Between the Lines

Another Snow Day in Portland

We typically do not get snow or big snowstorms here in Portland, but this year…SnowMG. This is the third big storm. I spent 4.5 hours on the freeway in a traffic jam due to an accident that then turned into snowed in vehicles becoming stuck in a parking lot from hell. We closed the Autodesk office today out of concern for the safety of our employees and also due to the weather and closed roads. At home the electricity and... Read more →

Aerial View of Lake Oswego Oregon Autodesk Office

I recently purchased and received my new personal UAS/UAV a DJI Mavic. This little drone folds up and can be easily packed in my backpack or camera bag and has many advanced technologies like obstacle avoidance and several automated flight modes like follow me and follow terrain. II t can go 40mph and has a radio range 4.6 mile range however FAA rules require visual one of sight which is definitely not that far. The camera is not as good... Read more →

Back in Hawaii for the 75th Anniversary December 7th Remembrance

I am in Hawaii to attend the 75th anniversary of December 7th. The event is not a celebration of the event or war, but to remember how bad war is and how we must never repeat this as well as honor all those that on that Sunday morning died or were forever affected. We had expected and hoped President Obama would be attending but it appears he may not be able to attend and cancelled his speaking events. I do... Read more →

When Technology Goes Bad but So Good

I seen this image on Twitter yesterday and it made me laugh out loud so I thought I would share on this Friday. Most smartphones have a panoramic photo mode where the phone stiches photos together into one wide panoramic photo after you pan the camera. Well technology is not always perfect but in this case it was so perfectly weird that it was better than just a panoramic photos with a cat waking through. Seen on @YouHadOneJ0B As the... Read more →

Share and View Autodesk University 2016 Photos

Sharing photos of your Autodesk University experiences on social media is awesome but sometimes people can miss them or not know where to see many photos all in one location. Have no fear there is a place to upload and view photos from AU for free. Share your photos online using the free Flickr website or the Flickr app. You can post your photos to the AU 2016 Photo Group https://www.flickr.com/groups/au2016/ for everyone to see. I will also be posting... Read more →

How to Succeed with Photogrammetry

The Autodesk Remake team created an infographic to provide tips to get the best 3D model from photos. They also announced a Design by Capture competition using Autodesk ReMake & Autodesk Fusion 360. Read More on the Autodesk ReMake Blog: http://bit.ly/2e3gxTJ Read more →

Autodesk ReCap Helps Preserve & Share the Story of the Antikythera Shipwreck

Autodesk ReCap helps preserve & share the story of this shipwreck with 3D models & 3D printed artifacts http://autode.sk/2dpgn8q Read more →

One Week with the iPhone 7 Plus

Just over a week ago I drew a Friday 8am reservation for the new iPhone and upgraded as I do for the camera and increased storage alone. The new Apple reservation process was easy as I was in and out with the new phone in 5 minutes and had the first Apple 7 Plus Black matte for the Portland store I was at. After having used the phone for just over a week I have a few personal observations. The... Read more →

Play Hide and Seek with a 3D Laser Scanner

If you have done a lot of 3D laser scanning or LiDAR you know how waiting to see if the scan is done can be sometimes a hide and seek game to not get caught in the scan and photo. On a recent project the FARO scanner caught me as evidenced by the point matching when merging scans in Autodesk ReCap Pro. Laser scanning systems take photos at the end of a laser scan so that it can bake the... Read more →

Weekend Snapshot

This past weekend I hiked hiked on the North face of Mount Hood in Oregon up to the alpine meadows via the Pinnacles and Vista Ridge trail to Elk Cove about 10 miles and 3000 feet vertical. It was an a amazing hike but I have never seen Mt Hood without so much snow. It is usually covered in places by glacier snow and ice fields year round. Part of the hike passed through a forest fire affected region (... Read more →

First Day Back in the Saddle err Office

I have been on sabbatical since mid-June and returned to the Autodesk Lake Oswego office this morning – a little too bright and early. I absolutely love working for Autodesk and truly appreciate that they still believe in giving employees a real disconnected break every four years to rejuvenate and reflect and come back with a reinvigorated energy. I feel rested, relaxed, and ready for many great products, projects, and events and of course more blog and social media information... Read more →

Create a 3D Human Skull

Have you ever wanted your own 3D skull or other unique object? Now you can make any 3D model you create or find on the web into a real physical 3D object of cardboard or clay without a 3D printer. Check out this tutorial created by David of Make Something using the free and fun Autodesk 123D Make to create a full size 3D skull. You can create some really cool abstract sculptures from cardboard as well. You could use... Read more →

Aerial 3D Terrain Mapping with a Drone

Recently I edited a 3D model and created a quick video in Autodesk ReMake (formerly Autodesk Memento.) The 3D model was generated using Autodesk ReCap 360 Pro from photos taken last month using an UAS/drone in the hot windy Trona Pinnacles near Death Valley California. The ability to create 3D textured models from aerial photos opens up many possibilities in design, construction, and site mapping. Autodesk has released specific features in ReCap 360 Pro named Fly that allow you to... Read more →

