Client Viewer And This Program.....

[dshall]

Preface:  I have never looked at CLIENT VIEWER until today.

 

So I am working with a client,  teaching him the program as I work on 18 plus of his projects.  This guy is very sharp.  He wants to be able to send files to his subs so they can view projects on client viewer.  So we spend 15 minutes via GTM downloading CLIENT VIEWER and reviewing its capabilities.

 

Somebody at CA Headquarters was really thinking when they came up with this client viewer.  This I predict will be the norm in the near future.  How powerful is it that you can share your project with your subs & clients in 3D via the client viewer......  oh,  and did I mention that when subs can view the project in 3D,  their prices come down?  Powerful stuff.

 

But here is my beef with the folks at headquarters.....

1.   I want my hot keys with client viewer

2.   I want to be able to change layer sets

3.   I want my framer to be able to put some text on the plan.  This way he can make notes......  I think I want this

 

come on guys,  I want this framer to quickly go to a layer set that he is interested in,  and if I train him correctly,  I think he will be using the hot  keys,  and of course let's make it easy on him,  as he is viewing,  he can make notes via text.

 

Yeah,  this is good stuff,  please fix the 3 items I listed and I will be one super duper happy camper.  

thank you,  thank you very much.

 

 

 

 

[Bill_Emery]

I typically share it in Dropbox. the client can annotate the plan, (notice the text tools, and the measuring tool). Keeping the plan in a shared file allows me no see the annotations.

My clients can generally sort layers pretty well, but there is no ability to shift, or control select for layers. Whatever layers are active when I save, are the layers the client will see. This allows me to give my framer the set he needs.

If I have computer knowledgeable clients they can download the trial version, and have greater control.

[jcaffee]

Client viewer is one way to go, but I would ask that CA look towards what--at least in larger commercial projects--is all but an industry standard, the 3D PDF.

 

Which, gets me back to my core supposition for CA as a viable software entity; modernize the codebase!

 

While some vendors go the "Do it all" route (ArchiCAD), others (Autodesk/Revit) allow 3rd-party opportunities to make a lil' sumtin-sumtin via plug-in development on a well formed SDK.

 

I first encountered the ePlanset being used by Plant on a rehab/remod in San Francisco, (1995) and lately by HITT (2011) using multi-lingual, 3D-enabled, Hyperlinked PDF plan sets.  If CA wants to get there from here, then 3rd-party participation is all but mandatory--really, as much as I dig this software, CA does not have the engineer/developer manpower to do all the "stuff" that needs bein' done.  Therefore; modernize the codebase, send the Marketing Director into the wild--not to return without signed CMAs from 3D PDF vendors Tetra 4D and  3DA Systems, as if by magic (A ton of hard work) CA has extended their product functionality in a manner that is durable, extensible, and readily manageable.

 

Or, try futzing their way through yet another feature request to an already overwhelmed development team.  Just sayin'

 

jon

[Kelly_K]

I would like to see the orthographic camera come back for the viewer, I find clients get a little confused by the perspective overviews and camera shots.  It would also be nice to allow furniture placement, perhaps our friends at CA could find a way to sell this feature.  I know the folks I deal with would be more than happy to pay.

[Dermot]

1.   I want my hot keys with client viewer

 

The client viewer uses the default hotkeys for any tools that are available in the viewer.  The client viewer does not have the ability to customize hotkeys.  Did you want to send him your custom hotkeys or let him customize his own?

 

 

2.   I want to be able to change layer sets

 

Currently, the client viewer does not allow changing layer sets.  It will open a plan, camera, or detail with what ever layer set you saved it with.  We did this to give you more control over what the client could see but I'm not sure how useful this is.  You could always send the client a layout page with as many different plan views using different layer sets as you want and have him open them from the layout.  You may want to submit a feature request to add layer set control to the client viewer.

 

 

3.   I want my framer to be able to put some text on the plan.  This way he can make notes......  I think I want this

 

The client should already be able to add text and arrow lines to the plan and send it back to you. 

