It is Alive in the Lab

Example Analytics from It's Alive in the Lab

Today is our second day of vacation. Yesterday I mentioned how we beefed up our analytics for Project Showroom release 1.0.20. We want to answer some usage questions more precisely. When I look at some of the analytic results for... Read more →

Project Showroom 1.0.20 Now Available

We're on vacation this week. Today is the first day of our company-wide vacation, so I will be brief. On Friday we released Project Showroom 1.0.20. Recall that Project Showroom is our software as a service approach to kitchen and... Read more →

Need Help Identifying A Painting? Revit3D.com to the rescue...

"Corps à corps bleu" by Gerard-Fromangert Isn't technology a beautiful thing? Isn't the community we have formed using a the internet like a family? In response to my posting Need Help Identifying a Painting, I received this email from Gregory... Read more →

Request for Help Identifying a Painting

A few semesters ago our daughter studied abroad in France with the ASU honors program. While visiting a museum in Paris, she took a picture of a painting she really liked. I was going to surprise her and try to... Read more →

Autodesk Shutdown for US Employees Next Week

Taking some vacation time in 2009 Autodesk is observing a company shutdown next week. With the exception of staff dedicated to manning our critical systems, all United States employees will take the week off with our vacation time. So although... Read more →

YouTube Project Showroom Overview Video

Electrolux kitchen appliances with Behr wall paint Electrolux kitchen appliances with a different Behr wall paint Project Showroom is a technology preview that establishes a vision for a service for home furnishing suppliers to enable their customers to visualize their... Read more →

Inventor Fusion Technology Preview Now Available

Fuse history-based modeling and direct editing like colors in a rainbow The Autodesk Inventor Fusion Technology Preview allows you to combine parametric modeling with direct model editing. It's the best of both worlds. Based on your location, you can find... Read more →

Pondering Password Possibilities for Autodesk Labs

Gyorgy Ordody is one of the software developers in Autodesk Labs. In response to our consideration of requiring Autodesk Labs login to download utilities, Gyorgy wrote this blog article. Modern browsers have "remember password" features: Firefox - Password Manager (Options/Security/Passwords)... Read more →

Added home listing on Zillow - is Twitter next?

As previously mentioned, real estate sales are more than just putting up a sign in front of the house. Our realtor created a virtual tour of our house: 7231 E Whistling Wind Way Virtual Tour The time honored Multiple Listing... Read more →

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... Read more →

Happy Fathers Day

We started the day off right. We got up early and headed to Deer Valley Airport for a Hot Air Balloon Ride. It was thrilling to see the Arizona sun, desert plants, and wildlife. I have placed some pictures on... Read more →

My Visit to Aterra Lighting Design and Controls

Since they are located just 11 minutes from my home, I visited Aterra Lighting Design and Controls. President and CEO, Paul Salmonson, L.C., LEED A.P. was kind enough to be my gracious host. He was interested in the relationship among... Read more →

The Good Dad

I waited in line for an iPhone 3GS today - not for me, but for our daughter who turned 22 last Saturday. It was her birthday present. She recently dropped her Black Jack in the pool. This is tame in... Read more →

YouTube: User Centered Design from Douglas Look

Pecha Kucha is a presentation format that started in Tokyo in 2003. I mention "format" because Pecha Kucha centers on form instead of content. There are actually no restrictions on the type of content that can be presented using the... Read more →

Book Review - Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell

I recently finished Blink by Malcolm Gladwell who is famous for his book The Tipping Point. For fun, I thought I would try to share what I learned from each part of the book in just one sentence. The Statue... Read more →

One ferry passenger to another: Which 3D modeler are you using?