Beautiful Mt Hood

I absolutely love seeing Mt. Hood on my flights back home to Portland Oregon. I took this photo Sunday evening with my iPhone after returning from surprising my mother in Idaho on her 70th birthday. If you look closely you can see Mt. Jefferson in the background. Read more →

Autodesk Memento Becomes Autodesk ReMake

Autodesk Memento becomes Autodesk ReMake and has formally graduated to a commercial Autodesk product! Autodesk ReMake turns reality data into hi-resolution 3D meshes for design & engineering workflows and so much more. It has been a long journey to this point and many new features and great feedback along the way from Memento users. http://Remake.autodesk.com Read the message from the product manager and Mother of Memento Tatjana Dzambazova. Memento graduates to Autodesk ReMake! Mammoth skull was being worked on by... Read more →

Photos of the Day

I thought I would share the following photo I took today while working on a project near Death Valley California. It was hot, but so beautiful. While I am sharing a photo of the hot desert, I might as well as add for contrast last weekends hike in Oregon’s Opal Creek.I wished I could have swam in that creek today with the heat of the Southern California desert. Read more →

Wonderful Weekend in the Columbia Gorge

I hope you enjoyed your weekend, I certainly did enjoy mine. It has been almost a year since I moved back to Oregon. I am certainly enjoying the outdoors and being back here after 18 long years away. Yesterday I spent the day hiking up Eagle Creek just past the picturesque Punch Bowl Falls. There were even two guys in helmets and wetsuits attempting to swim down the rain fuelled creek over the falls. The day ended in Hood River... Read more →

The Hydrous Maldives 2015 Expedition

Such a visually stunning story with a very important educational angle about the ocean by Sly Lee and the 501 (c)3 non-profit organization The Hydrous. The Hydrous do what they proclaim by “communicating science beautifully.” They were recently in the Maldives in December 2015 and generated highly detailed 3D textured models of corals using Autodesk Memento to study changes occurring in our oceans. Here is one of the 3D coral models generated from photos in Autodesk Memento. Check out “The... Read more →

Golden Gate Bridge is 83 Years Old Today

Happy Birthday Golden Gate Bridge! It was 83 years ago today that the Golden Gate Bridge construction was started. I am so proud that about 20 year ago and just before I joined Autodesk I got to work on the design and testing seismic structural changes that were incorporated into the North Tower of the bridge to assure the bridge survives future earthquakes. Did you know there is a hidden elevator located in the North tower that takes you to... Read more →

Happy New Year!

Two of my photos of my New Years Day sunrise in Portland. This is my first New Years Day back living in Portland in 18 years. What an amazing sunrise start to 2016, but so very cold. I am looking forward to a great 2016 as it has certainly started out with so many good things for me to be thankful for. Just prior to sunrise with a long exposure photo.Taken from Pittock Mansion viewpoint in the West Hills. And... Read more →

Autodesk Memento Now Available on both Mac and Windows

Autodesk Memento beta is now available natively for the Mac platform! This is big news as popularity grew fast about Autodesk Memento several Mac users were anxiously awaiting to use it natively on their OS. In addition to the addition of Mac supported version there has been a great deal of bugs squashed and features added.Between us, I don’t think this team sleeps. Read more →

Autodesk University 2015 Photos and Sharing

Autodesk University 2015 was last week in Las Vegas and perhaps all the photos in Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter have scrolled into history.You can view and share photos in the Flickr Gallery. I am continuing to post some of my AU2015 photos there and you can too for free. View or add your AU2015 Photos Today https://www.flickr.com/groups/au2015/pool/ Read more →

Diary of a Drone Pilot

A little piece just went live today about some of my work researching reality capture using UAV/UAS. The sky is no limit in Reality Capture and Computing where the cloud takes on two important and powerful meanings. Diary of a drone pilot I just returned 3 days ago from another project involving UAV flights that I can’t wait to share details with you, but here are a couple unrelated aerial images from that trip to Bali Indonesia. -Shaan (suffering from... Read more →

Replicate a Keepsake in 3D Using Autodesk Memento

Recently I replicated a silver necklace pendant of a very sentimental pinecone using Autodesk Memento which converted standard photos into a 3D model. I then 3D printed the model on an Autodesk Ember 3D printer and plan to then cast in pewter or silver an exact replicae. The pinecone pendant on a necklace was originally created as a silver casting from the real pinecone given to a mother by her oldest son. It was a really heart warming story why... Read more →

Long and Memorable Weekend in Utah

For the past four days I have been enjoying a trip to Utah with my girlfriend Amy to visit my mother, my 3 kids, and some friends. It was so great to visit with friends and family but also get to show Amy around a place she had never visited. We did so much in 4 days including lunch at my favorite Mexican mole spot The Red Iguana,haunted house fun, Park City, Brews and Blues festival at Snow Basin to... Read more →