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CadFaster|Collaborate for Autodesk Revit 2011
2 Jun, 2011 By: Patrick DavisFirst Look Review: Also available for SolidWorks and coming soon for mobile use, new plug-in facilitates real-time, interactive model reviews.
Editor's Note: This article was originally published in the Winter/Spring 2011 issue of Cadalyst magazine.
Over the years, the design process has changed with the introduction of new technologies, bringing about shorter design cycles, reduced fees, and demands for greater productivity. What hasn't changed is the need for distributed teams to collaborate with each other and their various project stakeholders. Sharing 3D files with non–CAD users has always been difficult. Technology can help, as long as the real-time collaboration tools replicate the power and experience of a face-to-face meeting.
Finland-based CadFaster, an industry newcomer, has introduced a design collaboration tool that enables various project participants to collaborate on 3D models. Regardless of a project's size, everyone can walk through, measure, create sections, and add comments. These capabilities aren't necessarily new or exciting. What CadFaster|Collaborate brings to the table is the ability to work interactively in real time, even when using a low-bandwidth Internet connection or (coming soon) an iPhone or iPad. Now, that is exciting.
CadFaster|Collaborate is available for Autodesk Revit 2011 for BIM (building information modeling) workflows and SolidWorks 2010 and 2011 for 3D product design, and should work with Revit 2012, according to CadFaster. The company reports that the program will be released for Bentley Architecture and Graphisoft ArchiCAD platforms next. For this First Look, I reviewed CadFaster|Collaborate for Autodesk Revit 2011.
How It Works
CadFaster|Collaborate provides a plug-in for Revit that lets users export a model to a portable executable file that can be e-mailed to project stakeholders for review. The executable file, which contains a stand-alone viewer and a highly compressed version of the Revit model, can be opened and viewed on almost any Windows-based computer without requiring any special software or tools beyond an Internet connection. During a design review meeting, as many as ten participants can connect to a joint web-based viewing session.
CadFaster|Collaborate provides the mechanism for this web-based meeting. This setup is similar to a common web-based meeting, except there is no audio so a separate conference call is required. In a collaborative session, each user simply opens his or her file. This initiates communication via the CadFaster servers which manage the communications between files. No meeting ID, log-in, or special URL is required. One person at a time can control the position of the camera view, but all participants can select any element in the model and make annotations for all parties to view. All annotations are collected in real time on a cloud-based server so they are accessible anytime from anywhere. User-defined expiration dates can be set on the files, essentially disabling them when the time period expires.
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About the Author: Patrick Davis
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Comments
on: June 3, 2011 - 5:34am