Virtual Reality – Twinmotion 2018: Real-Time VR Software for Architects and Designers

by Julianna Gulden

Photos courtesy of Abvent.

Virtual reality (VR) architectural visualization, long a staple of the European market, has been making inroads in the U.S. market as well, and Twinmotion 2018 is well positioned to lead the charge.

Released by France’s Abvent Group in July, Twinmotion 2018 is the latest version of its award-winning 3D immersion software developed especially for architects, designers, urban planners and landscapers — regardless of the size and complexity of their project, equipment, computer skills or modeler. Powered by Unreal Engine, Twinmotion 2018 boasts a highly intuitive interface, which makes it extremely easy to learn and navigate.

Twinmotion 2018 is available on both Windows and MacOS, making Twinmotion 2018 the first visualization software with real-time 3D immersion for architects using the Mac platform.

Twinmotion is compatible with virtually every 3D modeler on the market in FBX, SKP, C4D and OBJ formats. Merge several Twinmotion projects or other formats into one, and enrich your projects by importing images in DDS, PNG, PSD, JPG or TGA formats. In this latest version, Twinmotion offers direct synchronization with leading 3D modelers, GRAPHISOFT ARCHICAD and Autodesk Revit. A single click is all it takes to get the geometries of the 3D model, plus all the BIM information of the architectural objects with their organization and hierarchy.

Sculpt a surface, change materials from Twinmotion’s own library, modify sunshine by date and geographic coordinates, add a character or a crowd, integrate a car or several lanes of vehicles on a road, draw their route and choose their spot in the project, add a body of water, create a town square or a forest, modify the foliage of one tree or many, transform raindrops into snowflakes, view your project from all angles while walking, driving, even flying…and see the effects of all these actions instantly.

Create a true landscape. Use the software’s terrain library or import your own file as a point cloud or a 3D mesh. It will automatically be converted to an internal landscape that you can edit, sculpt, paint and re-vegetate at your convenience. Show the project in its various stages by using the unique project phasing feature. From breaking ground through the structural work to the landscape vegetation, the goal is to stage and share the evolution of the building. With Twinmotion’s Geolocalization feature — an industry first — place your project within the context of its environment on OpenStreetMap.

In just seconds, you can export images and videos of remarkable quality; several hours are needed with conventional software. Everything is instantaneous in the 3D environment you design, regardless of the type of project.

Twinmotion is an ideal interactive tool to explore and share the environment, the atmosphere, the spaces of the site — a companion to plan and decide, persuade and pre-sell, but also to make strategic choices upstream for the effective implementation of the project.

• Several advanced presentation options are available in Twinmotion 2018, making it easier than ever to share your vision with your clients and other stakeholders:
• Compatible with VR headsets HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Gear VR,
• Twinmotion 2018 allows you to explore your model in real time, from the early design phase to the final project review.
• Twinmotion 2018 is the only software on the market capable of producing in real time not only stereoscopic images, panoramas and videos of the highest quality, but also 360° videos.
• BIMmotion is a self-executable file that can be shared free of charge, which integrates the project you have imagined, allowing everyone to move in 3D, freely or according to a pre-defined path.
• A new media viewer in the cloud allows you to directly upload images, panoramas and videos created in Twinmotion to be shared, combined and organized in a project.

Twinmotion 2018 is available in seven languages: Chinese, English, French, German, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish.

For more information, please visit www.twinmotion.com.

Julianna Gulden is the international communications manager for Abvent S.A. Since 1985, France’s Abvent Group has offered innovative image and design solutions for BIM professionals in the fields of architecture, design and photography. Abvent develops a family of stand-alone 3D rendering applications especially for architects, designers and urban planners: Artlantis, the rendering tool for physically precise images and animations; Twinmotion, an award-winning, real-time visualization and 3D immersion software; and Render[in], a powerful, fully integrated rendering engine developed for SketchUp.