We are excited to have kicked off our Early Adopter Program with some awesome companies! We have a busy three months ahead of us, but we will keep you in the loop with regular product updates.
Gradient Feature Updates
Over the course of the past two weeks since we started our first Gradient users, the core of our time has been focused on ensuring the platform is stable and runs effectively for our user base. Our immediate feature development focus has been around making the notification system robust, building out the file upload system (drag and drop, multiple files, etc) and the initial issue tracking dashboard. We are targeting integration of these updates by the end of the month.
During the April 10th Product Update, we added several key features and fixes as outlined below.
Notifications
Clicking an issue or comment notification will now bring you directly to that particular issue for review.
Comment notifications will now indicate what issue the user commented on.
Comment notifications are now shorter to keep your notifications dropdown clean and organized.
Real-Time Updates
Previously, converting files would disappear from your file list if you left the page. You can now leave the page while a file is converting and it will still be there when you return.
When you delete an issue it will now disappear for everyone in that session immediately
Users can no longer accidentally create duplicate issues/comments by double clicking the submit/send buttons
Session Manager
All sessions are now organized chronologically.
User Tips
After following up with the early adopters, we compiled a short list of some user tips that could benefit all users:
Adding Text/Shapes to Markups
If you type into a text box and click away, this will make the text box resizable and will not save the text when you create an issue. To make the text box permanent, click away from the box a second time.
If you would like to remove a feature of your markup, use the undo arrow.
Currently, the markup tools are in their infancy stage and we plan to make them much more intuitive and user friendly in the coming weeks. If you have suggestions, please pass them along.
File Uploads
If you are looking to upload an assembly, we currently recommend you upload a STEP file. In the next release, we plan to implement drag and drop file uploading that will allow you to drag and drop all files belonging to an assembly and simply select the parent file. This will make uploading native assemblies much easier.
First Person Walk Through Mode
If you are looking to “walk through” a model (ex: a building), then we recommend you turn on the new first-person walk through mode and use their more advanced features. It incorporates gravity which makes it much more intuitive to manipulate.
Optimizing File Viewing
If you are working with a relatively small file your viewing will be the same whether you have the “progressive model display” setting enabled or not. However, for larger files, it is worth exploring the difference. With it turned on, the model will move much quicker, but it will quickly re-render complex models every time you move - the benefit is being able to manipulate huge files quickly. If it is turned off, then the model will be rendered at all times, but it will move slower.
User Success Story
One of our earliest customers is a Colorado-based architecture firm -Chinook Landscape Architecture, LLC. Chinook's passion for providing customers with the most engaging experience possible, and commitment to incorporating their input in a meaningful and efficient way is the reason they became a CoLab customer. The landscape model shown is a 3D drone scan from the job site that was taken to be incorporated into their preliminary bridge CAD model. Chinook’s founder, Jon Altschuld is very passionate about his work and it really shows in the models he builds and the quality of his work. We look forward to seeing more exciting collaborations from Chinook in the future!
Figure 1: Sketchup Model with 3D Drone Scan and Bridge Built in Place
Figure 2: Issue Creation with Chinook’s Integrated 3D Scan & Sketchup Model
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