Electronic commenting on drawings.

[Glen1980]

I hear what you're saying Dink. At the moment they just give us written comments onto an Access database than we have to collate them and try to understand what they were talking about. Quite often they or their secretaries who type up their comments reference the wrong drawings, make such vague comments that you can't tell what they mean. I would be quite happy if they put a spot on the dxf, pdf with a comment number then I refered to the database.

[RobDraw]

If you send people electronic versions of drawings to look at, many of them will most likely simply get annoyed at having to print it themselves (and then make the markups on the paper set).

 

What you save in paper/ink costs will be offset by senior staff taking longer to markup drawings digitally. It is much quicker to use a pen and draw/annotate what you want rather than trying to do it on a screen via X software/reader.

 

That may be true at first but I think that people would get used to it over time and get just as fast if not faster doing it electronically.

[ReMark]

Changing a culture does take time but as RobDraw points out there are benefits down the road. I think everyone would appreciate a little less paper on their desks too.

[Glen1980]

I had a meeting with the IT guy on Tuesday and the main holdup at the moment is dealing with people editing the dwf's simultaneously. With 18 people adding comments in the space of a week there will be a lot of clashes.

 

The only solution we can think of is trying to get Buzzsaw for another trial or trying union square and seeing how well their reviewing functions work.

[SLW210]

You might look into using AutoCADWS, I'm not sure how simultaneous editing works, but worth looking into. All you need is access to the internet.

[Glen1980]

I hadn't considered WS before. I even have it on my phone and tablet!

 

Just installed it to chrome and it does say working simultaneously is OK. May be this is the way forward.

[ReMark]

The alternative is to print one copy, gather everyone who's input is needed into one room, lock the door, and have a go at it sheet by sheet. After doing it this way once nobody will want to repeat the experience and everyone will gladly do it electronically!

[Glen1980]

The alternative is to print one copy, gather everyone who's input is needed into one room, lock the door, and have a go at it sheet by sheet. After doing it this way once nobody will want to repeat the experience and everyone will gladly do it electronically!

 

That's what we do after they have done all their comments and they still keep doing these meetings!

 

However someone from my team has to go through the comments then mark up the drawings accordingly so we have one master set. It all just seems inefficient.

[cadvision]

check RxHighlight from Rasterex. www.rasterex.com they have been leading red-lining and viewing for 20 odd years. You can track comments, assng colour and layers. "rubber stamps". Ive used it for over 15 years.

[Lee Roy]

AutoCAD WS works great with simultaneous editing. However our Project Managers don't like seeing AutoCAD colors and layers, they prefer to see what the end product looks like. We utilize dwf, pdf and paper; it really depends which project.

 

I've taken a stance in the past against the most hard-headed engineer here, "You get DWF or 11x17, period." Another one was the exact opposite, "You get full size. I don't care what you want. You miss stuff on the electronic copies even after three passes then I'm here till eight pm on the day it's due. You get a full size set to mark up. Shut up and take it."

 

DWF is really easy to use, but things get overlooked easily.

[Organic]

DWF is really easy to use, but things get overlooked easily.

 

This is why we still use paper copies.

[Glen1980]

The commenting process on our jobs never seem to concentrate on construction details. They mostly pick up on missing sockets, floor finishes and fatuous comments about the position of furniture etc.