Webcast: Renovating for an Energy-Efficient Future

On Tuesday, December 8, at 1:00 PM EST, Autodesk is hosting a webcast on “Renovating for an Energy-Efficient Future.” This session focuses on Building Information Modeling (BIM) for renovation and building performance, and will show how BIM solutions can help in the creation and analysis of energy models that can determine the best designs for sustainability and efficiency – from all stakeholder perspectives.

This webcast is part of the Sustainable Design Webcast Series, and is registered with the American Institute of Architects (AIA) for Continuing education credits. It qualifies for one Health, Safety, and Welfare (HSW) and Sustainable Design (SD) credit.

Action: Register at www.autodesk.com/sustainable-webcasts. 

AutoCAD $500 New Seat Rebate Promotion

From November 2, 2009, through January 15, 2010, customers in the United States and Canada who purchase qualifying new commercial licenses of AutoCAD 2010 software may be eligible for a rebate of up to US$500 for each new license purchased after submitting an online request and providing proof of license purchase documentation. This offer is limited to a maximum of five seats total per customer invoice address.

Customers may review terms and conditions, answers to frequently asked questions, and submit their rebate information by visiting www.autodesk.com/autocadrebate.

Windows 7 Support for Autodesk products

The following products are supported on Microsoft Windows 7:

• AutoCAD 2010
• AutoCAD LT 2010
• AutoCAD Architecture 2010
• Autodesk Inventor 2010
• Autodesk Inventor LT 2010
• AutoCAD Electrical 2010
• AutoCAD Mechanical 2010
• AutoCAD MEP 2010
• Autodesk Algor Simulation 2010

Autodesk will support Windows 7 for most of its other products as updated versions of Autodesk products are released.

You may be able to use Windows 7 with an Autodesk product that is not listed above, however, Autodesk may not be able to resolve every issue encountered at this time.

The following issues have been identified with Windows 7 and are currently being researched for a potential fix in a future release:

AutoCAD and all AutoCAD-based vertical products:

• Infocenter balloons sometimes display blank
• Dragging Ribbon tabs sometimes crashes the product
• Encrypted files fail to open and save on Windows 7
• Open files do not appear on Windows 7 Jumplist
• Export to Impression functionality will not work because Autodesk Impression is not supported on Windows 7

AutoCAD Architectural 2010 and AutoCAD Mechanical 2010:

• Text in the Drafting Settings dialog overlaps radio buttons

Graphics Card Support for Windows 7:

Windows 7 is supported but not certified.  This means that Autodesk has not certified every card but we expect they should work with Windows 7 without issue. The certified driver versions for Vista 32 and Vista 64 should install and work with AutoCAD 2010.  The exception to this are the ATI FireGL and FirePro graphics cards and drivers for those cards should be downloaded from http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx. If your NVIDIA drivers on Windows 7 are newer than 191.00, and your ATI drivers are newer than 8.634, hardware acceleration should be on by default.

Where's Waldo for Revit

Okay, okay, I know that a lot of you don't like the new Ribbon interface in Revit Architecture 2010 but I have to tell you, it is not going away anytime soon.  So you might as well stop fighting it and start learning it.  The following might help you fasttrack this learning curve.

If you are still wondering where to find the 2009 command buttons in the 2010 Ribbon style user-interface, care of “Revitize - A Revit Blog” there is a simple online utility that can help you understand where the 2009 commands are located in the 2010 product.  Goto:

Where's my command in Revit 2010

In the 2009 screen image click on a command item/icon that you would like to find in the 2010 user-interface and it will show you the proper Ribbon location in Revit 2010. Then click anywhere afterwards and you are returned the 2009 product screen.

Happy Ribboning.....

A Couple More Reason to be on Subscription

Check out: Uncovering the Revit Subscription Advantage Pack The Revit Update

More info on Subscription Advantage packs can be found at http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?id=14022754&siteID=123112 

And

 

Autodesk University (AU) Virtual allows you to stream select classes and content from AU 2009 directly to your desktop.  Here's how you can experience AU Virtual: AU Virtual Premier Pass – US$99 (Free to Autodesk Subscription customers) Includes full access to 50+ classes, keynotes and other premium content streamed live from AU in Las Vegas. Plus access up to 350 on-demand sessions post-event.

