In more news from Germany’s Graebert, a global leading CAD technology provider based in Berlin with offices in Russia and India, the highly anticipated and ARES Kudo product is shown in substantial detail in a new YouTube video. (see below)
What We See in ARES Kudo
ARES Kudo has been discussed several times on Architosh in the recent past. The excitement around ARES Kudo is based on the fact that Graebert has aimed to develop a cloud-based CAD solution that brings their native DWG ARES Commander product and technologies to the standards-based web browser.
Graebert, one of two primary global competitors to Autodesk’s DWG global standard, AutoCAD, has fashioned its ambitions on delivering a version of its software that is completely compatible with its desktop and mobile platform versions. This is an industry first for the DWG CAD file standard.
What We See—The Video
The first thing one may notice about ARES Kudo is that the user-interface isn’t a carry-over from either the desktop or the mobile versions of ARES. Instead, ARES Kudo, just like its mobile siblings, focuses on the best experience for the platform it is on. In this case the browser.
01 – Graebert shows off a sneak peak of ARES Kudo on a YouTube video. The upcoming solution offers a crisp and elegant simple user interface.
With more limited real estate than a complete app, Kudo offers the user a streamlined appearance. Also, not every feature from the desktop application is present in the browser-based Kudo. However, the aim is for a completely feature-rich DWG CAD environment through the browser.
The Sneak-Peak preview begins by showing ARES Kudo on Windows, Mac OS X, Apple iOS, and Android platforms. It would also run on a browser in Linux and other standards based platforms as well. A clean and simple interface offers the user file access with searching functionality.
You can create a new DWG file directly in the cloud. And share it with others with various permissions. The beauty of working in the cloud is that everyone is accessing the latest version. The tools are completely familiar with other ARES solutions and generally familiar with AutoCAD. There is a full command line. Remember, this is running in a browser no less.
02 – ARES Kudo features the classic model-paper space paradigm of the desktop tool and all the features DWG CAD based solutions generally provide.
Part of what looks really nice about Kudo is that you can minimize the UI by closing and showing palettes as you need them. There is a model and paper space environment and you can setup sheets just like in normal ARES Commander or any other CAD system that uses the model space/paper-space framework.
Closing Comments
ARES Kudo is based on the same technology that powers the drawing CAD environment in Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Onshape, another cloud-based CAD solution with big-time funding by major Silicon Valley big hitters. Onshape’s endorsement of ARES technology puts an extra sparkle on the Berlin-based CAD company, which is why folks in the press are starting to take more notice.
Readers can grab a sneak peak at ARES Kudo here in this YouTube video. The visual quality of the UI is quite nice.
Graebert’s primary competitor is naturally Autodesk AutoCAD itself. Its latest announcements show that the company remains steadfast in its convictions that it is possible to not just steal away Autodesk’s customers but grow and compete against them in key emerging markets (see, Architosh, “CAD News: Germany’s Graebert Celebrates 4 Years and Double-Digit Growth in India,” 2 Mar 2016 ) like India, Japan and elsewhere in Asia. Emerging markets are particularly ripe for success for players like Graebert. Its flexible licensing model strategy aims to offer those markets relief from vendors who wish to push all customers off of perpetual licensing models. Instead, Graebert is aiming to offer customers various licensing model options.
The last thing to maybe say about ARES Kudo is that the solution itself might be seen by some firms, on other non-DWG based CAD platforms, as an excellent accessory tool platform that offers both value and access flexibility. Many AEC firms in particular have moved away from AutoCAD to BIM tools, of which the primary five BIM platforms (Autodesk Revit, Graphisoft ArchiCAD, Bentley’s Microstation, Nemetschek ALLAN and Vectorworks’ Vectorworks Architect…in no particular order) all work outside the DWG file format framework. Yet DWG CAD files still pervade the AEC industry just as much as manufacturing. The cloud and browser-based access makes Kudo attractive from the secondary and accessory tool platform perspective, where users may find common ground with partner colleagues in the field, on the factory floor, and the offices of collaborators.