It is Alive in the Lab

Japanese web pages available for Radium Technology Preview for Moldflow Insight return

Historically the Autodesk Labs web site is English only. Though we have many site visitors from around the globe, things happen fast with Autodesk Labs. I will get a technology preview one day and make it available for feedback the next. Normally there isn't time to translate the web site content into other languages.

There is an exception to every rule. Project Radium provides enhanced injection molding prediction capabilities for Moldflow Insight. The Moldflow Insight team recognizes that they have a large number of users in Japan. In the interest of reaching out to these users to get their feedback on Project Radium, with their help on the translation, I have added some Japanese pages to the Autodesk Labs site.

Overview	English	Japanese
Getting Started	English	Japanese
Updates	English
System Requirements	English	Japanese
Social Sites	English

Alas the current technology preview for Project Radium ended today: September 8, 2010. Our plan is to unveil an updated technology preview later this month. When we do, I will use both the English and Japanese pages for this purpose.

Getting bilingual is alive in the lab.

How can I find out about Labs technology previews and provide feedback?

click to enlarge
Social Media Information Flow

There are a variety of avenues for you to find out about technology previews on Autodesk Labs. You are free to use any or all of them.

Finding Out

1. SITE
   You can visit the Autodesk Labs site directly: http://labs.autodesk.com/. The upper right corner of the home page has a LABS LATEST section.

2. BLOG
   You can read my daily blog, It's Alive in the Lab at http://labs.blogs.com, which is a combination of what happens to the Labs site and what happens to me. Friday postings tend to be non-technical. With eye-catching images, allusions to rock song lyrics, and bad puns, I try to share the information in an offbeat way. IMHO without these quirky elements, you might as well read a press relaase.

3. NEWSLETTER
   You can subscribe to the quarterly Autodesk Labs newsletter Innovation Edge. When logged into the Autodesk Labs site using your Autodesk single sign-on user name and password, the ability to "opt in" to receive the newsletter is in the upper right. The newsletter is emailed to you. We promise not to SPAM you to death. The newsletter is strictly business. No puns.

4. FACEBOOK
   You can be my friend (scott.sheppard) on Facebook. I post links to my blog articles there.

5. TWITTER
   You can follow me (scottsh115) on Twitter. My blog postings are tweeted there using a service call dlvr.it.

6. LINKED IN
   You can join our Autodesk Labs group on LinkedIn. The discussions here intended to be short and to the point.

7. YOUTUBE
   You can watch the videos that I post to YouTube on my scottsh115 channel.

There are also a variety of ways to provide feedback. You are free to use any or all of them.

Providing Feedback

1. EMAIL
   You can email us directly. Each technology preview on Labs has its own email alias.

2. AUTODESK FORUMs
   You can post topics to the Autodesk Labs forums.

3. AUGI FORUMs
   You can post topics to the AUGI forums specifically set up for Autodesk Labs.

4. LINKED IN
   The Autodesk Labs group on LinkedIn includes a discussion area where topics can be posted.

5. FACEBOOK
   You can "like" or comment on my Facebook posts.

6. TWITTER
   You can retweet or tweet your own messages.

7. YOUTUBE
   You can "like" or post comments related to each video.

Regardless of how you do it, we read them all.

Wow the magic number appears to be 7. I wonder if that is lucky?

Going with the flow is alive in the lab.

New link from www.autodesk.com to labs.autodesk.com coming this month

A man said to the universe:
"Sir I exist!"
"However," replied the universe,
"The fact has not created in me
A sense of obligation."
  War Is Kind, Stephen Crane, 1899.

I have Labs link placement envy. Look at how some companies feature their Lab on their home pages.

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Not that it's all bad, on the Autodesk home page we have:

In September we will be experimenting with ways that Autodesk site visitors can learn that Autodesk Labs exists. I will share more info as I receive it.

Making it easier for us to be found in hopes of getting even more feedback is alive in the lab.

BY PRODUCT tab of Autodesk Labs home page redesigned

The BY PRODUCT tab of the Labs home page has been redesigned.

http://labs.autodesk.com/?sortby=product

Here's the story.

1. I created an education page by hand: http://labs.autodesk.com/education/.

2. I got positive feedback on the way this page looked, so I requested that our community platform provider redesign the ALPHABETICALLY tab of the Labs home page using the education page as a guide. They did: http://labs.autodesk.com/?sortby=alphabet. This too got positive feedback.

3. Although the education page and ALPHABETICALLY tab were received enthusiastically, if we were to do the exact same thing with the BY PRODUCT tab, the resulting page would be really long. So the BY PRODUCT tab was broken into multiple pages.

   • http://labs.autodesk.com/anyonecantry  
   • http://labs.autodesk.com/anyonecanlearnabout  
   • http://labs.autodesk.com/autocad  
   • http://labs.autodesk.com/inventor  
   • http://labs.autodesk.com/maya  
   • http://labs.autodesk.com/revit  
   • http://labs.autodesk.com/designreview  

   With the "meat" of the by product information appearing on separate pages, that left the BY PRODUCT tab as containing only these seven links. Since we have used the "// more" element (which by the way is formatted like a comment in C++ source code) on other parts of the site, I requested that our community platform provider also use it on the BY PRODUCT tab. I am not sure about this. More implies that you have seen some and can now see the rest. In this case, you really haven't seen anything yet. I am open to suggestions at thelabs@autodesk.com on this or anything else related to the site.

