Between the Lines

Countdown to Autodesk University 2008

I created the above Flash based countdown to Autodesk University 2008 to remind and motivate me to get things ready.

Cheers,
Shaan

AU 2008 Primer Webcast: Not Just for AU "Newbies"

Reminder: This is happening  today in about 2 hours.

Join Lynn Allen, Autodesk Technical Evangelist and a highly popular AU speaker, for AU 2008 Primer, a webcast preview of Autodesk University 2008.

Date: Thursday, November 20, 2008
Time: 11:00 a.m.–noon (Pacific Time) (-8 GMT)

Why attend? To get the most out of your time at the conference. AU 2008 offers so many activities, many of them brand-new, that investing a little time up front is a really smart move—even if you’re an AU veteran.

Last year nearly 1,000 AU registrants participated in a primer webcast; an overwhelming majority of them said they were glad they did.

Can you join us? Please RSVP.

Opportunity to Shape the Future of AutoCAD at Autodesk University!

The 3D functionality in AutoCAD has improved considerably over the past few releases and it continues to evolve… but not without your help! 

If you’re attending Autodesk University in Las Vegas next month, you have the rare opportunity to meet with members of the AutoCAD team and get a sneak peek at future 3D AutoCAD functionality and other features. Then you get to contribute your feedback to help shape the future of AutoCAD.

Register for this exciting opportunity today! 

We look forward to your valuable input!
The AutoCAD Product Design Team

Autodesk University 2008 Attention Bloggers!

I wanted to provide an update as well as call attention to those that were not aware of the Autodesk University 2008 Blogger Social.

What: Blogger Social for Autodesk product related bloggers attending Autodesk University 2008.

Why: This social will be a casual gathering for bloggers to meet with each other face to face IRL (In Real Life) as well as meet with many of the Autodesk product team members and some Autodesk executive management staff members. There will be about 300 in attendance, so it should be fun mingling and meeting people. Bloggers will also receive a special “blogger” ribbon for the AU badge. Think of it as cloud or true Peer to Peer networking on the human social level.

When: Tuesday, December 2, 4-5:30PM

Where: Autodesk University location in Venetian to be announced to signed up attendees soon.

How to Sign Up: Sign up for the First Blogger Social at AU

I hope to meet you at AU Blogger Social, please spread the word.

Best Regards,
Shaan

My AU Unplugged Session

AU Unplugged - The AU Unconference

My session proposal for Autodesk University Unplugged has been selected. 

(date/time updated) Thursday December 4th 2008 from 3:00PM to 3:50PM in Casanova 603. I will hold my session for attendee discussion on how customers and Autodesk can better the current process to improve all Autodesk products based on customer feedback and usage.

Shaan Hurley, Autodesk, Inc. How Autodesk Can Better Harness and Harvest Customer Feedback to Improve the Products We Develop

Hope to see you there!

Cheers,
Shaan

New AutoSketch Release 10

AutoSketch® 10 has begun shipping and is available via the Autodesk estore, Amazon.com, and CDW. It will be available in both English and German. AutoSketch is the longtime low cost CAD software below $200 used, trusted, and loved by many hobbyist, illustrators, contractors and small business owners around the world.

 www.autodesk.com/autosketch

Autodesk estore purchase link: Click Here

“AutoSketch® 10 2D drafting software provides a comprehensive set of CAD tools for creating professional-quality precision drawings.
Perfect entry-level CAD tool for Hobbyists, contractors, illustrators, designers, and students. Use AutoSketch to create conceptual sketches, architectural drawings, technical illustrations, electrical drawings, product specifications, informative graphics, and much more.

• From electrical details to floor plans, and from conceptual sketches to product specifications, AutoSketch helps you design in a wide variety of fields and applications.
• Getting Started Tutorials get you up and running quickly.
• A customizable work environment provides a flexible and efficient workspace for straightforward drawing.
• Content libraries offer the simplicity of ready-made, drag-and-drop content.
• And DWG™ file compatibility means you can create and share industry-standard drawings.

