Revit: Publish >Autodesk Seek

[aaronrumple]

Whoa.
Is there anyway to turn off the Publish to Autodesk Seek feature?

We've got a lot of custom content that we'd rather not see set free in the wild. This is way too easy for an employee to save content for their own use after they leave here.

I don't want our stuff supporting Autodesk's library.... Nasty feature.

I also noticed that like me - everyone is uplaoding autodesk's own content as a test.... So you see lots of the same families showing up over and over.

[kyle.bernhardt]

Aaron,
No there is no way to turn off this feature. This never came up in any of our user validation and testing, to be honest, I was the Product Manager on the Seek Integration for this year's release.

Do you really think that Seek is the key factor that would put your internal content at risk? I would think a USB drive would be equally, if not more of a risk, certainly a lot easier to handle multiple files.

This is not to say that this can't change in the future. Are there others out there in AUGI-world that hold the same concerns as Aaron here?

Cheers,
Kyle B

[twiceroadsfool]

I hadnt notice that it was there, but i definetely have the same concerns as Aaron (the other one).

Some of them are for very different reasons, too.

I understand wanting to push people towards sharing, and helping, and whatever... But i know firms that will immediately dismiss someone for posting office content on a share site. Heck, ive taken heat just for having a Revit BLOG in some offices, because it *gives help* to the competition. Having a button right there to distribute things THAT ARENT YOURS (if you built it at work, for work, its theirs...), could mess with someones livlelyhood if they arent careful.

Its really no different then taking drawings to the Printer shop and them having an easy button that says *would you like to share these details with the world so they can use them?*

Im not arguing that its the KEY factor in content getting passed around, but its A factor. And thats a decision offices should be making, not software developers...

[Chad Smith]

Having a button right there to distribute things THAT ARENT YOURS (if you built it at work, for work, its theirs...), could mess with someones livlelyhood if they arent careful.

Just to add to this, having the means to do this directly from Revit makes it look as though it is acceptable behaviour to do so since this is in the software the user is being paid to use.

I agree with both Aarons that some restraint needs to be put on this feature.

[twiceroadsfool]

Dont get me wrong, im ALL ABOUT sharing content... When its mine to share, and when it can be monitored and controlled. But the opposite is true as well:

I wish to God i could disable the "Content Search" toolbar. Truth be told, i havent tried yet... But i hope there is a way. Im all for not wasting time reinventing content and remaking things, but we have strict policies and standards for content for a reason. Nothing irks me like spending hours cleaning up some content that *someone found on seek or revit city* and thought it would work. Short of having the IT guy sever everyones net connection, lol...

[kyle.bernhardt]

Well you guys must certainly have issues with trust in your users, but nonetheless this is valid feedback, and something we can take into consideration for next release.

In the interim, I'm sure you guys have the ability to filter websites within your network, so you can certainly block out Seek if content is such a touchy subject for you guys. What do you do about RevitCity, TurboSquid, and all of the other content providers online?

I must say though, that in general we are working to open thing up around content to foster a global ecosystem, as solving the issue on a firm-by-firm basis is not necessarily a scalable way to tackle the global issue.

I totally get your concerns around your existing content efforts, but I would expect other items to be equally, if not more dangerous to your IP (like copying of entire Revit projects).

How about others out there?

Cheers,
Kyle B

[kyle.bernhardt]

Dont get me wrong, im ALL ABOUT sharing content... When its mine to share, and when it can be monitored and controlled. But the opposite is true as well:

I wish to God i could disable the "Content Search" toolbar. Truth be told, i havent tried yet... But i hope there is a way. Im all for not wasting time reinventing content and remaking things, but we have strict policies and standards for content for a reason. Nothing irks me like spending hours cleaning up some content that *someone found on seek or revit city* and thought it would work. Short of having the IT guy sever everyones net connection, lol...

Like I said before, you guys make valid points here. My assumption is that most networks these days can block access to certain sites, and if outside content is such a concern, I would expect that you've already blocked them already (unless you've got users running Tor or something).

This is definitely something we can take back to the team for discussion.

Cheers,
Kyle B

[twiceroadsfool]

You make a valid point as well. Thats why my template (for home use) is posted on a website. Theres just no point. People DO do exactly what youre describing... Taking entire models with them.

I guess for me its just that its a little closer, a little easier, and a little more accessible.

BTW, im speaking based on what ive seen from management in several offices, not my personal opinions. Im all about sharing

[aaronrumple]

Aaron,
No there is no way to turn off this feature. This never came up in any of our user validation and testing, to be honest, I was the Product Manager on the Seek Integration for this year's release.

Do you really think that Seek is the key factor that would put your internal content at risk? I would think a USB drive would be equally, if not more of a risk, certainly a lot easier to handle multiple files.

This is not to say that this can change. Are there others out there in AUGI-world that hold the same concerns as Aaron here?

Cheers,
Kyle B

External USB devices are disabled on our systems. We use a Barracuda filter system. Emails have to go through our email system. Google Yahoo, Facebook are all blocked. No FTP. So yes it isn't easy getting things out the door.

Our company had an issue with theft by a fired employee sometime back with police being called. (I don't know the full story - before my time.) So management is a bit gun shy.

Even when I worked as a reseller - all our keystrokes were logged. Its a brave new world.

[STHRevit]

This is a pretty touchy subject indeed.
I also am up for sharing content, however, as mentioned before that should be my choice to make and I do object to a software manufacturer adding a button which enables one of my employees, to just issue content because the button is included in the software they are using.
As a consultancy firm, we deal with many different Architectural cliients and they all have different standards and protocols and i am pretty sure they would hate to see their content distributed ad hock.
If Autodesk didn't see this a big issue, why was'nt it highlighted alongside the free form modelling as a bright new feature?

It is a concern and should be removed IMO