Frederic Loranger is one of the software developers on the Autodesk Labs team. Frederic notes that Autodesk has been working to improve 3D modeling capabilities in AutoCAD 2010, and still continues to add very compelling and powerful features to the... Read more →

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... Read more →

design reform: Inventor – iCopy Frame - Part 02

Through feedback to [email protected], I was alerted to a Garin Gardiner video excerpt from that Steve Sanderson posted to the design reform site: design reform: Inventor – iCopy Frame - Part 02 This brief video shows the iCopy for Inventor... Read more →

Project Freewheel in the wild: Orion Engineering Limited

I found another example of Project Freewheel in the wild. Check out: Orion Engineering Limited Home page It's great to see our technology previews in action. Freewheel is alive in the wild. Read more →

CAD Professor: Transforming a 2D Drawing to 3D CAD Data

Don't let your data sink down a black hole. Let it see the light of 3D. Our old pal, Sunith Babu, has published an article on how you can convert 2D data to a 3D model using the 2D to... Read more →

My Visit to Kitchell Contractors

In response to my post on Autodesk Design Review and Navisworks Freedom, last Wednesday I visited the office of Kitchell Contractors. I met with ViCon Engineer Calvin Reinhardt, and Senior ViCon Engineer Chad Holbrook. Calvin and Chad work in the... Read more →

Rhino Import Translator Add-in for Inventor Now Available

Perhaps you work in a mixed environment? Perhaps you get data from partners who use various forms of design creation tools? Perhaps one of those is Rhino? If you answered yes to any one of these, then perhaps the technology... Read more →

Autodesk Labs Login Downtime: June 12 to June 14

Several times during the year, new functionality is released into Autodesk’s enterprise IT systems to enhance the company’s services to partners and customers and help the organization run more efficiently. The next Enterprise Applications Release is scheduled for the weekend... Read more →

Autodesk Freewheel and Project Freewheel: Tell Us Your Stories

We are eager to listen. Project Freewheel is our experimental version of Freewheel. We are currently using it as a means to get feedback on a software as a service based approach to collaboration. Think of it as Autodesk Design... Read more →

Project Showroom 1.0.19 Now Available

On May 6 the Revit team released the RDB Link Tool for Revit Family via the Autodesk Labs site. Our team also released a Project Showroom 1.0.18 update on May 6. On Friday the Revit team released an update to... Read more →

Updated RDB Link for Revit Now Available

Large Team Workflow Coordinator, Richard Taylor, provided me with an update of the RDB Link Tool for Revit Family. I placed it on the Labs site to garner your feedback. Free Download of RDB Link Tool for Revit Family on... Read more →

Autodesk Networking Event at One Market on June 9

Meet, greet, and learn. Join Autodesk and Ideate for a networking event at the Autodesk Gallery at One Market in San Francisco. Date: Tuesday, June 9 Time: 6 p.m.–8 p.m. Location: One Market, second floor In partnership with Ideate, Autodesk... Read more →

Thanks for the Comments - Keep 'em Coming

click to enlarge List of It's Alive in the Lab commenters since January 1, 2009 Since January we have gotten some great comments posted on this blog. Thanks for that. You guys are what make blogging worthwhile. We appreciate the... Read more →

Updated iCopy for Inventor Now Available

Yesterday Software Engineer, Alison Davis, provided me with an updated version of the iCopy for Inventor tool. I was happy to place it on the site to solicit your feedback. Free Download of iCopy for Inventor on Autodesk Labs This... Read more →

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... Read more →

Autodesk Freewheel is back up

Autodesk Freewheel usage remains steady - a technology you can count on. Service for Autodesk Freewheel has been restored. Thanks for your patience and your continued use of Autodesk Freewheel. Read more →

Autodesk Freewheel is down; Project Freewheel is up

Autodesk Freewheel is down: http://freewheel.autodesk.com/ Project Freewheel is up: http://freewheel.labs.autodesk.com/ The Autodesk Labs team is responsible for Project Freewheel. Autodesk Freewheel is maintained by another department within the company. Thanks to everyone who alerted Autodesk Labs about Autodesk Freewheel. I... Read more →

iCopy for Inventor Installation Tip for Microsoft Vista Users

Installation tip from one of our experts The iCopy for Inventor tool allows you to make duplicate copies of objects that automatically resize. A Mr. Richard Feder of Fort Lee, New Jersey had some trouble installing iCopy for Inventor on... Read more →

YouTube: Inventor Fusion Videos

The Autodesk Inventor team is developing a new application called Inventor Fusion. Inventor Fusion unites direct and parametric workflows. A technology preview will be available on Autodesk Labs in due time. We don't preannounce exact dates, because so much is... Read more →