User Guide. Visicon Smart BIM Tools. Version November 2018

Transcription

1 Visicon Smart BIM Tools Version November 2018 Visicon Inc. 340 E 77 th St., Suite 2A, NY, NY (347) support@visicon.com - visicon.com

2 2018 Visicon Inc. All rights reserved. Visicon Inc. 340 E 77 th St., Suite 2A, NY, NY (347) , support@visicon.com, visicon.com Trademarks Visicon and Visicon Smart BIM Tools are trademarks of Visicon. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Disclaimer The information provided in this document is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. Visicon Inc. (Visicon) disclaims all warranties, either express or implied, including the warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. In no event shall Visicon be liable for any damages whatsoever including direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, loss of business profits or special damages, even if Visicon or its suppliers have been advised of the possibility of such damages. Document Lifetime Visicon may occasionally update online documentation between releases of the related software. Consequently, if this document was not downloaded recently, it may not contain the most up-to-date information. Please refer to for the most current information. Where to get help Visicon support, product, and licensing information can be obtained as follows. Product information Documentation, release notes, software updates, and information about Visicon products, licensing, and service, can be found at: technical support To request technical support, send an to support@visicon.com. Note that to receive support, you must have a valid Visicon license. Courtesy support may be provided to users of our free BIM model explorer. Video tutorials All users of Visicon are encouraged to go to our YouTube Channel and access the video tutorials we have uploaded (search for VisiconBIM Channel): Your comments Your suggestions will help us continue to improve the accuracy, organization, and overall quality of the user publications and products. Please send your opinion of this document to and Visicon Smart BIM Tool to: info@visicon.com If you have issues, comments, or questions about specific information or procedures, please include the title and, if available, the revision, the page numbers, and any other details that will help us locate the subject that you are addressing. Sample model shown in figures Original Revit model provided courtesy of CKC Structural Engineers

3 Visicon Inc Table of Contents 1 Introduction INSTALLATION AND LICENSING OPTIONS UPDATES AND UPGRADES WORKFLOWS AND BENEFITS 8 2 Working with BIM files REVIT MODELS IFC FILES ETABS FILES ADAPT FILES POINT CLOUD FILES WAVEFRONT OBJ FILES VISICON PROJECT FILES SECURITY VISICON TEMPLATE FILES SAVE AS PORTABLE MERGE INTO MODEL UPDATE MODEL GEOMETRY SAMPLES CAD FILES 15 3 Model Explorer Visualization EXPLORING THE USER INTERFACE OBJECT PROPERTIES PROJECT BROWSER STATUS BAR RIGHT-CLICK MOUSE OPTIONS OBJECT COLOR AND TRANSPARENCY SUMMARY OF UNIQUE VISUALIZATION FEATURES Hot-Tracking 24 Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 3 of 112

4 Visicon Inc Level Navigation Grids Component Categories Display of Widgets Clip Planes Floor Plan Rectangular Selection 30 4 Model Validation & Smart Visualization FILTERS New Filter from Project Browser New Filter from Template New Filter from Object Selection Exceptions from Object Selection RULES-BASED MODEL VALIDATION UNIQUENESS CHECK AUTO-COLORIZE EXPRESSION-DRIVEN VIEWS RULE SETS ASSIGNING RULES TO VIEWS EXPRESSIONS Syntax Using Units Copy / Paste Variable Expression Editor Insert Variable Special Bounding Box Variables Special Variable Functions Special Inventory Variables Operators Expression Examples 47 5 Data Export / Import & Visualization DATA EXPORT REPORT IMPORTING DATA VISUALIZING EXTERNAL DATA 50 6 Model Alignment 51 Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 4 of 112

5 Visicon Inc 7 Views and Markups DEFINING AND MANAGING VIEWS DEFAULT VIEW USER-DEFINED GLOBAL VIEWS ISSUE VIEWS D MARKUPS / OVERLAYS D ANNOTATIONS VIEW AND MARKUP SUMMARY REPORT 57 8 Tendon Modeling & Editing MONO-STRAND SYSTEM MULTI-STRAND SYSTEM D Measure DIMENSIONS Operations USER-DEFINED FILTER-BASED CLASH TEST FIND DUPLICATES CLEARANCE CHECK BOOLEAN DIFFERENCE VARIANCE CHECK Issue Management CREATING ISSUES ASSIGNING COMPONENTS TO ISSUES ISSUE VIEWS ISSUE VISIBILITY AND COLORIZATION ISSUE TRACKING ISSUE COORDINATION AND RESOLUTION WORKFLOWS TRANSFERRING ISSUES BACK TO REVIT ISSUE SUMMARY REPORT DASHBOARD 88 Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 5 of 112

6 Visicon Inc. 12 Analytic: Structural TRIBUTARY REPORT Collaboration USER MANAGEMENT Inventory COST DRIVERS DYNAMIC INVENTORY FEATURE INVENTORY REPORT Reports COVER PAGE CONCRETE INSTALLATION COORDINATES QUANTITY VARIANCE REPORT SETS Templates APPLYING THE DEFAULT TEMPLATE GENERIC REFERENCE TO LIST ITEMS CREATING CUSTOM TEMPLATES INSERTING FROM CUSTOM TEMPLATES TEMPLATE MANAGEMENT 112 Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 6 of 112

7 Visicon Inc 1 Introduction Thank you for choosing Visicon Smart BIM Tools. Visicon is a collection of practical tools created to enhance your ability to visualize, interact with, extract data, quality control, quantify, analyze, and improve coordination of your BIM files. This document is intended as a general guide to help you get started with Visicon. Refer to other workflow-specific tutorials (download from visicon.com or view on VisiconBIM YouTube Channel) for more detailed instructions. Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a digital representation of physical and functional characteristics of a facility. A BIM (also referred to in this document as BIM file or BIM model) is a shared knowledge resource for information about a facility formatting a reliable basis for decisions during its lifecycle. 1.1 Installation and Licensing Options Visicon can be installed on any computer or tablet that runs Windows 8, 7 or 10. Visicon is available as a free viewer with limited functionality or as the Professional Version. The Professional version is offered as a perpetual license bound to a computer or end-user provided USB key. A USB key-bound license can be moved from computer to computer. Contact sales@visicon.com to inquire about Professional license pricing. The free version of Visicon can be used for full visualization and exploration of models. However, the following viewer features are limited in scope or not available: Custom views limited to 3 Filter creation limited to 1 Dynamic inventory feature limited to selection of 10 components Reports not available Rule-based validation not available Analytic structural not available You do not need a licensed version of Visicon to open and view any information others have created with the Professional version. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 7 of 112

8 Visicon Inc. To access your license information, to request a license code, or to activate your license, open the About Visicon panel by selecting the key icon at the top right corner of the application. Select the license icon to access licensing features. 1.2 Updates and Upgrades We are continuously improving Visicon and may periodically release update and major release versions. Please check our website (visicon.com) regularly for new versions of the Visicon software. If you purchased a Professional license, you are entitled to all updates that are part of your version. For example, if you purchased v1.0, you are entitled to all updates v1.x. Our target is to release annual major releases to coincide with the new release of Revit. Contact sales@visicon.com to inquire about upgrade pricing. 1.3 Workflows and Benefits Visicon software is a broad collection of tools that help you better interact with BIM models and more easily unlock the information embedded in them. The table below lists a few of the BIM workflows Visicon streamlines: Workflow Benefit Visualization Quality Control Model Coordination Quantity Takeoff Change Management Fast, easy and feature rich visualization of Revit, IFC, ETABS, ADAPT, and point cloud files Use Visicon to quickly analyze BIM models for integrity, consistency and quality. Visicon makes it very simple and fast to open BIM models, mark them up, document issues, and send them to team members for collaborative resolution. Extract quantities from your BIM models and generate customizable XLS reports. Get a better handle on your changing BIM models by running Visicon s various change management features. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 8 of 112

9 Visicon Inc Load Takedown Visualize load paths and calculate general loading of columns and walls for your building models in minutes. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 9 of 112

10 Visicon Inc. 2 Working with BIM files This section described the different options you have to open BIM files. It covers the processes of how to open individual file types, merge files and update them in an existing Visicon project. When going through the installation wizard, you can set Visicon as your default application for a variety of file types. 2.1 Revit Models Unlike all other file formats Visicon supports, Revit models are opened from within Revit using the Visicon plugin and not opened directly. When installing Visicon on your computer, the Visicon Revit plugin is also installed for any version of Revit that is installed on your machine. Visicon v1 supports Revit 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and Once a Revit model has been converted to VXF file, you work with it in this native Visicon file format. VXF files are highly efficient and can store almost 100% of a Revit model s data at a fraction of the original Revit file size, enabling you to more easily share your BIM. The Visicon one-click export function can be configured to automatically export all linked CAD files, point clouds, and other Revit models. No need to have to re-merge them one-by-one. If Visicon is installed, you will find a Visicon ribbon tab containing several export and import functions. These are described in the table below. Visicon tab and functions in Revit Function Description About Visicon Opens Visicon website. Quick Export One-click option to export Revit model as Visicon VXF file without all instance and family parameters. This option is faster, produces a smaller VXF file, and is recommended for cases when you want to share your Revit model geometry but not all underlying information that may be proprietary. You can customize your export configuration under Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 10 of 112

11 Visicon Inc the Settings pull-down option. Its default configuration is also set to only export partial data of linked point clouds, and no views. Full Export One-click option to export all geometry, instance and family parameters. This option gives your Revit model the greatest data mining options. Also set to not export views. Import Issues This function allows you to import issues from a VXF file. The VXF file should have been created from the same Revit model. Issues can be viewed in the Issue Manager and can be linked to Revit components if they were associated with components in Visicon. The associated components in Revit can be isolated to help identify them easier. Using this functionality, a BIM manager can easily bring back any comments others have made on their Revit model using Visicon. Clear Issues Use this function to clear any previously imported issues. Issues Manager This function opens the Issues Manager user interface that lists all imported issues. Issues can be sorted by their attributes. If components are associated with an issue in the list, you can set options for the component to be isolated or selected in the model. Unjoin All Elements This function lists a few model editing utilities. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 11 of 112

12 Visicon Inc. Sample of full export settings for a model. You can customize general settings as well as pick which component categories, families or worksets are exported. 2.2 IFC Files Visicon directly opens IFC files using the File Open option. Visicon displays any graphics and associated object properties found in the opened IFC file. Because the quality of IFC files varies greatly and many of them lack properly defined properties, you may not be able to reason about IFC files as consistently as you will be able to with Revit, ETABS, ADAPT and other more structured BIM file types. 2.3 ETABS Files Visicon directly opens ETABS E2K files using the File Open option. Because we don t use the API, you don t need an active license of ETABS to open and view ETABS models, as long as you have access to their E2K file. We export all geometry, material properties, applied gravity loads and load combinations. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 12 of 112

13 Visicon Inc 2.4 ADAPT Files Visicon directly opens ADAPT INP files using the File Open option. Visicon displays and shows properties for all geometry, tendons, rebar, applied gravity loads, material properties, and load combinations. 2.5 Point Cloud Files Visicon directly opens point cloud data files saved as PTS or PTX format using the File Open option. 2.6 Wavefront OBJ Files Visicon directly opens Wavefront OBJ files using the File Open option. 2.7 Visicon Project Files Once a BIM file is opened in Visicon, you continue to work with it in the native Visicon VXF file format. You can merge multiple BIM files into one project file for cross-disciplinary coordination and collaboration. Issues in a VXF project file can be extracted and imported into Revit for easier resolution of model-related issues within Revit. 2.8 Security If you are concerned about the security of data in your VXF file, you can save it with password protection. The option to Password Protect your model file is found at the bottom of the Save As window. The data in the VXF file is fully encrypted and can only be retrieved with the correct password. 2.9 Visicon Template Files For ease of use, Visicon lets you store and recall all of your custom rules, operations, users, expressions, and other specifications as templates. Visicon template files are stored as VTF file type. They can be found under User\My Documents\Visicon\templates\. To disseminate templates, you have created to others, simply them the relevant VTF files and have the other users place them in the User\My Documents\Visicon\Templates\ folder. Whenever Visicon launches, it checks for the existence of templates in this location Save As Portable To allow you to share your BIM model and markups with anyone, even though they may not have already downloaded the free version of Visicon, you can send them a Portable Visicon Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 13 of 112

