I recently had the opportunity to attend Bluebeam’s eXtreme Conference in Austin, TX, which was incredibly fun and informative. The conference was held at the downtown JW Marriott, on several floors of the hotel. Each floor had several auditoriums dedicated to one-to-two hour sessions on different Bluebeam Revu related topics, where I learned a lot more about different features in Revu, particularly Bluebeam Studio and Studio Prime. Outside of the auditoriums were booths dedicated to sponsors whose products integrate with Bluebeam Revu, and an interactive zone where participants in the conference could try out Bluebeam Revu 2019.

The keynote presentation discussed the upcoming features in Bluebeam Revu 2019, and the success Bluebeam has been experiencing with Revu 2018. Since the release of Bluebeam Revu 2018 in April, there have been over one million new downloads of the software. A common observation at the conference was that because Revu 2018 has a new intuitive interface, many people have been discovering features that have existed for years and have assumed they were introduced in 2018. Besides building on the successful new interface, the highlight of the keynote presentation was news that Bluebeam had recently acquired a startup company described as ‘the Google-Maps of building projects,’ called Project Atlas.

The founders of Project Atlas discussed how their software integrates with Google Maps by overlaying CAD files of project layouts on the actual location. With the software, project managers can walk their jobsite and use Project Atlas to see the CAD file. They can use an ‘elevator’ button to view different floors. They can drop pins on the map and upload files to that pin, so project managers and inspectors walking the jobsite can view RFIs, pictures and questions at the actual location they pertain to. If a project manager’s team has Project Atlas linked to their mobile device, the team members can be seen on the map in real time. The software even integrates with drones that can be deployed to map the progress of the project, and overlay the progress photos on top of the map. Best of all, Project Atlas will integrate with Bluebeam Revu so that PDFs can be overlayed on the map, and files can be uploaded to pins from Studio Projects.

After the keynote, I attended several lectures from Bluebeam and Bluebeam Revu users. I attended lectures on Bluebeam Studio, a case study on administering Bluebeam Revu in a large organization, a panel of 3D digital designers who described how they use CAD software in tandem with Revu, and a more in depth lecture on Project Atlas. At a session for Bluebeam Studio 101, I learned about using Studio as a cloud storage for all kinds of files, that there is unlimited storage, and that you can share a project file as a link that you can send via email and the recipient can download the file.

The link sharing feature allows you to require a password, flatten the file and set an expiration for the link. Here’s how to do this in Revu eXtreme 2018: Open Bluebeam Studio from the Panel Access bar. Open a project in Studio Projects. Navigate to the file you want to share. Right click on the file thumbnail preview. Click on ‘Link Sharing.’ A dialogue box will open, with options to set an expiration (24 hours, or for the full project life-cycle), set a password, and flatten the file. When you are ready, select ‘OK’ and copy the link to your clipboard. Send via email! Here is a GIF of the process:

The conference concluded with a rooftop dinner where Bluebeam’s own CEO played lead guitar and vocals with the band for several songs. I had a lot of fun, learned a lot more about Bluebeam and Bluebeam Revu, and I am looking forward to Bluebeam’s eXtreme conference in Washington DC in 2019!

Here is the link to learn more about Bluebeam eXtreme Conference in 2019 https://bluebeamextreme.com

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Lauren Hecker is the instructor for the Bluebeam Revu Essentials and Advanced courses. To see her next open enrollment course, please visit our calendar. To schedule an onsite or custom course, please contact us!