Autodesk
Project Helix, Point Cloud Tools for Autodesk® 3ds Max® 2010
Jul 14th
I am pleased to announce the first Autodesk Labs project for 3ds Max, a technology preview enabling display and rendering of 3D laser scanning/LiDAR data sets with Autodesk® 3ds Max® 2010 & 2011 and Autodesk® 3ds Max® Design 2010 & 2011. With the 3ds Max Point Cloud Tools you can import reference data that has been captured from various 3D scanning devices and use as a snapping reference for modeling workflows, or simply apply a material and render the point cloud using the mental ray renderer. We anticipate seeing a wide variety of use cases for this technology preview and have already seen users load up to 1 billion points within the viewport.
The Point Cloud Tools for 3ds Max and 3ds Max Design allows you to:
- Import .PTS format point cloud data into 3ds Max or 3ds Max Design scenes (release 2010 & 2011)
- Display the point cloud data in the 3ds Max viewport with a variety of rendering options and levels of detail
- Render point clouds using the mental ray rendering option
- Slice point clouds into pieces using geometric display volumes
- Export multiple clouds or parts of clouds to a new .PTS files
- Snap to specific points within the data
- Render with shadows for quick shadow studies
- Apply materials or projection map images onto the point cloud data
- Display captured per point color in viewport
- Independent LOD control for viewport and render settings
Working with 3D point cloud data is very memory intensive, we recommend at a minimum Win 7, 64bit, 8GB RAM, and a 64bit version of 3ds Max. Stability problems will increase on lower spec systems and the amount of data you can work with is dependent upon the amount of RAM in the system. Although there are a number of very functional features in the technology preview, it has not been widely tested on a range of hardware and configurations.
Lake Cabin Illustration
Jun 3rd
Here is a lake cabin illustration that I just completed. The model was created in 3DS MAX Design 2011 and rendered using the V-Ray render engine. If you have any technical question feel free to post them here.
Composition is one of the most misunderstood concepts in any form of artwork. It has been said that you can be the greatest painter in the world, but if you don’t know how to compose properly, your painting will fall apart and the same goes for digital art/illustrations/renders.
Like all illustrations of mine, this one started off in my head. First I decide what would make this image special and I decide on a focal point. These cabins are on a lake, very close to the water, and have windows and a deck facing the South. I like to play with contrast so I typically place my camera about 45 degrees from my light source (in plan), with the focal point being in the light. Since the cabins are on the lake facing South I know that you would see the sunrise so I took advantage of the glass on the sliding windows. I chose the sunrise in the reflection as my focal point.
To bring the viewers eye to my focal point (composition is really about moving the viewer’s eye) I placed the boat in the foreground, pointing towards my focal point. The boat was tipped slightly away from the camera so it wouldn’t bring so much attention to itself. I used yellow on the boat to help the viewer up into the image knowing the eye associates colors and the sunrise in the reflection is yellow too. The focal point is also 1/3 to the left of center and about 1/3 below center, which is were the eye is naturally drawn to in an image. I usually have my horizon lower, but I wanted at least as much blue water as blue sky (the water and sky are blue, which are complementary colors to my focal so it brings the illustration into balance).
Below are some screen grabs of my V-Ray settings:
VFB Frame Buffer
Global Switches
Antialising
Image Sampler
Environment
Color Mapping
Camera Type
GI
Brute Force
Light Cache
Caustics
DMC
Displacement
Systems
Elements
V-Ray Camera
HDRI
Gamma
I can comfortably say that I have never used the same settings for any 2 scenes so these settings might not work for you, but it might be a good starting point. I am running a render farm with 90Gb of RAM and 24 processors so unless you have an equivalent farm these settings might be to high for you.
Below find some Photoshop CS5 post screen grabs:
(coming soon…)
IES Releases Revit 2011 Compatible VE Plug-in For Environmental Performance Analysis
May 18th
BOSTON, May 13, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES), a provider of integrated performance analysis software and consulting services for sustainable building design, today released an updated version of its VE plug-in to Autodesk Revit Architecture and MEP. The plug-in allows Revit 2011 users to easily export models into any of the IES Virtual Environment (VE) environmental building performance analysis tools; VE-Ware, VE-Toolkits, VE-Gaia and VE-Pro. Removing the need to re-build models, the IES plug-in greatly enhances design workflow and simulation accuracy, bringing comprehensive and integrated analysis options for all design stages to the Building Information Modelling (BIM) process.
