So What’s In Autodesk Cloud?

Autodesk Cloud will consists of a suite of web-based software products and services, enabling customer-subscribers to perform design optimization, visualization and collaboration with peers and clients from anywhere in the world.

01 - Autodesk Design Review software for Apple iOS provides the mobility tie-in solution for accessing documents and services at Autodesk Cloud.

The cloud service offering includes 3 GB of online storage for each software license on Subscription for greater access to design and engineering documents, around the clock from anyplace with Net access.

At the core of Autodesk Cloud are key mobile and desktop apps like Autodesk Cloud documents, AutoCAD WS and the new Autodesk Design Review mobile app for Apple iOS.

Rendering and Optimization

Additional cloud services exclusive to Autodesk Subscription customers give designers access to following cloud services:

• Autodesk Cloud Rendering – customers with Premium or Ultimate editions of Autodesk Design Suite or Autodesk Building Design Suite will have access to powerful rendering capabilities
• Autodesk Inventor Optimization – Similar to above, those same customers will have access to intuitive cloud-based simulation tools, enabling them to test multiple design options in the cloud
• Autodesk Revit Conceptual Energy Analysis – Revit subscription customers can extend beyond the desktop to cloud-based energy analysis capabilities, helping them to quickly gain insight into the energy consumption of building energy costs at early design stages
• Autodesk Green Building Studio – Building Design Suite customers can tap into this cloud-based solution for energy analysis
• Autodesk Buzzsaw SaaS – Customers with subscriptions to Autodesk Vault Collaboration AEC software now have access to cloud-based document, data and design management solutions for AEC.

Amazon and Citrix Backed

Autodesk’s new cloud services are backed by its partners, including Amazon and Citrix, to provide scalable cloud computing infrastructure. Autodesk has been working with Amazon Web Services for more than three years in order to securely host high-demand, scalable applications such as Autodesk HomeStyler software and Autodesk Seek web service.

02 - Autodesk continues to push Apple iOS for its mobility play in relationship to the cloud, further supporting the consensus view by leading CAD CEOs that the iPad is a cloud-computing device.

Amazon Web Services provide Autodesk with the flexibility to scale computing around the world with Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) and resilient storage capacity with Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) and Elastic Block Store (EBS). Autodesk also teams with Citrix to provide customers more flexibility to their Autodesk applications. Delivering solutions to end users with Citrix XenApp can help reduce workstation costs while still providing the software performance they need.

To learn more visit Autodesk Cloud here on the Web.

Earlier in the year Autodesk announced official support for the Mac via Apple’s Boot Camp software. Back in July Apple was pleased to hear Autodesk announce official support for supporting Windows-only Autodesk software via Apple’s Boot Camp technology which enables Macs to run Windows operating systems in a dual-boot configuration. 

Support via Virtualization: Officially!

Now Autodesk officially extends Mac support beyond Boot Camp embracing the Mac with Parallels Desktop for Mac. The design software giant will officially support AutoCAD software, AutoCAD LT, Autodesk Inventor Professional, Autodesk 3ds Max and Autodesk Revit. 

According to information that Architosh has obtained, Autodesk Revit is the most popular Autodesk application running on Apple hardware. 

“Autodesk customers are increasingly working with both Mac and Windows, and have asked us to support Mac virtualization,” said Chris Bradshaw, Autodesk chief marketing officer. “Today we are pleased to welcome Parallels as a partner and Parallels Desktop as our preferred Mac virtualization software.” ”This is the latest step in Autodesk’s ongoing efforts to support our customers on the Mac, who will now be able to use some of our most popular 2D and 3D design, engineering and entertainment software alongside Mac OS X, in addition to the five native Mac applications we currently offer.”

Actually, the number of native Mac applications exceeds five. This new or updated web page on Autodesk’s site lists a total of nine native Mac applications spanning 3D and design, engineering, and film and media. They also include items like Autodesk Combustion and Autodesk Alias software, in addition to the five mentioned by Chris Bradshaw. 