14 Visicon Inc. project file. To create a portable Visicon project file, go to File Save as Portable. This function creates a light version of the Visicon software bundled with the project data you are working on. Any person receiving this self-running EXE file can view your BIM project data without having to first install Visicon. Administrator access is not required to run portable Visicon files Merge into Model Use the function File Merge into Model to combine multiple BIM files. This function will list all already imported files, allowing you to either create a new, independent model within the project file or to merge the new geometry you are importing with an already existing model. Models can be reasoned with separately in Visicon. Merge into Model function showing option to either add new geometry to existing model in project (CKC_Seattle_Highrise_R19.rvt) or create new model Update Model Geometry The function under File Update Model Geometry allows you to update the geometry of an existing model in your Visicon project file. This may be necessary if you receive an updated BIM file for a portion of your project and just want to update that portion of your project. When updating a model, its geometry is replaced with that in the new file you are importing. If a component is not being deleted, but remains the same or is being replaced, Visicon tries to maintain all its relationships within Visicon. Such relationships could be association to an Issue, etc Samples Visicon is configured to allow you to run its unlicensed, free version in perpetuity. As such, we don t offer a traditional trial period. Instead, we ship Visicon with a few sample files, that when opened, turn on all features of the software. We are continuously creating new sample files to highlight different workflow solutions. These sample files can come pre-configured with filters, rules, operations, reports, and much more. Please check our website regularly to see if we have made any new sample files available for download. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 14 of 112

15 Visicon Inc 2.14 CAD Files The current version of Visicon doesn t support the direct import of CAD files, however, it is on our development plan. The workaround to open any CAD file in Visicon is to first import or link it to a Revit model (the model can be empty, except for the CAD file you are trying to visualize in Visicon) and then export from Revit. Once the CAD file is in VXF format, you can merge it with any other BIM model using Visicon s merge feature. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 15 of 112

16 Visicon Inc. 3 Model Explorer Visualization Visicon s underlying platform is a flexible and easy-to-use Building Information Model (BIM) explorer. Visicon was developed to support fast interaction with a BIM while providing high quality visualization. Recognizing that that value of your BIM is not just the graphics, but all of the underlying data associated with components, Visicon offers many features that expose this data to you for quick assessment of your model. This section reviews the basics of Visicon s model explorer capabilities. 3.1 Exploring the User Interface The user interface is composed of 6 main functional areas: Ribbon tabs Model space Utilities Object Properties Project Browser Status bar Typical user interface configuration with Object Properties and Project Browser panels in expanded positions. The Object Properties and Project Browser panels can be collapsed and expanded by clicking on their respective handles. You can also choose to dock them at different locations e.g., both Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 16 of 112

17 Visicon Inc at the left, both at the bottom, etc., of the user interface. You can also move them to a 2 nd monitor. Visicon s main functions are grouped into different ribbon tabs. The table below lists each tab and the general set of features you can find in each: Ribbon Tab Description File Home Visibility Model Alignment All file management, model merging, template creation, and data import functionality. This ribbon contains basic model interaction settings, component selection options, and level mode. Most display options, like the ability to turn on component categories or grid lines, are presented in this tab. The features in this ribbon are used to align or move components in a model. Views and Markup This ribbon contains all functionality for the creation of new custom views and the addition of markups to them: 2D markups (overlays), 3D annotations, and 3D dimensions. Measure The options to add 3D annotations, like spot tags and spot coordinates, plus the ability to carry out 3D measurements of your model are grouped in this ribbon. Operations Model checking operations like clash detection, variance checking, 3D Boolean difference check, and clearance check are organized under the Operations tab. Operations that detect potential discrepancies with a model create Issues for each instance of a discrepancy. Issues Functionality to create user-defined issues, assign components to them, add custom views, and manage display of issue-related data in your model is grouped in this tab. Analytic This ribbon contains all features for tributary area generation, load path calculation and reporting of tributary load takedown results. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 17 of 112

18 Visicon Inc. Colorize All of Visicon s default component colorization modes are presented this tab. The most commonly used default colorization modes are replicated at the bottom of the user interface in the Status Bar. Collaborate Collaboration features, including the creation of users, a central model, a client model, and the integration of client models are located in this ribbon. Inventory This ribbon dynamically displays inventory data for selected components. Inventory data is presented in 12 quantity units. Reports Reports can be generated and run from this tab. 3.2 Object Properties The Object Properties panel is used to display properties of selected components. Properties in this panel are grouped into 3 categories: - Properties (general properties available for all components) - Parameters (instance parameters) - Family (family parameters primarily applies to objects imported from Revit) If creating a Visicon file from Revit, instance and family parameters are only exported and displayed if using the Full Export option. Visicon extracts instance specific parameters for components that are imported from other file formats like E2K, IFC, and INP. Some of the properties in the Properties tab are user-editable. Changing these values will affect their behavior. Family parameters are also listed for each family in the Project Browser Family panel. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 18 of 112

19 Visicon Inc Object Properties panel opened for a selected structural floor component. If exporting from Revit using the Full Export option, all instance and family parameters are visible in Visicon. 3.3 Project Browser The Project Browser organizes and presents additional project information for easy access and management. Click on the icons at the top of the browser to open up individual panels. Some panels simply present information, others provide a listing of key model attributes, while others are setup for you to configure automated checking algorithms and reports. Visicon project settings are also accessible through the Settings panel. If the current view has automatic color mode enabled, opening a panel also automatically changes Visicon s colorize mode to reflect the selected panel (see section on Colorize for more detail). For example, opening the Material panel switches the color of all components to their assigned material color. Use the pre-sorted data in the panels to quickly and easily investigate the contents of your model. A description of the information in each panel is provided in the table below. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 19 of 112

20 Visicon Inc. Project Browser opened to show Material panel. All materials in the project are listed, making it easy to gain a quick overview of what is in your BIM. Panel Description Project Info Provides statistics on open Visicon project. Components Lists all component types in project and allows you to define global visibility parameters like color and opacity. You can also easily select all components of a type by selecting its row in the panel. Models Lists all imported models and allows you to set their global visibility properties. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 20 of 112

21 Visicon Inc Levels Lists all levels in project and assigns a unique color to each level. Material Lists all materials found in the project and displays color assigned to each. You can change material color, opacity and type. Discipline The discipline property primarily applies to models imported from Revit. This panel categorizes components based on their assigned discipline. Documents This panel filters all components based on the source document they were imported from. For example, you may have merged two ETABS files as one model in Visicon. Opening this panel will allow you to identify which components came from which original ETABS file. Worksets The worksets property only applies to models imported from Revit. This panel lists worksets and their associated components. Families This panel filters all components using their family parameter. Revit and IFC components have explicit family definitions. Visicon generates families for component types on the fly when importing ETABS and ADAPT files. Parameters This panel lists all parameters found in the project, how often it is used, and links the parameters to the components they are found in. Use the information in this panel to get an instant snapshot of the underlying information you can access and reason about in your model. Systems The system parameter is primarily found in Revit models of mechanical projects. If systems are defined in your BIM, they are listed in this panel. Geometry This panel sorts and colorizes all components by their unique 3D geometry. The data in this panel is useful for consistency control of models. Load Cases and Combinations This panel lists all imported load cases and combinations. It can be used to identify where loads are applied to a model. Filters This panel is used to create and manage filters. Use the right-click mouse option to insert a new filter or a saved filter from a template. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 21 of 112

22 Visicon Inc. Operations This panel extends the functionality of the Operations ribbon. Already defined operations are listed and managed here. Use the right-click option to import operations from templates. Selecting an operation opens up its configuration settings. Rules This panel is used to define and manage rules. Rules are advanced filters that give you more control over how to display their results. Use rules and expressions to isolate and visualize any data in your model. Issues This panel lists all issues and is where you enter comments and change an issue s main properties. Use the functions in the Issues ribbon to create, filter, and manage views and components associated with views. Views All defined views are listed in this panel. The functions to add markups to views are located on the Views / Markup ribbon. Users This panel is used create and manage users. Users can be assigned to Issues and can participate in the collaboration workflow. Reports This panel lists all created reports and is used to configure custom report properties. Warnings This panel lists warnings. You can clear warnings using the right-click options. Settings All Visicon settings are exposed in this panel. 3.4 Status Bar Visicon uses context specific colorization as one of the key ways in which model data is presented to its users. The Status Bar should be used to know which colorization mode your model is in or to quickly change its mode. The Status Bar also contains 3 useful tools: - Lock view locks the camera position for the view you are in - Reveal all reveals all hidden components (it is a toggle function) - Ghost mode makes all components transparent Visicon opens your BIM files in the units they were saved in. At any time, you can switch the units of your model by switching between imperial (ft), metric (m) and custom. Select your custom units for each type of property in the Project Browser Settings panel. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 22 of 112

23 Visicon Inc The Status Bar also gives you feedback on the program s background activities: current background task description and progress. The Status Bar is used to change colorization mode, access visibility tools, and set units. 3.5 Right-Click Mouse Options You can access many functions by using the right-click mouse option. Right-click option shown for a selected Structural Column the Convert To function allows you to re-classify the selected object into other sub-categories 3.6 Object Color and Transparency You can assign color and transparency to each component in your model using the Object Properties panel. Appearance properties are saves on a per-view basis. Any configuration made on the Default view is visible in all other views, while changes made on any custom view are only visible when that view is active. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 23 of 112

24 Visicon Inc. Image showing Color and Opacity (transparency) properties 3.7 Summary of Unique Visualization Features Most of Visicon s model visualization features are standard and should be easy for anyone who has used graphics programs to follow. This section reviews a few features that are unique to Visicon Hot-Tracking Visicon has a useful Hot-Tracking-with-Overlays feature. When enabled, it highlights the object your cursor is hovering over in yellow and displays a transparent overlay with object Name, Family and Material. To enable this feature, select the Hot-Tracking button on the Home ribbon. You can customize the hot-tracking color in the Project Browser Settings panel. Home ribbon with Hot-Tracking feature enabled Level Navigation Example of roof slab pick up by Hot-Tracking feature Navigating the individual levels of 3D building structures can sometimes be a challenge. Visicon s Level Navigation mode is designed to make it easy to isolate individual levels and quickly navigate up or down the structure. To activate this mode, select the Enable icon in the Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 24 of 112

25 Visicon Inc Home Level Navigation ribbon. Since not all models are created equally and most IFC models don t even have the level property assigned to components, we developed 3 modes of level navigation that will hopefully make it possible for you to easily navigate any model. These modes are: - Original relies on the level assignments made in the original BIM - Floors relies on detecting Floor type components in the model to define levels (this is needed if the original model does not have levels defined and components properly assigned to them) - Automatic uses an algorithm to identify horizontal planes in a model (in some models this produces better results than only relying on the existence of floor objects at an elevation) Level Navigation options in Home ribbon. In most models, just displaying components that are assigned to a level does not produce a practical and usable view of a level. To address this situation and clean up your level view, select the Enable Clip Planes option. This option will dynamically add clip planes to the top and bottom of your level as you navigate up and down the structure. The image on the left shows a Revit model with all components turned on for a given level. The image on the right shows the same set of components with the Enable Clip Planes mode turned ON Grids Visicon can display two types of gridlines: a base grid that is drawn under the extents of the model and imported grids from the BIM files. You can control the visibility of these grids using the buttons in the Home Grids ribbon. In many models, grids are only defined at one level. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 25 of 112

26 Visicon Inc. When switching to level mode, these grids may be out of view. To display imported grids at each level when you are in level mode, turn on the option to Snap Grids to Levels Component Categories Grids visibility options found in the Home ribbon. Visicon provides a toggle on / off switch for major component categories. These are found in the Home Component Categories Ribbon. Use the Toggle All switch to turn them all on or off. A complete list of component categories is found in the Project Browser Components panel. The button for each component category type is active if at least one type of that component is in your model. Component Category Description Floors All structural and non-structural floors. Columns All structural and non-structural columns. Reinforcement All reinforcement. Overlays 2D markups / overlays created in Visicon. Analytic All analytic components created when in structural analytic mode horizontal masses, vertical components and tributary regions. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 26 of 112

27 Visicon Inc Topography All components classified as topography. Spaces Components classified as a space. Plumbing Systems All components classified under plumbing systems. Tendons Tendons imported from ADAPT INP or IfcTendons. Beams All structural and non-structural beams / general framing components. Walls All structural and non-structural walls. Loads All applied loads. Annotations 3D annotations created in Visicon and imported from Revit. Doors All door types. Point Clouds All point cloud data. Mechanical Systems All components classified under mechanical systems. Architecture All components classified as architecture in Revit. Bridges All components classified as a bridge element. Roofs All roof components. Façade and Windows All façade and windows components. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 27 of 112

28 Visicon Inc. CAD Files Any CAD object. Dimensions 3D dimensions created in Visicon. Furniture All components classified as furniture. Results Results of Boolean Difference operation run in Visicon added or removed regions. Electrical Systems All components classified under electrical systems. Generic All components classified as generic. Many Ifc components fall under this category. Other All components that don t meet any of the other classifications Display of Widgets Visicon displays a few widgets in the model window to help navigate and interact with the model. - Orbit target center of orbit rotation - Selection hit-point marks the location of last mouse click - Clip planes acts as handle of clip plane and is used to move plane along the direction of arrow - Insertion points indicates origin of model - Viewpoints represent camera position of custom views and open view if selected - Heads-up-display displays name of custom view as overlay at top-left-corner of window You can choose to turn on the display of these widgets using the buttons on the Visibility Other ribbon. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 28 of 112

