New features and updates in the recently relaunched Dulux BIM Solutions will provide architects and design professionals an array of Dulux materials that can be seamlessly integrated into their Autodesk Revit and GRAPHISOFT Archicad projects.
Design professionals can now bring their projects to life with Dulux BIM Solutions’ expanded offering presenting over 6,500 colours and product ranges from the Dulux World of Colour, Dulux Powder Coatings, Protective Coatings, AcraTex and Intergrain Timber finishes – all easily accessible in a download option to suit the user’s preference and requirements. The automatically generated colour and product information into project schedules saves time, as well as reduces manual entry and data entry errors.
“The upgrade of Dulux BIM Solutions with inclusion of a selection of Dulux AcraTex products, the enhanced features of the Dulux Colour Add-In and the new Virtual Showroom download for Revit, combined with the entire 6,500 Dulux materials now available in Archicad are all intended to help save designers valuable time by providing easy to use BIM content,” Dulux project manager Sarah Nadenbousch said.
Rhys Hall, associate and BIM manager at John Wardle Architects, has experienced the Dulux Colour Add-In for Revit benefits first-hand. “When it comes to material selection there is always a disjoint between the tactility of the physical and the digital representation. Dulux BIM Solutions removes the need to interpret between these two realms, providing not only significant time savings but a more accurate and consistent result. The ease of use means we have been able to integrate it into our current configuration with minimal overhead or training.”
Saved palettes can be imported, exported, and shared across teams. “The My Palette Saving and Sharing feature means working with project teams is much easier. Creating palettes as we design and adding feedback for our teams to comment on is invaluable for large projects,” Hall explained.
Another benefit is that over 6,500 Dulux materials are now available in both Revit and Archicad. “One of the key features we are excited about is working collaboratively on projects with other design firms; with the BIM content available in multi formats, information can be easily transferred between each firm’s preferred authoring platform.”
Additional enhancements across Dulux Colour Add-In for Revit include an updated ‘Copy to Clipboard’ feature, which allows relevant information to be readily copied into a finishes schedule in Word, for example, as well as an option to copy the colour hex code to facilitate transfer into Photoshop, or similar.
Installation of Dulux Colour Add-In has also been improved and now allows for office standard material naming conventions to be confirmed. The new Virtual Showrooms download option in Revit is one of the new features in the upgraded BIM tool.
“This opens up access to the Dulux World of Colour and product ranges as individual virtual showroom project files, which allows designers to ‘browse the aisle’ in the Revit project environment, and to easily select a specific colour or product range,” Nadenbousch said. “Material colours and specifications are then automatically translated into the live Revit project and modified to match the firm’s standards.”
Furthermore, the entire Dulux BIM Solutions offer is also now available as product image downloads. The consistent image format of the Dulux materials opens the door to designers of other applications to access and utilise over 6,500 Dulux colours and products in their preferred design software. Some of the popular applications supported by Dulux BIM Solutions are Photoshop, InDesign, Word, Outlook and Paint.
To learn more about Dulux BIM Solutions, a series of how-to videos is available at www.dulux.com.au/bim.
