Automating Masonry Project Estimation for CAD BLOX

How nCircle Tech Built a Revit Plugin For 3D Visualization and Estimates in Masonry

Customer: CAD BLOX, Revit

About the customer

The company aims to address the challenges of ordering and installing architectural masonry. By leveraging 3D Modelling to visualize every condition in a structure, they ensure the right quantities and specifications for construction companies. Their plugin for Revit is the solution of choice for masonry installations in the USA.

“The secret to our success has been to build a high degree of automation in the CAD environment. nCircle’s expertise in AutoCAD and the 3D environment was one of the primary reasons we reached out to them. They held expertise in languages we had been developing in, as well as the ones we wanted to begin developing in. They did a great job of understanding the complexity of what we were doing and determining how we were going about solutions just by analyzing the code.”

– Tom Cuneio, CEO, CAD BLOX

The Goal

The company wished to move its existing product to new age technologies, while also building innovative features. Support for different types of bond patterns had to be built, along with 3D visualization of patterns and bonding at corners. The ability to analyze and map patterns against walls was needed to account for openings and corner bonding. Field-cuts needed to be represented properly to allow changes in the design if required.

The Solution

• nCircle Tech leveraged its plugin development capability based on over several input, output, and interoperability plugins to create a custom solution
• Functionality for definition of custom bond patterns for bricks with multiple courses was built. It was possible for users to define how different courses phase with each other.
• Bond-beams for different wall types could be defined
• Models and drawings from Revit could be analyzed against these defined patterns to identify modular and non-modular layouts and how patterns are to be applied at turns
• The plugin was enabled to treat adjacent walls appropriately
• We built in the capability to throw up field-cut requirements due to size constraints along with the ability to let the user change wall dimensions to remove these, or move them to a location that matched opening or corner requirements
• When openings were placed in a wall, patterns could be re-analyzed for changes
• Application of patterns and textures allowed the user to apply the manufacturer’s materials inside the environment.

The Impact

• Reduced errors in ordering quantities
• Substantial enhancement in productivity of the end-user
• Better planning of masonry projects
•  Greatly improved accuracy in estimations 

Image courtesy: www.pexels.com

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Contact us

nCircle Tech (inCorporated in 2012) empowers passionate innovators to create impactful 3D visualization software for desktop, mobile and cloud. Our domain expertise in CAD-BIM customization driving automation with the ability to integrate advanced technologies like AI/ML and VR/AR; empowers our clients to reduce time to market and meet business goals. nCircle has a proven track record of technology consulting and advisory services for the AEC and Manufacturing industry across the globe. Our team of dedicated engineers, partner ecosystem and industry veterans are on a mission to redefine how you design and visualize.

Over the last 7+ years, the organisation has worked on more than 150 large and complex projects for 50+ customers across 15+ countries