AutoSketch 10 software provides:

• Fast startup
• Customizable work environment
• Powerful drawing tools
• Instant precision drawing
• Updated DWG file compatibility
• Windows Vista® operating system compatibility”

New AutoCAD Subscription Bonus Packs Available for PDF and 3D Printing

The second and third in a series of new feature AutoCAD Subscription Bonus Packs are being released to the Autodesk Subscription website.

If you install all three Subscription Bonus Packs your Subscription toolbar in AutoCAD 2009 will appear like the below.

 

AutoCAD 2009 Subscription Bonus Pack 1 Released in June 2008

The first AutoCAD 2009 Subscription Bonus Pack provides many useful AUGI (Autodesk User Group International) functionality requests, including:

• You can measure the distance, radius, angle, area, and volume of selected objects or a sequence of points.
• SPLINE to PLINE
• Reverse PLINE edit
• Rotating viewport and have the view rotate with the viewport
• Erase unreferenced unnamed objects including PURGE 0-length objects like blank spaces in text etc.

New AutoCAD Subscription Bonus Packs:

Bonus Pack 2 the PDF Bonus Pack.

 
AutoCAD 2009 Subscription Bonus Pack 2 delivers exciting new PDF enhancements.

PDF Underlays
Now you can import PDF files, attaching them as PDF underlays. Once you attach a PDF underlay, you can use a variety of tools to snap to lines and objects, control the display of layers, move, scale, rotate, and clip the PDF underlay.

PDF Output
Key improvements have been made for publishing PDF files. File sizes have been reduced, making it easier to share designs. TrueType font support has been added, giving you control over precisely how your fonts are displayed.

Bonus Pack 3 the 3D Printing Bonus Pack.

The ability to prepare and print a 3D model to an online service and get back a 3D print of the model. I have produced several of these as have other customers and employees. From 3D architectural plans to mechanical parts.

 

I even printed the laser scanned model of the infamous Matt Murphy Clay Head Sculpture to preserve it from further damage during its travels around the world including both China and Japan over the past 2 weeks. I hope to retire it at AU in Vegas soon.

Since they were just released after beta testing at http://myfeedback.autodesk.com it may take a few days for them to appear on the Autodesk Subscription website.

AutoCAD 2009 Subscription Bonus Packs can only be applied to following products:

• AutoCAD 2009
• AutoCAD Revit^® Architecture Suite 2009
• AutoCAD Revit Structure Suite 2009

Note for Subscription Customers: My coworker and good friend and former Express Tools developer as well as other AutoCAD programming Tom Stoeckel has a new blog only for Autodesk Subscription customers named “Stoeckel on Subs”. You can get to the Bonus Packs and Tom Stoeckel’s blog from the front page on the Autodesk Subscription website.

Update 20 November 2008>>

Bonus Pack 2 the PDF Bonus Pack has been available to subscription download for about a week.

Bonus Pack 3 the 3D Printing Bonus Pack has just now became available for download.

Cheers,
Shaan

14 November 2008 New Feature Releases for Autodesk Subscription Customers

On November 14th 2008, Autodesk Subscription members, as part of their benefits, can download the following new feature releases:

Listed in alphabetical order by product

AutoCAD 2009

• AutoCAD 2009 Bonus Subscription Bonus Pack 2 — PDF Enhancements  - English
• AutoCAD 2009: Transitioning from AutoCAD 2008 e-Learning – French, Italian, German, Latin American Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Brazilian Portuguese

AutoCAD Architecture 2009

• German Content Library for AutoCAD Architecture 2009 - (Available in Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland only) – German

AutoCAD Civil 2009

• AutoCAD Civil 2009 e-Learning - English

AutoCAD Civil 3D 2009

• Subassemblies for AutoCAD Civil and Civil 3D 2009 – French, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Russian, Czech, Hungarian, Polish

AutoCAD LT 2009

• AutoCAD LT 2009: Transitioning from AutoCAD LT 2008 to AutoCAD 2009 e-Learning  - Japanese

