As already the 29th application by CAD Studio published in Autodesk Exchange Apps store, the AutoCAD add-on DWGsign was released recently. CADstudio DWGsign is a simple to use AutoCAD utility which watermarks your DWG drawing document with a unique, permanent and invisible silent signature containing your name or the name of your company. This add-on tool helps to protect your intellectual property as you can prove ownership of the original content in any future DWG file which is based on this signed document. Your original signature can be checked and viewed using the free DWGsign Reader application.
No one will copy your work!
DWGsign does not prove an unmodified state of the original document (like digital signature does), it just proves that a particular drawing is based on your original data. Non-authorized users (even in your company) cannot remove the DWG signature. The signature remains part of the DWG file even if the DWGsign utility is not installed on a workstation. Its use is completely transparent to standard AutoCAD operations.
The cloud service for CAD document management, Autodesk A360, gets more and more useful functions. Especially the universal CAD data viewer A360 Viewer (can be used also separately) can replace - thanks to its support of almost all widely used 2D and 3D CAD formats (not only files from Autodesk products) - existing desktop applications requiring installation, maintenance and OS-compatibility updates. The whole A360 is built on purely internet technologies HTML5 a so you can use it with just a plain internet browser, ony any device. You may want to install the free application A360 Mobile for better performance on mobile devices.
For your projects maintained by Autodesk A360, you can new use the markup function for any type of CAD data, plus the measure function for 2D views (and 3D models with topology). This adds to the existing functions for secure online communication with your customers and team members. You can use section planes and section boxes on your 3D models, display the assembly tree structure and properties of the clicked model elements. Today, you don't need the complicated and barely secure FTP setups, nor the limited functionality of sending files over e-mail. Try the intelligent workplace and advanced functions of the A360 cloud on your own drawings and models on a360.autodesk.com.
Again, for the thirteenth time already, CAD Studio gives out its traditional Christmas presents - CAD tools for all AutoCAD, Inventor and Revit users.
Extend Windows Explorer to recognize Revit file version, punch your favorite photos into sheet metal in Inventor, make your DWGs more intelligent by storing LISP macros into them, add virtual parts from Excel to Inventor assemblies, make linetypes on the fly, or pick another of the productivity tools for your everyday work.
Only 6 weeks after the release of version R2 (Shape generator, ForceEffect, PCB), Autodesk released another "in-between" version of Inventor for customers with an active Maintenance or Desktop Subscription - Inventor 2016 R3. The "What's New" list is shorter this time but it nevertheless brings interesting functionality for those who design AEC and MEP products, and for those who want to easily share and review their Inventor designs online.
Version R3 installs on top of the version R2 and contains the following two new functions:
Connected Design (Inventor Connect)
This is a publishing function bringing your simplified 3D model online, to the secured A360 cloud for simple sharing and reviewing. The function "Connected Design" is accessible through the blue translucent icon in the bottom right corner of the model window. Clicking on it displays the docked panel "Connected Design". Here you can invite your collaborators and other participants of the online discussion.
All participants can interactively view your 3D design in a standard desktop web browser or even on their mobile devices (i.e. without any access to Inventor). They can access the assembly model tree, explode the model, add their comments - without having access to your Inventor source CAD data.
Technically, the published model, so called "Design Share", is a file with the extension .collaboration - it is a lightweight database proxy image of the original model. All model comments are tracked and stored centrally, including the time record when the comment was received.
IFC Export
This function performs export of Inventor 3D models to the neutral AEC/BIM format IFC (Industry Foundation Classes), e.g. for Autodesk Revit or AutoCAD MEP (fabricated MEP parts). You can find it in the ribbon System environment > BIM Exchange > Manage > Export building components - in the dialog then switch from the default .ADSK file type to .IFC (IFC 2x3).
You can download the R3 update immediately from your Autodesk Account or through the Application Manager.
When Autodesk bought the premium internet domain graphic.com couple of days ago, it was not obvious for which project this domain will be used. It is clear now after a new (new-old) illustration software has been released - Autodesk Graphic. Autodesk Graphic is a professional vector software for technical illustrations and art design.