Making it easier for you to sort the list of technology previews is alive in the lab.

On Vacation in Akron, Ohio

Later today my wife and I will be in Akron, Ohio for the next few days attending a concert with some friends. On Sunday Todd Rundgren will perform every song from the 1974 Todd and 1981 Healing albums for the first time ever. For us it will be a trip down memory lane. Unfortunately there will be no west coast instance of this performance which is why we traveled.

Updated CommunityCommands for AutoCAD Now Available

Learn new commands from the community: People helping people.

Yesterday Senior Software Developer, Justin Matejka, and Senior Software Developer, Wei Li, gave me an updated installer which I was happy to place on the Autodesk Labs web site. You can get it from:

free download of CommunityCommands for AutoCAD via Autodesk Labs

The big change in this update is that the CommunityCommands plug-in now supports the verticals and AutoCAD LT, and with one install, it will work on all of them.

1. AutoCAD Map 3D
2. AutoCAD Civil 3D
3. AutoCAD Mechanical
4. AutoCAD P&ID
5. AutoCAD Electrical
6. AutoCAD Architecture
7. AutoCAD Plant 3D
8. AutoCAD MEP
9. AutoCAD
10. AutoCAD LT

CommunityCommands supports 2010 and 2011 versions.

When it comes to updating technology previews to garner more feedback, it is alive in the lab.

Performance Monitor for AutoCAD Now Available

AutoCAD is a powerful program. With power comes the need for system resources. You can get an indicator of how much virtual memory AutoCAD is using with a new technology preview that is available on Autodesk Labs.

Free Download of Performance Monitor for AutoCAD via Autodesk Labs

So hook this baby up and let us know how it works at labs.acad.perfmon@autodesk.com.

Monitoring if AutoCAD provides a command performance is alive in the lab.

Technology Preview of Sustainable Materials Assistant for Inventor retired

Since its debut over two years ago, our user base has grown increasingly more savvy when it comes to sustainable design. As such we have retired the Sustainable Materials Assistant for Inventor technology preview. In the spirit of Labs and learning from our users, thanks to everyone who downloaded and provided feedback.

In its place, we encourage you to try Project Krypton, a new, increasingly-popular technology preview that provides practical, real-time feedback on environmental impacts, cost efficiency, and manufacturability.

free download of Project Krypton for Inventor and SolidWorks via Autodesk Labs

When it comes to spring cleaning, it's alive in the lab.

September ADN Plugin of the Month: DigSigStamp for AutoCAD Now Available

The ADN Plugin of the Month for September is now available. It's a Digital Signature Stamp for AutoCAD. I know the government sales division will be excited to see this plugin. This plugin was written by Maanger of DevTech Americas, Stephen Preston based on a similar ObjectARX (C++) custom entity implementation written by Senior Developer Consultant, Fenton Webb. The plugin allows you to specify a BlockReference that will change its display when plotted to indicate whether the drawing had a valid digital signature at the time of plotting.

free download of DigSigStamp for AutoCAD ADN plugin of the month

Take a look at the source code for this one and see how it works. You may even have ideas for extending it. Let us know your thoughts at labs.plugins@autodesk.com. Thanks.

Dancing to "Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours" is alive in the lab.

Updated Point Cloud for 3ds Max Now Available

The internal name for the point cloud tool for 3ds max and 3ds max design is Project Helix.

Yesterday I posted an updated installer for the Point Cloud Tool for 3ds Max and 3ds Max Design.

free download of Point Cloud Tool for 3ds Max and 3ds Max Design via Autodesk Labs

Based on your feedback to labs.3dsmax.pointcloud@autodesk.com, this update fixes the following issues:

• Reloading a saved .max file with a point cloud does not refresh/load the source cloud data. The user has to manually reload the ptsb file on each file open.
• Render LOD -> Custom LOD does not work. It will always render at Level of Detail setting.
• Render with Additive Volume results in mental ray warnings and errors, but render will still complete.
• When Use Display Volumes is unchecked, point clouds will still render with assigned Volumes.
• After multiple Display Volumes are deleted, point clouds will occasionally still render with previously assigned volumes.
• Render Color -> Use Display Color doesn’t work.

In addition, the following changes are part of this update.

• Animated parameters are not respected by the renderer when rendering frame sequences. It will use the last value found in the UI. All properties were made non-animatable except LOD.
• Color Leaves do not seem to work. This is no longer supported. Color Leaves have been removed from the UI.
• PTS to PTSB Converter Utility, Batch functionality not supported by BackBurner 2011. This too is no longer supported. It has been removed from the UI.
• PTS to PTSB Converter Utility, Batch functionality does not work for on a Vista nor Windows7 machine. "Process cannot be added to job group" error prevents successful job completion. This is no longer supported. It has been removed from the UI.

Improving our technology based on your feedback is alive in the lab.