AutoCAD MEP 2009

• Russian Content Extension for AutoCAD MEP 2009 - Russian

Autodesk 3ds Max 2009

• Autodesk 3ds Max 2009: Particles and Effects > Fluid Effects Downloadable DVD - English

· Autodesk 3dsMax 2009: Animation and Rigging > Exploiting Proceduralism Downloadable DVD- English

· Autodesk 3dsMax 2009: Scripting > Scripting a Base Plug-in (Part III) Video Podcast- English

Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2009

• Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2009: Particles and Effects > Fluid Effects Downloadable DVD- English
• Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2009: Animation and Rigging > Exploiting Proceduralism Downloadable DVD- English
• Autodesk 3dsMax Design 2009: Scripting > Scripting a Base Plug-in (Part III)  Video Podcast- English

Autodesk Inventor 2009

• Autodesk Inventor 2009 Subscription Bonus Pack – French, Italian, German, Japanese, Korean
• Autodesk Inventor 2009: Essentials Parts 1 & 2 e-Learning – French, Italian, Latin American Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian

Autodesk Maya 2008 and Autodesk Maya 2009

• Autodesk Maya 2008: Rigging and Animation > A Tribute to Attributes Video Podcast- English
• Autodesk Maya 2008: Rigging and Animation > Arm Rigging (Part II &III & IV) Video Podcast- English
• Autodesk Maya 2008: Modeling > Model & Sculpt a Hand (Part III & IV) Video Podcast- English
• Autodesk Maya 2008: Dynamics > Trouble Shooting Dynamics Video Podcast- English
• Autodesk Maya 2008: Scripting > API and Game Development Part III Video Podcast- English
• Autodesk Maya 2009: Dynamics > Compositing with Fluids (Podcast) – English
• Autodesk Maya 2009: Scripting > Taking Maya out of Context (Podcast) – English
• Autodesk Maya 2009: Version Readiness Video Podcast - English

Autodesk MotionBuilder

• Autodesk MotionBuilder: Advanced Facial Rigging Downloadable DVD – English, Korean

Autodesk NavisWorks 2009

• 2004 DWG Object Enabler Extension for Autodesk NavisWorks 2009.1 software – English
• Autodesk NavisWorks 2009 Review: Project Review e-learning – English
• Autodesk NavisWorks 2009 Simulate: Animate, 4D Simulations and Project Presentations e-Learning  - English
• Autodesk NavisWorks 2009 Manage: Effective Project 3D Coordination and Analysis e-Learning  - English

Autodesk® Robot™ Structural Analysis 2009

• Robot Extensions for Autodesk® Robot™ Structural Analysis 2009 software – French, Spanish, Russian, Polish

Revit 2009

• Revit Extensions for Revit Architecture 2009 64-bit – French, Italian, German, Simplified Chinese, Polish
• Revit Extensions for Revit MEP 2009 – Simplified Chinese
• Revit Extensions for Revit Structure 2009 64-bit – French, Italian, German, Simplified Chinese, Polish
• Revit Architecture 2009 64-bit – Traditional Chinese, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Czech, Hungarian, Polish
• Revit MEP 2009 64-bit  - Japanese, Simplified Chinese
• Revit Structure 2009 64-bit – Russian, Polish
• Batch Print Utility for Revit 2009 - Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Czech, Hungarian, Polish
• Worksharing Monitor for Revit 2009  - Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Czech, Hungarian, Polish
• German Content Library for Revit Architecture 2009 – (Available in Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland only) – German
• Austrian Content Library for Revit Architecture 2009 – (Available in Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland only) – German

Cheers,
Shaan (experiencing bad jetlag)

Traveling Home Today

After almost two weeks in China and Japan I am packing to head back home. Due to my flight crossing the international dateline, my flight will arrive before I leave but only on a calendar and clock as there is no time warp travel going on although it would be nice to be able to travel around the globe in a split second.

I had a great time and met many new friends and customers in both China and Japan where Autodesk Universities were held. I spent yesterday with my friends from AUGI Japan in the region around Kamakura visiting the beautiful shrines and temples. We also spent a excellent traditional Japanese lunch with Autodesk Japan’s Wataru Doi.

