Chaos has released Corona 14, the latest version of its photorealistic architectural rendering engine for 3ds Max and Cinema 4D. New features include AI-assisted creation tools, support for Gaussian Splats, procedural material generation, and new environmental effects.

In Corona 14, Gaussian Splats enables visualisers to “rapidly create” 3D scenes by placing buildings in a real world context, and rendering complex 3D environments with accurate reflections and refractions.

Gaussian Splats, which use AI to create a rich 3D scene from a series of photos or videos, are said to yield smoother surfaces, richer volumetric detail and a more natural sense of depth for designers looking to bring real-life environments and objects into their work.

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Corona 14 also provides access to range of AI tools, which can be enabled/disabled so creatives can decide when to apply them or firms need to follow strict AI policies and adhere to client requirements.

The Chaos AI Material Generator allows creators to upload a photo of a real-world surface and then turn the image into a tileable, render-ready PBR, including all necessary maps, in a few clicks. According to Chaos, it’s an ideal solution for secondary materials that don’t require art direction ― but without loss of realism.

Meanwhile, the Chaos AI Image Enhancer is designed to elevate the realism, texture, and detail of supporting elements — such as foliage, people, or terrain — without altering the core design.

Advanced controls allow users to adjust the appearance of people assets and refine vegetation for precision and consistency. Corona 14 can also enhance AI creativity with the power to send LightMix results directly to the AI Image Enhancer to explore multiple lighting scenarios or fine-tune mood.

AI Upscaler is designed to turn low-resolution drafts or renders into high-quality, presentation-ready visual. According to Chaos, this can save hours of rendering time while still delivering crisp, photoreal results.

Elsewhere, a new Night Sky feature allows designers to add realistic moonlight, stars, and the galactic backdrop of the Milky Way without having to rely on HDRIs.

Finally, a new Fabric Material feature creates fabrics with “true-to-life” woven detail, with full control over the weave or threads — including opacity, bump, displacement, and more.

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Chaos V-Ray will soon support AMD GPUs, so users of the photorealistic rendering software can choose from a wider range of graphics hardware including the AMD Radeon Pro W7000 series and the AMD Ryzen AI Max Pro processor that has an integrated Radeon GPU.

Until now, V-Ray’s GPU renderer has been limited to Nvidia RTX GPUs via the CUDA platform, while its CPU renderer has long worked with processors from both Intel and AMD.

Chaos plans to roll out the changes publicly in every edition of V-Ray, including 3ds Max, SketchUp, Revit and Rhino, Maya, and Blender.

At Autodesk University last month, both Dell and HP showcased V-Ray GPU running on AMD GPUs – Dell on a desktop workstation with a discrete AMD Radeon Pro W7600 GPU and HP on a HP ZBook Ultra G1a with the new AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 processor, where up to 96 GB of the 128 GB unified memory can be allocated as VRAM.

“[With the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395} you can load massive scenes without having to worry so much about memory limitations,” says Vladimir Koylazov, head of innovation, Chaos. “We have a massive USD scene that we use for testing, and it was really nice to see it actually being rendered on an AMD [processor]. It wouldn’t be possible on [most] discrete GPUs, because they don’t normally have that much memory.”

This new capability has been made possible through AMD HIP (Heterogeneous-Compute Interface for Portability) — an open-source toolkit that allows developers to port CUDA-based GPU applications to run on AMD hardware without the need to create and maintain a new code base.

“HIP handles complicated pieces of code, like V-Ray GPU, a lot better than OpenCL used to do, says Koylazov. “Everything we support in V-Ray GPU on other platforms is now supported on AMD GPUs.”

Chaos isn’t alone in embracing AMD GPUs. Earlier this year, product design focused viz tool KeyShot also added support, which we put to the test in our HP ZBook Ultra G1a review.

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Chaos has released Chaos Vantage 3, a major update to its visualisation platform that allows AEC professionals to explore arch viz scenes in real time complete with real-time ray tracing.

Headline features include support for gaussian splats, enabling users to place their projects directly into lifelike environments, USD and MaterialX for asset exchange across varied pipelines, and access to the Chaos AI Material Generator, to give AEC users precise control over the look of a scene.

“Vantage has always been about giving artists and designers an immediate, photoreal view of their work, whether they’re creating buildings, products or entire worlds,” said Allan Poore, chief product officer, Chaos. “With Vantage 3, we’ve taken that even further for AEC users by introducing USD and MaterialX support, adding new tools to explore designs in a real-world context, refining materials and lighting with greater control, all while keeping the creative process fast, fluid and inspiring.”

With Vantage 3, AEC users can now make the most of Gaussian splats that are part of their V-Ray Scene files. Gaussian splatting allows the real world to be captured as detailed 3D data, quickly turning photos or scans of objects, streets or entire neighbourhoods into editable 3D scenes.

Architects and designers can then place their projects directly into lifelike environments, creating an immediate sense of scale and context. New volumetric rendering takes the immersion even further by adding fog, smoke and light rays, while the Night Sky system introduces astronomically accurate stars, moon phases and even the Milky Way for striking exterior views.

Users also have access to Chaos AI Material Generator, available directly inside the Chaos Cosmos browser, and a new material editor, giving AEC users precise control over the look of a scene, down to the smallest detail.

Integration with the Chaos Cosmos 3D asset library adds thousands of ready-to-use assets — from people and vegetation to furniture — while support for USD unlocks the entire KitBash3D library of 20,000+ production-ready assets.

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From scanline rendering to photorealism, real-time viz to realt-ime ray tracing, architectural visualisation has always evolved hand in hand with technology.

Today, the sector is experiencing what is arguably its biggest shift yet: generative AI. Tools such as Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, Flux, and Nano Banana are attracting widespread attention for their ability to create compelling, photorealistic visuals in seconds — from nothing more than a simple prompt, sketch, or reference image.

