Architosh Staff ([email protected])

6 Mar 2003

 

Autocad to become Revit after version 6, according to industry report

According to an excerpt from an article in The Langdon Report, Autocad's future in the building design industry remains very uncertain and will likely merge with the BIM technology in the recently acquired Revit product line.

Not only is Autocad's future in AEC unclear, but the company's product line directed at this segment is confusing. The report (published in November of last year) says:

"If you visit the AutoCAD web site at Autodesk Inc. you will now find that, of some 25 different software offerings the company now has, that some 7 of them are being marketed to architects and other designers in the construction industry (interior designers, builders, architectural detailers, AEC engineers, etc.) including a number of references to several of them becoming the next version of AutoCAD."

Revit itself is held up, as the report says, as the future of Autocad. Even more interesting, the report details four major things that conspired to cause Autodesk to purchase Revit and make it the centerpiece of its AEC CAD offerings. Realizing that Autocad technology was not up to the task and Revit's technology was, the company will likely position Revit to capture the same "industry standard" position in the market as Autocad. There is some talk about charging even tiny amounts of money for the thousands of intelligent 3D objects which manufacturers will produce to go into Revit building models and how that made lead to the company's ability to give away the software itself.

A Strategy Fraught With Challenges

As the report notes in detail, a longterm plan at Autodesk may have Autocad 2003 and 2004 scheduled to merge with Revit 5 and Revit 6, eventually becoming Autocad XXXX with Revit's file format being the file format, not DWG or DXF. It's interesting that this plan calls for the elimination of the Revit name when essentially its most of Revit's technology and all of its original vision.

Aside from the very difficult technical challenges of merging two very different CAD platforms, the company has two other major challenges ahead of them: (1) transitioning the Autocad user base off Autocad and onto Revit technology (BIM technology) and (2) keeping other BIM CAD players from from siphoning off confused and dazed Autocad users.

In fact, the third threat is a very real threat indeed. As the report notes, even if Autodesk completes this transition to Revit technology, when complete will not find itself in the same dominant position it had in the world of 2D CAD technology. In the world of 3D CAD technology, Autodesk is just one of many strong, successful and entrenched players. These include:

• ArchiCAD, by Graphisoft (arguably the strongest BIM CAD player out there)

• Microstation, by Bentley

• VectorWorks, by Nemetschek

The report notes that these Autocad competitors have been clearly gaining marketshare at the hands of Autocad and are (and can) take advantage of customer confusion and lack of file compatibility with older versions of Autocad.

Architosh Marketplace

MacroEnter. is a CAD/AEC/Design, networking and large format printing solutions integrator, serving business, government and education customers. Reseller of VectorWorks, Microspot, HP and Encad product lines.

CAD Garage. is an online store dedicated to Architects, Engineers, Builders, Designers and Mac enthusiasts featuring ArchiCAD, formZ, Piranesi, Cinema 4D, HP and more product lines.

Lim Consultants, Inc. provides creative architects with practical solutions while incorporating cutting edge technology, pushing the art of structural engineering to new levels of excellence.

Place your text ad here and reach thousands of professionals each month for very affordable prices. (contact: [email protected])