There are places I remember
All my life though some have changed
Some forever, not for better
Some have gone and some remain
   John Lennon and Paul McCartney, "In My Life," The Beatles.

My wife and I recently took a short vacation to visit our daughter in Chicago. While there, I decided to try the new Places feature of Facebook.

 

The way this feature works is:

1. Using your mobile phone, such as an iPhone, you bring up the Facebook app.


2. Instead of posting a status update like you might normally do, you click on the Places icon.


3. Your mobile phone uses its GPS to locate places near your current location. A list of places pops up.


4. You select one of these locations and click on the Check in button.


5. Facebook posts a status that you are at this place.


6. Facebook shows you a list of other Facebook users who are also at this place.

Facebook also allows you to Check in other Facebook friends who are with you at the same place. This part of the feature won't last long for two reasons.

1. The check in others capability is too easy to abuse. People could prank users by checking them into places where they should not be. Facebook provides the ability for users to turn off other's ability to check them in. Soon everyone will have done this.


2. If a person wants to be checked into a place, he or she can do it himself/herself. By now most Facebook users have their own mobile devices.

So although this feature allowed my friends to give me real time advice on what to do while I was at a particular place, I doubt I will ever use it again. It was fun to try once for this one trip.

Testing new mobile features is alive in the lab.

The internal name for the point cloud tool for 3ds max and 3ds max design is Project Helix.

Yesterday I posted an updated installer for the Point Cloud Tool for 3ds Max and 3ds Max Design.

free download of Point Cloud Tool for 3ds Max and 3ds Max Design via Autodesk Labs

Based on your feedback to labs.3dsmax.pointcloud@autodesk.com, this update fixes the following issues:

• Reloading a saved .max file with a point cloud does not refresh/load the source cloud data. The user has to manually reload the ptsb file on each file open.


• Render LOD -> Custom LOD does not work. It will always render at Level of Detail setting.


• Render with Additive Volume results in mental ray warnings and errors, but render will still complete.


• When Use Display Volumes is unchecked, point clouds will still render with assigned Volumes.


• After multiple Display Volumes are deleted, point clouds will occasionally still render with previously assigned volumes.


• Render Color -> Use Display Color doesn’t work.

In addition, the following changes are part of this update.

• Animated parameters are not respected by the renderer when rendering frame sequences. It will use the last value found in the UI. All properties were made non-animatable except LOD.


• Color Leaves do not seem to work. This is no longer supported. Color Leaves have been removed from the UI.


• PTS to PTSB Converter Utility, Batch functionality not supported by BackBurner 2011. This too is no longer supported. It has been removed from the UI.


• PTS to PTSB Converter Utility, Batch functionality does not work for on a Vista nor Windows7 machine. "Process cannot be added to job group" error prevents successful job completion. This is no longer supported. It has been removed from the UI.

Improving our technology based on your feedback is alive in the lab.

Bill Temelkovski is one of our most active Autodesk Labs users. He has evaluated:

• 2D to 3D Tool for Inventor


• 3D Annotation for Inventor


• Assorted ADN plugins of the month


• Feature Recognition for Inventor


• Inventor Fusion Technology Preview


• Mesh Enabler for Inventor


• Photo Scene Editor for Project Photofly


• Project Krypton design feedback for Inventor and SolidWorks


• Project Snap design content locator for AutoCAD


• Rhino Import Translator for Inventor


• Solar Radiation Technology Preview for Revit


• Shape Extraction for AutoCAD


• Advanced Simulation Technology Preview for Inventor 2010


• JT Translator Add-in for Inventor 2009


• Inventor Plastic Features Technology Preview


• Inventor Publisher Technology Preview


• User Interface Technology Preview for Inventor 2009

He's even on our list to try Project Newport 3D story telling when that technology preview becomes available. He also subscribes to the Autodesk Labs newsletter. We love this guy!

