• Virtual Building Explorer
• FAQ

Virtual Building Explorer Frequently Asked Questions

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How do I share VBE scenes with my clients?

VBE creates a self-running executable file that contains both the rendered scene and the viewing environment. No software needs to be purchased or installed by your client to view VBE .exe files. Just double-click the .exe and off you go. See examples of such VBE scenes here: Example Projects

Is there a trial version of VBE?

Yes. Download Trial version of Virtual Building Explorer

Install steps:

• Install VBE from the official VBE CD or download the installer from the VBE website.

• After successful installation locate the VBE_?LicenseManager Application in the VBE installation folder and start it.

• Click on Request Trial Version button to receive a 5 days trial license form the VBE server.
• Note that you have to have a working Internet connection to obtain a trial license.

What are the limitations of the Trial version?

The trial version has the full functionality of VBEG including the Global Illumination feature. The only limitation is that the self running exe files saved with Trial version can only be used on the same computer where the trial version is installed. The trial license is valid for 5 days.

Trial version of Virtual Building Explorer

Can I upgrade my trial license for a FULL license?

Yes. Please contact your ArchiCAD reseller. Once you receive the full license enter the serial number and password in the License Manager application and start the VBE application. There is no need to reinstall the VBE application.

Is the VBE license connected to the AC WIBU dongle?

No. VBE can run without a WIBU dongle however you’ll need a valid AC installation and a WIBU dongle to be able to export AC models to VBE.

Is there a NET version of the VBE license?

No. All VBE licenses are single, and can be installed on one computer only.

Can I transfer my VBE license between computers?

Yes. You have to deactivate your license on the currently used computer and then you can activate it on the target computer using the 'License Manager' application. Note: If you don't deactivate your license, you will not be able to activate it again on an other computer. Deactivating/activating can be done only a limited number of times per day. After the seventh attempt the license is suspended for 24 hours.

What happens if I can not activate/deactivate a license through the 'License Manager'?

It may happen that due to a system collapse you need to re-install VBE, but you can not activate your license because it is already recognized as 'active' from the previous installation. In this case, you can not use the 'License Manager' to deactivate your license. Please inform your reseller and send the license number and the password to them. They will deactivate the license remotely.

Can I use VBE with Start Edition 2009, ArchiCAD 12 Educational and AC12 Trial versions?

Yes. There is no limitation on using VBE with these products.

Is there a Mac version of VBE?

Yes, VBE 2 is supported both on Mac & PC.

Will I be able to save cross platform (Win/MAC) self running exe files with VBE?

Once the MAC version is available we will release a hotfix for the Windows platform as well. With these new versions of VBE you’ll be able to choose if you’d like to save your project in Windows or Mac format.

How do I refresh the VBE?

Whenever a new version will be ready, you will be able to download it from the VBE download page: http://www.graphisoft.com/products/archicad-solutions/virtual-building-explorer/vbe-trial-version.html

How can I define initial position in VBE? It's not the same when I start in VBE as the position in AC from where I started.

You cannot. The position is computed from the model size and the camera is dropped close (but not exactly at) the center.

NOTE: In case of you are too far from the project, you can adjust speed in Settings to get to the model faster.

Can I adjust the level of global illumination?

No, for simplicity, the falloff/exposure levels are calculated automatically based on the geometry of the model.

Which ArchiCAD rendering settings (sun, ambient etc) affects the VBE/VBEG?

None of these settings affect VBE or VBE-G.

What are the system required for running VBE?

1024x768 screen resolution and OpenGL 1.4 compatible Video Card is required with 256MB or more on-board video memory. For complex models 512MB or more video RAM is required.

Note: For optimal performance, quit all other applications when running VBE.

What does "Testing System Performance" exactly do during start-up?

VBE is rendering the scene without showing it, and checks the frames-per-second (fps) rate. If it is less than 40 fps (which is required for smooth navigation), VBE will try to lower the settings such as changing from FLOAT to FIXED and to disable sun shadows, and try again.

Can I use Space Navigator with VBE?

Space Navigator is not supported by VBE at the moment.

What is engine.zzz?

engine.zzz is the same as VBE.exe, but engine.zzz is being run when launching from ArchiCAD - using the launch button.

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Virtual Building Explorer Known Issues

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Issue on Mac with Parallels Desktop or VMWare Fusion

There is a known issue on Macs running VBE under a Parallels Desktop virtual machine: global illumination (GI) doesn’t seem to work. To initialise GI in VBE is not even possible. The other viewing modes work under Parallels with Windows XP. It has also been reported that operating VBE under a VMWare Fusion virtual machine may not be possible.

