3D PDF Files Directly from Revit

Although I tend to focus on the MCAD software market, where most of my expertise is, occasionally I come across some news about Design Software that ventures outside of this realm.  In this case, a small tidbit of information that will make Revit users happy.

3DA Systems, from Victoria, BC Canada, has developed the quickest way to produce 3D PDF files from Revit.  By doing so, “3DA aims to improve communication and coordination between designers, builders, and other professionals involved in any BIM project.” (3DASystems.com 2013:About Us)

Why is this significant?

Besides the fact that PDF is a ubiquitous format that can be consumed by anyone with a free reader installed on their device, 3D PDF adds the 3rd dimension to model viewing and manipulation not available with a 2D document.  Sharing via 3D PDF reduces the cost of collaboration because users are not required to own their own license of Revit in order to share data or ideas.

For Revit users, the old method (outlined in this blog post) shows how difficult it used to be to create a 3D PDF.

3D PDF is Growing in Popularity

Although there are many neutral formats competing for the de-facto standard title for data sharing, 3D PDF is growing in popularity.

First, because most users have a PDF viewer already installed on their device.  Viewing a 3D PDF is as easy as opening the file, no additional translation necessary.

Second, large and influential organizations are adoption 3D PDF.  As they adopt 3D PDF, they flow down the 3D PDF requirement to their suppliers further perpetuating 3D PDF acceptance.

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