Between the Lines

Calling India & Turkey

On June 15th I will be taking a 6 week sabbatical. With so many United Airlines frequent flier miles to use before the end of the year since I no longer fly them I am looking for ideas.

INDIA:
I know I have a large readership from India so please post your suggestions in the comments on locations and why that location. Are their local Autodesk customer groups and students there that I can also meet with as I love talking with students and also customers from all parts of the world. Yes shocking I get time off and still take work with me.

I want to do short backpacking trips around on the cheap but the main purpose of getting off the beaten path seeing the true country, people, and the nature and wildlife like snakes and scorpions and birds most never see. I want to capture some great memorable photos as well as meeting the people and sharing in their cultures and food and making more friends and making India look simply amazing in photographs each with a story..

I was thinking perhaps Delhi,Mumbai, Bangalore, Goa, Chennai, Hyderabad or . What are your thoughts?

Shukriya,
Shaan

TURKEY: 
I am also considering a trip in Istanbul Turkey to see my friends from the Daily AutoCAD Blog Erhan, Orhan, and Can.

çok teşekkür ederim
Shaan

Fake or Foto – Take the Challenge

With computers and visualization software becoming more and more powerful it is getting more difficult to tell real from computer generated. Take this fun little challenge. I got 8 of 12 the first time and 12 of 12 the second time learning from my mistakes.

Take the Challenge

Using Autodesk Showcase I have two real-time renderings that are almost impossible to tell from a real object. Autodesk Showcase is downright amazing for visualization of your 3D content.

 

Cheers,
Shaan

AU08 Shutterbugs - Valley of Fire

This is a 360 degree QuickTime/Flash Panoramic photo taken by Mark Banas at AU 2008. This is a group of us that gathered as the AU 2008 Shutterbugs. In the photo are Mark Banas, Chris Hall, Sean Twomey, and me, The location was Northeast of Las Vegas in the desert about 15 miles from the Valley of Fire (36°8'46"N, 114°51'36"W). We wanted to shoot a photo within Valley of Fire park but the sunset came too early as we were returning from the Hoover dam so we rushed up a hill near the road.

AU08 Shutterbugs - Valley of Fire

• More AU 2008 Shutterbug photos
• Autodesk University 2008 Flickr photo set

Yes we will be doing this fun gathering of Shutterbugs again for Autodesk University 2009. More specifics will be posted to this blog as we get closer to AU 2009 (#AU2009) planned for December 2009 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas Nevada. We will have a more formal agenda and I am working on some special VIP locations for shutterbugs.

Cheers,
Shaan

Shaan 3 Days of Extreme Hiking and Cold Weather Camping

In 3 hours I will be headed about 6 hours South to the Utah Arizona border for 3 days of hiking, climbing, and cold weather camping.

 

I plan to hike the WirePass to  Buckskin Gulch slot canyon, The Rimrocks sandstone hoodoo formations, The Wave, Coral Pink Sand Dunes, and North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Should be a fun and adrenalin filled adventure trek with many photos to be taken and posted to my Flickr Photostream when I return.

As usual in addition to using my Garmin Mapsource for my Garmin portable GPS plans I use Scott’s excellent Topofusion for hike planning. I also carry a PhotoTrackr Pro GPS photo tagging unit. I am  basically a walking photo lab and GPS unit.

Here is the link to my photos from the last hike into the famous wave were you must win a lottery for a permit.  The Wave (Set)

Cheers,
Shaan

2008 What a Year

I am in my final week of holiday vacation (all of Autodesk is) as well as the last Monday of the year 2008. What better time to reflect on the year. There were many highs and lows for 2008 in my life I thought I would mention a few.

The year was filled with travel to visit friends, Autodesk product user groups, and customers around the world including the countries of Brazil, China, Kuwait, Turkey, Kuwait, and UAE in addition to all over the North America. I now have a full passport and need to get new pages added or I will be left unable to travel Internationally. I really enjoy speaking with users of Autodesk software around the world and learning how they use the software and what they design.