Bill is a designer/drafter/software user/installer/beta tester for Owens-Illinois Asia Pacific Technical Centre in Melbourne, Australia. Owens-Illinois is one of the biggest glass container producers in the world (beer and wine bottles, jars, etc.). Originally founded in 1903 as the Owens Bottle Company (by the inventor of the automatic bottlemaking machine, Michael J. Owens), the company was among the first to manufacture glass bottles and jars of uniform height, shape, and capacity. Today Owens-Illinois has a high focus on sustainability and the environment with ~22,000 employees in ~21 countries.

Bill is in the furnace design group but also works in mechanical and structural areas as well, basically performing facilities engineering for Owens-Illinois Asia Pacific plants. He was first trained on release 9 of AutoCAD and has been using it ever since including AutoCAD Mechanical and Inventor Professional. Bill works with other team members who are now learning/using Revit Structure and AutoCAD MEP. Bill has worked in the areas like Petrochem, Boilers, Pressure Vessels, Pharmaceutical, and Materials handling.

We are happy to have users like Bill who try our technology previews. As we way at Labs: Your experience shapes the future of our technology. And with users like Bill, it does.

Celebrating those who make what we do what we do is alive in the lab.

 

Today's posting comes from Jay David Stauffer of the Project Neon team.

Project Neon continues to improve. In response to feedback from our users, we implemented some improvements to Project Neon’s rendering engine on August 20th. You should notice:

• more light in interior scenes that include some daylighting


• reduced noise in all Render Quality Settings


• the elimination of shadow artifacts in corners

As you test these improvements, please remember that we are looking for your feedback to labs.neon@autodesk.com as we will continue to develop Project Neon.

Inclusion of light from sky in Global Illumination

Original

Improved

Original

Improved

Learn more about Project Neon on Autodesk Labs

By the way, Project Neon now has its own Facebook page.

Thanks David.

 

Senior Manager of Worldwide DevTech, Kean Walmsley, provided me with an update to the Screenshot for Inventor plugin. Recall that this was our February plugin of the month. As we roll out new plugins each month, which include the source code by the way, we continue to make the old ones available:

Plugin of the Month Catalog page on Autodesk Labs

This update to the Screenshot for Inventor plugin was based on your feedback to labs.plugins@autodesk.com. Specifically this update addresses:

1. Selecting a region when in perspective view


2. Printing in 64-bit environments

Thanks to everyone who continues to download these and provide feedback. We are especially happy with those who extend these tools by modifying the source code.

The release/feedback/update/release cycle is alive in the lab.

User Experience Architect, Mason Foster, is our newest member of the Autodesk Labs team. Upon returning to work from becoming a new Dad (congratulations Mason), his first assignment was to look at the user interface of the Photo Scene Editor. Recall that the Photo Scene Editor is the small application you install on your computer to interface with Project Photofly. Project Photofly servers do the heavy lifting when it comes to converting sets of photographs into 3D models that you can export as DWG files.

free download of Photo Scene Editor for Project Photofly from Autodesk Labs

Mason had some comments on the Startup Screen. This screen includes two prominent buttons for creating a new scene or opening an existing scene. Additionally, it could include some links to more info, as well as thumbnails for recent files. Assuming the user was starting for the first time, Mason suggests providing links to some sample files here. Today the Project Photofly conversion process does not capture thumbnail images for RZI files; however, Mason was thinking that Project Photofly could just use one of the images in the stitched scene.

Mason also had thoughts on the Create New functionality. When the user creates with new images, Project Photofly should get them creating their scene as quickly as possible. In this concept, the Windows file browser could be integrated into the launch screen, so the user can browse and select files directly from the screen. The Compute Photo Scene button would immediately start the process, bypassing the screen where the user reviews/organizes photo groups, since this is usually not necessary.

The Organize/Add More button would let the user perform the more advanced workflows of adding more photos from a different location or reviewing/editing photo groups.

