It is Alive in the Lab

Inventor LT Technology Preview 2009 Now Available

It's that time of year again. The original Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview is scheduled to expire on May 1, 2008. That's only days away. Inventor Product Manager, Sam Antos, provided Autodesk Labs with the 2009 version to make available on the site. The Inventor LT team based this new version on Inventor 2009. It is now available for your download:

http://labs.autodesk.com/technologies/inventor_lt/

What's new with the 2009 technology preview includes sketching constraint enhancements, cropped drawing views, and a native 64-bit version. By far, the volume of feedback we get on Inventor LT is the highest of the technologies and utilities available on Autodesk Labs. To ensure the team can respond to each and every message, we have limited the Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview 2009 to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States.

We currently have plans to expand the technology preview to other geographies this year. So you can look on this blog for an announcement when that happens. Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview 2009 will run until May 1, 2009.

Due to dynamically loaded library (DLL) conflicts, Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview 2009 cannot be installed on a system that has Autodesk Inventor 2009. This conflict does not exist on a system that has Inventor 2008 or an earlier version. You can install Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview 2009 on a system that already has Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview 2008, but I am not sure why you would want to. The normal course of business is to uninstall 2008 and replace it with 2009.

A FAQ I get is "Can I buy Autodesk Inventor LT?" At this time, Autodesk Inventor LT is a technology preview. Should Autodesk Inventor LT ever become a product, Autodesk anticipates that the suggested retail price for a license of Autodesk Inventor LT would be U.S. $999, and customers who participate in the technology preview would receive special purchase incentives.

So download Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview 2009 today. Your feedback to labs.inventorlt@autodesk.com can help shape the future. Continuing our efforts to get feedback from the mechanical industry is alive in the lab.

Free Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview eLearning Exercises Available

The other day we got an unsolicited email:

From: joe
Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2008 1:20 PM
To: labs.inventorlt
Subject: Inventor LT E-Learning... educational is GREAT...

Hi Inventor LT TEAM:
I have just finished the E-Learning tutorial (LABS) and THIS is the VERY BEST… NICELY Illustrated… for LT… This is the BEST educational material that Autodesk has ever OFFERED… except AU… ATP… CAD Camp… This Methodology is very close to my class lessons and should be included with every AutoCAD Product… IT'S GREAT… T-H-A-N-K-S for your assistance...

Joe...
Senior AutoCAD / Inventor LT Designer...

So check out the eLearning exercises for the Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview:

http://labs.autodesk.com/technologies/inventor_lt/elearning/

You'll be glad you did. You will need to use your Autodesk Labs community login. Keep that feedback coming in.

Sign us up for another year of LT feedback

Product Marketing Manager, Tyler Barnes, asked me to announce that the Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview has been extended:

http://labs.autodesk.com/technologies/inventor_lt/message2009/

Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview will be around for another year. Extending our ability to get feedback in the area of mechanical part design is alive in the lab.

Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview 2009 available before May 1, 2008

We are thankful for the feedback we continue to receive from Australian, Canadian, New Zealander, and United States American users who are working with the Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview. This technology preview continues to be our feedbackiest item available on Autodesk Labs. (Okay so I made up my own word.) As these users know, the Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview is scheduled to expire on May 1, 2008. That's only 42 days away. Fear not. From our marketing department:

Due to the high demand for the current version of Inventor LT, Autodesk will be delivering an updated version of the software prior to the May 1, 2008 expiration date, to continue to provide the service to existing customers. Based on Inventor 2009 technology, this new version will once again be a Technology Preview with free* time-bound licenses. Stay tuned for more detail on the Inventor LT Technology Preview 2009 when it becomes available for download later this spring.

* Free products are subject to the terms and conditions of the end-user license agreement that accompanies download of the software.

I will post an announcement on this blog when I update the Labs web site with Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview 2009. Upon first launch, as our feedbackiest item, it will continue to be limited to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States. Fear not. The plan is to expand to other geographies in the future.

Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview: Download or DVD

When you want to obtain the Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview, you provide your email address. An email is sent to you that contains two important items: a unique serial number and a generic part number. You have two basic options for obtaining the installer:

1. For immediate gratification, you can download the installer from the web.

   • You can use the download manager. The download manager provides effective and efficient downloads. The first time you use the download manager, Internet Explorer prompts you to download and install a small ActiveX Control.
   • Alternatively you can initiate a standard download without the download manager.
   
   Please ensure that your browser pop-up blockers are disabled. Pop-up blockers must be disabled to complete this download.

2. If you don't have the bandwidth for a large download, you can request that a free DVD be mailed to you. To complete the request, you use the serial number you received in the email plus the part number 52712-051462-9F12A.

   • 
     For Canada/United States: You can request a DVD if you live in Canada or the US.
   • 
     NOW AVAILABLE: For Australia/New Zealand: You can request a DVD if you live in the Australia or New Zealand.

Providing a variety of methods to deliver free technologies in pursuit of beneficial customer feedback is alive in the lab.

Autodesk Inventor BETA available on Autodesk MyFeedback Portal

The Autodesk Inventor R2009 BETA is available for download. The project code name is Tesla after the Serbian inventor, Nikola Tesla, known for his work with electricity and magnetism. Tesla is often referred to as the master of lightning.