Other highlights in no particular order:

• Getting milk and cookies in my room from the AU2008 Team.
• Meeting  celebrity Autodesk customers Jay Leno and Eddie Paul.
• Attended and presented at 3 Autodesk Universities this year China, Japan, and Las Vegas. This makes the total AU events I have attended 14.
• The First Blogger Social at AU2008 was a success and will be even bigger and better next year.
• Traveled with the Matt Murphy Clay Head Sculpture for a year including a visit with entertainer Jay Leno and then gave it to the real Matt Murphy at AU2008.
• Made so many new friends around the world.
• Presented at FOCUS Kuwait, and over 500 people attended. Thank you Binu!
• Presented in Istanbul, and while in Turkey I visited Cappadocia and experienced the wonderful food, people, and scenery. Thank you to my 3 Turkish friends Can, Orhan, and Erhan of the Daily AutoCAD Blog!
• Had a great time with members of AUGI Japan in Yokohama Japan and a spectacular trip to Kamakura with a traditional Japanese lunch included.
• Meeting the Techsmith Team who develop the two software tools I have used almost daily for 12 years.
• I continue to work with some of the smartest and most creative people in the design and visualization industry. This is not a suck up, it is absolutely true. My success is directly related to those that design, develop, test Autodesk software as well as the awesome customers that design amazing things using our software.
• 2008 was the 10th year anniversary of me working for Autodesk and since I left a mechanical design seat out there in the design world. I received my gold badge.
• Received the top hit count and visitors of any Autodesk blog, and many Autodesk web sites. This blog celebrated 5 years and had 312 posts this year and millions of readers by both web and RSS. Thank You!
• Got the additional Autodesk title of Platform Technology Evangelist which is a fancy title for a geek.
• There are so many design related blogs and the number of Autodesk product blogs continues to climb.
• My oldest son started college.

Lows of the year:

• In November I had a blast, literally when my gas fireplace malfunctioned and blew up with me in front of it.
• Rough personal start to 2008 but after many trips hiking in the deserts of Arizona and Utah got things all worked out. The desert and hiking is one of the most therapeutic environments to get a clear head and to think.
• I still have many photos to process and publish.

As I spend the remaining few days of 2008 on holiday, I am spending that priceless time relaxing with my family as well as some fun with the kids sledding on the large amount of snow we received here in Northern Utah.

  

Have a very happy and safe New Years,
Shaan

Autodesk University in Photos

In the Flickr AU 2008 photo pool there are now 383 photos. It could grow even more as people add their photos from AU to the pool. Flickr is free unless you want the Pro membership. So share your AU 2008 photos with others by adding yours to Flickr and the AU2008 Photo pool.

Cheers,
Shaan

See Wayne Newton at Autodesk University 2008

OK not exactly see Wayne Newton aka Mr. Las Vegas, but just perhaps one more reason to attend Autodesk University 2008 granted it would be pretty low on the top 1000 reasons. When flying into Las Vegas on approach to land when you are really close to touching down, you may pass over a large house and horse stables, this is Las Vegas entertainer Wayne Newton’s house. I am not sure why he has located it at the end of a runway as I would imagine he could afford a more quiet location.

Here is a photo of Wayne's place when I was landing in Las Vegas this September.

I had the please of also flying over Valley of Fire, Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and was able to see the new Colorado River Bridge under construction. I hope to get a chance to see the bridge while attending Autodesk University next week.
 

Hope to see you at AU! I will arrive Sunday and am driving there as I am just North in Utah.

Cheers,
Shaan

Photos from Autodesk University 2008

Just a quick blog post on where you will be able to find some photos from Autodesk University 2008 as well as the unofficial AU Shutterbug Tour. This will sever as a place to see AU2008 through the eyes of others as well as something for those unable to attend to see what is going on.