With regard to Processing: Mason reformatted the current screen to fit the same branded screen. Some subtle differences are that the progress bar only appears for the current process. Mason was thinking the area to the right would be a great place to show some “tips & tricks” slides if the user chooses to wait for their scene to process.

Before anyone starts coding anything, let us know what you think of these suggestions. We'd love to hear from you at labs.photofly@autodesk.com.

Getting feedback even before we update the technology preview is alive in the lab. Henry Ford said if he had asked his customers what they wanted, they would have requested a faster horse. We're so early in the process we'd like you to suggest that it might be a good idea to put the steed in the same barn with the mare.

Looking to measure twice and cut once is alive in the Lab.

If you visit http://www.autodesk.com/inventor, you will see a Free Trial link.

When some of you click on it, you will see an option to try Inventor nline.

 

I say "some of you" instead of "all of you," because the Autodesk web site runs a quick test to determine if your internet bandwidth is sufficient to run Autodesk Inventor using an application remoting solution. In this case, the application remoting solution is provided by our hosting partner.

For those of you where this option is available, you download and install a 7MB remote client that allows you to connect to the remoting service. The 7MB download/install is a much quicker way to get going with Inventor as compared to the full 1GB Inventor download/install. In addition this approach allows you to try Autodesk Inventor 2011 without having to do side by side installs next to earlier versions.

You only have to install the remote client once. In fact it's easy to take Inventor 2011 for several test drives as the install process leaves a shortcut on your desktop for subsequent uses:

I created a somewhat raw YouTube video that shows how this worked on my new HP EliteBook 8540w computer I got today (Monday, 8/23 when I wrote this and recorded the video). This machine doesn't have any Autodesk software on it yet.

Sharing that application trials have graduated from labs.autodesk.com to www.autodesk.com is alive in the lab.

source: www.ait.org

I will be on vacation Thursday and Friday. My wife and I are traveling to the Gulf area to visit family and friends. We will do our part to help restore the economy of the region. :-)

I am on vacation today but I got this email from Software Architect, Ben Cochran, today. I thought I would share it.

Earlier this year we raised 2 dozen silkworms. They are very cool. They eat, eat more, and then keep eating. After a few weeks of eating, they build silk cocoons, transform into moths, mate, lay eggs, and die. The silkworms are cool, the cocoons are cool, but the moths are disgusting and make an ugly mess. Recently we took home two caterpillars and fed them. They too built cocoons, and today the first butterfly came out. The butterfly is amazingly beautiful. The process is very cool, but my family and I are amazed by how different and how much the same a moth and butterfly are.

Technology previews are like that. Some turn out to be moths. Some turn out to be butterflies. Your feedback lets us know which is which.

Thanks Ben.

I am experimenting with a new look for the Labs site. Right now we have the INDUSTRY tab on the home page which lists technology previews per industry. I am thinking about having a dedicated page per industry. I have mocked up what the page would look like for the Education Community.

http://labs.autodesk.com/education/

I welcome any feedback you have on how to make it easier for you to find what you are looking for on the Labs site: thelabs@autodesk.com. I am on vacation today but will collect the responses when I get back to work on Tuesday.

When it comes to web page design, beauty is in the eye of the beholder - that would be you.

The Autodesk Labs home page has 3 tabs: BY INDUSTRY, BY PRODUCT, and ALPHABETICALLY. This allows you to see the list of technology previews in a variety of ways. The ALPHABETICALLY TAB has recently been revamped.

http://labs.autodesk.com/

Tell me if you like it. I am considering something similar for the other tabs. Let us know at thelabs@autodesk.com.

The RSS feed for this blog used to provide full articles. Our social media council recently provided Autodesk bloggers with a tip that most people prefer to receive just a few lines with links to the rest of the articles. So I made this change. If this rationale does not apply to It's Alive in the Lab readers, I can put it back like it was. Let us know at thelabs@autodesk.com.

