Trimble Connect Visualizer feature requests

Extending SketchUp
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Following last weeks fun challenge to push TCV to its limits for SketchUp users, I wanted to put together my thoughts on what features could really improve Visualizer.

  1. Straight to Visualizer - Add a “Send to Visualizer” button to the Trimble Connect toolbar for faster workflow.

Right now you need to first publish the model to your TC project or import it from the desktop version.
Then the model is converted to TrimBim format, and only then opened with Visualizer.
I know that Unity 3D can import .SKP files directly so the question is if we can skip the TrimBIM conversion at some point?

  1. Looks like SketchUp - support for SketchUp Scenes, FOV change and view synchronization.

For a lot of illustration work I need the SketchUp and render view to match 1:1. So should allow to synchronize the views and allow me to find scenes from SketchUp as views in Visualizer.
For a start, the ability to change the FOV to something other than 60 degrees would be great.

  1. Feels like SketchUp - Include SketchUp style navigation controls option and include tooltips

It really takes some time to get used to the navigation, especially for someone who uniquely uses SketchUp for 3D, so the more similar navigation controls could be useful for new users. WASD key navigation needs to be softened, as its too fast right now. Having some tooltips on all controls would really help to understand what tool I’m looking at or how some post effects might influence the scene and its performance.

  1. Image and Video Export - add control for resolution of image export and video rendering

Personally, I really like how SketchUp for Web has solved the image export function. Easy to understand in what aspect ratio and resolution your image will get saved. We need to be able to export a video file, like mp4. Specify resolution, aspect ratio, frame rate, add motion blur for more cinematic effects and some AA filtering.

  1. Material controls - allow to edit materials like you can right now with Tekla models

Mostly what I would want is the ability to edit scene materials. A material picker would be useful. The existing material editor needs some naming for sliders. An emissive material attribute would be really useful for interior and night scenes.

  1. Export to Viewers - add ability to share models and views online and view on mobile viewers.

I don’t think there is much else that I would like from an app like Visualizer - mostly just ironing out the existing features to fit more to a standard SketchUp workflow and having some more output options for export and model viewing. This is a good staring point for everyone who doesn’t need V-ray level of quality and do not want to spend much time learning technical aspects for various rendering software.

Please share your opinion and experience

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I am happy to announce that we now have an extension created for the Visualizer which allows you to launch it directly from SketchUp! This is possible due to the fact that SketchUp 2023 now supports the native format of Trimble Connect (TrimBIM). The FOV and camera position is synchronized from SketchUp to TCV. Enjoy.

https://extensions.sketchup.com/extension/eff2be10-f1b8-49b0-ab12-3d368e0a42dc/trimble-connect-visualizer

This is the Windows version of the extension, but we do have a Mac version ready for publishing if there is interest.

Kim Nyberg
Senior Technology Director, Trimble

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Great news! This will really open up Visualizer for a lot more users.
Hope that with this realease we will also see more develepment for TCV.
Will there be a channel for communication with TCV team for support, feature requests?

I have been using SketchUp for iPad Pro version for month or so. Are you using the same engine for the augumented reality feature for it as TCV?

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I will discuss the communication channel with the SU team. At the moment the Technology unit of Trimble is responsible for this extension. TCV is integrated with multiple products within Trimble, including Tekla Structures, Trimble Connect for Windows and Quadri for road design. It is not competing with the more advanced rendering solutions on the market, but think of it as an entry level visualisation tool for designers that want to get into rendered screenshots or animations without having to tweak too much.

The engine in Visualizer is completely different than SU for iPad. The same optimisations for large models have been used in Trimble Connect AR however.

Kim

Ps. we have some really cool collaboration with Collaprime for cave visualisations, stay tuned.

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To be usable for interiors, any light source would be of help, a light-emitting material, for instance.

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What rendering method does TCV use? Rasterization although is fast it lacks of realism, Ray tracing is much faster now with the new gpu’s that have dedicated hardware to make the calculations of the light bounces and it can create very realistic renders.

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Yes, RTX is nice, but it does not work very well with more complex, open geometry. We might have a look at RTX for smaller models or indoor scenes at some point, but I think we need to get material mapping first into better shape.

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