29 Visicon Inc Graphic representation of widgets used to improve model navigation and interaction Clip Planes Clip planes are an effective tool to help you partition your model and isolate the region you are interested in. Visicon allows you to define and manage up to 9 clip planes per custom view. The three figures below describe how to use clip planes. To add a clip plane, click on a surface that will define the plane you want to cut. In the image above, the clip plane will be at the front face of the selected Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 29 of 112

30 Visicon Inc. column. If the surface you click is not a plane, the model will be cut at a plane perpendicular to the normal of where you clicked. To manipulate the location of the clip plane, drag its widget back and forth. For each view, you can define and manage up to 9 clip planes. You can turn them on and off by selecting their buttons in the Visibility Clip-Planes ribbon Floor Plan The Floor Plan feature is found under Visibility Floor Plan ribbon and turns on a 2D vertical projection of the visible 3D objects. To turn off the 3D objects and only see the 2D plan, unselect the Visibility 3D button Rectangular Selection You can always invoke the rectangular selection mode using your right-mouse click option. Dragging the selection box to the left of your starting point selects all objects that are touched by the selection box. Dragging the box to the right only selects objects that are completely contained in the selection box. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 30 of 112

31 Visicon Inc 4 Model Validation & Smart Visualization Visicon offers several easy ways for you to unlock the data in your BIM and support your model discovery and validation processes. Filters and Rules allow you to identify and classify the objects in your models using Expressions. Use filters to pre-select groups of objects for other Operations and run Rules to apply smart model visualization to your model. This section covers the use of Filters, Rules and Expressions. You can access the Filter and Rules features by either selecting their buttons on the Home ribbon or by going to their panels in the Project Browser. Filter and Rules buttons on Home ribbon open Project Browser to their respective panels 4.1 Filters Filters are used to create a dynamic selection set and can be used by themselves to isolate specific items in your model or as an input to other Operations. Filters are defined and managed on the Project Browser Filter panel. A filter can be composed of using 3 main building blocks: - Expression Expressions are written as a function of object properties / variables and can be used to define any condition. Objects that pass the expression s condition are added to the filter s selection set. See the section on Expressions for a more detailed description of acceptable syntax and sample use cases. - Object Categories A filter s selection set can also be controlled by using the Object Categories tree. Object categories that are selected are included in the selection set and those that are unselected are excluded. This is a course way to add / remove objects from a filter, but very fast and effective. - Exceptions The Exceptions feature allows you to add or remove specific objects from your filter s selection set, allowing you to easily overcome data inconsistencies in your model that would throw off an expression. Expressions, Object Categories and Exceptions are all applied to the complete set of objects in your project to arrive at the Filter selection set. Their affects are additive, in other words, applied using the AND logical operator. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 31 of 112

32 Visicon Inc. Sample Filter showing where to define Expressions, select Object Categories, and define behavior of objects in Exceptions list New Filter from Project Browser The most basic way to create a new filter is to use the right-click mouse option when in the Project Browser Filter panel. When creating a new filter using this method, all non-physical 3D Object Categories (e.g., annotations, CAD files, dimensions, etc.) are automatically selected, creating a selection set for all 3D objects in your model. From this starting point, you can either add / remove object categories, add an expression or exceptions New Filter from Template You can also insert pre-defined filters from template files. Visicon ships with a Default template and you can create your own custom templates. To insert filters from a template, use the rightclick mouse option in the Project Browser Filter panel and select the Insert from Template File option New Filter from Object Selection To quickly create a re-usable Filter from any set of objects you have selected, use the right-click mouse option and click the Create New option. This will create a new filter with no Component Categories selected, but all of your selected objects included in your Exceptions list. Right-click options available while selecting objects Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 32 of 112

33 Visicon Inc Exceptions from Object Selection In addition to creating a new filter on the fly while using the right-click option, you can Include or Exclude the selected objects from the active filter in your list. 4.2 Rules-based Model Validation Rules build on the principles of Filters by adding visualization options and ability to group Rules into Rule Sets. Rules are used to isolate and highlight specific characteristics of the objects in your model and facilitate model investigation, QA and validation. Rules are defined and managed on the Project Browser Rules panel. To add a new Rule, either use the right-click mouse option or insert it from a template. Visicon provides two basic types of Rules: auto-colorize using a unique property or expression-driven. Think of each Rule as defining a certain condition, for example, an object has a unique property, Thickness, or the object s Thickness is greater than 8 in. The rule goes through all objects in your project and applies this condition. In some cases, the condition will be met and in others, it will not be met. We refer to these two states as Pass and Fail. A rule is further defined to apply user-specified visibility changes to those objects that Pass and those that Fail. This combination of condition checks and visibility settings gives you a powerful and flexible option to expose the underlying data embedded in your BIM. Each Rule defines a specified condition objects in your model either Pass or Fail this condition Rules can be configured to apply visibility changes based on this test Visibility settings for Rule outcome states Pass / Fail include: - Color (Ignore Variable Specific Color) If Rule is of type Uniqueness Check, only possible value is Variable. For Expression-driven, Visicon can either ignore color assignment or apply the specified color. - Opacity Determines opacity of objects enter value as whole percentages like (25%) - Visibility (Ignore Show Hide) Use this parameter to determine if objects should be visible or hidden. - Selection (Ignore Select Deselect) This parameter let s you configure Rules for the selection of objects in addition to their visibility. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 33 of 112

34 Visicon Inc. Project Browser showing a few examples of expression-driven and autocolorize Rules 4.3 Uniqueness Check Auto-Colorize The fastest and easiest Rule to define is the Uniqueness Check rule that auto-colorizes objects in your model based on any variable you choose. A variable can be any component property or parameter. You can use the rule to quickly identify components that meet specific categories. To create a Uniqueness Check rule, follow these steps: 1) Create a new Rule the rule will be blank. 2) Enter any single object variable found in your model. a. If you know the variable, simply type it into the Uniqueness field (for example, Thickness, Dimensions.Length, Family.IdentityData.AssemblyCode). b. If you are uncertain how to define a variable but can locate it in the Object Properties panel, select the variable there, right-click and select the Copy Variable option. You can then paste the variable with its correct syntax into the Uniqueness field. c. Alternatively, use the Insert Variable option and select your variable from that list. To open the Insert Variable interface, right click on the rule when it is highlighted (don t try to right-click when your mouse has activated the Uniqueness field). Access Insert Variable feature by right-clicking on the Rule 3) Once Visicon detects that you have entered a variable in the Uniqueness field, that rule is classified as a Uniqueness Check rule and sets the Pass > Color Assignment parameter to Variable. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 34 of 112

35 Visicon Inc 4) For most use cases, your rule has been configured and you can start using it. To apply the rule to your model, simply select it in the list. 5) If you want to confiture your rule s behavior further, modify the visibility parameters that should apply to each condition: Fail and Pass. Use the pull-down option in the Condition field to switch between parameter sets. Use pull-down option in Condition column to switch between Pass and Fail visibility properties Two configurations of model uniqueness checked for Thickness: the image on the left only applies unique color to those objects that have a thickness property (slabs) and ignores everything else, while the rule on the right Hides those components that fail (i.e., columns and beams) 4.4 Expression-Driven Views Expression-driven Rules give you the ability to define more specific conditions for checking your model. Similar to the Uniqueness Check rules, you can specify visibility actions that should be carried out on objects that either Pass or Fail the expression s condition. For example, you can isolate all slabs that have a Thickness = 8 and color them blue. To define a new Expressiondriven rule, follow these steps: 1) Create a new Rule the rule will be blank. 2) Enter an Expression. See section on Expressions for a detailed description of how to define them. 3) Note that nothing will happen at this stage because you have only defined a condition and no visibility action that should be taken for the Pass / Fail conditions. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 35 of 112

36 Visicon Inc. 4) Configure your Pass condition. 5) Confiture your Fail condition. 4.5 Rule Sets Sometimes you want to carry out a more extensive check on your model and one set of expression results and corresponding visibility actions may not be enough to clearly express what you are after. This is where Rule Sets come in Rule Sets allow you to combine any number of individual Rules into one action. Rule Sets are defined and managed in the lower half of the Rules panel. Rule sets are associated with any number of rules in a particular order. If you recall how Rules work, they check a condition against all objects in your project and then apply actions against the Pass and Fail states. Rule Sets operate in the same manner with the difference that you can now string several conditions together and apply new conditions and actions on the resulting set from the previous Rule. To manage this process, a new Rule parameter, Continue, is used. The Continue parameter can be set to Yes or No for each of the Pass or Fail outcomes. If Continue is set to Yes for one of the outcomes, the resulting selection set is available for the next Rule to check. Furthermore, the starting point of a Rule Set can be configured to set the visibility of your project using the following parameters: - Filter Select a filter to limit the objects the applied Rules will check and act on. - Color Sets the color of all objects in your model before any Rule applies. The visibility actions of applied rules will override this initial color setting. For example, the color of all components can be set to while before applying other Rule actions. - Opacity Sets the opacity of all objects in your model before any Rule applies. - Visibility (Ignore Show Hide) Determines whether all objects start out visible or hidden. - Selection (Ignore Select Deselect) Determines if all objects start out selected or not. The diagrams below explain the logic of how Rules act together in a Rule Set. Generic example logic of Rule Set where selection set of Failed condition is passed on to next Rule this allows you to set different types of conditions and actions on the subset of objects that pass each round Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 36 of 112

37 Visicon Inc Example of Rule Set logic with sample values Example of Rule Set that colorizes objects in the project based on different Thickness parameters To create a Rule Set, follow the following steps: 1) Create a new Rule Set the entry will be empty. 2) Determine if you need to have a custom configuration of the objects in your project before applying Rules. If so, configure the Rule Set parameters. 3) Assign Rules to the Rule Set by first selecting the Rule Set and then clicking on the Set Order field for those Rules you want to include. Select Rules in the order you want them to be applied in a Rule Set. One a rule has been assigned to a Set, it is assigned an order number in the form of (#1, #2, etc.). To remove or re-arrange the order, simply click on the Set Order field. If a value existed, it will be deleted and all other values will be reset. To re-add the rule, click on the filed again. All newly added rules are placed at the end of the queue. Alternatively, you can use the right-click Order options. 4) Review the associated Rules and make sure you set the Continue Yes / No parameter for each Pass / Fail state so that the logic reflects what you are trying to achieve. To apply a Rule Set, select it. Rule Sets can be saved to templates for easy re-use. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 37 of 112

38 Visicon Inc. Model after applying Rule Set defined in text above that colorizes slabs of different thicknesses 4.6 Assigning Rules to Views To allow for a smarter management of your views, you may want to pre-assign certain Rule or Rule Set visibility actions to a view. To link a Rule or Rule Set to a custom view, use the pulldown option under the Project Browser Views Rule / Rule Set filed. Once linked, the associated Rule or Rule Set will be run each time you open your custom View. You cannot link Rules to the Default view. View panel showing assignment of Rule Set to a Custom View 4.7 Expressions Expressions are at the heart of enabling Visicon s Rules and Filters to extract the information you need from your BIM. Writing expressions is easy and lets you define almost any search criteria. This section provides detailed instructions on how to write expressions. Expressions can be used to set selection criteria in Filters and Rules. An Expression can represent any type of logical check, as long as the result is a valid Boolean result: Pass or Fail. For example, you can have an expression formulated as Component.Variable > Operator > Value (Thickness = 8), Component.Name.StartsWith( C ) or Component.Height > Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 38 of 112

39 Visicon Inc Component.Length. You can expand each of these examples by using commonly accepted expression operators and syntax. Visicon tracks 3 types of variables for the components in your project: - Properties These are abstracted properties and specific to how Visicon represents imported objects. Visicon has about 1,000 standard properties that it can apply to different imported component types. These properties are constant across all Visicon projects. - Parameters These are properties that are assigned to a specific instance of a component in the INP, Revit or IFC file. Parameters are specific to the imported data and can vary for the same component type imported from different BIM file types. - Family This is only relevant to objects imported from Revit and represents additional properties defined at the family level. In summary, expressions defined with respect to Properties should be applicable across a wide range of projects while instance and family parameters may be very specific to one model or BIM file type. You can use all three types of variables in expressions Syntax As with all systems that interpret and use expressions, correct syntax is important. The table below describes basic syntax rules for component variables and values. Value Type Syntax Most properties can be accessed directly by their variable name. For example, Length, Height and Volume. Component Variable All parameters, however, must be accessed by their Category.PropertyName. For example, to refer to the Phase Created variable under Phasing in the parameters tab of a component, use Phasing.PhaseCreated. Note that all spaces are eliminated when referring to variables in Visicon. Our recommendation is to always use one of the automated variable generation methods to ensure you are defining the correct variable with the right syntax. Numerical All numerical values can be represented as you would normally refer to them. For example, 1, 0.03, Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 39 of 112