 

Register for AU Virtual

 

See how AU Virtual compares with the AU 2009 Conference in Las Vegas.

Take Stock of Your Software

The Autodesk Product Manager tool will determine the Autodesk software product you have and where it’s installed by locating:

• Product, version, and serial number
• Product language
• Network or stand-alone installation type
• Service pack level
• Installation location

Download the Autodesk Product Manager tool.

For detailed instructions, refer to the Autodesk Product Manager Tool guide.

Autodesk Product Manager Tool: A Step Guide for Conducting a Software Audit (pdf - 407Kb)

Note: Some products may not be located by the Autodesk Product Manager Tool.

Updates Available for Revit-Based Products

Update 2 for English-language versions of Revit 2010 products is now available for download. This update is for Revit Architecture 2010, Revit Structure 2010, and Revit MEP 2010 software.

Updates can be accessed via the downloads from the Services & Support pages on Autodesk.com. 

Revit MEP Sustainable Design Tutorial

Buildings account for the largest source of energy consumption and emissions in the world today. Governments and business are addressing this challenge with a range of new requirements for building systems. With these requirements, MEP designers and engineers need to develop practices that enable them to conform to the new specifications.

Autodesk MEP Engineering Solutions allow you to effectively incorporate sustainable design strategies into your workflow that allow you to more effectively conduct whole building energy analysis for new buildings and energy system retrofits.

In this series of presentations, you will learn how to use Autodesk MEP Engineering Solutions to perform accurate, time-saving operations that will help your team work faster and smarter.

To view the tutorial, go to: http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/oc/offer/form?siteID=123112&id=13707515

Deals on NVIDIA Quadro by PNY Graphic Cards

Get up to 50% off a wide range of NVIDIA Quadro by PNY graphic cards

Product NVIDIA MSRP Promo Pricing FX 4800 $1,999 US $999 US FX 3800 $1,199 US $599 US FX 1800 $599 US $299 US FX 580 $199 US $99 US

Go to http://ecommerce.pny.com and enter promo code: 'AUSUBQFX' at checkout. Quantity limited to two (2) per customer. Offer expires on December 31, 2009 and is valid only in North America.

A Complimentary BIM Webcast

Check out this FREE Webcast from Reed Construction Data:

“Lessons in BIM Adoption” September 23, 2009  •  2:00 p.m. EDT  •  online webcast Learn about specific details and developments in adopting Building Information Modeling from any computer. Allow experts and analysts to give you insight on some do’s and don’ts of BIM. You'll hear directly from an architect, engineer and building product manufacturer. Click here to register now

On September 23, please join Dennis Neeley, AIA, Cindy Bremer, and Mark Mergenschroer for a complimentary webcast, moderated by Rex Miller. Topics Include: Why BIM adoption was important to their company The initial approach to BIM Overall results of adopting BIM Recommendations for the industry

3ds Max 2010 and 3ds Max Design 2010 Service Pack 1 Now Available

The latest Service Pack from Autodesk for 3ds Max 2010 and 3ds Max Design 2010 software includes nearly 30 fixes for issues with undo, performance, responsiveness, viewports, material workflow, and mental ray software. Specific areas addressed are Biped, Bitmap Pager, Bitmap Proxies, Containers, Edit Poly, Interoperability, Licensing, Materials, mental ray, Particle Flow, Performance, Photometric Lights, ProOptimizer, Render To Texture (RTT), Rendering, UVW Unwrap, and Viewports.

3ds Max 2010 Service Pack 1:
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=13642460&linkID=9241178

3ds Max Design 2010 Service Pack 1:
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=13642201&linkID=9241178

AutoCAD LT Cross-grade Promo is Back!

