Intel now plans its first Larrabee product to be used as a software development platform for both graphic and high performance computing...With Larrabee effectively gone, can we expect the Xenon to follow in 2010?
You can download a 30-day demo of KOMPAS-3D V11 from ascon.net/download.php
Layar themselves have more examples, including architectural ones, at Layar 3.0 launched: 5 cases to show the power of the platform. Looking at the examples reminds me of William Gibson's Spook Country, which I happen to be reading right now.
'Cept in the book, the protagonists have to wear headgear to see the VR scenes; the iPhone dispenses with all that!
(Click image for larger picture.)
Other 3D items of note seen on the exhibit floor:
Zebra's color holographic prints: when held under a point light source, you see a 3D image on the flat sheet of plastic. Not cheap, not fast to produce, but intriguing. Also, it is not possible to take a photograph of it, for then the 3D effect is lost.
Alioscopy's 3D monitor: you do not need to wear special glasses to see the 3D effect. Resolution is lower than what we are used to, however, and I got a bit of a headache watching it (due to the rapidly alternating viewpoints being displayed).
Faro's laser scanner that captures up to 1 million 3D points per second. While AutoCAD 2011 gets the ability to read millions of cloud points, you won't be able to afford the scanner: $99,999 for the scanner, license to transfer cloud data to AutoCAD, two days of training, and a year's of maintenance.
nVidia's 3D with wireless polarizing glasses.
View from my hotel room window this morning at 6:16am.
I am having muffin and tea for breakfast, all alone in the Press Room. Feels weird, since the press room is usually a hubbub of activity as editors from around the world (usually) greet each other and catch up on stuff.
Cadopolis.com
Just met up with Michael Robinson of www.Cadopolis.com. This is a typical Internet success story, one that I have experienced a few times. He runs a site that sells AutoCAD-related stuff. Several years ago, he invited me to host my line of ebooks with him, and now each month a cheque arrives for me in the mail.
But it wasn't until this morning that we met in person for the first time. He reports that sales to the US remain depressed, but that Europe and Australia are strong. I'm finding the same: until two years ago, nearly all my sales were to the US, but now I have clients in Europe and Asia making up for what otherwise would be a downturn.
Manufacturing Lounge Press Tour
We are being guided from stand to stand in the MFG Lounge. Currently being told how poorly customers generate technical docs, and so the new Inventor Publisher is needed!
CEO of Statasys in front of 2D printout of turboprop. 3D model will be on display later.
Just before this, we were shown the first ever 3D printout of a turbine engine.
Stratasys and Imagint Technologies (resller of Autodesk software) worked together, 200 hours of design time over a span of two years, in the spare time of Nino Caldarola of Imaginit. An imaginary engine, where the back end is like old turbines, with the prop and other parts from the modern era. For instance, countertoating blades, three spin forward, three in reverse. Modeled in Inventor.
As good as Inventor is, a real model gives a better idea of its size. Autodesk connected him with Statasys, who generated the 3D model. CEO Scott Crump of Stratasys notes his company has shipped half of all 3D printers. About 12 feet in diameter and ten feet long. Each prop was built individually, plus 300 other parts, including gear chains. Largest 3D printers can generate parts 4 feet on the diagonal. How much cost to output: $150,000 to build, not inlcuding design time. Plastic pieces are bolted together using normal fasteners.
Counter rotating blades help solve gyroscopic stability problems. Invented first by Howard Hughes.
Main Keynote
This is the 17th annual Autodesk University, which was begun by Miller Freeman (owners of Cadence magazine at the time) in San Francisco.
Carl Bass addresses the crowd in an arena-like complex.
The keynote address by Autodesk ceo Carl Bass emphasized surviving the recssion by being innovative -- using Autodesk software, 'match. Like architects telling customers how much energy ($$$) they can save by using Autodesk energy analysis software. Mr Bass warns this analysis may become law if legislation passes in the USA.
He listed the five stages that technology goes through: Impossible, impractical. sweet spot, expected, required. The best example is that of flying in airplanes, at one time thought impossible but now required for long distance travel.
Exploration, Analysis, Storytelling, Collaborate.
Showed three icons in Inventor that in real time show the manufacturability, cost, and environmental impact of the part being design.
Web-based computing will allow designers to analysis hundreds of options in the time it would take a desktop computer to analys one. He did not, howver, provide any details on how this will work with Inventor. Autodesk currently has Twitch, Kenneth Wong reminds me, but currently it has some limitations, because you need high bandwidth, such as a 5 megabit pipeline to make it work. (As a comparison, my office Internet conneciton is 0.25 megabit.)
He describes using Sketchbook Mobile together with the iPhone's camera to markup onsite images.
Finally, he describes an unannounced "Share Design" addon software for realtime markup and co-editing of shared drawings. Facebook shows that it is posslbe to be selectively aware of other people's activities. A new Clash Detection addon alerts those group members who need to know about design clashes. It was not clear to me if theses add-ons are for Inventor only.