I have created a public Flickr group for AU2008 (http://www.flickr.com/groups/au2008/) just like the public group for AU 2007 last year.

Anyone is welcome to add AU2008 photos to the Flickr group as long as they are AU 2008 related and G rated only. You can get a free Flickr account if you wish to share photos with others or even keep them private if you prefer. It is even better if you can geotag your photos with their locations which Flickr allows you to do or if you have a GPS software to do this.

My own AU 2008 photo collection will be located at:

Autodesk University 2008

Autodesk University 2008 Shutterbug Tour

I am pretty sure there will be a location on AU Online as well to share photos. Photos from AU2008 should begin to appear Saturday or Sunday.

I hope to see you at AU next week!
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

What a day in Southern Turkey with Friends

I spent the day hiking and shooting over 1000 photos in the Southern Turkey region of Cappadocia. I would venture to guess the day was over 3000 vertical feet if totaled. It was amazing I found I am hooked on a natural snack named dut which is a flower of a tree, and I can’t get enough now. I even stopped at a local nut and fruit roaster and got some as well as some roasted apricot pits which taste like almonds.

One of the highlights beyond the natural geological beauty and historical sites and fresco paintings in Gereme open air museum, Zelve and Cappadocia was the unbelievable hospitality of Turkish people of all cultures.Today after hiking we returned via a rural road in a valley and noticed some local village farmers with one woman up in a tree shaking it to knock down apples on a handmade woven blanket and another assisting. They saw us asked where I was from and then proceeded to give us the best apples I have very tasted ever and each a large bunch of fresh picked grapes which were amazing. Simply amazing and had me shocked at the friendliness.

I have had so many ask where I was from and go out of their way to make me feel welcome. I did not think I would get out of the stone seed roasting store tonight once they realized I was an American as they kept giving me free samples of all the many Turkish treats. The treats, snacks, food, and people are top notch!  The culture can be a shock at first, but the Turkish people make you feel so very welcome. If you are at all concerned on safety, there are many police and military around to prevent any type of problems and it is a safe moderate place.

Turkey is one place that one does not have to worry about politics affecting local peoples hospitality and friendliness, I did not have to fib and say I was Canadian ay. ;-)

Wait till I start posting more of the spectacular places off the beaten tourist paths and my last nights scorpions catching and photos. I fell pretty good once and my shoulder is not feeling so good but it is all worth it. Also how many know and love Autodesk products here but not necessarily the price. I did however manage to accidently format one CF card with a half days photos and am now trying to recover them…

I have one more day in Southern Turkey then head back on the 10 hour drive to Istanbul then off to hot and sunny Kuwait.

Autodesk University Shutterbug Tour 2008

If you are attending Autodesk University in Las Vegas Nevada December 2 - 5, 2008 and love to take photos then this might be for you. You will need to bring your sense of adventure, camera, coat, and fun attitude. I posted about this event and possible locations back in July Autodesk University 2008 Shutterbug Tour Planning. If you wish to participate make sure to sign up on the link below so we can plan dates and times as well as consider how many vehicles there will be so we can set up some ride sharing, The longest photo treks will be on the Sunday proceeding AU (12/1) and the Saturday following (12/6), We will be doing sunrise and sunset photos treks during the week.

This is an ideal chance to escape the casino and get some fresh air, see great scenery and take photos, as well as make new friends. Places we will visit are Valley of Fire, Red Rock Canyon and a few other local gems perhaps even the famous Las Vegas Neon Sign Graveyard where those flashing Las Vegas signs go when they retire.

AU Shutterbug Tour Sign-Up

Thanks to Sean Twomey from Australia for reminding me to post information about the Shutterbug Tour, Sean is a Autodesk Civil 3D master with an Irish accent and a blog http://www.edgeofwedge.com/. He will also be attending the Autodesk University Blogger Social.

When AU starts you will be able to follow the photos as they are posted.

