Visualize the possibilities..

Create compelling architectural visualizations with easy-to-use, powerful tools for modeling, lighting, rendering, and animation. No matter how simple, complex, or challenging the project, Autodesk® VIZ 2008 enables creation of intuitive, efficient, and realistic experiences for your clients.

VIZ provides the perfect visualization complement for experienced AutoCAD® users. Powerful DWG™ import capabilities enable AutoCAD, AutoCAD® Architecture, and Revit® Architecture users to transform imaginative designs into breathtaking visualizations by importing or linking to data from your DWG files.

Experience It Before It’s Built
Help your clients experience their designs. Create realistic still images, together with full walk-through
or flyby animations. Walk clients through each room. Show them how light interacts with the environment through subtle visualization effects, including direct illumination, soft shadowing, and color bounce. The newly integrated mental ray® 3.5 rendering engine includes architectural presets together with sun and sky settings for faster and more realistic renderings. Inspire and excite your audience by helping them realize their ideas.

Streamline and Simplify Your Workflow
With ever-more complex visualization projects and demands, visualization professionals don’t have a moment to spare. VIZ simplifies data import, accelerates creation of even the most intricate scenes, and significantly eases the modeling, texturing, and rendering process. The fastest version yet, VIZ 2008 improves interactivity with DirectX® optimizations for high-density geometry and complex scenes. Be fast. Be seamless. Be certain.

Share and Share Alike
Photorealistic visualizations inform every stage of the architectural design process. With VIZ, you can use everything from quick modeling studies to complex virtual prototypes and animations to share ideas and information with clients. Enhanced interoperability in VIZ means you can import design data from a wide variety of other applications, including Autodesk® design software.

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Autodesk VIZ 2008 Key Features

Interoperability
With seamless support for all the latest AutoCAD 2008, AutoCAD Architecture 2008, and Revit Architecture 2008 files, VIZ 2008 is more powerful than ever. Fully optimized DWG Import options and File Link memory management enable faster importing of even your most complex files by encapsulating important data. The new Select Similar option helps you clearly identify, instantly select, and easily modify multiple objects in a scene.

Rendering Enhancements
VIZ 2008 includes the popular, powerful mental ray 3.5 rendering engine, together with new architecture-specific rendering technology. Rendering performance has improved significantly, especially for large, data-heavy scenes. New shader support for physical Sun and Sky calculates sun position and atmosphere turbidity, reducing pixilation and optimizing accuracy and realism. New architectural and design shaders make it easier to create effects such as waxy floors, frosted glass, clay, and sand-blasted metals. Improved Final Gathering enables better results, faster.

Improved Performance
The fastest version ever, VIZ 2008 performs like never before. DirectX optimizations improve interactivity with dense geometry and complex scenes, while speeding display of bounding boxes and splines. What’s more, using hidden-line display can as much as triple your DirectX performance. Enhancements to file input/output, splines, geometry modeling, viewports, and XRefs make for improved client experiences and project outcomes. Edit meshes faster with a significantly accelerated Vertex Soft Selection option, and enjoy better viewport interactivity when modeling large meshes, editable meshes, or polygons.

Learning
There’s a lot that is new in VIZ 2008, and we’ve got you covered. A Welcome screen points you in the right direction. A video-based set of tutorials gets you started quickly, and then moves you on to more inspiring tasks. A Quick Reference Card is included for easier, spontaneous reference. VIZ 2008 now includes* a helpful book of tutorials specifically designed for Revit and AutoCAD users. This book features tips and tricks for gaining the full potential of an integrated workflow. *The book is available for no additional cost by mailing the BRC card included in the VIZ 2008 box.

*The book is available for no additional cost by mailing the BRC card included in the VIZ 2008 box.


Animation
Create compelling, accurate, and informative walkthrough and flyby animations with the rich modeling, rendering, and animation toolset in VIZ 2008. Tight integration and interoperability with other Autodesk architectural, visualization, and design solutions enable fast and seamless augmentation and enhancements.

Modeling
Extensive, industry-best tools for low polygon modeling and patches for higher-order surfaces make VIZ a superior modeling solution. Full support for third-party plug-ins further extends the software’s solutions, particularly for NURBS (nonuniform rational B-spline) modeling. Accelerate and enhance detail in your geometry to create complex models quickly and easily.

Lighting
VIZ 2008 accurately and precisely captures light interaction with your visualized environment. Global illumination helps depict subtle visualization effects, including indirect illumination, soft shadowing, and color bounce. Use multiple lighting models to help ensure compatibility of beautiful lighting simulations with detailed textures. Radiosity adaptive subdivisions help you easily enhance lighting realism in all your scenes.

Rendering
VIZ 2008 includes its own native renderer together with mental ray 3.5, the award-winning renderer capable of quickly rendering breathtaking design visualizations. Architectural presets and Sun and Sky shaders make for faster, more realistic renders. Photometric lights and global illumination offer immeasurable aid in creating photorealistic images and performing lighting studies. High-resolution images in both HDR and OpenEXR formats provide greater color dynamic range. Renders can be set up in advance and queued for later with the Autodesk® Backburner™ render management system, dramatically reducing network time.