Requests for a 3D drafting specialist almost always come to us from the same situation in the drawing office: a model that has to be finished, too few hands and a schedule that is already fixed. The design is there, the detailing is not, and your own team is already busy with ongoing work.
We take that modelling work over. We draft and model; we do not do engineering or calculations. In practice, that means 3D models in Revit, Rhino or Inventor, with the 2D drawings derived from them.
Our large, flexible team scales with each project, and everyone who works for us has more than ten years of CAD experience. Sam, our team leader, comes from architecture and directs the technical side. We work in our own environment on our own licences, always with the latest versions. We respond to a new enquiry within 1 to 2 working days, after which we go through the work with you in a conversation.
Cable tray routing in the model, built with parametric families that carry the material schedule with them.
Parametric drafting and smart Revit families
A 3D model is only useful if the components in it move with it. That is why we build parametric Revit families, in other words smart components that adapt to a new situation or a different size. We make the component once and then place it everywhere without drawing it again. Because the material schedule updates along with it, the schedule changes automatically as soon as the component changes. That saves not only drafting hours but also the review round in which someone manually checks schedules against drawings. For a drawing office that places the same components in new positions every week, the whole working rhythm shifts from drafting to placing.
The clearest example from our own practice comes from greenhouse construction. Many companies in that sector draft in AutoCAD, and that package is not smart when it comes to building components such as valves in piping systems. A valve in 90 and a variant in 110 take two separate drafting actions there, every single time. A parametric family solves that with one placement and a size setting.
On that kind of work, the approach saves at least seventy per cent of the time. We can clean up existing families and templates or rebuild them. What is wisest depends on the state of the existing set. If it is very messy, rebuilding is sometimes faster than repairing, and then we tell you so. The choice remains yours; we provide the reasoning and an estimate in hours. If you want to know what working parametrically would deliver in your own project, send us a representative file.
Software and formats for 3D drafting
Revit, AutoCAD and Rhino are our main software, with Inventor added for mechanical components. We use Grasshopper for complex shapes where a parametric build-up is faster than modelling by hand. We use Dynamo and Vault to a limited extent, where the project calls for it. We always work with the latest versions, so a file from a recent release causes no conversion problems. The file formats going in and out of our office are DXF, DWG, Revit formats and STEP, and in practice any common CAD format. We consider tying into your existing set more important than our own preferences.
We adopt your layer structure, layer names, line weights, hatching and sheet layout. In Revit, that also means working with your existing templates, view templates and filters. In AutoCAD it takes the same discipline, only at layer level and within the project's existing block library. If some of those conventions are not written down, we derive them from what is there and put our interpretation to you for confirmation. We work in our own environment on our own licences, not in yours. You therefore do not need to free up a workstation, account or licence.
For standalone drafting work, files go back and forth by email. On larger projects, we work with software you can log into to follow progress. If a format comes along that is not listed here, we will look into it without any fuss. A test file in advance gives the quickest answer on that.
No ongoing payroll costs and no idle staff once the peak is over. If one of our people is off sick or on holiday, we replace them and the work simply carries on.
What we deliver as a 3D drafting specialist
Our work runs from the model to the drawing and back again. We model building elements, MEP components and products in 3D and derive the 2D drawings from them. Specifically, that produces floor plans, sections, elevations, details, standard details and general arrangement drawings, laid out on sheets according to the project's format. Where a client only needs the model, we deliver that model with the associated families. As-built drawings are part of it too, as are revision rounds on sets already in use. For a revision, you get the files back in the same structure and with the same names as we received them. On delivery, we report which choices we have made and which points still need a decision. Delivery happens in stages, so your project lead can see early on whether the detailing is right.
At the start, we agree how large each stage is and on which day you can expect it. What we do not deliver is engineering: calculations, structural advice and permit files are outside our scope. We keep that line sharp, even when a request is urgent. Every piece of work we produce remains your intellectual property. Volume does not put us off, because repetition is exactly where we make the difference. We would rather take on a series of dozens of similar components than a single standalone drawing. We have delivered more than twenty projects and hundreds of drawings for Firefly. If you have a list of the output you need, we will respond to each item in the first conversation.
Three review layers on every piece of drafting
Every piece of work passes through at least three review layers before it goes back to you. A drafter produces the work, a second team member checks it, Sam then reviews it as team leader and Barry, our project manager, gives it a final look. We keep to that sequence even when the schedule is tight. As a result, the number of errors stays minimal in practice.
In 3D work, this mainly prevents errors that only surface much later. An incorrectly set parameter in a family propagates through the whole set, and an error in a view template reappears on every sheet. A second reader spots that kind of thing faster than someone who has spent hours in the model.
We also check compliance with your drawing conventions in those rounds. We do that check on the drawing itself and not only on the model, because that is where you see the result. We look at layer names, line weights, hatching, symbols and sheet numbering. If the existing set is internally inconsistent, we flag it and agree on one approach with you. With Firefly, we received an as-built file that had been printed incorrectly and partly added to by hand.
We worked it out ourselves instead of calling the client constantly, and still delivered it neatly. We do not give guarantees, and we do not make promises about lead times in hours either. What we do is deliver early and in stages, so you can follow along yourself. If you want to test this way of working, start with a small job.
Frequently asked questions about a 3D drafting specialist
Hand your 3D modelling over to us
Send us your documents and drawing conventions and we will let you know within one to two working days what we can take on and when.