Last year, and for next few years, see Autodesk changing its entire business model to what it thinks is the future. At the end of January, the company eliminated sales of permanent licenses of standalone software, and then in July will do the same for suites. The good news is that if you still have permanent licenses, they will always work.
Related to this, next March (or the March after) may well be the last big-R release for much of Autodesk's software. A "big-R" is a big release, where the software gets a new version number *like 2017) and is packed with new functions. As Autodesk moves everything to the cloud, its software will runs in Web browsers and so be updated continuously. (To experience this today, try the free version ofOnshape.)
Big-R's haven't come to an end yet, so let's see what Autodesk has in this year's release for AutoCAD and Inventor, as well as what's recent in Fusion 360.
What's New in AutoCAD 2017
Autodesk is slowly integrating all its software. By slowly, I mean it's been working for a decade or so to doing things like getting AutoCAD to read Inventor files -- so that data from its various (incompatible) CAD packages can work with each other. AutoCAD 2017, for example, attaches 3D models from Navisworks andBIM 360 Glue, and then lets us use two objects snaps (endpoint and center) for drawing on top of imported entities. Perhaps a future release will add more osnaps, like midpoint and intersection.
The biggest new function in AutoCAD 2017 is its ability to import PDF files, instead of just displaying them as underlays. When a PDF files is imported, AutoCAD converts vector data into entities like lines and arcs. A nice touch is that all or a part of PDF underlays already in older drawings can also be converted to entities. Autodesk warns that PDF files are by nature not as accurate as AutoCAD drawings, and so we should expect some entities to not line up precisely.
Not everything is converted: raster portions of the PDF are brought in as images, even if they look like vector. When text is placed in the PDF files with TrueType fonts, then they are imported as text; but if the source fonts are not embedded, then characters might show up as rectangular placeholders. Oddly, Autodesk's own SHX fonts are imported as lines and arcs.
The PDF import function is politically significant, because I think that it marks the end of DWF as Autodesk's lightweight CAD format.AutoCAD never was able to import DWF files, even though some CAD programs from competitors could. Now that AutoCAD imports files from the arch-rival PDF format, and because we no longer need to worry about file size on the Internet (as we did in 1998, which is why DWF was introduced), Autodesk has possibly eliminated the need for DWF.
Autodesk improved dimensioning in AutoCAD 2016, and in 2017 it makes center lines and center marks associative. When we move circles and other curves, the marks move with them; grips allow us to resize the marks and lines interactively. Make sure you use the new CenterMark and CenterLine commands, not the old DimCenter one, and make sure you read up on the ten commands and system variables that control the associative marks!
Autodesk spent a couple of releases improved the way drawings look on the screen, such as smoothing the edges of curves and showing previews of editing changes. With AutoCAD 2017, objects look smooth even while we move them. Dots in line types look fatter when line weights are turned on. When we use shaded or realistic visual style with 3D models, they are displayed faster. The enhancements depend, however, on whether the graphics board in your computer supports DirectX 11 and has at least 128MB RAM. For example, I found that the enhancements worked with the latest integrated Intel graphics (the kind you find in most laptops) but not with older ones.
AutoCAD 2017 offers a minor tweak makes a big difference in usability: we can (finally!) resize some dialog boxes to make them larger or smaller. These include dialog boxes for editing attributes, managing layer states, and inserting blocks. Here's looking forward to all dialog boxes becoming resizeable. Other minor tweaks include specifying the layer on which hatches are placed automatically, and adding the Multiple option to the text editing command.
The 2017 update for Mac was not announced at time of writing, but it tends to lag in features compared to the Windows version. With perpetual licenses for AutoCAD no longer available, Autodesk now charges US$1,680 a year, every year. If we don't pay to renew the license, the software stops working
http://www.autodesk.com/products/autocad
Article continues following this advertisement...
