuming process that can take 15 hours or more to complete and requires a high degree of expertise and computing power. The results of these traditional renderings produce visually stunning but static images, allowing no interactive or, more important, collaborative capabilities, because of the large file size.

The VIMTrek software can convert the same Revit design file into an immersive 3D environment in less than five minutes, with no extra training or experience required. The new rendering process
utilizes unique compression technology that makes the file one‐tenth the size of a traditional render and is completely interactive, allowing designers, architects, contractors, and their clients to navigate the environment and experience the building as though they were moving through a video game.

“The architectural and design process is at its essence about collaboration and making the best decisions with the best available information,” says Arol Wolford, chief executive officer at SMARTBIM, “by pulling together the information from the world of BIM, adding in the sustainable and environmental data, and coupling it with engaging 3D collaborative environments, all done in minutes instead of hours. It is truly revolutionary.”

Users move through the building freely, and multiple users can be in the building interacting at the same time. For instance, a designer can leave a digital VIMNote within the rendering, which an
architect can view and retrieve later; or both the designer and architect can stand in one room of the project together while reviewing materials and making design decisions in real time.

“For the first time, all players in the design‐build process will have access to the same 3D version of their project and can experience the collaborative choices they make in real time,” says Nicholas Jeffery, chief operating officer of VIMTrek. “In this way, VIMTrek is bringing true digital collaboration to life.”

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Software Components

• VIMTrek Producer—This key component is required to create immersive environments and convert the Revit file into the VIM (Visual Information Model) file format.
• VIMTrek Viewer—This simplified version, which is for casual observers and non‐designrelated stakeholders, allows only for moving within the environment and making notes or annotations within it.

Benefits

• Speed—VIMTrek Producer can render in minutes rather than hours. Architects, designers, and contractors can render through stage.
• Cost savings—Given the speed of rendering, significant savings can occur in three areas: designers can save hundreds of hours per project; design decisions are possible earlier in the pre‐build phase, so significant savings are made on the development of the build‐out phase; and because of the quick rendering time, there is no need to outsource the rendering process to a third party.
• Collaboration—Design teams can access and experience the built environment simultaneously over the Internet to make annotations in real time, reducing unforeseen design challenges during construction.
• Ease of use—The VIMTrek program functions are simple—viewers move forward, backward, left, right, up, or down visually, as in a video game—so clients without any special experience can walk around the built environment easily before construction begins.
• Thirdparty applications: ecoScorecard plugin— This allows the user to view environmental data and third‐party certifications criteria (for example, LEED®) within dataenabled objects during design in real time.

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About VIMTrek

Established in 2011, VIMTrek is a joint venture project between building information modeling software developer SMARTBIM and Vizerra, a 3D interactive technology company specializing in developing gaming and simulation algorithms. Through rapid 3D rendering, VIMTrek software offers a new way for the AEC industry to experience sustainable building. Focused on a real‐time, interactive experience and complete immersion in the building environment, VIMTrek’s software enables architects, designers, and contractors to work faster, smarter, and greener.

About SMARTBIM

SMARTBIM is the leading provider of analytics for users of building information modeling (BIM) technology in the AEC industry. Stemming from its roots as part of Reed Construction Data, SMARTBIM offers building products modeling and model distribution for manufacturers, as well as a comprehensive software application suite and services that combine building product information management and building product quantification and costing capabilities for architects, engineers, owners, and builders.