Former version of this app was called iDraw (Indeeo). Now, under a new name and under Autodesk's umbrella, this application is available with enhanced functionality for Mac OS X, for iPad and for iPhone. So you can edit graphic design on any Apple device.
You can insert editable elements from SVG, AI, PDF and PSD files, export the resulting design to PNG, JPEG, GIF, TIFF, SVG, PSD, AI and PDF. Graphic supports pressure-sensitive drafting, variable-width strokes, including pressure-sensitive Wacom tablets and Force Touch trackpads. You can create your own styles of calligraphic pens, perform advanced object transformations, or automate your workflows using scripts.
Autodesk Graphic can be used in architecture, manufacturing, in design of web elements and UI mockups, for drawing precise scaled floor plans, schemes, art design, media and game development. See also other mobile aplications by Autodesk.
Autodesk Graphic is available for 24.99$ (Mac), 8.99$ (iPad) and 2.99$ (iPhone).
The CAD/CAM application based on cloud technologies, Autodesk Fusion 360, is being updated very frequently, almost monthly, and each update brings new functionality. Today released September update differs from the usual update rhythm because of its scope of added new functions.
Thanks to its favorable price, Fusion 360 becomes ever popular design tool especially for smaller companies and startups. It offers a full set of 3D modeling, manufacturing and data management functions in a single, easy-to-use application.
The main new feature in the recent version of Fusion 360 (build 2.0.1628) are the new simulation tools. Besides CAD functions for 3D modeling of solid and surface models of parts and assemblies, associative 2D drawings, CAM functions, rendering and document management, Fusion 360 now contains also CAE functionality for static load simulation and modal frequency analysis (in a new SIM workspace).
The new "Live review" is also a very useful tool allowing concurrent online discussion on a 3D model. In a plain web browser you can discuss with your customer or multiple design team members, synchronously review model- or simulation details and perform markups. This function is based on the new Autodesk A360 service (and need to be enabled in Preferences).
The creation of 2D drawing views was enhanced - numbering and aligning of balloons, parts list sorting, annotation styles, associative axis and center marks. You can use feature patterns in modeling. Sketch performance was improved. Quality and performance of renderings and animations is now improved. The CAM environment was extended in several ways - laser and plasma cutting, tool library management, new post-processors. Additional functions are now supported in the API for programming of Fusion 360 add-ons. Besides the English and Chinese version, Fusion 360 is newly available also in Japanese (other localizations are planned).
An important new feature in terms of productivity are the newly added keyboard shortcuts. Hotkeys are the fastest method of launching commands in any application. The updated list of all keyboard shortcuts defined in Fusion 360 can be found in the Tip 10167.
The summary of Fusion 360 September update - What's new:
Price of Autodesk Fusion 360 has not changed - the rental still starts on 27€/month. Fusion 360 is also a part of the Autodesk Product Design Suite licenses (with Subscription). Existing users of Fusion 360 are automatically prompted to download and install this update.
Shadow cubes are an interesting design challenge, checking your imagination and your design skills in the 3D CAD software of your choice. The goal is to design a 3D model, that casts three different letters as a shadow in the individual orthographic views (top, side, front - X, Y, Z). So e.g. "C" in the top view, "A" in the side view and "D" in the front view. Start your Inventor, Fusion 360 or 123D Design and test yourself designing such model for an arbitrary combination of 3 letters. Be warned, some combinations are very difficult.
If you dare to endanger your own Karma by an innocent cheat, you can seek help through a useful tool, the programmers CAD modeler OpenSCAD. In this application, enter the following script and generate the 3D model by pressing F6.
Then you can export your model e.g. to the STL format - for 3D print or for further processing in another CAD application. If you want to get it into AutoCAD, you can use the conversion service STL2DWG. A sample AutoCAD model can be downloaded from the CAD/BIM block library, or viewed interactively through the online viewer A360:
Application virtualization and the application publishing technology for intranet and internet users is already available for a long time, but it has been limited so far rather for office applications for performance reasons.
