| Autodesk University is the annual love fest along the lines of Solidworks World, with ten thousand attendees and up to 13,000 watching online. I saw some attendees even sporting "I [heart] AU" buttons. This year the theme was, "Autodesk University 2017 to address the need to prepare the world's workforce to make anything." Darn, and here I thought it would be about CAD software.
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 Autodesk ceo Andrew Anagnost (image source Autodesk) During my 2.5 days hidden from natural sunlight inside the Venetian hotel-convention complex, few hard details were given of what's new and what's to come from Autodesk, but I was able to glean some tidbits here and there.
New Autodesk ceo Andrew Anagnost is continuing his predecessor's run at the cloud and a subscription-only interface with customers. He implied to the 23,000 watching him that the customers he wants are large: "If you think [AutoCAD] LT is the future of your company, you are probably betting your company on the wrong thing."
Mr Anagnost forged on by expressing his displeasure at customers who no longer send him money: "If you don't see value in subscription, you should probably find another software solution," he emphasized. Statements like these are bursts of good news for the AutoCAD workalike market, like ITC, which knows that 70% of the CAD work done today is still 2D drafting on AutoCAD LT-level software by customers who need the job security of a permanent license that never expires.
Steve Johnson Johnston tweeted, "Somebody who paid Autodesk $10k many years ago and another $20k in upgrade and maintenance fees, but who gave up this year because of minimal improvement? Not a customer. Somebody paying $300 a year in Fusion subs? Best kind of customer. Bizarre."
Mr Anagnost's assertions make sense from his point of view. At his company, new functions are being written for the cloud, an environment that requires regular payments to fund and develop, either by yearly subscriptions or by tokens.
 Generative design producing multiple variations of a design based on specified parameters
For instance, the new cloud-based Generative Design function is now available to those who subscribe to Fusion Ultimate. (See figure above.) Also new from Autodesk next year is Fusion Production for monitoring factory operations remotely. Autodesk faces strong headwinds, however, from established players in the factor automation market, notably from industry giants Siemens PLM Softwareand Dassault Systemes.
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SPICE (Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis) is added to Fusion to look for conflicts in the wiring of PCB boards, and Fusion gets access to Vault. Nesting (the only feature to received spontaneous applause from the audience) and iive-axis machining are added to Inventor. Vault will be going to the cloud.
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In AEC, generative design is applied to terrain modeling. Autodesk has invested in SmartVid, who analyzes photographs from building sites to determine things like if safety clothing are missing from workers. Further on safety, Autodesk partnered with Triax Technologies' wearable tracking system with BIM 360 to monitor workers and equipment. They showed how data accessed from Pillar Technologies sensors can track mold, dust, fire, and other hazards in buildings.
BIM 360 is the information center Autodesk would like you to use. To get more usage out of you, Autodesk is making it publicly available as beta -- as a "technology preview." In the last year, Autodesk added just over 100 improvements to BIM 360, of the 5,000 suggested by users. Connect and Contract Exchange is a new app store for BIM 360. Due next year is a costing module, clash detection, and change visualization. Project IQ analyses construction data to see what can be improved. Autodesk plans to add package transmittals to BIM 360 in the future.
"We believe the AEC has to learn lessons from the manufacturing world in order to boost productivity." Autodesk sees its software responsible for designing robotic factories assembling building modules off-site, bar-coded for delivery and installation -- which they call DfMA (Design for Manufacturing Assembly).
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A reporter from China asked when Autodesk cloud services will become available in the world's largest market. Mr Anagnost replied, "The biggest barrier to Autodesk bringing cloud services to China, is China." Amazon is being forced by the Chinese government to hand over its AWS cloud service to a Chinese company, who stores the data in China. Autodesk cloud runs on AWS.
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Speaking of the cloud, it was a surprise to me to see Dropbox hosting a booth at Autodesk University, and even being a Gold-level corporate sponsor. We CAD watchers had been assuming that Autodesk wants to lock customers to its cloud service, just as Dassault Systems is doing with 3Dexperience. The surprise dissipated when I learned from TechCrunch about a new hookup: Autodesk is allowing Dropbox into the inner sanctum.