Parallels Continues to Open Up the Mac World

As expected for quite some time, Parallels and its virtualization technology are key enablers for Windows developers to segue over to Mac support and eventually Mac development. That is a process that is underway not just at Autodesk but in many software companies. 

“Parallels Desktop for Mac enables over two million users to run Windows-based applications seamlessly and simply on their Mac,” said Serguei Beloussov, chief executive officer of Parallels. “Autodesk has a long history of creating innovative and industry-leading software for design, engineering and entertainment, and we’ve heard many requests from customers interested in using their Autodesk applications with Parallels. We are delighted to partner with Autodesk to help make this software more broadly available to the Mac community.”

The list of native Mac OS X products has grown rapidly recently as Autodesk customers have driven demand for Mac support. Autodesk Alias Design and Alias Surface are two such products where demand prompted the company to support Mac OS X natively. Other native products came to Autodesk through acquisitions, such as Autodesk ImageModeler, Autodesk Stitcher Unlimited and Autodesk Mudbox. 

Autodesk Supports Boot Camp

To expand its support of Mac users Autodesk has officially announced support for running its Windows applications under Windows with Apple’s Boot Camp dual-boot technology. Since modern Macs today run the same processors as Windows PCs all of Apple’s computers can be setup to run Windows either under virtualization (which is a software process) or directly on the hardware under a dual-boot configuration known as Boot Camp. 

With Boot Camp Autodesk is announcing support of AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor and Autodesk 3ds Max, three of its most popular products. Additionally, Autodesk Revit Architecture, Autodesk Revit Structure and Autodesk Revit MEP are also supported. 

To read the full announcement and listing of applications go here.

For many years the dilemma of not having a key program run on the Mac has been the bane of existence for many a CAD or 3D software user. But since Apple went to Intel and since Intel brought out support of virtualization to its desktop processors (…for years IBM and big-iron boys have been doing this using specialized and very expensive microprocessors and systems) things have been looking very hopeful for these users. And now with Parallels 4.0 they are starting to look downright rosy.

Of chief importance in version 4 is the new expanded DirectX 9 and DirectX Pixel Shader 2.0 support and more importantly to most professional Windows CAD and 3D applications, OpenGL 2.0 support. 

What Works – All These Are New

In terms of what is new and working Parallels has a complete list of applications that work under it. Some of the applications also have native Mac versions so I’ll omit those and concentrate on just the Windows-only stuff. Here it goes:

• Adobe Acrobat 3D 
• Autodesk AutoCAD 2009
• Autodesk AutoCAD 2008 (ran previously)
• Autodesk Inventor 2009 (2008 ran previously)
• Autodesk Revit Structure 2009
• Avid Softimage XSI 7
• CATIA V5R18
• Delcam FeatureCAM
• ESRI ArcGIS 9.2 and 9.3
• Microsoft Virtual Earth (not really a pro 3D app but what the heck…)
• NASA World Wind 1.4
• Pro/Engineer Wildfire 3.0 (ran previously)
• Solidworks 2009 (2007 ran on Parallels 3)

“Mac OS X is the world’s most advanced operating system and its ability to run Windows on a Mac is yet another reason users are switching to the Mac at a rapid rate,” said Ron Okamoto, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations. “This rapid adoption is supported by applications like Parallels Desktop for Mac, which enables users to get the most from their hardware.”

“The growth, in both performance and ease of use, of desktop virtualization software is making it easier for Windows users to adopt Macintosh computers. The availability of this technology is one of many factors driving growth in the adoption of Mac desktops and notebooks, for which shipments have grown 46.6% between the first half of 2007 and the first half of 2008, according to our data,” said Michael Rose, Industry Analyst at the research firm, IDC. “Those users leveraging virtualization software on their Macintosh hardware will find that many of the new capabilities in Parallels Desktop 4.0 represent another step forward.”

Some Details – Manage Windows from your iPhone

One of the coolest new features is the ability to manage your Windows XP virtualized machine from your Apple iPhone. Yes, with your iPhone you can remotely start, stop and manage your Windows VM from your favorite phone. Parallel’s new FastLane architecture supports 8-way multiprocessing with support for 8GB of RAM. There is also a new Clips tool to capture screenshots across both Windows and Mac. 

