To the Cloud!

Is your head in the clouds trying to understand the “cloud” and Autodesk Cloud in particular?

Lets see if we can give some explanation. Autodesk Cloud is a technology that is gaining interest with users with the ability to perform tasks without installing applications to local resources. We can use the cloud for several purposes... We can upload, share and edit drawings in the cloud using AutoCAD WS. We can view files with Design Review mobile app for iPhone and iPad devices. Rendering files in the cloud, along with the ability to upload and share documents.

Let's take a closer look at cloud services for rendering and documents.

Autodesk Cloud Rendering
Currently Revit can render models to the cloud via the Subscription download. An Autodesk login account needs to be created.  The concept behind Cloud rendering is simple… render your model in the cloud (the internet) without tying up your computer for an extended amount of time. Also, if you are running a marginal computer that barely meets the minimum requirements, this option of rendering in the cloud could save you a big investment in hardware and equipment.

I must add, that you can use AutoCAD as well for cloud rendering. Currently these are the only two products Autodesk has that can offer the cloud for rendering.

So, how does this all work…

After downloading the Cloud rendering subscription piece, you will have access to in under the “Add-in” tab. This will give you access to either start the cloud rendering process or access your online gallery.
You’ll need to login or create an Autodesk account to access you rendering and galleries. A simple few setup items to create account and you can sign-in.


Select a source file to upload for either Revit or AutoCAD.


Change rendering settings
Here we have a preset listing of settings to change to adjust the results of the rendering. From testing, I have found varied results from local rendering vs. cloud renderings. This is due to different processes that cloud rendering uses instead of traditional CPU processing power.

Rendering run… could take a couple minutes.

A report is emailed upon completion of rendering

Note: Each user is provided 3 gigs of storage per user. This may become a paid service in next release.