One hookup is through a new Save To Dropbox command that resides in AutoCAD 2018's file menu, after you download it from Autodesk's app store, free. Tip: You can, of course, save to Dropbox without the add-on: when you open a DWG file (or any other file) from a Dropbox folder, it is saved there automatically with any program's Save command.
The other hookup is a new DWG viewer and markup app that runs inside the Dropbox Web page. (See figure below.) The idea is to be able to view DWG files right inside Dropbox, such as on mobile devices that don't necessarily have a CAD app. Shipping date is unknown; it goes into beta in the new year.
 Dropbox marking up a DWG file (image source Dropbox)
For Dropbox, the integration is obvious, as they want you in their environment as much as possible, and are doing the same with files from other firms, like Adobe and Microsoft. It was when they came to the realization that 1.5 billion million DWG files are stored on Dropbox that they took AutoCAD seriously.
Dropbox made repeated references to "Autodesk files," but they meant only DWG. A representative in the Dropbox booth at AU told me they were being inundated with requests for other Autodesk formats, primarily Revit. "Monday morning, we start on it," she told me.
Some hours after TechCrunch posted its article, the announcement was also made at Autodesk University. Autodesk did not explain why they let Dropbox into the tent, except to say only that Dropbox is the largest consumer of Autodesk's Forge API. Indeed, Autodesk expects more software firms to access DWG data through Forge, and even write DWG editors -- a possible end run around the dominance of the Open Design Alliance in the DWG API market.
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Speaking of new alliances, Autodesk is connecting with GIS vendor Esri. Data from Esri's mapping databases will be used by Revit in the future, as this vague statement promises: "Partnering with Esri is intended to combine the power of BIM and GIS mapping." The announcement comes a year after Graebert unveiled ARES Map, which allows CAD users to access Esri databases inside a CAD program.
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Before Windows 2000 shipped, Microsoft said it was working on a single database file that would hold all data from all programs, so that all programs could access all data, no matter the source. Microsoft's software Evangelists (that was an actual job title in those days) told us with fundamentalist fervor that the File Era was over.
When Windows 2000 actually shipped , the only single database was the registry. (It holds settings for most programs, replacing more convenient INI files.) We know well what a mess that turned out to be. Monoculture is the disease, not the cure.
Autodesk plans that a single database will hold all data from all its programs, so that information can be shared -- just as Dassault has been doing for several years in V6 (aka 3Dexperience) with the Envoia-run database. We see an early example from Autodesk with Project Quantum, which at this point is oriented towards Revit, but will be generalized eventually.
The promise is that only the data needed by a user will be retrieved from the master database, so that the user is not overwhelmed by data he doesn't need. The name Quantum points to this: the smallest entity.
 Slide showing Autodesk's major software contributing to a single 3D model through data stored in the Quantum database and massaged by the Forge API (image source Autodesk)- - -
Mr Anagnost doesn't like the term "AI" [artificial intelligence], and feels it is overused these days. (True!) He prefers the term "machine learning," but admits that for it to work properly it needs input from a ton of data, which doesn't necessarily exist.
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Speaking of a single database, it turns out that the future of Autodesk also turns on Forge, their all-encompassing API. This is necessary, as Autodesk has a huge problem with its varied programs being unable to speak with each other well. For instance, Fusion and Inventor -- two MCAD programs written by the same company -- need to use a third program (AnyCAD) to exchange drawings properly. In effect, Autodesk planning to do with its Forge API what Bricsys has already done with DWG: merging all aspects of CAD into a single model.
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In the unhappy news department, a CAD editor learned that 200 of 400 dealers in Europe could be culled next year. The loss of hundreds of sales points might negatively affect close partners like HP, who depend on dealers to upsell CAD-using customers on large-format printers, and the resulting inkjet gravy train. Worldwide, it is rumored that all dealers will have to buy more software from Autodesk, a move reminiscent of Chrysler requiring its dealers to buy more cars.