The potential is enormous, yet many architectural practices are still figuring out how to properly embrace this technology, navigating practical, cultural, and workflow challenges along the way.

The impact on architectural visualisation software as we know it could be huge. But generative AI also presents a huge opportunity for software developers.

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Like some of its peers, Chaos has been gradually integrating AI-powered features into its traditional viz tools, including Enscape and V-Ray. Earlier this year, however, it went one step further by acquiring EvolveLAB and its dedicated AI rendering solution, Veras.

Veras allows architects to take a simple snapshot of a 3D model or even a hand drawn sketch and quickly create ‘AI-rendered’ images with countless style variations. Importantly, the software is tightly integrated with CAD / BIM tools like SketchUp, Revit, Rhino, Archicad and Vectorworks, and offers control over specific parts within the rendered image.

With the launch of Veras 3.0, the software’s capabilities now extend to video, allowing designers to generate short clips featuring dynamic pans and zooms, all at the push of a button.

“Basically, [it takes] an image input for your project, then generates a five second video using generative AI,” explains Bill Allen, director of products, Chaos. “If it sees other things, like people or cars in the scene, it’ll animate those,” he says.

This approach can create compelling illusions of rotation or environmental activity. A sunset prompt might animate lighting changes, while a fireplace in the scene could be made to flicker. But there are limits. “In generative AI, it’s trying to figure out what might be around the corner [of a building], and if there’s no data there, it’s not going to be able to interpret it,” says Allen.

Chaos is already looking at ways to solve this challenge of showcasing buildings from multiple angles. “One of the things we think we could do is take multiple shots – one shot from one angle of the building and another one – and then you can interpolate,” says Allen.

Model behaviour

Veras uses Stable Diffusion as its core ‘render engine’. As the generative AI model has advanced, newer versions of Stable Diffusion have been integrated into Veras, improving both realism and render speed, and allowing users to achieve more detailed and sophisticated results.

“We’re on render engine number six right now,” says Allen. “We still have render engine, four, five and six available for you to choose from in Veras.”

But Veras does not necessarily need to be tied to a specific generative AI model. In theory it could evolve to support Flux, Nano Banana or whatever new or improved model variant may come in the future.

But, as Allen points out, the choice of model isn’t just down to the quality of the visuals it produces. “It depends on what you want to do,” he says. “One of the reasons that we’re using Stable Diffusion right now instead of Flux is because we’re getting better geometry retention.”

One thing that Veras doesn’t yet have out of the box is the ability for customers to train the model using their own data, although as Allen admits, “That’s something we would like to do.”

In the past Chaos has used LORAs (Low-Rank Adaptations) to fine-tune the AI model for certain customers in order to accurately represent specific materials or styles within their renderings.

Roderick Bates, head of product operations, Chaos, imagines that the demand for fine tuning will go up over time, but there might be other ways to get the desired outcome, he says. “One of the things that Veras does well is that you can adjust prompts, you can use reference images and things like that to kind of hone in on style.”

Post-processing

While Veras experiments with generative creation, Chaos is also exploring how AI can be used to refine output from its established viz tools using a variety of AI post-processing techniques.

Chaos AI Upscaler, for example, enlarges render output by up to four times while preserving photorealistic quality. This means scenes can be rendered at lower resolutions (which is much quicker), then at the click of a button upscaled to add more detail.

While AI upscaling technology is widely available – both online and in generic tools like Photoshop – Chaos AI Upscaler benefits from being directly accessible at the click of a button directly inside the viz tools like Enscape that architects already use. Bates points out that if an architect uses another tool for this process, they must download the rendered image first, then upload it to another place, which fragments the workflow. “Here, it’s all part of an ecosystem,” he explains, adding that it also avoids the need for multiple software subscriptions.

Chaos is also applying AI in more intelligent ways, harnessing data from its core viz tools. Chaos AI Enhancer, for example, can improve rendered output by refining specific details in the image. This is currently limited to humans and vegetation, but Chaos is looking to extend this to building materials.

“You can select different genders, different moods, you can make a person go from happy to sad,” says Bates, adding that all of this can be done through a simple UI.

There are two major benefits: first, you don’t have to spend time searching for a custom asset that may or may not exist and then have to re-render; second, you don’t need highly detailed 3D asset models to achieve the desired results, which would normally require significant computational power, or may not even be possible in a tool like Enscape.

With Veras 3.0, the software’s capabilities now extend to video, allowing designers to generate short clips featuring dynamic pans and zooms, all at the push of a button

The real innovation lies in how the software applies these enhancements. Instead of relying on the AI to interpret and mask off elements within an image, Chaos brings this information over from the viz tool directly. For example, output from Enscape isn’t just a dumb JPG — each pixel carries ‘voluminous metadata’, so the AI Enhancer automatically knows that a plant is a plant, or a human is a human. This makes selections both easy and accurate.

As it stands, the workflow is seamless: a button click in Enscape automatically sends the image to the cloud for enhancement.

But there’s still room for improvement. Currently, each person or plant must be adjusted individually, but Chaos is exploring ways to apply changes globally within the scene. Chaos

AI Enhancer was first introduced in Enscape in 2024 and is now available in Corona and V-Ray 7 for 3ds Max, with support for additional V-Ray integrations coming soon.

AI materials

Chaos is also extending its application of AI into materials, allowing users to generate render-ready materials from a simple image. “Maybe you have an image from an existing project, maybe you have a material sample you just took a picture of,” says Bates. “With the [AI Material Generator] you can generate a material that has all the appropriate maps.”

Initially available in V-Ray for 3ds Max, the AI Material Generator is now being rolled out to Enscape. In addition, a new AI Material Recommender can suggest assets from the Chaos Cosmos library, using text prompts or visual references to help make it faster and easier to find the right materials.

