BIMx ArchiCAD 17 save as .app and .exe

[Erwin Edel]

From what I understood from Kubus (dutch reseller) the option to save as .app and .exe has been removed from BIMx with ArchiCAD 17. The reason being if people receive those as email attachments, they end up in spam. I can understand that, but I would still prefer to have the option to choose if I tell someone to download and install a program or just receive one file they can run. Not all my clients are proficient enough with computers to install a program. Some of them just have very shiny macbooks and they just about manage to double click an icon.

I would post this a wish, but not quite sure which category to list it under.

[ryancjw]

Trying to export a model to BIMx ArchiCAD17 but the option to export for windows & mac seems lost.

I understand the procedure to open bimx with free viewer, but any way to save client from downloading another program just to view it?

[Karl Ottenstein]

No. The export as a bundled app option is gone, but I think it is a good thing.

The viewer only has to be downloaded by your client once for however many models you send them. For one, this means that they are only downloading the smaller model files each time.

For another, there is no concern for clients about viruses/etc, as they are downloading the app from the GS web site (or app store). Similarly, you don't have to find out if your client is Win or Mac, ...or IOS or Android, etc - just point them to the viewer download site.

Some email programs will not download an exe or an app to prevent viruses (even if it is in a zip file) - or, as you say, may place the message in a spam folder. You don't have to explain to your clients how to disable that feature in that case.

Overall, the new process should make both your and your client's lives easier.

I have to wonder... if a client can just manage to double-click an icon, as you say... and so this new procedure is too complicated for them... how do they manage to navigate and not get lost once BIMx launches?

Resource:

http://www.archicadwiki.com/BIMx

PS If you want to post a wish to restore this feature, I suppose the General Wishes or Publishing Wishes forums might be the closest fit?

[ryancjw]

Thanks - for most of our private clients they only have to see the model once during the project, and this might be their one & only project, so having an additional viewer on their computers is not really desirable.

[Stress Co_]

Karl wrote:
... how do they manage to navigate and not get lost once BIMx launches?

I've had clients comment on how great the iPad BIMx app's "HELP" is in learning how to navigate.
Getting others to find/use "HELP" is another matter

[Karl Ottenstein]

ryancjw wrote:
Thanks - for most of our private clients they only have to see the model once during the project, and this might be their one & only project, so having an additional viewer on their computers is not really desirable.

Great point, Ryan. Make a wish then?

Cheers,
Karl

[Anonymous]

I agree with maintaining the .EXE and .APP option in BIMx 17.

Back when we used .MOV files to share the 3D model with our clients, I had difficulty assisting clients with downloading, installing (or updating) their Apple Quicktime.

The .EXE and .APP files have made working with clients so much easier. I have been creating both the Windows and MAC formats for my clients. I put them in a .ZIP folder and link them to a client page on my website where they can simple click on the link to download the file. Then click on the file to open the explorer. It couldn't be simpler.

Showing clients how to maneuver in BIMx is simple and fun, but helping them to download and install software is a pain in the #@!$.

I just tried to setup my client webpage in a similar way with BIMx 17 without success. However, when I tried to download and run the .BIMX file that I posted on another PC it would open the black loading screen for about 3 seconds and then fail to open. It would simply return back to my previous screen.

For now, I find it easier to save my Archicad 17 file in an Archicad 16 format so I can open 16 and "Export to BIMx".

[Anonymous]

I just posted a wish for those who would wish to vote for maintaining the .EXE and .APP file export as an option. I don't see why we can't have it both ways.

http://archicad-talk.graphisoft.com/viewtopic.php?p=219562#219562

[Anonymous]

Seeing as I just saved my BimX model from AC17 and tried to take it to a client presentation only to find out I needed the app to be installed - I'm pretty unhappy with the change.
By all means give the option to install the app and run it that way but this change caught me completely off guard. We use BimX extensively as a client and consultant communication tool and this could have gone allot worse.

Which brings me to a more important point regarding communication of changes in workflow. When a change in workflow of this kind occurs it should be flagged prominently - not buried in the "read more' section of something obscure.

AND..while I'm ranting, WHY is it so hard to learn that the cut-away tool is not supported in the desktop viewer? There's trumpets announcing this feature on ios but nothing clarifying the lack of this feature for what is our primary platform. I'm not even asking why it is so (which really is a good question). It is quite frustrating to have to in search of these answers on forums rather than getting the heads-up straight from Archicad.

Someone tell me I'm wrong and that there was a memo covering it!

[Daniel Lindahl]

Thanks Karl, for directing me to the polling!

I am guessing that a lot of people didn't start using BIMx until v17, so aren't even aware of the earlier easier version, or there would have been a flood of complaints about this.

What I couldn't understand though, was why Windows only needed a single executable file, while the Mac save created a folder with multiple files?