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Issue #506 : : February 20, 2007 |
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C o n t e n t s Autodesk's World Media Day 2007:
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Autodesk's World Media Day 2007 What's a World Media Day without software, and Autodesk was showing most of its 2008-line of software to the 115 journalists in attendance. In the breathtakingly beautiful Palace Hotel on San Francisco's Market Street, stations were set up with notebook computers each running a different package. Between the stations were examples of products designed by Autodesk software -- but only by Autodesk's Inventor software, curiously enough. Last year's "new" software was the high-end gaming, movie effects, and automobile visualization software acquired from Canada's Alias. Being already entrenched in those industries, the Alias software is selling well for Autodesk. Plus, the company gets to bask in the glow of association with glamourous movies, glamourous games, and glamourous cars. This year's new software is a gamble: plant design. Companies like Coade and Intergraph specialize in it, and now Autodesk wants to wedge itself in. Last month's release of P&ID [piping and instrument drawing] is just the initial baby step; later this year, look for a "much-cheaper-than-Intergraph" Plant3D, along with eventual integration with Autodesk's other software, and more modules next year. And that seems to be the overall master plan: integrating all Autodesk software, so that you use Alias to visualize a 3D model of a proposed building (AEC) on the site (Civil) containing machinery (Mech) running a manufacturing process (Plant), etc. Did you pay $99+tax for DWF Design Review? You may now shake your fist in rage, because Autodesk has slashed the price down to $0. Download from www.autodesk.com/designreview after registration. Another irritation: I look forward to the year when Autodesk marketing drops the word "democratization." When a company's products are primarily proprietary, they're hardly democratic -- defined as "rule by the people."
Silent Promotion It was rumored; Autodesk didn't publicly announce it; but changes to senior management were discretely revealed on Media Day:
Change in Names Changes continue in how Autodesk names its architectural software. For example, "Autodesk AutoCAD Revit Series-Systems Plus" has been shortened to AutoCAD Revit MEP Suite, where MEP is short for "mechanical, electrical, plumbing." The software formerly known as Architectural Desktop (ADT) is now named AutoCAD Architecture. There is the problem of the acronym, AA, which has both negative and positive connotations. Autodesk decided against A4A (AutoCAD for Architecture) and settled on ACA (AutoCad Architecture). Anyone remember the software's first name? (AutoCAD AEC).
The Future is 3D (If We Can Get Our Hands Around It) Autodesk is banking on 3D for its future profits. But there is a problem. Computer hardware and software is sufficiently powerful enough to handle interactive 3D CAD models with realtime rendering, shadows, and transparency effects. But the user interface is still primarily 2D: monitors, input devices, output devices, and the user interfaces themselves are flat. Which is why Autodesk showed a couple of hardware devices that attempt to puncture the 2D barrier. One is a large LCD screen that responds to hand strokes, such zooming in by moving both hands together; Autodesk is/will be selling these screens. The other device was an LCD monitor on a counter-weighted boom device: as you move the screen, it displays what you would be viewing if you were moving a small window about a large room. The low cost of today's high-power CAD systems has been subsidized by the demands of the gaming industry. Perhaps tomorrow's low-cost 3D CAD user interfaces will also arrive from gaming, such as being adapted from Wii motion controllers.
Vista Update Buzz Krozz tells me that his Inventor software runs just as fast on Vista as on XP, because it uses DirectX graphics. AutoCAD 2008 will ship with both OpenGL and DirectX drivers.
Other Press Coverage For more on World Press Day, check out the following reports:
[Disclosure: Autodesk provided airfare, hotel accommodation, ground transportation, meals, and corporate gifts to journalists attending this event.] Chief Architect releases version X1 [v11 done fancy] of its 3D architectural software, Chief Architect. New features include 3D solids modeling, faster raytrace rendering, and new roof and wall designers. Prices range from US$1495 to $2995; ships in May. www.chiefarchitect.com Rasterex Software releases vR8.1 of its viewing and redlining software -- with 60+ new features and bug fixes. Demo from www.rasterex.com Cimmetry Systems releases Format Pack 2 for AutoVue 19.1, with support for CATIA V5R17. www.cimmetry.com/formats.html Eos Systems releases PhotoModeler v6, software that generates 3D models from 2D photographs -- now with Google Earth support and lens distortion removal. www.photomodeler.com/pm6explained NavisWorks ships JetStream v5.3 with enhanced support for plant drawings form Bentley and AVEVA. www.navisworks.com Radan 07 CAD/CAM software for sheet metal is now shipping. www.planit.com Sometimes it's just to hard for me to figure out what a press release means. So I'll let the this headline speak for itself: "ETRAGE LLC Announces the Release of the Automation COM Interface for Simplified PTC Pro/TOOLKIT Application Development." www.etrage.com