CadFaster, the makers of CadFaster|Collaborate, the BIM mobility app have retooled their marketing efforts, launching a new app for the MCAD market, MyCadbox. It’s a new product and a whole new website aimed at increasing your propensity to share models with others across the web and mobile devices. Is it ready for prime time?
Mycadbox… not yours
Why I picture a child tearing a laptop from another child’s hands and screaming ‘MY CAD BOX! ALL MINE!!” is… well, understandable perhaps, but that behavior is exactly the opposite of what MyCadbox is intended for. CadFaster wants you to use MyCadbox to share your CAD files with others. More specifically, they want you to collaborate with others on your CAD files in real-time. With all the other collaboration apps coming out, that is one thing that still sets the CadFaster apps apart. To explain, let’s back up a bit.
CadFaster was early on the CAD collaboration scene (December 2010 to be exact) with CadFaster|Collaborate and a very impressive method for sharing models and comments on those models across the web. Users create co-viewing sessions shared between multiple computers and mobile devices, all with synchronous, real-time views and mark-up capability. Although it was first shown to work with SolidWorks and Revit, they went further toward targeting the AEC/BIM market developing additional versions for Bentley SELECTseries and Vectorworks. It was priced with a fairly obscure subscription model that was different for each software and the amount of files you were hosting.
So now, they’re bringing that real-time collaboration to the MCAD market with MyCadbox using a whole new business model. They’ve simplified pricing, offering two tiers–a free version to share up to ten models and a Pro version to share up to 100 models, with faster model loading and support, available for $9.99/month. The supported filetype of choice is currently limited to STEP files–generic enough a format, but disappointing that it’s the only one supported.
There are two versions available–one for Windows and one for iPad–with single sign-on and files synced across each. Though it’s touted as ‘Dropbox for CAD files’ there is currently now desktop syncing tool, that would allow simple drag-n-drop of your files into a folder for viewing on the web or via mobile. You can download the iPad app on iTunes and the Windows app at mycadbox.com.