We are looking at simplifying our work flow for smaller projects which are typically interior fit-outs. I thought that VisualARQ might allow us to complete a project within Rhino without migrating to Revit.
Yes, i searched the same last night. No reviews, no other forums or reddit posts and no youtube videos about the VisualArq. I realy would like to give a try for this product. I realy priciate if some on can sheer its real workflow experience and how its change the the worklow if you have used before the main big programs. What are cons and pros. Etc.
All the best!
There are some users here who can share their experience with you. In addition, you can check in the VisualARQ gallery some projects made by real users: Projects - VisualARQ. If you want to see YouTube videos about VisualARQ, you can watch them here: https://www.youtube.com/@VisualARQ.
Also, we are available here in the forum and in our email address visualarq@asuni.com so please, if you have any questions let me know.
Well, maybe we don’t have much time for writing reviews…
A while age I was planning to add my insights, but got beaten by deadlines… I still work with Rhino 6 / VA 2, but I see there are huge improvements with the new releases. From my experience, I could say VA is very good for small and good for medium projects (but it may depend on the power of your machines, mine are a bit outdated now). The start wasn’t easy, as there are a few examples, and the workflow depends on someone’s experience and habits. And to fully appreciate both programmes you should get used to quite heavy scripting (mostly GH, but Python also). For now my worklflow is like this: I model a building, to a reasonable extent (let’s say, until I get over an administration process plus when most of technical issues are resolved), then it is just a 2D drafting, with massive use of linked and external blocks.
Maybe some day, on holiday, I will find some time to add a more detailed review.
Cheers, Jaro
@kristjan.tolk I’ve been using VA as my primary BIM software from several years. There have been a few discussions about this a while back like here and here.
I find rhino and VA to be a great all around software for small firms to small to medium projects. But you currently have to be a bit adventurous and willing to teach yourself a process (which I love). It is lightning fast to use, intuitive for clients to understand without renderings, and makes it really easy to move back and forth between design and documentation.
It’s not perfect, and some of those limitations we talk about in the other posts could keep it from being implemented into larger teams or more complicated projects. Some of those things, like reflected ceiling plans, are being addressed in the newer versions. I have been testing VA3 beta but haven’t begun using for production projects just yet.
I agree with @jerry.bakowski that some level of GH proficiency is almost required if you like making parametric styles / families. But I don’t really know Python, and you could theoretically use VA for projects strictly using model blocks and out of the box styles / families if needed.
In previous firms working on large projects with large teams, we always started in rhino for concept phase and then rebuilt everything in revit in schematic phase. But in my (currently) solo practice now that would be a tremendous headache and waste of time.
Thank you for the overview and for the links. I have used rhino since version 2 and I love it. The freedom it offers is ultimate for me. I have done full construction models in rhino also for my on houses - only if the design is fully set. But for BIM I have used Revit LT couple years, but there are so many limits and the full Revit is price. So I was thing to move fully to Rhino+GH+Visualarq. The idea is to not change the program - siteplan, 3d rendering, plans, detail drawings - all in one package. I just need more encouragement from other people. Have nice weekend!
Curious what you use to manage blocks. Autocad has the palette feature but I don’t see anything comparable in Rhino or Revit. This is another huge issue in the industry, Digital Asset management. It seems like this is something that you need to find a third party for since no company is really doing it well internally.
Thanks for the review. That is were we are at. I went from building multi-story hi-rises to interior fit-outs. Revit seems really geared towards enterprises where you can have a full time BIM manager creating assets.
Glad to hear its working well for you on small to medium projects.
Revit is 80% of a great piece of software. But since autodesk bought it over 20 years ago, the development cycle has been shockingly slow, especially given the absurd amount of money they rake in every year through monopoly subscriptions. They just have to grow user bases, not make better software. Because of this, it will never be a really great piece of software. It always has these weird bugs and limitations that never get fixed.
