How to transfer BIMx models to iOS devices

[Marton Kiss]

Share the BIMx Hyper-model on GRAPHISOFT's BIMx Model Transfer Site

Use GRAPHISOFT's cloud service to upload, share and distribute BIMx models to your clients and other parties in the AEC workflow. Both the legacy 3D only and the Hyper-model formats can be shared, downloaded and opened by BIMx. Once a BIMx Hyper-model is uploaded to GRAPHISOFT's BIMx Model Transfer Site it can be shared with your customer via the Sharing a Hyper-model licensing option.

Upload a BIMx Hyper-model

• Upload a BIMx Hyper-model using ARCHICAD's Publisher or
• Upload a BIMx Hyper-model using the File > Publish BIMx Hyper-model... menu command

Depending on your license you might only be able to upload models Publicly (FULL, EDU and TRIAL users). Private upload possibility with 5GB of own storage space is available only for customers with an active SSA (Software Services Agreement) subscription.

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Alternative file sharing possibilities

In case you are not entitled to a private upload space on GRAPHISOFT's BIMx Model Transfer Site or you would like to use another cloud solution to distribute BIMx models, save the model first onto your local machine. This can be done both from the Publisher and using the File > Publish BIMx Hyper-model... menu command:

• Save a BIMx Hyper-model using ARCHICAD's Publisher or
• Save a BIMx Hyper-model using the File > Publish BIMx Hyper-model... menu command

Note: the File > Save as .bimx option was available up to ARCHICAD 19 to save the legacy 3D only file format. There are various ways to move the file from your Desktop machine to the iOS device. You can

• upload the file to a cloud storage solution
• move it directly to the iPad/iPhone with iTunes or AirDrop
• send it in an email or
• share it on a regular website/ftp link

The sections below explain each transfer method in detail.

Download models from your Cloud Storage

GRAPHISOFT integrated Apple's Files app in BIMx on iOS allows downloading and opening BIMx files directly from a 3rd party cloud storage space. Publish the BIMx Hyper-model from ARCHICAD into your Dropbox/Google Drive folder. If you have the cloud storage provider's app on your iOS device you can enable it in BIMx from the More menu option (see below). By tapping the icon of your storage you can browse through your BIMx Hyper-models and download any of them without leaving BIMx app. Currently iCloud Drive, Google Drive, Box and Dropbox support the Files app functionality.

NOTE: Files app is available from iOS 11. Certain storage providers might be available in the More menu even if they are not working properly with BIMx. Compatibility of these apps has to be developed at their end, it cannot be enabled in BIMx.

Send via AirDrop

AirDrop is a simple option for moving files between nearby Apple devices wirelessly. It works with BIMx files just like with any other: find the nearby device and simply drag and drop the BIMx file in Finder to the iOS device where you would like to send it:

Once the file is sent, a message appears on the iPhone/iPad that downloads the file and imports it into the BIMx application automatically.

NOTE:: This option works best with smaller BIMx files, transfer speed and reliability may decrease with larger BIMx Hyper-models.

Upload through iTunes

iTunes supports file management for installed applications. Follow these instructions to transfer any BIMx model to your mobile device.

• Connect your iOS device (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad) to your computer and open iTunes
• Click on your device in the left column in iTunes
• Choose Apps in the menu and scroll down to File Sharing
• Select BIMx
• Using the Add... and Save to.. buttons you can add and remove any model in .bimx format (drag and drop also works, use backspace to delete a model on Mac or delete key on Windows)

Sending as an email attachment

You can send models as a simple mail attachment, but note that even a small size model can take up more than 10 Megabytes. Not many email providers support such large attachments, so you have to make sure that the recipient's mailbox is capable of handling the attached model's size. (e.g. Gmail supports attachments up to 25 Megabytes in size.)

• attach your model to an email message
• open the mail on the iOS device
• tap on the attachment
• after it is downloaded you will be able to open it in BIMx

Share the file

You can share a .bimx file in various ways. You can use the traditional FTP protocol or any other file storage such as WebDav , Cloud based storage (Amazon) or simple network shares (afp, smb) etc... By default these connections are not supported on the operating system level, but with applications available in the iOS App Store you can use these (iFiles, FileBrowser). Of course the previously mentioned Dropbox also does belong to this category.