Press Conference with Carl Bass
He is answering lots of questions from the assembled media (about 50). He says to expect more analysis software from Autodesk. He is also interested in Web-based software like Project Cooper, DragonFly, co-editing, and so on
Twitch is co-developed with OnLive. It is like "a very long video cable." It delivers the graphical image of AutoCAD over the Internet as it reads back keyboard strokes and mouse clicks from the user. "This is a hedge against the future."
He says we are beyond "let's not do Web-based software." The desktop may dwindle to zero, considering the power now found in an iPhone. While he is leaning towards Web-based computing, there will be iPhone like devices that are close to where the work is being done.
AutoCAD Keynote
Amar Hanspal hinted at future directions for AutoCAD:
- Working at making AutoCAD better at modeling the real world. I fully expect that AutoCAD 2011 will import point clouds -- a few years after MicroStation, I might add. Point clouds are the millions of 3D dots recorded by laser scanners. Said Mr Hanspal, "Where as you used to use raster scans as a backdrop to 2D drafting, you will now use point clouds for 3D background.s"
- Working at making AutoCAD better at modeling the real world more realistically. Here I was disappointed that he merely mentioned libraries of realistic finishes, such as paints and woods.
- Working at enhancing 2D drafting tools. "It's not like 2D documents are going away any time soon." Here he gave no details at all, just noting that AutoCAD 2010 had been given dozens of 2D enhancmements. Also, Autodesk's M&E [media and entertainment] division will be adding more of their technology to AutoCAD.
That's all for today... more tomorrow.
1. Use a highly-textured object. (By this, I think he means any object that has sufficient contrast that the software can determine points of interest. In his example, he uses a pop [soda] can, which has a high contrast label.)
2. Rotate the can in front of the Web cam. The software notices changes, and begins to stitch together a 3D view.
1. I would like to know if explicit modeling differs from direct.
2. If the Webcast will be more than just an episode of "Buy Now!"The Webcast is scheduled for December 8.
Would you believe me when I say you can install Caedium and run CFD [computational fluid dynamics] calculations on a netbook? I've installed and run modest (small) CFD calcs on an ASUS Eee PC 900 9-inch netbook (1GB RAM, 20GB solidstate drive) running Ubuntu 9.04 Netbook Remix [Linux operating system].
The Linux installer (Autopackage) we use for Caedium should be good for any 'modern' Linux distribution. If you fancy a go, you'll need to install both Caedium and Caedium add-ons from www.symscape.com/product/downloads#linux
Then get our Caedium Professional 30-day free trial from www.symscape.com/symcom/freetrial/174
In China, in addition to supporting the first ever World Expo Online, 3DVIA Virtools was also the application used for the virtual design and rehearsal of the parade in celebration of the country's 60th anniversary this year.Er, no. Not the 60th anniversary of the country. The 60th anniversary of the imposition of the brutal communist dictatorship that killed as many as 65 million of its own countrymen.
Only the Premier pass costs $99 (for watching 50+ classes); you can also watch two classes for free, plus keynotes and so on. www.autodesk.com/auvirtual
netfabb® GmbH are proud to announce the release of a linux alpha version of the netfabb® Studio Basic software. The software can be downloaded from the netfabb® Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/netfabb/93661616628
By using the Facebook page to launch the long waited for Linux version of netfabb® Studio Basic we want to draw attention to the growing importance of social media for business and to the netfabb® fan page on Facebook, says Ulf Lindhe, Business Development Manager at netfabb® GmbH.
I notice you are a Twitter fan, or at least a user. Wonder if you'd be interested in our novel use of Twitter to automatically post CFD [computational fluid dynamics] simulation telemetry?Skeptical, I went to http://www.symscape.com/news/symlab-tweeter to find that Caedium v2.0.1 has the "world's first automated simulation telemetry system." By posting images to TwitPic and tweets to Twitter, it keeps you up to date on the CFD simulation progress while you are away from the host machine enjoying dinner.
To see an example Tweet stream, try http://twitter.com/Symscape.
If you use the PowerTwitter add-on for Firefox you can see the images inline (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/9591).
Operationally the first half has seen strong growth in Russia and Eastern Europe contrasted by difficult trading conditions in Central Europe, where the lack of visibility of new projects is impacting the Oil and Gas and Power markets.
The first half performance in the Americas was mixed with a strong performance in Latin America and continued difficult trading conditions in North America and Canada.
Source.
Because Autodesk's products are cheap and used for relatively unimportant tasks, such as drafting, customers can get by without upgrading them or renewing their subscriptions during tough times.I and a few other editors see the sentence as unwarranted snarkiness. We can, of course, disagree with a CAD company's policies, directions, and software packages.
#16 Autodesk -- revenues of $2.3 billion.
#40 Siemens (UGS) -- revenues were flat at $800 million.
Some one wake up Rip Van Winkle. His software from 1998 is ready. Too bad Autodesk gave up on Actrix.