Who says social media technology and video functionality don't fit into the 3D CAD domain? In yet an another acquisition that might leave some diehard CAD aficionados scratching their heads, Autodesk is plunking down $60 million to acquire a small company I bet a lot of Design News' readers never knew existed: Socialcam, which provides a popular mobile app and Web-based service that lets users capture, edit, and share video.
What does a consumer video sharing service have to do with hard-core professional engineering? Autodesk officials say video can enhance the communication around design, particularly in a social, collaborative medium.
"Video is a powerful tool for storytelling and one that we believe can be more widely applied across the design and engineering workflow," Samir Hanna, vice president of the Autodesk Consumer Group, told us in an email exchange about the acquisition. "These are collaborative processes that require communication at every stage, from concept through to production."
With Socialcam, Hanna said, users can share videos in real-time from anywhere -- a capability lending itself to scenarios where engineers take video into the field and share it with key stakeholders to illustrate design changes or to document certain milestones.
The Socialcam smartphone app and Web-based service makes it easy to capture, edit, and share videos. (Source: Socialcam)
The Socialcam deal is Autodesk's latest move to flesh out its consumer-oriented design and content creation portfolio. It has been slowly laying down a technology foundation to accommodate do-it-yourselfers and support what it and many in the industry are calling "personal manufacturing." (See: 3D Modeling & Printing for 'Personal Manufacturing'.)
Specifically, Autodesk has released its Autodesk 123D family, including 123D Catch and 123 Make, to let anyone (not just would-be engineers) design and output original creations. There is also SketchBook, an online consumer drawing and paint service. Other acquisitions in this space have included the online photo editor Pixlr and the how-to site Instructables, where people swap ideas and methods for building things.
"Now with Socialcam, we will be able to bring video into that mix so that everyone has access to a range of creative tools so they can tell their story," Hanna told us.
Autodesk isn't the only 3D CAD company to dive into social media waters. We reported in April on Dassault Systemes buying NetVibes, a provider of what it calls sentiment analytics technology. NetVibes is being melded into Dassault's next-generation 3D Experience strategy, which will help companies capture what customers are saying and thinking about their products as part of the early design and requirement-gathering stage of product development.
Autodesk officials said it plans to invest in scaling the Socialcam platform, developing a more comprehensive set of tools for its users, and leveraging the technology to make its professional film and video content creation tools accessible to a broader audience. The Socialcam transaction is expected to close this quarter.
I think you hit it right on the head. Engineers are now having to collaborate throughout the world. And this may be the next tool that makes it a little easier requiring a little less travel and trouble.
I think that the idea of having a video auto-capture feature/software access is very effective ideal and concept considering that more and more feild engineers, doctors, teachers, and students, can share effectively live in real-time, exams, course work, and production work to increase effective constructive communications between students, associates, and business partners, good idea and purchase Autodesk!!
This makes perfect sense as a collaboration tool, especially for engineers who travel regularly. The $60M pricetag shows that Autodest values this functionality.
I agree Naperlou, that this particular acquisition is more about Autodesk's effort on the consumer side and less applicable for true professional engineers (perhaps a small segment), even though they'd like to think there's more interest.
But I disagree with your thoughts on social media being a fad (although, I sometimes wish that were so). While I wouldn't place a bet on Facebook or Google+ or any of the other existing platforms and technologies, I do think the way people are getting accustomed to communicating, collaborating, and sharing every mind-numbing tidbit that crosses their path will remain in some shape or form for the foreseeable future. That is until the tides turn, as they always do, and we shift back to a more traditional way of communicating. In some ways, technology advances are driving a type of communication and constant flow of information that I'm not sure the general populace wants or needs. But it's going to take a long time before that realization comes to be, especially as a generation raised on this as the norm enters the workplace.
Using video to educate customers is well established. Allowing video to be created and edited may have some use in the design process. I am not sure of what "social media" brings to this. You don't need social media tools to create videos.
Actually, I was asking my favorite source of everything hip for the younger generation of prospecitve engineers, my son, about sociall media. I thnk it may be a passing fad. In the WSJ recently there was an article about how all the major social media companies were in trouble. Their stock was not doing well. Do you remember Google+. I like it better than facebook, but I don't use it much. I deleted my facebook account becuase it had been hacked. The only social media company that is doing well is LinkedIn. The primary media there is discussion groups (Design News has one). My source tells me this is where he, and his friends are spending their time. Don't forget, these fads go fast. Remember Myspace?
The 3D printing revolution seems to have a knack for quickly moving technology ahead by way of collaborative effort and even a little friendly competition -- all of course in the name of scientific advancement.
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