Hardware and software vendors now offer technologies allowing to access substantial graphical performance - yesterday's main limitation - which opens virtualization also for most demanding applications like CAD (or games). Autodesk also officially supports running its CAD software applications on virtualization platforms, specifically on Citrix XenApp and Citrix XenDesktop (there is a preferred partnership between Autodesk and Citrix). The list of supported applications and their system requirements can be found here.
Technical background
The single requirement on the side of Autodesk CAD software is to own a classic network license (NLM) - former requirements for a special Citrix license have been lifted since version 2014. On the Citrix virtualization server side, the key component today is the HDX 3D Pro technology, offering a set of graphics acceleration technologies like Direct 3D (used by Inventor), OpenGL or CUDA. These technologies allow to set profiles assigned to individual users in 3 levels, so that precious graphical performance is available exactly there where it is needed. In the highest, third level, suitable also for demanding CAD applications, the maximum graphical performance, or even direct access to the graphics card is available. This profile also supports 3D mice (controllers) often used by designers for easier control of 3D scenes. The hardware-level key component is a graphics card based on the nVidia Grid technology. Which type of card to choose from this type series? This decision depends on the expected load and application type. You can estimate the requirements from the following table:
Benefits
What are the benefits of this scenario and when to consider it?
Workstation purchase costs - you don't need to invest in multiple expensive workstations
Service and maintenance - internal or external IT staff does not need to service this local hardware
Access from anywhere - CAD tools are available not only on-site but also remotely - designers can work from home
Multiplatform access – the client access works not only from Windows, but on any platform with Citrix XenApp clients (Android and iOS tablets, Linux and Apple computers)
We know how
CAD Studio in cooperation with AutoCont is ready to implement this platform at their customers.
The real customer experience with Autodesk Inventor can be assessed from the attached videos – comparing always the same task first on a standard mobile workstation and then in a virtualized Inventor session:
CAD Studio is a member of Autodesk AEC Blogger Council and so it can bring you exclusive information about upcoming Autodesk products. On August 19th, a new product will be released for attractive 3D visualizations generated in real-time - Autodesk Stingray.
Autodesk Stingray is originally a gaming engine, coming from the Autodesk's last year acquisition of the Bitsquid technology. It is now used by Autodesk not only for gaming applications but also for architectural visualizations. Stingray is linked with Autodesk Revit and 3ds Max. With these tools you can create interactive models of interiors and exteriors, which can be viewed by customers from any view in fully rendered style - on a PC, on mobile devices and through 3D glasses for virtual reality - Oculus Rift.
Stingray is not a classical plug-n-play application but rather a set of Windows tools for creating interactive visualizations. You can control the scene behaviour either by interactive tools or by the programming scripting language Lua. This application will be available through Desktop Subscription (rental, for 30$/month or 240$/year). Revit, or Revit linked with 3ds Max allows to make fixed rendered views and animations, which you can hand over to your customers. But with Stingray you can hand over models of the same scene in a similar quality, and this scene can be walked through and displayed from any view choosen by your customer. The LiveLink function will update the Stingray view on any change of the BIM model.
It is like taking large scale internet polls on arbitrary themes - Google Trends uses historical search data (since 2004) to measure popularity of a given keyword, how often are people searching for that particular term, worldwide or in a specified region. The Google Trends service was updated last week to include real-time, minute-by-minute trending data from more than 100 billion searches that take place on Google every month.
Try any theme you like and enter one or more keywords related to this theme to see how is it trending among other people in the whole world. Watch big data at work. Just pay attention to the language you use and filter out noise-words by selecting the appropriate category (e.g. "Inventor" as software vs. "inventors" in science).
So let's try to compare popularity of the BIM software Autodesk Revit vs. ArchiCAD(last 5 years, category: software):
Or a more complex dogfight - how the recent popular buzzwords in CAD and IT are trending - BIM vs. IoT vs. 3D printer vs. big data vs. PLM(since 2004, category: computers & electronics):
The weekend update of Autodesk's project management application - A360 Team - brought several bug fixes, easier changes of e-mail addresses or more detailed notifications of project changes. But it also brings a useful new feature in the web 3D viewer.