Availability and Pricing

Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac is available in English, and localized versions will be available soon. The standard retail price (SRP) is 79.USD and new users can fully test drive a full version for 15-days free. Upgrade price is 39.99.USD. 

To learn more go here.

Webcast Series

The series of webcasts start today, October 29, 2008, for the Revit Architecture Series. Earlier in the year there were several other Revit Series webcasts and you can view those archives by visiting this schedule here. There are 6 new Revit Webcasts on the schedule. And a total of 7 webcasts for AutoCAD Architecture and Visualization combined. 

AutoCAD Architecture and Visualization Series webcasts start Novermber 18, 2008 and November 12, 2008, respectively. A January 14 webcast is titled, “Design Visualization with BIM” while an archived webcast is titled “How to Rendering Google SketchUp Models in Autodesk 3ds Max.” 

To learn more and signup for these Webcast Series events go here.

64-bits is More Power

Autodesk cites beta testers claims of significant improvements in the areas of performance and stability. The support of 64-bit operating systems means applications can access literally thousands of gigabytes by breaking the 4 GB barrier.

Memory intensive tasks in BIM include things like rendering, printing, model upgrading and file importing and exporting processes.

“With 64-bit Revit Architecture we can completely load a very large project into a session and work on it at one time; and that is something that represents a significant efficiency improvement over the 32-bit environment,” said Lonnie Cumpton, Revit task force manager for the Friedmutter Group. “For example, we have a large project that consists of 2.9 gigabytes of Revit data contained in 22 individual files. With 64-bit Revit Architecture we can link all the pieces together into one big model and cut an entire building section to gain an understanding from a section elevation standpoint of the entire project at one time. Using 32-bit Revit Architecture we’d have to cut individual pieces of sections in each model and then piece them back together. It took us a day to do that. Now we can do it in less than an hour.”

“We’ve been beta testing the 64-bit Revit Structure software and the increases in efficiency and productivity are impressive,” said Jamie Richardson, Associate & CAD manager, Ericksen Roed & Associates. “Cutting sections and switching between views is much faster. Moving within the views and rotating the model in a 3D view is also noticeably faster and smoother. With what we have seen in our beta testing, and what we’re hearing from users testing the beta on their current projects, we see no reason not to go to the 64-bit version of Revit Structure.”

The English language version of Revit 64-bit versions are available now. Other languages will be released at a later date.

“We’re very excited to hear our beta testers report stunning performance gains with the native 64-bit versions of the Revit software applications,” said Jay Bhatt, senior vice president, Autodesk AEC Solutions. “Breaking the four gigabytes RAM barrier is an important milestone, which helps our customers experience the power of BIM in even their largest projects.”

To learn more visit: www.autodesk.com

When asked about who the START Edition is addressing in the US market. Mays remarked that it has a wide target, from the sole practitioner who has never done 3D architectural CAD before to the builder who doesn’t need all the functionality of the full version of ArchiCAD 11. Noting that Autodesk is pushing Revit really hard at existing AutoCAD users I asked Patrick Mays if delivering the ArchiCAD START Edition at this time in the US, at a price roughly half that of a new AutoCAD/Revit bundle, was an attempt to steal some market share.

“With the START Edition Graphisoft is addressing the 2D CAD user in the US market in general,” remarked Mays. “We feel ArchiCAD 11 is the industry’s best BIM application and ArchiCAD START Edition 2008 delivers amazing capabilities at a very approachable price. It has most of the innovative features of ArchiCAD 11 but is not focused on the support for larger teams.”

In follow-up conversations with Graphisoft in Hungary, Architosh has been able to confirm that ArchiCAD START Edition 2008 works with all the same plugins that support ArchiCAD 11, excepting those whose features are tailored around functions in ArchiCAD 11 which are not supported in the START Edition.

To learn more about the ArchiCAD START Edition 2008 product go here.

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