Cross pollination

Chaos is uniquely positioned within the design visualisation software landscape. Through Veras, it offers powerful oneclick AI image and video generation, while tools like Enscape and V-Ray use AI to enhance classic visualisation outputs. This dual approach gives Chaos valuable insight into how AI can be applied across the many stages of the design process, and it will be fascinating to see how ideas and technologies start to cross-pollinate between these tools.

A deeper question, however, is whether 3D models will always be necessary. “We used to model to render, and now we render to model,” replies Bates, describing how some firms now start with AI images and only later build 3D geometry.

“Right now, there is a disconnect between those two workflows, between that pure AI render and modelling workflow – and those kind of disconnects are inefficiencies that bother us,” he says.

For now, 3D models remain indispensable. But the role of AI — whether in speeding up workflows, enhancing visuals, or enabling new storytelling techniques — is growing fast. The question is not if, but how quickly, AI will become a standard part of every architect’s viz toolkit.

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One of London’s most iconic landmarks, the former BBC Television Centre, is a cornerstone of British history. After over 50 years of service, the centre underwent significant redevelopment to breathe new life into this much-loved part of the city’s skyline. In 2013, the site was transformed into a mixed-use destination, combining luxury residences, creative workspaces and premium amenities.

However, reimagining a complex once celebrated as the “cathedral of entertainment and news” presented a major challenge – preserving its cultural heritage while adapting the space for modern living.

The challenge: selling the vision before construction

The Boundary, a global creative agency specialising in the best-in-class photorealistic visuals and immersive experiences for products, architecture and the built environment, was selected to bring the redevelopment to life. The Boundary dedicated its focus on the new residential building in the complex, The Ariel – a residence yet to be built.

The team crafted photorealistic marketing visuals that honoured the site as a cultural landmark, whilst also creating a visual experience that could be imagined as a home for future residents. The Boundary’s deliverables included CGIs, animations, a marketing film, and interactive real-time tours.

The Ariel project demanded a visual narrative that would help prospective buyers and tenants imagine life within the space. Materials needed to capture atmosphere, from how light shifts throughout the day, to how textures feel, and how people move throughout the space. Bringing that level of realism to life – with both accuracy and emotion – required the right technology.

Transforming visuals with Chaos Corona

Redefining design workflows with up to 80% time savings

The Boundary relied on Chaos Corona, an easy to use rendering software for architectural visualisation, for all rendered content. The tool’s flexibility meant they could create photorealistic images and easily tweak them based on feedback, without having to start from scratch each time a change was requested by the developer. This made the design process faster and more collaborative, saving time and money for the wider project with fewer iterations being produced.

The interiors at The Television Centre showcased a complex ceiling design that went through numerous iterations. What would typically require skilled modellers several hours to model and implement changes at each design development stage was streamlined to a fraction of the time using Corona’s Slicer tool.

By leveraging the tool’s ability to modify geometry with remarkable precision, the team significantly decreased the time spent on remodelling while ensuring accuracy. They could swiftly implement the design changes while ensuring the ceiling’s intricate details aligned with aesthetic and functional requirements.

Used with the Slicer, the Corona Pattern tool simplified the mapping of the ceiling’s intricate details and complex panelling. When designs changed multiple times, the team could adapt without compromising quality or project timelines.

The Boundary estimates that Corona tools saved up to 80% of the usual time spent to generate a render as intricate as this one, without compromising quality. In turn, the ability to rapidly test and refine designs significantly lowered expenses related to mistakes and delays.

Making space for creativity

At the heart of any project lies creativity. The Boundary relied on Corona Sun and Sky were used to create initial clay compositions, offering greater flexibility and the ability to test solutions using a range of tools. Sun direction and size were changed to quickly output lighting tests from morning to night, from sharp sun to overcast. With Volume Effect, the team could create depth that would otherwise require costly volumetrics. Designs, textures and materials were trialled and refined with technology that gave the team creative licence, without the risk of costly mistakes.

When vision meets technology through partnership

Today, what was once home to the BBC is now set to be home to approximately 950 residents, enjoying a reimagined creative district with a host of new amenities. The revival of an icon was never an easy project to conceptualise, but through emotive visuals, the end goal became easier to picture. The success of the redevelopment hinges not just on technology, but on the creative teams who utilised it to its full potential.

For Chaos, each of our customers are viewed as creative partners. Projects like this exemplify that collaboration, giving us the chance to see the tangible impact of our tools while building strong, lasting relationships with the people who use them. Meanwhile, our customers can rely on technology that they can trust.

“I have been using Corona since the very initial release and never looked back. It is one of the most utilised and trusted software we use in our studio.”

Eleonora Galimberti, Senior Associate at The Boundary

This redevelopment is a testament to what happens when creative vision meets trusted technology, transforming not just spaces but the way we experience them.

Visit www.chaos.com to learn more.

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Chaos has launched V-Ray for Blender, bringing its production rendering technology to the open source 3D creation tool for the first time.

According to Chaos, V-Ray for Blender enables everything from photorealistic scenes to stylised animations. Intuitive controls let users mimic real-world camera effects and lighting using Chaos’ Global Illumination technology, which simulates natural light behaviour. The software also supports adaptive lighting and PBR-ready materials.

“Blender’s open-source model and active community make it one of the most versatile 3D creation tools for users of any level, and adding V-Ray takes it a step further,” said Allan Poore, chief product officer at Chaos. “With this plugin, Blender artists can render with confidence, all without compromising a thing.”

Blender users will also have access to over 5,600 free, high-quality assets through the Chaos Cosmos asset library, all of which can be accessed within Blender.

Once a scene is ready to render, users can access noise-free, interactive viewport rendering with the Nvidia AI Denoiser and the Intel Open Image Denoiser, or produce clean, final images through the V-Ray denoiser. From there, they will have a full range of post-processing tools for colour correction, light mix, compositing layers and masking, all available directly within the Blender UI.

V-Ray for Blender supports CPU, GPU and hybrid rendering configurations, making it fully scalable based on available hardware. Users can also utilise Chaos Cloud to move their data off their local machines and render in the cloud.

