VisionREZ 3.0

One of the products that was being exhibited for the first time at the recent AIA 2005 National Convention and Expo held in Las Vegas was VisionREZ 3.0, a building information modeling (BIM) application customized for residential design that is available as a plug-in for Autodesk Architectural Desktop (ADT) or as a stand alone product. It features drawing extraction, automatic framing, built-in cost estimation, and many other smarts specific to residential design. As I mentioned in AECbytes Newsletter #22 that captured the highlights of the AIA Convention, VisionREZ 3.0 is an excellent example of one of the likely future technological trends in AEC: BIM applications customized for specific building types. Let's take a closer look at this application and see how it works.

Overview of VisionREZ

VisionREZ 3.0 is developed by Ameri-CAD Inc., an architectural services and software solutions company that was established in 1989. Long before the notion of BIM became commonplace, Ameri-CAD recognized the value of a model-centered enterprise for buildings, where the product model is linked with all the basic functions of the business that require information: marketing, estimating, engineering, purchasing, production, accounting, and general management. It became a registered Autodesk developer and built VisionREZ 3.0 on top of the object-based ADT to offer a model-centered solution for a specific segment of the building industry: residential and light commercial design. It also develops an AEC-specific online collaboration solution, VUDOX, and provides computational services to architectural firms.

VisionREZ 3.0 comes in two basic versions: Stand-alone and Plug-in. While the Plug-in version works as an add-on to ADT 2004, 2005, or 2006, the Stand-alone version does not require ADT to be installed. However, it comes with a stripped-down version of ADT that only includes those features needed by VisionREZ 3.0. Thus the basic interface remains the same with both versions. The Plug-in version is further categorized into "Pro" and "Base." The Pro version includes the automatic framing and Bill of Materials (BOM) capabilities, and is priced a little higher than the Base version, which does not include these capabilities. The Stand-alone version is only available in the Pro format. Considering the steep price of ADT (see my review of ADT 2006), the stand-alone version of VisionREZ 3.0 is significantly less expensive and would be a compelling BIM option for an architectural firm that specialized in residential and light commercial design (see Figure 1).

The VisionREZ Interface

The basic VisionREZ 3.0 interface, based on the default startup template, is shown in Figure 2. As you can see, it adds one pulldown menu and several floating toolbars to the ADT interface, of which five are visible by default. The remaining toolbars can be accessed by right-clicking on any of the visible toolbars. The pulldown menu does not have many commands apart from a layer setting option and links to Help, the Ameri-CAD website, and so on. Most of the functionality of VisionREZ 3.0 is contained in its toolbars, as we will see in this review.

The Content and Styles Navigator toolbar, which appears at the top in Figure 1, is the most frequently used toolbar in VisionREZ 3.0. It is used to access the different VisionREZ 3.0 tool palettes, allowing you to select building objects to insert into the project. Thus, it has buttons for walls, windows/vents, doors, roofs, floors/ceilings, plumbing, electrical, appliances, stairs, fireplaces, furniture, framing, and so on. Each button provides access to a group of tool palettes containing an extensive selection of objects of that type. Clicking on the Walls button, for example (as shown later in Figure 4), will open up the set of VisionREZ 3.0 tool palettes that include exterior, interior and specialty walls, exterior trim, basement walls, and some specialized wall tools for cutting and trimming walls. One of the key differentiating aspects of VisionREZ 3.0 from generic BIM applications is its extensive set of object libraries customized for residential design. Thus, its Fireplaces tool palette contains 13 different types of fireplaces, as shown in Figure 2, and the accompanying Fireplace Parts palette contains 17 different types of parts. Users can also create custom palettes with additional content. The Content and Styles Navigator toolbar also includes tools for documentation (labels, schedules, tags, legends, borders, leader lines, and areas), noting (dimensioning, pre-defined text and notes for common entities used in architectural design drawings), and various other utilities.

All the other VisionREZ 3.0 toolbars, apart from the Content and Styles Navigator toolbar, relate to levels and layers. VisionREZ 3.0 allows up to five different level settings: floor levels 0 (basement) through 3, and the roof level. For each level, there is a predefined set of layers for holding different types of information related to the model, viewports, presentation drawings, working drawings, electrical drawings, framing drawings, and so on, and different tools are available for quickly activating specific layers and layer sets of a level, depending upon the task at hand. In other words, you select the task you want to work on (model, working drawing, electrical drawing, etc.) and the level, and VisionREZ 3.0 automatically activates the appropriate layers and turns off the unnecessary ones. Additionally, tools are available for turning on all the layers, turning on the model layers only (for displaying the full model), displaying a locked background drawing of any level, locking or freezing a specific layer, moving a selected object to the current layer, and so on.