The technology preview of the STL Exporter for the Revit 2010 family of applications has ended.

Thanks to everyone who downloaded the technology preview and provided feedback. Autodesk Revit 2010 users can still download the technology preview from the Autodesk Labs graduates page.

Saying out with the old to make room for the new is alive in the lab.

One of my Facebook friends, Binu Mathew, has a mapping page where you select a user interface element in AutoCAD Architecture 2009, and it displays the location of that same element in AutoCAD Architecture 2011.

http://download.autodesk.com/us/autocadarch/menumap/ACA-MenuMap-R1d.html

It is fun to see how the application has improved.

On Wednesday I attended a lunchtime presentation in our Autodesk Gallery. Maura Fallon-McKnight of Grid Alternatives provided an overview of the work her organization is doing to bring solar energy to low income residents. I found out some encouraging information.

• 
  

  Grid Alternatives' Solar Affordable Housing Program allows individuals and groups to get involved in supporting their efforts to install solar panels and systems on low-income homes in the Bay Area.

  
  


• 
  

  Since 2001, Grid Alternatives has been working to bring the power of solar electricity and energy efficiency to low-income homeowners, and to provide community members with training and hands-on experience with renewable energy technologies. They believe making energy choices that are good for the environment can go hand-in-hand with improving the lives of those living in low-income communities.

  
  


• 
  

  Grid Alternatives has offices in the San Francisco Bay Area, Greater Los Angeles, San Diego and the Central Valley to serve communities throughout California.

  
  

For more information, visit www.gridalternatives.org.

Thinking green is alive in the lab.

You can win:

 

Project Photofly is our web service that converts collections of your photos into 3D photo scenes. The Photo Scene Editor allows you to upload your photos and work with the photo scenes returned by the servers. You can manually stitch by identifying 3D points in common, add reference geometry, and take measurements. All of this can be exported to a DWG file so you can continue your work with AutoCAD, Inventor, Revit, or other design application.

We have been very happy with the Photo Scenes that have been shared with us. In fact we're so happy, we are holding a contest. The full rules are available on the Autodesk Labs web site. If you will allow me to paraphrase them:

• 
  

  We will publicly announce one first place winning and three runner up submissions. Submissions will be accepted from users worldwide - with one caveat. Winning the contest is only open to legal residents of the United States or Canada; however, as possible runners up, cool entries from countries other than the United States or Canada can at least get the public recognition they deserve.

  
  


• 
  

  We are looking for a photo scene that tells a story. The best way to illustrate this is with an example. "We needed a model of our building but could not get close enough to take actual measurements. So we flew a helicopter over it, took pictures, and used Project Photofly to create the model." Your submission does not have to involve a helicopter - just an interesting business story, fantastic looking pictures, and a 3D photo scene that turns out well.

  
  


• 
  

  We are looking for knowledgeable use of Photo Scene Editor. If you set a UCS in the resulting photo scene, we consider that a plus. If you used to the Photo Scene Editor to add important measurements, that too is a criterion we are considering.

  
  

So get out those cameras and start taking pictures. You have until September 24 to submit your entries (ZIP file with story.txt, pictures, and photo scene (RZI file). You upload your ZIP files to my Buzzsaw site using the File upload capability.

Looking to reward your valuable feedback in a fun way is alive in the lab.

The title of this blog article can't help but conjure up memories of an American TV show called Herman's Head. It was not very popular as it did not last long. The pretext of the show was that actors played various parts of Herman's brain. We got to see them interact as Herman faced life's challenges.

I am also reminded of Larry's head. This was a JavaScript page created by Technical Evangelist, Brian Pene, that featured Autodesk Design Review software engineer, Larry Horner. I believe it was an Easter Egg in one of the early Autodesk Design Review releases. And of course recently, there's been Kenneth Wong's head.

Autodesk Labs VP, Brian Mathews, took pictures of my head. I had to sit still while Brian took about 20 pictures. Brian used the Photo Scene Editor to create a 3D model of my head.