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Widespread adoption of 3D technology and the growth of BIM expertise have transformed AEC – but the most important output for any firm is still documentation — more specifically, the production of 2D drawings.

Before the arrival of BIM, CAD represented a way to accelerate workflows, a speedy alternative to manual drafting. It supported quick drawing, fast editing and some automation. Early dedicated AEC applications (such as the UK-developed AutoCAD AEC) provided still more acceleration, since AutoCAD came with a raft of blocked symbols, layering conventions, hatching and linetype styles. Now, we thought, we’re cooking on gas!

Then along came BIM, insisting we all model buildings in 3D and, as a by-product of this process, derive 2D line takeoffs from the geometry in order to fast-track the production of drawings. If we changed the design (in other words, the 3D model), the drawing would automatically update. BIM front-loaded the design system with more work and more decisions to be made, but at the same time, it helped improve understanding of a design, as well as offering renderings and analysis capabilities. It also fostered an explosion in the output of drawings.

Drawings are not going away – but there is certainly a movement focused on the mass-automation of their creations. Some believe they might be eliminated altogether, with the model becoming the deliverable instead. At AEC Magazine, we don’t think that will ever happen, given that in more advanced sectors such as automotive and aerospace, drawings are still produced, even in situations where fabrication is highly automated around models.

That said, a great deal of effort is dedicated to the automation of drawings, with companies including SWAPP, Graebert, Evolvelab (now part of Chaos) all developing automated BIM to 2D drawing tools.

Both Graebert and Evolvelab will be at NXT DEV in London on 12 June and Graebert’s auto drawing capabilities will be demonstrated by BIM 2.0 start-up Qonic, which has integrated them into its own product – but more on that later.

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Old drawings

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. While it’s true that most new builds over the last four decades and more have likely been created through 2D CAD or BIM, what about all the buildings that were built before the emergence of the large digital design footprint?

These buildings are documented mostly on paper, or perhaps digitised to images, once archived through raster scanning. With refurbishment becoming an increasingly attractive option for building owners faced with sustainability regulations, wouldn’t it be a good idea to be able to automate BIM from 2D?

Long-held drawing standards and defined 2D symbolic representation give intelligent systems a language that can help 2D drawings be translated into a 3D model. Dimensions and markings can also assist in driving accuracy, in situations where perhaps the drawings are inaccurate, stretched or left askew following scanning.

Several software firms are working on building a bridge between dumb 2D drawings and intelligent 3D models. This means old drawings might be rapidly repurposed as 3D models for digital twins, layouts for facilities management, or as a baseline for refurbishment.

In the last edition we looked at how new start-up Higharc has developed an AI algorithm that can take hand-drawn sketches and convert them into fully detailed BIM.

In the case of Higharc, the AI recognises external and internal walls, doors and windows, and their dimensions, and can identify anchored floors in its American timber frame housing expert system.

This capability was created not to show off how well AI could perform this task, but because Higharc had a real problem it needed to solve. The type of companies that Higharc typically sells to are house building firms with limited in-house digital skills.

Higharc’s powerful cloud-based 3D design system models timber frame housing at fabrication-level detail and connects to ERP systems to generate costings, based on the design the customer has chosen.

Considering its impressive capabilities, Higharc is easy to learn, even where employees aren’t that familiar with CAD or digital design tools. The system’s drawing AI enables experienced builders more comfortable with hand-sketching layouts to get involved in the digital design process. It takes dumb lines and substitutes them with intelligent walls and building components that are construction-accurate and that links to the system’s ERP. Aimed at a pretty specific target customer group, Higharc may not be a 2D-to-3D solution for the masses, but it’s an interesting representation of what is enabled when AI is applied to 2D sketches.

2D-to-3D for the masses

If you search, you will find several applications that support the conversion of 2D to 3D for BIM. There’s WiseBIM, Plans2BIM, and usBIM.planAI by ACCA.

In fact, all three systems are related, since they are all powered by the 2D-to-3D technology built by Paris-based software developer WiseBIM. This uses AI to convert 2D images to Revit and IFC objects.

In addition, a new Sweden-based startup called BIMify also uses AI and supports Revit and IFC workflows. Although BIMify claims Archicad support, this is via IFC for now, while its Revit support is a lot more integrated to the format.

For this article we spoke with both WiseBIM and BIMify to discover what’s possible today. We also got a sneak peek of BIM software startup Qonic’s forthcoming auto drawing capability

Conclusion

While many people are still waiting around for new 3D BIM tools, it’s clear that development work is increasing our options, when it comes to what capabilities we can buy and how we will work in future. Drawing capabilities are a big part of that picture.

The companies developing 2D-to-3D capabilities are heavily focused on using machine learning and AI to perform this task, together with rules and configurations. It’s our understanding that Graebert’s technology is predominantly linear processing without any AI, but in the future, we fully expect to see some machine learning used in the production of auto drawings, as they scale from general arrangement (GA) to Level 400.

The key takeaway here is that dumb 2D drawings won’t stay dumb for long. If a drawing is an accurate plan, then there are simple ways to digitise that information and convert it to 3D. As for autodrawings, it’s clear that this June at NXT BLD, there will be real productivity benefits to witness first-hand.

WiseBIM – 2D-to-3D conversion for IFC and Revit

Last summer, the AEC Magazine web server almost reached a meltdown when we ran a story on Paris-based AEC software company, WiseBIM. News of the developer’s in-Revit 2D-to-3D application attracted tens of thousands of views.

In fact, WiseBIM has been leading the charge in 2D-to-3D conversion for some time, having begun its journey around 2017. Before releasing a version that works within Revit, WiseBIM promoted itself under various names—including Plans2BIM— and built its online presence across multiple platforms. Its tools were also licensed by Italian BIM software developer ACCA.

The primary use case for WiseBIM is projects that involve existing buildings, for renovation, facility management, maintenance and digital twin initiatives.

