Ancient city comes to life in 3D using ArchiCAD, Artlantis, and iVisit 3D

BERGAMA, TURKEY, July 18, 2013 – Bilkom has launched a project called “History comes to life in 3D” using 3D modeling software and mobile technology from GRAPHISOFT and Abvent.  As a result, the ancient city in Bergama can be explored in 3D, making it possible for visitors to experience a virtual tour of the historic area for the first time.

iVisit Anatolia, a 3D viewing application for tablets and smart phones developed for Artlantis by Abvent, enables users who visit Zeus Altar, the Temple of Athena, the Red Basilica, and Asclepion, the four ancient sites in Bergama, to explore these historic sites in a 360 virtual tour as they looked originally.  Universities, architecture students, municipalities, and Bilkom worked together to launch the project in a mere 2 months.

Under the leadership of architect Ender Aydın, Bilkom’s Digital Life Coach, 12 architecture students from the universities of Dokuz Eylül, Gedik and Yaşar and a research fellow met twice in Bergama with the coordination of Bergama Municipality Development and Planning Department UNESCO World Heritage and Area Management during weekend workshops. The 2D drawings of the ancient sites were exported to ArchiCAD and rendered in Artlantis, while the unique panoramas were created using iVisit 3D, Artlantis’s 3D presentation tool.

Stating that they were proud to develop iVisit Anatolia, a software opening the doors of the ancient wonders of Anatolia to both foreign and local tourists, Abvent professionals thanked Bilkom for the “great idea” that built upon a similar cultural contribution they developed for Versailles Palace in 2012.

Moreover, GRAPHISOFT, the leading Building Information Modeling (BIM) software developer for architects, stated its contentment to learn that the 3D modeling of the historic sites in Bergama came to life via its award-winning ArchiCAD software.  The next stage of the project, which started with Bergama will be shaped according to the demands from municipalities and universities.

To download photos from the event, please click here.

About Bilkom Bilişim Hizmetleri A.Ş
Having launched its activities in the IT sector in 1984, Bilkom is the distributor of pioneer brands like Apple, Adobe, and GRAPHISOFT in Turkey with the slogan of “your digital life coach”. With its brands and technologies that shape digital life, Bilkom, together with its business partners, directs all sales and support services across Turkey.

About Abvent
Since 1985, the Abvent Group has offered innovative image and design solutions for CAD professionals in the fields of architecture and design.  Abvent develops and publishes Artlantis, a family of stand-alone 3D rendering applications developed especially for architects and designers, ideal for quickly and easily creating high-resolution 3D renderings (Artlantis Render) and iVisit 3D Panoramas, QuickTime® VR Objects and animations (Artlantis Studio). Themed collections of materials, parametric textures, and objects available on CD-ROMs and online round out the innovative product line (Artlantis Media). A recognized leader in preview window technology, Artlantis is the rendering software used by architects, designers and urban design professionals in more than 80 countries.

About GRAPHISOFT
GRAPHISOFT® ignited the BIM revolution with ArchiCAD®, the industry first BIM software for architects. GRAPHISOFT continues to lead the industry with innovative solutions such as the revolutionary GRAPHISOFT BIM Server™, the world’s first real-time BIM collaboration environment, and EcoDesigner STAR™, enabling architects to use ArchiCAD's building information model (BIM) directly as a building energy model (BEM).  GRAPHISOFT’s innovative solutions have fundamentally changed the way architects around the world design and collaborate. GRAPHISOFT has been a part of the Nemetschek Group since its acquisition in 2007.

Join the Artlantis 5 Revolution!

If you haven't purchased Artlantis 4 yet, now's definitely the time!  Why?  Because Abvent has announced free upgrades to Artlantis 5 on all Artlantis 4 licenses purchased after July 1, 2013!

This offer includes Artlantis 4 first and additional full licenses as well as upgrades.

New customers and long-time Artlantis users alike will benefit from this extraordinary offer!

Contact your local Artlantis distributor for details on how to join the Artlantis 5 revolution when you purchase Artlantis 4 today!

And, if you haven't done so already, visit the Artlantis 5 teaser site to sign up for regular updates about the Artlantis 5 revolution coming your way!  Check out the short clips about much-anticipated Artlantis 5 new features!

Join the Artlantis 5 Revolution!

