CC Jul-Aug 2021

SOFTWARE focus
A boost for BIM
Graphisoft's BIMx and BIMcloud, enhanced alongside Archicad 25, provide
the ultimate in 3D model presentation and architectural collaboration tools
Graphisoft has been a leading light
in 3D design and BIM software
since the early years of 3D
architectural design, and is the developer
of two very useful applications, BIMx and
BIMcloud, which provide architects, clients
and construction sites with advanced tools
for creating lifelike visualisations and
walkthroughs, and a collaboration tool for
sharing building model information on
projects irrespective of size.
During the release of Archicad 25,
Graphisoft released enhancements to
both BIMx and BIMcloud. BIMcloud now
offers a 100K file capacity per instance,
which allows users to host all project files
in one convenient location, and the BIMx
viewer is now able to open all 2D and 3D
files available on BIMcloud.
BIMX HYPER-MODELS
BIMx allows users to explore building
models and gain visual impressions of
how a building works. It enables architects
and designers to create BIMx Hypermodels
(format .bimx) which contain the
full documentation of an ARCHICAD
project: the 3D model plus views, layouts
and camera paths. Users can therefore
navigate through a BIMx model using
game-like navigation tools, create cutthroughs
in real-time, or use features like
Smart Measure, a context measuring tool
for taking precise measurements from
both 2D plans and 3D models, or add
comments and markups.
To get the best performance out of a
BIMx Hyper-model, you can optimise it
using the Publisher Set in Archicad,
defining the group of sheets or views you
want to publish and the configuration for
exporting them. You can also manually
optimise the model to limit its size
(important depending on the capacity of
the mobile device to be used for viewing
the BIMx Hyper-model), and use the
Publisher's Organiser mode to choose
specific items from the Publisher Set to be
published with the Hyper-model.
If you are not familiar with Publisher,
however, you can create a more standard
Hyper-model using the BIMx Hyper-model
Wizard. The BIMx Hyper-Model Wizard is
launched using the Publish BIMx Hyper-
Model command which configures a
Hyper-model Publisher Set in a few easy
steps. This also includes a built-in option
for optimising the model size for better
viewing performance on mobile devices.
When you use the Hyper-model with the
wizard, you can't customise individual
layouts - commands only include All
Layouts, No Layouts, or a single Layout
Subset. When you become more confident
using the software however you can edit
the Publisher Set content using the
Publisher's Organiser mode, or you can
use the wizard to republish an existing
Hyper-model Publisher Set.
BIMx was already available for iOS
mobile devices but is now also available
on Android, along with a new 3D engine.
This enables Android users to access
BIMx Hyper-model elements, and to play
animated client presentations in BIMx
Presenter mode - providing a useful
method of showing models to clients on
the fly without having to set up dedicated
workstations. The quality of the
presentations have also been improved
with the use of real-time global illumination
calculations for photorealistic views.
BIMCLOUD
BIMcloud provides project teams with
collaboration tools that enables them to
share information on projects of any size
and complexity, in any location, regardless
of the speed of Internet connections. It can
be made available on private or public
cloud configurations enabling even small
teams to share project information on a
secure platform in real-time.
When implementing BIM on a large
scale, architects can run into bottlenecks
in model accessibility and workflow
management. Graphisoft's BIMcloud is a
pioneering solution for model-based team
collaboration using Delta Server
technology, which reduces network traffic
to a minimum, enabling instant and
reliable data-exchange both within the
office and over the Internet. With
Graphisoft's Teamwork, team members
can collaborate in real-time on BIM models
through standard Internet connections
from virtually anywhere in the world.
The recent memory size announcements
enable BIMcloud backups to be sped up,
storage space requirements to be reduced
and daily project management tasks to be
generally improved. For user accessibility,
BIMcloud has a BIMx web viewer built in,
enabling users to visualise BIMx Hypermodels
on the fly using a simple web
browser, and without having to install apps
on mobile devices.
In effect, users can host private BIMx
Hyper-models on their own BIMclouds
retaining the same sharing benefits that
the Graphisoft hosted BIMx Transfer site
would provide, giving them the means to
control their own secure storage space.
Subscription-based BIMx Pro adds a few
more features to the application, such as
the ability to open 3D models of any size
and complexity and save both 2D and 3D
project views for opening in client
demonstrations, and to create BIMx
presentations using a combination of
animated sequences and still views, or to
print copies of any 2D and 3D project view.
BIMcloud can disperse projects along
multiple BIMcloud servers while using a
single-entry point for the whole system.
BIMcloud also serves as a totally open
BIM-based platform, supporting formats
like IFC, BCF, PDF and others, and acts as
a common ground for various
collaboration tools.
www.graphisoft.com/uk
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July/August 2021