Explore BIM Models in Virtual Reality

What if you could look at your model and see exactly how it would look in a real environment – and then explore it inside and out in virtual reality?

The premise of Revit, the popular building information modeling (BIM) platform, is to design buildings quickly and then see exactly how they might look after construction. However, these renderings can only go so far.

This is where something like the new beta plug-in V-Ray for Revit could come in quite handy.

Generate Realistic Renderings of BIM Models

V-Ray, known for its photorealistic renderings such as this, adds virtual reality with V-Ray for Revit. (Image courtesy of Chaos Group.)

V-Ray is best known for its photo-realistic renderings of projects. It is also able to create a virtual reality (VR) model. Both will come into play with the V-Ray for Revit plug-in. It uses a proprietary stereoscopic rendering camera to generate a 3D environment with existing Revit cameras, lighting and materials.

Here’s a look at how it works:

With this environment, users can generate photo-realistic images of projects to give viewers a sense of what the outcome will look like by creating a VR “map” of a building inside and out. The map can then be exported and viewed.

Formats for viewing aren’t specified yet for this version of V-Ray, but the previous 3ds Max version supported formats like Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear VR.

Connect Design Software Platforms

By using VR in BIM models, users will be able to immerse themselves in a building model before its construction. (Image courtesy of Chaos Group.)

V-Ray already has versions that work within SketchUp, Rhino and 3ds Max among others. From the sounds of it, the V-Ray for Revit offering is meant to act as a pipeline to unite this software with other design packages.

“V-Ray for Revit fills a major gap in design development,” said Brian Russell, project manager for V-Ray for Revit. “Now anyone can get exciting, predictable results at any stage of the project.”

The plug-in, by Chaos Group, will support Revit Architecture 2015-16, Revit MEP 2015-16, Revit Structure 2015-16 and Revit Building Design Suite 2015-16.

V-Ray for Revit is currently available as a free download. To check it out or to learn more about the beta, visit the V-Ray website.