This new IES VE plug-in now supports Revit 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. It offers enhanced model transfer capabilities and can handle challenging and complex geometry, as well as offering users the option to choose the level of geometry detail exported from the basic, to how shading surfaces are handled, to whether curtain wall mullions are counted as shading surfaces. The VE sets no explicit limits on the number of surfaces that it can import. This important capacity gives users ultimate control over geometry detail used for performance analysis and energy modelling within IES tools. Highly detailed curtain walling systems, multi-faceted shading surfaces and mullions, and additional complex shapes and junctions, can all be handled.
The IES VE tools offer a range of powerful performance assessment options suitable for all different design stages and user experience-level, while the integrated nature of the suite allows the interrelationships between energy use, CO2 emissions, solar, lighting, airflow and system design to be taken into account and analysed at a whole building level. Building mass and form, the climate, natural resource availability, occupancy, materials and services can all be taken into account to ‘virtually’ test the feasibility of different energy saving strategies and low carbon/ renewable technologies.
IES also offers a range of automated tools which assist with the LEED and GreenStar rating systems, and compliance with UK energy reduction and Performance Certificate regulations.
The latest version of the IES VE Revit Plug-in can be downloaded at http://www.iesve.com/Software/Model-Building/Revit-plug-in
Autodesk Developer Network Introduces Companion Products for Autodesk Revit Architecture 2011
May 18th
SAN RAFAEL, Calif., Apr 06, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Autodesk, Inc. /quotes/comstock/15*!adsk/quotes/nls/adsk (ADSK 30.11, -0.04, -0.13%) announces that several Autodesk Developer Network (ADN) members have released companion solutions for Revit Architecture 2011 and AutoCAD Civil 3D 2011. ADN developers reconfigure Autodesk software for niche industries, providing customized products that streamline design efficiency, innovation and sustainability.
“ADN partners, offering companion solutions to Revit Architecture 2011 and Civil 3D 2011, are allowing their architecture, engineering and construction customers to efficiently and collaboratively model and design complex projects,” said Richard, Harpham, Autodesk director, AEC industry marketing. “These solutions extend building information modeling practices that cut the costs and time for delivering work. Our developer partners, building on Autodesk technology, are reaching millions of new customers in niche markets and, in turn, tremendously increasing the growth of BIM adoption and by helping customers become more competitive in winning work.”
Building Information Modeling (BIM) is an integrated process for exploring a project’s key physical and functional characteristics digitally before it’s built, helping to deliver projects faster and more economically, while minimizing environmental impact. Coordinated, consistent information is used throughout the process to design innovative projects; better visualize and simulate real-world appearance, performance and cost; and create more accurate documentation.
ADN members that have released products supported by Autodesk Revit Architecture 2011 include:
– Adapt (www.adaptsoft.com/revitstructure/)
– Eagle Point (www.eaglepoint.com)
– GSA (www.gsa-network.com)
– hsbSOFT NV (www.hsbcad.de)
– Struc-Soft (www.strucsoft.ca)
– Trelligence (www.trelligence.com)
Analyze the effects of solar radiation on various surfaces of your conceptual building model.
May 16th
Use the Autodesk Solar Radiation Technology Preview for Revit 2011 to understand and quantify solar radiation on various surfaces of your conceptual building model.
Using the Autodesk Solar Radiation Technology Preview during the conceptual design stage of your project can help you make informed design decisions about building shape, orientation, and shading strategies early on when changes are least expensive.
The technology preview uses the geometry of conceptual massing elements from Revit and calculates the amount of solar radiation hitting the selected surfaces of the massing shapes, based on location and weather data. It is possible to display the distribution and availability of solar radiation over an entire building or even a city block. This can be particularly useful when considering shading requirements or assessing the best areas to place photovoltaics for maximum collection.
The Autodesk Solar Radiation Technology Preview is modeless and delivers an integrated experience within the Revit environment. This experience is made possible by the Analysis Visualization Framework, Dynamic Model Update, and other new API’s made available with the Autodesk Revit 2011 family of products.
This technology preview is a limited term release to seek customer feedback on its performance and expires on November 5th, 2010.
Ambient Occlusion
Apr 2nd
Ambient = Dark
Diffuses = Light
An Ambient Occlusion pass returns a gray scale image with intersecting geometry darker. This technique allows you to do some post production using layer manipulation. Revit 2011 has some built in Ambient Occlusion capabilities so be on a lookout in the next release.