Autodesk usually runs this promotion annual in their second quarter (May to July) but it was missing this year.  As I had predicted, it has surfaced in Q3 (August to October).  Here are the details:

From August 17 to October 16, 2009 eligible AutoCAD LT (2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 registered before August 1) can be cross-graded to AutoCAD 2010, AutoCAD Architecture 2010, or AutoCAD MEP 2010 for US $1995.  For US $ 2495, you can opt to cross-grade to  Revit Architecture 2010,  Revit Architecture Suite 2010, Revit Structure 2010, Revit Structure Suite 2010, or Revit MEP Suite 2010.  Although Subscription is recommended, it is not required to get these promotional prices.

This promotion will continue from October 17 to December 30, 2009 in a phase 2 with US $2495 and US $2995 as the pricing respectively.

On-line Revit Help

Autodesk now provides access via their website, on-line help for all flavours of Revit.  Checkout the following links:

Autodesk Revit Architecture 2010 Help

Autodesk Revit Structure 2010 Help

Autodesk Revit MEP 2010 Help

AutoCAD LT US$400 Legacy Rebate Extended

The AutoCAD LT software US$400 Legacy Rebate has been extended until August 31. This rebate promotion is for customers who purchase new licenses of AutoCAD LT 2010 software and currently own legacy versions of AutoCAD LT. Customers who own existing AutoCAD LT licenses version 2000, 2000i, 2002, 2004, 2005, and 2006 and who purchase qualifying new, commercial licenses (seats) of AutoCAD LT 2010 software may be eligible for a rebate of up to US$400 for each new license purchased, after submitting an online request and providing proof of license purchase documentation. This offer is limited to a maximum of five seats total per customer invoice address. 

How Revit MEP Calculates Heating & Cooling loads

Do you need to know how Revit MEP calculates it's Heating and Cooling loads?  If you have Revit MEP installed, check your hard drive for the following directory: 

C:\Program Files\Autodesk Revit MEP 2010\Program\ 

where you will find the file: 

Heating_Cooling_Calculation_Methods.pdf

Autodesk MAC support

There is now an official Autodesk public website, where customers who wish to run Autodesk products on a MAC can find the right answers: http://usa.autodesk.com/products/mac-compatible-products

Revit Solar Radiation Technology Preview Available

The Solar Radiation Technology Preview for Autodesk Revit Architecture and Autodesk Revit MEP software is now available. The new Solar Radiation Technology Preview allows users to analyze the effects of solar radiation on the surfaces of a conceptual building model within Autodesk Revit Architecture 2010 and Autodesk Revit MEP 2010 software.

Using the Solar Radiation Analysis add-in during the conceptual design stage of a project can help users make fundamental design decisions about building shape, orientation, and surfaces early on – when changes are the least costly. The add-in uses conceptual massing elements from Revit-based models and the Autodesk Ecotect Analysis insolation analysis engine to calculate the amount of solar radiation hitting the surfaces of the massing forms. This technology preview is a limited-term release to seek customer feedback on its performance. It expires on January 13, 2010.

Learn more about the Solar Radiation Technology Preview on Autodesk Labs.

In speaking with many customers, a lot do not understand the additional benefits that the Subscription program offers and how to access these benefits via their Subscription Center login.

Well, Autodesk will hosting a Subscription Tour Webcast for Customers on June 24th.  If you want to learn more about the Autodesk® Subscription Center, please attend the upcoming Subscription Tour webcast. Emily Crane of Global Subscription Sales will present general information on the Subscription program and will walk through the Subscription Center to ensure that customers know how to find and take advantage of the benefits they receive.

There will be two sessions on Wednesday, June 24. You will have the option to attend at 12:00pm or 3:00pm Eastern. There will be 30 minutes for the presentation and 30 minutes for an open question-and-answer period.

