Civil 3D Visualization Suite

Subscription customer benifits are vast these days. Autodesk is pushing out new technology to subscription customers and increasing the benifit of subscritpion. This is no different. I'd like to talk a little bit about the Civil Visualization Suite and what it can do for you.

First of all, if you're a subscription customer, sign in and download both modules. The Civil 3D module and the 3DS Max Design module. That's right, I said 3DS Max Design. I know, you likely don't have a copy of 3DS Max laying around, but you can download that too.www.autodesk.com/3dsmaxdesign Just grab a 30 day trial and when you figure out what it can do for your presentation value, give your reseller a call and purchase a license. You can update that existing 30 day trial.

So what does this thing do? It allows you to link your Civil 3D model with 3DS Max Design. Take note - I didn't say import. A direct link between Civil 3D and 3DS Max means that anytime your Civil 3D model is updated, it can be updated in 3DS Max, eliminating needless rework.

Ever wonder how Autodesk gets those images for the logos and box shots on Civil 3D DVD cases? This is it. This plug-in enables civil engineering materials, signs, and road striping inside of 3DS Max. It does more than make pretty pictures though. You can run traffic simulations and record real-life animations to show your ideas, bringing everything to life before it's built.

If you're interested, and you should be ;), take a look at this demonstration from Autodesk. You can find it here.

Have fun!
Denver

Subscription Advantage 2011

Hey guys. Autodesk has released the subscription advantantage packs for their 2011 products. This means a couple of things. First, we're about 1/2 way to seeing 2012, but it also means that subscription customers can get a first look at what's new. Go check out the features for each product here. This page contains links to download the packs, videos showing the features and text descriptions.

Take advantage, go download the packs today.

See ya,
Denver

Civil 3D 2011 is 64bit

WooooHoooo! Finally. AutoCAD Civil 3D 2011 will ship with 32 AND 64bit versions. For any who don't know, this means that 2011 has the potential to perform a lot better and a lot faster. Of course, you'll need the proper hardware and operating system... and RAM to take advantage.

Plenty of you have been using workstations that are already 64bit, but forced to run Civil 3D in 32bit compatibility mode. What does that mean? Well, it means that your workstation is pushing more horsepower than Civil 3D can handle. If you ask me, I think that Civil 3D 2010 in 32bit compatibility mode is more stable, quicker and more responsive than it would be running on a 32bit system. However, it will be much more stable, quicker and more responsive running a native 64bit version.

Yes, there are many more features of Civil 3D that I'd like to share, and I will as we get closer to release. If you don't already have a 64bit workstation and you're planning to upgrade when 2011 lands at the door.. or desktop via download, you might consider the jump.

For any who would like to read more about 32 and 64bit computing, the boys over at BeingCivil from Autodesk Support have a good article. Go check it out here: Basics of RAM and 32/64bit Enviornments

Until next time...
Denver

What happened to my Blog...

It looks like the formatting of my page is a little out of whack. I'll be looking into that and hopefully can have it back to normal soon. Weird.

See ya,
Denver

Autodesk 2011 Products To Be Downloaded...

So I'm not dead... I'm sorry for the extreme lapse in posting here, I've been busy with new ventures for Mid-West CAD and hopefully will have some things to share concerning that in the coming weeks. I also have a list of things I'd like to cover here and plan to dedicate some time posting, so stay tuned.

Today I'd like to talk to you Autodesk Subscription customers. I hope you've been pounded with this information and already have a plan, if not - listen up.

The 2011 release of Autodesk products won't be shipped to you. You'll get a link to download your products. Now, I can't predict the future, but I think we're going to have a tough time with these downloads. Luckily, Autodesk WILL ship it to you, you just have to ask for it. Some of you may have 4 or 5 products that you're company has on subscription, that's a lot of downloading... that's a lot of bandwith.

Contact Autodesk through the subscription center if you'd like them to ship you DVD's rather than having to download you're products.

This is the first time Autodesk has done this, provided downloads instead of CD's or DVD's. They're trying to be more enviornmentally sound, and I understand that completely. I applaud it. Will it work? Most likely. Will this process get better with time? Most definitely. So good luck to you who opt for only the download. Be sure to post here and let me know if I was wrong...

See ya,
Denver