• Autodesk University 2008 Flickr photo set
• Autodesk University 2008 Shutterbug Event Flickr photo set
• Facebook Group Autodesk University 2008 Shutterbug Event

Photos From Last Years Autodesk University

Photos from AU 2007 Valley of Fire & Red Rock Canyon trip.

 

Cheers,
Shaan

Planned Presentation Visits to Turkey, Kuwait and Dubai

I will be in Turkey, Kuwait, and Dubai in just about two weeks for user group presentations and customer discussions.

• Istanbul Turkey October 16-22 Two events planned. One held at the local University Link.  I will be in Cappadocia Turkey on the weekend with my friends from the Daily AutoCAD blog Erhan and Orhan Toker.
• Kuwait City Kuwait October 22-26  FOCUS Kuwait Users Group Event on the 24th of October
• Dubai UAE October 26

I am truly excited about the events and locations and honored to have been invited. I hope to meet many people using Autodesk products while there. I am also excited to see the geography and architecture and will post photos from the events and local photo trekking,

In keeping with my invitations to chat while traveling, If you are an AutoCAD user and interested in a private discussion about AutoCAD with your team at your office or over a cup of coffee, please send me an email.

When I return I only have a few days rest before heading to Shanghai China for Autodesk University China 08 and then Yokohama Japan (AUJ) for Autodesk University Japan 08. It is like a world tour in a month all before AU 2008 in Las Vegas.

While sitting on plane is not my idea of fun, the reward is meeting our customers around the world and talking with them.

 

 

 

Cheers,
Shaan

Autodesk Gallery at One Market Opens in San Francisco

 

There is now an official press release.

Autodesk Gallery at One Market Opens in San Francisco, Showcasing Design Process

For images and more information about the Autodesk Gallery, visit http://www.autodesk.com/thegallery.

The Autodesk Gallery at One Market

Now I can show the photos I took and discuss the Autodesk Gallery from my perspective. I also heard it called the Autodesk Design Gallery and I liked that name better as it highlights Design which I got a sense of while there.

 

I was at the One Market office and now including a new Autodesk Gallery located along the Embarcadero looking directly at the historic landmark San Francisco Ferry Terminal with stellar head on view. We have many of our offices and teams located in the same One Market building. I was there for a customer design validation event looking at the future of AutoCAD and getting the customer feedback with the AutoCAD Product Design Team that was held in the new Autodesk Gallery in the most high tech training room I have ever seen. We had high tech walls and even 4 high definition projectors.  The view looking out the front windows is priceless and beautiful. You can see down the waterfront, the Ferry Terminal, and the Bay Bridge all from the location of the Design Gallery. The Gallery has also been has been submitted for a LEED Platinum CI certification. I even bumped into Autodesk CEO Carl Bass while there but he was quite busy getting ready for the grand opening of the Gallery.

Design has never played a more important role in turning change into opportunity. Everyday, Autodesk customers are recreating the world around us and how we experience it – new and innovative processes to things never before seen. This gallery showcases some of that daring work and illustrates the ways an idea can become real.

The Design Gallery showcases many great products and projects from architecture, auto design, to the large Bay Bridge new span. Immediately as you step off the elevator you are presented with a large airplane turbo prop engine. The architecture of the space is modern yet relaxed like that of a gallery. Each area has information and nice pullout information drawer panels to see more about the projects. It was excellent to see that we have taken the high road and list all design software used in the projects not just Autodesk. Most anyone realizes that when a claim that a large product or project was done completely in one design software is stretching real world reality.

Jason Medal-Katz was the circus leader to put this all together and he did a fantastic job. Some of the products and Projects A large LEGO sculpture (62,000), The Bay Bridge Model including models of the rebar and tension cable which combine many smaller cables, a Ford Shelby GT 500 yes a car on the second floor instead of on the road. I tried to sneak the GT 500 down the elevator but it was too heavy and would not fit. I even got to use the One Laptop per Child laptop. There was also a model Chrysler Super Bee Concept Car in the Gallery.

