What is CADchat? Seamless Browser-Based CAD Collaboration

If you have ever tried to run a serious design review through a general-purpose meeting app, you already know where the friction starts. One person drives the screen, and everyone else asks for another view,  another screenshot, or another follow-up email. By the time the meeting ends, the real work has moved into disorganized chat threads, marked-up PDFs, and scattered notes that are no longer tied to the actual model. With CADchat, instead of screen sharing a design, the platform puts the team directly into the design context.

What is CADchat?

CADchat is a browser-based CAD review platform and meeting space for product teams. It features live 3D collaboration, threaded feedback, document review, and whiteboarding in a single shared workspace.

In CADchat, the CAD file becomes the center of the conversation. In other words, your model is the meeting. You start with a meeting link, then move straight into the model with synced viewpoints, live cursors, and feedback that stays attached to the geometry rather than floating around in email or chat.

How Does CADchat Work?

A user creates a new space, names it, invites collaborators, and then works inside that space. People inside the same organization will appear automatically when creating invites, while outside collaborators can be invited via email.

And only the meeting originator requires CADchat licensing. 

Once the space exists, the user can start the meeting immediately, schedule it for later, or invite people after the session has begun and add files on the fly.  

With simple viewers, someone opens a file. CADchat has a much broader set of workflows. Live sessions, asynchronous review, threaded comments, 3D and 2D markups, whiteboards, snapshots, shared views, and a workspace that remains available after the call.  

For engineers and project teams, this distinction matters because the real bottleneck in design review usually is not opening the file. It is aligning people around what the file means and what should happen next.

CADchat vs Screen Sharing 

Screen sharing works reasonably well for general presentations. However, it falls short in technical reviews where the team needs to inspect geometry, compare viewpoints, and make measurements.

There is also a usability problem. In a typical screen-shared review, one person controls navigation while everyone else becomes a passenger. CADchat encourages live model interaction and synced viewpoints; in other words, the design discussion becomes spatial and shared rather than narrated through a single desktop.

Another weakness of screen sharing is that meetings often start disorganized or showing the wrong screen. In CADchat, collaborators see the model, not the presenter’s desktop, which reduces clutter, keeps everyone focused on the design, and makes the discussion feel less like a demo and more like a working session.

Finally, screen sharing is bad at preserving decisions. Generic meetings end, the screen share disappears, and the team is left to reconstruct what happened from memory or follow-up notes. CADchat enables the use of comments, snapshots, shared views, and files, so discussions stay with the design. The team can come back later without losing context. 

Getting Started

The first building block in CADchat is creating a new space. This space acts as the working room for a review, whether that review is happening live or over time.

From there, the workflow is straightforward. CADchat sessions can be kicked off directly from a calendar, with calendar add-ons available, without requiring an extension to join meetings.

Once a review is active, the 3D canvas becomes the focal point for model-based collaboration. Users can pan, rotate, and zoom using standard controls, continue adding files at any time, and carry on reviewing after the call because the space remains intact. 

Working with 3D CAD Files 

CADchat has broad 3D compatibility with an ever-growing list of supported file types, including SOLIDWORKS, STEP, Inventor, and Fusion 3D. It can also work in mixed-CAD environments, not just a single vendor ecosystem.

The basic 3D workflow is simple - add files by browsing or dragging and dropping. Once loaded, they can be explored in the browser. Review exploded views and hide, show, and isolate parts from the tree. This type of fluid review process avoids stalling on the model and enables the host to isolate the right component quickly enough for the conversation to stay productive.  

The Toolbox adds another layer of model interrogation. It includes fit-to-screen, explode, transparency, hidden-edge display, recolor, sectioning, and screen-area capture. These tools help teams inspect assemblies, explain fit and clearance issues, and communicate design intent more clearly during a meeting.

Collaborating with 2D Documents and Images 

Engineering decisions do not happen in 3D alone. Teams routinely move between models, PDF drawings, DWG files, photos, supplier documentation, and rough visual concepts.

The documents area supports PDFs, DWGs, and image files, and the whiteboard gives users a place to bring images into a looser visual layout when they need to discuss references, concepts, or review notes outside the model view itself.  

Real-Time Markup and Annotation Tools 

On the 3D Canvas, the annotation toolset includes pins, measurements, screen captures, thread creation, and markup visibility controls. Each annotation creates a thread that can be discussed further in the threads folder.

The 3Draw toolbar expands into live visual communication. Sketch directly on the model in chosen colors, thicknesses, and opacity; place text boxes and sticky notes on the screen, on drawing surfaces, or on the model itself; upload images for reuse on models; use a real-time laser pointer; erase 3Draw content without affecting pins or dimensions; and create drawing surfaces aligned to X, Y, Z, or the current screen view.

Who Is CADchat Best For? 

CADchat is ideal for SOLIDWORKS teams, mixed-CAD product development groups, mechanical engineers, designers, manufacturers, sourcing teams, project managers, and customer-facing stakeholders who need to understand the model without using CAD every day.

It is especially useful when the real problem is review friction rather than file storage. If your team already has capable design tools and a formal data-control system, but still loses time in screen shares, screenshot markups, disconnected comments, and delayed supplier feedback, CADchat directly addresses that gap. Its workflow is built for understanding, discussing, and deciding around the model.

Summary

CADchat provides teams a browser-based environment to open design files, inspect models, mark up geometry and documents, include non-CAD stakeholders, bring suppliers into the conversation, and keep that context alive after the meeting ends. If you're tired of treating design review like a patchwork of screen sharing, screenshots, and email follow-ups, contact us to learn more about CADchat.