40 Visicon Inc. Numerical with Units Text If a numerical value has units, it is good practice to refer to the units. This is covered in more detail in the section on Using Units. All text should be enclosed in. For example, Concrete, Piping System Using Units Visicon distinguishes between component variables values that have units and those that are unitless. Your project is always configured to be in one state of units: Imperial, SI, or Custom. You can check the units you are in at the bottom of your Task Bar. Task Bar showing current Units When defining values for variables that have units, we recommend that you include the units in your expression. For example, Thickness = 8in or Length = 6m. You have complete freedom to define your variable using any compatible unit type that you are familiar with. It can be Imperial or SI, regardless of the units your model is set to. You may, for example, be more comfortable specifying something in mm even though your model is in Imperial units. Visicon s expression engine will automatically convert any specified units. If you don t specify units, Visicon will assume they are system units. System units are specific to the unit setting of your project: - SI System Units: meters, newtons, kilograms, Celsius, etc. - Imperial System Units: feet, kip, pounds, Fahrenheit, etc. If you choose not to use units in your expression, then you would have to specify the expression to select 8 slabs as follows: Thickness = The refers to ft. As you can see, it is much cleaner to use expressions. The added benefit of using explicit units is that you can then save your expressions as a template and apply them with confidence to any other future model, regardless of whether the model will be in SI or Imperial units Copy / Paste Variable The fastest and easiest way for you to enter an object variable into an expression is to copy it from the Object Properties panel. Select the object you want the variable for and start by rightclicking on the variable in the Object Properties panel. Select the Copy Variable option. Variables that contain sub-properties may require you to navigate an additional level of variables. To add the copied variable to your expression, simply move your cursor to the Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 40 of 112

41 Visicon Inc expression and use the Paste function. You will always have the correct syntax if you follow this method Expression Editor Example of a multi-level variable: Core Material The Expression Editor is an expanded user interface that give you more area to compose your expressions. To open the Expression Editor for a Filter or Rule, select the Filter or Rule and use the right-click option. You cannot access the Editor if you have already activated the Expression filed with your curser. Functions of the Expression Editor are described in the table below. Expression Editor configured to select all 8 slabs with a minimum lower bound of 433ft or all objects with a Mark that contains 10 Function Description Clear Clears any expression written in the editor Refresh Runs the expression and refreshes the selection in the model space Insert Opens Insert Variable user interface Cancel Cancels any edits made to expression in editor and closes it Accept Saves changes made to expression in editor, runs expression, and closes editor Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 41 of 112

42 Visicon Inc Insert Variable The Insert Variable feature is a convenient way for you to explore all available variables (component properties) in your project and insert them into your expression with the correct syntax. To insert a variable, select it in the tree and click the (+) button. Insert Variable user interface with Section.b variable selected Special Bounding Box Variables In addition to the basic component properties that are exposed in the Object Properties panel, Visicon supports several special variables that give you more detailed access to a components geometric attributes in expressions. Specifically, you have access to more data on a component s geometric bounds data. Bounds variables refer to a hypothetical bounding box that is created around each component in a Visicon project. Diagram showing axis aligned bounding box of any component A list of special bounds variables is provided in the table below. Note that bounds variables that are represented as vectors are accessed by their individual axis coordinates. For example, Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 42 of 112

43 Visicon Inc Bounds.Min.x refers to the minimum X coordinate of the minimum bounds of a component. If you don t specify a specific coordinate for a vector-type variable, it assumes the constant you are checking against, for example, Bounds.Min > 5, is referring to all 3 axis X > 5, Y > 5, and Z > 5. For consistent and predictable results, it is always best to specify which axis you are referring to when using vector variables in your expressions. Physical category of a component in Object Properties showing vector Bounds Minimum, Bounds Maximum, and Bounds Center variables Special Variable Description and Use Example Bounds.Center (vector Bounds.Center.x > 50m) Refers to center of bounding box. Bounds.Width (Bounds.Width = 12ft) Captures X dimension of bounding box. Bounds.Depth (Bounds.Depth < 100mm) Captures Y dimension of bounding box. Bounds.Height Bounds.Max Bounds.Min (Bounds.Height > 10ft) Refers to Z height of bounding box. Picks all components greater than 10 ft in overall height. (vector Bounds.Max.z > 20m) Refers to maximum point of bounding box. (vector Bounds.Min.x > 45ft) Refers to minimum point of bounding box. Bounds.Size (vector Bounds.Size.y > 1000mm) Refers to one dimension of the bounding box. Picks all components that have a bounding box size greater than 1000 mm in the Y axis. Bounds.Volume (Bounds.Volume <= 22m2) Refers to the volume of the bounding box. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 43 of 112

44 Visicon Inc. In the Insert Variable list, Bounds variables are found under Component Properties Physical Special Variable Functions Visicon support a few special member functions that make it easier for you to search variables for specific strings. You can use these functions instead of wildcard operators. These special functions are found under Member Functions in the Insert Variable list. Function Description and Use Example Contains(x) DoesNotContain(x) (Name.Contains( 7 )) Use this function to find variables that contain any string you specify in. (Name.DoesNotContain( C )) Use this function to find variables that o not contain a string you specify in. GetParameterValue (Group,Name) (GetParameterValue( Appearance, Transparency ) > 50) Function that lets you access a parameter s value. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 44 of 112

45 Visicon Inc StartsWith(x) EndsWith(x) (Name.StartsWith( 2 )) Use this function to find variables that start with any string you specify in. (Name.EndsWith( t )) Use this function to find variables that end with any string you specify in Special Inventory Variables You can access the following Inventory variables using expressions. The values for these variables are also displayed on the Inventory ribbon when you select a component. Variable Description and Use Example HorizontalSectionArea (HorizontalSectionArea > 1000 ft2) Use this to reason about a component s horizontal section. Most used to determine slab surface area. VerticalSectionArea (VerticalSectionArea < 10 m2) Vertical section of a component. VerticalSurfaceArea HorizontalLength Perimeter Weight (VerticalSurfaceArea = 200 ft2) Surface area of vertical faces of a component. (HorizontalLength = 16 in) Applies to some components like walls and represents horizontal length. (Perimeter = 20 m) Perimeter of a component s vertical projection, including openings. (Weight > 500 lb) Calculated as the volume of a component multiplied by its material density Operators The table below lists allowable Expression Operators. Some common operators can be expressed in different ways. Category Name Syntax Example Arithmetic Addition + a + b Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 45 of 112

46 Visicon Inc. Subtraction - a - b Multiply * a * b Divide / a / b Power ^ a^3 Negate - -a Logical And and, &, && a and b Or or,, a b Not!!(a = b) Comparison Equal =, == a = b Name ~= *Column? Wildcard Equality ~= Name ~= Column?? Name ~= *Column* *? Means zero or more of any character Means any single character Not Equal!=, <> a!= b Less Than < a < b Less Than or Equal <= a <= b Greater Than > a > b Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 46 of 112

47 Visicon Inc Greater Than or Equal >= a >= b Member Access. (period), -> IdentityData.Mark Separators Parenthesis (, ) a * (b + c) Comma, Units SI mm, cm, m, kg, etc. Thickness > 200 mm Imperial in, ft, lb, etc. Thickness > 8 in 3D Vectors Referring to individual values.x,.y,.z MinimumBounds.z > 400 ft Referring to full vector [x,y,z] Force = [0,0,-1000] Expression Examples - Find all components whose Name starts with F : o Name.StartsWith( F ) - Find all floors with 8 thickness above 433ft: o (Category = Floor Systems ) and (Thickness = 8in) and (Bounds.Min.z > 433ft) - Find all structural beams with a Length / Depth ratio greater than 15: o (Type = "Structural Beam") and ((Length / Family.Dimensions.Ht) > 15) - Find all floors that have an offset greater than 0: o (Category = "Floor Systems") and (Constraints.HeightOffsetFromLevel!= 0) - Find all structural floors above 144 ft: o (Type = "Structural Floor") and (BottomLevel.Elevation >= 144ft) - Find all floors with surface area greater than 10,000 ft: o (Type = "Structural Floor") and (HorizontalSectionArea > 10000ft) - Find all columns that are modeled between two consecutive levels: o (Category = "Columns") and (TopLevel.Index - BottomLevel.Index = 1) - Fina all sloped columns: o (Category = "Columns") and (Slope!= 0) Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 47 of 112

48 Visicon Inc. 5 Data Export / Import & Visualization Not only can you use Filters and Rules to explore and validate the data in your BIM, Visicon allows you to export any of the information for post-processing and evaluation outside of your BIM using XLXS. You can also import any external data back into your Visicon project and visualize it on your 3D BIM for a better understanding of data / special relationships. This section describes the workflow for the exporting and importing of data from a Visicon project. To import data back into your BIM, you must first export component information with its Unique ID. New data can be associated with this Unique ID and re-imported. 5.1 Data Export Report To export model data from your Visicon project, use the Import Data Template Report. The report allows you to configure the following properties: - Source (Entire Model Visible Model Selection Filter) Select the components that should be included in your report. The Filter option requires you to pick a filter. - Variables to Show Use this property to specify all of the component variables (Properties and Parameters) you want to export to the XLXS report. The report defaults to one variable: Name. You can override this variable by typing over it. Enter new variables in the New Variable field. Import Data Template Report configured to export Component Name, Level Name, Level Elevation, Material Name, and Thickness for slabs The report exports the specified variable values for all source components. In addition to the variable data you specify, it lists each component s Unique ID. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 48 of 112

49 Visicon Inc Sample Import Data Template Report in XLXS format 5.2 Importing Data You can modify values in the Import Data Template or add new data. To add new data, define the new component parameter using the following syntax: Category.New_Parameter (units). The new parameter definition should be in the header and your data in the fields of the column. Make sure to keep the Unique ID for each component in the XLSX sheet. It is the minimum additional data you need to complete the import. If you are just importing new data, we recommend you clean your XLSX sheet to only include your new data and the Unique ID. To import data, use the function File Import Data. Any errors you receive while importing will be displayed as warnings. Imported component data will be found in the Parameters tab of the Object Properties panel. To enter string values, it is not necessary to enter them with. To import data with units, specify the units in the header using the following format: (unit). Example of XLSX sheets modified to include new component parameters upper image shows sheet with all original data and lower image shows sheet cleaned to only include each component s Unique ID Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 49 of 112

50 Visicon Inc. Object Properties panel showing imported data: new categories, parameter name, and values 5.3 Visualizing External Data Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 50 of 112

51 Visicon Inc 6 Model Alignment Merged models may not always align. This section describes the functionality used to align models or individual components. All model alignment functionality is located on the Models / Alignment Ribbon. Each of the 5 alignment methods is described in the table below. Models / Alignment ribbon. Function Description Manual This function allows you to manually move selected objects. Once activated, use the alignment widget to move the objects. The coordinates of your translation are shown in the ribbon. You can manually override these values, if necessary. To accept the translation, select the Accept button. By Coordinates Selecting this option allows you to move components by entering a translation vector. By Objects This function determines the translation vector by the center of two objects you select. First select the objects you want to move, select the Align by Objects button, and then select two objects. Visicon will display the translation vector it calculates. You can either Accept or Cancel the suggestion. By Points This option works similar to the Align by Objects with the difference that you select two points. Center at Origin This function centers the entire model at the origin. Use this when working with models that have very large offsets to the origin. Viewing quality degrades when components are too far from the origin. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 51 of 112

52 Visicon Inc. 7 Views and Markups Building Information Models can be very complex and include layers of components that are not easy to isolate or visualize. Furthermore, you want a fast and easy way to record and disseminate your comments without having to first take a screen shot and marking up a PDF. Visicon has been designed to provide a convenient platform for the dissection, documentation, and dissemination of BIM information. This section describes the functionality used to manage custom views and annotate your models. 7.1 Defining and Managing Views All functionality needed to create and manage views is located on the Views and Markup ribbon. A list of user-defined views is available in the Project Browser. Selecting a view in the Project Browser Views panel switches the model window to the selected view. Visicon retains all visibility settings for each user-defined view, giving you ultimate flexibility in slicing and dicing your BIM. The table below describes the functionality used to create and manage views. The special characteristics of Default views are described in one of the following sections. Views / Markup ribbon Project Browser Views panel listing the Default and all user-defined views. Function Description Manage Opens the Views panel of Project Browser where all user-defined views are listed. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 52 of 112

