January 2025 Update
Qbitec for Revit received a series of significant improvements in January 2025 across five updates, introducing both new features and optimizations of existing functionalities. Notably, enhancements include improved storage of render settings, an optimized point loading strategy, and the introduction of georeferencing for NavVis Ivion point clouds.
Rendering optimizations and improvements
Render settings now saved per view: Previously, users had to readjust their settings every time they opened a project. This resulted in unnecessary time loss and potential errors due to inconsistent settings. With the latest version, the plugin now saves render settings per view within the project. Each view remains exactly as it was last configured.
Optimized point loading strategy for better performance: When navigating large point clouds, loading speed plays a crucial role. In previous versions, users could encounter incompletely loaded areas when panning or zooming, which slowed down their workflow. The new point loading strategy improves this process by intelligently preloading predictable areas of the point cloud. This means users experience smoother and uninterrupted navigation, even with very large datasets. This enhancement not only boosts performance but also significantly improves the overall workflow experience.
In addition, there were numerous smaller improvements, such as:
- Reduced default point size: The default size of points has been decreased to enhance visual clarity.
- Fix for rendering artifacts: A bug that caused visual artifacts in panorama images has been fixed.
Inserting georeferenced NavVis point clouds
Another significant innovation concerns the georeferencing of NavVis Ivion point clouds. Users can now place point clouds based on the site coordinate system or the geocoordinates stored in the project. This greatly simplifies working with georeferenced data, as no manual adjustment is required. The new option can be activated via the "Insert" dropdown menu. This feature is particularly useful for users working with large, geolocated point clouds who require precise placement.
Other Improvements
In addition to the major innovations, numerous smaller improvements and bug fixes have been made:
- Improved trial experience: The process for trial users has been optimized to enable an easier first-time usage.
- Renaming of the Tomo render mode: The previous "Tomo" render mode is now called "X-ray," providing a clearer designation.
- Consistent point sizes: An issue with incorrect point sizes when inserting multiple point clouds has been resolved.
- More robust E57 conversion: The processing of E57 files is now more tolerant of faulty metadata.