A lot of my design work is renovations and additions to houses. The first step for me is preparing a set of as built drawings of the existing home and, after nearly 30 years of using measuring tapes and note pads, I am moving towards using a Leica LMD and am exploring input options. The Leica Disto Plan App is okay but seems pretty basic. I'm looking more closely at the AutoCad Mobile app and the Orthograph app. I've only just started playing around with these two and the former seems relatively simple and relatively easy to use while the latter seems a little more complicated but appears to be able to do a lot. Both operate on my iPad or iPhone, so no need to drag around the laptop. And both can receive input from the Leica Disto via Bluetooth. Does anyone have experience with these and have any feedback on which works best? Pros or Cons?
my last as-built i did on an ipad w/ laser (not bluetooth) & tape (for things that were small or had no target surface).
autocad app just got updated for ipad, making more use of the keyboard to be more like desktop. I'm not sure it's necessarily better for as-builts because you basically need to be sitting to use the keyboard efficiently. They also fixed the input with apple pencil so it works now. Nevertheless, I think the app works fairly well. It IS more clunky than a laptop with the full deal. But I don't need to go back/forth with measurements to the laptop, just carry the ipad as I go (tape slotted on my belt; laser in my hand; juggle apple pencil w/ laser; and shake out my wrist every 15mins from ipad cranked wrist cramp).
i'm optimistic that it will get better. I think i was close to as fast as my method prior to ipad app (laptop and going back/forth with measurements)
[iphone is just too small to ever be useful beyond looking at a source document in the field for reference]
Mar 16, 20 12:54 pm ·
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Most Efficient Apps for As Built Drawings
A lot of my design work is renovations and additions to houses. The first step for me is preparing a set of as built drawings of the existing home and, after nearly 30 years of using measuring tapes and note pads, I am moving towards using a Leica LMD and am exploring input options. The Leica Disto Plan App is okay but seems pretty basic. I'm looking more closely at the AutoCad Mobile app and the Orthograph app. I've only just started playing around with these two and the former seems relatively simple and relatively easy to use while the latter seems a little more complicated but appears to be able to do a lot. Both operate on my iPad or iPhone, so no need to drag around the laptop. And both can receive input from the Leica Disto via Bluetooth. Does anyone have experience with these and have any feedback on which works best? Pros or Cons?
I can’t even get accurate readings with my laser even when used on stable surfaces. Hard to measure incorrectly with a tape.
[despite this being a necro thread]
my last as-built i did on an ipad w/ laser (not bluetooth) & tape (for things that were small or had no target surface).
autocad app just got updated for ipad, making more use of the keyboard to be more like desktop. I'm not sure it's necessarily better for as-builts because you basically need to be sitting to use the keyboard efficiently. They also fixed the input with apple pencil so it works now. Nevertheless, I think the app works fairly well. It IS more clunky than a laptop with the full deal. But I don't need to go back/forth with measurements to the laptop, just carry the ipad as I go (tape slotted on my belt; laser in my hand; juggle apple pencil w/ laser; and shake out my wrist every 15mins from ipad cranked wrist cramp).
i'm optimistic that it will get better. I think i was close to as fast as my method prior to ipad app (laptop and going back/forth with measurements)
[iphone is just too small to ever be useful beyond looking at a source document in the field for reference]
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