53 Visicon Inc Default Opens Default project view. New Creates new user-defined view. If components are selected when clicking this button, you have to option to either 1) include selected objects only to be visible in new view, or 2) include all visible objects. Object 1 allows you to quickly create a new view that only displays the selected objects. Save This button is only active if the Auto Save feature is turned off for a view. If selected, it saves all of a view s visibility settings. Delete Use this button to delete the active view. Auto Save By default, all views are set to Auto Save ON. When active, Visicon saves the latest visibility settings for the view you are working in. If turned OFF, you must manually use the Save button to save the latest settings. Lock The Lock feature fixes the camera view position. Use this if you don t want others to change the viewpoint of a view you have defined. By default, Visicon Locks all views with 2D Markups. The corners of the model window turn red when a view is locked. 7.2 Default View Each Visicon project is initialized with a Default view. In general, the Default view acts the same as any other user-defined view: you can change its visibility settings, add 2D markups, add 3D annotations, and lock the viewpoint. However, the Default view differs from all other views in that any 2D or 3D annotation created in this view are visible in all other views. To prevent you from accidentally adding annotations to the Default view that will then be visible throughout the rest of your project, Visicon prompts you with the message below when adding annotations in the Default view. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 53 of 112

54 Visicon Inc. Message displayed when adding annotations to Default view. 7.3 User-Defined Global Views The free version of Visicon lets you create up to 3 custom views. Custom views that are created from the Views / Markup ribbon or the Views panel are called Global Views and are accessible from anywhere in the program. Users of the Professional version can create an unlimited number of custom views. Each custom view can be fully configured to display only those components you choose, up to 9 custom clip planes, and any visibility setting. Visicon gives you a visual queue that you are in a custom view and not the Default by placing a narrow blue border around the model window. 7.4 Issue Views Issues can have their own views. The operation of these views is covered under the section on Issues D Markups / Overlays 2D Markups are overlays on top of a model view either Default or custom. Visicon offers a variety of shapes and text options. Each annotation s properties, like color, line thickness, etc., are fully editable. To access its properties, select the annotation and open the Object Properties panel. All editable properties will be listed there. The physical placement and geometry of annotations can also be changed. To move a markup, select it and then left-mouse click somewhere on the object s body. Moving your mouse while the left-mouse button is selected will move the markup without changing its geometry. Each markup also has control points that can be used to change its geometry. Overlays are drawn on the screen in the order you create them Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 54 of 112

55 Visicon Inc with the most recent placed on top. Use the Overlay Ordering tools to change the position of an overlay you are trying to edit but may not be able to access because another one is on top. Use the Overlay Ordering buttons to change the layer ordering of your markups. Function Description Line Creates a line. A line annotation has a control point at each end. Line Strip Creates a line strip. Line strips have a control point at each end and joint. Arrow Creates an arrow. Arrows have a control point at each end. Circle Creates a circle. The perimeter of the circle is a control point and allows you to increase or decrease its size. Rectangle Creates a rectangle. Each side of the rectangle is a control point and allows you to stretch the rectangle normal to the direction of the side. Polygon Creates a polygon. Each vertex of the polygon is a control point. Callout Creates a text callout. The callout box has the same control points as a rectangle. The end of the callout s tail is also a control point. Double click on the text to enter text editing mode. You can also type the callout s text in its property window. Text Creates a text annotation. The bounding box of the text is editable like a rectangle. Text is editable like a callout. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 55 of 112

56 Visicon Inc. Example of editable properties of Callout, as listed in the Object Properties panel D Annotations Visicon allows you to add additional 3D annotations to your BIM. These annotations become part of your model and can be visible from any angle in your model. Similar to other annotation types, 3D annotations can be modified using their control points. A description of supported 3D annotations is provided in the table below: Function Description 3D Line Creates a 3D line in your model. Spot Tag Gives you the ability to add a text tag to any location in the model that is visible from most views of the model. The text for the tag is added in the Object Properties Comment property. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 56 of 112

57 Visicon Inc Spot Elevation Places 3D tag on your model with the elevation of the selected position. You can also display a comment. Spot Coordinate Places 3D tag on your model with XYZ coordinates of selected position. You can also display a comment. Spot Slope Places 3D vector on your model with slope at selected location. Delete All Deletes all 3D annotations. Example of Spot Tag. 7.7 View and Markup Summary Report To share your custom BIM views and markups with others, you can either them your Visicon project (VXF file), portable model file (self-contained EXE), or PDF summary report. You can create a PDF summary report of your custom views and markups using the Views and Markup Summary Report. Create a new report from the Reports ribbon or right-click option in the Report panel of the Project Browser. Select the screen shot dimensions and click Run to generate your PDF report. Views and Markup Summary Report in Project Browser with editable screen shot dimensions. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 57 of 112

58 Visicon Inc. 8 Tendon Modeling & Editing To facilitate BIM coordination of post-tensioned projects, Visicon supports the import and editing of tendons. Tendon data is read from ADAPT INP files, anchor placement can be configured to meet actual site conditions, and tendon components can be merged with any other BIM data. This section describes how to work with posttensioning tendons. Modeling of tendons in Visicon requires an ADAPT INP file as input. When importing an INP file with tendon data, Visicon creates Tendon components and sets the default Post-Tensioning System to Mono-strand flat bundle with either 0.5 or 0.6 stands, depending on what is specified in the INP file. Anchors are assumed to be placed horizontally in one layer. From this starting point, you can fine-tune the placement of your tendons as either a mono-strand or multistrand system. Image showing default tendon placement for tendons imported from ADAPT INP file Tendons imported into Visicon have 3 zones: Anchor, transition, and bundled / duct zone each can be configured to produce a constructible configuration for the tendons Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 58 of 112

59 Visicon Inc 8.1 Mono-Strand System If your project has a mono-strand post-tensioning system, you can adjust the following component properties for each tendon: - Post-Tensioning System (Mono-strand flat bundle Mono-strand round bundle Rectangular multi-strand Round multi-strand) For the mono-strand systems, the bundle type configures how individual tendons are laid out in the bundled zone. Round is often used for beams. - Anchor Type (0.5 and 0.6 standard and encapsulated anchor types) Pick from a list of mono-strand anchor types. - Strand Count This value is imported from the INP file and represents the total number of tendons in your mono-strand bundle. If required, you can change this value in Visicon. The max allowable strand (tendon) count is Bundle Spacing (Dia) Specifies the spacing of individual tendons in the bundle zone. Each end of a tendon (Start Anchor End Anchor) can be further configured using the following properties: - Orientation (Horizontal Vertical) This property determines the orientation of an anchor. - Offset (Horizontal, Vertical, Along Tendon units) Use this value to adjust the placement of the tendon s anchor block relative to its original CGS. This may be necessary to move anchors away from construction conflicts. For example, to move the anchor block back (along tendon) by 4 and to the left by 12 (local axis looking at tendon end), enter the value (-12, 0, -4 in). - Layer Count Determines how many layers to place anchors in. - Transition Length The distance between the anchor and bundled zones where tendons are splayed. - Spacing (Horizontal, Vertical units) Sets the spacing of individual anchors in a tendon s anchor zone. To specify spacing a horizontal spacing of 7.75 in and vertical spacing of 3.5 in, enter (7.75, 3.5 in). To save time, you can select multiple tendons and edit their values at the same time. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 59 of 112

60 Visicon Inc. Example of tendons configured as mono-strand system 8.2 Multi-Strand System Visicon supports two types of multi-strand systems: round multi-strand and rectangular multistrand. If your project includes a multi-strand system, you can configure it as follows: - Post-Tensioning System (Mono-strand flat bundle Mono-strand round bundle Rectangular multi-strand Round multi-strand) The selection of system determines which anchor types are available. Unlike the mono-strand systems that can support any number of tenons / anchors in one ADAPT / Visicon component, the number of strands a tendon component can have is limited by the capacity of the anchor. - Anchor Type (S3, S4 and S5 Rectangular S3 S55 Round) Select the applicable anchor type. - Strand Count This value is imported from the INP file and represents the total number of tendons in the multi-strand tendon. If required, you can change this value in Visicon, however, for multi-strand systems, this value is limited to the max # of strands the selected anchor type can support. Similar to the mono-strand system, each anchor (Start Anchor End Anchor) of a multi-strand tendon can be configured using these parameters: - Offset (Horizontal, Vertical, Along Tendon units) Use this value to adjust the placement of the tendon s anchor block relative to its original CGS. This may be necessary to move anchors away from construction conflicts. For example, to move the anchor block back (along tendon) by 4 and to the left by 12 (local axis looking at tendon end), enter the value (-12, 0, -4 in). - Transition Length The distance between the anchor and start of duct where tendons are splayed. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 60 of 112

61 Visicon Inc Because the layout of strands in multi-strand systems is governed by the anchor type, you have fewer anchor zone options. Example of tendons configured as multi-strand system. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 61 of 112

62 Visicon Inc. 9 3D Measure 3D measure features allow you to measure your model and add dimension annotations that become part of the 3D BIM. This section describes their functionality. 3D Dimensioning functions are found on the Measure ribbon. Similar to 2D annotations, 3D dimensions created on the Default view will be visible in all project views and those created on custom views will only be visible there. 3D Measure ribbon with all functionality for dimensioning. 9.1 Dimensions Dimensions allow you to extract measurements from your model. By default, all dimension features operate in full 3D space and rely on the points you snap on that are on actual components in your model. The dimension functionality will temporarily disable if your mouse is not hovering over components. If required, you can restrict the movement of a dimension along the X, Y or Z axis by using the axis constraints. To measure on a clip plane, turn on the Clip- Planes constraint. Axis and clip plane constraints that help with the process of extracting measurements from your model. Function Description Linear This function reports the dimension between two points. Clearance The clearance feature is a dynamic dimensioning feature that displays the clearance between the point your mouse is hovering over and the clearance between that point and the nearest object in a perpendicular line from your mouse position. The dynamic dimension will only display Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 62 of 112

63 Visicon Inc when another object is detected. You can create a permanent clearance dimension by clicking your left mouse button. One to Many This tool allows you to quickly measure multiple points from one location. Multi Segment This measurement tool is used to measure the cumulative length along a multi-segmented path. Surface Area The surface area measurement tool gives the area of any polygon you define in 3D space. Angular Use the angular measurement to calculate the angle between any 3 points in space. Single Mode Invoke this mode if you don t want your measurements to become permanent artifacts of your model. When active, it assumes you are just interested in recording the measurement you are working on and will automatically delete it when you create the next one. Cumulative Measure When active, this mode displays accumulated dimensions for all measurements. To reset the counter for new dimensions you are creating, turn the mode off and on. All dimensions remember if they were part of a cumulative set and re-display their cumulative value when the Cumulative Measure is turned on again. Delete All This function deletes all 3D dimensions in the active view. You can customize the display of dimensions by opening up their properties in the Object Properties panel. Besides the ability to adjust color, line thickness, arrow type, and other display properties, you can add your own comment and force XYZ axis to always show. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 63 of 112

64 Visicon Inc. Properties of Linear Dimension in Object Properties panel. Add comments in the Comments property and set the Show Comments to Yes to display them in your model. Example of Linear Dimension with comments shown. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 64 of 112

65 Visicon Inc Example of Linear Dimension with Show Axis set to Always. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 65 of 112

66 Visicon Inc. 10 Operations Operations are algorithms and automated processes that help you carry out different actions on your models. Some are as simple as identifying duplicates in your model, while others automate clearance checking. Collectively, these tools let you check the integrity of your models more efficiently. This section describes the functionality of operations available in v1. Visicon s goal is to continually add more advanced, domain-specific operations in new versions. You must have a Professional license to use model checking operations. Functionality to create and run Operations is found on the Operations ribbon. Operations that have been created are listed in the Operations panel of the Project Browser. You can also create new Operations in the Project Browser panel by using the right-click option. The Project Browser is also used to access and configure the customizable properties of operations. Visicon has two types of Operations: 1) general operations that automatically modify data in your model and 2) advanced operations that check your model against a user-specified criterion and create Issues for each identified condition. Issue management and how to filter them based on their source Operation is covered under its own section. Operations ribbon. The functionality of general operations is described in the table below. Function Description Manage Opens Operations panel in Project Browser, where operations are listed and configured. Anonymize This operation replaces all object properties that could include your proprietary data with generic data. Use this function to clean your models before sharing with others if you are concerned about sensitive data. Running Anonymize does not change the geometry of your BIM. Compare Models This operation takes two model files and runs a detailed property-byproperty comparison. The results are presented in a table. It is useful Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 66 of 112

