Voyansi Voices Blog

2020 was a life-changing year, and while some things may go back to normal, we took this opportunity to have a chance to return to better than normal. The change from AEC Lab and AEC Resource to Voyansi was more than just a brand change, we fundamentally changed the way we work.

At the end of the day, we deliver data. Over the next few weeks, I'll write about how we transformed our digital ecosystem to take our first steps as a data-driven company, from end to end. We believe this is possible for any company where information work is the primary medium. Evermore so, we believe being data-driven is a requirement to survive in the incoming competitive environment. 

In 1991, this advertisement appeared in print newspapers across the United States. This commercial for Radio Shack which ran in syndicated newspapers illustrates a variety of consumer electronic devices, headlined by a personal desktop computer for $1599 USD (approximately $3000 in 2020). Beyond the eye-watering price of the PC, one interesting thing to note is that every single one of the devices featured in this ad has functionally been replaced by almost any smartphone available today.

This had us wondering: how far away are we from true Reality Capture technology in your pocket? To answer the question, we created a very basic test: Could our non-technical team achieve good results with off-the-shelf tools anyone could use?  

Architects: just beyond your screen exists an oasis of automation, where doing your work is just as easy as building it, and day-to-day changes are automatically communicated across the entire team.  Need to revert back to an older version?  Done. Want to see your project built in real-time as you’re designing it?  Great.  Come join our oasis, the magical world of software development.

We've covered many advantages of data-driven design in previous posts. Thinking data first has many advantages along the project's life cycle that raise efficiency by saving time and resources, improving accuracy, facilitating daily workflows, and simplifying what it means to build.

Over time employees come and go, Autodesk releases new features in Revit, and your team is called on to build in new ways. Creating a strong Revit training strategy and the program is essential to your team's future. Successful companies have a training plan in place to ensure that staff is continuously up-skilling. Here are our top 5 tips for creating a successful Revit training program:

As with years past, Autodesk has once again launched a new version of Revit. This new version contains many features that users have been waiting for in previous versions, such as the possibility to create slanted walls or realistic 3D walk-throughs. We will be focusing on a feature that we think will open up a lot of doors for designers that are leveraging BIM in their workflows: Project Refinery, an Autodesk generative design solution.

There is an idea out there that all of us have heard or even been a part of on certain projects or with our respective employers. The idea is this: If you are a General Contractor and receive a building information model from the consultants working on your projects, you can get the budget automatically with not much leg work.

The software team at Voyansi spent the last week exploring the Forge API at Forge Accelerator Cloudville. It was an incredible experience coding along with the help of the Forge team. We learned a ton and walked away inspired.

Here are 10 things we learned that we think any company looking to incorporate Forge into a part of their workflow should know. Forge API is a powerful tool capable of revolutionizing the design process. To realize its full potential, teams have to adjust how they collaborate and companies have to change how they look at their design production process.

For all of you that haven't heard about Revit Server before, Revit Server is an application that can be installed on an on-premise server or the cloud that hosts a central model and allows users to connect from different offices and domains enabling collaboration of distributed teams over the cloud.