 Download the Artlantis 30-day Demo

 View the Artlantis 5 Teaser Website

Fast Render launches Artlantis Render Farm

PARIS, March 12, 2013 -- Fast Render, a subsidiary of Abvent S.A. and ND 3D Image and Film, has announced the launch of Artlantis Render Farm, offering powerful rendering calculation services to Artlantis users around the world.

Artlantis Render Farm offers the Artlantis user community more than 300 CPU's to produce photo-realistic still images or complex, high-definition animations with the high quality settings that clients demand, at a fraction of the average rendering times.

Artlantis Render Farm currently supports Artlantis Render and Artlantis Studio versions 3 and 4. In the future, the current version and the immediately previous version will be supported.  Users have the option to ask for either an Artlantis engine calculation or a Maxwell Render engine calculation.

"We are pleased to be working with the Artlantis power users at ND 3D on this project," said Xavier Soule, CEO of Abvent. "Artlantis Render Farm's speed, strength, and affordability will allow Artlantis users around the world to produce the highest quality images and animations possible," he added.

Visit Artlantis Render Farm for more information.

About Abvent
Since 1985, the Abvent Group has offered innovative image and design solutions for CAD professionals in the fields of architecture and design, and photography. For over 25 years, Abvent's cutting edge approach to digital imagery has resulted in products and services that are innovative, powerful, and easy-to-use.  Abvent develops and publishes Artlantis, a family of stand-alone 3D rendering applications developed especially for architects and designers, ideal for quickly and easily creating high-resolution 3D renderings, iVisit 3D Panoramas, QuickTime® VR Objects and animations.  A recognized leader in preview window technology, Artlantis is the rendering software used by architects, designers and urban design professionals in more than 80 countries.

About ND 3D Image & Film
ND 3D Image & Film has been offering high quality 3D image and film services to the real estate market since 1998. ND 3D Image & Film has succeeded in providing 3D services to the real estate sector, as well as in architecture, engineering, and construction. Supplying 3D image and film services, their clients have been able to experience the best there is in virtual communication support tools, designed specifically for the real estate market. With 3D images and films produced for projects all around the world, ND 3D Image & Film's high quality services have been widely recognized by the top market players.

Expert Rendering Parameters in Artlantis

Understanding the purpose and effect of the expert rendering parameters allows Artlantis users to customize their radiosity settings separately for each view, and thus, to bring out the best in their scenes.

Sock away the savings!

The holidays are always full of surprises. Sometimes, it's a sparkling gemstone or shiny new gadget. Other times, it's another darned pair of neutral-colored socks from Aunt Millie. We can't control what other people give us during the holidays, but this year, we can control what we get from our rendering software.

If you're tired of getting the same old stuff from your rendering software every year, why not get more with Artlantis 4? Now through December 31, 2012, we're giving you the opportunity to sock away the savings with 20% off Artlantis Render & Studio first-seat licenses and 10% off selected Artlantis Media volumes.

Whether you like Artlantis for its world-famous speed and ease of use, or you delight in the world-class quality of the optional Maxwell Render engine, there's no question that with Artlantis, your workflow and renderings will benefit year after year. Download the free Artlantis demo today and see what a difference 30-days can make.

We hope you have an enjoyable and safe holiday season this year!

 "Sock away the Savings" Promo Pricing

 Download the Artlantis 30-day Demo

Good news about QuickTime 7.7.3

Apple has released QuickTime 7.7.3, patching 'critical security vulnerabilities.'  And there's good news for Artlantis users, too.  This latest version fixes the previous problems associated with reading textures.

Download QuickTime 7.7.3 here.

Download the Artlantis 4.1.7 thirty-day demo here.

Good news for ARC+ users

Our good friends at CADez in The Netherlands are proud of the beautiful work users of both ARC+ and Artlantis have produced over the years -- and rightly so.

Users of ARC+ will be pleased to know that this well-known modeling software now supports Artlantis 3, 4, and 4.1 directly.

Check out this gallery of work here and here to see just some of the beautiful work that has been produced with these two powerful architectural modeling and rendering tools.

Download the latest version of ARC+ here.

Download a 30-day demo version of Artlantis here.