Running VBE in a virtual machine is not recommended because VBE is using the video card in OpenGL mode. The problem itself might also be related to the ATI Mobility Radeon video cards that are used in Macbook laptops, although this has been seen on a Mac Pro system with a desktop ATI card as well.

Issue with Screenshots

Screenshot (F5) creates a huge .bmp file (in the \Virtual Building Explorer\Screenshots folder). Investigation is started in this case.

Issue with Curtain Wall

At the moment you can walk trough curtain walls anywhere, not just through doors in the curtain wall. We are investigating if this can be improved in future versions of VBE.

Issue with huge projects

If your VBE file is large, and you experience problems when navigating the model, then try to restart your system to clear the system and video memory and try to run VBE alone (no other applications running). 256MB of video RAM might be insufficient for navigating huge models. Our experience is that 4GB system memory and 758MB video memory is enough to navigate even the largest of models.

In VBE 2.0 you can choose "Goraud" and "Metal" rendering modes for quicker navigation in larger models.

Issue with changing to other applications while VBE is running

While VBE is running, it uses maximum capacity of video card, so you can not switch to an other application (similar to computer games). Also, running other applications along with VBE is not recommended as it may cause performance problems (see above).

We have started to examine this problem and develop running VBE in a window in future versions.

Issue with the recording symbol

When creating a movie you press: Shift + r to set up the recorder. At the moment the wrong sign appears after left mouse button: instead of the play sign

in the future version the correct

sign will be visible.

Has been corrected in VBE 2.0.

Issue with bitmap pictures

Bitmap trees, pictures etc are displayed only as empty sheets in VBE .

It is not possible to solve with current VBE due to limitations in the API used to export from ArchiCAD. Future version of VBE will solve this.

VBE 2.0: License management problem with Windows Vista and Windows 7

You have successfully installed VBE 2 for AC 13 on WIn 7 or Windows Vista, could activate and use VBE itself, but when you try to export from ArchiCAD, an error message appears: "No valid license".

The workaround is the following: you have to run License Manager as administrator and activate the license.

Steps 1. Deactivate license 2. Run license Manager right click "run as administrator" (see attachment) 3. Activate license

VBE 2.0: Save dialog can't display on Windows Vista and Windows 7

It may happen, that when you when press the 'save' button in VBE and try to save VBE data, the Windows common save dialog can't come out to the front, it hides behind VBE.

The workaround is the following:

1. Press ALT+TAB, and the file dialog will display,

or:

2. When you press save, press Ctrl+Alt+Del - go to Task manager, than you will see next to the Task Manager Window the Save dialog. You can simply click on it, and go on with the saving process.

After that, VBE comes up again.

VBE 2.0: Mouse is very slow in the menu (only on Mac)

The responsiveness of the mouse in the VBE menu system is slower than during navigating in the 3D.

Possible workaround:

If you disable the drivers for the mouse (disable the global setting, not the application setting), the mouse works as it should in VBE.

VBE: Logitech mouse/keyboard is not working in VBE

Some Logitech mice and keyboards are not working in the OSX version of VBE if Logitech Control Center is installed.

Possible workaround:

Uninstall Logitech Control Center.

VBE 2.0: License Manager bug with computername on Snow Leopard

When you start License Manger and start activating your license, tha following can happen: If you leave the default "JOHNS_WORKSTATION" entry, then if you paste serial and password, then if you then click in the Computer description field, the serial and password entries are erased.

Workaround:

Type computername first.

VBE 2.0: New License Manager to handle low case characters in passwords

If your password contains lower case characters you will need a new license manager to be able to activate that. The following zip contains both of the Mac and PC version of the license manager. Overwrite the existing license manager file with the new one.

VBE License Manager 2.03 licensemanager_2_0_3.zip

The default location of the license manager:

• Mac: MacHD:Applications:Graphisoft:Virtual Building Explorer 2

• Windows: C:\Program Files\Graphisoft\Virtual Building Explorer 2

VBE 2.0: Several problems may happen by running VBE on Bootcamp

If you run Windows operation system on Mac by using Bootcamp, several errors may appear.

VBE 2.0: Complex profile wall trough a transparent material is invisible

If you look for example into a house with complex profile walls through the window, the wall will be invisible. Investigation is started in this case.

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Virtual Building Explorer Release Notes

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