Writing notes on drwaings during meetings (UMPC's)

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know of a way or a program, that would allow you to write/doodle over a drawing that has been saved as a PDF or other format?

Basically the idea came to me when I was going through a project with a client today and was working between a set of printed drawings of the project to add notes for amendments required and then I was showing the client various other views in Archicad on my laptop to explain their queries and afterwards I thought wouldn't it be great if their was a way to do this but entirely on computer, rather than working between the two.

All your notes could be kept digitally and associated with your existing files, rather than having them on scrapy pieces of paper that could potentiallly go missing (which has happened to me more than once before).

I say this because I am very interested in the soon to be released UMPC's (Ultra Mobile PC) formally know as Project Origami http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/umpc/default.mspx and if this type of function could be performed on such a device it would be fantastic for site meetings and client discusions as you could take several projects with you, make numerous notes etc. and it all be easily to hand.

Does anyone do this with a PDA or tablet PC currently?

Does anyone else think this is a good idea, or see any problems with working in such a way.

Or am I simply over worked and showing signs of stress?

[Anonymous]

Adobe Acrobat offers a variety of ways to mark up a PDF.

[Richard Morrison]

And then there is the Reviewer and Mark Up tools -- already built into AC.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your replies, however Reviewer and Mark-up is something that I haven't tried before, I've had a quick look at this and whilst it would be good for sharing amendments between colleagues in the office (although at present I'm the only person in my office using AC productively) it doesn't seem to be fluid enough to sit with clients and use, it wouldn't be as quick as using a pen and paper I'm guessing.

I'm going to have a look at Acrobat I currently only have Adobe Reader and so I'm downloading a demo and I'll let you know how I get on. Thanks.

If UMPC's will allow this type of functionality i.e. using their touch screen ability to make freehand notes on your drawings I will definately get one, but I was just wandering if their currently exists a way to do this either using something like a Wacom tablet and pen or a tablet PC or PDA.

As with my work I find the designing process a dynamic one and between clients, planning officers etc. there are amendments made on every job which means notes on drawings etc. to help rememeber what changes need to be made and a method of storing these digitally rather than on lots of paper seems to me a better way to work.

If this isn't currently possible maybe someone should look at a way of making this possible?

I bag the patent!

[Anonymous]

I've had a quick look at Acrobat and making notes on drawings seems easy enough, but if you could use a pen and panning and zooming were a bit more easier. I don't think it's fluid enough to do in front of clients, but with practise it may be.

I'm still interested to know if their is a way to do this with a stylus pen etc.

[Anonymous]

There is still (and probably will be for a long time) the problem that computer displays are very low res compared to paper. It is much faster to review and markup drawings than to squint and point at a computer screen. Since client meetings are very valuable/expensive time it is essential to make them as efficient/effective as possible. The computer can assist here with 3D walkthroughs and QTVR objects (which paper cannot do). And there may be other ways that it can help such as quick distribution and review of meeting minutes. But I am skeptical of using laptops or tablet computers for full on drawing review.

On the other hand...

For quick SKs, minor design reviews, RFIs, change orders I think these things hold a lot of promise.

Perhaps for full scale drawing review we could project the drawings onto an electronic whiteboard and capture the mark-ups (each participant has their own pen?)

Of course, on the other other hand...

There is always the legal weight of paper which electronic files have yet to achieve. I think there is a big place for scanners in this mix.

[Ignacio Azpiazu]

I have seen ArchiCAD work very well for discussion and markups in meetings (this was Russ Sanders from Orcutt Winslow) using
1- a projector, and
2- the 'Active Layer' trick (only way to get there I know is going to Work Environment > Toolbars, 'Commands by Theme' > Add-Ons, and putting that in a toolbar), so that everything you draw using any tool goes to a given ad-hoc layer (say '*coord mtng 060318').

[Anonymous]

Ignacio wrote:
I have seen ArchiCAD work very well for discussion and markups in meetings (this was Russ Sanders from Orcutt Winslow) using
1- a projector, and
2- the 'Active Layer' trick (only way to get there I know is going to Work Environment > Toolbars, 'Commands by Theme' > Add-Ons, and putting that in a toolbar), so that everything you draw using any tool goes to a given ad-hoc layer (say '*coord mtng 060318').

This sounds very interesting. What is the input method? One guy on a laptop? If this could be made to work with an electronic whiteboard it could be even better. Thanks for the info.

[Ignacio Azpiazu]

Matthew wrote:
What is the input method? One guy on a laptop?

The guy on the laptop. The lights turned off so everybody is focused on the projection screen, and the 'markups' that are not lines or text are modelled on the spot, quick and dirty, sometimes in bright materials. A lot of walkthrough and spinning the model around and switching layer combinations. It is pretty impressive. Best use of ArchiCAD for communication/coordination I've ever seen, and for that matter best communication/coordination setup I've ever seen also, by far.