67 Visicon Inc when trying to understand subtle changes between two models that are not obvious. Split Volumes This operation splits multi-geometry components into separate volumes. Convert to Extrusions Simplifies and converts complex meshed components into extrusions with uniform cross-section. Delete Holes Removes holes from extruded components. Check / Fix Unique IDs Verifies all components have a unique ID and fixes those that don t. The collaboration feature requires that all components have a unique ID. Compact Resources The operation eliminates unused resources in your model and may reduce file size. Rename Column Stacks Column names are used to organize tributary areas in the tributary report in vertical columns. In case your model was not configured to have common column names for a column stack, this operation copies up column lower column names to those directly on top of them. Apply Contrasting Palette This operation applies a contrasting color palette to object properties like material, source document, worksets, families, parameters and load cases. It is most useful for material colorization where the original material color assignment is not differentiated enough. Apply Consistent Palette This operation applies a color palette to object properties that is intended to be consistent across BIM files. To achieve this, Visicon uses an algorithm to determine a unique color assignment for each property value. The objective is for you to be able to identify the same properties across different models using the same color scheme. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 67 of 112

68 Visicon Inc. Advanced operations are selected through the New pull-down option. You can execute an operation using the Run button and clear its results, i.e., Issues, using the Clear Results function User-Defined To facilitate easier classification and management, each Issue in Visicon is linked to its source Operation. User-defined operations are used to classify issues manually created by a user. You can either pre-define a user-defined operation before you create an issue or have Visicon create a new one for you. You cannot re-assign the source Operation of an Issue once it has been created. The screen shot below shows a list of Operations. The top operation is a Clash Test, and all others are User-Defined. You can assign a color, name and comments to each operation type. List of Operations in Project Browser. Three conditions can exist when manually creating an issue: 1. A User-Defined operation has been defined and is selected (i.e., active). 2. User-Defined operations have been defined but none of them is selected. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 68 of 112

69 Visicon Inc 3. No User-Defined operation has been defined. If in condition 1, the new Issue will be linked to the selected operation and assigned its color and source operation name. If in conditions 2 and 3, Visicon will create a new User-Defined operation and assign the new Issue to it. If you are in conditions 2 or 3 and start creating multiple issues, all of those will be assigned to one new User-Defined operation. This happens because the newly created operation becomes the active operation, putting you in condition 1. The screen shot below shows a list of user created operations. The source Operation is listed under the Operation column. List of user-defined issues Filter-Based Filter-based operations are a convenient way to create issues using filters. In addition to the standard customization properties like color, days to resolve, severity, assignee, and reporter, these operations require you to define the following two properties: - Filter Select the filter used to identify the components associated with this issue. - One Issue Per Component (Yes / No) This property determines if one issue is created for the filter s selection set or if an issue should be created for each individual component. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 69 of 112

70 Visicon Inc. Configuration properties for Filter-Based Operations Clash Test The Clash Test Operation is used to check the constructability of your BIM. In particular, it is used to check whether two components are touching or overlapping. You can configure the test to check A against B or items in A against themselves. Running a Clash Test Operation generates an Issue for each set of clashing components. The clashing components are linked to the Issue for easy tracking and resolution. In addition to the standard properties, a Clash Test Operation has the following customization options: - Touch Distance This variable allows you to set a distance at which two components would not be considered touching or clashing. The default is set to 0. - Filter Source (Dual Input / Single Input) Select Dual Input if you are going to check one set of components against another set. Use the Single Input option if you only have one set of objects and want to check if they clash with each other. - Input A: Include Use this field to select the Filter sets for the Input Set A. You can select multiple Filters. All filters selected in this field are additive. - Input A: Exclude Use this filed to exclude selections from Input A by selecting one or more filters. - Input A: Constraints The filters you assign as Constraints are applied to the resulting set of objects [(Includes Excludes) x Constraints]. For example, a constraint filter could include an Expression for a bounding region (MinimumBounds > [0,0,900]). When applied, only components with a Minimum Bound greater than Z = 900 will be included in the Input Set A. - Input B properties These are only available if you selected Dual Input. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 70 of 112

71 Visicon Inc Configuration properties of Clash Test Operations. Example of a Duct / Floor clash. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 71 of 112

72 Visicon Inc Find Duplicates The Find Duplicates Operation checks your model for components with duplicate IDs. Items with duplicate IDs are assigned to an Issue. The Find Duplicates operation only requires one customized parameter: - Filter The operation checks all components in the assigned filter for duplicate IDs. Example of Find Duplicates Operation Clearance Check The Clearance Check Operation checks your model for minimum clearance requirements. You can check a set of objects against themselves or check one set of objects against another. All pairs of objects that fail the clearance check are assigned to an Issue. Customizable properties of a Clearance Check operation include: - Clearance Direction This parameter, specified as a unit vector, determines the direction in which clearance for an object is checked. To check clearance, Visicon creates a 3D projection of the object being checked in the direction of the vector. This 3D projected volume is then checked against other objects. - Clearance Distance The distance used to check clearance along the clearance direction. If checking vertical clearance (e.g., 0, 0, -1), the distance is measured from the bottom of the subject object. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 72 of 112

73 Visicon Inc Image showing front view of test object and 4 sample clearance directions. In each case, the projection of the object is extruded along the clearance direction. - Boundary Tolerance By default, Visicon creates a temporary 3D extrusion of the test object in the direction of the clearance direction. The outline of the 3D extrusion is a projection of the test object perpendicular to the direction of the Clearance Direction and the extrusion length is the Clearance Distance. If the test object is already touching another object, for example, two adjacent slabs, it is possible for a corner of the temporary 3D extrusion to touch / intersect the other object and result in a false positive clearance violation. To avoid such false clearance clashes, use the Boundary Tolerance to create a slightly smaller outline for the temporary 3D extrusion. The clearance distance is unaffected by the Boundary Tolerance. - Previous Issues You can re-run Operations to check whether an identified issue has been resolved. This parameter specifies what to do with previously generated Issues. o Delete- Deletes all previous issues and creates all new ones. o Update Only updates issues but does not delete previously creates ones. o Update (Delete if applicable) This option updates issues and deletes those that are not relevant any longer. o Ignore Ignores previously created issues and adds a new set that could include duplicate issues. - Filter Source (Dual Input / Single Input) Select Dual Input if you are going to check one set of components against another set. Use the Single Input option if you only have one set of objects and want to check if they clash with each other. - Input A: Include Use this field to select the Filter sets for the Input Set A. You can select multiple Filters. All filters selected in this field are additive. - Input A: Exclude Use this filed to exclude selections from Input A by selecting one or more filters. - Input A: Constraints The filters you assign as Constraints are applied to the resulting set of objects [(Includes Excludes) x Constraints]. For example, a constraint filter could include an Expression for a bounding region (MinimumBounds > [0,0,900]). When applied, only components with a Minimum Bound greater than Z = 900 will be included in the Input Set A. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 73 of 112

74 Visicon Inc. - Input B properties These are only available if you selected Dual Input. Example of a Clearance Check Operation configured to check the vertical clearance of all slabs against each other. Note use of Single Input Filter Source. The clearance distance is set to 8.775t. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 74 of 112

75 Visicon Inc List of issues created when running Slab Clearance Check. The two objects that trigger a clearance clash are automatically assigned to an issue. 3D measurement of objects failing clash test confirms they don t meet minimum 8.775ft min clearance requirement Boolean Difference The Boolean Difference Operation is designed to help you identify physical changes between two versions of the same model. Clash detection is an effective tool for checking interference between two models that represent different disciplines for example plumbing against structural components. Clash detection is not an effective tool for determining how two versions of the same model may have changed. Running a clash check between two versions of a model will most likely result in a clash between each set of components, regardless of whether the components changed or not. Visicon s Boolean Difference Operation, however, calculates the true 3D difference between the components in two models and displays the Results (either additions or deletions) graphically. Each Difference is also assigned to an Issue. Configurable Boolean Difference parameters include: - Skip Identical If this parameter is set to Yes, Visicon skips running a detailed Boolean Difference calculation for identical components. - Previous Issues Refer to detailed description in Clearance Check Operation. - Input A & B Unlike other operations, Boolean Difference always requires two sets of Inputs: both A and B. refer to detailed description in Clearance Check Operation. Visicon uses multiple colorization modes to help the user isolate and display data in their BIM. To display the results of an Operation, switch to the Issue colorization model on the Status Bar. When in Issue colorization mode, components associated with Issues and Boolean Diff results will be colored, while all other components will be grayed out and transparent. To isolate components in your model further, use the Show Non-Issues and Results Only buttons on the Issue ribbon. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 75 of 112

76 Visicon Inc. Status Bar lists default colorization modes. Turn on the Issue Colorize mode to isolate and display components in your model that are associated with Issues. The left image shows a model in Issue Colorize mode and non-issues turned on. The image to the right is the same model with Show Non-Issues turned off. In this case, only Boolean Results and other objects associated with Issues would be visible. You can isolate the model to only show Boolean Results by turning on the Results Only mode. These visibility icons are found on the Issue ribbon. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 76 of 112

77 Visicon Inc Example of Boolean Difference Operation configured to check Model A against Model B. The reinforcement and tendons of Model A are excluded from the check. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 77 of 112

78 Visicon Inc. Example of Issues created after running Boolean Difference. The model is also in Issue colorize mode, showing the Results of the Boolean Difference Variance Check The Variance Check Operation is another effective tool we have developed for you to identify changes between two models. This operation gives you the option of narrowing your variance check on a specific geometric variable, for example, volume change, or any non-geometric property of your model, like material property. Instead of reporting variance results in XLSX tables like the Quantity Variance Report does, this operation generates an Issue for each instance of a variance. The benefit of generating a list of issues with associated objects is that you can easily identify where there changes in your model are located. Customizable properties of the Variance Check Operation include: - Variance Type (Quantity / Variable) Selecting Quantity allows you to check your models against a change in a specified cost driver. Select Variable if you want to check your models against a change in a specified component property. The specified Variable does not have to be a physical property. - Show Variance For (Added / Removed / Changed) This property determines whether an issue is created for all changes, only those where an object has been Added, or removed. - Cost Driver This option is available if you selected Variance Type: Quantity. Select the cost driver you want to quantify changes for. The benefit of being able to narrow your variance check down to a specific cost driver gives you more targeted results. Note that not all Cost Drivers apply to all component types. To check whether a cost driver is calculated for a component type you are interested in, select one in your model and open the Inventory ribbon. Available cost drivers for the selected component will be displayed as non-zero values. Available cost drivers are: o Count o Surface Area o Vertical Surface Area o Horizontal Surface Area o Vertical Section Area o Height o Member Length o Horizontal Length o Perimeter o Thickness o Volume o Weight Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 78 of 112

79 Visicon Inc - Variable This option is available if you select Variance Type: Variable. Use this property to specify the object variable (property) to check. For example, type Section.b if you want the variance operation to check changes in a component s b Section property. To specify object variables, either: o Copy variable To copy any variable, right-click on an object s property in the Project Browser and select the Copy Variable option. Then place your curser in the Variable edit box and select the right-click option: Paste. o Insert variable To access a complete list of available object variables in your model, right click on the Variable property and select the Insert Variable option. Browse through the available variables and select the one you want to insert into the Variable property. - Input A & B The Variance Check Operation always requires two sets of Inputs: both A and B. refer to detailed description in Clearance Check Operation. Insert Variable UI that lists all available object variables (properties) in a project. Select the property you want to insert and click the (+) button. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 79 of 112

80 Visicon Inc. Example of Variance Check Operation configured to check two models against a Volume change. List of issues generated by Variance Operation. Note details of volume variance (addition of 5.253m3) for affected slab. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 80 of 112

81 Visicon Inc 11 Issue Management Vision offers a flexible Issue Management module to help you identify, track and resolve issues with your BIM. This section describes how to define and manage issues using Visicon. All functionality related to Issues is located on the Issues ribbon. In this document, the current Issue refers to the currently selected issue in the Project Browser list. The table below describes each of the functions in detail. Issues Ribbon Function Description Manage Opens the Issue panel of the Project Browser, where all issues are listed. New Creates a new User-Defined issue. If a User-Defined Operation is not selected, Visicon will create a new one and assign it to the newly created issue. Delete Deletes selected issue. Previous Browses previous issue in list. Next Browses next issue in list. Add Object Only active if an issue is defined and at least one component is selected. Assigns selection to current issue. Remove Object Only active if an issue with associated objects is selected. Removes selected objects from current issue. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 81 of 112

