BIMx PRO

[Aaron Bourgoin]

what's up with Lachmi Khemlani getting the scoop on something called BIMx PRO.

What is it and what is the upgrade path from BIMx Docs?

[Eduardo Rolon]

I knew that I would be able to trip you…
Now you owe me a beer in about 3 weeks

[JaredBanks]

not so fast. but still that's okay by me.

[Erwin Edel]

JaredBanks wrote:
okay, here's some info:

http://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/guides/archicad-18-int-reference-guide/visualization/graphisoft-bim...

ArchiCAD just knows? If you save over the previous file, or merge with it?

I'm still a little confused and very interested in the point Eduardo raises. A project will go through multiple design stages etc, will you have to spend $50 every time you make a new .bimx? Can you use different .pln files of a single project?

By saving over does that mean that you can only have 1 .bimx file? How does this work with archiving your project documentation? Good practice to me dictates that anything being published to leave our office needs to be archived (PDF, DWG, .pla). If BIMx would be part of this documentation flow, it would be part of the archive folders. Will I lose the functionality on old version once I overwrite the original file (and, of course, copy the old file before that)?

Especially during the preliminary stage we will go through a lot of models, variations etc for our large residential (700-2.000 m³) projects. Spending the $50 once would not be a problem, really, but if you would be spending it every time it would be good to know before you get a client impressed by fancy presentation and end up paying that 10-15 times

Even during construction there generally end up being quite a few revisions over the course of the build. Going truly BIM and embracing it as part of communication on the buildsite, it would be good to know that every revision doesn't cost another $50 to re-publish.

Unrelated: we are very much a multi-platform office. Windows workstations, macbooks, iPads, android phones etc is there a way to register a single account to purchase multiplatform or will it be per-platform purchase for the pro version?

[Laszlo Nagy]

Erwin wrote:
I'm still a little confused and very interested in the point Eduardo raises. A project will go through multiple design stages etc, will you have to spend $50 every time you make a new .bimx? Can you use different .pln files of a single project?

I asked the guys at Graphisoft and here is the answer:

The BIMx Hyper Model is identified by the Name of the Publisher Set from which the model is created (this is the same Name the user sees in the Project List in the BIMx app). So the Hyper Model is not identified by the name of the resulting BIMx file. Therefore the name of the saved BIMX file can be freely modified to carry version/design option etc. information, and one does not have to pay the 50 USD each time the name of the BIMx file is different.
This is even true if you saved your Project file under a new name (e.g. in the SD, DD, CD phases) with the name of the Publisher Set staying the same.

Unrelated: we are very much a multi-platform office. Windows workstations, macbooks, iPads, android phones etc is there a way to register a single account to purchase multiplatform or will it be per-platform purchase for the pro version?

Answer from the same Graphisoft source:
Purchases on mobile platforms are platform-dependent, which means that it is not possible to purchase something on the Apple platform and get it credited and use it on the Android platform, and vice versa.

[Laszlo Nagy]

There will be 3 BIMx webinars on March 10 where you will be able to ask any further questions you have:

http://archicad-talk.graphisoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=48393

[Erwin Edel]

Thanks for your prompt reply Laszlo!

I understand you would buy the apps for different platforms, I'm just a bit confused about the actual model files. The purchase to share a BIMx pro hypermodel is made in the BIMx Pro app? Can it be shared from both apps after paying in one platform version?

[Laszlo Nagy]

From the guys at Graphisoft I received the info that it is planned to make it possible to buy the model access from Android as well in the future and to make the link multiplatform.
But at the moment this is only available on iOS.

[DGSketcher]

I'm confused by the app upgrade. I paid for BIMx Docs and I can see the 2D docs with hyperlinks etc but when I go to the Apple store BIMx Pro is listed as a different app to the BIMx one I have installed and I have to pay to install the Pro version. I thought this was just rebranding and not an excuse to take another slice of my hard earned cash?

[Barry Kelly]

Your BIMx Docs app should upgrade to BIMx Pro.
If it hasn't happened automatically go into you app updates and do it manually.

Barry.

[DGSketcher]

Thanks for the suggestion Barry. I might be misreading the presence of the two different icons in the app store. I was thinking the icon on my iPad should carry the same "Pro" flash but maybe not as it was upgraded from the free version.