Since VisionREZ 3.0 is built on top of ADT, you will be using AutoCAD commands for many tasks such as selecting the type of view and the type of display, zooming and panning, using the ortho mode, object snaps, viewing object properties, and so on. Also, any kind of 2D graphics, hatching, and dimensioning, are done using AutoCAD commands.

Now that we have explored the basic interface of VisionREZ 3.0, let's move on to see how it works.

Creating a Building Model

The first step in creating a VisionREZ 3.0 model is to specify the height settings for all the objects that will be placed in the model. This is done in the VisionREZ 3.0 Var Manager dialog, accessed through the first button in the Content and Styles Navigator toolbar. As shown in Figure 3, you can set default wall, door, and window heights, floor elevation, and floor and ceiling thickness separately for each level. You can also set default heights of accessories, electrical and plumbing fixtures, cabinets, and so on. The default startup template already has values for all these height settings tailored towards residential design. These can be fine-tuned and stored in templates for use in different types of projects. It is important to set the correct values at the outset, because changing these values later does not automatically update the model.

As the next step, let's see how walls are created. Assuming our sample building project has no basement, we would start by creating the walls of the first level. This requires setting the WD button on the Model Level 0-3 Layer Sets toolbar to 1, as shown in Figure 4-a. This activates the working drawing layer set for the first level and sets the height settings to the values entered for Level 1 in the VisionREZ 3.0 Var Manager dialog (shown in Figure 3). You can now select any of the Wall tools from the VisionREZ 3.0 tool palettes, as described earlier, and start drawing the walls, using standard AutoCAD aids such as command line input, snaps, ortho mode, grips for modification, and so on. The drawing can be done in plan view or 3D view, as required. Walls are automatically hatched based on their type. Since VisionREZ 3.0 is focused on residential design, it aims to capture as much detail as possible. So for example, masonry and stud walls will usually be drawn separately to allow the varying of masonry wall heights to create a wainscot (the paneling applied to the lower portion of a wall) or lowering the top of the masonry walls below the cornice to get a more accurate material takeoff. Most of the walls clean up automatically; in addition, several dedicated tools are available to clean up walls of different styles, widths or lengths that don't clean up correctly. Walls maintain their associativity, so that moving a wall will automatically modify related walls to maintain connectivity. In short, the walls behave as you would expect from a building-specific modeling application.

The walls on the subsequent floors of the building can be created in a similar fashion by selecting the corresponding level for the WD toolbar button. To make it easier to align the walls with those of the level below, an option is available for each level to be displayed in a locked state and in a different color. So, for instance, when drawing the second floor, the BF button on the Level Toggles toolbar can be used to display the first floor walls in a blue color and in a locked state, so that the second floor walls can be drawn on top of them. As with the first floor level, the walls will be created according to the heights specified in the VisionREZ 3.0 Var Manager dialog for Level 2. Figure 4-b shows a 3D view of the sample model with the walls created on Levels 1 and 2.

Once the walls are created, it is relatively straightforward to add doors, windows, cabinets, fixtures, and other content to the model from the extensive library of VisionREZ 3.0 objects. Doors and windows can be automatically positioned on the center of a wall or at a set distance from the end of a wall, if required. While they automatically cut the wall in which they are placed, for example a stud wall, a simple interference condition can be applied to cut the masonry wall that is outside the stud wall in which they are placed. A number of muntin styles are available for quick application to any window. Content is similarly intelligent and has been specifically designed to populate residential models quickly. Thus floor and wall cabinets, plumbing fixtures, electrical switches, and so on automatically snap to walls, in the correct orientation, and move along with them if the layout is changed. Some of the content is automatically associated with other inserted content (in a kitchen layout, for example, a microwave, oven, and electrical outlets will be associated with the main kitchen cabinet), and will move along with it. Objects such as sinks will automatically be subtracted from countertops and must therefore be inserted after the countertop. For electrical drawings, which should be created on the corresponding level of the ED (electrical drawing) toolbar button, various smarts are provided such as the ability to place lights and fans in the center of a room, wires to connect fixtures to their switches, and so on. A floor plan with cabinets and electrical content is shown in Figure 5-a, and the corresponding 3D view is shown in Figure 5-b. As you can see, the floor plan displays tags for some of the content that are automatically placed when the objects are added.