Autodesk Subscription Center Tour – Morning Session
Date and time: Wednesday, June 24, 12:00–1:00pm or 3:00-4:00pm
URL: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/autodesklearning/join?id=SCT_2&role=attend&pw=Audience
Meeting ID: SCT_2
Meeting Key: Audience
Audio: Toll-free: +1-866-814-7241 or toll: +1-203-310-0586
Participant code: 4505086

Autodesk Legacy Promotion

Autodesk Legacy Promotion

June 1 through July 17, Autodesk will offer the Legacy Promotion to qualifying customers. This promotion will give customers with AutoCAD R14 through AutoCAD 2006-based software licenses the opportunity to purchase qualifying new licenses of current Autodesk products at a discount of 40% with Subscription and 20% without Subscription. Not all Autodesk products are eligible for this promotion.

AutoCAD - Hot Issues / Fixes

Hot Issues Share with Autodesk Seek Hotfix Port 9013 is used when uploading files to Autodesk Seek. This port may be blocked by firewalls. This hotfix allows Share with Autodesk Seek to use port 80. VBA support in AutoCAD 2010 Autodesk has begun the transition of VB customization from VBA to .NET technology. Currently, VBA is still supported in Autodesk products. However, starting with AutoCAD 2010, VBA is no longer part of the default AutoCAD installation and must be downloaded and installed separately.

Recently Published Solutions Supported operating systems for the Autodesk Network License Manager shipped with 2010 products Location of Plot Styles folder Partial CUI files not converted to CUIx file format during migration

Exclusive Solution Preview TS1105167 - Network License Activation Utility Issue: You have found that the Network Activation Utility is not included on your 2010 product media. Solution: If your product does not include the Network License Activation Utility, you can activate your license by visiting http://www.autodesk.com/register and following the on-screen instructions.

A First Time For Everything - LT Legacy Promotion

Rumor has it that Autodesk will be offering for the first time ever, a Legacy Promotion on AutoCAD LT. 

AutoCAD LT is normally upgradable from 3 versions back from current (for example, 2010 being current, you can upgrade at a discounted price from version 2007, 2008, or 2009).  Under this LT Legacy Promotion, users of version 2000, 2000i, 2002, 2004, 2005, and/or 2006 will be eligible for a rebate of up to US$400 for each new license (seat) of AutoCAD LT 2010 purchased.  This offer will be effective May 1st through July 31^st and is limited to a maximum of five seats total per customer invoice address.

Hotfix for Inventor / Revit ADSK file format

Please be advised there was a known issue with the ADSK file that Inventor exports and the ability for Revit to import data.  Recently a Hotfix for Inventor around this issue was released.  Once the Hotfix is installed, Inventor users will be able to export an ADSK file from Inventor and Revit users will be able to import it directly into Revit without problems.  the hotfix can be download from:

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=13105818&linkID=9242019

More Autodesk 2010 Release Dates (FCS)

Software Product	FCS Date
Autodesk® 3ds Max® 2010	April 8
Autodesk® 3ds Max® Design 2010	April 8
AutoCAD® Visualization Suite 2010	April 13
AutoCAD® Revit® Architecture Suite 2010	April 16
AutoCAD® Revit® Architecture Visualization Suite 2010	April 16
AutoCAD® Revit® MEP Suite 2010	April 16
AutoCAD® Revit ®Structure Suite 2010	April 16
Autodesk® Revit® Architecture 2010	April 16
Autodesk® Revit® Structure 2010	April 16
Autodesk® Robot™ Structural Analysis 2010	April 16
Autodesk® Robot™ Structural Analysis Professional 2010	April 16
AutoCAD® Raster Design 2010	April 20
Autodesk® Quantity Takeoff 2010	April 20
AutoCAD® P&ID 2010	April 22

New pricing structure coming next year

Autodesk has announced that starting next year they will be going with a new ‘simplified’ pricing model for upgrades and cross-grades.

Once 2007 becomes retired (as of March 16 2010), Autodesk will no longer offer a 3-tier price structure for upgrades / cross-grades to the current version at that time. Rather, all upgrades and cross-grades to the current version from previous versions will be 50% the cost of a new license, while cross-grades from a current version to another product will be about 20% the cost of a new product license. Legacy versions (versions older than 3 versions back) are not included in this and the Legacy program will continue at 30% discount of the price of a new product license when Subscription is purchased.

