client viewer


pazzfam
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This is something I ONLY do after I have made sure that the client in question is actually as Lew says "Computer Savvy", to suggest this route to someone is not really "savyy" is unnecessary punishment and a masochistic act. I have had it end up being a "good idea" and a disaster, so really make sure the clients in question really are personally causative with computers before you go there is my advice. Anything that "goes wrong" is inevitably your fault, no matter the actual reasons or lack of personal responsibility.

 

DJP

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  • 1 month later...

There is now an alternative to the client viewer, that's easy to use, even for someone who is not very computer savy.  It's an online service called Real5D.

 

Real5D enables someone (like you or anyone) to do a tour through a "Virtual Reality" of your 3D design/model, interactively, online, in real time, in a very easy manner.  It's very impressive, check it out at real5d.com.  It also enables you do virtual meetings at the virtual model/site with others.

I learned of Real5D when I met the CEO, Balazs Farago, of this new little, high-tech, startup company, based in San Francisco, at a friend's dinner party.

He pulled out his laptop and gave me a demo: Real5D Introduction ("https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SROgEPF5OxI").   The real5d.com website is interesting, lots of models to tour.

Real5D uses multi-player, online, role-playing-game technology to turn your design/model into an online virtual reality.  I sent Balazs a .3ds file of my latest project and his staff put it online for me, it's fantastic!  You can tour a recent version of my latest design yourself at:  Boswell-Boulder-Creek-house  ("http://project.real5d.com/5d/projects/boulder_creek")

I've had virtual meetings with people, online at the virtual site I designed and modeled using CA-X6.  We talked, I pointed to things using a virtual laser pointer.

It's totally legit.  For it to work, you have to download a free, thin client app. and the Mac version is still in beta.  But, I think this service could be very useful to architects and designers who use Chief Architect, like to share their portfolio with prospective clients or to have virtual on-site meetings with clients within the design/model to talk about design changes and so on.

 

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Pretty shameless advertising pitch Chris.  Borderline spam in my opinion.  I wouldn't be surprised if a moderator dumps your posts on Monday.

 

Chief has been able to export various 3D files (including vrml) for many, many years.  Each 3D file format and each viewer all have their pluses and minuses.  I don't think there is any one of them that works great without any problems.

 

One big advantage of the Chief viewer is that it works the same way Chief does which means it's very easy for a Chief user to explain how to use it.  Another advantage is that it allows notes and markups to be made directly in the plan file.  One big disadvantage is that you have to send them your unlocked plan file and all of the textures and images that need to go with it.

 

There are lots of other possible solutions that might work for various situations.  GoTo Meeting, or one of the many other similar apps, would let you communicate remotely without your client having to know much.  If you have a client that is really not tech literate, you can always just send them screen shots as JPGs.

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It was mentioned on this forum before, but Sketchfab (sketchfab.com) does a pretty good job with no software viewer needed. You need to play around with export options to get the best results, but I'm pretty intrigued by this since, for a client, it is so simple to use and is platform independent. The other nice thing is that, unlike the Chief client viewer, you don't have to send your client your PLAN file.

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Adam:

in the hands of a computer savvy client it can work nicely

otherwise, be prepared to become their tech support :(

Lew

 I have been lucky with the few clients I have recommended it to.  I have never downloaded or messed with the client viewer,  so I would be of no help,  they are on their own.

 

So when you recommend it to the client,  just tell them you  do not know how to work it,  they will figure it out.

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What a bunch of wussies and scaredy-cats. I have used the client viewer with all kinds of clients, including the elderly, and the most technical question I've ever gotten was "Which file do I open?" (This is after seeing lots of texture files in Dropbox.) After this was answered, it's all easy. I also give them a link to the Chieftutor website: http://www.chieftutor.com/helpinghand/viewer.html

 

I have NEVER had to do any extended support with the viewer, and if it were actually needed, I would send them to Chief's own support team.

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