Getting progressively higher on the scale of complexity in terms of modeling are elements such as floor and ceiling slabs, stairs, exterior trim, roofs, and framing respectively. Nevertheless, modeling these elements is still easier in VisionREZ 3.0 compared to other generic BIM applications since it is customized for building design. A good example of this is framing. To frame a floor-for example, the first floor-you would first set the FR button on the Model Level 0-3 Layer Sets toolbar to 1. This will turn on all the elements required to frame the first floor: the first floor stud walls, the ceiling and/or floor system above the first floor, and the plumbing fixtures for the second floor. You would then use the Beam tool to draw beams of the required sizes by indicating their start and end points. These are automatically created at the correct elevation. Joists can then be added by indicating the start point, the end point, a third point to show the joists run end point, and a spacing distance. Blocking is automatically added and anchored to the floor joist. Standard AutoCAD commands such as grips, trim and extend can be used to adjust the joists and trim them where necessary. Dedicated tools are also available to add elements such as rim joists and joist hangers to the floor framing.

Given that most residential buildings have sloping roofs, VisionREZ 3.0 contains a custom "Residential Roof" object with features such as automatic eave to rake transitions (lambs leg, eyebrow, etc.); separate eave and rake settings including individual frieze, soffit and frieze profiles; multiple "pitch calculation" methods; and independent plan display components such as eaves, rakes, hips, valleys and wall edges. It also has built-in routines in its Pro version that help to simplify the complex task of roof framing. There is an option that allows the framing of the total roof or roof slabs to be generated all at one time. Each slab is analyzed and a king rafter is inserted at the highest point with the remaining rafters spaced evenly on either side using the assigned spacing. Subsequently, you can add other elements such as hips, ridges, valleys, sub-fascia, lookouts, collar ties, purlins, rafter splices, ridge splices, and struts as required. Dedicated tools are available for all these elements, allowing you to select the type, spacing, and other parameters. The 2D framing plan and 3D view of the roof of the sample project created in VisionREZ 3.0 is shown in Figure 6.

Creating Various Deliverables from the Model

Once all the elements in the model have been created, creating the 2D documentation for the project becomes simply a matter of deriving the appropriate views and adding annotation and dimensions. The plan views have already been created in the process of developing the model; for the elevations and sections, tools are available that let you generate these based on elevation and section lines that you define. You can choose from different generation styles (exterior, interior, section, etc.), opt for hidden line removal, and select the objects from which the section/elevation is to be derived. The generated elevation/section can now be inserted anywhere in the drawing. Since elevations and sections are generated drawings rather than separate views of the model (as in BIM applications like Autodesk Revit and ArchiCAD), they do not automatically update when the model is changed. They must be refreshed if a model element is moved, and regenerated if a new element is added to the model.

Annotation in VisionREZ 3.0 is simplified by the availability of tags that are associated with the various elements such as doors, windows, rooms, beams, joists, and so on. As we saw in Figure 5, the tags for some of the cabinets and fixtures automatically get placed when the content is added to the drawing. For the other elements, adding the tags to the drawing simply requires the application of the element-specific Tag tools. When the tag of one element is placed, typing an M in the command line and selecting all the other elements of that type will tag them all at once. Multiple associated elements such as framing joists are automatically tagged in one step, and several options are available for defining the type of tag. All the room names are also available as tags and can be placed in the center of a room by selecting two opposite corners. In addition to tags, labels are available for detail marks, foundation drops, roof pitches, ceiling slopes, and so on. Dimensions are done using standard AutoCAD commands, but because they are not integrated with VisionREZ 3.0, they do not update automatically if a change is made to the model. As with AutoCAD and ADT, plotting views of the model are created by using viewports on layout tabs (paper space), and a dedicated toolbar is provided to establish the level within the chosen layer set for a viewport. A full drawing sheet of the sample project, complete with annotation and dimensions, is shown in Figure 7.

Other deliverables that can be derived from the model include schedules of areas, doors, windows, appliances, cabinets, fixtures, lighting, and so on. For most of the elements, creating a schedule simply involves selecting the appropriate Schedule tool and selecting the part of the drawing from which the elements are to be captured into the schedule. For deriving area schedules-which may be different from room schedules-you need to draw area boundaries, collate areas into groups, and then create the area schedule. The Pro version of VisionREZ 3.0 includes a Bill of Materials tool that does a material takeoff from the model and can be used in conjunction with a database of formulas for quantities and waste factors to derive an accurate quantity estimate, which in turn can serve as input to a cost estimating application. Rendered views of the kind shown in Figure 1 can created by linking the VisionREZ 3.0 model with Autodesk VIZ Render, just as it works with ADT. Since the VisionREZ 3.0 model is created with real-world building objects, all the material information is included and does not need to be recreated in VIZ Render.

