User Guide

Visicon Smart BIM Tools

Version 1.0 ● 26 November 2018

Visicon Inc. – 340 E 77th St., Suite 2A, NY, NY 10075 - +1 (347) 454-6229
[email protected] - visicon.com
© 2018 Visicon Inc. All rights reserved.

Visicon Inc. 340 E 77th St., Suite 2A, NY, NY 10075

+1 (347) 454-6229, [email protected], 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 www.visicon.com 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:

http://www.visicon.com

Email technical support — To request technical support, send an email to [email protected].

Note that to receive support, you must have a valid Visicon license. Courtesy email 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:

[email protected]

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

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Table of Contents
 
1  Introduction 7 
1.1  INSTALLATION AND LICENSING OPTIONS 7 

1.2  UPDATES AND UPGRADES 8 

1.3  WORKFLOWS AND BENEFITS 8 

2  Working with BIM files 10 

2.1  REVIT MODELS 10 

2.2  IFC FILES 12 

2.3  ETABS FILES 12 

2.4  ADAPT FILES 13 

2.5  POINT CLOUD FILES 13 

2.6  WAVEFRONT OBJ FILES 13 

2.7  VISICON PROJECT FILES 13 

2.8  SECURITY 13 

2.9  VISICON TEMPLATE FILES 13 

2.10  SAVE AS PORTABLE 13 

2.11  MERGE INTO MODEL 14 

2.12  UPDATE MODEL GEOMETRY 14 

2.13  SAMPLES 14 

2.14  CAD FILES 15 

3  Model Explorer – Visualization 16 

3.1  EXPLORING THE USER INTERFACE 16 

3.2  OBJECT PROPERTIES 18 

3.3  PROJECT BROWSER 19 

3.4  STATUS BAR 22 

3.5  RIGHT-CLICK MOUSE OPTIONS 23 

3.6  OBJECT COLOR AND TRANSPARENCY 23 

3.7  SUMMARY OF UNIQUE VISUALIZATION FEATURES 24 

3.7.1  Hot-Tracking 24 

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3.7.2  Level Navigation 24 

3.7.3  Grids 25 
3.7.4  Component Categories 26 
3.7.5  Display of Widgets 28 
3.7.6  Clip Planes 29 
3.7.7  Floor Plan 30 
3.7.8  Rectangular Selection 30 

4  Model Validation & Smart Visualization 31 

4.1  FILTERS 31 
4.1.1  New Filter – from Project Browser 32 
4.1.2  New Filter – from Template 32 
4.1.3  New Filter – from Object Selection 32 
4.1.4  Exceptions – from Object Selection 33 

4.2  RULES-BASED MODEL VALIDATION 33 

4.3  UNIQUENESS CHECK – AUTO-COLORIZE 34 

4.4  EXPRESSION-DRIVEN VIEWS 35 

4.5  RULE SETS 36 

4.6  ASSIGNING RULES TO VIEWS 38 

4.7  EXPRESSIONS 38 

4.7.1  Syntax 39 
4.7.2  Using Units 40 
4.7.3  Copy / Paste Variable 40 
4.7.4  Expression Editor 41 
4.7.5  Insert Variable 42 
4.7.6  Special Bounding Box Variables 42 
4.7.7  Special Variable Functions 44 
4.7.8  Special Inventory Variables 45 
4.7.9  Operators 45 
4.7.10  Expression Examples 47 