So let’s look at an example to illustrate this:

THIS YEAR
AutoCAD 2007 to AutoCAD 2010           $1795
AutoCAD 2008 to AutoCAD 2010           $1195
AutoCAD 2009 to AutoCAD 2010           $595

NEXT YEAR
AutoCAD 2008 to AutoCAD 2011           $1998
AutoCAD 2009 to AutoCAD 2011           $1998
AutoCAD 2010 to AutoCAD 2011           $1998

As you can see, this is a lot of different cost to you especially if you are only 1 or 2 versions behind.

So why is Autodesk doing this, well, it is to encourage users to put their licenses on Subscription.  In the example above, Subscription costs $450 a year - multiple that over 3 years and you have paid $1350 versus the $1998 upgrade cost. That's a huge difference in cost to net you the exact same product in the end.  Now, also remember all the extra benefits Subscription includes - extra software extensions, e-learning, web support access, license management, etc.

Autodesk has announced an aggressive promotion to help 'transition' you before next year's changes - details of which can be found at http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?id=7176852&siteID=123112.

In summary, it goes like this:

    Phase 1:    May1 – July 17

                     30% off with Subscription

                        20% off without Subscription

    Phase 2:    July 18 – October 16

                    20% off with Subscription

                        15% off without Subscription

    Phase 3:    October 17 – January 15

                     10% off with Subscription

                        reg price without Subscription

This promotional pricing is applicable to upgrades and cross-grades from 2007, 2008, and/or 2009 going to a 2010 product.

NOTE: that the best period is between May 1 and July 17

All prices above are based on US$ MSRP.

2007 Retirement Promotion

The 2007 family of products will no longer be sold or supported as of March 15 2010. This also includes Revit Architecture 9/9.1, Revit MEP Suite R2, Revit Structure Suite R4, 3DS Max R9, and Maya 8.5.

Autodesk runs a 3-phase promo during the retirement year to help customers transition to the current version. The 1st Phase does not start until May 1st. Note that as the year rolls out, the promotional discpounts lessen - so the earlier your act the better the savings! May to July is the best period. Below is the outline of the 3 phases:

Phase 1: May1 – July 17, 30% off with Subcription, 20% off without Subscription
Phase 2: July 18 – October 16, 20% off with Subription, 15% off without Subscription

Phase 3: October 17 – January 15, 10% off with Subription, reg price without Subscription

Don't want to take Subscription - you'll want to read tomorrows post......

Great Report on Building Information Modeling (BIM)

One of the most common questions I get from clients is, “Who is already using Revit and to what degree are they using it?”  I usually reply “Every major firm has Revit by now.  They are utilizing it where it makes sense for them – some are using it full-tilt on most projects, others are using it in pockets seeing where and how it fits in to their existing workflow and design processes.”  By now, it is inevitable that the Industry is definitely moving in that direction.  Don’t believe me – well fine – check out this: 

McGraw Hill Construction has published a "SmartMarket Report" on Building Information Modeling (BIM).  This report speaks to not only the adoption rate of BIM in the industry, but also to usage of BIM, value of using BIM, impact of BIM on internal and external processes, and BIM infrastructure.  This report provides great insight and recommendations for firms migrating toward Revit.  Additionally there are numerous Case Studies to validate the “real-world” usage of BIM.

The report can be sourced via Autodesk’s website (http://images.autodesk.com/adsk/files/mcgraw-hill_construction_bim_smartmarket_report_december_2008.pdf) or via the buildingSMART Alliance’s website (http://www.buildingsmartalliance.org/news/20081203.php).

Here are some key sections to read:

• BIM and Green Building – pages 5, 18, and 19
  
• Recommendations for Beginners, Intermediate Users, Advanced/Expert Users, and Owners – page 5
  
• Rise of the Contractor – page 4
  
• Perception of BIM – page 7
  
• Risks when using BIM – page 33