 

I want to thank all whom I met in China and Japan including customers, employees, partners, user communities, event organizers, and locals for their excellent hospitality while visiting their countries. It was an absolute honor to be presenting at Autodesk University China  and Autodesk University Japan which were both first time events and a great success.

It has been a great trip but I will be glad to be back home in my own bed which I have only seen for a few days in the past 4 weeks. I have so many things to write up, photos to process, follow up from meetings, and of course the time zone adjustment to make in the next few days.

I also must get ready for the Autodesk University in Las Vegas in the not so distant future.

Check out the new Autodesk University 2008 Show Guide.

Cheers,
Shaan

Autodesk University Japan Today

Today Autodesk University Japan starts here in Yokohama Japan. I am quite excited and have my presentation this morning. I have spent the past couple days exploring the area around Yokohama including the Yokohama Ferry Terminal, Sankeien Garden, Nogeyama Park, and the Iseyama Shrine. I feel out of touch in Japan as my cell phone does not work on the 3G phone network. Tomorrow I will be meeting with AUGI Japan and going to Kamakura.

Thursday I fly back home after being in China and Japan for almost 2 weeks and begin the process of trying to re-adjust to the time. Adjusting to time is usually a large challenge for me traveling back from Asia.

Here are two photos from the Yokohama Ferry Terminal which was on the AutoCAD 2005 box.

 

I am writing some AutoCAD tips and tricks to get back to AutoCAD subjects in the blog after all of the travel posts.

Cheers,
Shaan

Konnichiwa, I am in Yokohama Japan Now

The second day of Autodesk University China 08 was excellent and my two presentations went well even though my computer was giving me a fit, and I had to follow a top notch presenter like Lynn Allen. The event was very well attended and organized.

I spent the following afternoon with Lynn Allen, Joseph Wurcher, Ray Eisenberg and Matt Olding and we hit the Autodesk Sponsored DigitalStone exhibition and and the Yuyuan gardens from the Ming dynasty.

 

 

Yesterday I road to the Shanghai airport with Jay Tedeschi on the worlds fastest train the Maglev at 422kph but the ride was only 7 minutes long. The Shanghai Airport was an architectural gem and I posted some photos on my Flickr Photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/btl/.

  
   

I am in Yokohama Japan for Autodesk University Japan 08. I have so much more to write about but must get out and explore Yokohama Japan before it rains. Things to visit on my list today is the famous Yokohama Ferry Terminal that appeared on an Autodesk box and splash image then to Sankeien Gardens for some hiking and fall leaves photos. Where I am staying in Yokohama is a sensory overload with all the lights and the amusement park below at night. There is a huge Ferris wheel that acts like a clock.

Cheers,
Shaan

First Day of Autodesk University China 08

Yesterday was an action packed day of presentations for Autodesk University China 08. It started with some Chinese acrobats and dancers arranging the letters on stage to create Autodesk.

There were many senior executive speakers such as Autodesk’s CEO Carl Bass, Autodesk CTO Jeff Kowalski, Autodesk VP Senior Vice President, Platform Solutions and Emerging Business Amar Hanspal, as well as many Autodesk Autodesk Asia and China executives such as Autodesk Senior Vice President Patrick Williams, Autodesk Global Vice President Huang Jianming, and Vice President of Greater China Aldous Wong.

Autodesk CEO Carl Bass spoke on a wide range of topics including Autodesk and also the global challenges with global warming, resources, and how innovative design can be a critical part of solving these challenges. He also spoke about Autodesk’s commitment to China.

 

Autodesk CTO Jeff Kowalski spoke about technology and innovation in design and how technology can now make things appear truly real as well as how you can experience design before it is real.

 

 

Autodesk VP Senior Vice President Amar Hanspal’s presentation was about my teams products like AutoCAD and the innovation, and how it is critical in the design process. He also spoke about our partner developers building upon AutoCAD, and an Autodesk product to capture existing designs. He is an incredibly inspiring and passionate speaker.