5  Data Export / Import & Visualization 48 

5.1  DATA EXPORT REPORT 48 

5.2  IMPORTING DATA 49 

5.3  VISUALIZING EXTERNAL DATA 50 

6  Model Alignment 51 

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7  Views and Markups 52 

7.1  DEFINING AND MANAGING VIEWS 52 

7.2  DEFAULT VIEW 53 

7.3  USER-DEFINED GLOBAL VIEWS 54 

7.4  ISSUE VIEWS 54 

7.5  2D MARKUPS / OVERLAYS 54 

7.6  3D ANNOTATIONS 56 

7.7  VIEW AND MARKUP SUMMARY REPORT 57 

8  Tendon Modeling & Editing 58 

8.1  MONO-STRAND SYSTEM 59 

8.2  MULTI-STRAND SYSTEM 60 

9  3D Measure 62 
9.1  DIMENSIONS 62 

10  Operations 66 

10.1  USER-DEFINED 68 

10.2  FILTER-BASED 69 

10.3  CLASH TEST 70 

10.4  FIND DUPLICATES 72 

10.5  CLEARANCE CHECK 72 

10.6  BOOLEAN DIFFERENCE 75 

10.7  VARIANCE CHECK 78 

11  Issue Management 81 

11.1  CREATING ISSUES 83 

11.2  ASSIGNING COMPONENTS TO ISSUES 84 

11.3  ISSUE VIEWS 84 

11.4  ISSUE VISIBILITY AND COLORIZATION 85 

11.5  ISSUE TRACKING 86 

11.6  ISSUE COORDINATION AND RESOLUTION WORKFLOWS 87 

11.7  TRANSFERRING ISSUES BACK TO REVIT 87 

11.8  ISSUE SUMMARY REPORT 87 

11.9  DASHBOARD 88 

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12  Analytic: Structural 90 

12.1  TRIBUTARY REPORT 96 

13  Collaboration 98 

13.1  USER MANAGEMENT 98 

14  Inventory 100 

14.1  COST DRIVERS 100 

14.2  DYNAMIC INVENTORY FEATURE 101 

14.3  INVENTORY REPORT 102 

15  Reports 106 

15.1  COVER PAGE 107 

15.2  CONCRETE INSTALLATION COORDINATES 108 

15.3  QUANTITY VARIANCE 110 

15.4  REPORT SETS 110 

16  Templates 111 

16.1  APPLYING THE DEFAULT TEMPLATE 111 

16.2  GENERIC REFERENCE TO LIST ITEMS 111 

16.3  CREATING CUSTOM TEMPLATES 112 

16.4  INSERTING FROM CUSTOM TEMPLATES 112 

16.5  TEMPLATE MANAGEMENT 112 

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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
[email protected] 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.

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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
[email protected] 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

Fast, easy and feature rich visualization of Revit, IFC, ETABS, ADAPT,
Visualization
and point cloud files

Use Visicon to quickly analyze BIM models for integrity, consistency

Quality Control
and quality.

Visicon makes it very simple and fast to open BIM models, mark them
Model
up, document issues, and send them to team members for
Coordination
collaborative resolution.

Extract quantities from your BIM models and generate customizable

Quantity Takeoff
XLS reports.

Change Get a better handle on your changing BIM models by running Visicon’s
Management various change management features.

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Visualize load paths and calculate general loading of columns and

Load Takedown
walls for your building models in minutes.

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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 2019. 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.

One-click option to export Revit model as Visicon VXF file without all
instance and family parameters. This option is faster, produces a
Quick Export 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

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the Settings pull-down option. Its default configuration is also set to

only export partial data of linked point clouds, and no views.

One-click option to export all geometry, instance and family

Full Export parameters. This option gives your Revit model the greatest data
mining options. Also set to not export views.

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
Import Issues 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.

This function opens the Issues Manager user interface that lists all
imported issues. Issues can be sorted by their attributes. If components
Issues Manager
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
This function lists a few model editing utilities.
Elements

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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.

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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 email 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.

2.10 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

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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.

2.11 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.

2.12 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.

2.13 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.

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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.

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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

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at the left, both at the bottom, etc., of the user interface. You can also move them to a 2nd
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

All file management, model merging, template creation, and data

File
import functionality.

This ribbon contains basic model interaction settings, component

Home
selection options, and level mode.

Most display options, like the ability to turn on component categories or

Visibility
grid lines, are presented in this tab.

The features in this ribbon are used to align or move components in a

Model Alignment
model.

This ribbon contains all functionality for the creation of new custom
Views and Markup views and the addition of markups to them: 2D markups (overlays), 3D
annotations, and 3D dimensions.

