What is VIMASYS? VIMASYS is a project visualization, model validation and a visual project management software. It integrates 3D CAD models produced in a variety of software in a single model and allows you to visualize project management process. VIMASYS transforms the boring job of quality management, task scheduling, cost management, and collaboration with other teams and companies into enjoyable and visual form. VIMASYS is specifically developed to minimize time and money losses due to coordination and collaboration problems that are common to large scale industrial facility projects.

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Multi-Disciplinary: In facility and plant design business, it is especially important to establish and maintain high level of coordination between major disciplines such as architectural, structural, mechanical, and electrical as these exist in the same physical volume and have a “strong tendency” to clash. VIMASYS, with its multi-disciplinary support, can combine 3D computer models of different disciplines and allows you to find and fix problems long before the structure is built at the site.

Modern Interface, Latest Technology: VIMASYS is developed using latest software technologies to exploit and utilize the potential of most recent hardware. It can and does:

• thanks to its 64-bit support, use as much memory as you can put in to your workstation so that you can display even the largest of facilities with all its disciplines down to the smallest details,
• take advantage of fastest graphics cards by its OpenGL 4.3 and shader-based graphics engine to provide you with ultra-fast real-time rendering,
• put all computational power of your multi-core CPU into work by its parallel algorithms,
• provide you an easy-to-use and intuitional graphical user interface with its “Ribbon” interface.

Take a Tour: You can take a virtual tour in a facility that is composed of dozens of buildings and structures modeled down to the tiniest details with VIMASYS. Thanks to intuitive navigation tools of VIMASYS, it is very easy to move in this 3D virtual environment, inspect structures and equipment, fly around, or view from any point.

Super-Fast Real Time Rendering: VIMASYS can animate a plant model that is composed of over a million 3D objects in real-time. In other words, when rotating, panning, and zooming in to or out of model the user does not feel any lagging or slowness. This makes it very comfortable to navigate in very large models.

Advanced Drawing Modes: Wireframe, contoured- or plain-solid, and transparent drawing modes with the option of isometric or perspective projection allows you to obtain any view from the model. You can have more than one view window at any time and save these with different settings.

Intelligent Zoom and Panning: You don’t need to roll mouse wheel endlessly to get from one end of model to the other. With intelligent zoom you zoom to distant objects quickly while zooming in to closer objects with smaller steps. Panning is also smart so that the point you are interested in does not run out of the screen.

Navigation Mode and Origin of Interest: VIMASYS offers two different modes for navigating in the mode. These are called “around object” and “around eye”. If “around object” navigation mode is active, the camera representing the point of view rotates around a point that is called “origin of interest”. Origin of Interest is determined automatically by VIMASYS according to position of mouse cursor and objects under it. In the latter navigation mode, the camera rotates about a virtual point that represents your point of view. Using these two interaction modes, it is very easy to move around the objects and set your point of view.

Model Review: In design projects where multiple disciplines exist, such as industrial plants, project and model reviewing becomes a very important part of design process. On the other hand, when computer models get larger it becomes more difficult to review the models. VIMASYS provides tools that overcome these difficulties.

Measurement and Object Inspection: When you are exploring or inspecting a model, you may wish to know dimensions of an object or distance between two columns. It is very easy to measure the distance between any two points by using interactive measurement tool of VIMASYS. In addition to measuring distances, you can obtain information about an object. “Object Query” tool shows information about an object such as which discipline an object belongs to, by whom it is modeled, material grade, etc.

Cross-Section Views: Sometimes it might be hard to see the details you want to see in large model with many objects. You can define one or more cross-sectional view planes in VIMASYS to remove unwanted objects from the view. You can then move these cross-section planes or reverse their directions. All you need to do to create a cross-sectional view is to click on a surface on the cross-section plane you want to define.

Object Filters: 

In a model that consists of dozens of buildings with tens or even hundreds of thousands of objects it can be hard to find and display the objects you are looking for. VIMASYS provides an extensive set of object filters for this purpose. Some of these filters are:

• Filter according to models that contains objects
• Filter according to object types. Examples are profiles, rebars, walls, etc.
• Filter according to material grades
• Filter according to discipline that objects belong to

Advanced Selection Commands: In addition to object filtering options, it is possible to select objects individually or as a group. Selected objects can be hid or displayed as only visible objects on the screen.

Coordination and Collaboration: It is not an easy job to maintain coordination and facilitate information and data exchange between various sub-contractors, design offices, and other parties when designing and building large facilities. These problems can be and usually are encountered even in a team of a sub-contractor due to the fact that many different CAD programs are used for different disciplines. One of the primary aims of VIMASYS is to increase coordination and collaboration between different teams working in different disciplines.

It is possible to attach notes to the objects of interest. These notes are also automatically associated to the user that creates them. Notes can then be delivered automatically to one or more users or can be marked as public and synchronized to project server.

