60-sec TV spot for AutoCAD’s return to the Mac

While not confirmed by the company, Autodesk appears to have produced a broadcast-ready 60-second TV commercial spot for its return of AutoCAD for the Mac market. The video can be seen on a new webpage devoted to the new software and its recent announcement.

Marking a 16 Year Absence

That the company would produce such a savvy TV style commercial is not surprising given the amount of engineering effort that was required to implement the new native Mac OS X software for the return to Apple’s famed platform. What is, perhaps, a bit surprising is just how well the CAD giant has captured the spirit of Apple’s own ads.

01 - Screen capture image of the TV ad's opening frames.

The ad features an all new iMac prominently front and center while office workers from what looks like a typical architectural firm, begin to mingle and stand around the iMac. Accompanied by a very catching soundtrack (at this time we have not determined who has produced this song and who the singer/artist is and whether or not it is original) the whole commercial seems to capture the heartfelt wait and return of AutoCAD to the Mac platform by imagining its absence by focusing in on an Apple devotee’s workstation. In the spot the workstation features an iMac launching the new AutoCAD software and a vintage 90’s Apple coffee mug. The mug signifies Apple’s Mac past while marking the presence of a stalwart devotee of the Mac platform.

02 - For a few seconds in the early section of the new ad and old Apple coffee mug--very popular in the 90's--is seen next to the telephone and computer. The clever device marks nostalgia and dovotee-ism all at the same time.

The slick video also does a remarkable good job of showcasing the product’s strengths as a 3D application with several neat looking angles on various content produced by AutoCAD 2011 for Mac. For example it shows that the product is capable of hosting several viewports of your design content simultaneously.

03 - sophisticated computer graphics, no doubt partly produced on Autodesk's treasure trove of media applications, draw the eye into AutoCAD 2011 for Mac's slick interface.

It is completely unclear as to whether or not this very well executed video is going to make it to the television screen or just live on the Web. We would imagine that the company would at least run a 30-second version of it on TV in the near future.

We also believe that this new set of applications (remember the company is not just returning AutoCAD to Mac OS X, but has delivered a version to the iOS platform) may show up soon for Apple’s planned September iOS announcement. We just cannot picture Steve Jobs talking about updated iOS devices (iPods and iPads for sure…) without showcasing Autodesk’s new wares.

To see the full video go here.