The options to add 3D annotations, like spot tags and spot coordinates,
Measure plus the ability to carry out 3D measurements of your model are
grouped in this ribbon.

Model checking operations like clash detection, variance checking, 3D

Boolean difference check, and clearance check are organized under
Operations
the Operations tab. Operations that detect potential discrepancies with
a model create Issues for each instance of a discrepancy.

Functionality to create user-defined issues, assign components to

Issues them, add custom views, and manage display of issue-related data in
your model is grouped in this tab.

This ribbon contains all features for tributary area generation, load path
Analytic
calculation and reporting of tributary load takedown results.

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All of Visicon’s default component colorization modes are presented

Colorize this tab. The most commonly used default colorization modes are
replicated at the bottom of the user interface in the Status Bar.

Collaboration features, including the creation of users, a central model,

Collaborate a client model, and the integration of client models are located in this
ribbon.

This ribbon dynamically displays inventory data for selected

Inventory
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.

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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.

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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

Provides statistics on open Visicon project.

Project Info

Lists all component types in project and allows you to define global
Components visibility parameters like color and opacity. You can also easily select
all components of a type by selecting its row in the panel.

Lists all imported models and allows you to set their global visibility
Models properties.

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Levels Lists all levels in project and assigns a unique color to each level.

Lists all materials found in the project and displays color assigned to
Material each. You can change material color, opacity and type.

The discipline property primarily applies to models imported from Revit.

Discipline This panel categorizes components based on their assigned discipline.

This panel filters all components based on the source document they
were imported from. For example, you may have merged two ETABS
Documents files as one model in Visicon. Opening this panel will allow you to
identify which components came from which original ETABS file.

The worksets property only applies to models imported from Revit. This
Worksets panel lists worksets and their associated components.

This panel filters all components using their family parameter. Revit
and IFC components have explicit family definitions. Visicon generates
Families families for component types on the fly when importing ETABS and
ADAPT files.

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
Parameters information in this panel to get an instant snapshot of the underlying
information you can access and reason about in your model.

The system parameter is primarily found in Revit models of mechanical

Systems projects. If systems are defined in your BIM, they are listed in this
panel.

This panel sorts and colorizes all components by their unique 3D

Geometry geometry. The data in this panel is useful for consistency control of
models.

Load Cases This panel lists all imported load cases and combinations. It can be
and Combinations used to identify where loads are applied to a model.

This panel is used to create and manage filters. Use the right-click
Filters mouse option to insert a new filter or a saved filter from a template.

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This panel extends the functionality of the Operations ribbon. Already

defined operations are listed and managed here. Use the right-click
Operations option to import operations from templates. Selecting an operation
opens up its configuration settings.

This panel is used to define and manage rules. Rules are advanced
Rules 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.

This panel lists all issues and is where you enter comments and
change an issue’s main properties. Use the functions in the Issues
Issues ribbon to create, filter, and manage views and components associated
with views.

All defined views are listed in this panel. The functions to add markups
Views to views are located on the Views / Markup ribbon.

This panel is used create and manage users. Users can be assigned to
Users Issues and can participate in the collaboration workflow.

This panel lists all created reports and is used to configure custom
Reports report properties.

This panel lists warnings. You can clear warnings using the right-click
Warnings 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.

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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.

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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.

3.7.1 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

Example of roof slab pick up by Hot-Tracking feature

3.7.2 Level Navigation

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

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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.

3.7.3 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.

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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.

Grids visibility options found in the Home ribbon.

3.7.4 Component Categories

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
Description
Category

Floors All structural and non-structural floors.

Columns All structural and non-structural columns.

All reinforcement.
Reinforcement

Overlays 2D markups / overlays created in Visicon.

All analytic components created when in structural analytic mode –

Analytic horizontal masses, vertical components and tributary regions.

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Topography All components classified as topography.

Spaces Components classified as a space.

Plumbing All components classified under plumbing systems.

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 All components classified under mechanical systems.

Systems

Architecture All components classified as architecture in Revit.