82 Visicon Inc. Remove All Objects Only active if current issue has at least one object associated with it. Removes all objects associated with current issue. Show Low Filters issues in list: when active, displays issues with Low severity. Show Medium Filters issues in list: when active, displays issues with Medium severity. Show High Filters issues in list: when active, displays issues with High severity. Show Critical Filters issues in list: when active, displays issues with Critical severity. Show New Filters issues in list: when active, displays issues with New status. Show Assigned Filters issues in list: when active, displays issues with Assigned status. Show Resolved Filters issues in list: when active, displays issues with Resolved status. Show Invalid Filters issues in list: when active, displays issues with Invalid status. Show Verified Filters issues in list: when active, displays issues with Verified status. Show Non- Issues When selected, Visicon displays all objects in your model, even those that are not associated with an issue. Deselect to isolate objects in your model that are affected by issues. Show Results Only When selected, Visicon only displays the results (added or removed regions) calculated by the Boolean Difference operation. Colorize All Active when in Issue colorize mode. When selected, colorizes all affected objects with their Issue color. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 82 of 112

83 Visicon Inc Colorize Current When active, only applies Issue color to objects associated with current issue. Colorize Severity Color codes affected objects based on severity. Colorize Status Color codes affected objects based on status. Colorize Assignee Color codes affected objects based on assignee s color. Colorize Reporter Color codes affected objects based on reporter s color. Colorize Operation Color codes affected objects based on source operation s color. Go to Default View Activates Default view. Issue View You can define multiple custom views for each Issue. This icon, plus a letter designation, can be used to access these issue views. New Issue View Creates new view for current issue Creating Issues You can create new issues using several methods: - Operation All operations generate issues. Refer to the section on Operations for detailed instructions on how to use Operations to automatically create issues. - New Button Click the New button on the Issues Ribbon to create a User-Defined issue. Any selected objects while creating a new issue will automatically be associated with the newly created issue. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 83 of 112

84 Visicon Inc. - Right-Click Mouse While in the model window, use the right-click context menu to create a new Issue by selecting the option Issues Create new. Issues are listed in the issue panel of the Project Browser Assigning Components to Issues For improved coordination and communication, you can associate objects in your model to Issues. Associated objects are colorized when in Issue Colorization mode and make it easier to identify the areas of your project that are affected by issues. Associated objects are also selected when selecting an issue. You can assign or remove objects to issues using these methods: - Operation Operations that automatically create Issues will also associate the affected objects to the issues they create. The associated objects are selected whenever the issue is selected. - Add Selected Objects This button associates the selected objects to the current Issue. - Remove Selected Objects This button removes the selected objects from current Issue. - Remove All Objects This object removes all object associations. - Right-Click Mouse You can associate selected components when in the model panel by using the right-click mouse option and selecting Issues Add selection to current Issue Views To improve the documentation of issues, Visicon allows you to create multiple custom views per issue. These views are managed at the issue level and don t interfere with other global views defined for your project. To create a custom view for the currently selected issue, click the New Issue View button on the Views & Annotations panel in the Issues ribbon. Each new Issue View is assigned a letter of the alphabet and listed in the Issue ribbon. Issue views for the current issue are also listed in Views panel of the Project Browser. To delete an Issue View, use the Remove option found on each issue view s pull-down options. Issue Views support the same functionality as any other global view: 3D measurements, 2D markups, camera locking, etc. Use these views the same as any other view. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 84 of 112

85 Visicon Inc Current Issue with 2 views: A and B. Any views defined for the currently selected issue are listed in the Views panel Issue Visibility and Colorization Visicon offers several visibility and colorization options to help you more easily identify objects in your model that are affected by issues. By default, your model switches to the Issue Colorize mode when you activate the Issue panel in the Project Browser. This mode colorizes all affected objects in your model by their issue color and grays out all other parts of your model. You can fine tune the display of issue-related objects in your model by applying filters, visibility options, and colorize modes to them. These options are found on the Issue ribbon and described in more detail in the section above on basic functionality. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 85 of 112

86 Visicon Inc. Customize the display of issue-related information in your model by using filters, visibility rules, colorize settings and issue views. Example of default Issue Colorize mode. Track which colorize mode you are in image above shows model in Issue Colorize mode and switch between modes using the icons on the Status Bar Issue Tracking To facilitate issue tracking, you can assign the following properties to an issue: - Summary Text field used to describe issue. - # - Visicon assigned unique issue # for the project. Not editable. - Severity (Low, Medium, High, Critical) - Assignee Set to the User or User Group the issue is assigned to. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 86 of 112

87 Visicon Inc - Status (New, Assigned, Invalid, Resolved, Verified) - Reporter Set to the User or User Group that reported the issue. - Created Date issue was created on. Not editable. - Due Date issue should be resolved by. - Operation Operation type used to identify issue. - Color Color used for affected objects when in Issue Colorize mode. - Opacity Opacity of affected objects when in Issue Colorize mode. Each issue also has a comments and history section that records actions taken by the current user. Issue list showing comments and history section Issue Coordination and Resolution Workflows Vision v2 is scheduled to support centralized as well as off-line collaboration workflows Transferring Issues Back to Revit 11.8 Issue Summary Report Use the Issue Summary report to document your issues. To create a new Issue Summary report, either use the New Issue Summary function in the Reports ribbon or open the report panel of the Project Browser and use the right-click mouse option. Reports are listed in the Project Browser. To produce a report, select it in the list and either choose the Run option in the Reports ribbon or use the right-click mouse option. Each Issue Summary Report can be configured using the following parameters: - Report Name Name to help you organize your reports. - Set Order Reports can be organized in report sets. If at least one report set is defined, this field becomes active. To link an individual report to a report set, select both of them Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 87 of 112

88 Visicon Inc. and click in the Set Order field. Visicon will automatically assign the report to the set. The order of reports is in a set shown with #s. - Format (Default, XLXS, DOCX, HTML, PDF and TXT) Use this field to select the preferred format for your report. The default for the Issues Report is set to PDF. - Include Screenshots (Yes / No) Determines if screen shots of views associated with Issues are included in your report. - Screenshot Width Width of included screen shots in pixels. - Screenshot Height Height of included screen shots in pixels. - Issue Severity Filter (None Low Medium High Critical) Lists all severity levels that will be listed in the report. To edit these values, simply edit the list to include those severities you want to include. Separate severities you enter with either a, or ;. To reset the field, clear it, and the default values will re-appear. - Issue Status Filter (New Assigned Invalid Resolved Verified) Lists all status levels that will be listed in the report. Modify the options as described for the Severity Filters above. - Issue Assignee Filter (Everybody and a list of all users defined in project) Select a specific user to only see issues assigned to them. - Issue Reporter Filter (Everybody and a list of all users defined in project) Select a specific user to only see issues reported by them. - Operations (List of Operations) Use this list to filter only issues related to a selected Operation. Sample Issue Summary Report 11.9 Dashboard The Dashboard lists all views and issues in your project in a summary, tabular format. You can filter issues by those that are assigned to you. Open a view or issue by clicking on its thumbnail. The Dashboard icon is located on the Home ribbon. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 88 of 112

89 Visicon Inc Home ribbon with Dashboard button Sample Dashboard listing Issues Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 89 of 112

90 Visicon Inc. 12 Analytic: Structural One of Visicon s goals is to provide BIM users with the ability to quickly run analytics on their models to make faster, more informed decisions. Our Structural Analytics module for automated load takedown calculation is our first Analytic module. In its first generation, this feature is designed to give structural engineers, architects and contractors an easy and quick method of estimating loads in a building model s columns and walls. Our structural analytic tool is not intended to replace rigorous analysis, but instead offer a quick alternative to estimating loads and visualizing load paths. Visualizing load paths helps identify complexities in the structure and identifying areas that require more detailed engineering focus. This section describes the functionality of this module. Visicon s Structural Analytic feature is based on our patented discretization and load takedown algorithm. Access to this feature requires a Professional license or higher. The analytic workflow starts by re-organizing a structural BIM model into discrete horizontal and vertical load transferring components. If necessary, walls and columns are split to provide a more granular representation of the structure. Horizontal and vertical components are then grouped into separate Horizontal Analytic Masses, representing structural levels of the BIM. Only components with the property Analytic.Enable set to Yes are considered by the algorithm. All other objects are removed from the Analytic view of the BIM. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 90 of 112

91 Visicon Inc Object Properties panel showing Analytic.Enable property set to Yes To discretize your BIM and create the analytic model, select the Show Analytic Model button on the Analytic ribbon. To display the analytic representation of your model, make sure you are in the Analytic Color Mode and the Show Analytic Model button are active. Select any object on your model to display its associated horizontal analytic mass. Analytic ribbon Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 91 of 112

92 Visicon Inc. Status Bar with Analytic Color Mode turned on Image showing horizontal analytic mass upper vertical supports are colored blue and lower vertical supports are colored brown The next step of the structural analysis workflow is the creation of tributary regions for each vertical support columns and walls. To create and display tributaries, select the Create Tributary Areas button. Image of slab discretized into tributary areas for columns and walls Selecting the Generate Load Paths button calculates a load path for all elements from the roof to the foundation of your structural model. You can visualize the load path of any component by selecting it. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 92 of 112

93 Visicon Inc Load path displayed for one of the column lines To display the intensity of estimated loads in columns and walls, select the Load Takedown button. In v1, this triggers a load takedown calculation using the tributary areas only. Each member is colored based on the intensity of its Load or Stress. Load is represented as the cumulative tributary area each component is estimated to carry. A representative stress value is calculated by taking to cumulative tributary area of a member and dividing it by its horizontal cross section. Each member s individual and cumulative tributary area is displayed in the Object Properties panel. In future version of Visicon, we will carry our more structural checks of members and also complete the load takedown using actual applied loads. To revert back to the normal representation of your BIM, select the Restore button. The table below describes each of the functions on the ribbon tab in more detail. Vertical members are colorized to show intensity of cumulative tributary area they carry Individual and Cumulative Tributary Areas are displayed in Object Properties panel. Function Description Default Selection Normal selection mode. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 93 of 112

94 Visicon Inc. Inverse Transparent In this mode, all non-selected objects are grayed out and transparent. Isolate When active, selected objects are isolated. Show Analytic Model Runs algorithm to convert original BIM model into analytic model for calculation of tributaries and load takedown. When active, displays horizontal analytic masses. Upper Supports Controls display of upper columns and walls when visualizing horizontal analytic masses. Horizontal Mass Controls display of horizontal analytic mass. Lower Supports Controls display of lower columns and walls when visualizing horizontal analytic masses. Hanging Supports When active, colorizes hanging supports that don t contribute to the vertical load transfer. Contained Components Identifies objects fully contained within a horizontal mass that don t contribute to any load path. Create Tributary Areas This function runs the algorithm to create tributary regions for columns and walls. When active, displays tributary regions on model. Isolated When selected, colorizes isolated tributary regions. Isolated tributary regions are horizontal regions that could not be assigned to a vertical support. Resolved When selected, colorizes resolved tributary regions. Resolved tributary regions are Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 94 of 112

95 Visicon Inc Generate Load Paths Calculates load paths by tracing tributaries and their supporting columns and walls down the structure to the foundation. When active, displays load paths in analytic BIM. Loops Colorizes vertical components that have a circular support loop. Ends Colorizes horizontal load transfers in the form of planted columns, planted walls and tributary regions receiving transfer loads. Helps identify irregularities in your structural BIM. Outline Shows tributary regions as outline only. Consider Object (Future feature) The next few buttons will be part of the load path management workflow. Clicking this button will switch the selected object s Analytic.Enable property to Yes. Ignore Object (Future feature) Clicking this button will switch the selected object s Analytic.Enable property to No. Display Path (Future feature) Displays horizontal load transfers. These load path vectors will be editable by the user. Add Path (Future feature) Lets user add a new load transfer path between two objects. Remove Path (Future feature) Removes selected load transfer path from model. Load Takedown Calculates load takedown using tributary areas and colorizes columns and walls to show intensity of load (cumulative tributary area). Use this option to identify most loaded members. Load Case (Future feature) Load takedown colorization based on selected load case. Load Combination (Future feature) Load takedown colorization based on selected load combination. Load When selected, colorizes columns and walls based on intensity of cumulative tributary area each one carries. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 95 of 112

96 Visicon Inc. Stress Colorizes columns and walls based on simplified stress calculation (cumulative load / horizontal cross section of member). Column Check (Future feature) Carries out more detailed column check. Wall Check (Future feature) Carries out more detailed wall check. Punching Shear Check (Future feature) Identifies columns with highest likelihood of punching shear issues. Span Check (Future feature) Identifies longest span and cantilevers in project. Beam Check (Future feature) Determines beam load and identifies beams with potential overstress issues. Use this function to restore your BIM to its original configuration. Example of Load Path display mode with Ends color mode turned on terminated columns, walls, and tributaries with transfers are assigned special colors for easy identification 12.1 Tributary Report The Tributary Report exports column tributary areas in a structured XLSX format. The data is organized in vertical columns by column name. If your structural BIM model is not configured to have consistent column names for each vertical stack, use the Operations Rename Column Stacks function to automatically rename all of your columns. Customizable report properties include: Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 96 of 112