[Dermot]

I would like to see the orthographic camera come back for the viewer, I find clients get a little confused by the perspective overviews and camera shots.  It would also be nice to allow furniture placement, perhaps our friends at CA could find a way to sell this feature.  I know the folks I deal with would be more than happy to pay.

 

I think a lot of people find perspective cameras less confusing then the orthographic ones since they tend to look more natural.

 

As for placing furniture, or any other playing around in the plan, your client could purchase one of our Home Designer products.  You would need to turn on the checkbox for "Allow Editing in Select Home Designer Products" in the General Plan Defaults for them to make any changes.  You could also lock any layers for things you don't want the client to change.  I would recommend that you only send him copies of your plans and never replace your original with the one he has been playing around in.  It would be very easy for your client to accidently make changes you really don't want to have to fix up.

[Kelly_K]

I think a lot of people find perspective cameras less confusing then the orthographic ones since they tend to look more natural.

 

 

I always appreciate the use of 'a lot' it conveys an illusion of preponderance, or most, if not all, when in fact could mean a few, but because of perception it is quantifiably substantial to an individual’s justification of a point.   Just as I would say a lot of my customers find the perspective camera confusing (which actually is the case).  The main complaint I get is that the linear perspective is sometimes too attenuated to start with, exacerbated when scrolling backwards.  In meetings I pop up an orthographic view, a lot, of my customers exclaim unprompted that is much better view than what they get with the client viewer, hence my request for a tool that was once available.

 

 Very Good advice on the home designer products, I wasn't aware a chief file could be opened by the lesser software.  I really hate screwing around with furniture this is the answer I have be looking for.

[Richard_Morrison]

I like the Client Viewer. But while we're on this topic, how hard would it be to make the plan file I send to my client not modifiable by any version of Chief? I really don't like the idea of sending a fully editable file to my client that they can send to someone else. I've already had requests to reuse my Chief files.

[country]

I do not send any drawings out of my office except for PDF's or images. My clients are not designers, that is what they pay me for. If they want to design they can buy a program and redraw. No exceptions.

I am going to start doing videos with "Snagit" and they can replay if they want different views.

[BryceEngstrom]

After trying the client viewer with the very few clients even willing, or sometimes even able, to use it over the years, I tend to agree with this.  Especially during the earlier parts of the design process, I do want to have much more control over what the client sees.

 

I do at least one live viewing of the Chief model in my office on a projector after the design has progressed a ways but again, I am controlling what they see.  They can ask to see certain things, but I can control which type of view to show that in.

 

And I also think I don't want to be sending editable Chief files to clients at all.  I've dabbled in it a couple of times but always to poor results.  Having a client editing my Chief file is, to me, a lot like trying to help your doctor out during your own surgery.

[AriseDesign]

Is the viewer available for Ipad and Mac OSX?

[Richard_Morrison]

To clarify, I've never had a client try to edit the file directly, but there have been a couple of instances where they wanted to send the file on to other people to use. I think the Chief Viewer is pretty easy for most folks, and I've never had to do any tech support or hand-holding. An iPad app would be awesome for this, especially if it were just a non-editable 3D file. I can easily see a marketing benefit when people show off their projects to their friends.

 

I recently attended an open house of a project of mine about to start construction, where they wanted to let the neighbors know what was going on before construction started. Not only did they have prints of the PDFs of the floor plans/elevations taped up on the walls, they had a video of the project playing on their large-screen TV that they had created with the Client Viewer. Nice PR!

[VHampton]

I used the client viewer on a recent project. The owner was beyond thrilled to see his house come to life. He also jokingly cautioned me that I never should have done this. He was right. It was basically like handing over the car keys to a twelve year old.

 

He'd open the plan file each day and start making changes. Every afternoon became a design session where I'd have to open the plan one more time so we could revisit where he wanted to make adjustments.

 

A long story short, be careful who you share your 3d model with.

 

Trades people yes....clients no!  Keep the mystery in what we do is all I can say.

 

 

And I also think I don't want to be sending editable Chief files to clients at all.  I've dabbled in it a couple of times but always to poor results.  Having a client editing my Chief file is, to me, a lot like trying to help your doctor out during your own surgery.

Right on.