...article now continues. |
|
|
What's New in Inventor 2017
As Inventor reaches the age of 17, Autodesk still code-names releases after sports cars. Inventor 2017 is "Enzo," the 2002 Ferrari named after the famous car maker's founder. Here are some of the things that are new and improved in this year's release of the MCAD software:
Inventor 2017 adds 3D sketching, along with a tri-color triad that shows the position of the x, y, and z planes. To draw on a plane, we just need to click the associated triad. We can sketch on top of 3D geometry, and objects can be constrained to planar and curved surfaces. We can make multiple copies of 2D and 3D sketches with copy and paste, within the current sketch and to other sketch environments. Three-D sketching comes in handy with flexible hose routing, and here Inventor 2017 reports more design violations. The diameter of more than one fitting can be changed with a single command.
Similarly, we can now extrude many parts after window-selecting them. When placing patterns (arrays), circular patterns can fix their orientation, and now path patterns can be placed (like path arrays in AutoCAD) along 3D paths. Shape Generator gets more controls for creating models, such as setting a target for their mass, specifying the minimum thickness, and symmetrical parts. Sheet metal design gets new types of corner relieves, and flat pattern updates can be deferred. Punches can be shown as center marks, sketches, or the actual holes.
When it comes to referencing 3D models from other CAD systems, Inventor adds STEP and mesh data to its collection of supported formats, as well as doing a better job with Catia, Solidworks, NX, and Creo models. Reference parts can be opened directly. Inventor model can be exported as 3D PDF files.
Autodesk continues to add functions to Inventor, but I wonder for how much longer. For Autodesk, Fusion 360 represents the future of MCAD. To drive the point home, Inventor users with a subscription get to access Fusion 360 free.
http://www.autodesk.com/campaigns/inventor
What's New in Fusion 360
Fusion 360 is, as Autodesk CEO Carl Bass insists, their cloud-based MCAD system, even though a mamoth 2GB of code runs locally on our computers. Being the future of Autodesk software, Fusion receives updates continuously, such as every 6-8 weeks, instead of one annual big-R release as with Inventor. Nevertheless, I can report to you some of the functions added over the last half-year:
- Models can now be tested through linear static stresses, modal frequencies, thermal and thermal stresses
- GDT symbols for geometric dimensions and tolerances are added
- A single command handles all dimension types and some format controls
- Shaded and exploded assembly views are available
Another way Fusion is different is that the programming team announces new functions well ahead of time, instead of keeping them closely-guarded secrets, as with AutoCAD and Inventor. And so we know that in 2016 Autodesk plans to add the following functions to Fusion:
- Sheet metal design
- Surfacing enhancements
- Integrated 3D print preparation
- Zero-client viewing of Fusion models in Web browsers
You keep up to date with changes to Fusion throughhttp://forums.autodesk.com/t5/fusion-360-product-roadmap/a-preview-of-where-fusion-360-is-headed-as-we-enter-2016/ba-p/5980793
And Beyond
Autodesk has stated that its future consists of two stages: moving all new licenses to subscription-only (accomplished), and then moving all software to the cloud -- running on servers, such as those operated by Amazon. As best as I can guess, this is how some of the software lineup will change in the future:
- AutoCAD desktop gives way to full-featured AutoCAD 360
- Inventor desktop gives way to Fusion 360
- Revit desktop becomes Revit 360
Reworking bedrock programs like AutoCAD, Inventor, and Revit to run on remote servers (and displaying the results in a Web browser) is, however, not an easy job. For instance, work on Fusion began nearly a decade ago, and on AutoCAD 360 (nee WS) seven years ago. The difficulty comes from this: Autodesk wrote its desktop programs (almost) exclusively with Microsoft's programming tools, which were designed to lock software firms and their customers to Windows, as well as Intel-compatible CPUs. When software is instead written for the cloud, customers expect it to run on any operating system and any hardware; this requires a completely different approach to coding, and a huge rewrite of old code as a result.
That Autodesk is having a difficult time can be seen in the slow development of the Mac version of AutoCAD: at four years old it still lacks all the functions found in the Windows one. By contrast, other vendors, such as Graebert, a decade ago rewrote their CAD code to be OS-portable and so today have full 3D versions for Windows, Linux, Mac, and 2D ones for Android, iOS, and the cloud (remote servers and Web browsers).
