Getting Acquainted With CadFaster

More than just another 3D viewer, CadFaster Collaborate is a new tool that looks set to change the way you share your architectural models and review designs. It's being marketed as a solution for distributing, co-viewing and annotating 3D CAD models in realtime with colleagues over the cloud. But just how easy is it to use?

The test. We tested the Revit plug-in version of CadFaster Collaborate, and used one of our demo models from Revit Architecture 2011 as the test subject. This happened to be a fairly complex 40MB design of a school building so, for the size of the file, I was impressed that the model was easily translated into a CadFaster 8MB .exe file in about 16 seconds. Then, it was only a couple of minutes to export and distribute the model via my FTP site.

The learning curve. Once uploaded, the model could be accessed by the user group in CadFaster. This was done by selecting the host session icon for each member to join so they could then see the same view as me. The feature and component tree which runs down the left side of the screen really helped when trying to locate specific elements of the design, while the menu bar at the top gave easy access to shading, sectioning and 3D mark-up tools. CadFaster's interface seems to be geared towards ease of use and speed rather than flashy graphics, and although the navigation was a little tricky to start with, moving around the building model and adding comments and annotations on aspects of the design was easy.

The verdict. I found CadFaster Collaborate to be an impressive little plug-in which, unlike a lot of solutions out there, doesn't require any training. This would make it a great tool for sharing designs with clients who aren't architects and wouldn't necessarily be up to speed with other 3D viewers. It's also good value too, with only the Revit add-in incurring an annual subscription fee.

The next thing I would like to do is make the test group larger and see how well CadFaster copes with up to ten users viewing a model at once. I'm also very interested in seeing CadFaster on the iPad and iPhone when it's released. From the look of the demo videos, having all the functionality of CadFaster on your mobile device is going to be a massive advancement in how architects share designs with colleagues and clients.

(Ed. - CadFaster is now available for iPad and iPhone too. Check out the video below to see it in action.)

For more information on CadFaster Collaborate, call our CAD team on 03332 409 306 or email CAD@Jigsaw24.com. You can also keep up with our latest news, offers and articles by following us on Twitter (@Jigsaw24CAD) and 'Like'-ing our Facebook page.

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