5 Ways Real-Time Visualization Offers a Complete Understanding of Design

Posted on 24th Feb 2022

Real-time visualization is used to generate renderings with excellent visual quality from a BIM or CAD model. When integrated into your design workflow, it can also facilitate collaboration and allows all parties within an architectural project to engage throughout the design process.

Here are five ways in which integrating real-time visualization can provide a complete understanding of design at various project stages. 

1. Engage with potential clients 

Designers have to excite clients' imagination to win bids for work and often have to do it with limited time and resources. Having a seamless integration of real-time visualization with your BIM or CAD tool enables designs to be rapidly created, reviewed, and presented, helping potential clients understand the vision that is being communicated. 

Lake|Flato is an award-winning firm from Texas, United States, that used real-time visualization throughout their Ponte Vista House project.

"It's a game-changer as clients are immediately able to understand and experience our vision. It eliminates the subjective interpretation of sketches and the resulting misunderstandings and redesign," explains Brian Comeaux, Project Architect.

2. Answer key questions effectively 

Real-time visualization enables a rapid visual assessment of viewsheds, shading, and radiation exposure within the schematic design phase. It can also quickly answer questions about daylight exposure and views with a visualization that doesn't require an expert to interpret. 

Real-time visualization can evaluate the exposure to solar radiation using the same view and interface, providing a lens for analysis that is both logical and intuitive.

3. Review design options quickly

Important decisions need to be made within the design development phase, and real-time visualization can ensure they are being made carefully. It can be used to compare multiple options of materials and assemblies quickly. You don't have to switch views or interfaces and can present them through panoramas, VR environments, static renderings, or real-time rendering via the modeling tool. 

"One of the ways we deliver virtual reality in projects is using a cloud-based platform which hosts stereo panoramas generated by real-time visualization. These are static spherical views with hotspots that allow the viewer to jump between scenes.

"The lightweight panorama views can be loaded on a wireless VR device which does not require a high-powered computer. The platform we use allows views to be updated remotely, which is a great way to engage with the client throughout the project design," shares Dan Stine, Director of Design Technology. 

4. Identify quality issues 

Not all errors are readily evident from within the BIM interface. Often in plan drawings, everything looks as it should. Even when viewing the BIM model as a 3D space, no quality issues are evident. This means they might find their way into the construction documents, where there can be severe time and cost implications.

Real-time visualization makes modeling errors visually obvious. The quality issues are apparent within a real-time visualization interface, which means misalignments can easily be seen and addressed.

5. Make last-minute changes for client review 

There will always be last-minute changes to the design, whether proposed by contractors or driven by public feedback. Last-minute changes require client review and approval quickly so as not to hold up the construction schedule. Real-time visualization can provide rapid visualizations of the changes to be approved without causing a delay in the timeline.

"While we use a lot of tools and workflows to develop and deliver beautiful and high-performing projects, we have a special place in the process for real-time visualization. The workflow is streamlined, consistent, and we see a great benefit to our clients," says Dan.

Source: Arch Daily