Autodesk's two-fold plan is risky, as no competitor is as hard-core about changing business models as they are. Competitors like Solidworks, Bricsys, and Graebert say they are benefiting from customers unhappy with how Autodesk unilaterally changed the customer relationship. Revenues of this, the second-largest CAD vendor, are falling after switching from the big cash bump it normally gets from selling perpetual licenses, while being prevented by regulators from recognizing upfront subscription income for more than one quarter at a time.
For an industry that prides itself on accuracy and relies on certainty, the current spate of uncertainty is unsettling.
[This article first appeared in Design Engineering magazine, and is reprinted with permission.] |
|
Sponsor: Okino Graphics
== Professional 3D File Conversion/Viewing/Rendering Software ==
For over 2 decades Okino (Toronto) has provided mission-critical 3D conversion software used extensively by tens of thousands of professionals. We develop, support and convert between all major CAD, DCC & VisSim formats. Robert Lansdale (CTO, [email protected]) tailors each package to the specific conversion requirements of each customer.
Popular formats include 3ds Max, Maya, C4D, LW, ProE, SolidWorks, Inventor, SketchUp, DWF/DWG, DGN, CATIA, IGES/STEP/Parasolid, 3D PDF/U3D, JT, FBX, Collada & more. We know data translation, and provide immaculate developer-to-customer relations.
http://www.okino.com
|
|
It is remiss of me to mention that Catchbook is finally out of beta and shipping (well, downloading) onto Android, iOS, and Windows 8.1/10 machines. Siemens PLM Software wants a mere $6 for the full version.
The name comes from the app "catching" ideas that are collected into pages of a "book." We can hand sketch on the tablet, and then get the software to optionally apply its D-Cubed parametrics to turn our squiggles into straight lines and arcs. Take a photo and sketch over it, etc. Many editing commands are at the "cursor."http://www.catchbook.com |
|
Re: The Car Hacker's Handbook
Very interesting, as I’ve always been into cars, and I’ve followed IT security since I was the IT liaison at a former job. Someone would have a hard time hacking my [Ford] Capri because electronically it is pretty primitive by today’s standards.
However, being a convertible, it is easy to get into it when I’m not using the wintertime hardtop. Last summer, I was reminded how to secure my car when a friend showed his very rare '94 Capri XR2 (original with only 9,800 miles) at a show. The only part on his car which was not original was the soft top, which he had to replace after he left his car locked and some hoodlum sliced it open to get inside (there was nothing in the car to steal). Moral of the story: don’t lock your soft top, and put your valuables in the trunk.
- Ron Powell
- - -
Augustus White is correct about subscriptions being inevitable. 3D CAD is a commodity now. I believe that none of the existing companies will be able to transition to commodity pricing; they built their companies around selling new, innovative software.
The industry no longer is new or innovative, and you can perceive a kind of panic in their baffling strategies involving subscriptions and the cloud.
- Jess Davis
The editor replies: The future is wierding out.
- - -
I read your "Social media enables us to engage with millions of people who have no intention of spending any money" @managerspeak quote the same day it was announced Microsoft spent us$26.2 billion on LinkedIn. (That’s about 16% of New Zealand’s entire GDP!) One of these two doesn’t compute.
- Robin Capper |
|
Thank you to readers who donate towards the operation of upFront.eZine.
- Gregory Burkhart
- iCADsales.com (progeCAD USA): small company donation
- Jon Peddie
Should you wish to support upFront.eZine through PayPal, then the suggested amounts are like these:
Should Paypal.me not operate in your country, then please use www.paypal.comand the account of [email protected].
Or mail a cheque (US$ or CDN$ only, please) to upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd., 34486 Donlyn Avenue, Abbotsford BC, V2S 4W7, Canada.
|
|
“Driven by our core values -- hunger, heart, and harmony -- our dedicated team-mates consistently go above and beyond for our clients to help their businesses run smarter.”
- Ken Lamneck, ceo, Insight
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/06/10/insight_core_values/ |
|
|
|
Comments