It is Alive in the Lab

Project Dragonfly Update Now Available

This blog posting is 2 hours late. Boy is my face red.

The Project Dragonfly team has been busy. Today they unveiled an update. Try it now:

Project Dragonfly Information on Autodesk Labs Site

As a software as a service solution, this means the update is available to you right now. No download. No install. No nothing. Some of the big features in this update include:

• Landscaping - you can plan your outdoors the same way you plan indoors
• Levels - you can create multi-story floor plans
• Appliances - you can pick from a multitude of Dacor appliances that were added with this release

So check out Project Dragonfly and engage in a bit of floor planning. Create a design and submit it to the gallery. Your friends will be green with envy.

Extending the functionality in the technology preview of our software as a service offering is alive in the lab

Cloud Services You Need

[This is Ben Cochran again writing for Scott while he is on Sabbatical.]

For years now, languages, tools and platforms have been making the creation of web-based services easier and more robust. Some of these are IIS, Apache, Tomcat, Java, .NET, WCF, PHP, Ruby on Rails and the list goes on and on and … 

Until recently deploying and hosting these services had been difficult and expensive. This is because any service of value needs to be dependable.  Otherwise, who would use it? I personally have come to expect web services to be highly available. For example, I love on-line banking, but if my bank had flaky on-line services, I would change banks without thinking twice. Thankfully, that is not the case for my bank.

Cloud based services are generally a collection of connected dependent systems that include storage, databases, security, auditing, monitoring and more. The whole system is only as reliable as the weakest link. Traditionally, making these services reliable required lots and lots of hardware. Each server needs to have redundant power supplies, redundant disks, redundant network, redundant load balancers and redundant storage. Then the data-center that houses all this equipment needs to be redundant. Does this sound a little redundant?  With all this equipment, hardware failure is inevitable, requiring teams of IT people to keep everything running smoothly.

The result is that many companies think twice about building scalable reliable services. Companies that do have the needed IT infrastructure are often times not flexible enough to try out new ideas. They require a retooling to support different and out of the box services.  All of this makes the cost of exploring new web based services expensive and risky, for many too risky to try the next crazy idea.

This is changing! With cloud hosting services from companies like Amazon, Microsoft and Google providing the backend systems on an as-needed bases the initial cost is a fraction of what it was. For example, servers, load balancers, network, reliable backed up storage and databases are rented by the hour or gigabyte. Instead of buying truckloads of expensive redundant hardware in hopes that a new cloud service idea is successful, companies can spend almost nothing to try out new ideas. If the new idea takes off, the backend systems scales up for the demand. Companies need only pay for resources that are actually used.

Labs had been experimenting with new and interesting cloud services like:
http://labs.autodesk.com/technologies/dragonfly/
http://labs.autodesk.com/technologies/draw/
http://labs.autodesk.com/technologies/freewheel/
http://labs.autodesk.com/technologies/showroom/
and more recently http://labs.autodesk.com/technologies/trials/

What new cloud services are useful to you?  What are your crazy ideas?

- Ben Cochran

How do I make an angled wall in Project Dragonfly?

Showing his prowess with the latest in ASCII graphics, a Mr. Richard Feder of Fort Lee, New Jersey recently asked the Project Dragonfly team,

I'd like to create a room that looks like:

Product Manager, Patrick Aragon, was quick to show him the way:

Showing shining examples of how we respond to feedback is alive in the lab.

Computer Graphics World: Pictures in the Cloud

Freelance Writer, Kenneth Wong, has a thorough write-up of Software as a Service (SaaS) as it pertains to Project Showroom and Project Dragonfly:

Pictures in the Cloud

Check it out.

Updated Project Dragonfly Now Available

The Project Dragonfly team has been busy at work. Yesterday the team released an update. Recall that Project Dragonfly is our software as a service approach to floor planning. All you need is your browser to create your own floor plans.

According to the What's New Feature Guide for this release:

1. New and Improved Features for Doors and Windows
   • Resizable Doors and Windows
   • Doors and Windows Finish Options
   • Duplicate Doors and Windows
2. New and Improved Wall Features
   • Expanded Paint Options for Wall Surfaces
   • New Curved Walls Feature
   • New Wall Treatment Options
   • New Accent Wall Feature
3. New and Improved Ways to Explore and Manage Designs
   • Featured Designs Filter in the Autodesk Project Dragonfly Gallery
   • New "Save As" Option for Existing Designs
4. Performance and Ease of Use Improvements and New Features
   • New and Improved User Assistance
   • More Performance and Ease of Use Improvements
5. More Ways to Learn About Autodesk Project Dragonfly
   • Project Dragonfly Playlist on YouTube
   • Follow us on Twitter
   • Become a Fan on Facebook
   • View our Photostream
   You can see the Social Sites page on the Autodesk Labs site for more information.

There's also an updated Known Issues List which you can find on the Updates page along with a link to the What's New Feature Guide itself.

Thanks to everyone who pour in the feedback at labs.dragonfly@autodesk.com.