The company’s core technology relies on AI algorithms that work on pixel data from 2D plans, such as PDFs, PNGs, JPEGs, DWGs and DXFs. The software automatically identifies building elements from raster or vector input. The process involves importing the plan, setting the scale, running the AI detection for specific elements (walls, openings, slabs, roofs, columns, beams, furniture, text and so on), and then allowing users to review, edit and correct the generated model.

While initial versions attempted ‘all at once’ detection, the current approach allows for more piecemeal detection of elements (walls, then openings, and so on). This has been a deliberate choice by the developers, as Tristan Garcia, co-founder and CEO of WiseBIM, explains. “It’s actually better this way. AI does make mistakes, but now users can correct these in the workflow.”

There are two flavours of the application: one that works inside Revit, and one that operates standalone as a web service (Plans2BIM). Obviously, the Revit solution is all about delivering RVT components, while the web version aims to convert 2D to standard IFC components for generic reuse. The online variant allows for the creation and assembly of multiple floors into a single building model.

In Revit, users can specify Revit families for detected elements to ensure consistency in the generated BIM model. As Garcia explained, “In our latest version, you can specify what family you are looking for, which means, because it’s using pixel-level identification, that if in your plan, the internal walls are ten centimetres thick, you can say, ‘Okay, every wall that you identify that is between nine centimetres and 11 centimetres is a ten-centimetre wall. This helps the AI deliver homogeneous output, and model those walls in the same family.”

WiseBIM supports multiple export formats, including IFC, DXF, and CSV/ XLSX (quantity take-offs). A specific JSON format is also available for development purposes. Users can add properties (for example, materials) to building elements, such as indicating that a wall is made of concrete, and all properties can be added, such as thermal coefficients.

WiseBIM’s origins can be traced back to a patented thesis at a French research centre initially developed for delivering thermal simulation. The company has a team of nine, who are predominantly technical.

Their advice to improve the chances of a successful output is to focus on the quality of the 2D plan. This significantly impacts the accuracy of the AI detection. A minimum resolution of 100 pixels per metre is recommended. Removing noise and cropping irrelevant parts of the drawing (like legends) can also improve results. If you leave in the title block, lines around it may be identified as walls. So there is some pre-preparation required to clean up drawings.

In the translation process, certain information, such as wall height or sill height, is often not explicitly present in 2D plans. This will need to be manually set by the user during configuration.

Currently focused on architectural elements, the company plans to tackle the more complex task of converting structural and MEP drawings next year.

Plans2BIM is priced at €49 euros per month or €299 per year. The Revit add-on is $29 per month or $249 per year.

Huge interest in this technology points to significant demand for automating the conversion of existing building data into BIM models – particularly for renovation, facility management and digital twin initiatives. WiseBIM and Plans2BIM offer a compelling AI-powered solution for converting 2D plans to BIM.

While the AI’s accuracy sometimes requires user intervention, the iterative editing process and customisable features still deliver a time-saving solution over the manual alternative. There could be some rework of the standalone user interface, but it seems to work well in Revit as an add-in.

BIMify: 2D drawings and point clouds into BIM models

I first heard the term ‘BIMify’ used in relation to a feature in BricsCAD that converted dumb 3D geometry into intelligent BIM components. Now, we have a new service called BIMify, from a totally unrelated company, which is applying AI to convert dumb 2D drawings and point clouds into BIM models, mainly Revit.

Based in Sweden, BIMify is the brainchild of Aleksandar Balicevac and the result of five years of research and experimentation into reliable conversion technologies. As mentioned, BIMify is a service, rather than a software that you buy. It’s built on Balicevac’s AI code and a number of key Autodesk Forge (APS) components. While the BIMify website claims support for Archicad, this is currently via IFC, while Revit is native RVT.

BIMify takes a ‘factorylike’ approach, using machine learning and AI to batch process files, so that it’s possible to ‘feed in’ individual floors of a building and get a fully assembled Revit model out the other end. It’s even possible to have this model use your own family of parts. That means you can go from six dumb floor plan drawings to a fully editable RVT model in minutes.

BIMify supports various input formats – DWG, DXF, point cloud, PDF, image – and can output in RVT or IFC. While focusing on architecture currently, the company plans to expand into other disciplines and its team is developing features for model maintenance and seamless integration with other industry systems.

Balicevac says he is primarily focusing on Europe to start, where he estimates there are over 20-25 billion square metres of buildings, of which some 95% were built pre-BIM and will need digitising sooner or later.

As to the accuracy of the AI, he seems supremely confident of his system. As it’s working, the AI is checked against building rules, leading to what he calls ‘engineering intelligence’ – knowing standard wall thicknesses, for example, or the minimum areas for spaces like bathrooms, which improves the confidence level of the AI. It can recognise interior and exterior walls, doors, windows, slabs and so on.

The BIMify workflow

The process begins with a user providing input data for their building, specifying the type of model needed on the platform. This includes defining the purpose-based specification (for example, for space management, reconstruction, or detailed design) and the desired level of detail (LoD).

Users describe their building (type, gross area, number of levels, level heights) and assign the input 2D files to the correct levels. They can also select the desired output format. Critically, users can specify their own Revit template and families to be used in the generated model. The platform provides an instant price quote based on the building size and specification.

Automated generation uses the company’s deep learning and AI to read the input files. Machines go through the drawing or scan to identify objects like walls, doors, windows, curtain walls, slabs, plumbing fixtures, columns, and rooms. The AI aims to determine object types and their locations (and is being developed to add increased granularity, such as single/double/triple windows). Engineering intelligence is applied, with building rules used to validate and refine the AI output, as previously described.

Balicevac claims 100% accuracy here, which, if true, would certainly distinguish this tool from many other AI tools. He says that BIMify “avoids heuristic methods that rely on identifying spaces first, instead processing the full drawing (or parts) to identify objects directly.”