Bridges All components classified as a bridge element.

Roofs All roof components.

Façade and All façade and windows components.

Windows

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CAD Files Any CAD object.

Dimensions 3D dimensions created in Visicon.

Furniture All components classified as furniture.

Results of Boolean Difference operation run in Visicon – added or

Results removed regions.

Electrical All components classified under electrical systems.

Systems

All components classified as generic. Many Ifc components fall under

Generic this category.

Other All components that don’t meet any of the other classifications.

3.7.5 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.

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Graphic representation of widgets used to improve model navigation and

interaction.

3.7.6 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

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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.

3.7.7 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.

3.7.8 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.

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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.

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Sample Filter showing where to define Expressions, select Object Categories,

and define behavior of objects in Exceptions list

4.1.1 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.

4.1.2 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 right-
click mouse option in the Project Browser | Filter panel and select the Insert from Template
File option.

4.1.3 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

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4.1.4 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.

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Project Browser showing a few examples of expression-driven and auto-

colorize 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.

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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 Expression-
driven 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.

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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

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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.

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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 pull-
down 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 >

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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.

4.7.1 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.
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
Component
referring to variables in Visicon.
Variable

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.

All numerical values can be represented as you would normally refer to

Numerical
them. For example, 1, 0.03, 45.2.

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Numerical with If a numerical value has units, it is good practice to refer to the units.
Units This is covered in more detail in the section on Using Units.

All text should be enclosed in “ “. For example, “Concrete”, “Piping

Text
System”.

4.7.2 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 = 0.667. The 0.667 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.

4.7.3 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 right-
clicking 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

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expression and use the Paste function. You will always have the correct syntax if you follow this
method.

Example of a multi-level variable: Core Material

4.7.4 Expression Editor

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

Saves changes made to expression in editor, runs expression, and

Accept closes editor

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4.7.5 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

4.7.6 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,

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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 > 10ft) Refers to Z height of bounding box. Picks all

Bounds.Height
components greater than 10 ft in overall height.

(vector – Bounds.Max.z > 20m) Refers to maximum point of bounding

Bounds.Max
box.

(vector – Bounds.Min.x > 45ft) Refers to minimum point of bounding

Bounds.Min
box.

(vector – Bounds.Size.y > 1000mm) Refers to one dimension of the

Bounds.Size 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.

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In the Insert Variable list, Bounds variables are found under Component
Properties | Physical

4.7.7 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

(Name.Contains(“7”)) Use this function to find variables that contain

Contains(x)
any string you specify in “ “.

(Name.DoesNotContain(“C”)) Use this function to find variables that o

DoesNotContain(x)
not contain a string you specify in “ “.

GetParameterValue (GetParameterValue(“Appearance”, “Transparency”) > 50) Function

(Group,Name) that lets you access a parameter’s value.

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(Name.StartsWith(“2”)) Use this function to find variables that start

StartsWith(x)
with any string you specify in “ “.

(Name.EndsWith(“t”)) Use this function to find variables that end with

EndsWith(x)
any string you specify in “ “.

4.7.8 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 > 1000 ft2) Use this to reason about a

HorizontalSectionArea component’s horizontal section. Most used to determine slab
surface area.

VerticalSectionArea (VerticalSectionArea < 10 m2) Vertical section of a component.

(VerticalSurfaceArea = 200 ft2) Surface area of vertical faces of a

VerticalSurfaceArea
component.

(HorizontalLength = 16 in) Applies to some components like walls

HorizontalLength
and represents horizontal length.

(Perimeter = 20 m) Perimeter of a component’s vertical projection,

Perimeter
including openings.

(Weight > 500 lb) Calculated as the volume of a component

Weight
multiplied by its material density.

4.7.9 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

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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

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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

Referring to individual MinimumBounds.z >

3D Vectors .x, .y, .z
values 400 ft

Referring to full vector [x,y,z] Force = [0,0,-1000]

4.7.10 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)

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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.

