Cloud collaboration for popular BIM software promises to unite design teams worldwide.
As the building information modeling (BIM) industry becomes more and more dependent on cloud-based platforms to get things done, the need for collaboration tools has been rising. Having your models on the cloud is one thing—having your team on the cloud with you would be even better, right?
In the spirit of Autodesk, ask and ye shall receive.
A360 Collaboration for Revit in North America
When it first came out back in December of 2014, Collaboration for Revit scratched a long-time itch for the industry. If a project team wasn’t co-located, collaboration could get pretty messy—leaving trails of emails and lengthy phone calls in its wake.
Collaboration for Revit promises to let users access cloud-based model information from a web browser or mobile device, much like the rest of the 360 suite. (Image courtesy of Autodesk.)
Collaboration for Revit promised to help sort out the mess by providing a common workspace based on Autodesk’s A360 offering. Here, users could connect, discuss and work on projects concurrently from wherever they happened to be.
Users can keep themselves up-to-date using a scrolling activity feed and chat feature. It includes the ability to attach files, images and screen captures.
It also provides the option for users who don’t necessarily have access to Revit (think construction teams and building owners) to log in and interact with the models.
What was the catch? It was only available in English—and only in North America. This worked poorly even for North American firms with overseas projects, as is often the case with larger companies.
International BIM
According to Autodesk, A360 Collaboration for Revit will be available on a global scale effective January 7, 2016.
A Revit model, shown here in a Mac OS browser, can be edited by anyone on the team from wherever they happen to be. The chat feature is shown on the left. (Image courtesy of Autodesk.)
Designers and contractors will have more options to work with people with various skill sets instead of limiting themselves geographically. Those with the inclination would also be able to work outside of the office or from home, reducing the need for large office spaces.
At this point, it’s still only available in English but the company plans to roll out support for other languages by the end of the month.
There hasn’t been any word on whether Autodesk plans to include a translation engine as part of its international collaboration platform.
BIM on the Cloud
A360 Collaboration for Revit is a cloud subscription service, as with the rest of Autodesk’s 360 products. It’s a part of Autodesk’s plan to move all of its desktop software to the cloud, which is the latest trend for popular BIM software producers.
While this does present an inconvenience to those users who like to own their software outright, the concept of a cloud platform comes with the opportunity for much wider collaboration and BIM process than the software alone could offer. It also allows users to check on models
With the incorporation of Collaboration for Revit onto A360, users have the option to check on models using a web browser as well as an iOS or Android device.
If you’re curious about what this cloud BIM system could cost, Autodesk already has a full set of pricing options. Monthly subscriptions will sit at an SRP (suggested retail price) of $100 ($1,200/year). Similarly, quarterly is about $300 ($1,200/year). Annual subscriptions ring in at about $800.
These all come with a subscription to A360 Team, the paid version of A360 which includes 10 GB of cloud storage per user.
For more information, check out the Collaboration for Revit website.
