It is Alive in the Lab

Join the Autodesk Seek team for a lively discussion about product content at AU, and earn CE credits along the way

2009-11-13T12:31:50-07:00

Lively but maybe not this lively

Autodesk Seek Marketing Manager, Jim Wilson, asked me to post this. I was happy to do so.

You’ve heard of BIM. Maybe you’ve even worked with BIM. Now’s your chance to let building product manufacturers know how they can build the product information that you need, when you need it, where you need it. We’ll debate standards, content development best practices and your requirements for how best to deliver manufacturer-specific content for your workflow. This lively and interactive content panel – hosted by the team from Autodesk Seek, a recent “graduate” of Autodesk Labs in 2008 - will be of particular interest to sales and marketing executives for building product manufactures in the AEC industry, and design professionals from top firms who are regular users of Autodesk® Revit® and AutoCAD® in the AEC industry.

We hope to see you at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino for Autodesk University. Please register below to reserve a seat now. Oh, by the way, your attendance at the Autodesk Seek panel discussion qualifies for AIA learning credits.

Customers Are From Venus and Manufacturers Are From Mars: Connecting the Dots with Content
Class ID: AB308-3
Class Type: 90-Minute Panel
http://au.autodesk.com/?nd=e_class&session_id=5357

Just like the commercial for Ginsu knives - But wait, there’s more! If you’re interested in learning about how to maximize 3D visualization content for online commerce and web-based services using 3ds Max, Autodesk’s 3D modeling, animation, and rendering solution, you’ve found your class. Register below. We look forward to seeing you.

Best Practices: Using Autodesk® 3ds Max® Design to Build Content for Online Commerce
Class ID: DV318-1
Class Type: 90-minute class
http://au.autodesk.com/?nd=e_class&jid=29034&session_id=5199

Thanks Jim.

My first week back

2009-11-13T05:00:00-07:00

Well it's been my first week back. I would like to thank Amanda Collins, Ben Cochran, Brian Mathews, Douglas Look, and Frederic Loranger who looked after the blog during my sabbatical and guest authored articles. During my six weeks off, my wife and I:

Saw our son off to boot camp at Camp Pendleton in San Diego. I helped him get his car ready for sale. He sold it to CarMax - a very disappointing experience in terms of the price he received.
Moved from Scottsdale, Arizona to Alameda, California. We got to go to the California Department of Motor Vehicles. As part of registering my car, I asked "Are front plates optional or required?" The clerk's response was "No." (Excuse me but that was not a "yes" or "no" question.) Although Arizona only requires a rear license plate, California requires both front and back. I also had the pleasure of opening new bank accounts, setting up new services, dealing with damage caused by the movers, and becoming familiar with the rules for my Homeowners Association.
Oversaw progress on the remodeling of our town home. We are getting a new kitchen, new shower, organized closets, tankless hot water heater, new fireplace, and painting throughout. This started in September. We're not done yet. The goal is to be done by Thanksgiving. We have made so many trips to Home Depot and Lowe's that the employees know us by name.

The day we drove from Scottsdale to Alameda was October 13. It rained the whole way. In fact, Alameda had its hardest rain since 1962. When we arrived, we saw that our garage had a leak. In addition, the painters had painted the rooms the wrong colors. Welcome to California. It was a very productive time in our lives. I am glad to be back at work.

Bridge Modeler for AutoCAD Civil 3D Now Available

2009-11-12T15:45:57-07:00

When Dave Simeone and Yoshihiko Fukuchi approached me about making a technology preview available on Autodesk Labs, I couldn't help but think about Led Zeppelin's "The Crunge." At the end of the song Robert Plant sings "I'm just trying to find a bridge." to which Jimmy Page retorts "Where's that confounded bridge?" Dave and Yoshihiko have an extension to AutoCAD Civil 3D for bridge modeling:

Free Download of Bridge Modeler Technology Preview for AutoCAD Civil 3D on Autodesk Labs

Please give it a try, create a bridge you'd like to sell me, and let us know how it turns out at labs.civil3d.bridge@autodesk.com. You have until March 15, 2010 to do so.

Building bridges is alive in the lab.

Piping Design Technology Preview Now Available

2009-11-12T05:00:00-07:00

Product Manager, Ravi Akella, contacted me a while back about a new Piping Design Technology Preview he wanted to get feedback on from the Autodesk Labs community. Now that I am back from my sabbatical, I was happy to update the Autodesk Labs site:

Free Download of Piping Design Technology Preview on Autodesk Labs

Please give this a try and let us know what you think at labs.algor.piping@autodesk.com. You have until June 30, 2010 to do so.