The CAD viewer embedded in A360 Team can handle virtually any CAD format. Now it supports also interactive sections on 3D models. Just click on the section icon in the viewer bottom toolbar and choose a X-Y-Z section plane or a section box to cut your model. Use the displayed color arrows to drag the required position and rotation of the section plane. The viewer will automatically add hatches for section areas cutting the model mass. You can still interactively orbit and zoom the cut model - so you can easily peek inside large assemblies.
Leaked images promise also one new function of the A360 Viewer to be relased shortly - measuring on 3D models.
DWG is of course one of the main CAD formats supported by the cloud-based A360 Viewer. But it handles not only AutoCAD drawings but also DWG projects containing special AEC objects from AutoCAD Civil 3D, Plant 3D or AutoCAD Architecture. Even these projects can be viewed anywhere, without installing any viewing software. It is not only about viewing, A360 Viewer offers concurrent online team discussions on the model, accessing its properties, displays structure of model, explodes assemblies, searches inside the model, etc. All of this just with your internet browser.
You can use the free A360 Viewer either as a pure unbundled viewer - see 360.autodesk.com/Viewer, or as a part of the cloud storage service Autodesk A360 Drive, or as a part of the project management and team collaboration service Autodesk A360 Team. Try yourself viewing of CAD data in almost any file format - more than 70 formats are supported. A360 Viewer works in all web browsers supporting HTML5/WebGL - e.g. Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari. A360 can be used also on mobile devices (as an app or in some mobile web browsers).
The next new feature relates to the mobile version of A360 - "A360 Mobile". This free app for tablets and smartphones running on Android or Apple iOS can now connect also to other cloud services so you can work with CAD data stored e.g. on Dropbox, OneDrive and others. In this way, you can also use your mobile device to access data (2D, 3D, office) in your Autodesk Buzzsaw projects. Just specify your ProjectPoint credentials.
One of the new functions in Inventor 2016 and Inventor LT 2016 is the direct 3D print environment. Any created or associated model from other CAD formats can be printed from Inventor on a connected 3D printer, or a STL file can be generated for a custom 3D print service. You can modify - independently on the editing of the original model - the orientation and placement of the model before you print it, or you can split the model to multiple printable parts. An auxiliar geometry of the selected printer is created in the browser tree.
Besides the direct 3D printing, you can also forward your model through the ribbon function to the Autodesk Print Studio application. You have to install it before its first usage from the offered link. Print Studio is a part of the 3D print platform Autodesk Spark, which contains not only software componens for 3D printing but also a reference device - the 3D printer Autodesk Ember. The Spark Server (on port http://localhost:9998) is installed with the Print Studio application, so other print jobs can be directed through it.
In the Print Studio application, you can select the type of 3D printer, print material, precision, types of supports and detailed parameters of print layers (time, velocity, geometry...). The print preparation functions allow to check and fix or cleanup model geometry (holes), place the supports manually or automatically, set exact size, placement and rotation of the model of the 3D printer bed. You can also export the individual print layer slices as a series of PNG images. The settings combinations can be stored as print profiles.
You can also use Autodesk Print Studio separately, to preprocess any STL or ONJ file before printing. So you can e.g. load a STL file (parametric surface Enneper from 3DPlot) and add automatic supports:
Good job, Autodesk! Users of older versions of Autodesk's CAD products were used to several weeks- or even several months- delay between the FCS release of the original English version and the release of a localized version. Despite the fact that this delay was shortening in last few releases, nobody has expected - neither us who are participating on the Czech localizations - that this delay will be finally just about 8 hours. All 14 language localizations of AutoCAD has been released the same day - i.e. AutoCAD 2016 in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Czech, Polish, Hungarian.
All subscribers can now download the released AutoCAD 2016 (and also AutoCAD LT 2016, AutoCAD Mechanical 2016, AutoCAD Architecture 2016, AutoCAD MEP 2016, AutoCAD Electrical 2016 or Vault Basic 2016) from their accounts on the Subscription Center, resp. now on tne new "Autodesk Accounts" portal (and also as Trials). All versions are available since March 20th. So if you are an AutoCAD user with active Maintenance Subscription or Desktop Subscription (rental), download the latest "2016" version from Autodesk Account in your favourite language. You can also download the English version plus the appropriate Language Pack (add-on localization) and run AutoCAD in multiple languages.