In an interview I held with the vice president of one of the largest Autodesk dealer chains, he told me that Autodesk has been reducing the amount of the dealer markup on software. The only way to survive as a dealer is to sell add-ons, like training, consulting, and utility software. His company has over a dozen programmers churning out add-on programs.
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 HP T120 printer (image source HP) - - -
Public relations firm Launch Forth got some of the big technology names together -- including Autodesk and HP -- to sponsor design contests for an imaginary city on Mars sufficient to care for one million people. At AU, the winners for the first stage were announced. They had created 2D concept drawings in five categories, such as housing and transportation. The next stages are to generate 3D models and then ultimately VR walkthroughs. A representative from HP admitted such a city would be unlikely for hundreds of years.
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A Dutch company showed us how they used a robot-controlled wire welder to 3D-print a pedestrian bridge intended to cross the narrowest canal in Amsterdam. The welder melts stainless steel wire, depositing it in places determined by the robot arm, building up the bridge.
Two problems, however: (1) it is taking about six months to 3D-weld the bridge, but once finished, (2) it is unknown if the bridge can safely handle pedestrian loads. It was not possible to do FEA [finite element analysis] before the print job began. The company plans to manually load the bridge with weights and sensors and hope it works out.
 Initial concept sketch of pedestrian bridge to be 3D printed
This year was the 25th anniversary of Autodesk University. I was at the first one in San Francisco, in 1992. The very first Autodesk-sponsored user group gathering, however, was at the A/E/C Systems show in 1986. Between the two, the annual event was known as CAD Camp and was aimed more at programmers.
[Disclosure: Autodesk provided me with airfare, hotel accommodation, all meals, and some corporate gifts.]
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And Now the Rest of the News...
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IntelliCAD takes on Bentley Systems, making the CAD workalike wars a notch hotter: "Take your existing code that runs and customizes IntelliCAD for .dwg files, and have that same code work for .dgn files." https://www.intellicad.org/articles-and-press-releases/dgn-why-not
In other ITC news, we can expect IntelliCAD 9 to ship in the first quarter of next year. Some of the new features include incremental saves, a mechanical API, BIM underlays, explode PDF to entities, and point cloud RCP file support.
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Bricsys released BricsCAD V18 alst week, and so here's the link to the What's New listing: https://www.bricsys.com/common/releasenotes.jsp?i=4920
...and here's the link to download the 30-day demo of BricsCAD V18, along with a free copy of my BricsCAD for AutoCAD Users book. https://www.bricsys.com/en-intl/bricscad/?pl=win
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BETA CAE Systems releases v18.0.1 of its software suite with improvements to ANSA, EPILYSIS, and META. http://www.beta-cae.com
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Schneider Electric is proposing to buy ECAD software vendor I.G.E.-X.A.O. for e132 per share.
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Optis updated its VRX 2018 headlight system simulation software to handle pixel headlights, headlamp control logic, and virtual assessments of Insurance Institute for Highway Safety tests. https://marketing.optis-world.com/acton/media/17674/optis-vrx-2018
Pixel headlights selectively dim lighting areas around oncoming and cars in front. In the image below, there is a car inside the circle, which not being illuminated by the pixel headlights.
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I tried Microsoft's 3D Builder, and thought, kewl I can 3D-print tracks for the Brio train set. Then I saw the estimated price to print a single curved piece: $26.76. Silly me. I forgot about the shipping. Total cost, $49.45.
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Facilities management company Accruent is acquiring BlueCielo, price not announced. Old-timers like me know BlueCielo better under its earlier name,Cyco Automation.
Randall S. Newton (@RSNatWork): Good tech, but I hope they ditch the "BlueCielo" name. Right up there with "Chapoo" in the goofy software names hall of fame.
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Class action law suit in Canada won $37.4 million from Toshiba, AU Optronics, LG, and HannStar. However, the payout is a paltry 2.45%, meaning you'd get $7.35 back on a $300 monitor. It's not worth your time digging through old receipts and filling out the paperwork. Lawyers win again! http://www.lcdclassactioncanada.com/
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Some intelligence in products is a good idea, but technology is aiming for full intelligence, which will be the industry's Icarus moment.