Some elements cannot currently be modelled automatically. These include stairs, railings, roofs, vertical openings and custom specification details, and require manual work by BIMify’s inhouse team.

The model undergoes a standardised, semi-automated quality assurance step. This ensures the delivered model is complete and meets the specified quality standards. The manual completion and QA process also provide direct feedback to the development team to improve the automation algorithms.

Balicevac also tells us that the company has clients that are moving from other BIM systems to Revit and are using their system to convert old projects, as IFC does not give them editable Revit geometry. This means taking 2D out to get 3D native RVT files, which is an extremely interesting workflow.

We find that most AI developers are very protective of their ‘secret sauce’. They like to keep quiet about how they achieve what they do, and BIMify is more tight-lipped than most.

However, the company is clearly using Autodesk APS components to build these native Revit models with real-world families, such as the Forge viewer, data exchange and, I’m guessing, Revit.io (a headless Revit in the cloud). This is probably reassuring to Revit users, but may make it hard for BIMify to tackle native Archicad, as there is no equivalent to Revit.io.

BIMify makes big claims about output accuracy. Talking with Balicevac, you get the sense that he really knows what he’s doing with AI and ML. He’s put code in place to keep the AI in check with real-world engineering constraints. Autodesk’s approach with Forge is certainly advantageous here, but additional formats will be harder to achieve. Either way, BIMify is certainly an interesting firm to follow.

Qonic: Autodrawings

In 2024, Ghent-based developer Qonic launched its BIM 2.0 platform. On the face of it, the first iteration is a cloudbased common data environment (CDE), capable of handling massive BIM models that far surpass Revit’s loading capability. It offers a really simple interface for filtering and interrogating BIM data, with intuitive sectioning and a frame rate that approaches computer-game level. Underneath, there’s a solid modelling engine that supports highly accurate editing of geometry and is aimed at the junction where architectural BIM meets construction BIM. In short, this was the starting point of what looks set to be a rapid and exciting adventure in software development.

Qonic is beefing up its platform. For the purpose of this article, we are going to focus on just one of the new introductions – and that’s the long-promised Autodrawings function.

With this goal in mind, Qonic has licensed Graebert’s Kudo DWG technology, which now comes with some autodrawing capability. It’s taking this base layer and building a powerful integration so that Qonic can ingest huge, multi-disciplinary models and quickly output 2D general assembly drawings.

When the technology was shown to me, I got the message that while the AEC industry generally recognises the necessity of drawings, executives at Qonic feel that their importance may dwindle in the future as model-based workflows become more prevalent, not to mention more accessible to a broader audience.

While I tend to agree with this idea in theory, I know from experience that it’s not always the case in practice. Our sister publication, DEVELOP3D, has plenty of readers that use Catia, Solidworks, Siemens NX and Inventor, for example, and even when they manufacture parts directly from CAD models, the production of drawings is still mandated for them. But that’s a discussion for another time.

In Qonic, the drawing generation process utilises the rich data and structure within the Qonic 3D model – derived from IFC or enriched from RVT – to produce intelligent and wellannotated 2D outputs. Graebert’s server-side automation and browserbased viewing of drawings, using its Kudo technology, is key to this new, combined cloud functionality.

Qonic’s drawing generation is primarily a one-directional output. Changes to dimensions, tags or other annotations must be made in the 3D model, which then triggers an update to the drawing. Qonic has no intention to create a full 2D editor that directly modifies the 3D model.

The automated generation works a bit like Hypermodels in Bentley iModel, with drawings generated automatically from defined section planes and templates, with the potential for scheduling this process (for example, it might take the form of nightly updates). The output is fully vectorised, allowing for export to formats including DWG and PDF. Drawings can be viewed directly within the Qonic environment, with basic annotation supported, such as adding dimensions and moving tags. A mechanism to flag outdated annotations following model updates is planned for the future.

Many firms struggle to get BIM models exactly how they want them, and resort to ‘fixing it in the drawing’. Here, Qonic is empowering users to fix inaccuracies in the model due to performance capabilities and provides automation tools for propagating changes, rather than relying on manual fixes in 2D drawings.

Initially, the focus is on producing general arrangement (GA) drawings with the goal of extending the capability to more detailed construction and design delivery drawings in the future. It’s also worth pointing out that many firms have their own internal visual styles for general arrangement drawings. Qonic will enable configurations to cater to most firms’ visual tastes for wall styles, openings and other content.

The drawing functionality will likely form part of the paid subscription options and not appear in the free version of Qonic. Pricing is not expected to be based on tokenisation or usage, although these pricing structures are used by some competitors.

Drawing generation capabilities are now in active development. The company already has working prototypes and is hoping to release the software later this year. The Qonic team will appear on the main stage at NXT BLD (London, 11 June) demonstrating this new functionality and will also be offering attendees a chilled-out exhibition space in which to relax and talk to the team.

The post From 2D to 3D and back appeared first on AEC Magazine.

Following its beta launch last year, Chaos has released Chaos Envision, a real-time storytelling tool that helps architects and designers turn 3D models into immersive, cinematic presentations. Chaos has also announced a range of ‘affordable’ suites of curated, industry-specific tools for architectural design, architectural visualisation, and media and entertainment.

“Envision offers new alternatives for architects that have had to find workarounds to avoid compromising on quality, speed and flexibility in their presentations,” said Petr Mitev, VP of solutions for designers at Chaos. “Now, anyone can produce high-fidelity visuals much earlier in the process, tapping V-Ray-like photorealism to resolve internal questions and get more stakeholders on board.”

Chaos Envision can bring multiple 3D components into its collaborative environment. The software accepts content from any application that hosts Enscape or V-Ray and can import common industry formats, so users ‘don’t have to worry about scene prep or data loss’. All lighting, materials and assets from their original CAD or Enscape design will carry over as-is.

