Project Scorch is our free technology preview that lets you play with fire. Actually, it helps you perform fire simulations within a structure. Project Scorch uses the National Institute of Standards and Technology Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) to understand fire behavior within a building, such as smoke development and propagation, sprinkler behavior, and more. Project Scorch is intended as a more efficient and easier-to-use front-end for FDS from simulation setup and results exploration.
The team provided me with an updated build that I posted to the Autodesk Labs project. This build extends the technology preview until October 24, 2015. Based on your participation and feedback, the new build also includes the following:
- A new "indication solve" feature that has been designed to help quickly guide your setup prior to performing a full FDS solve. It doesn't take burner or material properties into account, nor does it make use of Project Scorch's sprinklers. Instead, it's aim is to help you understand smoke propagation within your design before performing a full analysis with FDS.
- A simplified Job Manager interface (thanks for those suggestions)
- Stability and performance improvements (there's really no substitute for real world testing in customers' hands)
For those who have yet to get in on the action or existing participants who want to get the new build that extends the technology preview:
Thanks to the Autodesk Labs Community that makes technology previews possible. We really are on the fence with these technologies. They are not a lock. If that were the case, we'd go straight to beta. Your experience as expressed by your feedback shapes the future of our technology. No fooling.
Fire is alive in the lab.