Strengths and Limitations

One of the greatest strengths of VisionREZ 3.0 is that it is built on top of ADT. Like ADT, it offers AutoCAD users, which account for a large majority of the AEC industry, a familiar workflow and interface for transitioning from traditional 2D drafting to a model-based process. It also continues to benefit from the continuing modernization of AutoCAD's interface, including dynamic input, overhaul of annotation, improvements in selection and zooming, and so on that were featured in AutoCAD 2006 (for a detailed description of these features, see my review of AutoCAD 2006). Just like ADT, it links to VIZ Render, making it possible to generate high-quality visuals and animations from the model. The extensive repertoire of object libraries tailored towards residential design, the smart behavior of the objects powered by the automatic associations made between them, the custom residential roof object; the framing module which simplifies the traditionally complex task of framing a sloping roof, and the seamless integration of all these capabilities within ADT makes VisionREZ 3.0 a compelling BIM option for firms specializing in residential design. It is a complex application, which takes some time to understand and learn, but it is still easier to master than ADT.

A special mention must be made of the quality of the VisionREZ 3.0 documentation, which I found superior to most of the documentation I normally come across in the applications that I review. In addition to the standard Help documentation that comes with any application, VisionREZ 3.0 comes with a separate CD containing an extensive set of other kinds of training material: a self-paced demonstration guide complete with the sample files created at the end of every section, designed for a quick start at VisionREZ 3.0; a more elaborate Fundamentals training that takes you through a complete tutorial of a VisionREZ 3.0 project, again accompanied by the tutorial drawings created at the end of every step; and lots of video tutorials demonstrating specific features of the application. It's rare to find a vendor that takes this much effort to provide substantial and comprehensive training material to its users.

The integration with ADT, which I have pointed out as one of the greatest strengths of VisionREZ 3.0, also turns out to be one of its greatest limiting factors, as it strongly constrains how smart the application can get. I have already pointed out some areas where the application does not work as intelligently as one would expect: changing the default height values in the VisionREZ 3.0 Var Manager dialog does not automatically update the model (which means that elements would have to be individually edited if any of the heights needed to be changed); dimensions are not associative; elevations and sections have to be regenerated when the model is changed rather than being updated automatically, and so on. There is no firm distinction between the model and a drawing in VisionREZ 3.0, which is why you can generate an elevation and place it alongside a plan in model space, something that you cannot do in a BIM-from-the-ground-up application such as Autodesk Revit or ArchiCAD. As long as VisionREZ 3.0 continues to be built upon the AutoCAD-based ADT, there is a limit to how far it can go in becoming a full-fledged BIM solution where you create only the model and all other deliverables are automatically derived from the model and get automatically updated as the model is changed.

But considering that we don't yet have any Revit or ArchiCAD based BIM tools customized for residential design, VisionREZ 3.0 remains a very attractive, reasonably-priced option for firms focused on residential design who want to implement the BIM approach without investing in high-end general-purpose BIM applications.

Conclusions

It is interesting to speculate on the future of BIM in the AEC industry. Will we continue to predominantly have generic BIM with some isolated examples of customized BIM applications for specific building types such as VisionREZ 3.0, or will we eventually turn to customized BIM applications for all the major building types such as commercial, residential, educational, healthcare, retail, airports, and so on, with all the smarts and rules specific to that type built in? And if so, will we have third party developers building these customized BIM applications on top of generic BIM applications such as Revit, ArchiCAD, Bentley Building, and ADT, similar to how VisionREZ 3.0 has been built on top of ADT, or will these best be developed independently from scratch? While there is little doubt that customized BIM is the answer to enhanced intelligence and ease of use of computational technology to building design, it is going to take us quite a while to get there, and whether this happens with new or with add-on applications remains to be seen.

About the Author

Lachmi Khemlani is founder and editor of AECbytes. She has a Ph.D. in Architecture from UC Berkeley, specializing in intelligent building modeling, and consults and writes on AEC technology. She can be reached at lachmi@aecbytes.com.

Reviews > VisionREZ 3.0 > Printer-friendly format