The below image was created via a script and I use this technique on almost all of my work. It gives your illustration a more realistic feel. This is also how I create the museum board stills and animation.
What’s new in Revt Architecture 2011?
Mar 25th
So what’s in RAC 2011 you may ask? RAC 2011 introduces some new concepts, an improved interface (needed too after the grief that Autodesk got about the Ribbon for 2010) as well as some genuine user feature requests. Whilst this blog just covers the main features it does not cover everything, but I do plan to cover specific functionality in future articles.
3D Painting features
Feb 17th
Sneak peek: New 3D Painting features and render surface improvements in 3ds Max and 3ds Max Design
Excalibur (XBR) public unveiling
Feb 1st
Excalibur (XBR) public unveiling took place on January 27th, 2010 via 3 webinars. Over 450 people joined us to review how we plan to go about the restructuring of 3ds Max and tackling some core issues to ensure that 3ds Max remains the workhorse of the industry for a long time to come. Some statistics:
- 93% of attendees said the presentation was good or excellent
- 88% said that the XBR initiative was important, 86% said that we are tackling the core issues that they think exist
- Attendees were asked to pick one thing for us to focus on, 30% gave equal weight to Stability and Performance, 18% said Features and 16% said Usability, 9% said Interop
- XBR Graphics was the most important as 42% said we should focus on that if they had to pick one thing; new UI was second at 19% followed by Diet, Doc views and Simulation at around 11-14%
- Ratings by core area (1-not useful, 4-excellent) shows that everything rates between a “Definitely useful” and a “Excellent! That will make a big difference for me”
- XBR Graphics: 3.6
- XBR Docs: 3.3
- XBR Simulation: 3.3
- XBR Diet: 3.2
- XBR UI: 3.2
- XBR Data: 3.1
Public link to view one of the sessions: http://adinc.na4.acrobat.com/p23782361/
Thanks to all of you that joined the webinars and gave us some of your time to discuss the future. We learned a lot, I hope you did too.
Do you have VBA code?
Jan 15th
Do you have VBA code? Now is the time to start looking at migrating it to VB.net as the VBA IDE is being removed from AutoCAD and all AutoCAD verticals. For AutoCAD 2010 products you had to download the tools from the AutoDesk website to keep your VBA working and that is going away in the future releases of AutoCAD. That means you must migrate any VBA components in your applications to another technology for them to work in autoCAD 2011 based products.
AutoCAD® 20-20 CAD
Jan 15th
20-20 CAD is an AutoCAD® based product design tool developed specifically for woodworking professionals. Design cabinets, range hoods, entertainment centers, office furniture, store fixtures, or other “special request” items for customers and output to 20-20 Design catalogs or to machine ready code.
AutoCAD 20-20
20-20 Technologies Inc.’s Highlights
- Point of Sales & Manufacturing Solutions for both Residential & Commercial Industries
- Integrated package of applications that automates the design and specification/quotation process
- Autodesk Authorized Developer for more than 20 years
- AutoCAD based applications
- The most extensive manufacturer specific and generic catalog data available
- Enhanced Customer Experience
- Simplified process
- Improved accuracy and productivity
- Increase market penetration
Autodesk Selects FM:Systems to Partner on Building Information Modeling and Facility Management
Jan 14th
FM:Systems Named Autodesk Preferred Industry Partner for Facilities Management and Will Provide an Extended Support Program for Autodesk FMDesktop Software Products
SAN RAFAEL, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Autodesk, Inc., a world leader in 2D and 3D design, engineering and entertainment software for the manufacturing, building and construction, and media and entertainment markets, and FM:Systems, a leading provider of integrated workplace management systems (IWMS) and computer-aided facility management (CAFM) software, have joined together to ensure continued customer support for Autodesk FMDesktop software users. In keeping with Autodesk’s commitment to provide customers the best solutions, Autodesk will transition Autodesk FMDesktop customer support to FM:Systems. Under the terms of the agreement FM:Systems will provide Autodesk FMDesktop customers with extended support as well as an option to migrate to the firm’s FM:Interact Workplace Management Suite. In addition, FM:Systems has joined the Autodesk Preferred Industry Partner Program, a program that recognizes select third-party software developers for their innovative, industry-focused solutions.
