Custom 3D visualization services with Unreal Engine
Beyond CAD has had such success with Unreal Engine that the team is able to offer 3D visualization services to customers that need help with their projects. This includes everything from creating specific 3D models to taking over full 3D visualization for a large project.
While Beyond CAD is able to leverage Civil Engine for such projects, the team has the added benefit of being able to customize the software for a client’s project. For example, Lytle says, one client needed to show a specific quarry truck, complete with articulation, as a crucial part of the visualization’s story. Beyond CAD was able to add the quarry truck on the back end so they could not only deliver this important aspect for the client, but also update the next version of Civil Engine to include this asset.
“The concept of ‘eating our own dog food’ is a real thing, one that makes our software so much better when we are forced to use it ourselves for actual client work,” Lytle muses. “As quality goes up and costs go down, we are in a unique space to offer incredible value across the board.”
The future of 3D visualization in civil engineering
Beyond Typicals and Civil Engine are unique to the industry, facing little competition from other software offerings, which might seem like a sure shot to success and widespread adoption. However, Lytle says they do have a stiff competitor in the form of the industry’s level of willingness to invest in 3D visualization.
He draws on a comparison with the field of architecture, which makes wide use of visualization for even the smallest of projects. “We are hoping to change the transportation industry in the same way, so that in a few years 3D visualization won’t just be expensively outsourced to external teams, but it will be expected to be done in-house,” he says.
Civil Engine is currently in v1, but Beyond CAD has big plans for future versions and looks forward to eventually providing that one tool that truly changes the industry. Lytle imagines a version of Civil Engine that not only fully leverages all that Unreal Engine offers—lighting, physics, environments, assets—but also emerging AI technology, a ‘first principles’ type of approach where every element has its own intelligence.
“Users wouldn’t place traffic paths, for example—the vehicles would just spawn and understand where to go based on road markings and signs,” Lytle says. “The road base models wouldn’t be brittle imports, but rather living assets that would change and evolve along with the actual design.”
Lytle is clearly excited about the future of Beyond CAD and Unreal Engine, and the company’s continued partnership with Epic Games, which he says gives them extra cachet for working with the largest engineering firms in the world.
One unexpected bonus from the release of Civil Engine is the level of interest for a gamified version of the software. Beyond CAD has been inundated with requests from would-be players to release what they would consider a realistic and satisfying experience in worldbuilding and city simulation.
Lytle is glad for the spotlight on 3D visualization of infrastructure, but intends to stay on the path he started following 15 years ago—at least for the foreseeable future. “Our answer is that we are currently focused on making the best 3D visualization products for professionals on real projects,” he says, “but who knows if we won’t venture down the gaming path some day.
“The amazing part really is that we get to live in a time where a small team like ours can utilize technology like Unreal Engine to make industry-changing software that gets better in weeks and months instead of years and decades.”