Users can add entourage with Chaos Cosmos, and through a direct integration with the Chaos Anima engine, drag-and-drop ‘hyper-realistic 4D people and crowds’ with AI-enhanced behaviour into scenes, and then direct their movement by assigning them a path. Paths can also be applied to other objects and cameras for more cinematic looks.

In addition, Envision supports variation-based animation to help designers depict sun studies, construction phasing or even cycle through design options

Each visualisation can also be rendered with ray-traced realism. According to Chaos, this gives designers access to real-time and offline accuracy, even when polygon counts run into the trillions.

“What stands out to me is being able to import different rendering software files into Envision and edit them there without having to go back to the original programmes, all without any lag,” said architect David Tomic.

Chaos Suites

The new industry-specific Chaos Suites for architectural design, architectural visualisation, and media and entertainment, offers three options: Solo, Premium and Collection based on one of the flagship products—Enscape, V-Ray or Corona.

With the Architectural Design suites users start with the Enscape Solo option, or upgrade to the Enscape Premium suite, which includes the AI-powered Veras for faster ideation, design interactions and enhanced image details. The Enscape Collection adds Chaos Envision and Enscape Impact

With the Archvis suites, the Solo suite features V-Ray or Corona, along with the complete Chaos Cosmos asset library, while the Premium version adds the Chaos Phoenix dynamic simulator, the Chaos Player and 20 Chaos Cloud credits. The Collection includes everything from the Premium suite, as well as Chaos’ real-time ray tracer Chaos Vantage and the crowd/people animation system Chaos Anima.

The Media & Entertainment suites are built around V-Ray and include Vantage, Anima, Phoenix, Player and 20 Chaos Cloud credits—everything artists need to bring any idea to life.

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Brutalism, one of the most polarising architectural styles, with its bold concrete forms and oversized design, returned to the spotlight with The Brutalist – a newly released film exploring the intertwined fate of a Brutalist architect and his buildings.

The film’s revival of interest in Brutalism highlights the circular nature of unique architectural trends. While some admire Brutalism for its raw, imposing honesty, others see it as an eyesore that clashes with the modern architectural landscape – an ongoing debate since Brutalism first emerged.

Given ever-changing architectural trends, we should not be so hasty to demolish these buildings based on contemporary aesthetic judgement, as they may come back into favour in a decade. Cultural moments, like this film, can shift public perception with the representation of the artform, allowing the public to once again understand and see the beauty in Brutalism – before it’s lost to the wrecking ball.

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Why preservation over demolition?

Cultural legacy and historical impact: Preserving buildings with a rich history brings incredible cultural value reflecting the culture and lived experiences at their time of construction. Brutalism emerged in the UK during the 1950s as part of post-war reconstruction. With Britain left in ruins and limited funds for rebuilding, architecture prioritised functionality and cost-effectiveness, shaping the stark aesthetic of the movement.

Inexpensive modular elements, concrete and reinforced steel were used for institutional and residential buildings that needed to be rebuilt quickly to return the UK to a liveable state. As historical symbols of the country’s resilience in a post-war era, these buildings should not be so readily dismissed over debates on aesthetics as they are cultural icons embodying Britain’s resilience and commitment to social progress, accessibility and equality. Rather than simply demolishing these physical manifestations of the British spirit, efforts should be directed toward preservation through thoughtful repurposing, ensuring their integration within the modern architectural landscape.

Environmental impact: The preservation and adaptive reuse of Brutalist buildings, however, presents considerable challenges. In many instances, building codes and regulations inhibit retrofitting efforts to such a degree that demolition is the only solution. Where renovation is possible, listed Brutalist structures pose a distinct set of challenges, with the buildings presenting a level of energy performance well below modern energy efficiency standards and the required modifications to make them both efficient and usable running afoul of conservation guidelines.

Looking beyond challenging operational efficiency, the preservation of Brutalist buildings does have a compelling carbon argument. The clinking of lime to produce the cement in concrete is a massive source of carbon emissions, which is why architects and designers often prefer more environmentally friendly materials. Brutalist buildings, due to their impressive mass and extensive use of concrete are vastly carbon-intensive. However, since the carbon has already been emitted during construction in the 50s, preserving these buildings rather than demolishing them prevents additional emissions from new construction.

Preserving Brutalist buildings conserves resources by extending the lifespan of structures where the bulk of carbon emissions have already occurred. This makes adaptive reuse not only the right choice historically and culturally, but also the more environmentally responsible option.

Contemporary meets traditional

Contemporary architects are already leading the repurposing charge by reimagining Brutalist principles and blending them with modern, sustainable materials while retaining core stylistic elements. Raw concrete used in existing Brutalist structures is being combined with materials like wood and glass to soften its boldness, creating a more artistic interplay of textures and materials. This softening of Brutalism’s rough edges has enabled it to integrate more seamlessly into the surrounding landscapes.

Moreover, unlike many other historical buildings, Brutalist structures are highly adaptable for modern use. Their mass and robust design not only provides acoustic isolation, a desirable trait in the context of residential reuse, but it also makes slab penetrations for the running of pipes, ducts and other systems through walls and floors, much easier. When repurposing contemporary buildings with a lightweight structure every penetration must be carefully considered, which fortunately isn’t the case with the overbuilt brutalist structures.

Changing perceptions

Repurposing any building isn’t cheap, and before investing in an adaptive reuse project, it’s essential that the public, including the potential future residents, understand both the vision for the final result and the motive behind repurposing over demolition. Otherwise, in 10 years, we could find ourselves facing the same debate over aesthetics and potential demolition.

3D visualisation technology enables designers to produce accurate digital representations of existing structures, while incorporating proposed design modifications, new features, and materials, creating an accurate reflection of what the project will actually look like, once completed. This greatly facilitates the presentation of the design to the public, allowing for stakeholder feedback to be gathered and integrated early in the process – avoiding costly delays, and even more importantly, potential commercial failure.

