Model to web

glenn

I’m working on a site model for a client, and they asked if I could make a version to put on their website so potential buyers could zoom, etc.
I looked into RPS 3d PDF, at $189 it‘s kinda costly for a one hit.

Can anyone suggest other ways to do this?
Thanks in advance,
Glenn

Gaieus

Glenn,

You can have a 30 day trial of the 3dPDF converter if you only want to use it "for a one hit" (I'm not sure about the commercial use limitations of the free trial version tghough). The advantage of it is that it works with every OS as well as browser.

Then there is Hypercosm which has a free version, too, yet you need to know that it does not yet have a Mac version.

There's also eDarwings which is the ultimately limited presentational tool (I think it can run only from IE - see the "popularity" of the above linked subforum... )

Other than that there is GE of course which they would even like to use especially if the surrounding is detailed enough (don't worry about file size - a "reduced" version would be needed to any of them anyway - especially if it is streaming on the web).

jfmalone

Why not make it a reimbursable expense or include the software cost in your fee?

glenn

Thanks for the information.
Gaieus, from the samples on RPS website, it looks like the free version tags the model with a message "...created with free version.." or something to that effect.
I'm thinking in order to allow as many viewers (potential property buyers) as possible look at the 3d model on my clients website, RPS 3d pdf might be the best bet.

Does anyone here have experience with RPS 3d PDF?
Is there a ratio or relationship between model size & 3d pdf file size?
Thanks,
Glenn
I played round with some samples on RPS site. Appears that the free version makes smaller image than the pay.
I'm thinking this might have some good use with other clients for design/model review.

Gaieus

Glenn,

I created this and this with the free version. (notice that deeply nested components somehow lose their positioned UV maps - Al told me I'd need to explode them first).

Well, I cheated, too, with the link to RPS - you cannot get rid of it only I could do is to make the letters 1pt big AND white (on white background). Yet I also told this to Al who said he'd take care of this in the future so I don't know how it is doing it now as the new version was released.

Also I think for an architect - who regularly communicate with his clients - neither product of those baove should be very expensive. Surely I'd only buy it if I had a project where I badly need it too - but later it's yours anyway.

Download the trial version to find out if you can tweak your model enough for you to be worth buying...

glenn

Thanks for posting the links to your work. It appears I was wrong about the size limit of the free version.

Any idea of the size of your model, and the size of the pdf?

The topo I'm working on is already HUGE.

Glenn

Gaieus

Well, that Eoman crypt was about 1MB as a model (but there are a lot of "extra" stuff in it - like different other reconstruction theories, some basic terrain, plants etc) while the pdf version is 439 kb.

The topo is definitely a big problem (but for yourself at least you could really try the trial version).

The same building with the Hypercosm player has an applet of 285 kb (you need the Hypercosm plugin for this to see).

Al Hart

Re: RPS 3D PDF

There is no difference the free trial version and the full version except:

a. The free trial version include the "Created with the trial version..." phrase

b. The free trial version with create 3D PDFs, but will not create U3D files

c. And, of course, we expect that if the 3D PDF helps your business, you will want to purchase a copy to help fund the development.

It cannot handle large models (about 15 meg or so). We have a few tricks to help with the larger modes - such as resampling the texture images to make them smaller. But some models are just too big to process.

One of the main reasons we chose the Adobe 3D PDF format is that clients are much more willing to update their Adobe Reader (and probably have the proper version already), then they are to download other 3rd party programs.

glenn

Al,
Thanks for the info.
I agree with item C.
As well as the thought behind using Adobe.
The file size limit kinda scares me, but at this point it's only 7 meg, so not sure what will happen by the time I'm finished? Oh, just thought of a way to get the file size down, delete the countour lines, as all I need is the topo (I'll rename the file just in case).
I think I'm going to try the trial version and inform my client about these issues and let them see a sample.
The other option is for static images with mouse over "zoom" for some key features of the site.
Thanks again to everyone for the help.
Glenn
update: purging the contour lines cut 3mg off the file size. I have some 2d property & road lines to purge after I'm finished with the drape.
So, the 3d pdf is looking viable again.