Autodesk Forge - Uber of CAD

I love Uber. The full reasons why I would be a loyal customer of Uber are mentioned here. It's a lengthy write-up (you have been warned!), but you get the gist of how grateful I am for Uber.

The world is shifting towards this Uber model quite fast. Choose it, rent it, use it, and pay only for the actual time you use it. What an idea! You don't have to own things, objects, or services that will be used for just a fraction of time and will sit duck otherwise.

Autodesk was one of the first engineering software companies that realized the power of this rent-and-leave model. They have come up with their own platform - Autodesk Forge which exactly works like an Uber. Well, I am oversimplifying, but stay with me.

Autodesk Forge is a cloud service that contains almost all Autodesk CAD applications - AutoCAD, Inventor, and Revit running on the servers. As a user, if you want something as simple as changing logos in the DWG files, you just call a few APIs and get it done in the cloud. Guess what - you don't need any AutoCAD license for this service. It will be done at a fraction of a dollar conveniently.

Autodesk Forge platform also offers a CAD viewer free of cost which can fulfill the need of viewing as well as sending instructions on what to do with the data to the headless AutoCAD, Revit, or Inventor running on powerful machines in the cloud.

If you have something which you feel needs only a few features of the huge CAD modelers, Autodesk Forge is perfect for you. The setup time of the system is short and you will just pay for the time you run the service. It's just like hiring an Uber to drop you to the Airport and forget about it.

Autodesk Forge means that you can combine the strengths of different CAD modelers, and translators to get your custom job done. To give you an example, Forge's translation engine can get 60 CAD file formats translated into viewable.

Different CAD modelers can be used in combination. For example, Inventor is powerful for 3D modeling, Revit for AEC data, and AutoCAD to create 2D drawings. I am not going to pretend that I know exactly why someone on earth will use these three in combination; but trust me, you can do it if you want. That too without buying a single license of any of those.

Here are interesting examples of what we at CCTech are doing with Autodesk Forge -

1. Layout Manager

You have Google map satellite pictures and your standard equipment drawings. Draw the layout directly on top of the map, place your equipment tentatively, and the AutoCAD engine in the cloud will generate DWG files and PDFs for you. Do it on a laptop, tablet, or mobile (if you don't mind really tiny screens). This is possible because the heavy lifters are in the cloud and what you have at your end is a very light browser viewer.

2. BIM reviews

You have huge Revit files and your clients want to review them. Would you ask them to install Revit on their delicate laptops? If yes, more power to you. Man. (Dropped a little JBP piece here :) )

Here is what you do - Send them URLs in an email, which will show the Revit file in a web browser. The user can not only see it but can use markups to exactly point out where they think you have overused your genius. You get the data live back to your end.

3. Your own viewer - editor for showing IoT data

Your customers can view 3D models along with the data emitted by the devices live inside a CAD model, in the web browser. They can tweak a thermostat (Of course we will provide you with proper rights and security) by reviewing the run-time data sitting across the ocean from the real facility.

The applications are only bound by your creativity. Your imagination - CCTech's application. Oh, did I mention that if you go full nuts in your fancy imagination, we also provide a reality check service? Don't hesitate to call us about that. We love it.

Image source -

Uber - https://pixabay.com/photos/app-apple-hand-holding-ios-iphone-2941689/

Forge - https://forge.autodesk.com/blog/design-automation-api-webinar-series-register-now