Here is the complete list of items represented in the Gallery:

• Ford Motor Company – Shelby GT500
• The LEGO Group – LEGOLAND Mega Model
• Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Arup, Stantec Architecture, SWA – California Academy of Sciences
• FIRST Robotics – FIRST Robotics Competition
• 42 Surfboards – Hollow-Body Surfboard
• Yves Behar/fuseproject – One Laptop per Child
• Virtual Cinematography – Intersense and Autodesk
• California Department of Transportation; Bay Area Toll Authority; California Transportation Commission; Parsons Brinckerhoff; T. Y. Lin/Moffat & Nichol A Joint Venture – Bay Bridge Seismic Safety Project
• Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP – Cathedral of Christ the Light
• The Permasteelisa Group – Double Skin Facades
• ADEPT Airmotive – Airplane Engine
• Black Diamond – Cobra Ice Axe
• Herman Miller – the Mirra Chair
• Chrysler – Super Bee Concept Car
• SHoP Architects – 290 Mulberry
• Vandenberg Air Force Base/Digital Globe – WorldView1 Satellite Launch
• Bruce Beasley – GS022 (Sculpture)
• Robert Michael Smith – Paradise Bird Burlesque (Sculpture)
• Keith Kottingham – 3D print artist
• Jason Salavon – Print artist, US Census Bureau data
• Spark Design Awards – Various
• Technology lab includes: FARO 3D scanning equipment; Dimension Printing 3D printer; Perceptive Pixel multi-touch wall; Augmented Reality display

There is technology everywhere from the high definition visual displays on walls to the audio all run by high tech computer system behind the scenes that allows full control of the video and audio to the different sections of the Gallery. Some of the walls are high tech as well and fold up up into themselves changing the spaces.

I was in awe of the Gallery and I had only one minor complaint. As a photographer/shutterbug traveling without a tripod or external lamps with me, the lighting was difficult to take photos in due to the bright sunlight coming in from the big windows and the dimly lit interior to best show the exhibits on display. I said minor as most are interested in the exhibits themselves, not the white balance of the location required to take a photo without a tripod. :-)

The Autodesk Gallery will be open starting October 1, 2008, the first Wednesday of each month from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. to the public. If you are in San Francisco down by the waterfront, stop on in.

More of my photos of the Autodesk Gallery are located on my Flickr Photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/btl/ or Autodesk Gallery tagged photos http://www.flickr.com/photos/btl/tags/autodeskgallery/

Cheers,
Shaan

And One Hairy Legged Ugly Guy in the Back of the Aircraft and AutoCAD Tip

This is really what I heard over the planes audio system when a Southwest airlines flight from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas was preparing for takeoff. Indeed there was a guy in the back wearing shorts with hairy legs and waving who then said “I am here to make the rest of the crew look good”. I have to hand it to Southwest Airlines for some of the happiest and funniest airline employees.

I see myself as that same role here at Autodesk as I am here to show off all the cool stuff they do and make them look good. I am fortunate enough to stand on the shoulders of many very smart and dedicated developers, QA testers, designers, product managers, and many more deskers behind the scenes. Hopefully I make them or what they create more visible.

AutoCAD Tip: Where do I find blocks and symbols?
It has been a hidden gem in AutoCAD for a few releases named AutoCAD DesignCenter,
AutoCAD Command :ADCENTER or use CTRL+2 keys

 

You can search through files for blocks, leaders, layers and more and drag and drop content from other drawings.

There is the option tab to search the DesignCenter online blocks “DC Online” which is essentially all of the blocks with the former Autodesk product Autodesk Symbols but free inside AutoCAD. I know there are well over 100,000 symbols/blocks in DC Online and perhaps many more as I did not spend the time to count them.