You can find the download link on the page "Products and Services" - look up "AutoCAD" in the product list and on the version "2016", click on the "Install" link. In the "Install now" dialog, choose the preferred language in the "Language" list and click on the "Install now" button.
Please note that the method "Install now" is the fastest way of download and installation (downloads only those components neccessary for the particular PC), but it may collide with some company firewalls (see tips on CADforum.cz). In this case, use alternative download methods available through the link "More actions" on the right side.
If your account does not list AutoCAD 2016, your subscription is probably not active (pending renewal), or the product download is available for your Subscription Manager only.
The overview of new features in AutoCAD 2016 (including the new render, smart dimensioning, PDF enhancements, smooth graphics, point cloud geometry, sysvar monitoring, Navisworks/BIM360 coordination, etc.) can be found in the AutoCAD 2016 Preview Guide (PDF) or in the article "AutoCAD 2016 - whats new?" (in Czech). All new commands and variables are listed on www.cadforum.cz/commands.
If you have the technology, it is all about offering it the most easy and user-friendly way. Autodesk has developed a cloud-based technology for interpreting in viewing 2D+3D design data in almost any CAD+BIM format and this viewer (dubbed "LMV" - large model viewer) is a part of Autodesk's A360 Drive and A360 Team document and project management services.
Having a reliable viewer for other CAD formats (those formats which are not used daily in usual CAD workflows) is a must for any designer. A couple of years ago, the market of standalone third-party CAD viewers was blooming. The existing A360 Drive and A360 Team services are very powerful and offer not only viewing but also sharing, versioning, commenting, searching, setting access rights and other document management functions. But they are not exactly for occassional users - you need to log in first with your "Autodesk ID" (free) and learn their (simple enough) user interface. But if you have received a foreign CAD file and want to just quickly look what's inside, a simple barebone viewer is all what you need, without any logins and clutter around it.
And this is exactly what Autodesk now offers with the new "unbundled" CAD file viewer (free) available on:
You don't need to install anything on your PC so you can use this service anywhere you are. Just drag-n-drop your CAD file and (after a short conversion) interactively view its contents - including file properties and properties of selected objects, assembly structure, model explosion, etc. You can share the resulting viewable model with other people through e-mail with a unique URL and concurrently view and discuss the model online (see the video below). The model will stay online for 30 days. The viewer works fine even on mobile web browsers.
The list of supported file formats offers more than 50 items (incl. AutoCAD, Inventor, Revit, Catia, Solidworks, Pro/E) and other can be added by extending the Autodesk cloud service: 3DM, 3DS, ASM, CAM360, CATPART, CATPRODUCT, CGR, DAE, DLV3, DWF, DWFX, DWG, DWT, EXP, F3D, FBX, GGB, XML, IFC, IGE, IGES, IGS, IPT, JT, MODEL, NEU, NWC, NWD, OBJ, PRT, RCP, RVT, SAB, SAT, SESSION, SIM, SIM360, SKP, SLD, ASM, SLDPRT, SMB, SMT, STE, STEP, STL, STLA, STLB, STP, WIRE, X_B, X_T, XAS, XPR.
An example of the concurrent collaboration:
The Autodesk A360 Viewer is a smart move and a very useful cloud service for any CAD user.
Autodesk announced that after February 1st, 2016, they will stop selling new permanent (perpetual) licenses of selected products. You will be able to purchase these products only as a "Desktop Subscription" (rental) - monthly, quarterly, yearly or multi-yearly. The existing permanent licenses are not affected as well as the products not listed here (e.g. Vault, AutoCAD Civil 3D, Plant 3D, Simulation and all Design Suites):
3ds Max
AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT
AutoCAD Architecture
AutoCAD Electrical
AutoCAD Mechanical
InfraWorks
Inventor and Inventor Professional
Inventor LT
Maya and Maya LT
MotionBuilder
Mudbox
Navisworks Simulate and Navisworks Manage
Revit Architecture and Revit MEP and Revit Structure
Revit LT
The costs (TCO) of rented licenses are usually lower when compared to purchasing a permanent license with annual Maintenance Subscription, or compared to the older Upgrade model (upgrade every N-th version). The Desktop Subscription is much more flexible in terms of license management, deployment, user experience, temporary increases/decreases of available licenses and cloud integration. Plus you have no upfront costs...
