It is Alive in the Lab

Fast Forward: Viewer forecast: Partly Cloudy with a chance of WebGL

For all of those people who have emailed Autodesk Labs at [email protected] about viewing design data on an iPad or mobile device, check this out: Fast Forward: Viewer forecast: Partly Cloudy with a chance of WebGL Thank you. Please keep... Read more →

Project Krypton retires from Autodesk Labs

The Project Krypton Technology Preview provided early stage design advice to plastic part designers. Seamlessly integrated into the Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk Inventor LT, SolidWorks, and Pro/ENGINEER environments, this add-on provided real-time feedback on a plastic part's manufacturability, cost efficiency, and... Read more →

April ADN Plugin of the Month, ASHRAE Viewer for Revit, Now Available

"Hi, there. I am from Central Services, and I want to talk to you about your ducts." from the movie Brazil, 1985. Continuing our theme of plugins for design applications other than AutoCAD, this month’s plugin is once again for... Read more →

Project Showroom graduates and is replaced by Project Neon

The Project Showroom technology preview has ended. Thanks to everyone who provided feedback on what it would be like to see photorealistic computer generated images to build confidence before making a purchasing decision. Thanks to the appliance manufacturers who helped... Read more →

Windows Live Writer 2011 and TypePad: A Match Made in Limbo

Having grown tired of the TypePad spelling checker which: does not allow me to add frequently-used but unknown-to-the-dictionary words to my dictionary (such as Autodesk) constantly removes spaces after text with URLs attached when returning from spell checking mode to... Read more →

Feature Recognition for Inventor updated to support Inventor 2012

You can use the Feature Recognition application to convert neutral 3D CAD models, such as STEP, SAT, or IGES solids, into full-featured Autodesk Inventor models. The feature mapping can be executed automatically or interactively as needed to maintain design intent.... Read more →

Spicing up mundane meeting minutes with fun facts and quotes

As someone who manages projects for Autodesk, when I send out meeting minutes, I use a format that includes the following sections. Date Attendees Agreements Action Items I have been doing it this way for years. Old dogs can't really... Read more →

New book: IMAGINE DESIGN CREATE

After a global employee webcast with inspirational words from CEO, Carl Bass, I attended an employee gathering where Autodesk Fellow, Tom Wujec, handed out copies of a new book that tells the Autodesk story: IMAGINE DESIGN CREATE. With sections like:... Read more →

Using Internet Explorer 9 results in blank posting in Autodesk discussion forums

For our technology previews, I normally set up an email address and a discussion forum. Though feedback through the email address seems to be more popular, feedback through the forum allows everyone to see both the question and the answer.... Read more →

Autodesk FIRST Participation: The Rest of the Story

Yesterday I blogged about Autodesk's participation in the FIRST robotics competition at UC Davis. When I was growing up, radio personality, Paul Harvey, had a segment called "the rest of the story." In that tradition, Autodesk Events Manager, Christie Hoyle,... Read more →

FIRST robotics regional competition at UC Davis

Will the Red or Blue Alliance prevail? My wife, some friends, and I attended the final rounds for the regional competition of the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) robotics competition at UC Davis. Autodesk has been... Read more →

Updated Screenshot for Inventor ADN Plugin (for developers) Now Available

When it comes to ADN plugin corrections, the doctor has always been in. The ADN Plugin of the Month program brings you a new plugin each month. The source code is included to show you how easy it is to... Read more →

Autodesk Gallery: Parsons Brinckerhoff Virtual Driving Simulator (Presidio Parkway)

"Should I pick up some milk while I'm out?" In an earlier blog post, I talked about a presentation I attended about the Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) Project. I mentioned that the Autodesk Gallery had a driving simulator as an exhibit.... Read more →

Two TED Talks: It takes two to tango

It's Friday so I try to stay away from Autodesk Labs specific topics. With this in mind, I thought I would highlight two TED talks that I watched this week. One is Deb Roy: The birth of a word. Deb... Read more →

Updated Project Vasari Was Made Available on March 1

With my vacation to Mardi Gras, I neglected to mention that we had an update to Project Vasari recently (on March 1). If you are ever unsure about whether or not you have the latest version of any of our... Read more →

Autodesk Labs Newsletter Being Emailed Out Later Today

Not everyone reads this blog. Gasp! For those members of the Autodesk Labs community who don't but wish to remain informed, we have an Autodesk Labs newsletter called Innovation Edge. Senior Strategic Designer, Doug Look, came up with that cool... Read more →

Updated RoomRenumbering for Revit ADN Plugin of the Month Available

"Is that door number 1, door number 2, or door number 3?" While on vacation at the Mardi Gras in New Orleans, I got an updated RoomRenumbering for Revit ADN Plugin of the Month. On Wednesday (March 9) I posted... Read more →

Autodesk Labs Moving Day

The Autodesk Labs team that is based in San Francisco is moving from the 2nd floor of our One Market Street office to the 4th floor. Though we'll no longer be on the same floor as the Autodesk Gallery, we... Read more →

Aborted Baton Rouge Travel: Accuracy is the key to web-based services

My brother and his family live in New Orleans whereas my sister and her family live in nearby Baton Rouge. After spending time together in New Orleans with both sets of families for Mardi Gras, our plan was to visit... Read more →

FY11 was a popular year for It's Alive in the Lab

The Autodesk fiscal year runs from February 1 through January 31. We just finished fiscal year 2011 (FY11) and are now working on FY12. If you look at the unique visitors that read It's Alive in the Lab by fiscal... Read more →

Some Sample Feedback from February 2011

We get lots of feedback at Autodesk Labs. That is indeed the whole point of the exercise. Small teams of people spend moderate amounts of time developing a technology. They share it with you via a technology preview on Autodesk... Read more →

Happy Mardi Gras

Today I am in New Orleans celebrating Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras translates to Fat Tuesday - the day before Lent. Lent is a period of 40 days where Catholics give up something as part of their religion. Since Mardi Gras... Read more →

Project Nucleus needs a loadable family for the UI to show up

You need the mass. Project Nucleus is Project Nucleus allows designers to experiment with "form-finding" in the conceptual design phase by simulating forces such as gravity and wind. Project Nucleus on Autodesk Labs You can download the add-on for Revit... Read more →

Autodesk Gallery Exhibit: Would you like a slice of PiCycle?

"PiCycle PiCycle PiCycle... I want to ride my PiCycle I want to ride my pi I want to ride my PiCycle I want to ride it where I like" an adaptation of "Bicycle Race," Jazz, Queen, 1978. The people: PiMobility... Read more →

Autodesk employees invited to be there FIRST

Last night I had crawfish fettuccine for dinner at Copeland's Restaurant. Education Marketing Manager, Amy Mollison, sent employees this message last week. Here's something to wet one's engineering appetite. The FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science & Technology) Robotics... Read more →

On Vacation at Mardi Gras in New Orleans

My wife and I are off to visit family in New Orleans. Our daughter is even flying in from Chicago. Her boyfriend is flying in from Washington D.C too. Unfortunately our son is still on active duty at Twentynine Palms,... Read more →

Project Photofly: The Red Box Diaries

As I mentioned in my Project Photofly at TED post, we demonstrated the ability to create a 3D model of a person's head by having 14 cameras take a picture all at once. Though Project Photofly does not require such... Read more →