Abvent's 3D rendering technology opens Palace doors to millions

Google's World Wonders Project allows visitors to explore many ancient and modern World Heritage sites thanks to Street View, 3D modeling and other Google technologies. As of June 14, visitors can now explore the Palace of Versailles, the gardens, the King and Queen's State Apartments and the Hall of Mirrors in Street View. Modeled in SketchUp Pro and rendered in Abvent's Artlantis and iVisit 3D, the 3D models of Versailles on Google Earth offer nearly 200 hectares of views.

To mark the opening of the Palace history gallery, the Palace of Versailles and the Cultural Institute chose Google's SketchUp Pro and Abvent's Artlantis to create a trip back in time using alternative presentations of the collections, physical models and 3D reconstructions.

"We are pleased and proud to participate in such a monumental project," said Xavier Soule, CEO of Abvent. "The Versailles 3D Projects have opened the Palace doors to millions of people in ways that only 3D rendering technology could have made possible," he added.

Thanks to SketchUp Pro and Artlantis, visitors to the site can now learn about the Palace of Versailles in a fun and educational way. For example, the Versailles 3D Project videos transport visitors to the Palace 'From Louis XIII to the French Revolution', 'After the French Revolution', and 'From gardens to Trianon palaces'.

Visitors will also appreciate the interactive aspect of the site using Abvent's iVisit 3D Panoramas. These 360° panoramas display the Palace and gardens at different stages of development from 1624 to 2012.

Coming soon: 3D scale models for mobiles

Versailles and Google will soon make it possible for visitors to the Palace to immerse themselves in its history using their mobile phones and tablets. Developed in partnership with Abvent, this application will be available through the Google Play Store and the iTunes store. In addition, tablets will be provided to tour guides who wish to illustrate their group tours.

Visitors will be able to view the Palace in the period of their choice by facing the Royal Courtyard, the Chapel or the gardens with their mobile phone or tablet. The phone/tablet opens a window on the past by superimposing on the Palace of today the construction from the reign of Louis XIV.

For more information about the exciting Versailles 3D Projects, click here!

iVisit 3D for Artlantis 4 brings middle school designs to life!

The year 12 Graphics students at King's Christian College in Australia have been busy designing new middle school classrooms as part of a proposed refurbishment.

The students developed the plans using ArchiCAD and Artlantis, and then produced virtual tours of the proposed spaces using iVisit 3D. Visitors were able to view the spaces that are due to be refurbished in 2013.

Thanks to the 'wonders of modern technology', you, too, can see the new classrooms designed by the students. Click here!

If you haven't tried iVisit 3d yet, why wait? iVisit 3D was developed especially for architects and designers to allow Artlantis 4 users to view and share panorama renderings on the web, iPad, or iPhone. Click here to download iVisit 3D!

Good news for Revit 2013 users!

The export plug-in for Revit 2013 to Artlantis 4 is now available for downloading! The Artlantis export plug-in offers a direct transfer from Revit into Artlantis, without the need for intermediate file formats. During the export, special entities are automatically exploded. Artlantis’s .atl file format is cross platform; it can be read on both Macintosh and Windows.

Let’s see in detail what Artlantis can recover from your Revit model:

• The geometry
• All cameras for parallel views
• All cameras for perspective views
• The shading color and transparency of materials with their names
• The geographical position of the Sun active for the parallel view that is used for the export.

Click here to download!

ArchiCAD plug-in update from Abvent

Abvent has released new export plug-ins for ArchiCAD 14, 15, SE 2011 and SE 2012 export plug-ins to Artlantis 2, 3 and 4.

Fixes:

• In ArchiCAD, when the geometry was too far from the origin, it would cause an offset of the position in Artlantis when merging a scene or using the Use Reference File command;

• When updating an Artlantis 2 scene with objects through the ArchiCAD export plug-in's Use Reference File command, the geometry disappeared.

Artlantis Pricing and Ordering

Download the Artlantis 30-day Demo

Download the Export Plugins

Experience the power of ArchiCAD and Artlantis together

We received this jaw-dropping animation from Francisco Vidigal, an architect working at ND 3D in Lisbon, who is also an Abvent/Artlantis beta tester and an instructor of both ArchiCAD and Artlantis.

This project, Liberdade Atrium (Freedom Atrium) is a luxury development that represents a new quality of life in the center of Almada. With residential, commercial, leisure activities, and excellent access, the Freedom Atrium is the ideal retreat in the city center.

