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.