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For late-breaking CAD news, follow upFront.eZine on Twitter at @upfrontezine. |
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While my sense is that the quality of architectural drawings has continued to decline, I realize that grayhairs tend to think things are worse than before. So I make it a point to ask the question of project managers and others who are old enough to have 10-20 years in the business, but not old enough to be cranky. I have yet to encounter any contractor (consumer of drawings) who does not think the quality has declined.
Whenever I do historic work and look at 100-year old drawings, I am amazed at the detailed thought and knowledge that are embedded in the drawings, quite the contrast to today.
Both with CAD and now with BIM, the big push comes from the software industry. They almost never have a clue about the complexity of construction, or that a successful project requires all sorts of very complex knowledge. You gotta have knowledge, without it the tools are of limited use.
- Leo Schlosberg
The editor replies: People today are taught more CAD commands, less so drafting technique.
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I notice that there is a problem with the right side being cut off on upFronteZine.com.
- Jimmy Bergmark
JTB World
The editor replies: This problem occurs primarily with Web browsers on mobile devices, which cannot properly display a page that is too wide. In the past, one problem was caused by the page width being fixed to 600 pixel. I now remove that HTML tag so that the browser is permitted to flow the text.
Another cause was that the images were too wide. I now size them to 500 pixels in width. Yet another cause is when the URLs are too long, and so I shorten the displayed text. I find that the Opera Web browser does a good job of reflowing text on mobile devices.
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Re: Notes from the 2017 Bricsys International Conference, Paris
Regarding your comment, "Why buying a VR company is necessary to do this escapes me," I can see why: VR companies have highly optimized software/libraries that look after translation [moving] and rotation of pixel data using the graphics processor units [such as nVidia], and this may be what Bricsys is looking for.
We've used LiDAR 3 point cloud space for several projects and it works very well. The problem is finding good software to 'translate' the data.
My home desktop was cobbled together by my son and so was constructed for gaming. Consequentially, it runs very fast, and for most engineering operations it is asleep. Only if I'm running a large finite element program does the processor actually do any work, while the GPU is still snoozing. Gaming programs are the epitome of moving pixels around.
- Dik Coates
Canada
The editor replies: VR handling pixels well is a point I had not thought of. You and I are old enough to remember when CAD was the toughest software to run on a PC. Today's advances in gaming let CAD ride the coattails.
Mr Coates responds: I remember the shuttle drawing on AutoCAD 2.15 on an old 8088 with an 8087 [math co-processor] and Herc [monochrome]graphics card. I don't have the current version of BricsCAD, but it's a fabulous program, and well worth the price.
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I couldn't attend the conference, but reading your eZine and blog is almost better than being there!
- Ragnar Thor Mikkelsen
Design Data, Norway
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I am very pleased to hear that BricsCAD will support point clouds (and Civil 3D objects). In my opinion, the most likely future source for point cloud data is drones. My company has been in the mapping business for 30 years, and now we have a drone services business aimed at civil design.
Here's a look at a real world drone project using point clouds -- 897,256,098 points in total. The point cloud was used to generate a Civil 3D surface, which was then used to design a new access road to a gold mine in Eastern Oregon: https://vimeo.com/220390263
If you're interested in how the process works, take a look at my Website: http://www.tcidrone.com/drone-services-for-land-development/
I love the BricsCAD team. They act like Autodesk did 25 years ago, back when I became a Registered Developer: then it was "How can we help you be successful," rather than "How can you help us make more money" today.
- Tom Inloes, president
TCI Corp
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You have been misinformed with this, where you wrote, "From what I have heard, a Revit model cannot contain more than one building; but BricsCAD BIM can contain an unlimited number." As far as I’m aware, in Revit there is no limit to how many buildings can be in one file. I personally have one at the moment with three buildings in it. I’ve heard of others who have 50 or more in a file.
-Chris Needham
Chris Needham Design, New Zealand.
The editor replies: Thank you for the correction.
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