Adding functionality to our software as a service technology previews is alive in the lab.

thinkdigit: The Online Desktop Experience: Autodesk Project Dragonfly

Product Manager, Patrick Aragon, alerted me to a recent review of Project Dragonfly. Recall that Project Dragonfly is our software as a service approach to floor planning. For the review, see:

thinkdigit: The Online Desktop Experience: Autodesk Project Dragonfly

This is one of the more comprehensive reviews that I’ve read since our June update. It even covers Project Dragonfly's object placement rules and our Amazon implementation. The article also contains several embedded videos from YouTube. This is the first article in a series which will “explore the blurring lines between desktop and web applications." Check it out. To take Project Dragonfly for a test drive yourself, please see:

Autodesk Project Dragonfly

Let us know what you think at labs.dragonfly@autodesk.com. Do you agree with the review?

Sharing expert evaluations of our software as a service floor planning solution is alive in the lab.

Project Dragonfly Update Now Available

Project Dragonfly is our software as a service approach to do-it-yourself floor planning. The Dragonfly team has been busy at work. On Friday they released an update based on feedback from the Autodesk Labs community. Product Manager, Patrick Aragon, notes that all of these new items were the result of user feedback that we’ve received in which people specifically asked for:

• More appliance options - Four new ranges in basic colors and size. Three new refrigerators (smaller and more colors). Three new microwaves. One new washer / dryer set and one new dish washer.
  
  
  
  
  

• A basic wood stove (Pot Belly) - This was added to our existing fireplaces.
  

• Windows - We doubled the number of window options available (combination of new sizes, styles, and colors)
  

• Desks and accessories - More desks, drawer units, tables, etc. 17 new items in this category that will also help those people who are using Dragonfly to plan office environments.
  

• Storage Items - About 30 new items in this category that includes bookshelves, storage cabinets, dressers, etc.
  

• Baby Furniture - One additional crib, another changing table, and a rocking horse.
  

• Tables - Five new tables. One conference table, one coffee table, three end tables.
  

So take Project Dragonfly for a spin and see what you think. Let us know at labs.dragonfly@autodesk.com. You can even submit your creation to the gallery.

Evolving our floor planning software as a service technology preview is alive in the lab.

YouTube: Amazon's Jeff Bezos talks about Project Dragonfly at Amazon shareholders meeting

Have you got a minute? I received this 59 second video from Kate Morrical. It is a snippet from Amazon's stockholder's meeting:

• YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goW6WnTuzos

• non-YouTube: dragonfly_amazon2.mp4 (2311.8K)

CEO Jeff Bezos lauds Project Dragonfly as an example of how the elastic compute cloud can support CAD applications. Maybe we should change our motto from "Experience it before it's real." to "Autodesk CAD Solutions: Everything from A to Z." Just kidding. Check out the video and then check out Project Dragonfly for yourself. It's like Kate says "Try it now."

Start with Project Dragonfly and graduate to Autodesk Revit

output from one program is input to another

Autodesk Revit is our approach to building information modeling (BIM). Revit allows architects and engineers to explore early design concepts and forms, and more accurately maintain their vision through design, documentation, and construction. Revit allows a user to make a change, and it’s automatically updated across the project. Analysis of BIM data supports sustainable design, clash detection, construction planning, and fabrication.

BIM Platform Manager, Emile Kfouri, recently observed how one could start with Project Dragonfly and then add detail using Revit.

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What is Project Dragonfly?
Project Dragonfly is a web-based application for home improvement projects targeting entry level “designers” like the homeowner. Dragonfly's intuitive design tools help you rapidly create and furnish a floor plan, experimenting in real time with your ideas in 2D and 3D before making it real! Project Dragonfly also enables you to share any saved designs with others by simply clicking the “Share” icon in the upper left hand corner of the Designer window. The site has seen very brisk traffic since its launch in March.

For professional designers who use Project Dragonfly, you can export the floor plan and furnishings as a Revit RVT file.

Project Dragonfly is the second Autodesk SaaS solution that uses Revit technology in the back end. The original trail blazers were the Autodesk Seek team.

All you need to do is log onto Project Dragonfly:
http://dragonfly.autodesk.com/

1. Design your building
   

2. Select Export to Revit
   

3. Open the model in Revit
   

Quite interesting.

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Thanks Emile! Looking at interoperability between traditional and software as a service applications is alive in the lab.

New and Improved Project Dragonfly Now Available

The Project Dragonfly team has been busy at work. They updated the servers today with new functionality in the following areas:

1. Resizable content
2. Design and navigation toolbars
3. Item detail pop-up toolbar
4. Nudge
5. Alignment feedback for content (2D and 3D)
6. Scale features with integrated grid
7. Units Adjustment
8. Dimension toggle control
9. Export design
10. Catalog search
11. User preferences
12. Print and Print Preview
13. Catalog and user assistance
14. Wall snapping and alignment
15. Wall transparency toggle
16. Gallery sorting
17. "My Designs"

Wow - what a list. The Dragonfly team is carrying on in the Project Draw tradition - fast and furious. A what's new features guide provides the details:

Autodesk Project Dragonfly - What’s New Feature Guide

Since Project Dragonfly uses a software as a service approach that allows you to design your own floor plans, these new capabilities are available to you right now. No download. No install. No nothing.

Celebrating another release of Project Dragonfly is alive in the lab.