Between the Lines

Generative Design Makes a Great Design Assistant

You can use Autodesk’s generative design technology in Fusion 360 today to assist you in the design process. You will be assisted in finding design options beyond just shape and material optimization as you can consider strength, cost, and materials. We looked at a design inspired by the famous Elbo chair using generative design. Generative design came up with a design that resulted in 18% less material and 78% stress reduction as well as looking amazing in Fusion 360- and... Read more →

Project Impossible

For those in the US that have access to a TV with the History Channel, there is a television series named Project Impossible that Autodesk helped sponsor showing our customers as well as some Autodesk employees on some large projects. The series celebrates the engineers, builders and construction professionals that are transforming our world. Project Impossible is an original 10-part series that follows a new generation of epic engineering projects that were considered unthinkable just a few years ago. In... Read more →

Digitally Design the Physical World - XR for Architecture and Construction

I will be presenting next month at the Design Reality meetup event in Portland on using VR/AR in AEC Construction. While many think of a 3D immersive experience and walkthroughs for the design phase, the really valuable sweet spot to AEC professionals is using AR/MR in construction to to plan, review, spot errors, and more. I will talk about the many ways Autodesk and our products generate and enable VR/AR/MR for many industries, but then specifically focus on the AEC... Read more →

Finally Sunny Without Smoke

The West coast of the United States has seen smoke filled skies for what feels like weeks now from massive forest fires up and down the coast. Today we have a beautiful sunny day here in sunny warm Portland today and enjoying lunch on our Autodesk office rooftop deck. Read more →

Bad Marketing

I would call this more a viral marketing, literally viral.. I personally seen this sticker at Portland’s Hawthorne Street Festival last weekend. We had a great time at the street festival with all the local artists and vendors but the stickers for the selfie contest were cringe worthy. If you are the marketing team for the portable restroom company Honey Bucket (ironic company name too), you should consider a second opinion on future ideas and concepts, or change professions. The... Read more →

Portland Sneaker Week Tech Talk

A free Portland Sneaker Week Tech Talk event is being held in our Autodesk Portland office this evening. Portland is ground zero for footwear with big names like Nike, Adidas, UnderArmour, Keen, Columbia, and many others with headquarters or a major presence here. This evening, a Tech Talk is being held to showcase the cutting edge technology that is leading the footwear industry into the future. Join Us: SIGN UP http://bit.ly/2BNfnIl DATE & TIME Mon, August 27, 2018 5:30 PM... Read more →

15 Years of Between the Lines Blog

15 years ago today I started this Between the Lines blog. I won’t be able to celebrate as epically as last years 14 year blog anniversary where there was a total solar eclipse, but this is a big one nonetheless. 15 years… The purpose of this blog was to provide a central place to answer Autodesk product questions and technology topics in easy to understand straight talk and be indexed in search engines so people could find the answers easily... Read more →

Moore or Less

I was thinking last night about how technology has changed over the years, and how Moore’s Law has apparently been broken as computer CPUs are not doubling computational power each 18 months. We have not seen the transistor density and computing power doubling for a couple years now. I understand it is a feat of engineering and physics to do this and I'm not certain of the reason chips have slowed their advancements in recent years, but does it matter... Read more →

We Hope They Come Back

15 energetic high school interns led by two college interns and working with Autodesk Portland employees worked on a real product that is open source and added new features for FIRST Robotics FRC teams to simulate their competition robot designs. Synthesis an Autodesk technology that was solely developed by these amazing students. It is inspiring to see them work just like any other high performing product team within Autodesk except they are a bit younger and can eat snacks all... Read more →

PIE Shop Opens in Autodesk Portland Office

Last Thursday our Portland office held a traditional beer bust celebrating the opening of the incubator space on our second floor that i currently hosting 5 startups and 2 organizations. We had beer, wine, food, cookies, and of course pie. About the PIE Shop ”Autodesk have launched an ambitious program that looks to foster new product startups and help entrepreneurs overcome challenges tied to making physical objects. Portland design and product agency Uncorked Studios, 3D software maker Autodesk Inc. and... Read more →

Construction Tower Cranes Provide Unique Views of Portland

The west coast of the United States has been in a building boom from Los Angeles to Seattle. Seattle has been leading the way for the last 3 years, but Portland is up there and high in the tower crane counts. Next door to our Portland office is the 5MLK construction with customer and contractor Hoffman Construction. I went and visited them at the construction site last week. I have an FAA waiver for the local airspace and a FAA... Read more →

Life Before AutoCAD

A funny Throwback Thursday looking at what life was like before we had AutoCAD assisting in drafting and design. 18 Amazing Vintage Photos That Show How Life Before AutoCAD Looked Like https://www.vintag.es/2018/08/life-before-autocad.html Read more →

Autodesk Accelerate Event Next Month in Toronto

Join us in Toronto next month for a nice intimate Autodesk hosted event named Autodesk Accelerate. It is being held in the creative MaRS Discovery District where Autodesk has its office. Technically you could tell colleagues that you were visiting MaRS to learn about the latest in manufacturing and design technology. https://autodeskaccelerate.com/ Current speakers include RAMLAB, Steelcase, Modelab, Denise Schindler and others. Explore the future of design and manufacturing Accelerate brings together Autodesk customers, industry executives, top market analysts, and... Read more →

Sign Up for the AU5K!

If you are registering for Autodesk University 2018, you can also sign up for the official AU5K which has doubled in size each year due to popularity and the fun getting fresh air and making new friends. 231817 - AU 5K and Fun Run ”Grab your running shoes and join us on the Vegas Strip for this annual AU tradition started by avid runner and Autodesk expert Shaan Hurley. What better way to jump start your morning and your endorphins... Read more →

Registration for Autodesk University 2018 is Now OPEN

I hope to see you this November at Autodesk University 2018. The registration just opened today. Some classes and sessions fill up extremely fast due to their popularity. I will provide some details on special events and meetups as we get closer. Thanks to last years attendees survey feedback, my Autodesk University 5K “AU5K” is once again happening for Autodesk University 2018. Be prepared for the AU5k and to walk run, jog, or crawl on Tuesday morning at 6am with... Read more →

Download AutoCAD 2019 Free

Kick the tires of the latest version of AutoCAD released just this April.You can download and run a full version of AutoCAD for 30 days – free at https://www.autodesk.com/products/autocad/free-trial While there were many updates including 200+ dialog boxes and other User Interface elements have been updated and other requested updates and fixes, the biggest theme is: ONLY ONE. AUTOCAD. AutoCAD now includes industry-specific features and libraries for architecture, mechanical design, electrical design, and more. Automate floor plans, sections, elevations, and... Read more →

FIRST Robotics Teams Come Learn about Synthesis

Come see our open source simulator Synthesis that takes your FRC robot designs and lets you dynamically test them on virtual fields. Join us in Portland Oregon on August 7th for our in-person workshop, or join our online webinar on the 8th! At the beautiful Autodesk Portland office Tuesday August 7th, 2018 10:00am – 3:00pm (lunch included) Online webinar Wednesday August 8th, 2018 Register for either workshop at http://bxd.autodesk.com/synthesis/workshops.html Read more →

I'm Back

Although I was still checking in from time to time, I have been enjoying a 6 week sabbatical. Now I am just trying to get back into waking up early, commuting, and booting up my work laptop for the first time in weeks. My views last week in Washington then Pickathon music festival. It was a sweet way to wrap up 6 weeks off and to return refreshed and ready to hit the ground running. Just finished my first official... Read more →