Outside the Lines

Previous Posts

• Impression R2 Announced at World Press Day

  Posted 02/12/08 by Todd Hunter

  This morning it was announced that Autodesk Impression 2 (to be released this Spring) will be available to Subscription customers of AutoCAD, AutoCAD Architecture, AutoCAD Civil 3D, AutoCAD Map 3D, AutoCAD MEP, and AutoCAD Revit Architecture Suite.
  
  Impression will no longer be sold as a stand-alone application.
  
  Customer feedback for Impression has been overwhelmingly positive. By offering Impression as a benefit of Subscription, Autodesk is able to greatly expand distribution of Impression by making it available as a download to Subscription customers worldwide.
  
  Second, Autodesk is committed to making the Autodesk Subscription program the best way to stay current with the latest design technology. A few years back Autodesk started releasing AutoCAD on a yearly basis to offer greater value for Subscription customers. With the release of the 2009 family of products, Autodesk is adding Impression to the mix of subscription benefits so that subscription customers gain not only the benefits of simplified software management but access to exclusive technology offerings.
  

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• Vegas. Baby.

  Posted 12/03/07 by Todd Hunter

  Another Autodesk University has come and gone. 10,000 +/- attendees this year! Every year it gets bigger and so does the city of Las Vegas, it seems. I had the chance to show some prototype Impression 3D (yes 3D) during the keynote adress. Although the keynote presentation was so big this year, people hardly noticed the 60 seconds of Impression. The room was full at about 9000 seats and the stage was in-the-round. All around the outer walls of the room were 24, 40x60 foot screens During the final portion of the presentation, 24 individual HiDef projectors showed a simultaneous, virtual 360 degree panoramic flythrough of Washington DC. The portion of Impression 3D I showed was only on the central screens and not in 360. In fact, with all of the other audio and visual stimulation going on the room, I don't think people really grasped the idea that Impression will soon do 3D non-photoreal rendering while orbitng a model in realtime.

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• Draw Order Part 2

  Posted 10/31/07 by Todd Hunter

  Draw order can also be controlled for the individual elements of a style. Change elements to the foreground or background within a style by dragging the element up or down in the element list in the style editor.
  
  
  
  

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• The Law and Order of Draw Order

  Posted 10/26/07 by Todd Hunter

  The method of managing draw order that most people are familiar with is within the layer palette. Objects on layers near the top of the layer list will appear “in front “ of or in the foreground, and objects on layers toward the bottom of this list will appear “behind” or in the background of the rendering.
  
  This is a simple and effective way to control draw order, but what if you have a DWG with only one or just a few layers? Usually in this circumstance you will have lots of layer overrides. That is, objects on the same layer but with different styles other than what has been assigned to the layer.
  
  In the example below, all of the line work is on layer 0 and a Soft Charcoal stroke has been applied to the layer. Since there is only one layer, Area Styling has been used to fill the colored areas and all of the different colored fills are on layer 0 as style overrides.
  
  Notice in the image that the colored fills overlap or obscure the charcoal lines. We want the edge lines to be dark and really “pop” so we need to change the draw order to bring the lines in front of the colored fills.
  
  “But Todd..” I hear you say.. “How can we change the draw order if all the objects are on the same layer?” “Simple,” I reply. Draw order can be controlled within the layer.
  
  To do this we first need to select all the lines. To make a selection set of just the line work on layer 0, 1st select a line, then select all instances of lines by clicking the check-mark in the lower right hand corner of the style editor.
  
  Once all the lines are selected, right-click and go to Arrange Selection, then Bring to Front of Layer
  
  
  After we do this, the lines really “pop” now. So you can still tweak your renderings even if you are working with only one layer.
  

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• Impresion Positions Itself for Global Domination

  Posted 10/16/07 by Todd Hunter

  The Impression Technology Preview 6 is live on autodesk.com pages around the world!!
  
  This means that people outside North America can now download the newest Technology Preview 6 of Impression that includes all of the current Hotfixes.
  
  If you live in Northern Europe and have already downloaded Technology Preview 5, your time limit is almost up so uninstall TP5 and download the new TP6. You will find that the new TP6 is more stable than TP5.
  
  Here is the list of countries where Technology Preview 6 is available. If your contry is not on this list, then you aren't reading this blog.
  