Looking forward to a flurry of feedback regarding this new technology preview is alive in the lab.

Try AutoCAD, Inventor, and Revit on your Windows 7 system without installing them

2009-11-11T12:46:55-07:00

Autodesk Labs just released an update of its Application Trials Service. Also known as Project Twitch, this technology preview lets you try our flagship products over the internet without the need to download or install them on your computer. Right now, users can try AutoCAD 2010, Inventor 2010, Revit Architecture 2010, and soon Maya 2010 (stay tuned for the next update of the service).

This update provides the much anticipated support for Windows 7 (32- and 64-bit) along with some core improvements to the technology. Please give it a try and tell us what you think at labs.trials@autodesk.com.

Frederic Loranger, Autodesk Labs

Project Twitch Down for a small Maintenance Window Today

2009-11-11T08:03:15-07:00

Project Twitch will be unavailable at 9:30 am Thursday, November 11, 2009 PT for an upgrade to the application service. Stay tuned for more details about the upgrade…

Updated Moldflow UI Technology Preview Now Available

2009-11-11T05:00:00-07:00

AutoCAD has a ribbon interface. Inventor has a ribbon interface, etc. The ribbon interface has become standard for Autodesk design applications. To see how this would apply to the Moldflow product line, we have a technology preview of a ribbon interface. Your feedback (labs.moldflow.ui@autodesk.com) will help determine the final implementation. The technology preview originally allowed you to patch

to have the ribbon interface. Yesterday we updated the technology preview to also include:

Autodesk Moldflow Insight

You can download the UI technology preview from the Autodesk Labs site:

Free download of Moldflow UI Technology Preview

So now if you use any of the Moldflow applications, we invite you to experience the ribbon interface. "Do not fear the ribbon." Let us know how it works or does not work for you.

Expanding technology previews to cover all of the bases is alive in the lab.

Noble Studios: 2009 Silver Davey Award – Winner for Interactive Multimedia for Corporate Image

2009-11-10T15:59:25-07:00

What's a Silver Davey? An award. What's a Greek urn? About $9/hour. [old joke as in "earn"]

One of the partners we work with is Noble Studios. For example, they helped us with some of the Autodesk Labs site redesign we completed in August. Jarrod Lopiccolo of Noble Studios recently shared some good news with us. Noble Studios was recently awarded a 2009 Silver Davey Award. Read about it here:

5th Annual Davey Awards

The award gets its name from the story of David versus Goliath. Like the small boy who brought down the big giant with a slingshot and a rock, awards are given to small firms with big ideas.

Congratulations to Noble Studios.

November Plugin of the Month: Screenshot for AutoCAD Now Available

2009-11-10T05:00:00-07:00

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder - so share your beautiful designs as images.

I was on sabbatical until yesterday, so I am a little bit tardy with the November plugin of the month. This month's Autodesk Developer Network plugin comes to us from our own Kean Walmsley and provides a screenshot capability for AutoCAD.

Free Download of Screenshot for AutoCAD on Autodesk Labs

From the read me: "This plugin can be used with AutoCAD to simplify the process of capturing images of parts of drawings, or the entire drawing or application windows. It optionally allows you to remap the background to white and the foreground to black, and convert the entire image to grayscale, as well as sending the capture image directly to a printer."

The plugin works with AutoCAD 2007 and later versions. This applies to vanilla AutoCAD as well as AutoCAD-based products. So please give it a shot and let us know what you think at labs.plugins@autodesk.com.

Celebrating the sharing of another plugin (including its source code) is alive in the lab.

2D to 3D Tool and Feature Recognition on Autodesk Labs Compatible with Autodesk Inventor LT 2010

2009-11-09T05:00:00-07:00

Please pardon my omission

Thanks to Autodesk Inventor Product Manager, Sam Antos, who did the research to let me know that

are compatible with Autodesk Inventor LT 2010. I have updated the Autodesk Labs site pages accordingly. Now Autodesk Inventor LT users are aware that they too can send us suggestions at labs.iv.2dto3d@autodesk.com and labs.iv.feature.recog@autodesk.com.

Looking forward to feedback from Autodesk Inventor LT users is alive in the lab.