Until recently, Autodesk Seek was what Autodesk users such as architects, engineers and other design professionals used to search for, preview and download product-specific building information modeling (BIM) models, drawings, information and specifications for use in Autodesk Revit and AutoCAD. You could search from the Autodesk Seek website or use the embedded search field in some Autodesk products. While the functionality of searching for that data is still available, it’s no longer powered by Autodesk. On Jan. 16, Autodesk transferred the operations and customer support related to the Autodesk Seek function to BIMobject. This means BIMobject is now solely responsible for providing Autodesk Seek customers with BIM content via its BIMobject cloud. Accessing seek.autodesk.com will now redirect users to bimobject.com.
BIMobject started creating 3D CAD data over 20 years ago in Scandinavia—well before BIM became the commonplace buzzword it is today. It seems it hasn’t slowed down in that 20+ years either, as the BIMobject website lists the availability of 16,241,131 products, 239,604 parametric BIM objects and 33,511 product families. BIMobject users can browse and search for BIM content using advanced filtering options, which can aid in finding the perfect match. A quick search for skylights came back with 29 product families, six brands and 428 downloads. The BIMobject App allows you to download content instantly from within the BIM software as well.
Why did Autodesk make this change? Some searching on the Autodesk Knowledge Network revealed the following: “Autodesk wants to encourage a thriving and healthy ecosystem that provides high-quality BIM content for the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry. This market is currently served by several companies that are dedicated to the segment and are providing innovative solutions for customers. As such, Autodesk has partnered with many of these industry players to foster an open, evolving market and does not consider the Autodesk Seek service to be strategic to our core business at this time.” As Scott Reese, Autodesk vice president of cloud products, added, “BIMobject is one of the most active developers on the Autodesk Forge platform, so it was a natural choice for our Seek customers. We are confident that, through this agreement and continued collaboration with BIMobject, building product manufacturers and designers will continue to have a BIM content platform that solves the challenges of today and tomorrow.”
All that’s required to start getting instant and limitless access to the BIMobject cloud is signing up via the online registration form on the BIMobject website. Former paid Autodesk Seek customers will have package choices equivalent to and, in some cases, more robust than the Autodesk Seek Silver, Gold and Platinum packages. Autodesk Seek customers will have access to BIMobject Publishing, Product Sites, Digital Marketing Solutions and BIManalytics Core. Autodesk Seek Platinum customers will receive SpitFire 1 with the new business matching function on product pages in their package. There is also the potential for additional future benefits for users via the anticipated connection to ARCOM One, which connects to MasterSpec, a product of the American Institute of Architects containing a comprehensive specification system for the building industry.
The move to transfer Autodesk Seek Operations to BIMobject, in my opinion, was a wise one. While BIM is much more of a commonplace term than it was 20+ years ago, it is still evolving, and companies are continually vying for positions within the BIM world. Being great at providing BIM design software solutions does not automatically make you great at providing BIM content. I’m glad Autodesk chose to let an established provider, with years of experience providing BIM data for the AEC market, take those reins, allowing Autodesk to continue to focus on software solutions.