Remote viewing of Virtual Tours

[skilledcraftsma]

If I want to allow a distant customer to view a 3D virtual tour of my design, is it possible to upload a rendered copy of what I create in Chief to be imported into Google SketchUp?
Or is there some other means by which to allow remote virtual tours of rendered drawings?
Sometimes clients are far from the office, so I travel to the site and collect data (measurements, photos, sight lines, sun/shade, landscape/elevations, etc.) to prepare for creation of plans. Once I have a rendering sufficient for initial review, I would rather not have to travel back to their location to present a virtual tour.

[BB boy]

Assuming the definition of Virtual as it applies to your question, you want your client to see what you see on your screen when you view the plan. Several options are available. If by tour, you want your client to be able to "tour" the home (your design) you can create a walk through see: http://www.homedesignersoftware.com/...?faqNumber=881
If you want to be able to send picture files then try this: http://www.homedesignersoftware.com/...?faqNumber=110

If you wish to be able to view your plan w/ your client the same time they view it you can do a screen sharing, by going to freescreensharing.com. If they have a computer and web access and you want to have the opportunity to answer questions as they ask them, this is definately the route I would recommend. I use it with my professional clients quite a bit. By the way, what software are you currently using?

[skilledcraftsma]

Thanks Bob,
I currently use Visual Cadd, a 2D platform which is easy to use and exports DWG or DXF formats. There are several things about Chief Architect that appeal to me (3D, walkthroughs, blueprint-type output, material schedules and parts lists/costs, etc.), I just hope that Chief Architect is similarly easy to draw with. Visual Cadd has direct distance entry where lengths of drawn objects can be entered by keyboard after picking the first point and starting to draw in a given direction. Can I do that in Chief Architect?

I noticed in one of the training videos online that re-sizing of an object in Chief stretches connected geometry to maintain boundary integrity. I like that. I presume that dimensions are also updated accordingly for those actions.

I am curious to discover what is technically different between Chief Architect Pro and the Interiors edition. I can only guess that the Interiors edition has special symbol libraries, and maybe different toolbars. Can I buy an edition that has all the features needed to draw exteriors and interiors, as well as landscape&topography for site plans?

I will call them directly to find this out.

[Katalyst777]

You can view a comparison matrix between the Premier and Interiors versions on the Chief Architect website at:
http://www.chiefarchitect.com/products/compare.html

If you have questions on symbols and such, you probably should be talking to the company's Sales folks directly.

http://www.chiefarchitect.com/company/contact.html

[skilledcraftsma]

I talked with Sales, and they said the Interiors edition is just the Premiere edition with lots of features turned off. It's for interior designers who don't need the construction features, and is priced lower to fit that market niche.

It turns out that symbols can be imported from Google 3D Warehouse where millions of images are free to use. You can also import photos and use them in renderings, or turn them into textures or symbols.