There is also the new Autodesk Seek online which is free and has tons of content in AutoCAD DWG, DWF, Revit formats, DGN, PDF and even SketchUp SKP files. Currently it is in beta and primarily architectural but watch Autodesk Seek grow as it partners with more and more companies and catalog vendors and aggregates the content for use by millions of designers around the world.

Now back to my Saturday night fun of photographing some scorpion specimens I received today all very dangerous or known as “hot” like an Egyptian fattail scorpion Androctonus crassicauda with almost the same lethal venom as a cobra LD50. I like to photograph them under ultraviolet light as they fluoresce and glow. I also got one large mean Kuwait Camel Spider and he was really hungry. I hope to see these invertebrates in the wild next month while in Turkey, Kuwait and Dubai.

Here is a photo of a past ultraviolet photo of a scorpion which makes a great desktop wallpaper. If you watch or subscribe by RSS to my Shaan's Flickr Photostream, you will see my photos when I post them.

Cheers,
Shaan (the hairy legged ugly guy in the rear of the plane)

Autodesk University 2008 Registration Open!

 

AU 2008 December 2 - 5, 2008. The Venetian Resort Hotel, Las Vegas, USA

Better hurry as there is just over 10,000 attendees planned for this year and if you are one of the last you have a slimmer selection of classes and labs as well as your hotel could be down the strip due to the main hotels booked solid. In past years we have filled up to 6 hotels from the event location down 2 miles from the location and having to utilize regular shuttle busses to get to AU.

Register for Autodesk University 2008

 

Facebook is a great (FREE) way of keeping in touch and up to date and organize gatherings and events and know who you are dealing with and network with them making the best use of your time.

• Autodesk University 2008 Facebook Group
• Autodesk University Japan Event Group
• Autodesk University 2008 Shutterbug Event

Autodesk University 2008 and Autodesk University Japan 2008 Flickr Photo Group has been setup, bookmark it as photos from participants will begin to show up when the events start. Flickr is FREE.

• Autodesk University 2008 Flickr photo set
• Autodesk University Japan 2008 Flickr photo set
• Autodesk University 2008 Shutterbug Event Flickr photo set

Hope to see you at AU!

Cheers,
Shaan

Autodesk University 2008, I am All Signed Up and also Invited to AU Japan

I am now all set for the worlds premier, largest, and hands down best design related software conference is coming again to Las Vegas.

AU 2008 December 2 - 5, 2008.
The Venetian Resort Hotel, Las Vegas, USA

http://au.autodesk.com/event/

• AU ~ Autodesk University 2008
• AU 2007 - Friday Goodbye AU 2007, Start Planning for AU 2008
• AU Blog ~ BLAUG
• Lynn Allen's Top Eight Reasons for Attending Autodesk University
• My Autodesk University Photo collection from the AU past 10+ years

Groups starting with instructors and then those registered with AU Online and AUGI get the first sign up slots due to the huge demand and number of attendees numbering almost 10,000 last year alone.

I will be holding my second AU Shutterbug tour this year.
Autodesk University 2008 Shutterbug Tour Planning

日本でもオートデスク・ユニバーシティ

I am also very excited to have been formally invited to attend and speak at Autodesk University Japan “AUJ” in Yokohama Japan in November!

I love Japan, and an Autodesk University in Japan would make it just that much better especially with all my AUGI-JP friends and Autodesk Japan colleagues.

Yuri, an AUGI-JP member has blogged the AU Japan event announcement but I don’t think Yuri knows if I may be attending yet (she does now) but perhaps we can have an AUGI JP dinner again in picturesque Kyoto Japan and perhaps do another photo walking trek of Japan.

• Yuri’s Blog Post: Autodesk University Japan 2008 “AUJ”
• 8/11/08 update Shaan Hurley が AUJ に
• 8/12/08 update 日本でもオートデスク・ユニバーシティ

Cheers,
Shaan (now back to watching the Beijing Olympics opening ceremonies)

The Wall Arch Collapses in Arches National Park

Almost one year ago to the week I was in the beautiful and world famous Arches National Park which is little more than 4 hours drive from my home in Utah. Just this week perhaps Tuesday one of the famous sandstone arches fell, Wall Arch is now Wall Pile. While Wall Arch was not the most spectacular or stunning, it was a beautiful arch.

