Overall Thoughts

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David Ivey

Hi.

We're still in our trial, but also had the pre-release version, and here are my general thoughts:

  • The Dollhouse View
    In the pre-release it was better, as it could at least be rotated.  Rotate no longer seems to work, and we don't know why. I'd like to be able to move the table up and down as well.  We have some pretty tall folks, and bending down to see a city-size model is uncomfortable after a bit.  Autodesk LIVE has a good grip on this feature.  It would also be beneficial to be able to scale the dollhouse up or down, say .5x, 2x, 2.5x.  We find the view useful, but it would be more so if we could do this.  Also, it would be beneficial to be able to re-locate the dollhouse table to the center of the 'play' area.  Ours is up against a wall, which makes it difficult to fully utilize, especially since rotate no longer works
  • Image Capture
    We like the feature, but wish we had an option for a higher resolution and different aspect ratio. Several have also asked about stamps such as time, date, direction, etc.., based on the sun settings.  Occasionally we can't capture more images without re-launching the model, but it doesn't happen often.
  • Markup Tool
    We need some different shapes and sizes, as well as the ability to add text.  Insight VR has a good method for this.  Just plastering red circles everywhere and taking a picture isn't that helpful.  And the brush tool could be useful, but it's not currently.  It needs to be able to draw lines, change color, and change weight
  • Sun Settings
    This is a pretty decent tool, but the day and time setting went from being way to slow to way too fast after the initial release.  People have a hard time getting the light right where they want it. Maybe include a fine control (?), but just slowing down the slider would help.  It would also be helpful to have the option to define geo location and direction of north. Not all our models contain that information, so it's a feature we'd really like.
  • Layers
    Generally not too bad, although I sometimes don't get how they are determined, especially coming our of Revit (is there documentation on this someplace).  And I did see some some requests for Revit Design option support, so I'll second that here.  And we really need a better method for going from Rhino to iris, more like what we have with Revit, so we can control layers, etc.. OBJ's don't contain enough information coming from Rhino, and the Grasshopper script is too complicated for many.  It needs to function like the Revit plug-in

Overall we really love the speed with which we can get from a software package like Revit or Rhino, to a solid VR experience, and it's one of the main reason's that we'll likely get at least one seat.  We could consider more, but $200/seat/month is a bit steep, given the current state of the feature set.  My hope is that this package will be built on to increase the value, making the decision to purchase more seats easier.

So great start, thanks, and keep up the good work.

 

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    Geoff Briggs

    This a great overview David. We have been testing Prospect for a few months and a few versions (Archicad >> SketchUp >> Prospect) and agree wholeheartedly with your recommendations, as well as another poster's request for different plinth options in the scale model mode.

    Regards,

    Geoff Briggs

    DeForest Architect, Seattle

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    Shane Scranton

    Hi David and Geoff, thank you so much for your comments here. This feedback is very helpful and we have a few of these items in the works already. I'm interested in knowing what environments you prefer for scale model mode - the white gable in v1.0 of Prospect or the grey background from our beta? We're brainstorming what's next for Scale Model Mode and would love to hear your thoughts on the ideal environment to display the model in.

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    Geoff Briggs

    HI Shane,

    Thanks for reaching out.

    Personally I find the sky or the gables more distracting than helpful in SMM. Since the entire experience starts in a physical room I feel it most comfortable to initiate the VR in a room too. I would like to see the Prospect room scale to the room we have defined as part of the HTC set-up. The plinth and model would then be in the middle. A few simple options for room "decor", say a light and dark theme, would be enough, as well as a couple options for the plinth. Restoring the rotate feature is a must, and David's request for height adjustment is an excellent idea.

    Cheers.

     

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    Shane Scranton

    Great! Thanks for the feedback. In out last release (1.1.0) we fixed the scale model rotation, so you should now be able to rotate the model around the table using the thumb pads on the Vive or joysticks on the Touch. Next time you take Prospect for a spin you should see the updated functionality.

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    David Ivey

    Hi all.

    I had hoped to update my overview over the break, as I realize some of these issues have either been resolved, or better understood by us since roll-out, so here's a quick update:

    We are now customers!  I bought a year's subscription of the Suite (Prospect and Scope), and we are happy with where the tools are right now, where they're going, and the support and service we receive (Ailyn rocks!).

    • The Dollhouse View
      Rotate does work as advertised, but I'll stick with the request to be able to move the table up and down as well, and scale the dollhouse up or down.  Re-running the room setup put our model back in the center of our work area, so that's an easy issue to fix when it comes up (and likely is not related to Prospect)

    • Image Capture
      Same request as before.

    • Markup Tool
      Same request as before.

    • Sun Settings
      Same request as before.

    • Layers
      We understand how they're being made now based on the DWG export, but would prefer to have access to the actual Revit Categories, so that visibility control of exported geometry mirrors what people are used to from Revit, and we'd still like Revit Design option support.
      The Rhino export button works fine.  Previously I misunderstood how it was to be used.  It's very simple and intuitive, but we'd still can't control layers, etc.

    Overall we still really love the speed with which we can get from a software package like Revit or Rhino, to a solid VR experience, and that's the main reason's we got our seat.  In relation to some other tools, we like the price a bit better now, and hope the value will increase as capability is added.

    Thanks Again.

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