Q&A with Chaos Enscape—Improving the Design Workflow

EVER SINCE AIA NATIONAL BACK IN JUNE, Architosh has been deeply curious about Chaos’ future visualization plans for the AEC industry. What we saw at AIA National was a preview of what soon became released as Enscape 4.1 and is dubbed Enscape Impact, a new real-time energy modeling tool inside the popular real-time rendering tool from Chaos.

Now at Autodesk University, Chaos has released more exciting news about AEC visualization and beyond. However, we will get to that exciting news in a separate report. What follows is a “Question & Answer” series with the Enscape team back in Germany that is sure to entice readers who are not yet familiar with Enscape to take a first look or a better second look.

Design Workflows

(Architosh) Prior to the emergence of interactive real-time rendering, the visualization process itself was quite removed from the design process. Enscape’s initial core value as one of the first and best new integrative renderers was to bring the visualization workflow into the core design workflow. How will Enscape continue to do that in the near and distant future?

(Chaos Enscape) Enscape has revolutionized architectural design by integrating real-time rendering directly into the design process. This seamless integration allows bi-directional data exchange between the 3D model and the renderer, enhancing day-to-day design decisions and solving problems faster. 

Moving forward, Enscape aims to further enhance design workflow acceleration, enabling dynamic adjustments and simulations for interactive experiences and data-driven design decisions. Enscape users have recently received access to Cloud-based collaboration with Enscape 4.1.1, improving the design review process and facilitating file-sharing capabilities and presentation modes, while Chaos AI Enhancer optimizes the exported image quality. 

Enscape stands for empowering designers to make better decisions early in the design process to reduce time and costs (and prevent mistakes).

What are some new features that will enhance the integration of visualization with design?

Enscape is focusing on features that support decision-making processes, but we are constantly elevating rendering quality with every new release. One such feature is extending the functionality of ‘Selective White Mode,’ which allows users to focus on certain areas and compositions. Future updates will enable the exclusion of certain categories of assets from White Mode, allowing for more customized and focused presentations.

Additionally, Enscape plans to enhance its support for multiple-section planes. Currently, Enscape only supports a single-section plane, which limits the ability to create detailed cuts and views. By increasing the number of supported section planes to up to six, designers can better utilize the full capabilities of design applications that support multiple sections. This will allow for more detailed visualizations and better communication with clients through dynamic cross-sections within a model and more intricate and informative presentations.

Those are very exciting features, especially the support for more than one section plane. One can easily imagine the sophisticated visuals that better tell the architect’s story with such capabilities. 

I saw at AIA National that Building Performance appears to be the next big track that integrates Enscape’s visualization process with the design process centered on how buildings perform. This implies data integration and data visualization. How is Enscape going to advance this track in the future, as this contains a rich set of possibilities? 

(Chaos Enscape) We recognize the need to offer AEC professionals easy-to-use functionality to support the ideation process with building performance metrics and comprehensive visual representations. IES and Chaos share a vision of democratizing access to building performance analytics technology to achieve a common goal of decarbonizing the built environment. This is how Enscape Impact was born, as an add-on to Enscape’s core product. 

Yes, and Enscape Impact was officially released with Enscape version 4.1. Can you tell us about some of the many advantages of Enscape Impact and improve design workflows?

This tool enables AEC professionals to make more sustainable and energy-efficient design decisions early on. 

To calculate a baseline analysis with Enscape Impact, architects need to enter minimal data points such as location, building type, construction year, and renovation status. With this baseline established, they can calculate metrics such as Peak Cooling & Heating Loads, Carbon Emissions, and Energy Use Intensity. These calculations, although general in nature, offer architects valuable insights into the performance implications of design decisions moving forward.

 

 

 

 

Rather than having to export, re-run simulations, and re-import repeatedly, architects can model and calculate different iterations in Enscape and instantly benchmark performance impacts. This workflow allows them to see how changes to geometry affect the building’s energy modeling. These changes are illustrated using easy-to-understand charts and diagrams. 

By integrating these capabilities, Enscape breaks down the barrier between analysis and design, embedding accurate analysis directly into the workflow and providing instant performance feedback. This approach allows for real-time analysis that informs sustainable design, making Enscape an indispensable tool for architects aiming to balance aesthetics and performance.

Visualizing energy use, heat gain, light, and other similar things are all on the Enscape roadmap for the Building Performance track. Can you share with me some of the more exciting aspects of what Enscape can deliver in this area? 

Collaborating further with IES, Enscape Impact will gradually integrate simplified versions of energy, occupant comfort, and lighting analysis products into its functionality. Our software will provide real-time performance feedback, helping architects understand and optimize their designs’ performance impacts without needing extensive technical knowledge.

The insights provided by Enscape Impact are fast and accurate, powered by the APACHE engine, which is widely regarded as the best whole-building energy simulation engine in the world. The powerful APACHE engine performs dynamic thermal simulations to provide detailed insights into a building’s performance and provides reliable data sources. All this is revealed intuitively through the Enscape Impact interface, designed to provide architects and designers with clear visual representations to complement visuals and complete the project.

Does a Collaboration Track come next after visualizing Building Performance? Where does Enscape  Chaos stand on how collaboration factors into the various design+visualization+building performance workflows?

Enscape and Chaos are committed to enhancing collaboration within the design, visualization, and building performance workflows. Short-term developments focus on improving interoperability between Enscape and other Chaos, enabling more efficient presentations and file sharing. These advancements aim to facilitate seamless collaboration among architects, designers, and 3D Artists, streamlining the entire design process.

(Architosh) This is our final question. Specific to the (.vrscne) file format, how does this technology benefit the dedicated archviz professional who is working in tandem with architects both inside the same company and outside the dedicated archviz agency firm? What are some upcoming developments that can be shared? 

Earlier this year, we announced our first steps towards enabling a unified visualization workflow with the initial release of Enscape to V-Ray compatibility (also referred to as ‘the Chaos Bridge’). (Version 3.5.6 or above.)  Further refinements introduced another element to enhance this workflow: V-Ray Scene Exporter. Transfer key data from Enscape to V-Ray and other design applications, including 3ds Max and Cinema 4D.

Architects, designers, and archviz professionals can now collaborate even more effectively and continue to perfect their visualizations in the design application they prefer. This integration delivers the advantages of both the Enscape and V-Ray renderers without the constraint of being confined to a single host application.

Architectural projects can be enhanced with more realistic material capabilities, accurate interior lighting, enhanced 3D Assets, post-processing effects, and animation in V-Ray. 

The new export option in Enscape, the .vrscene file format, acts as a container for transferring geometry, 3D assets, lights, materials, and camera position. The relevant data for further developing the scene gets transferred. Geometry can then be adjusted in another 3D modeling application, which is different from the one it was originally created in.

Say an architect adds an entourage from the Enscape Asset Library. At the moment, the ability to adapt these 3D assets is limited. Only predefined settings for color and material can be adjusted. But now, with the .vrscene exporter/importer, these assets can be refined in the DCC tool. 

The .vrscene file format facilitates a unified visualization workflow by enabling data exchange between Enscape and V-Ray, as well as other design applications like 3ds Max and Cinema 4D. This integration allows archviz professionals to refine and enhance visualizations with realistic materials, accurate lighting, and advanced 3D assets. The upcoming developments include improvements in the file structure and enhanced compatibility, making collaboration between architects and archviz professionals more efficient and effective.