topic Re: ArchiCAD on the iPad, iPhone and iTouch? in Collaboration with other software

ArchiCAD on the iPad, iPhone and iTouch?

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:35:15 GMT

Since official details about the iPad came out I have been wondering about it as a laptop replacemnt for client presentations. The main drawback is that I would not able to view a 'live' 3D model on it (orbiting etc).
Someone had mentioned that VBE should be on the iPad - I agree (well a re-written one anyway)
Now Rhino has taken the lead.
Robert McNeel and Associates amazes! I hope they don't become Autodesk.

Re: ArchiCAD on the iPad, iPhone and iTouch?

Chadwick — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 00:05:27 GMT

Interesting...but I think this limits the power of BIM. I think one of BIMs most powerful abilities is to change and update the model on the fly (especially when giving a presentation or a meeting with the client). I find the iPad cumbersome (try typing on it) and restricted. I'd rather spend the $499 minimum and get a laptop that can load a bunch of software that I want and still manipulate my building in real time.

Just my 2 cents

Re: ArchiCAD on the iPad, iPhone and iTouch?

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 14:33:44 GMT

Hmm. That`s interesting... Requesting VBE for iPad now!

Re: ArchiCAD on the iPad, iPhone and iTouch?

Anonymous — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:45:30 GMT

It seems to me that trying to squeeze a BIM model of moderate size and complexity into one of those platforms is doomed from the beginning, because those are machines that simply can not handle that kind and quantity of information.

I'm sure some companies will come up with some sort of 3d viewers, but surely it will be more a publicity stunt than anything serious.

Re: ArchiCAD on the iPad, iPhone and iTouch?

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 11:23:23 GMT

Krippahl wrote:
It seems to me that trying to squeeze a BIM model of moderate size and complexity into one of those platforms is doomed from the beginning, because those are machines that simply can not handle that kind and quantity of information.

I'm sure some companies will come up with some sort of 3d viewers, but surely it will be more a publicity stunt than anything serious.

I wouldn't expect a full BIM model - more like a surface model export or something along those lines.
They have obviously solved it with Rhino 3DM files (which is NURBS surface modeling)

Re: ArchiCAD on the iPad, iPhone and iTouch?

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 12:55:14 GMT

Yes, they say at that site that it can handle 1 million polygons, which is a LOT, but checking this small video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7TCq-HMo1s you can see that, on the Iphone at least, a simple car takes 50 seconds to render an then it is painfully slow to navigate.
I would love to see some videos with real examples of a medium sized building on an iPad. If that works, I'll be the first to ask a viewer from GS.

Re: ArchiCAD on the iPad, iPhone and iTouch?

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 13:39:12 GMT

oh dear ... you're right
reverting to living in hope

Re: ArchiCAD on the iPad, iPhone and iTouch?

Ralph Wessel — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 15:04:21 GMT

Krippahl wrote:
Yes, they say at that site that it can handle 1 million polygons, which is a LOT, but checking this small video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7TCq-HMo1s you can see that, on the Iphone at least, a simple car takes 50 seconds to render an then it is painfully slow to navigate.
I would love to see some videos with real examples of a medium sized building on an iPad. If that works, I'll be the first to ask a viewer from GS.

The iPad is 2-4 times faster than the 3GS, and I expect that we will see similar speed increases on an annual basis (or faster). And the car in that demo may have had as many polygons as a small building.

I can see a device like the iPad becoming a great presentation/field tool. But if we wait too long for the technology to arrive, we will only find ourselves playing catchup with companies that planned ahead a bit.

Re: ArchiCAD on the iPad, iPhone and iTouch?

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 15:38:03 GMT

Ralph
I agree with you in principle, if for no other reason that your perception of the technical issues involved has to be manifold better than mine.
As I said, if such a product is possible, I will be the first in line, and can even imagine helping a third party develop it.
Still, my concern is that, not being a viable solution, this could be a typical publicity stunt, distracting users from what is commercially and technically important and possible.

Re: ArchiCAD on the iPad, iPhone and iTouch?

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 09:43:22 GMT

I've got an iPad coming next week!, i've been looking at systems like http://unity3d.com/ as they can convert quite complex scenes into a more useable model for these less powerful devices, as i do think that these will be great as presentation tools.

There are also some VNC apps that link back to your main computer, so you could display ArchiCAD in full, but you would be relying on the speed of your network or internet....

Re: ArchiCAD on the iPad, iPhone and iTouch?

Karl Ottenstein — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 17:03:46 GMT

sdb wrote:
There are also some VNC apps that link back to your main computer, so you could display ArchiCAD in full, but you would be relying on the speed of your network or internet....

For those that don't know the term VNC - it is a cross platform method for screensharing.

I tried a VNC viewer on my iPad to launch and use ArchiCAD 13 on my Mac Pro desktop over wifi. Very clear image and just made sense to connect to a high horsepower 'server' that was doing the heavy lifting.