Secondly, to authentically experience the raw scale of a brutalist building and resulting emotional impact of Brutalism, one must visit the building in person, though this is not always possible. Interactive renders offer a solution, allowing both designers and the public to virtually experience being towered over by the building’s mass. On an entirely different scale, the intricate patterns of board-formed concrete is a subtle yet significant feature of Brutalist buildings, that can only be appreciated either through direct experience or with high quality renders that capture the dynamic nuances of lighting and materials, accurately conveying the beauty and emotion of Brutalism to stakeholders.

The visual impression of Brutalist buildings is incredibly strong. This is key to their appeal, but it can be difficult to visualise the buildings taking on a new life, much less as a welcoming apartment building or office. A highquality visualisation can allow people to see a new reality, allowing them to experience, virtually, the beauty and emotion of brutalism, hopefully shifting public perception in the process.

The future of Brutalism

The future of Brutalist buildings is unclear, but it is evident that demolition, without considering alternatives, would be a waste. A waste of resources, of cultural history, and of beautiful buildings that contribute an emotional element to the urban landscape they inhabit. Reimagining and embracing Brutalism is not only about preserving the past but also about recognising its relevance in the present and the cultural values these structures embody. In our current culture where architecture strives for sustainable design solutions, we must look at what we already have and repurpose it to meet modern needs, establishing an important thread tying the old and the new.

The distaste for Brutalism shows the beauty of these designs was never clearly communicated. By making these repurposed designs accessible through emotive, immersive visualisations, the door to public appreciation is opened – before large budgets are spent on redevelopment. At Chaos we strive to democratise the design process, making it accessible to all stakeholders by simplifying complex styles and revealing their inner, timeless beauty.

About the author

Roderick Bates is head of corporate development at Chaos, a specialist in design and visualisation technology.

Main image credit: Santiago Correa

The post Reviving Brutalism: preserving the legacy of concrete giants appeared first on AEC Magazine.

Chaos, a specialist in arch viz software, has acquired EvolveLab, a developer of AI tools for streamlining visualisation, generative design, documentation and interoperability for AEC professionals.

According to Chaos, the acquisition will reinforce its design-to-visualisation workflows, while expanding to include critical tools for BIM automation, AI-driven ideation and computational design.

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Founded in 2015, EvolveLab was the first to integrate generative AI technology into architectural modelling software, demonstrating the massive potential of mixing imaginative prompts with 3D geometry. Through its flagship software Veras – which AEC Magazine reviewed back in 2023 – EvolveLab connected this capability to leading BIM tools like SketchUp, Revit, Vectorworks, and others, before expanding into smart documentation and generative design.

Looking ahead, the role of AI in traditional visualisation software will only expand, making the acquisition of EvolveLab a smart strategic move for Chaos. It will be fascinating to see how the two development teams collaborate to integrate their respective technologies.

Read what AEC Magazine thinks

Even before the acquisition, designers relied on the combination of EvolveLab and Chaos tools, using Veras and Enscape to accelerate both design and reviews. In the schematic design phase, this means rapidly generating ideas in Veras before committing the design to BIM where Enscape’s real-time visualisation capabilities pushes the project even further.

“Over a year ago, we began exploring AI tools to speed up our workflows and were excited to discover Veras, a solution specifically designed for AEC that seamlessly integrates with host platforms,” said Hanns-Jochen Weyland of Störmer Murphy and Partners, an award-winning architectural practice based in Hamburg, Germany. “Veras is now our go-to for initial ideation before transitioning to renderings in Enscape. This powerful combination accelerates concept development and ensures reliable outcomes.”

“At Cuningham, we integrate EvolveLab’s Veras and Glyph alongside Chaos’ Enscape to enhance our design process,” said Joseph Bertucci, senior project design technologist of Cuningham, an integrated design firm with offices across the United States. “Using both Enscape and Veras allows us to visualise, iterate, and explore design concepts in real-time while leveraging AI-driven enhancements for rapid refinement. Meanwhile, Glyph has been a game-changer for auto-documentation, enabling us to efficiently generate views and drawing sets, saving valuable time in project setup. These tools collectively streamline our workflows, boosting efficiency, precision, and creativity.”

Chaos and the EvolveLab teams are exploring ways to integrate their products and accelerate their AI roadmaps. EvolveLab products will remain available to customers. The EvolveLab team will join Chaos, with Bill Allen serving as director of product management and EvolveLab chief technology officer Ben Guler as director of software development.

EvolveLab apps include Veras, for AI-powered visualisation; Glyph, for automating and standardising documentation tasks; Morphis, for generating designs in real-time; and Helix, for interoperability between BIM tools.

What AEC Magazine thinks

Like many long-established architectural visualisation software developers, Chaos has undoubtedly sensed growing competition from AI renderers over the past few years.

While tools like EvolveLab’s Veras aren’t yet mature enough or offer the necessary control to replace software like Enscape, they are already capable of handling certain aspects of the arch viz workflow—particularly in the early phases of a project. AI renderers can also enhance final outputs, improving visual quality. In fact, last year, Chaos introduced its own AI Enhancer for Enscape, which uses AI to transform assets like people and vegetation into high-quality, photorealistic visuals—minimising the need for high-poly, resource-intensive models.

Looking ahead, the role of AI in traditional visualisation software will only expand, making the acquisition of EvolveLab a smart strategic move for Chaos. It will be fascinating to see how the two development teams collaborate to integrate their respective technologies.

While EvolveLab’s AI rendering technology and expertise were likely the main drivers behind the acquisition, Chaos has also gained access to powerful tools for BIM automation, AI-driven ideation, and computational design. In our interview with EvolveLab CEO, Bill Allen  last year, he spoke of the company’s ambitious vision, including auto-generated drawings.

With the launch of Enscape Impact last year—bringing building performance analysis into Enscape’s real-time environment—Chaos has already shown its willingness to expand into new areas of AEC technology. Now, with advanced AEC design tools in its portfolio, it will be interesting to see how the company continues to evolve.

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