Arches are formed by an ever changing nature and erosion and leave us with only a small window of geological time in which to marvel at the arches before they succumb to gravity. Who knows, perhaps another arch was born that we have not seen in the past year as well. Last year while I was photographing many of the arches and absolutely enjoying the natural beauty and silence in between the tourist buses,

I hiked back to Landscape arch which itself had suffered a partial collapse in1991. Since it was so hot that day and I figured I would get back there again soon I did not hike the remaining quarter mile to photograph Wall Arch by the Devils Garden. Now I will not have the opportunity to photograph Wall Arch except the remnants on the ground. It is another example of how things you take for granted may disappear.

If you ever have the chance to Visit the Moab Utah region or Southern Utah you should do so as it is beyond words and one of the reasons I know call this state home. This is photography heaven for color and so many varied landscape and rare geography. One of the other things I love about the area is the history of the Fremont people from thousands of years ago leaving their art on the rock walls and then last but not least Green River Utah having the worlds best watermelon when hiking in 100+ deg F. weather. If you are ever in Utah let me know as I am always happy to get an excuse to head to Moab and love showing the hidden gems beyond the tourist trails.

Here are a couple of my photos from the hike back on August 4th 2007 in Arches National Park. I still have hundreds of photos yet to publish, It may sound odd for someone to see some sense of loss in what to some may just be a sandstone structure born of erosion but if you have ever been there in the silence and the vibrant glow of red at twilight you would understand the magic of the area. This is natures art and landscape at it’s finest.

   

 

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/btl/

Never take for granted who or what you can see today,  you may not have the opportunity tomorrow.

Have a great weekend,

Shaan

Autodesk University 2008 Shutterbug Tour Planning

I have attended Autodesk University “AU” for over 10 years now including the one year when we held 4 AU events. Every year I have held something unofficial such as the many years of informal gatherings to eat, drink, roller coaster riding, or going out on the town but the CAD Geekfest has quickly turned into a photo trek. This year I wanted to make the offering a little more detailed and look for fellow shutterbugs and arrange car pools to locations for people to snap those priceless photos outside of the downtown Las Vegas lights or casino floors. The desert and scenery around Las Vegas is spectacular and if you love photography then you cannot make any excuse to stay inside the casino losing money instead of shooting photos and enjoying the region.

So far I have the following locations marked as possible locations for Shutterbugs. Some of the further locations will require you to arrive before Autodesk University or stay a day or two after AU. If you have input on this fun event please leave me a comment on this post or shoot me an email. I have been to all the locations so there is little chance of getting lost. :-)

AU Shutterbug 2008 Map of Possible Locations
Link to AU Shutterbug 2008 Map

View Larger Map

Photos From Last Years Autodesk University

Photos from AU 2007 Valley of Fire & Red Rock Canyon

    

 

I will post more details as we grow closer to AU.

Cheers,
Shaan

Google StreetView and the Autodesk Civic Center Office “OOPS”

Google GOOFled on StreetView results when I checked the Autodesk offices in San Rafael California.

This is kind of creepy when a street is shown as the actual private property parking lot of your work. Where is the line drawn (pun intended) for the Google mapping vehicles with regard entering private property for the photographing in Google Maps?

I can even see my coworkers cars like Kelly's blue Mini Cooper.  Civic Center Drive is actually to the West of the Autodesk Civic Center office private parking lot.

Microsoft Pro Photo Tools Version 1 Released

This cool new free tool allows you to edit metadata on your photos as well as add your GPS location (latitude and longitude) to the photos to track them. This is the new version or replacement for the old Microsoft Photo Info Tool but now with more features but still free.