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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

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Object Properties panel showing imported data: new categories, parameter

name, and values

5.3 Visualizing External Data

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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

This function allows you to manually move selected

objects. Once activated, use the alignment widget to
move the objects. The coordinates of your translation
Manual are shown in the ribbon. You can manually override
these values, if necessary. To accept the translation,
select the Accept button.

By Selecting this option allows you to move components by entering a

Coordinates translation vector.

This function determines the translation vector by the center of two

objects you select. First select the objects you want to move, select the
By Objects 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.

This option works similar to the Align by Objects with the difference that
By Points you select two points.

This function centers the entire model at the origin. Use this when
Center at working with models that have very large offsets to the origin. Viewing
Origin quality degrades when components are too far from the origin.

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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

Opens the Views panel of Project Browser where all user-defined views
Manage are listed.

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Default Opens Default project view.

Creates new user-defined view. If components are selected when

clicking this button, you have to option to either 1) include selected
New 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.

This button is only active if the Auto Save feature is turned off for a
Save view. If selected, it saves all of a view’s visibility settings.

Delete Use this button to delete the active view.

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
Auto Save turned OFF, you must manually use the Save button to save the latest
settings.

The Lock feature fixes the camera view position. Use this
if you don’t want others to change the viewpoint of a view
Lock 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.

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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.

7.5 2D 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

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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.

Creates a line strip. Line strips have a control point at each end and
Line Strip joint.

Arrow Creates an arrow. Arrows have a control point at each end.

Creates a circle. The perimeter of the circle is a control point and

Circle allows you to increase or decrease its size.

Creates a rectangle. Each side of the rectangle is a control point and

Rectangle 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.

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
Callout click on the text to enter text editing mode. You can also type the
callout’s text in its property window.

Creates a text annotation. The bounding box of the text is editable like
Text a rectangle. Text is editable like a callout.

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Example of editable properties of Callout, as listed in the Object Properties

panel.

7.6 3D 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.

Gives you the ability to add a text tag to any location in the model that
Spot Tag is visible from most views of the model. The text for the tag is added in
the Object Properties’ Comment property.

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Spot Places 3D tag on your model with the elevation of the selected position.
Elevation You can also display a comment.

Spot Places 3D tag on your model with XYZ coordinates of selected

Coordinate 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 email 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.

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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 post-
tensioning 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 multi-
strand 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

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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 100.
- 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.

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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 multi-
strand. 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.

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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.

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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.

The clearance feature is a dynamic dimensioning feature that displays

the clearance between the point your mouse is hovering over and the
Clearance
clearance between that point and the nearest object in a perpendicular
line from your mouse position. The dynamic dimension will only display

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when another object is detected. You can create a permanent

clearance dimension by clicking your left mouse button.

This tool allows you to quickly measure multiple points from one
One to Many location.

Multi This measurement tool is used to measure the cumulative length along
Segment a multi-segmented path.

The surface area measurement tool gives the area of any polygon you
Surface Area define in 3D space.

Use the angular measurement to calculate the angle between any 3

Angular points in space.

Invoke this mode if you don’t want your measurements to become

permanent artifacts of your model. When active, it assumes you are
Single Mode just interested in recording the measurement you are working on and
will automatically delete it when you create the next one.

When active, this mode displays accumulated dimensions for all

measurements. To reset the counter for new dimensions you are
Cumulative creating, turn the mode off and on. All dimensions remember if they
Measure 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.

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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.

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Example of Linear Dimension with Show Axis set to Always.

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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

Opens Operations panel in Project Browser, where operations are

Manage listed and configured.

This operation replaces all object properties that could include your
proprietary data with generic data. Use this function to clean your
Anonymize models before sharing with others if you are concerned about sensitive
data. Running Anonymize does not change the geometry of your BIM.

Compare This operation takes two model files and runs a detailed property-by-
Models property comparison. The results are presented in a table. It is useful

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when trying to understand subtle changes between two models that are
not obvious.

This operation splits multi-geometry components into separate

Split Volumes volumes.

Convert to Simplifies and converts complex meshed components into extrusions

Extrusions with uniform cross-section.

