Between the Lines

Throwback Thursday – AutoCAD-80 version 1.2 Circa 1982

I may have found someone with the oldest AutoCAD release software outside of Autodesk. Of course internally we had early 1.0 alphas, betas, and development copies that were never released. In fact AutoCAD-80 and AutoCAD-86 version 1.0 was never commercially released. I found a early AutoCAD customer with AutoCAD-80 version 1.2 from 1982 for the CP/M operating system on an 8” floppy disk. I recognize many may be younger than this floppy disk, and may not have ever seen one... Read more →

Revit 2020 - People Flow Toolkit

On Friday, Autodesk released the People Flow Toolkit, an add-in that helps you automate path of travel analysis with tools for social distancing. “The People Flow Toolkit extends Revit’s Path of Travel toolset to help you understand how people will move through your design. The People Flow Toolkit is available as an add-on with Revit versions starting at 2020.2. With the toolkit, building designers can automate, visualize, and analyze the routes within a model to understand the impacts of physical... Read more →

From Design Automation to Generative Design in AEC

Excellent article on Generative Design in AEC with an associated companion class from Autodesk University 2019 by Dieter Vermeulen Technical Specialist AEC Autodesk. “In the AEC industry, we're challenged to consider many design options, to find the fittest solution in the shortest time, and to be leaders in economic and sustainable designs. In this article, you’ll discover how to generate better design outcomes using computational and generative design techniques. You’ll get an overview of how ‘traditional" design improves with design... Read more →

People Mobility and Design Simulations

LIVE WEBINAR: Tuesday September 22 at 10AM PT / 1PM ET Return to Workplace: People Mobility and Design Simulations Get people moving with confidence. Health recommendations are changing the way people commute to work and move from their cars to their desks as they return to the workplace. Mobility Simulation in InfraWorks models people movement, bringing data-driven insight to physical-distancing needs and efficiency of travel. In this session, you’ll hear from Autodesk’s Technical Specialists as they explore tools that help... Read more →

Opensource CivilConnection and CivilPython

Autodesk’s Global Delivery Consulting (GCD) employees create innovate and impactful tools and solutions for our customers. Autodesk Global Consulting Delivery employees – Paolo Serra, Ian McGregor and Mohamed Ahmed – turned a manual and error-prone process for transferring data from Civil 3D to Revit into an efficient and scalable solution that enabled real-time information exchange using Dynamo. Over the course of several years, the solution evolved into a popular product feature and eventually moved to open source. CivilConnection and CivilPython... Read more →

AEC Hackathon Online v2 Join Me!

I hope you will again join the AEC Hackathon organized by an independent group of AEC technology and built environment superheroes.These events are normally held in person, but with the current COVID-19 they pivoted this summer with the first online version being a hit in light of all the quirks and challenges online live sessions and collaboration can bring they pulled it off. I really enjoyed being mentor and speaking with some of the teams. The speaker sessions were very... Read more →

Throwback Thursday - Space Shuttle

AutoCAD 1.4 circa 1984/85 and the Space Shuttle drawing by Autodesk founder John Walker. This is one of the earliest known DWG sample files used to show AutoCAD-86. I captured this on a retro 286/287 that I run in my home office for geeky fun. Update: Here is the AutoCAD 1.x sample file, one of the earliest sample files from 1984. Download SHUTTLE.DWG (7.1K) -Shaan Read more →

Autodesk University 2020 Registration is Open and FREE

Register for Autodesk University 2020 today, its free, great classes and sessions, no travel costs, and you wont get chapped lips in the dry Las Vegas air. Register now to reserve your spot to attend this year’s global, digital event . https://www.autodesk.com/autodesk-university/conference/overview Stay tuned to this Between the Lines Blog for much more AU related information and announcements as well as looks back on all the amazing memories from past AUs. Perhaps a virtual drink happy hour together online following... Read more →

Thank You cough cough

My heart goes out to all of my fellow western united States residents dealing with the concerns and fear due to unknowns and unsubstantiated conspiracies circulating on the internet, and some experiencing the loss of homes and life due to the unprecedented wildfires. I wanted to thank those that read my previous post about the fires including one that was 1.5 miles from my own home and several sending private offers of assistance and a place to stay if evacuated.... Read more →

Teaching Kids with Tinkercad including Free Tinkercad Lesson Plans

Attention teachers, join a free webinar on Thursday October 1st at 4:00 PM PT to learn how to get set up and get started using Tinkercad for distance learning. “We are excited to announce a series of free webinars called Teaching with Tinkercad that will run over the next few months. This series was designed to help you successfully integrate Tinkercad into your class and utilize the great resources we have available to help make learning STEM even more fun.”... Read more →

Vacation and NW Fires

I took last week off of work to drive from Oregon to see my 3 adult kids that live in Utah, including one that is attending the University of Utah as a senior in engineering. I also got to see my cute sweet granddaughters. Due to Covid 19, I haven't seen my kids and grandkids since January. We had a couple dinners in parks socially distanced with masks since my daughter in law is currently pregnant. It was so good... Read more →

Ask Revit Experts Anything this Thursday

Coming this Thursday is an Ask Me Anything session where you bring the questions and Sasha Crotty, Harlan Brumm, and Aaron Vorwerk deliver the answers. An AMA with the product people that make Revit. Join Autodesk product experts Sasha Crotty, Harlan Brumm, and Aaron Vorwerk as they take questions from you and the community about what goes on Inside the Factory. What happens to error reports? When will Revit have slanted walls? Ask Me Anything “AMA” Thursday: 12pm EST: https://youtu.be/hoinpQq1Gbo... Read more →

