by Carl Collins

As any architectural designer or design and building manager knows, working on a 3D CAD/BIM model can be extremely complex, with many parties contributing from a variety of platforms to a massively varying degree.

As a unified design, architecture, and structural and services engineering firm, we find this to be particularly true at Arup Associates.

The firm was a real pioneer in collaborative design and we have always felt that no one part of a design is more important than another. In a sense, we feel that the rest of the world is finally catching up to this approach.

Given the nature of our business and our design philosophy, it is not uncommon for us to have a geographically dispersed team of collaborators working simultaneously on large 3D CAD/BIM files for a project such as a structural design.

Sharing those files and transferring data can become a formidable challenge, especially when we begin to engage with remote team members who have disparate CAD/BIM software or no access to powerful workstations.

We therefore felt fortunate to be approached by the experts at CadFaster when they first started developing their CadFaster Collaborate 3D CAD/BIM collaboration software. They told us they really wanted the tool to be developed specifically for a user's needs and asked us if we wouldn't mind trying it out.

Appropriately enough, this turned into a true collaborative project. The Arup Associates design team became a collaborator on the collaborative software tool and helped fine-tune it for wider adoption.   >>>

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SUBSCRIPTION SAMPLE CadFaster Collaborate is a tool that allows for interactive viewing and annotation of 3D CAD and BIM models. The program is available as a plugin for the Autodesk Revit, Bentley MicroStation, and SolidWorks modeling programs, and as an iPad app. Image: Courtesy CadFaster Extra Large Image SUBSCRIPTION SAMPLE Exported by CadFaster Collaborate as an executable file that includes an interactive 3D viewer, the model can be simultaneously viewed and annotated by multiple people. Image: Courtesy CadFaster Extra Large Image   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.