“FM:Systems’ focus on customer success has always impressed the facilities team at The MathWorks”
“As a long-time member of the Autodesk Developer Network, FM:Systems was the natural choice to help us extend the value of BIM into the facilities management arena, and to provide our customers with continued support,” said Jim Lynch, vice president of Autodesk BIM Product Line Group. “Contractors and building owners are telling us that they want to take advantage of the valuable data in BIM for facilities management. We are excited to partner with FM:Systems to deliver this value.”
Building upon a shared goal to bring the benefits of BIM to the operations phases of a building’s lifecycle, the two companies will now work together to integrate BIM data from Autodesk software products, such as Autodesk Revit Architecture, with FM:Systems’ facilities software to support enhanced building operation and maintenance.
The FM:Interact Workplace Management Suite offers an integrated set of powerful web-based workplace management products designed to assist facilities and real estate professionals improve planning, manage performance and streamline processes. FM:Interact provides the space management, occupancy management and facility maintenance offered by Autodesk FMDesktop, and offers additional capabilities such as real estate portfolio management, lease administration, project management, move management and strategic planning.
“We are committed to supporting Autodesk FMDesktop customers,” said Michael Schley, IFMA Fellow and CEO, FM:Systems. “With a 93 percent customer satisfaction track record for our support desk team, and products that make the most of design and construction data, we’re confident Autodesk FMDesktop users will find FM:Systems a great resource for their immediate and long-term needs.”
“FM:Systems’ focus on customer success has always impressed the facilities team at The MathWorks,” said Bob Donahue, facilities planning manager of The MathWorks. “The initial roll out of our system was surprisingly fast, technical support has been excellent, and we appreciate having a voice in the ongoing direction of the products.”
FM:Systems as an Autodesk Preferred Industry Partner
Under the program, FM:Systems will work with Autodesk to create applications that complement Autodesk 3D products, such as the Autodesk Building Information Modeling (BIM) portfolio of products, and help customers simulate their ideas early in the design process as well as reduce time and cost in manufacturing or construction. Autodesk works closely with Preferred Industry Partners on a range of marketing and sales activities, and program participants may also receive other benefits, including early access to alpha and beta versions of Autodesk software, priority service support and feature requests, and access to additional co-marketing resources.
Existing Autodesk FMDesktop customers will be contacted by FM:Systems sales representatives during the next 30 days to discuss their extended support and/or migration options. A special website at www.fmsystems.com/fmdesktop has been established to provide Autodesk FMDesktop users with information and FM:Systems contact referrals. Existing customers may also call 1-800-648-8030 for immediate assistance.
About FM:Systems
By connecting people, place and process, FM:Systems helps facilities and real-estate professionals improve customer service, reduce costs and increase productivity enterprise-wide. FM:Systems Web-based software improves management of space, occupancy, moves, maintenance, leases and property. Customer results include: real-estate costs reduced by 15 percent, move spend reduced by 83 percent, enterprise productivity savings of $1.5 million and an internal customer satisfaction rate of 97 percent.
Many of the world’s leading organizations rely on FM:Systems products, including CA, Devon Energy, Freddie Mac, GMAC Financial Services, Herman Miller, Indiana University, Lockheed Martin, NASD, Northwestern University, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Progress Energy, Target stores and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.
FM:Systems is headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, and conducts business in the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific. For more information about FM:Systems, please visit www.fmsystems.com or call 1-800-648-8030.
About Autodesk
Autodesk, Inc. is a world leader in 2D and 3D design, engineering and entertainment software for the manufacturing, building and construction, and media and entertainment markets. Since its introduction of AutoCAD software in 1982, Autodesk continues to develop the broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art software to help customers experience their ideas digitally before they are built. Fortune 100 companies — as well as the last 14 Academy Award winners for Best Visual Effects — use Autodesk software tools to design, visualize and simulate their ideas to save time and money, enhance quality and foster innovation for competitive advantage. For additional information about Autodesk, visit www.autodesk.com.
Autodesk, FMDesktop and Revit are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. Academy Award is a registered trademark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product offerings and specifications at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document.
© 2009 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.
“Horrible Hacks™” and Other Tips and Tricks for Revit® Power Users
Jan 11th
Class Audience
Class Highlights
- Create hidden global parameters
- Utilize metadata to fully deliver the promise of BIM
- Develop creative solutions using the Revit API and scripts
- Maximize your productivity in Revit
- Get out of tight jams when you have a deadline
QTO 3D Model Display Error – Solved!!!