Users can save their point of view at a particular point and instant during their navigation in the model and share it with other users. This is particularly useful when you want to discuss an issue about a particular part of the model.

Issue records are generated by clash detection or model validation modules for reported errors and can be shared by other users.

Clash Detection: Clashes and overlaps between architectural elements, structural members, electrical and mechanical equipment parts can be detected long before the structure is built at the site allowing you to make necessary design changes or correction at an earlier stage. This in turn does not only mean great amount of savings from man-hours you would spend but also reduces time and money losses the construction team would experience at the site. When you run the clash detection command, VIMASYS will form a list of clashes and walk you in this list step by step, zooming in to the objects clashing, and displaying them in a way that they are clearly distinguishable from rest of the model.

Sometimes in a 3D modeling, some objects are not placed in a definitive way as these can be placed easily at the site without any problems. For instance, reinforcement bars that are supposed to be placed on top of other in an overlap region can be modeled as if they pass through each other or the hook of an anchor bolt can be re-oriented. In this context, a clash test that is solely based on geometric coordinates results in clash warnings. This in turn reduces the usefulness of the clash detection system. VIMASYS overcomes this difficulty by checking clashes based on a set of rules. For example, clashes between reinforcement bars between each other or between anchor bolts can be ignored. These rules can be activated or deactivated individually.

In addition, the user can ask VIMASYS to perform clash check only in between objects that belong to different disciplines, only in between objects in specific models, or only in between selected objects.

Detected clashes are automatically converted to “Issue Records” and can be reported to users responsible from related in addition to displaying them to the user that perform the clash check.

Project Validation: Project Validation is a novel feature of VIMASYS and is used for checking the validity of certain requirements and project specifications by making use of data-rich multi-disciplinary 3D model of the facility. Examples are checking that base plates in one or more buildings are at certain elevations, concrete cover is at least as specified in project specification, or cable trays are of certain material grade.

The requirements that need to be checked against are called Project Validation Rules. Validation rules are discipline based and VIMASYS provides various pre-defined validation rules for each discipline. These rules are defined parametrically so that the user can set adjust these parameters to required values.

As is the case in clash detection, the detected violations of validation rules are too automatically converted to issue records and users associated with the related models are informed.

“Issue" Records: VIMASYS generates issue records to facilitate and maintain collaboration between project manager, engineers, and other designers. An issue record is an object that associates “issues” like detected clashes or failed project validation checks with users. An issue record can be generated automatically or manually. E-mails, other documents, notes, and saved view points from the model can be attached to issue records in addition to clashes.

VIMASYS is designed using a client-server architecture that supports multiple users over a local area network or over Internet. Users may include of stake-holders, main contractor, sub-contractors, consultants, and their teams. Each user can be given read and/or write permissions on specific projects.

Project manager can manage issues via Issue Manager Interface. He or she can close the issue records of solved issues and can change the user(s) associated with issues. He can generate reports of closes (solved) and open (pending) issues. These reports can be grouped according to users of each project, according to sub-contractors, or according to disciplines. Additionally, issues can be associated with tasks using project management interface so that a task can only be completed if the associated issues are resolved.

Visual Project and Resource Management: VIMASYS combines construction project management, resource management, and project visualization in single program. Integration of time and cost information with 3D model enables construction of a structure or facility in a virtual environment, and assessment of possible difficulties and problems that might arise during the real construction.

Task Scheduling: Project tasks and task schedule can be defined within VIMASYS using task scheduler. These tasks can then be associated with visual objects in the 3D model such as structural elements, electrical and mechanical equipment components or architectural objects. 3D model objects can be queried to see which tasks they are associated with or you can highlight the objects on the screen that a task is linked to. The usual operations on tasks such as linking tasks’ start and finish dates to each other, or defining constraints on tasks are available. In addition to defining tasks manually, it is possible to import task schedule from MS Project.

Project task schedule can be displayed as a Gantt chart within the program. Tasks can be edited easily by stretching and drag and drop features. Visual properties of tasks such as color and bar type can be modified.

Resource Management: Resources can be defined using the task scheduler interface and they can be linked to tasks and hence to the 3D model objects. Persons, materials, computers, equipment, and many more things can be defined as resources. Queries like how much resources a task is using or how many tasks a resources is tied to can be made to optimize resource usage.

Erection Sequence Simulation: Erection sequence of the steel assemblies and parts that are produced at the shop is very important. If the erection process is not planned appropriately it might result in damages in some parts and members or even result in impossible situations for erecting some members. Besides, other factors such as transporting and storage at the site prior to erection should be taken into consideration. Using VIMASYS you can define erection sequence of structural components and perform simulations of erection phase. You can optimize the erection process by trying different scenarios and analyzing possible problems. This allows you to foresee possible problems that might be encountered at the site, reducing time and money loss.