COMSOL's v3.3a multiphysics simulation software (US$7,995) features 2500+ materials, importing of data from the chemical industry, and a new repair and defeaturing function for importing of CAD files. The software runs on Windows and Intel Macs. www.comsol.com CADLearning by 4D Technologies has four new DVD tutorials (US$199 each) for Revit Building 9; also available as streaming online ($169). www.cadlearning.com Lattice Technology offers a free trial of XVL Studio from xvldemo.lattice3d.com. The US2,000+ software is a 3D viewer with basic editing and authoring capabilities. AutoSolids releases AutoSolids 2007 and AutoSolids EXPRESS 200, which add parametric 3D solid modeling to AutoCAD 2007, Mechanical Desktop, and Architectural Desktop. www.autosolids.com And CoCreate Software is now shipping CoCreate OneSpace Suite 2007. www.cocreate.com/osdm_whats_new.cfm - - - These news items were posted during the last week at the WorldCAD Access blog <worldcadaccess.typepad.com>:
And at the Gizmos Grabowski <worldcadaccess.typepad.com/gizmos/> Weblog:
Hardware News Trimble's new VX Spatial Station combines photography, 3D scanning, and video to create 2D and 3D data. Shipping soon. www.trimble.com/trimblevx.shtml Seminars & Conferences NAFEMS (International Association for the Engineering Analysis) 11th International Conference is in Vancouver BC Canada on May 22-25. www.nafems.org/congress PLM Road Map 2007 takes place Sept 19-20 in Plymouth MI USA. www.cpd-associates.com/index.cfm?content=include_conference07.cfm Magazine/eZine/Weblog Updates AshBridge Media acquires CADCAM.Net and 'Engineering Automation Report' from Cyon Research. The sale marks the end of Cyon's venture into publishing. AshBridge consists of Randall Newton and Rachael Dalton-Taggart. Meanwhile, 'Cadalyst' ventures outside its business by introducing the Online Plan Room, with the support of IDEAL. [Makes little sense to me.] People/Companies on the Move Kelly A. Murray is the new public relations person for Newforma. France's IGE+XAO Group takes control of France's COMPODATA, publisher of online catalogues and configurators. Nemetschek and Baulogis collaborate to develop collaboration software for construction projects. The first step is Online Projects aimed at Belgian, Luxembourg, and Dutch markets. www.baulogis.com Avatech Solutions appoints board member Thom Waye as chairman. He succeeds W. James Hindman, who remains on the Avatech board. TurboCAD turns 21 this month. Bentley Systems acquires consulting and software firm C.W. Beilfuss & Associates. Market News 3D Systems reports that its Q3 revenue fell 2% to US$31.5 million, and that it suffered a loss of $11 million. Moldflow reports that its Q2 revenues were up 4% to US$17.7 million, and that it is pleased with its $1.8 million in profits. Brand New CAD Books/eBooks "Artlantis: The Missing Book"
"Learning C++ Programming Concepts"
"Animations with AutoCAD" WorthWhile Web http://www.hp.com/pond Letters to the Editor Re: SolidWorks World 2007 "It might be of your interest the following URL, concerning
a desktop 3D printer: www.fabathome.org/wiki/index.php
[Fab@Home]."
Re: Vista Runs CAD (up to) 50x Slower "I asked VariCAD, and they say their speed is 50% [half
as fast] on Vista compared to XP. That is the graphics speed only,
not other calculations."
"What's going to happen to the 3D market once Google licenses
and further develops BRL-CAD? I can see them doing this but releasing
it on one of their appliances." The editor replies: "I'm not sure I know why Google would want BRL-CAD. They bought SketchUp primarily for populating Google Earth with buildings." Mr Bowers responds: "There needs to be a shake-up in the industry."
"Keep those reports on Vista's failings coming!" The editor replies: "But at the cost of being blocked by Microsoft: 'Your e-mail was rejected by an anti-spam content filter on gateway (131.107.115.212). Reasons for rejection may be: obscene language, graphics, or spam-like characteristics. Removing these may let the e-mail through the filter. The following recipients did not receive this message: [email witheld]@microsoft.com'."
Re: PDF Conversion "I primarily use VisualCADD. When I save drawings as DWG
files, there is always something that doesn't translate well, especially
fonts. More architects lately have asked me to submit drawings
as PDF files. With Adobe Distiller, it consistently only produces
partial drawings -- the rest is missing. "I finally found a PDF converter that works perfect with
vector drawings such as CAD, reproduces the entire original file,
and is free: PrimoPDF at http://www.primopdf.com "
Re: think3 Usage Log File "I was openly critical of Think3's collection of user, system, file name and folder location data in their 'usage log file.' I made some suggestions that would make their requirements more acceptable if they did not want to stop or change the collection criteria. "I have just this moment received a generalized email, drawing
my attention to an amended Privacy Document. Whilst the information
will still be collected, users will have the option to opt-in or
opt-out, thus controlling the exchange of data they may otherwise
not want transmitted." - - - "Thanks for helping us keep up on the industry news." Notable Quotable "Tolerant and accommodating: is that a one-way or two-way
street?"
Copyright 2007 by upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd. All rights reserved worldwide Article reprint fee US$250.0 and up.
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