Dec 13th
I figured out what is causing the 3D graphics issue with QTO 2010. As previously known, some graphics cards do not work in 3D mode in QTO with hardware acceleration turned on.
It seems that QTO and Design Review share the same registry switch for the model driver selection. So when you select “Direct3D” as your model driver for Design Review it turns it on for QTO which causes the problem. If “Direct3D” is selected as the View Settings for the model driver in Design Review, Deselecting “Enable Hardware Acceleration” in QTO does not turn hardware acceleration off.
To fix this, open the options dialog for Design Review, in the Model tab, in the View Settings section set the Driver to “OpenGL” or “Software (OpenGL)”.
The next time you open a 3D Dwf in Design review and “Direct3D” is not being used a message appears:
“Direct X Driver Found, Autodesk Design Review has detected the presence of the DirectX graphic drivers on this system. Would you like to switch to DirectX to take advantage of better 3D model performance?”
Select “Do not show this message again” and select the cancel button.
I have tested this both in Vista 64bit as well as XP 32bit and it appears to work in both.
Make Way for Autodesk Quantity Takeoff 2010
Dec 9th
Autodesk® Quantity Takeoff cost estimating software helps cost estimators collect and synchronize multiformat design data and high-quality images, providing comprehensive support and enabling a smoother design-to-cost workflow. Use Autodesk Quantity Takeoff to leverage property data to automatically or manually measure, count, and price various building objects.
See this great little video, which introduces QTO 2010 and a number of new features.
Jason Pratt, a subject matter expert here at Autodesk, recorded this video and made it available to all of us.
Thank you, Jason.
Please let us know of any comments or suggestions you may have. Thank you.
Enjoy!
Drop in animation
Nov 18th
I am in the process of animating some concept designs and here is what I am calling a drop in animation. I can imagine using this method to drop landscaping in one tree at a time.
ScalpelMAX
Nov 16th
Once again, another successful purchase and implementation of a 3DS MAX Design 2010 plug-in from the Cebas folks. I am getting ready to animate the 4D phasing of an elder care community project we are working on. I did have an issue logging into Cebas’s website, but I got a call minutes after I sent a support e-mail, which is very uncommon these days. My hats off to Cebas!
Revit Architecture 2010 subs advantage pack
Nov 10th
The cat is out of the bag! Autodesk have been really busy…..today Autodesk ran what is described as a Blogger Day, where they presented the forthcoming Revit 2010 Subscription Advantage Pack. Hopefully due out this week, this release will have a number of enhancements over and above the out of the box version of Revit of 2010!!!
So what is the subs advantage pack???
This is like a point release and is only available to subscription users (which we area). Rather than releasing separate extensions like they have done in the past, Autodesk have bundled these all up as a complete release with a number of new features. So be aware, this is a complete new release!!!
So what do these improvements include:-
- Additional shortcut commands
- A UI to control the shortcuts (hooray) no more text file editing
- Conditional formatting in all products
- DWG export improvements
- Text formatting – from shortcuts
- Find and replace text
- Model lines to Detail lines and back
- Link file improvements
- API improvements
- Autodesk Revit Model Review
- Revit DBlink
- Image modeler will now be included so you can create point cloud data from images and export this to DWG and import this into Revit
- Wood Wall Framing tool
Finally, all the Revit Structure feature will now be included to in Revit Architecture!!! 
Hooray!!!!
- Curved beams
- Beam copping
- Create Trusses
- Tag beam systems
- Slab directions and decking
- Slanted columns
- Split with Gap
Revit Structure advantage features will also include:-
- Insulation tool
- Placing 3d beams from geometry references in imported 3d drawings
- Control beam length tolerance
- Wood Framing
- Interferences of Reinforcing bars
- Bridge Design Modules
Revit MEP advantages features will also include:-
- will see MEP performance improvements
- Temp dims in layout mode
- Content Countrification for China, Russia,UK, International
- New Electrical content for the US
Autodesk’s Quantity Takeoff and Timberline
Nov 4th
Timberline has an ODBC coming out soon for Autodesk’s Quantity Takeoff. Autodesk’s QT allows you to do on-screen takeoffs of the 3D building information model (BIM) and as the model develops so does the estimate.