There are 36 apartments T2, T3 and T4 to 10 box and garage shops, trade and services, which have garages, parking and an excellent location. Freedom Atrium also boasts plenty of green spaces, a sports field, and miniature golf.

"I used ArchiCAD for modelling, Artlantis for rendering (in this situation I used both versions 3 and 4) and for composition Adobe Premiere and after effects. The soap bubbles are after effects," Francisco said.

A fine example of what can be accomplished with ArchiCAD and Artlantis together!

Artlantis training opportunities!

We're happy to report that the list of Artlantis training opportunities is growing by the day. Regardless of where you are, there are lots of ways you can get to know Artlantis better -- either online or in person. Whether you're an Artlantis veteran or a newbie, here are a few events you may want to consider for yourself or for your staff in the months ahead:

March 12 - Introduction to Artlantis Render and Artlantis Studio - Online
http://graphisoftus.com/register.php?id=3061

March 13 - FREE Artlantis 4 + iVisit 3D demos - Multiple locations across France
http://www.abvent.com/events/rdv.php

March 19 - Fine tuning materials in Artlantis 4 - Online
http://graphisoftus.com/register.php?id=3062

March 21 - Artlantis Essential Skills Training - Birmingham, UK
http://artlantis.uk.com/artlantistraining.html

March 26 - Creating Animation Paths in Artlantis Studio 4 - Online
http://graphisoftus.com/register.php?id=3063

March 27 - Artlantis Render Training - Vienna, Austria
http://a-null.com/Artlantis-Kurs.php

March 29 - Artlantis Basic Training - Oslo, Norway
http://www.graphisoft.no/agk.aspx

March 30 - Artlantis Advanced Training - Oslo, Norway
http://www.graphisoft.no/agk.aspx

April 10 - Artlantis Render Training - Linz, Austria
http://a-null.com/Artlantis-Kurs.php

April 12 - Artlantis Basic Training - Tiel, The Netherlands
http://www.design8.eu/en/training/classroom/details/70-atl-class

April 24 - Artlantis Render Training - Vienna, Austria
http://a-null.com/Artlantis-Kurs.php

May 8 - Artlantis Render Training - Linz, Austria
http://a-null.com/Artlantis-Kurs.php

May 22 - Artlantis Render Training - Vienna, Austria
http://a-null.com/Artlantis-Kurs.php

June 7 - Artlantis Basic Training - Tiel, The Netherlands
http://www.design8.eu/en/training/classroom/details/71-atl-class

June 12 - Artlantis Render Training - Linz, Austria
http://a-null.com/Artlantis-Kurs.php

June 26 - Artlantis Render Training - Vienna, Austria
http://a-null.com/Artlantis-Kurs.php

Daytona Discount Days at Objects Online

The roar of the engines. The smell of gasoline and scorched rubber. It can only mean one thing...and before you say it, no, the police aren't chasing us again. It's Daytona Discount Days! That time of year when you can get 3D cars for Artlantis at a great, no-haggle discounted price. That's right! The price you see is the price you pay. If you've been telling yourself that your renderings need a new set of wheels, now is the time to take action.

We've got two of the new volumes for Artlantis 4 on sale: 3D Cars 2010 Asia and 3D Cars 2010 Europe. These sets have cars from the major players on both continents...Honda, Mazda, Nissan, Subaru, Toyota, Audi, Jaguar, Mercedes, Renault, Saab, Volkswagen, and many more. The vehicles are represented in stunning detail, optimized and able to take advantage of Artlantis 4's new Fresnel shader made especially for metallic car bodies.

For those of you out there who rock to the world beat, we've also got 3D Cars 2007 on sale. This collection features popular vehicles of car manufacturers from around the world, including Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Audi, Ford, Jeep, Land Rover, Lexus, Mercedes, Opel, Peugeot, Pontiac, Saab, Skoda, and Toyota. All of them peacefully co-existing in one virtual showroom and compatible with Artlantis 2 or higher. If you don't have this collection, you need it!

And because we're starting this sale the day after Valentine's Day, we're showing you the love by discounting new and additional licenses of Artlantis Render 10%, now through the end of March 2012. Like a fine-tuned street machine, Artlantis perfectly balances ease-of-use and rendering speed. Take the 30-day demo for a spin and see what we mean.

