Autodesk unveils product updates for 2008

Namratha Jagtap

SAN FRANCISCO: With the broadest design software portfolio offering in the manufacturing, AEC, media and entertainment, plant, and geospatial markets, Autodesk is democratizing its 2D and 3D software and bringing it to market in a way that will benefit customers of all sizes.

The company has unveiled a series of updates to its product portfolio in various segments for the coming year at its first annual World Press Day event in San Francisco, USA.

AEC

Autodesk unveiled updates to its comprehensive portfolio of discipline-specific software solutions based on the AutoCAD software platform for architecture, engineering and construction (AEC). Autodesk also announced that several product names have been modified to reflect their sharing the AutoCAD 2008 platform for design and documentation productivity.

AutoCAD Architecture 2008 (formerly Autodesk Architectural Desktop), AutoCAD MEP (formerly Autodesk Building Systems) and AutoCAD Civil 3D software applications incorporate new features and functionality to help architects, mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) and civil engineers improve productivity and increase efficiency. Enhancements in these AutoCAD-based applications also pave the way for architects, designers and engineers to streamline fundamental tasks and redefine traditional design process.

“From our vantage point as a driving force in design software, we can see tremendous opportunity for our customers to continue to improve design and documentation productivity for even the basic tasks of engineering and building design,” said Jay Bhatt, vice president, Autodesk AEC Solutions. “The latest updates to our portfolio of 2D and 3D tools are improving established ways of working, and make meaningful enhancements to the functions that are integral to our customers’ work.”

Geospatial

Autodesk unveiled enhancements to AutoCAD Map 3D 2008 and AutoCAD Raster Design 2008 geospatial software products, which further improve the integration of geospatial data by planning, engineering and operations personnel in utilities and municipal governments. With easy access to combined GIS and CAD information, organizations are streamlining operations across business and engineering teams, and ultimately redefining conventional mapping, design and asset management. These two applications, combined with Autodesk MapGuide Enterprise Web-based GIS software and Autodesk Topobase infrastructure design and management systems, offer customers and developers alike a powerful, cost-effective GIS solution.

“Whether they are repairing a water pipeline or planning a subdivision, engineers, field personnel and asset managers need up-to-the-minute location and design information,” said Lisa Campbell, vice president, Autodesk Geospatial Solutions. “This essential requirement is key to improving organizational productivity in multiple industry sectors, which is why Autodesk continues to enhance our portfolio of core technologies to meet this challenge.”

CAD

Autodesk has introduced AutoCAD 2008 software — the latest version of the world’s most widely used computer-aided design (CAD) software. The application’s innovations continue to respond to customer needs and requests, driving Autodesk product development and alignment of the company’s core applications to help customers redefine the design process, save costs and support continuous quality improvement.

“The market success of AutoCAD is a direct result of our effort to respond to customer needs and raise the standard for innovation to take our customers one step further,” said Amar Hanspal, vice president, Autodesk Platform and Geospatial Solutions. “Since creating the design software market with the debut of AutoCAD software, Autodesk has remained focused on making the design process smoother and smarter. That’s why we continue to integrate our core drafting, visualization and collaboration technologies in order to accelerate the evolution of design — and ultimately, help our customers become more innovative, productive and competitive.”

The latest update to AutoCAD software focuses on improving designers’ ability to quickly and easily document their designs, with a level of control that helps ensure that their drawings look as professional as they require. AutoCAD 2008 focuses on solving common customer problems in a way that respects current workflows, so that little or no retraining is required to obtain significant timesavings.

Revit

Autodesk announced comprehensive updates to its Revit platform for building information modeling (BIM) software applications, and an expanded portfolio of solutions that address the building industry’s evolving requirements for productivity and efficiency. The latest updates to the Revit platform help provide immediate competitive advantage, better coordination and quality, and increased support for sustainable design, all of which can lead to better performing buildings and higher profitability for architects, engineers and the extended building team.

“BIM is accelerating the pace of change in the building industry as information-based modeling becomes the norm across the building design and construction disciplines,” said Jay Bhatt, vice president, Autodesk AEC Solutions. “The newest versions of Revit-based applications will help our customers get even greater benefit from BIM and transform traditional design and industry processes with better decision-making information to reduce costly complexity, mistakes and delays.”

Manufacturing solutions

Autodesk has unveiled the latest versions of its manufacturing solutions, which help customers redefine the product development process by experiencing their ideas before they are real. With updates to Autodesk Inventor, AutoCAD Mechanical, AutoCAD Electrical, Autodesk AliasStudio, Autodesk Showcase and Autodesk Productstream software products, the company is offering a complete approach to digital prototyping that allows manufacturers to cost-effectively validate their ideas and foster product innovation.

“As the largest and most trusted global supplier of engineering software, Autodesk is committed to providing companies with the world’s most innovative 2D and 3D applications,” said Robert “Buzz” Kross, vice president of Autodesk Manufacturing Solutions. “We have updated our products to help manufacturers leverage the power of functional design to make it fast and easy to do more digital prototyping. This allows them to bring new products to market faster, without the expense and waste of multiple physical prototypes.”

The latest Autodesk manufacturing solutions redefine the product design process by supporting and natively connecting all of the disciplines involved in product development, from industrial design to mechanical and electrical engineering and manufacturing. Autodesk manufacturing applications’ functionality and interoperability create an environment in which industrial designers can create and share digital concept models with engineers, who can use functional design to automatically generate 3D geometry for a digital prototype that seamlessly incorporates mechanical and electrical engineering data. With the help of a comprehensive data management system, tightly integrated calculations, stress analysis and motion simulation, engineers can test digital prototypes, optimize and validate their designs, and give customers the opportunity to experience a product’s performance before it is built. Furthermore, files in the DWF file format deliver rich design data in digital format to the shop floor.

(Autodesk hosted the author in San Francisco)

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