ATLANTA - First Source, a business unit of Reed Construction Data, and Autodesk, a leading design software and digital content company, have announced the incorporation of Autodesk® DWF™ to the First Source Web site (www.firstsourceonl.com) of building products for the AEC (architecture/engineering/construction) community. First Source is adding CAD files in DWF format to its existing library of building products available in DWG and DXF formats. Autodesk's DWF Viewer is also available for downloading from the CAD section of the First Source Web site to view and print DWF files for free.

"The Autodesk DWF technology allows First Source users to create, manage, and share 2D and 3D designs electronically, and benefit from its dimensionally accurate, print-ready format and small file size," said George Haddad, vice president of Product Management and Marketing at Reed Construction Data. "DWF allows the architects and designers who use First Source every day to search, view, and select building products in a much more interactive manner and take advantage of the speed."

"Reed's customers have been waiting for a better solution for viewing and selecting AEC products - one that combines speed and simplicity while increasing the precision and richness of data," said Tony Peach, director of product marketing, Autodesk Collaboration Services. "Autodesk created DWF for this very reason. For applications such as electronic catalogs, it is clear that only DWF will do."

First Source noted that it will shortly announce a program to assist building product manufacturers in converting their CAD files to DWF and access the benefits of this emerging standard.

Publication date: 11/15/2004