Delete Holes Removes holes from extruded components.

Verifies all components have a unique ID and fixes those that don’t.
Check / Fix The collaboration feature requires that all components have a unique
Unique IDs ID.

Compact The operation eliminates unused resources in your model and may
Resources reduce file size.

Column names are used to organize tributary areas in the tributary

Rename report in vertical columns. In case your model was not configured to
Column Stacks have common column names for a column stack, this operation copies
up column lower column names to those directly on top of them.

This operation applies a contrasting color palette to object properties

Apply like material, source document, worksets, families, parameters and
Contrasting load cases. It is most useful for material colorization where the original
Palette material color assignment is not differentiated enough.

This operation applies a color palette to object properties that is

intended to be consistent across BIM files. To achieve this, Visicon
Apply uses an algorithm to determine a unique color assignment for each
Consistent Palette property value. The objective is for you to be able to identify the same
properties across different models using the same color scheme.

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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.

10.1 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.

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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.

10.2 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.

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Configuration properties for Filter-Based Operations.

10.3 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.

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Configuration properties of Clash Test Operations.

Example of a Duct / Floor clash.

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10.4 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.

10.5 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.

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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.

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- 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.

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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.

10.6 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.

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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.

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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.

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Example of Issues created after running Boolean Difference. The model is

also in Issue colorize mode, showing the Results of the Boolean Difference.

10.7 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

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- 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.

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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.

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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

Opens the Issue panel of the Project Browser, where all issues are
Manage listed.

Creates a new User-Defined issue. If a User-Defined Operation is not

New 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.

Only active if an issue is defined and at least one component is

Add Object selected. Assigns selection to current issue.

Remove Only active if an issue with associated objects is selected. Removes

Object selected objects from current issue.

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Remove All Only active if current issue has at least one object associated with it.
Objects Removes all objects associated with current issue.

Show Low Filters issues in list: when active, displays issues with Low severity.

Show Filters issues in list: when active, displays issues with Medium severity.
Medium

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 Filters issues in list: when active, displays issues with Assigned status.
Assigned

Show Filters issues in list: when active, displays issues with Resolved status.
Resolved

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.

When selected, Visicon displays all objects in your model, even those
Show Non- that are not associated with an issue. Deselect to isolate objects in your
Issues model that are affected by issues.

Show Results When selected, Visicon only displays the results (added or removed
Only regions) calculated by the Boolean Difference operation.

Active when in Issue colorize mode. When selected, colorizes all

Colorize All affected objects with their Issue color.

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Colorize When active, only applies Issue color to objects associated with current
Current issue.

Colorize Color codes affected objects based on severity.

Severity

Colorize Color codes affected objects based on status.

Status

Colorize Color codes affected objects based on assignee’s color.

Assignee

Colorize Color codes affected objects based on reporter’s color.

Reporter

Colorize Color codes affected objects based on source operation’s color.

Operation

Go to Default Activates Default view.

View

You can define multiple custom views for each Issue. This icon, plus a
Issue View letter designation, can be used to access these issue views.

New Issue Creates new view for current issue.

View

11.1 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.

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- 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.

11.2 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.

11.3 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.

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Current Issue with 2 views: A and B.

Any views defined for the currently selected issue are listed in the Views
panel.

11.4 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.

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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.

11.5 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.

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- 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.

11.6 Issue Coordination and Resolution Workflows

Vision v2 is scheduled to support centralized as well as off-line collaboration workflows.

11.7 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

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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.

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Home ribbon with Dashboard button

Sample Dashboard listing Issues

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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.

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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

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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.

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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 Normal selection mode.

Selection

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Inverse In this mode, all non-selected objects are grayed out and transparent.
Transparent

Isolate When active, selected objects are isolated.

Runs algorithm to convert original BIM model into analytic model for
Show calculation of tributaries and load takedown. When active, displays
Analytic Model horizontal analytic masses.

Upper Controls display of upper columns and walls when visualizing

Supports horizontal analytic masses.