  Australia
  Belgium
  Canada
  Denmark
  Finland
  Ireland
  Luxembourg
  Malaysia
  Netherlands
  New Zealand
  Norway
  Singapore
  Sweden
  United Kingdom
  United States

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• Posted 10/12/07 by Todd Hunter

  Impression had a presence at the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA http://www.asla.org ) conference in San Francisco last week. Lisa and I had a spot on the expo floor where we showed off Impression's benefits to landscape designers. We must have answered a million questions. Of course CAD Geometry Update was one of the most compelling tools as well as Block substitution.
  
  Attendees that had been coming to this conference for many years said it was great to see Autodesk back at the expo and many people had not even heard of Impression. People were really excited that Autodesk is finally making a product for non-photo-real rendering.
  
  It was a great conference and well worth attending.

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• You Have the Power!

  Posted 10/02/07 by Todd Hunter

  Partner with us and rule the world!
  
  Or at least tell us what you need our products to do for you.
  
  Every single feature in Impression is derived from direct customer feedback. We listen to you and implement your wants and desires to the best of our ability (within the law, that is). Join the My Feedback and flex your power over us. Remember, we work for you. Just like politicians except without the scandal, debaucheries, and lies.
  
  By joining the My Feedback team, you get to see what future projects Autodesk is working on, try them out, and tell us what worked or didn't work. Give us suggestions and examples of how you would use your ideas on a project or for Nation building.
  
  If you are specifically interested in the Impression beta program, please go to http://myfeedback.autodesk.com and click on the “Sign up” link located in the upper left hand section of the navigation. Fill out the requested information and be sure to include the Beta Code “ColibriBeta” in the field at the top of the form. Don’t forget to hit the “Submit” button at the bottom to submit your application for review. If you have ideas and a pulse, you are in.

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• Australia and New Zeland - Just Big Islands?

  Posted 09/25/07 by Todd Hunter

  I did a webcast yesterday and I am doing another one today. These are the same things I have been doing for some months that have been viewed by customers in the Northern Hemisphere. These new ones are for the Southern Hemisphere. Specifically Australia and New Zealand or "ANZ" as we refer to them here at Autodesk HQ.
  
  Having never left the comfort of my own hemisphere, I always wondered what it would be like down in ANZ. Fantastic and exotic things and creatures can be found there like, wallabies, didgeridoos, boomerangs, and gigantic cans of beer. I have heard that toilets actually flush in a counter-clockwise direction down there. Wow, what an amazing place. Of course during a webcast, I can't actually see the customers that have logged in, but I know they are there because I take live questions from them at the end of the broadcast. I have this urge to ask them about the toilet thing, but that is probably not appropriate. Was there ever an Old Zealand? Hmmm.....

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• Come See Me Live!

  Posted 09/12/07 by Todd Hunter

  I will be making three special appearances next week during the Autodesk Experience the Possibilities tour.
  
  The dates are:
  September 18 – Atlanta (Georgia World Congress Center, Building A, Level 3.)
  September 19 – Denver (Grand Hyatt Denver, Conference Center – Mount Elbert)
  September 20 – Phoenix (Phoenix Convention Center, West Building, Room 101ABC)
  
  If you are near any of the cities during those dates, come on over and see Impression live, ask me questions, and generally give me a hard time. But of course there are other less significant events going on during the event AutoCAD tips and tricks, Revit and Inventor seminars, and free muffins.
  
  I hope to see you there!
  
  Now I am off to the Reno International Air Races! It's the fastest motorsport on Earth, you know.
  
  

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• Posted 08/29/07 by Todd Hunter

  I have been travelling around the country raising the awareness of Impression to our customers for the past several months. Some of the venues included the Experience the Possibilities product launch tour dates where I was overwhelmed with interested customers at literally every event. Other venues have been the AUGI CAD Camps where customers pay to spend a day taking classes on specific Autodesk products. At the CAD Camps, I teach a 2 hour class on Impression and at some of the cities on the tour, I get to present during the lunchtime keynote session. CAD Camps are usually attended by over 200 people at each city and my Impression class usually has between 15 and 30 students. These events have allowed Impression to get valuable exposure and have given hundreds of people firsthand experience learning how to use Impression.
  
  CAD Camps are held all over the world and I recently attended the event in Honolulu, HI. There they had a record attendance of 236 which is the second highest attendance so far on the 2007 tour. 15% of attendees traveled from other islands to attend this pay event. This is an impressive turnout for a location that typically has about half that.
  
  
  Of course the large turnout in Honolulu must mean that more people wanted to see Impression, right? I like to think so :O)
  
  And for those of you who think a business trip to Hawaii is a “boondoggle”, you’re not entirely wrong……..
  
  

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