It’s aim is to be the easiest way to share CAD models for review and feedback. It syncs STEP and IGES files automatically between PC and iPad and you can share to others just by entering their email address. Our native viewer can display any large 3D model which WebGL based viewers cannot do, at least with a good frame rate.

So I thought I would give it a try since I have used Autodesk 360 before and recently reviewed GrabCAD Workbench.

After a simple registration process of entering your email address and picking a password I was presented with a simple looking screen with a sample STP file to view.

After clicking on it, the viewer started to show the model but I was presented with a loading progress bar that took over 1 minute to load (using a 6mbps DSL connection). I’m not sure this is acceptable for most people especially since I was simply viewing the sample model which wasn’t anything overly complex.

I did receive an update by email after my initial login from Tuomas that informed me that they are working on an update to dramatically reduce the time it takes to load a model, so that is encouraging news.

The viewer itself allows you to rotate and zoom but nothing more. The lack of features such as measure, explode, section, comment, etc makes this a fairly useless application for real world collaboration. I’m not sure who would only require viewing of a model and nothing more. I fully expect they plan on building out the features, so I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt for now.

Uploading of files to the service seems to be a bit tricky right now. There does not exisit any means to directly upload your files from the web browser. You need to first download a client application in order to upload to the MyCADBox service. Interestingly enough, I found the web upload only at GrabCAD workbench lacking but miss the functionality with MyCADBox.

With the lack of features that truly excite me at this point, I was hesitant in downloading and installing an application on my computer that allowed for uploading of files to the service. However, after downloading the setup and installing I was able to associate STEP and IGES files with the MyCADBox app. I wasn’t sure if the program can be used with any native CAD formats like SolidWorks or Inventor. I’m suspecting not but was never able to actually use the application to try it out because it kept crashing on launch.

MyCADBox allows you to share up to 10 models at once for free and charges $9.99/month for sharing up to 100 models. They also provide a free iPad app for viewing your models.

More information can be found on their website or by from this PDF.

In conclusion, I’m excited that the market for cloud based CAD collaboration is showing some diversification but am afraid that some are rushing to go live before they are truly ready. When you have to compete against the clear titans of CAD sharing like Autodesk or GrabCAD with millions in development budgets you have to bring something unique and of utmost quality in order to show the world you are worthy of the fight for attention.

I’m hoping this post gets some attention from MyCADBox and they look hard at what they are trying to accomplish with their product. I’ll certainly try it out again when they are ready.

Next post on this subject, I’ll be comparing Autodesk 360, GrabCAD Workbench, MyCADBox and Flatter Files.

Workbench offers a variety of tools to manipulate the CAD file using the in-browser viewer. I was able to add pins to any location on the model I choose which allows you to add a comment with an accompanying sketch that you can create directly within Workbench.

Creating the sketch was easy with the set of tools provided.

The model viewer allows you to explode the assembly to better view the internals with the simple movement of a slider.

You also have a section view tool available with the same easy slider control.

A measure tool is provided but I found it a little clunky to use. It picks up a measurement by double clicking two points on the model. I found it to be hit or miss as to what it measures. I’m not sure I would trust this as an accurate reference for critical design work quite yet. Hopefully the GrabCAD team will be working on improving the measuring tools in the future.

Comments can be applied to any file within Workbench using the side-bar adjacent the viewer.

I found the upload time for a 303KB Inventor file to be acceptable at less than 10 seconds with a 2.5mbps DSL internet connection. The model took another 10 seconds to appear in the viewer window once I clicked on it.

Next I picked a simple Inventor hinge assembly and uploaded it. At first I only uploaded the .iam assembly file and not the parts that make up the assembly. The file uploaded but nothing was displayed in the Workbench viewer window. If I go back and re-upload the assemble with the parts at the same time, everything is displayed correctly. But what if you don’t know what files belong to the assembly? Do you really have time to pack-n-go or some other operation to separate out the files required to build your assembly? These tools are supposed to make your life easier, not harder first and before the easy.

