CAD software is expensive; CAD and BIM files are becoming huge. For every architect and engineer who must share the use of an original CAD file, there are on average 10 other people to need to view design data, not help to create it. In response, there are several new and competing 3D publishing formats for design data. They seek to replace the use of plot files, FedEx, “J-pegs,” and DXF for communicating design data. Think of this as the “beyond the firewall” level of sharing design information.
At the same time CAD vendors are looking to improve end-user productivity by moving as much information use and management as possible into the digital realm. These same 3D formats are being positioned by technology vendors as a painless way to move existing design data business processes into an all-digital workflow.
One common feature of these new 3D publishing formats is their shared claim of being “open.” I put the term in quotations because there is no agreement among vendors about what being open means. (More on that below.) The CAD industry has a long history of talking common standards but providing proprietary data solutions. Millions of dollars are still spent every year translating from one format to the next. The lack of standards and the problems that erupt during native file translation often means firms run multiple CAD systems just so they can work with one another. Much of that cost can be avoided by using 3D publishing formats to share design data instead of native file formats.
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--RSN
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