The presentation by Autodesk Global Vice President Huang Jianming was about the 1500 Autodesk employees in China Autodesk China Research & Development (ACRD). This presentation was detailed about all the products they work on and their highly educated backgrounds.

 

Autodesk Senior Vice President Patrick Williams gave a presentation of Autodesk’s footprint in China and described the projects they are involved in. Projects include some of the worlds largest projects as well as a humanitarian project like the Sichuan province earthquake.

 

Later there were experts from many fields such as well known architect 谢英俊 who spoke about efforts to rebuild the earthquake-stricken areas in China's rural Sichuan province using sustainable design and construction methods.

 

 

Bruce Beasley was a special guest an spoke about his digital sculpture exhibition and how he involves science and technology such as 3D printing in his sculpture processes.

Several other Autodesk Senior Vice Presidents spoke at industry sessions such as Buzz Kross and Jay Bhatt.

For anyone wishing to get involved in providing Usability on Autodesk products here in China. Autodesk Chinas own Product Design Manager Itamar Lima Medeiros provided me with the Chinese text detailing getting involved.

欢迎参加用户可用性测试！

什么是可用性测试？

为了测试我们的软件产品是否合乎您的需求，我们想邀请您亲临现场，试用我们的产品。观察员会记录下您在操作时所碰到的问题，聆听您的意见，之后将记录反馈给产品设计人员。您所试用的产品可能尚未定型，也可能处于后期成品测试阶段。无论哪一种情况，您的意见都将影响我们产品的未来！

加入我们！欢迎到我们的AU展台来与接待人员洽谈！

I was not able to attend all sessions as I had to rush back to my hotel across town to work more on my presentations Thursday morning. I learned a great deal about Autodesk China and China. I have so many photos to process and post but wont have much opportunity until the weekend.I am posting them to my Flickr site in the Autodesk University China 08 collection.

 Autodesk University China 2008

I still have a really bad case of jetlag waking me up at 4AM each day. It is 4:49AM currently in Shanghai China.

Best Regards,
Shaan

TechSmith Camtasia 6 Released – Screencasting Nirvana Tool

The new version of TechSmith’s product Camtasia was released today after beta testing. Camtasia is excellent to create presentations and training videos. I use TechSmith products daily like SnagIt and Camtasia. Camtasia in a nutshell is for recording video from your computer screen, editing, and then publishing in a wide variety of formats like HF Flash, Animated GIF, WMV, MOV,MP4 and more.
I finally got to meet the team while I was in Michigan this year after knowing them for over 10 years.

Record, Edit, Produce and Share.

Just some of the new enhancements in Camtasia 6 are:

• Integrated high-definition Flash.
• Streamlined production wizard.
• New editing capabilities. Edit your audio and video independently, move your audio from one track to another.
• Perform chain moves and have complete control over transition and call out fade durations.
• New editing hotkeys.
• Edit MOV files.
• Many updates/fixes. For example I am not experiencing problems with long video production crashing that I had in past releases.
• Camtasia Studio 6 comes with 2GB of storage and 2GB of monthly bandwidth on Screencast.com.

RECORD:

• Defaults to previous dimensions so you can record a series of videos consistently
• Added a "restart" button for faster "take 2" recordings
• Redesigned the interface so it can be used unobtrusively during live presentations, like a class.
• Added a the ability to turn cursor effects on and off during the recording.
• Added an option to load Camtasia Recorder at system startup

EDIT:

• You can unlink audio from video tracks for independent editing
• Added the ability to move multiple clips together on the timeline (a.k.a. chain move)
• Added a 3D tilt option in the Zoom-n-Pan view
• Added the ability to import an MOV and edit it on the timeline
• Removed the image size limitation of 1280x1024 maximum
• Added the ability to import an MOV and edit it on the timeline
• Added the ability to adjust the Callout fade in and out speed
• Added hot keys to streamline editing (C=callout, T=transition, Z=zoom, M=marker, A=caption, S=split, E=extend frame)
• Added an option to maintain the aspect ratio in Project Settings
• Transition speeds, callout fades and image durations can now be 1/10th of a second (eg., 0.8 seconds or 3.2 seconds)

