Autodesk
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.
Hotfix available for 3dsmax 2010
Oct 15th
Resolved Issues in this Hot Fix
Camera Maps
The Camera Map texture and modifier projected a bitmap behind and in front of the camera, instead of in front of the camera only.
Solution: The problem is now fixed, with the default settings (projecting to the front only). However, if you want to restore the legacy behavior (projecting in two directions), do so with MAXScript as follows:
* For the texture map, both scanline and mental ray®, if the texture is applied to the diffuse slot of a Standard material on the selected object use:
$.material.diffuseMap.affectBehindCam = true
* For either of the modifiers, if the modifier is at the top of the stack on the selected object use:
$.modifiers[1].affectBehindCam = true
Exception: For scenes using the Camera Map texture, then saved to an MI file, and rendered in mental ray standalone, there is no solution. The shader for mental ray standalone will continue projecting in two directions as before.
Customer Error Reports (CER)
The data is now transmitted for CERs originating from a machine with the Microsoft Windows® 7 operating system.
DirectX Shader Material
The DirectX® Shader material now respects the vertex normal.
DWG File Format
If DWG Files contain double-byte characters, such as Korean characters, in the file path or name, you will now be able to import the file.
InfoCenter
Capabilities such as one-time login, login less, and in product renewal related to the Subscription Center did not work from InfoCenter. These issues have been resolved.
FX Files
If you had two FX files, both with the same variable names, the parameters were being lost when you switched from one file to another. This has been fixed so that the parameters are retained.
Material Editor
In the Material Editor, when you choose a material map source which contains a double-byte characters, such as Korean, you can now select the associated image file.
MAXScript
* The command filenameFromPath now returns the filename as expected.
* You can now query a server list with MAXScript in the 32-bit version of 3ds Max/3ds Max Design.
mental ray
When you rendered using mental ray® and certain overlay scripts, the software would stop working. This issue has been resolved.
Non-Uniform Scale
When you rotated and scaled while using Non-Uniform Scale, unexpected rotation and scaling occurred. These issues are resolved.
ProCutter
* When you try to restore a material with ProCutter, the original UVs are now retained.
* When using ProCutter, smoothing groups are no longer lost.
Render Window
You can now save an image to a path that contains double-byte characters, such as Korean.
Third-Party Plug-ins
* Lightscape: The issue which caused the software to stop working when lights were copied has been resolved.
* The issue with drag and drop operations causing third-party plug-ins to stop working has been resolved.
Vertex Color
Vertex colors are no longer being overwritten when switching between Vertex and Polygon sub-object modes.
Viewport Performance