What Workbench needs is an solution to be able to upload directly from your CAD software to Workbench. This would allow for any dependent files to be uploaded along with the assembly file without having to think about which child files are required. This would also open the door for Vault like check-in and out that you would expect from any basic PDM data management solution like Workbench is trying to mimic. I also noted that when clicking the download function within the assembly, only the assembly file was downloaded and not any of the required child parts.

In conclusion, I do feel Workbench has the potential to be a decent collaborative solution for small teams or for use with project team and client. It does require some maturing before I would consider it a serious competitor to products like Autodesk 360 or something similar. Especially since Autodesk 360 is basically free for collaboration and it looks like Grabcad has plans for paid tiers of Workbench. If you have nothing in-house now for sharing, Workbench may be a decent solution for you.

We shall see how Workbench develops. Thanks to Hardi and the crew for allowing me to try out the limited beta.

Yes, I will read them eventually but the hashtag is automated when a new post is made. I didn’t want to miss anything and this is a good way to catch all the new good stuff to read.

If you want your CAD blog included in the search, just send me a message.

Included in the attachment an image of a kitchen done in Inventor and rendered in inventor studio. An other way to use Inventor.

It’s quite impressive since Inventor isn’t necessarily geared towards architectural. It shows you that the real capability of your software only is limited by your imagination and determination. Click the image for a full size view.

Thanks

What do you all think of the new look?

Read more about the change here.

I discovered you can’t flip work plane normals in Autodesk Inventor in the assembly environment. Since you can in parts I was surprised, here’s my workaround

Each level will bring you more content and expertise to share with fellow members, plus provide an expanded, more interactive website, publication access, and much more!

The free membership will now be known as “basic membership” with continued access to the AUGI forums. if you wish to post to the forums, you will need to be at least a basic member but read only access will be available   to everyone even without being an AUGI member.

Premier membership at $25/year will include all the benefits basic members receive with the addition of access to an expanded site archive and early access to some publications. “This level is really designed for users who may still use older products and want access to historic AUGI hosted content.”

Professional membership at $75/year for a limited time ($100/year normally  expands upon the other two membership levels by including a print edition of AUGI World magazine and an opportunity to receive a standard Autodesk Developer Network membership (ADN). Normally, an ADN membership is $1,400/year so this a very good deal.

[ Upgrade Information ]

When I first read this email from AUGI, I was skeptical. If it wasn’t for the addition of the included ADN membership with the professional membership I would have no reason to subscribe to any of these paid membership levels. But reading further into the fine print… I still am skeptical  The free ADN membership is only offered to those not already an ADN member and is only a trial membership for 2013. Most likely meaning you will need to purchase an ADN membership ($1400/year) for 2014.

This is a free trial ADN membership at the Standard level for 2013.  Your ADN Membership will start on or after January 1, 2013 and terminates on Dec. 31, 2013.

I do feel that AUGI provides valuable services to its members through the forums and publications which has been free since 2001. Now that AUGI is trying to restrict some content to paid members, my initial thoughts are that people are going to simply go elsewhere to get the information they want. There is plenty of other forums, blogs, websites and publications that offer free content that would be more than willing to fill in for what AUGI is trying to charge for.

Only time will tell as to how this will pan out for AUGI, I look forward to hearing the comments from current AUGI members as to how they feel about this change. If you want to tell me what you think, please comment on this article or you can post to Google+, Facebook, or Twitter (use hashtag #AUGImemberships)

Google+ Communities can be open to anyone on the network, but they can be private if you wish, so members have the opportunity to share photos, forum posts, and even add Hangouts and Events without worrying about that content being available to anyone and everyone on the web.

- Engadget

Being the person I am to try just about anything once, have created a community for us fellow Autodesk Inventor users to hang out. The new home for Inventor on Google+ is here:

https://plus.google.com/communities/105400363780613444509

Note that the URL address does not contain the community name and I already tested the fact that you can create multiple communities on Google+ with the same name. So their may be many Inventor communities at some point… but at least I’ll always know that this one was first.

We’ll see how it grows and what it may evolve into. I already have a presence on Google+ through my personal profile, CADToolbox.com and the Cape Fear Inventor Users Group. You can also find me on Twitter (@cadtoolbox) and on Facebook.

Let me know what you think. Post a comment below or visit one of the sites above to track me down.