PRODUCE:

• Default to a Flash output which plays an MPEG4 file with H.264 video and AAC audio. Its got great compression and quality, regardless of your content, so users don't have to choose between SWF and FLV anymore.
• Lots of Flash customization options such as choosing start and stop screen thumbnails and icons
• Added quiz opacity, so quizzes can be overlayed on top of images.
• Added free, enhanced Screencast.com integration (2GB storage and monthly transfer)
• Increased keyboard accessibility of the flash output, including TOC, navigation, quizzing, volume, etc.
• Added a YouTube preset, which optimizes settings for YouTube delivery.

GOING

In the future, we'll stop producing RealPlayer files. It is used by less than 2% of our customers and is becoming less robust compared to other formats.

GONE

In general, they removed features and replaced them with something better. In the case of LiveOutput, it was used so infrequently, that the continued QA / Testing of it had a negative impact on our ability to test and improve other features.

• Removed FLV as a production option. Flash/MPEG4 has way better quality and file size and iPod playback.
• Removed Audio Editor as a stand alone application (became superfluous as Audacity does a great job)
• Removed ScreenPad from Recorder as Callouts are better solution
• Removed the Live Output driver from Camtasia Recorder
• Removed the 'Add Index' option from WMV production. All WMV productions now have an index.

Below is a screenshot of the main editing screen after I recorded a quick tutorial of AutoCAD’s Dynamic UCS I then edit and add voice narration and publish it and post it on my blog in this case. Very quick and painless. You can even record your PowerPoint presentation.

Sometimes text describing how to do something can be hard to understand, but a image or video can explain clearly and bypass even language barriers. I know many trainers and CAD Managers using Camtasia and SnagIt to show and demonstrate techniques with software or for training sessions.

TechSmith has a blog! http://visuallounge.techsmith.com

Cheers,
Shaan

Congratulations to Mike and Melanie Perry

The big news for me today is not just the US elections (US residents please make sure to vote regardless of your choice), but rather the news that Mike and Melanie Perry have a new son.

Mike and Melanie are some of the most active volunteers for AUGI and I have known them for many years and appreciate all they do, and they do do a lot.

Thanks to Richard Binning @Binrock on Twitter alerting me to this momentous occasion of the birth of a new Autodesk product user.
Congratulations to @MikePerry & @MelaniePerry!

”Birth of beta son:
Declan Glen Perry 
7lbs 12oz and 21" 

I wonder if Declan Glen Perry has long frizzy red hair and an English accent like his father? Baby photos are soon to be released, I am sure of that and if not I will Photoshop Mike on a babies body.

The only sad note is Melanie wont be attending Autodesk University in Las Vegas this year but she does have a valid excuse and I will keep an eye on her hubby to keep him out of trouble.

I am currently in Shanghai China preparing to go to the first day of Autodesk University China 08. Yesterday was spent exploring Shanghai and an area just outside the city with fellow Autodesk coworkers Joseph Wurcher, Ray Eisenberg, Matt Murphy Clay Head Sculpture, and Matt Olding.

Cheers,
Shaan

Ni hao, I am in Shanghai China for Autodesk University China 08

“Ni hao” “” means Hello in Chinese.  I arrived last night after a long flight and am trying to adjust but was wide awake this morning at 4:30AM about 1PM the prior day my time back in the US. What a long last seven days as I was just in the Middle East just 6 days ago. Yesterdays flight from San Francisco went up over Alaska then down over Russia's Kamchatka peninsula, Siberia, Northern Korea, and then China.

Today I am going to have a look around Shanghai China and then rehearse for my presentations this week at Autodesk University China 08. I have to find a way to trim my presentations down to an hour and also take into account the reduction in time due to translation. I feel a “Lost in Translation” moment coming on.

On Saturday I head for Yokohama Japan to prepare for Autodesk University Japan 08. I should have some great photos throughout the trip, and yes the Matt Murphy Clay Head Sculpture made it safe and sound to China. My good friend and fellow desker Lynn Allen arrives today.

Cheers,
Shaan