Customer Success Hub – Learn Valuable Autodesk Product Skills for Free

Visit our newly redesigned Customer Success Hub, which includes free connected learning content to get you started on new learning paths: bit.ly/33wteis Read more →

Throwback Thursday - The Very First AutoCAD Logo from 1982

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Free Autodesk Software for Students and Educators

It is that time of the year when many are returning to school whether online or in–person, and several of those students and faculty will need or want Autodesk software. Good news, Autodesk provides our software to students and educators a free one-year educational access to Autodesk products and services, renewable as long as you remain eligible. There are other benefits such as some curriculum, certifications, cloud storage, and some cloud credits. Autodesk is committed to equipping you with tools... Read more →

Autodesk Vision Series 2020

If you are in the film, tv, 3D animation, or the design visualization world using products like Maya and 3ds Max, then you should check out the free sessions and consider attending this online event in September. ”3 days of virtual presentations and panels on the future of the industry straight from the minds of Autodesk thought leaders and customers. Join us for 3 days of FREE virtual presentations and panels on the future of the industry straight from the... Read more →

Happy 17th Birthday to Between the Lines Blog

17! Seventeen years ago I started this blog as a fun side project after a couple Autodesk employees Bill Johnson and Eric Wright approached me about this new thing called Blogs, and I have been throwing words and photos up here ever since. Next year the blog will be 18 years old, and I will have to consider if I am kicking it out of the house since it will be an adult if it were human. Thank you to... Read more →

Zoom Backgrounds from Autodesk Construction

Are you one of the many out there living in Zoom meetings . why not spice up your Zoom backgrounds for some change, and some fun. The Autodesk Construction Cloud team posted some nice backgrounds including my favorite that I am missing currently of the view from the Autodesk Portland office top deck looking towards downtown Portland. Go get the 10 Zoom backgrounds! https://constructionblog.autodesk.com/construction-zoom-backgrounds/ Read more →

Inside The Factory With People that Make Revit – Performance Matters

I always enjoy seeing who are working hard behind the scenes of most anything I use or admire, and that goes for Autodesk product teams as well. In this first Inside the Factory episode posted to the Revit Blog Inside the Factory, it is of candid conversation that focuses on Performance with Harlan Brumm, Sasha Crotty, and Aaron Vorwerk. Harlan, Sasha, and Aaron are working hard to continually improve the products Revit customers use day in and day out to... Read more →

Saturday Cooling Off

I got away on Saturday this past weekend escape my house, 104 degree weather in Portland (rare we get that hot) and go hiking on the Oregon Coast which was also unseasonably warm but was only 82 degrees and the water a chilly 55 degrees. It was an easy choice at 5am until the crowds arrived in the afternoon as I was out on a stand up paddle board. After that I packed up and headed back into the furnace... Read more →

Throwback Thursday – Mining Data from Old AutoCAD Floppies

If you read the word “Floppies” and scratched your head, you might be less than 30 years old and never seen what we had to work with to store data and install products back in the early days. There were 3.25, 5, and 10” floppies back in the early AutoCAD days and platforms like DEC, Zenith, Victor, Sun, and good ol’ IBM DOS. I grabbed some of my AutoCAD 2.x and earlier floppies and am using my native retro cad... Read more →

Autodesk Technology Centers Request for Proposal - Applications for Mixed Reality Using HoloLens 2

The Autodesk Technology Centers are working with the Microsoft Mixed Reality team to provide HoloLens 2 headsets for teams developing mixed reality (XR) solutions that impact the future of Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Manufacturing. Accepted teams from all over the world will have the opportunity to join our residency program and be given a HoloLens 2 device loan for 6 months, with opportunities to extend on a case-by-case basis. For more details about the Request for Proposal (RFP), and to... Read more →

Congratulations to AEC Hackathon Teams

Recently, over the course of two weeks there has been the AEC hackathon that for the first time after over AEC industry hackathon just had to resort to go in digital since we cant meet in person safely. There were many teams from around the world competing in this global event and many presentations over the course of the two weeks with the final presentations and and the awards held on July 26th. It has been an absolute honor to... Read more →

Design & Construction for Mass Timber Event

Panel Discussion & Conversation on Thursday, August 13th, at 3:00 p.m. EST Recent trends in timber construction allow the world to imagine buildings as carbon sinks. Driven by this potential and other construction benefits, the AEC industry is evolving what it means to build with wood. Outsights will join together industry panelists to discuss how timber construction is re-shaping the design process towards an early convergence of trades and how this convergence can accelerate innovation across industries. Leading to the... Read more →

Prefabrication and Industrialized Construction Methods in MEP

Amy Marks, Head of Industrialized Construction Strategy & Evangelism, Autodesk wrote a great article discussing MEP subcontractors role in Industrialized Construction methods. “Subcontractors' investment and experience in prefabrication is driving the industrialized construction ecosystem There is growing recognition today that prefabrication represents an opportunity to transform the construction industry. By moving from onsite construction to industrialized construction, projects can benefit from improved safety, productivity and predictability. When we picture prefabrication in action, we often visualize whole modules of apartments or... Read more →