Rhino and VA are definitely not perfect, but the development structure of both companies is much better and I do think that both Rhino and VA will continue to improve. Not only that, but the community is so good that they know exactly where it needs to improve. I started using it for small side projects nearly 10 years ago and it has empowered me to launch my own practice.
How are people using it for construction docs? I couldnt make it draw a correct window/door reveal with a multilayered wall. Its always a flat end with no options on how to deal with wall layers at openings. I can see how its useful for concept designs and 1:200 plans/sections, but 1:100 or 1:50? Or do people know workarounds for this?
You’ve pointed out VARQ’s biggest flaw: It’s relatively small user base. Revit for example has an army of thousands creating content and finding work-arounds. I’ve made similar comparisons to Sketchup: When you have so many potential customers it offers that much more incentive to plugin developers.
The more people that use VARQ the better it will get. The hard part for me was having to start from such a low base point I would have to create all my families from scratch. I would also have to figure out which features I can use and which I can’t. If time was unlimited I could just make all the components I needed. And then use Rhino Common to patch up anything that needs adjusting (for example, schedules). It was a lot of work and not much content was available. One big killer for me was not having things like basic furniture and fixtures available.
I found that their component system was very versatile: You could create anything and turn it into anything (within reason). If you don’t like the windows make your own windows. Same goes for doors, stairs, and whatever else. It makes me wonder what else I could create; maybe even a setup for structural drawings? I could create better stuff compared to say Revit families. But it would take a lot of time. The time involved was the big killer for me.
I couldnt make it draw a correct window/door reveal with a multilayered wall.
My old post may or may not address your issue. It’s from R7/VARQ2 not R8/VARQ3 so I’m not sure if these will even work anymore. But if/when I get back into it this is where I’ll pick up from.
I solved the appearance issues (at least for what I needed at the time) but then ran into issues with scheduling the windows at their correct sizes (the schedule had to match my cut opening). I may have figured out a way to solve that as well but it would have entailed a lot of programming. Someday…
It depends on the level of detail you are looking for. Using BIM ‘LOD’ terms, I usually run somewhere around 300 to just under 400. I’m not really using the BIM model for any scale smaller than 1/4"=1’-0" or 1/2" = 1’-0" (here in the US).
So in plan the door cuts the wall, shows the swing and often the handle, and has some geometry for trim. But the detailed bits about where drywall stops or the rough opening are handled in typical drafted details. This is the same process I used in Revit. It makes for a faster, lighter model, and only shows the detail information in one location for clarity.
You could probably make a bunch of boxes to carve out of the wall geometry. But it sounds tedious unless you are only doing it once or twice and then not changing it afterwards.
How does tagging elevation plans and sections work in VisualARQ? It seems like it only works in plan. That would be a major feature drawback if this is true.
In sections and elevations, I typically name walls, slabs, etc, by their keynote and then, using a standard leader, use the textfield category ‘objectname’ so that the leader carries the keynote. Change the object name and it changes the keynote. If something breaks it changes the text to say ####, which is really easy to search for in bluebeam. Textfields are really powerful, and I wish there was a more automatic and simplified way to use them.
I’m pretty sure there is a more streamlined way to do this with a python script to make my own command which makes a leader that automatically pulls the objectname based on the selection . But haven’t created this yet. I’m not super proficient in python.
I’ve completed an interior remodel with VA2 and am now working through a larger ground up project from start to finish in VA. Currently making the DD to CD switch, and once I’ve got a few more things under my belt, I’m planning on sharing some of the drawings and writing up a summary to share with users and with the asuni team. A directed conversation seems like it would be timely.
That would be great. I’m trying it out on a smaller project and will share our insights as well. We were using Rhino.inside but it was an effort to keep everything in sync. Revit is a fairly complex and fragmented program so getting data across object types, direct shapes vs families and then syncing data back and forth to rhino proved time consuming. The only features we were really using were the documentation features and schedules. We post here how well documentation and tagging works.
Yes, I agree. We tried the same thing. Rhino.inside for smaller projects is too time consuming to benefit from any Revit production efficiencies gained in the second half of the project.
