IMAGINiT Technologies Scan to BIM 2016 and Utilities for Revit

Rand Worldwide recently announced that its IMAGINiT Technologies division has released Scan to BIM 2016, point cloud software that is compatible with Autodesk Revit 2016. IMAGINiT has also introduced two new, time-saving Utilities for Revit,and  Dependent View Copy and Adjust Pipe.

Scan to BIM 2016 for Revit 2016

Matt Mason, Director, Software Development, IMAGINiT Technologies discussed the announcement with AECCafe Voice:

Scan to BIM upgrade:

Reality capture is now an important focus for many architectural, engineering and construction organizations and Scan to BIM plays an integral role in simplifying the creation of a model from scanned point clouds.

AECCafe Voice: Has Scan to BIM worked inside Revit in the previous release and if so, what are the significant features of this release?

Matt Mason: Yes, Scan to BIM has always worked inside Revit. It was the first product available to integrate point clouds inside of Autodesk Revit.

AECCafe Voice: Scan to BIM has been revolutionary for point cloud users in the past – can you tell me at what point the point clouds are in the process when they are “scanned to BIM” and what sort of analytics, processing takes places prior and while they are in Revit, to make them useful data for the BIM model?

Matt Mason: Usually, a consultant with a scanner is employed to capture the point clouds in the field. The field person will usually deliver back to the BIM manager a set of points in a “neutral” format (in some cases there will be a separate file for each scan location). The BIM manager will then import these “raw” point cloud files into Autodesk ReCap, in order to create a unified point cloud project that can be brought into Revit.  ReCap can also be used to inspect, re-align or clean up the point cloud – but in order to start “authoring” the BIM data – it must be linked into Revit to do the modeling work there. That is where Scan to BIM steps in.

 Utilities for Revit:

AECCafe Voice: Are the new utilities always designed to work inside Revit?

Matt Mason: Yes. IMAGINiT Utilities for Revit are designed specifically for Autodesk Revit. There are 19 utilities now that all work inside Revit.

AECCafe Voice: What are the most important features about the new utilities?

Matt Mason: It’s really what’s important for all of the tools – they are automating manual tasks that typically eat up time and can introduce redundancies or errors in a model.

Dependent View Copy automates the creation of dependent views, such as different levels or floors in a building. Using the first floor as a basis, users can generate additional floors of multi-story buildings, saving many hours of tedious, repetitive work.

Adjust Pipe solves the problem of joining segments of piping when they are out of alignment. A variety of options for adjusting pipes within Revit ensures they fit together easily.

AECCafe Voice: What is a sample workflow for using them?

Matt Mason: There is no one workflow that is the same for any organization. It depends on what tool is being used, but all tools can be used during all phases of the design and construction process. One example is the integration between Revit and Microsoft Excel – the utilities provide a mechanism to export BIM data out of Revit and into Excel for further usage. If the user is interested in updating the data back in Revit, the data can be updated in Excel, then imported back and the Revit model is updated.

Tags: 3D, architects, AutoCAD, Autodesk, Autodesk Revit, Autodesk University, building design, building information modeling, CAD, Cloud, point clouds, reality capture

Categories: 2D, 3D, 3D PDF, 3D printing, AEC, AECCafe, AIA Convention 2015, architecture, Autodesk, BIM, Bluebeam, building information modeling, collaboration, construction, Deltek, engineering, IMAGINiT, infrastructure, integrated project delivery, plant design, point clouds, project management, reality capture, rendering, site planning, sustainable design

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