ATLANTA — September 3, 2013 —Tekla, a leader in bringing building information modeling (BIM) software and online tools to the architectural, engineering and construction (AEC) markets, today announced Tekla BIMsight 1.8, the latest version of its free, easy-to-use software tool for building information modeling (BIM) project coordination. This new release augments Tekla’s existing BIM communication features for construction and design professionals.

Tekla BIMsight, a construction and design coordination tool with emphasis on three Cs: combining models, checking for conflicts and communicating, has been used in the creation of over 4.5 million models in more than 160 countries. Tekla BIMsight 1.8 primarily concentrates on communication tasks, with new features including live sharing and support for IFC grids.

Making notes in Tekla BIMsight and sharing them with others via email has always been possible but now the sharing is easier, faster and more automated: enabling the real-time sharing of notes through the Project Folder, previously introduced in Tekla BIMsight 1.6. With this feature, users can avoid sending or losing emails by writing and instantly sharing a public note. The Project folder stores all models and notes about the project, resides on a cloud service or on a network drive, and can be used as a project bank. When users are connected to the shared Project folder, new public notes and replies automatically appear in Tekla BIMsight. They can also receive automatic notifications about new or updated models, or can update the models themselves - providing each person on the project team with the same, updated information.

The shared notes themselves have also been improved: all data, including color-coding and multiple snapshots for example, are now shared through the BIMsight Project Folder.

Support for Grids Meets User Needs
Support for IFC grids is another major new feature, enabling easy navigation in the model and also on site using grids and grid labels. Users can now snap to gridlines, measure structures and show only relevant grid elevations. Grids also make model positioning and combining models much easier than before.
"We have received multiple requests and entries to our Tekla BIMsight idea forum about adding the grid support. We really listen to our user community, and understand that grid support is important to them, so we decided to add this functionality to the new version," explained Tekla BIMsight marketing manager, Jussi Ketoja.

More detailed information about Tekla BIMsight 1.8 can be found in the Release Notes.
Tekla BIMsight 1.8 can be downloaded for free at www teklabimsight.com. Video tutorials and an online community make it easy for anyone to get started visualizing and communicating with building information models.


About Tekla and Tekla BIMsight
Tekla drives the evolution of digital information models and thus provides more and more competitive advantage to the construction, infrastructure and energy industries. The company was established in 1966, and today has customers in 100 countries, offices in 15 countries, and a global partner network. Tekla was acquired by Trimble Navigation Ltd. in 2011. Tekla is part of Trimble, a group formed by Trimble in 2012 to offer hardware, software and service offerings for streamlined collaboration throughout the Design-Build-Operate (DBO) lifecycle of construction.

Tekla BIMsight is a professional tool for construction project collaboration. All disciplines of the construction workflow can combine their models, check for clashes, markup and share information using the same easy-to-use 3D environment. The tool enables project participants to identify and solve issues already in the design phase before the actual construction.

The award-winning* Tekla BIMsight is free to download and distribute through the internet. Tens of thousands of people in the construction industry have already taken Tekla BIMsight in use in 160 countries. More information is available at www.tekla.com and www.teklabimsight.com.

*Gold Batimat innovation award 2011, Paris/FR
2011 Hot Product Overall Winner Modern Steel Construction, US
World of Concrete 2012, Most Innovative Product, Experts' Choice in the Business Tools and Software category