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 Hyper-models (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 cut-throughs 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 Hyper-models 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.