I geotag most of my photos with a portable GPS unit so I know where and when my photos were taken instead of writing in a notebook log or relying on my memory alone. This free Pro Photo Tools is pretty handy and I use it in conjunction with my Adobe Lightroom and Windows Live photo gallery.

Please note if you had installed the previous Microsoft Photo Info Tool, you will have to uninstall that before installing this updated Microsoft Pro Photo Tools.

Here is a screen capture of my old Microsoft Photo Info Tool which is available in my right-click menu when selecting a photo in Windows Explorer.

The new look of the new Pro Photo Tools

Overview

The Pro Photo Tools allow you to add, change, and delete common metadata properties for digital photographs. You can place photos on the Live Earth map and then drag them to the right location. The GPS information will be stored back into the photos. If you have a GPS device, can load track route files from the most popular formats (NMEA, GPX, and KML) and see them on the map. Then you can place your photos on the track route. Again, the GPS info will be stored into your file. When you have the right GPS location for your photos, you can automatically generate location info like country, state, city and even street names. Or if you know the location where a picture was taken, you can type it in and get the GPS location information automatically.

Supported Operating Systems: Windows Vista; Windows XP
Vista 32 bit, English-US locale
XP SP2 32 bit, English-US locale

Download Link

 

Cheers,
Shaan

 

Technorati Tags: Photo,Photography,Microsoft Pro Photo Tools,KML,GPS,Geotag,GPX,NMEA,Windows XP,Windows Vista,Live Earth,Pro Photo Tools,Microsoft Photo Info Tool

DNA of a Great Photo

A photo is great when it conveys emotions, incites a reaction, conveys an idea, changes focus, creates a new perspective, or simply tells a story.

Example

Quilombo transport

photo by Sean Hawkey

Cheers,
Shaan

Dark Roasted Blend

The Dark Roasted Blend is always good for odd photos, fun facts, and art collections. Today they have a collection entitled Drunk Builders & Mad Architects worthy of a good chuckle as well as some head scratching.

Really Warm Welcome to REALVIZ

I am excited to see the recent public announcement of the Autodesk acquisition of REALVIZ. REALVIZ has great products and technology and I am excited to see the future as user of REALVIZ products before they were acquired.

http://www.realviz.com/

http://stitcher.realviz.com/

http://imagemodeler.realviz.com/

"Autodesk® ImageModeler™ is a photo-modeling software for the creation of 3D objects starting from standard photos."

I currently have a few projects for the tools in the works such as some panoramic photos and some photos of old buildings to create a 3D model of them using photogrammetry methods of Image Modeler.

Cheers,
Shaan

I Better Get Busy, I made the Autodesk.com Home page ;-)

I have been swamped with the Autodesk 2009 product line launches, the beta projects wrapping up on many of the products, took a week off and went hiking and shutterbugging in Southern Utah, and then I got sick. No time for any of that now that I have hit the big time with my blog being on the main page of Autodesk.com.

I have a few blog posts in draft I will finish up and get them online like the updated ShareNow utility from the Autodesk Labs. As you may have noticed I have been adding some guest articles and tips from fellow AutoCAD users to add more perspective and knowledge like the Layer Isolate tip from Michael Beall and I have a few more guest authors. If anyone else has tips and tricks to share with Between the Lines all you have to do is email me at shaan@autodesk.com.

Cheers,
Shaan

Leaping off on a Walkabout Photo Trek

I took off yesterday headed for Southern Utah's Bryce Canyon, Escalante, Paria and other places to unwind, relax, and take photos. I am posting this via a connection of my Blackberry as a modem. I will be off the grid for the most part for the next few days except to upload photos to my Flickr account http://www.flickr.com/photos/btl/. Today I am hiking Death Hollow Slot which sounds ominous but is spectacular in the colors and the snow.

 

My GPS tracks and photo locations. I geotag all my photos using a GPS device.

Some photos from yesterday.

   
   

Cheers,
Shaan