To participate in the BETA, go to:

http://myfeedback.autodesk.com/

sign-up (or log in), and request participation in Tesla. If you are currently an Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview user, you may wish to get involved. You can help shape the future of the next Inventor.

Note: No active discussion of BETA features or functionality are allowed in the Inventor discussion forums or as posts to Autodesk blogs. All BETA discussions are hosted by the MyFeedback portal and are subject to the non-disclosure agreement that participants agree to during the sign-up process.

Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview Now Extends to Australia and New Zealand

To date the Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview had been limited to the United States and Canada. To ensure that the participants had the best possible experience, we wanted to make sure we didn't get more feedback than we could handle. As I mentioned in the Autodesk Inventor discussion forum, Autodesk Labs is all about feedback, and we didn't want participants' feedback to appear to enter a black hole.

We are happy to announce that we are now able to expand the technology preview to include Australia and New Zealand. Australia has 20 million people - about the same number as the state of New York. New Zealand has about 4 million - about the same number as the province of British Columbia. We hope to expand to even more geographies in the future. So we welcome our new participants and ask those in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States to work with the Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview and tell us what you think: labs.inventorlt@autodesk.com.

Providing opportunities for more feedback in the mechanical industry is alive in the lab.

Comparison of Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview to other Autodesk Inventor products

We continue to get lots of feedback at labs.inventorlt@autodesk.com on the Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview. One of the frequent questions is how the technology preview differs from the released Inventor products. The following table compares Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview to other Autodesk Inventor products:

Features and Capabilities	Autodesk® Inventor™ LT Technology Preview	Autodesk® Inventor™ Suite 2008	Autodesk® Inventor™ Professional 2008
3D Part Modeling	yes	yes	yes
Automated 2D Drawing Views	yes	yes	yes
Automated 2D Drawing Updates	yes	yes	yes
Copy and Paste from AutoCAD® Software	yes	yes	yes
DWG Interoperability (DWG™ TrueConnect)	yes	yes	yes
Neutral 3D Multi-CAD Import/Export	yes	yes	yes
Native 3D Multi-CAD Translation	yes	yes*	yes*
Photorealistic Renderings (Inventor Studio)	yes	yes	yes
DWF™ Publishing and “Roundtrip”	yes	yes	yes
Electronic Review Process (Autodesk® Design Review)	yes	yes	yes
3D Assembly Modeling	no	yes	yes
Sheet Metal Design	no	yes	yes
Standard Parts Library (Content Center)	no	yes	yes
Dynamic Simulation	no	no	yes
Stress Analysis (Finite Element Analysis)	no	no	yes
Tube and Pipe Design	no	no	yes
Cable and Wire Harness Design	no	no	yes
Includes AutoCAD® Mechanical	no	yes	yes
Includes Autodesk® Vault	no	yes	yes
Customization and Third-Party Add-in Compatibility	no	yes	yes
Tutorials and Skill Builders	yes	yes	yes
Advanced Help System	yes	yes	yes
Free Autodesk Labs Download	yes	no	no
30-day Trial available via Free Workshop CD	no	yes	yes

* - Available at no charge via the Translator Add-ins from Autodesk Labs. The Translator Add-ins are already included with Autodesk Inventor LT.

Responding to customer feedback from our email channel is alive in the lab.

Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview available on DVD

Autodesk Labs metrics indicate that 64% of you visit our site using a Cable connection or DSL. That's impressive. You see the benefits of being connected to the world using high bandwidth. So for many of you, these download sizes are not an issue.

area	item	download size
Technologies	Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview	976 MB
	Project Draw	no download required
	Content Search Alpha	no download required
	Visual Search	no download required
	Project Freewheel	no download required
	Project Showroom	no download required
Utilities	Drawing Cleanup Utility for AutoCAD	12 MB
	Command Complete Bonus Tool for AutoCAD	less than 1 MB
	3D/2D ShareNow Add-in for AutoCAD, Inventor, and Revit	3 MB
	Translator Add-in for Inventor [and Inventor LT]	47 MB
	Google Earth Extension for AutoCAD	4 MB
	2D to 3D Tool for Inventor	less than 1 MB
	Feature Recognition for Inventor	2 MB

For those of you not connected via broadband, the download of the Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview is on the large size. (I bought my first computer in 1984. It had a 10 MB hard drive. We've come a long way baby.) For users where a 976 MB download is not practical, the technology preview is available via a free DVD. You can request one from

Canada and United States: Autodesk North America Media Request
Australia and New Zealand: Autodesk Asia Media Request

using the part number (52712-051462-9F12A) and serial number (unique for each install) you received via email. In addition, the Translator Add-ins are now packaged with the Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview download. This update was made on August 9. For those who downloaded Autodesk Inventor LT prior to that, you can download and install the Translator Add-ins separately.

Translator Add-ins for Inventor and Inventor LT

Reaching out to those with high and low internet bandwidth is alive in the lab.

September Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview Newsletter

At the time of downloading the Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview, users have the ability to "opt in" to receive more information. For users who have done so, the September issue of the Autodesk Inventor LT Technology Preview Newsletter will be coming soon to an emailbox near you. Sharing additional information about technology previews is alive in the lab. Check your inbox.