Project Photofly is a technology preview of automatically converting photographs shot around an object or a scene into "Photo Scenes" using the power of cloud computing. Though Project Photofly is really intended for serious business like buildings, bridges, landscapes, and mechanical parts, you too can have your own fun. You could even import yourself into AutoCAD, Inventor, Revit, etc.

Free Download of Photo Scene Editor for Project Photofly via Autodesk Labs

Showing that Project Photofly is headed in the right direction is alive in the lab.

I am a regular watcher of the Daily Show. My friends all know this. Frequently Jon Stewart has authors as guests on the show. Ian Bremmer appeared to discuss his book The End of The Free Market: Who Wins the War Between States and Corporations? A friend saw this show and got me the book as a gift. I gave it a read.

Though not wanting to seem ungrateful, this was not my favorite book. I believe the book makes a few simple points.

1. The wealth of the United States was built on free market capitalism.
   
2. Some governments want the advantages that capitalism offers but are wary of uncontrolled free markets. These governments practice what can be termed state capitalism.
   
3. Whereas free market capitalism seeks to get consumers the lowest price and producers the highest profits, state capitalism is designed to provide political advantage to the governments in power - independent of supply and demand.
   
4. Examples of state capitalism (found right on the book's inner jacket) include:
   
   
   
   • Saudi royals use the kingdom's oil revenues to buy their citizen's loyalty.
     
   • The Chinese government sends state-owned firms abroad in search of long-term access to oil, gas, metals, and minerals.
     
   • Russia's prime minister warns local grocery chains that they charge too much for pork.
   
   
   
   
5. Free market capitalist economies have to be wary of state capitalism as both are competing in the same global economy.
   
6. With the recent fincial crisis, many believe that governments should play a more active role in capitalism as unregulated free markets are what led to the crisis.

To me these simple points were enough; however, the book goes into excruciating detail to back up thess points. So this is a book I believe you can omit from your reading list.

Project Neon is a rendering service that offers greater productivity and a faster turnaround of photorealistic renderings by leveraging the power and compute capabilities of the cloud. You upload your DWG files. Our servers do the work, and you get a rendered image back.

If you have tried Project Neon, please take the survey. It is only 7 questions and takes 2 minutes to complete. Thank you in advance.

If you have not tried it yet, check it out at:

Free Project Neon technology preview on Autodesk Labs

Seeking user feedback is alive in the lab.

I don't run. My wife runs. Despite this I participated in the JPMorgan Corporate Challenge last night. Sheryl and I were among approximately 165 members of Team Autodesk. This is a 3.5 mile race along the San Francisco waterfront.

We started off with a bang. Team Autodesk was scheduled to meet in the parking lot between Piers 30 and 32 along the Embarcadero in San Francisco. The race started at 7:00 PM. Our assignment was to be there at 6:00 PM and we would line up at 6:45 PM. It's a 15 minute walk from our One Market office, so Beyond the Paper's Volker Joseph, Sheryl, and I left the office at 5:45 PM. I knew where the famous Pier 29 is, so we headed off in that direction. When we got there expecting the next pier to be 30, it was 31. It turns out that the odd piers go in one direction and the even piers go the other. I had led us in the wrong direction. We were 59 piers from where we needed to be. So we turned around, retraced our steps back to One Market, and made our way. I considered hailing a cab, but with rush hour traffic, we made better time on foot. We arrived at about 6:40 - just in time to line up.

Though we had Autodesk Labs team members like John Schmier, Gyorgy Ordody, and Frederic Loranger, who finished in about 26 minutes, I took a more leisurely pace of 42 minutes. Left on her own, Sheryl could have done it in 34 minutes, but she ran with me. Love is like that. At least we all finished.

After the race Team Autodesk assembled at the Gallery at One Market. Pizza never tasted so good.

Sore muscles are alive in the lab.