The existing permanent licenses will be still permanent and you can still continue to renew and update them with your Maintenance Subscription. The announced change (1 year from now) will affect only newly purchased products. Desktop Subscription licensing has nothing to do with the cloud - you get standard locally installed software products (the same as usual). The sales channel through VARs remains the same.
Ralph Grabowski compared AutoCAD 360 with "AutoCAD clones" in his latest upFront.eZine #842 in terms of DWG compatibility, mentioning our Budweiser.dwg compatibility test. There is one important point in the "trust" and "compatibility" aspect not mentioned in the review.
AutoCAD 360 is a view/review software and "occasional" 2D editor for DWG drawings. Unlike the non-Autodesk desktop "clones" it does not display the true contents of a DWG file directly. The DWG is interpreted in the Autodesk cloud and sent to (and from) the thin client (mobile client or web browser) basically as simple vectors. So any incompatibilites are just in the interpretation phase and can be fixed on the cloud server. And - which is more important - any entities which are currently not recognized by AutoCAD 360 are not damaged during editing and save-back, they remain untouched inside the DWG file. If you re-open the AutoCAD360-edited drawing in AutoCAD, all (all!) entities are displayed properly again. Plus the DWG remains in the genuine DWG file format.
Now try this in any of the AutoCAD fakes (copies, lookalikes) and your DWG will be damaged, unrecognized entities will be deleted.
Updated 27.1.2015:
Ralph Grabowski asks in the next upFront.eZine #843: "I am not sure what file corruption of drawings by clones has to do with display corruption by Autodesk software, which is used by engineers working outside of the office, who rely on what they are seeing to resolve problems with contractors on the job site."
Yes, I agree that any viewer software should display the file contents reliably and I hope Autodesk will fix this soon in AutoCAD360 - at least for 2D DWGs. But there is a difference in the trust - "trusting in what is currently displayed on my mobile device" (when I can double-check the real contents in desktop AutoCAD) and in "trusting that the original contents is not corrupted forever" (when you open/save a DWG in a clone CAD). Any not-fully-recognized 2D object in AutoCAD360 can be still edited properly and it will be properly represented inside the cloud-based DWG. Any DWG edited in a clone is quite probably corrupted for any future use (we have lots of customers complaining then about double "0" layers, draworder not working, failures on plotting, missing objects and other strange problems caused by non-genuine DWGs).
It is like a web page - you know that it may look (or behave) slightly different on your tablet but I doubt you will like the risk of corrupting the page for any future visitors.
January posts often cover results and achievements of the past year 2012 - including annual web site statistics. Let us look at the figures of the number of visitors and other statistics of CAD Studio's web services. From the more then ten web sites we run to support users of CAD/GIS/PDM software, the most popular sites are: the CAD portal CADforum.cz, the company pages CADstudio.cz, our technical support portal helpdesk.cadstudio.cz and our company blogs in Czech and English.
The results hit new records in 2014 - especially for CAD Forum:
Over 27 mil. pageviews
Over 5.3 mil. unique visits
Over 588.000 registered users
Over 130.000 postings in the discussion forums (CZ+EN)
Over 7.000 tips and tricks (in CZ, part in EN)
Over 11.390 CAD and BIM blocks and models uploaded by users
Over 7.4 mil. downloads of CAD utilities and patches
Over 1 TB of transferred web data monthly
Top 5 countries with most visits: USA, Czechia, UK, India, Germany
Also social web services by CAD Studio become more and more popular. There are more than 455.000 views of CAD videos on the CAD Studio's YouTube channel, the total of 6.250 fans on our Facebook pages or 926 Twitter followers.