97 Visicon Inc Property Description Variable This object variable (property) is used to identify columns in the tributary report. It is defaulted to Name, but you can pick any other property you use to uniquely identify columns in your project. Source (Entire Model Visible Model Selection Filter) Use this property to select the which components you want to report data for in your report. Example of Tributary Report showing Cumulative Tributary Areas organized in vertical columns Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 97 of 112

98 Visicon Inc. 13 Collaboration V2 of Visicon will include collaboration capabilities that will support centralized as well as offline modes. V1 is limited to the definition and management of users. The collaboration functions, except for the Add User and Edit Users buttons have been disabled in v1. Collaboration ribbon with limited functionality in v User Management You can define and manage users in Visicon. In v1, users are primarily used to help the issue resolution process. Each issue can be tagged with a Reporter and Assignee. Users can also be grouped into User Groups. Function Description Add User This button adds a new user and opens the User panel in the Project Browser. Edit Users This function opens the User panel in the Project Browser. To add a new user, either use the Add User button on the Collaboration ribbon, or open the User panel of the Project Browser and use the right-click mouse option. Users have the following properties: - Current (future feature) When collaboration is invoked, the current user active in a project. - User Name The name with which the user appears in the application. - Group Check this field if you want the user to be associated with the selected User Group. If a user group is selected, this field is checked for all associated users. - Password (future feature) Password needed to access collaboration models. - Color Color assigned to user when colorizing objects in Issue mode by Reporter or Assignee. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 98 of 112

99 Visicon Inc - Opacity Opacity assigned to user when colorizing objects. - License (future feature) Once collaboration is turned on, you will have the choice of providing a collaboration license for those you collaborate with or require them to acquire their own. - (future feature) used to send collaboration notices to users. - Notes Notes for your personal use. - Type Type of user. - Reporter Lists how many issues the user has reported. - Assignee Lists how many issues have been assigned to the user. Sample of users and user groups Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 99 of 112

100 Visicon Inc. 14 Inventory Visicon s Inventory module is designed to provide users with detailed insight into the quantitative contents of their BIMs. Our goal is to provide raw quantity data in a fast and flexible format. Visicon does not attempt to calculate costs. This section covers our Dynamic Inventory and Reports features Cost Drivers All inventory reporting is based on 12 cost drivers quantity measurements that can be used to calculate cost. Not all cost drivers, for example, length, apply to all component types. Visicon attempts to report as many relevant cost drivers for the selected objects in your BIM as possible. Some component types may not display all cost drivers. Some of the objects you import may also not be proper 3D objects with closed geometries these are called nonmanifold meshes. Visicon cannot calculate the volume or other cost parameters for objects that don t have a conforming geometry. The 12 cost drivers Visicon calculates are: - Count Simple count of number of objects selected. - Surface Area (Total) This value displays the total 3D surface area. - Surface Area (Vertical) This value measures the vertical surfaces only and ignores the top and bottom. - Section Area (Horizontal) Area representing horizontal cross-section of object. Use for slab area calculations. - Section Area (Vertical) Area representing vertical cross-section of object. Only applies to component types that have vertical and horizontal aspect ratios, for example, walls. - Height Total vertical distance between lower and top bounding points. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 100 of 112

101 Visicon Inc - Member Length Distance between end points of components that are linear in nature and are typically defined by one insertion point, for example, columns and beams. Will report member length of linear elements regardless of orientation. - Horizontal Length Horizontal length of selected object. For example, use to measure horizontal length of walls. - Perimeter Measures outer perimeter of projected object on Z axis (bottom plane). - Thickness Reports thickness of component types that have a thickness property. - Volume Measures 3D volume of selected objects. - Weight Displays weight of selected object. Requires that object has Core Material Defined with a non-zero Density value Dynamic Inventory Feature You can extract real-time quantity data from your model using the Dynamic Inventory feature. To use this feature, open the Inventory ribbon and select any number of objects in your model. The 12 cost drivers, where applicable, are filled out as you make your selection of objects. The free version of Visicon shows quantity data for up to 10 objects selected at one time, while the Professional version has no limit. The number of objects you have selected that are not extrusions are listed under the Non- Extrusions panel. In most cases, Visicon can still extract relevant quantity data from non- Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 101 of 112

102 Visicon Inc. extrusions. To improve performance, however, you can use the Convert to Extrusions Operation. Some objects in your model may be too geometrically complex to convert to an extrusion. Even if they remain as non-extrusions and their 3D geometry is conforming, Visicon can display their volume, surface area and height in the Inventory ribbon. Inventory ribbon showing selection of a non-extrusion object where most of the cost drivers can still be calculated and displayed Example of slab selected in Inventory ribbon relevant inventory cost drivers are displayed 14.3 Inventory Report To generate more detailed quantity data, run Inventory Reports. Inventory reports require a Professional or higher license to use. Customize your reports by group your quantity data using any project properties. In addition to cost data, configure your report to include any other relevant object properties. To create a new report, use the New Inventory option under the Reports ribbon. Alternatively, open the Project Browser to the Reports panel and use the rightclick mouse option. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 102 of 112

103 Visicon Inc Reports ribbon showing New Inventory Report option Inventory reports have the following configurable properties: - Source (Entire Model Visible Model Selection Filter) Use this property to select the which components you want to include in your report. - Group By Determines how you want to group / organize the entries in your inventory report. The quantities for each group are summarized in the group s header. To add a new category, simply type in or paste the object property s variable name in the last row. You can override any previously defined parameter by typing over it. You can delete any category by simply deleting the parameter in the field. To access a list of available project parameters, right-click in the row you want to edit and select the Insert Variable option. This will open a list of all possible project variables. Select the variable you want to insert and select the (+) button. - Variables to Show Use this section of the report properties to list the additional data you want to display for each entry in the report. The object properties / variables listed here will not affect the grouping of the report. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 103 of 112

104 Visicon Inc. Sample Inventory Report where all objects in the model are being reported on and first grouped by Level, then Category, and finally, Family.Name Sample XLSX Inventory Report grouped by level Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 104 of 112

105 Visicon Inc Sample Inventory Report where all objects in the model are being reported on and first grouped by Material and then Type Sample XLSX Inventory Report grouped by material Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 105 of 112

106 Visicon Inc. 15 Reports Visicon offers a wide range of reports that help you extract critical information, validate your BIM, communicate coordination issues, and much more. Many of the reports have been covered in detail in other sections of this document. This section reviews the remaining report types: cover page, concrete installation coordinates, and quantity variance. Functions to create, manage and run reports are found on the Reports ribbon. A Professional or higher license is needed to run reports. The main features of the Reports ribbon and report types are described in the following tables. Report ribbon showing available report types Function Description Manage Opens Reports panel in Project Browser. Report details and configuration parameters are managed in the Project Browser. New Creates new report. Run Runs currently selected report. Report Type Description Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 106 of 112

107 Visicon Inc Cover Page Provides project name and date on a report sheet to be included in Report Sets. Default format: XLXS. Concrete Installation Coordinates Reports column, wall and slab coordinates in a format that can be used for further processing. Default format: XLXS. Inventory Quantity report. Default format: XLXS. Import Data Template Exports model data to XLSX with unique IDs. Model data in this format can be modified and re-imported into Visicon. Quantity Variance Report that compares two models and reports on quantity or specified variable changes. Default format XLXS. Views and Markup Summary PDF report showing all user-defined views and markups. Issues Summary Summary PDF report for Issues. Tributaries XLSX report listing tributary area load takedown results. All report types have the following configurable properties: - Report Name Name used to identify report. - Set Order If part of a Report Set, used to determine order. - Format (Default, XLXS, DOCX, HTML, PDF and TXT) Use this field to select the preferred format for your report Cover Page This is a simple one-page report that is intended as a cover page for Report Sets. It lists project title, creation date, created by and units. It does not have any customization parameters. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 107 of 112

108 Visicon Inc Concrete Installation Coordinates This report is primarily intended for Revit model users that find it difficult to extract detailed coordinate information from their models. In particular, it provides the corner coordinates of columns that is used to mark the location of formwork. Note that this report only works for objects with conforming 3D geometry that is extruded. For best results, run the Convert to Extrusions Operation on your model before running the report. Customizable properties for this report include: - Source (Entire Model Visible Model Selection Filter) Use this property to select the which components you want to include in your report. - Column Insertion Point (Center Top-Left Top-Right Bottom-Left Bottom-Right) Selects the insertion point reported on in the report. - Column Id Variable (Default: Name) The column parameter used to identify columns in the report. - Wall Id Variable (Default: Name) The wall parameter used to identify columns in the report. - Floor Id Variable (Default: Name) The slab parameter used to identify columns in the report. - Level Intersection Tolerance The tolerance used to check whether a column or wall intersect a slab. Sample data for column coordinates (inserted Bottom-Left) Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 108 of 112

109 Visicon Inc Sample data for wall coordinates Sample data for slab coordinates Sample data for openings Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 109 of 112

110 Visicon Inc Quantity Variance This report compares two models against a specified quantity variance or object property change. The variance results are tabulated in an XLSX table. Refer to the section on Variance Check Operation for how to configure the report settings. In addition to the General, Input A and Input B properties that are found in the Variance Check Operation, the Quantity Variance Report can be configured with the following properties: - Group By Determines how you want to group / organize the entries in your variance report. The variances for each group are summarized in the group s header. Refer to the section on Inventory Report for a detailed description of how to add or remove groups. - Variables to Show Use this section of the report properties to list the additional data you want to display for each entry in the report. The object properties / variables listed here will not affect the grouping of the report. Sample Quantity Variance report (configured for volume change) for two versions of the same model: versions A and B 15.4 Report Sets Individual reports can be grouped into Report Sets for faster processing. You can continue to run the individual reports by themselves, or as part of a set. To add a report to a set, first select the set so that it is active. With the set highlighted, click on the Set Order field for those individual reports you want to add to the set. Once associated with a set, the reports are identified each time you select a set in the reports list. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 110 of 112

111 Visicon Inc 16 Templates Templates allow you to easily save and recall customized items you have created for your project. Templates are not only an easy way for you to re-apply your own work across new models, but also an effective way to share your custom filters, rules, operations and report settings with others. This section describes how to use templates. Templates are Visicon.VTF files that do not contain any geometric objects and only store information on filters, rules, user, reports, materials, and load cases Applying the Default Template Your Visicon installation comes with a Default Template that includes commonly used filters, rules, operations, and reports. To apply the Default Template, use the File Apply Complete Template File feature. This will add all items defined in the Default Template to your current project. Imported expressions from the Default Template will be defined with respect to properties and should apply to imported components of the same type Generic Reference to List Items For many of your BIM coordination activities, you will be required to act on multiple models within Vision. To achieve this, you will merge two or more models into the same project. Next, you will want to write expressions that access data in specific models. You can reference models using two primary variables: Model.Name or Model.Index. Referencing a model by its name requires you to know the exact spelling of the model s name. If you reference its index, however, this is a generic designation that is only a function of the order in which it was imported into Visicon. Expressions you import from the Default Template that reference models will use the Model.Index reference. Alternatively, you can develop a standard naming convention where all models of the same type you may merge in the future have a consistent name. For example, all plumging model could be called Plumbing. In this case, the expressions you save in templates could refer to Model.Name = Plumbing. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 111 of 112

112 Visicon Inc. Model property with its expanded list of sub-variables Model.Name and Model.Index List of merged models in Project Browser Model Panel and assigned Index 16.3 Creating Custom Templates You can create and distribute your own custom templates. Visicon let s you save a whole project setup as a template or individual items one-by-one. To save a whole project setup that has been configured to meet specific workflow requirements, use the File Save As Template function. This special save function takes all Filters, Rules, Operations, and other custom setup information you have and saves it to a VTF template file. A VTF template file does not have any components with 3D geometry. This file can be opened in the future and modified. You can share this template file with others in your office or project team. To make the template accessible to future Vision projects, save it into the User\My Documents\Visicon\Templates\ folder. Data saved into the template file can be applied in its entirety to a new project or item-byitem. Often, you will not want to save an entire project s configuration as a template file. Instead, you just completed writing a very useful rule or filter and would like to save it for future use. In this case, select the item you want to save to a template and use the right-click option Save to Template File New or Existing Template. This action will add the selected item to a template file that can be retrieved in the future Inserting from Custom Templates To insert items from a custom template, either apply the full template using the File Apply Complete Template File option or insert specific items using the right-click option Insert from Template File Custom Template. If you use the right-click option, you will be able to insert individual items or all items of the same type in the template file you have selected Template Management To manage your custom templates, either use the right-click Insert option to add new items or open up the VTF to edit them manually. Visicon Inc All rights reserved. Page 112 of 112