Horizontal Controls display of horizontal analytic mass.

Mass

Lower Controls display of lower columns and walls when visualizing horizontal
Supports analytic masses.

Hanging When active, colorizes hanging supports that don’t contribute to the
Supports vertical load transfer.

Contained Identifies objects fully contained within a horizontal mass that don’t
Components contribute to any load path.

Create This function runs the algorithm to create tributary regions for columns
Tributary Areas and walls. When active, displays tributary regions on model.

When selected, colorizes isolated tributary regions. Isolated tributary

Isolated regions are horizontal regions that could not be assigned to a vertical
support.

When selected, colorizes resolved tributary regions. Resolved tributary

Resolved regions are

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Calculates load paths by tracing tributaries and their supporting

Generate columns and walls down the structure to the foundation. When active,
Load Paths displays load paths in analytic BIM.

Loops Colorizes vertical components that have a circular support loop.

Colorizes horizontal load transfers in the form of planted columns,

Ends planted walls and tributary regions receiving transfer loads. Helps
identify irregularities in your structural BIM.

Outline Shows tributary regions as outline only.

(Future feature) The next few buttons will be part of the load path
Consider management workflow. Clicking this button will switch the selected
Object object’s Analytic.Enable property to “Yes”.

(Future feature) Clicking this button will switch the selected object’s
Ignore Object Analytic.Enable property to “No”.

(Future feature) Displays horizontal load transfers. These load path

Display Path vectors will be editable by the user.

(Future feature) Lets user add a new load transfer path between two
Add Path objects.

Remove Path (Future feature) Removes selected load transfer path from model.

Calculates load takedown using tributary areas and colorizes columns

Load and walls to show intensity of load (cumulative tributary area). Use this
Takedown option to identify most loaded members.

(Future feature) Load takedown colorization based on selected load

Load Case case.

Load (Future feature) Load takedown colorization based on selected load

Combination combination.

When selected, colorizes columns and walls based on intensity of

Load cumulative tributary area each one carries.

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Colorizes columns and walls based on simplified stress calculation

Stress (cumulative load / horizontal cross section of member).

Column (Future feature) Carries out more detailed column check.

Check

Wall Check (Future feature) Carries out more detailed wall check.

Punching (Future feature) Identifies columns with highest likelihood of punching

Shear Check shear issues.

Span Check (Future feature) Identifies longest span and cantilevers in project.

(Future feature) Determines beam load and identifies beams with

Beam Check 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:

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Property Description

This object variable (property) is used to identify columns in the

Variable tributary report. It is defaulted to “Name”, but you can pick any other
property you use to uniquely identify columns in your project.

(Entire Model | Visible Model | Selection | Filter) Use this property to

Source
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

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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 v1

13.1 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

This button adds a new user and opens the User panel in the Project
Add User 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.

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- 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.
- Email – (future feature) Email 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

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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.

14.1 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 non-
manifold 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.

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- 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.

14.2 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-

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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 right-
click mouse option.

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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.

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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

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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

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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

Opens Reports panel in Project Browser. Report details and

Manage configuration parameters are managed in the Project Browser.

New Creates new report.

Run Runs currently selected report.

Report Type Description

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Provides project name and date on a report sheet to be included in

Cover Page Report Sets. Default format: XLXS.

Concrete Reports column, wall and slab coordinates in a format that can be used
Installation for further processing. Default format: XLXS.
Coordinates

Inventory Quantity report. Default format: XLXS.

Import Data Exports model data to XLSX with unique IDs. Model data in this format
Template can be modified and re-imported into Visicon.

Quantity Report that compares two models and reports on quantity or specified
Variance variable changes. Default format XLXS.

Views and PDF report showing all user-defined views and markups.
Markup Summary

Issues Summary PDF report for Issues.

Summary

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.

15.1 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.

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15.2 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)

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Sample data for wall coordinates

Sample data for slab coordinates

Sample data for openings

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15.3 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.

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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.

16.1 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.

16.2 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”.

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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-by-
item.
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.

16.4 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.

16.5 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.

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