Between the Lines

Autodesk University 2019 Blogger and Social Media Meetup

Every year at AU we invite active bloggers, social media participants and other “friends” to join us for a little food and drink at AU – a chance for us to meet some of these people face to face and to thank them for their (typically unpaid) efforts around Autodesk products. Read more →

Bringing the Outside In

At Autodesk, we are always listening to customers and opportunities to improve based on the feedback. One opportunity for bring the outside signals in where we bring people from outside of Autodesk into Autodesk for a limited time as a Visiting Fellow. We have done this successfully for several years in my team within the Office of the CTO and now named Strategic Foresight. The Autodesk Visiting Fellows Program recruits senior-level, industry-shaping talent to help light the future path of... Read more →

Throwback Thursday

I wanted to share a few more images of items in my Autodesk historical collection. This 5.25” floppy disk was from the very early beginning of Autodesk and AutoCAD. This is the AutoCAD 2.0 demo drawings shown at the 1984 COMDEX event. Read more from Autodesk Founder John Walker about COMDEX 1984 and some of the photos. The AutoCAD R14 demo CR-ROM from 1997 that featured a really geeky customer (yes me). https://youtu.be/fThsTwTNkQc A 1980’s era Autodesk logo pin. Read more →

Happy 20th Birthday Autodesk Inventor and Vault

Yesterday in the Autodesk Portland office we celebrated the 20th anniversary of Autodesk Inventor, and partied like it was 1999, when Autodesk Inventor was born in our. A flashback to 1999 Autodesk Inventor R1 codename Rubicon We even got Inventor R1 running for people to try their old school Inventor modelling skills. It was amazing to have all the fun conversations, wear old Inventor shirts, enjoy food and drink, and celebrate a big milestone of 20 years. The first customer... Read more →

Join me at Autodesk Portland Media and Entertainment Showcase

Plan to attend this second Media and Entertainment Showcase. The non-sales event is free with some food and refreshments with the highlight being amazing local speakers who use Autodesk Media and Entertainment products like 3ds Max and Maya. See how people are using Autodesk products to create amazing VFX and animations and how technology can be used in incredible ways to unleash creativity and save time. You will also network with other local Portland people in media and entertainment. Last... Read more →

Start Preparing for the AU5K Now with This Training Program

Autodesk University is only a couple months from now in November and once again the highly popular AU5K is once again happening on Tuesday morning at AU with hundreds running, walking, and cheering last year. Autodesk CEO Andrew Anagnost even ran last year and plans to run it again this year. So please join me and everyone else at the AU5K and start preparing for it now with easy attainable steps building up. I started this AU5K a few years... Read more →

What is Autodesk Researching with AI and VFX

Problems grow in complexity with time, what is Autodesk doing to solve this challenge for VFX? “From specialized image segmentation to AI-powered UV creation, and natural language art directing, see where Autodesk stands and is going with AI-fueled entertainment creation. Evan Atherton, Senior Research Engineer, kicks off the conversation of how designers and artists will work in the future with the help of Artificial Intelligence. Will Harris, Flame Family Product Manager, discusses AI for VFX and Color Finishing, and Sebastian... Read more →

Happy Labor Day

Many of my US based readers celebrated Labor Day yesterday, except for those preparing for possible hurricane in the Southeast US. Next door to the Autodesk Portland office is a new 17 story building 5MLK as been under construction for the past year by Hoffman Construction. In the office we have been spectators to the entire process of construction of the building, after all AEC construction is a major focus of Autodesk to transform the AEC design and construction industries... Read more →

Portland Adult Soapbox Derby 2019

Two weeks ago I had one of the coolest volunteer jobs as a Course Marshall for the 22nd annual Portland Adult Soapbox Derby held in Portland's beautiful Mount Tabor Park. I spent all day with a bullhorn and a radio clearing the course, heckling people who ignored the course rules, assuring the safety of the derby cars and drivers as well as the spectators, and making people laugh and have fun. There were several races and we had a few... Read more →

3ds Max 2020.2 Update Available and 3ds Max Roadmap

The Autodesk 3ds Max 2020.2 was just released and includes: Chamfer modifier improvement New SketchUp importer Synchronize With Display Mode Read More about the Update and learn about future feature plans in the road map: 3ds Max 2020.2 and Public Road map Read more →

My Office View the Past Few Days

I took off to the Mt Hood National Forest to camp, enjoy the beauty, disconnect from screens, spend time with my girlfriend and her young kids, breathe in the fresh mountain air, escape the heat wave in Portland this week, as well as reboot my brain. Now I'm back and have so much to do this week and next. Shaan PS: Did you know it is the 20th anniversary of Autodesk Inventor in just two weeks? Read more →

Kids at Autodesk Day – Portland 2019

This is always one of my favorite days of the year and it was held in the Autodesk Portland office yesterday. We had over 60 kids of our employees show up for a day filled with fun activities, snacks, food, and even robot rides. Read more →