The free viewer that I tried did not have the equivalent of a middle button, function keys, etc., so it was a little awkward. I'm probably going to try the $9.99 app from RealVNC which simulates all of these other things, including all of the other keys for Mac or Windows that are missing from the iPad virtual keyboard (e.g., ctrl-alt-del for Windows, opt/cmd Mac, etc.).

For Mac users, VNC is enabled via System Preferences > Sharing. Enable Screen Sharing and under options, enable VNC with a (secure) password.

For Windows users, there are various free VNC servers that you can download.

I thought I saw an article for a VNC server/viewer that could toggle to fill the iPad screen with ONLY the active app window on the remote machine, rather than the whole desktop. Haven't found that, but it would be ideal.

It is cool controlling ArchiCAD (or anything else) via touch instead of a mouse. 😉

(There is no Skype screen sharing or iChat-like screen sharing on the iPad yet that I know of. Hopefully soon.)

Performance over the internet should be adequate. And, since the iPad supports VPN (virtual private network), you should be able to VNC into your remote machine without opening any firewall or router ports other than for the VPN.

But...

I agree with Ralph, of course. Someone looking to the future must start planning for a tablet based viewer and more for ArchiCAD now, so that the software is ready when the faster hardware arrives.

Cheers,
Karl

PS A couple of other things about iPad useful for ArchiCAD that people might find interesting. There is an app called air display that lets the iPad become a virtual second monitor for a Mac, which would be really useful for ArchiCAD road warriors with Mac laptops, giving a second screen for palettes/etc when needed. And, the announcement this week that the next release of iBooks will handle PDF files means that all of our ArchiCAD manuals (and Dwight's books) can be loaded into iBooks for reading anywhere, or next to an otherwise small monitor that can only fit ArchiCAD onto comfortably. (Goodreader, or other viewers can be used until then.)

Re: ArchiCAD on the iPad, iPhone and iTouch?

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 18:44:50 GMT

I really like the VNC idea - potentially a very simple and elegant solution. Now to get an ipad to try it out.
Following on in the 'remote access' paradigm - what about using the BIM server and a 'slim' ipad client app to view, annotate or more ..
... or a slim 'pack and go' ....

Re: ArchiCAD on the iPad, iPhone and iTouch?

Stuart Smith — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 19:57:12 GMT

Karl wrote:
It is cool controlling ArchiCAD (or anything else) via touch instead of a mouse. ;-)

That's what I thought when I first saw the iPad.
Started daydreaming about when the multi-touch paradigm gets integrated into a full-power desktop OS and apps, combined with a huge flat screen monitor with print-like resolution (>300dpi like the new iPhone) that becomes LITERALLY your desktop/drafting table...

Wonder if anyone at GS is experimenting with multi-touch interfaces for ArchiCAD?

Re: ArchiCAD on the iPad, iPhone and iTouch?

Anonymous — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 04:38:48 GMT

Karl i think the VNC you were thinking of is http://wormholeremote.com/ as i have looked at a few, it looks good because it uses the active window, rather than you having to navigate your full desktop....

second screen option looks great to! working on something, then just throw that active window to your iPad & walk across the room...

Re: ArchiCAD on the iPad, iPhone and iTouch?

Karl Ottenstein — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 16:25:52 GMT

sdb wrote:
Karl i think the VNC you were thinking of is http://wormholeremote.com/ as i have looked at a few, it looks good because it uses the active window, rather than you having to navigate your full desktop....

Thanks for the link! That was it. Reading the reviews, though, it sounds pretty slow and buggy at the moment, so might try, might wait...

Cheers,
Karl

Re: ArchiCAD on the iPad, iPhone and iTouch?

Anonymous — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 20:53:00 GMT

yes i was talking to a friend & they said it isn't quite there yet. I do think it is a great concept though, as i think it will be a more user friendly way of doing it.

Re: ArchiCAD on the iPad, iPhone and iTouch?

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 10:03:40 GMT

What I can see as 2 useful points to an iPad app.

1. I have to do a lot of existing measures on site so a simple 2d app that I could carry on site would be useful. The iPad seams ideal as I have tried doing this kind of thing with a laptop but you really need two hands and it isn't always convenient to put the laptop down all the time as you move around.

2. as has already been said, a fast 3d model that can be loaded for client presentations.

Re: ArchiCAD on the iPad, iPhone and iTouch?

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:33:43 GMT

Update to my post yesterday following the Apple announcements.
Take a look at the free app demo of the new game "Epic Citadel". If we could present a 3d model like this on a mobile device...

Re: ArchiCAD on the iPad, iPhone and iTouch?

Anonymous — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 22:56:39 GMT

Autodesk is going to offer autocad for mac, iphone and ipad. I think that graphisoft must do a viewer at least for archicad.

Re: ArchiCAD on the iPad, iPhone and iTouch?

Gerald D Lock — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 23:43:17 GMT

Rumour 'down-under' has it that Graphisoft are in beta-testing for an iPad version of VBE. It will be called something different, but it's not far away...