Autodesk Project Butterfly

I received an email from Asaf Sagi, Autodesk product manager in Project Butterfly: http://butterfly.autodesk.com. He invited me to give this project a try. So I did. I am amazed with what this project can do. First, I’m thinking this is similar to Google docs. In some ways it has the same concept. We can upload our drawings, edit it online, and download it after we finish. But there is a very interesting tool for collaboration that we can’t find in Google docs. This is like having a collaboration using WebEx or other online conference tools. It’s a great tool!

The Interface

Butterfly has a simple version of AutoCAD interface. Yes, it has ribbon. But no, there’s no classic workspace ;) AutoCAD users shouldn’t have any trouble to use it. It’s not 100% the same, but many AutoCAD basic tools available and work nicely.

However, using giving precise input are not as easy as in AutoCAD. Especially when we want to draw lines with a certain angle. Only distance can be defined.

Rectangle tool is better.

Supported Files

This project is for AutoCAD users. You can work with DWG and all its necessary files such as raster images, plot styles, and fonts.

The Collaboration Tool

The most interesting thing about project Butterfly is the collaboration tool. I don’t know how many users can work on the same file at once, but this is promising. I tried to collaborate with my colleague. See that there are two users on this file.

It provides chat window too. But I can’t find audio streaming tool for voice chat. Probably bandwidth is the issue, so they don’t provide it to maintain the performance. Sorry for the chat text. They are Indonesian slang ;)

When you work, you can see your partner pointer in your drawing. And can see what he is doing. Very nice!

My Opinion

Autodesk Project Butterfly definitely a great collaboration tool. This project is currently available for free, but I believe Autodesk will put a price for this soon. Asaf did mentioned it will be free for at least 6-12 months :)

As for drafting tools, it can work for basic drawings. If you don’t use AutoCAD intensively, then this might be a good alternative. You don’t need to install it or maintain upgrades and licenses. All you need is a browser and internet connection. It means, you can work on any platform as long as you can connect to internet. Mac or Linux? Give it a try!

With this tool, you can share your drawings without sending it. I’m not sure what is the security will be. But I think Autodesk will develop it further more. Unless this tool is only focusing on online meeting.

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