Nemetschek’s daughter company, Bluebeam, Inc., has announced the launch of the latest version of Bluebeam software—Bluebeam Revu 20. This latest release has a focus on remote project collaboration, a more than essential ingredient given today’s pandemic-impacted AECO industry.
Revu 20
Bluebeam Revu is used by more than 1.6 million AECO users worldwide in over 130 countries, where design, construction, and owner teams collaborate over industry documents within Revu software and often in real-time, live in Revu Studio Sessions.
Revu’s approach to AECO collaboration is centered on using the project’s drawings themselves to share metadata, markups, hyperlinks, bookmarks, images, stamps, signatures, and 3D data. An intelligent layer of data operates on top of PDF files, an open-source format, and a global standard. 99 percent of the top general contractors in the United States use Bluebeam software and globally there are over 800 Bluebeam user groups. In the latest release, a new Studio Server has been established for the Australian market. (see below).
Bluebeam has released the new Revu 20 for the AECO industry.
Revu 20 streamlines communication with enhancements designed to increase accuracy and save time. There are new features that add flexibility and control over user and content management capabilities.
“When we think of ‘teamwork’ on a construction project, we think about removing barriers through technology while unlocking the inherent potential of a group of diverse project partners,” said Bluebeam CEO Jon Elliott. “When teams have the right solutions in place to work together seamlessly across distances and time zones, all of the investments an organization makes in training, management, and process development can be realized through clear and measurable improvements in quality, accuracy, and efficiency. Revu 20 delivers improved communication management capabilities and productivity improvements that are designed to maximize an organization’s investments across the board.”
Key New Features in Revu 20:
- Customized permissions — new in version 20 is the ability to provide customized permissions for reach collaborator on your project (eg: owner, engineer, architect), ensuring that people have the right access to the right information from the project’s initiation
- Improved Markup List Filters — newly improved filters help users more quickly identify the information they need to take action on. The markup filters work with Markup Lists.
- Improved Markup Tools — Revu 20 has newly improved PDF markup and measurement tools to help users finish markup faster. Better markup means that teams collaborating in drawing review sessions via Bluebeam Revu Studio (ie: Studio Sessions) can not only markup in real-time but do that task more effectively.
- Australian Studio Server — new in Revu 20 is the launch of a Studio server for Australia today, allowing clients to host Studio Sessions and store project data within Australian borders, meeting sovereignty requirements. Access is automatic and works for all Revu 20 and Revu 19 users.
“Bluebeam has always been a company that has focused on solving problems without reinventing the way teams work in the process,” said Bluebeam CPO Roger Angarita. “In fact, we focus on developing solutions that enhance the existing strength of organizations and meet them at the point where the right tools start to make all the difference. Whether that takes the form of the right features, the right collaborative tools, or the right global data network. As proof to the effectiveness of our approach, Bluebeam Global Services surveyed customers at individual companies and found that 82% of Revu users reported saved time, 76% reported boosted efficiency and 88% reported improvement in work quality. These results reflect the incredible benefits of collaborative innovation and teamwork, and we’re proud to drive results that build a stronger business relationship among AEC companies and their customers.”
Bluebeam Studio
While Revu is the name of Bluebeam’s flagship software and AECO users are aware of its industry-status among PDF markup tools for the industry, Studio is a collaborative space accessed from within Revu that transforms the application into a real-time collaboration solution.
Revu 20’s new markup features will help AEC users collaborate faster in real-time Studio Sessions.
A Studio Session is a meeting moment when teams near and far remotely log into Revu for a real-time collaborative review and markup of drawings, specs, submittals, and RFI issues—whether from the job site, trailer, office or more recently from their homes.
Studio Projects provide access to a single centralized location to store documents—including entire building projects—in the cloud and Revu 20 delivers improved access and control.
Revu 20 also includes an improved invitation process and administrative controls in Studio Sessions that make it easier for team members and administrators worldwide to instantly connect on the same set of documents and take advantage of real-time connectivity.
Final Notes on Revu for Mac and Revu for iPad
The new Studio Server for Australia is compatible with Revu for iPad and Revu for Mac 2.x versions. This would apply to all Studio Sessions. Mac users using Revu for Mac continue to utilize Revu for Mac 2.x versions for team collaboration. There is no future plans for an updated version of Revu for Mac, according to previously published information on Architosh. Revu 20 is available for Windows platforms only.
Availability
Revu 20 Standard, CAD, and eXtreme editions are available now at Bluebeam.com and through a worldwide reseller network. To learn more visit here.
Architosh Analysis and Commentary
Bluebeam continues to be advancing its Revu offering transforming the desktop application with Bluebeam Studio technology into a more real-time and much more sophisticated collaboration tool. “Real-time” is the operative word too, as Bluebeam Revu offers a live activity stream and now better admin tools to control access to specific sets of information for each user.
Since you upload your drawings and documents into folders inside Studio Projects, it is possible to manage (manually) a data process that roughly conforms to the ISO 19650 standard (formerly BS 1192). As we noted in our article Ultimate List of CDE (Common Data Environment) Apps for Architects, BS 1192 compliance in CDEs varies, in particular, few solutions are based on the 4 stages of data (ie: WIP, Shared, Published, Archived). When we spoke to Trimble Connect folks about BS 1192 years ago, the said that the process of 4-stages of data inside BS 1192 could be managed through a folder process. Such could be the case inside Revu 20.
Bluebeam Revu 20 with added Maintenance subscription gain the ability to upload documents to Bluebeam Drawings, a web-browser based solution that can interoperate with Revu 20. Bluebeam Drawings is platform agnostic and therefore Mac-based users can access Bluebeam Drawings the same as Windows users.