Daytona Discount Days Pricing and Ordering

Preview 3D Cars 2010 Asia

Preview 3D Cars 2010 Europe

Preview 3D Cars 2007

Download the Artlantis 30-day Demo

Creating iVisit 3D panoramas in Flash format

Here at Abvent, one of the nicest things about our job is the overwhelmingly positive feedback we get from Artlantis users around the world. Some of our users so often go above and beyond a simple 'Hey, I love Artlantis!' when letting us know what they think about this amazing software.

Take, for example, 'CemTech', one of our Facebook Page fans. This user, based in Malaysia, took it upon himself to create a Facebook page explaining to other users how to create an iVisit 3D panorama in Flash format. By doing so, he helps hundreds, if not thousands of other users take the first steps in creating an iVisit 3D panorama from an Artlantis 4 file. There are many, many users like CemTech, who create their own visual aids to help others become better acquainted with Artlantis.

Please share your tutorials with us so that we can, in turn, share them with the wider audience of Artlantis users around the world. The easiest way to do this is to join our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/Artlantis

We look forward to hearing from YOU soon!

Artlantis 3 & 4 updates & new SketchUp plug-in!

Abvent has released a couple of Artlantis update patches and a new export plug-in. Artlantis 4.0.16 includes the following fixes:

• On Macintosh, the obj and fbx importers are corrected, as is the obj exporter


• On Windows, when the User_Name of a session was written with Japanese characters, the textures were ignored in the preview and in the list of materials


• On Windows, the dwg, dxf and 3ds file formats weren't properly read by Artlantis 4 64-bit version on some computers

Artlantis 3.0.8 includes the following fixes:

• On Windows platform with a Japanese User-Name, textures were ignored in the preview as well as in the list of materials


• When creating an object, the anchor point defined by the target of the camera wasn't taken into account

Abvent has also released an export plug-in from SketchUp 8 to Artlantis 4. All of the updates and plug-ins can be downloaded for free from artlantis.com. If you do not already have an account on that website, you may be required to create one in order to download the files.

Download the Artlantis Updater

Download the Export Plug-ins

Download the Artlantis Demo

Artlantis Pricing and Ordering

Artlantis 3 & 4 updates & new plug-ins!

Abvent has launched Artlantis 3.0.8, a new update patch that includes the following fixes:

• On Windows platform with a Japanese User-Name, textures were ignored in the preview as well as in the list of materials;

• When creating an object, the anchor point defined by the target of the camera wasn't taken into account.

In addition, Abvent has released Artlantis 4.0.16 for Mac AND Windows, as well as an export plug-in from SketchUp 8 to Artlantis 4.

All of the updates and plug-ins can be downloaded from the Artlantis website.

Download the Artlantis Updater

Download the Export Plug-ins

Download the Artlantis Demo

Artlantis Pricing and Ordering

Fourth Artlantis Render Contest winners announced

Sonia Alonzo is the winner of the Fourth Artlantis Render Contest, sponsored by ArtlantisMembers.com and Design8 bv. The theme of the contest was 'Interior & Light' and the contestants really let their imaginations soar. With the help of Artlantis Render, the entries were really outstanding.

Sonia wins a free upgrade to Artlantis Studio 4; a 3D Plants Media CD; and a one day shopping spree in the ArtlantisMembers.com furniture section.

Anita Spencer and Patrick Bernhard won 2nd and 3rd place respectively. Click here to see their award-winning submissions, as well as the gallery of all the entries!

iVisit 3D for the iPhone/iPad

Learn how to add an Artlantis 4 panorama to your iPhone or iPad using the iVisit 3D app available from iTunes. Click here for the tutorial!

The Artlantis 4.0.15 update is now available!

Abvent has launched Artlantis 4.0.15, a new update version that includes the following fixes:

• Problem while replacing an object;
• Problem with the Fresnel option in the Shader Editor;
• On Macintosh: correction of the QTSocketServer and the .tmp file problems;
• Correction of the iVisit 3D Builder application;
• Japanese character problems.
  

The complete list of fixes can be found in the ReadMe document zipped with the update.

The Artlantis 4.0.15 update version is available for downloading at www.artlantis.com. Artlantis 4 users are entitled to download it free of charge. An automatic message will announce the availability of this new update to users.

The Artlantis demo version was also updated; users can download this latest 4.0.15 version right away.